Class 3, Grade 12 Classroom · Temporary Fort

A deathly silence, heavier than when the Razor Squad was wiped out.

Chen Xue slumped in the corner, her tear stains long dry on her face, her eyes hollow as she stared at the gap in the back door, which was again blocked by debris.

She tightly hugged Ling Chen’s blood-stained, worn hoodie—Sun Qiang had retrieved it from the edge of the drainage ditch during the chaos, and it still bore glaring fresh bloodstains and a huge tear ripped by sharp claws.

“He…he fell…so deep…full of monsters…” she mumbled, her voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing, “I…I didn’t hold onto him…”

Li Mingyu leaned against the wall like a statue, a steel rod resting on his knees, his knuckles white from clenching.

His head was bowed, the shadow of his cap obscuring most of his face, revealing only his tightly pressed lips and slightly trembling shoulders, betraying the surging anger and…deep pain within him. Ling Chen…that guy who was always pale, quiet, yet could burst forth with astonishing power at critical moments…died to cover them?

Sun Qiang silently wiped the black blood and shredded flesh from his metallic arm, his movements mechanical and numb. Several new deep claw marks marred his metallic skin.

He remembered the glaring pool of blood at the edge of the drainage ditch, and Ling Chen’s “desperate” eyes when he was finally pounced on by the Rat King…A feeling called “powerlessness,” like cold venom, corroded his metallic heart.

Lin Wei huddled in a corner, hugging her knees. Her Discernment ability operated uncontrollably, repeatedly “scanning” the blood-stained hoodie.

The bloodstains…were very fresh…the life energy contained within…abnormally active…even…carrying a faint, extremely hidden, cold aura not belonging to humans…but it was quickly covered by the stronger smell of blood.

She shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel this terrifying thought. Impossible…it must be a delusion…Ling Chen was trying to save them, that’s why…

Li Zhenguo stood with his back to everyone, by the crack in the window, unmoving. His back was like a cold rock, exuding an oppressive and heavy aura.

The communicator had been repaired, but only the hissing noise of current remained.

The signal of the Razor Squad’s complete annihilation was etched onto the screen like a brand. Now…another student with a precious Beast Taming ability…Ling Chen…was gone.

He slowly turned around, his face devoid of expression, but deep within his profound eyes, there surged an oppression like the night before a storm and…a trace of unnoticed sorrow.

He walked to Chen Xue, squatted down, picked up the blood-stained hoodie, and carefully examined the huge tear.

“Claw marks…very deep…from a large Mutated Beast…” His voice was low and hoarse, carrying the calm analysis typical of a soldier, “Below the drainage ditch…the situation is unknown…but…” He didn’t finish, but the meaning was clear.

In such an environment, severely wounded, facing unknown terrifying Mutated Beasts…the chance of survival…was minimal.

Chen Xue’s tears welled up again, flowing silently.

“He…he did it to save us…” Li Mingyu suddenly lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Li Zhenguo, “If it wasn’t for him…we might all be dead in the supermarket!”

“I know.” Li Zhenguo met his gaze calmly, “Student Ling Chen…is a hero.”

He stood up, his gaze sweeping across the deathly silent classroom, across every face filled with sadness, fear, and despair.

“Grief and self-blame save no one.” His voice suddenly rose, carrying an undeniable iron-willed determination, “Ling Chen used his life to buy us time! To buy us a chance! We cannot let his sacrifice be in vain!”

He pointed to the blocked window: “The rat swarm has retreated! The ghouls are dormant due to the arrival of day! Now is our window of opportunity to replenish supplies, reinforce defenses, and wait for the next chance!”

“Wu Tao! Take a few people and move all the remaining debris! Clear a path to the small supermarket! Be careful and alert!”

“Sun Qiang! Li Mingyu! You two are responsible for vigilance and transport! If you find anything unusual, retreat immediately!”

“Zhou Xiaoyu! Zhao Xiaowen! Count all remaining supplies! Make simple weapons! Reinforce all doors and windows!”

“Everyone else! Take the time to rest! Recover your strength!”

Orders were issued clearly and decisively! As if injecting new power into this sinking wreck of a ship! Sadness and despair were forcibly suppressed, replaced by a desperate resolve!

Li Mingyu wiped his face vigorously, grabbed his steel rod, and walked towards the back door blocked by debris. Sun Qiang followed silently. Wu Tao and several other boys also struggled to their feet.

Chen Xue tightly hugged the blood-stained hoodie, tears silently streaming down her face. She watched Li Mingyu and Sun Qiang begin to move the debris, as if seeing Ling Chen’s resolute expression when he last pushed her away.

“Ling Chen…” she whispered, “I will…survive…”

Li Zhenguo walked to the window, his gaze piercing through the gap, looking out at the ruins faintly gilded by the morning sun.

His fingers unconsciously rubbed the encrypted notebook in the inner pocket of his tactical vest, which contained all his observations and evaluations of Ling Chen.

“Name: Ling Chen. Ability: Beast Taming. Performance: Acute battlefield perception, extremely strong tactical awareness, astonishing explosive power at critical moments, suspected of possessing temporary mental interference ability (unconfirmed). Value Assessment: S-rank (extremely high strategic value). Threat Assessment: B+ (mental stability unconfirmed). Note: Immense potential, requires key supervision and guidance…”

He slowly closed the notebook, sighing softly, “Ah, such a promising talent, what a pity…Perhaps…I was the one judging a gentleman with a petty mind.”

At the same time.

Deep within the foul drainage ditch, a suffocatingly dense smell of blood clung to every inch of air like viscous syrup.

Three massive and grotesque Mutated Beast corpses lay like three mountains of flesh radiating death and energy, sprawled in the icy cold sewage.

The severed torso of the Mutated Doberman soaked in the churning pool of blood, its dark silver ossified scales reflecting a cold luster in the faint light; the Giant Lizard’s massive dark green body lay limply in the corner, its ghostly green phosphorescent bone spikes on its spine completely dimmed, viscous venom mixed with black blood slowly seeping from its punctured head; the largest Mutated Rat King’s corpse occupied most of the ditch, the edges of the bowl-sized charred blood hole in its throat still emitting the stench of burnt flesh, its crimson eyes completely devoid of luster, staring hollowly into the endless darkness above.

Ling Chen knelt on one knee in the knee-deep sewage, the icy water soaking his trousers, but the biting cold could not extinguish the molten lava-like craving surging within him.

The ghoulish, bloodthirsty consciousness roared silently in the depths of his mind like a awakened gluttonous beast! The life energy and flesh essence emanating from the three Mutated Beast corpses, hundreds of times more concentrated and pure than ordinary ghouls, stimulated his nerve endings like the most alluring lighthouse in the darkness!

He slowly extended his hands, tiny dark purple electric arcs flickering at his fingertips. There was no hesitation, no pity, only the most primal, coldest instinct of predation!

Screech—!

His hands, like the sharpest scalpels, plunged fiercely into the relatively soft abdomen of the Mutated Doberman!

Dark purple electric arcs swirled at his claw tips, like countless tiny cutting lines, easily tearing through tough fur and muscle! He suddenly pulled his hands apart!

Rip—!!!

A teeth-grinding sound of flesh tearing erupted! The Doberman’s abdominal cavity was forcibly ripped open, creating a huge gash! Scalding, viscous blood mixed with organ fragments and dark silver bone marrow gushed out like a fountain! Splashing all over his head and face!

Ling Chen didn’t care in the slightest! He bent down, like the most voracious predator, burying his face deep into the scalding, fleshy abdominal cavity! He opened his mouth and bit fiercely into a piece of liver still twitching slightly, wrapped in a dark silver periosteum!

Gulp…gulp…

A chilling swallowing sound echoed in the silent ditch! Scalding flesh, brimming with violent life energy, surged into his esophagus like molten lava!

His mutated body, like the most efficient furnace, instantly decomposed and refined it! Surges of pure and domineering energy, like a bursting river, frantically washed through his parched meridians, nourishing his near-collapsed cells!

The wound on his left arm, pierced by the Rat King’s sharp claws, saw muscle fibers proliferate and heal frantically like wriggling earthworms! The bone-deep wound closed and scabbed at a visible rate!

The depleted dark purple lightning energy reignited and surged deep within his meridians! Even…below his left eye, next to the fifth crimson blood pattern, a deeper, more demonic sixth blood pattern, like a red-hot branding iron, instantly lit up! Crimson light pierced the darkness!

But this was only the beginning!

He suddenly lifted his head, his face covered in viscous black blood and organ fragments, half a piece of dark silver fascia still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Without stopping, he turned and lunged at the Giant Lizard’s massive corpse! His hands like knives, he plunged them fiercely into the Giant Lizard’s relatively fragile soft scales on its abdomen! Dark purple electric arcs cut frantically!

Tear—!

The tough dark green scales were torn like paper! Revealing the dark red, constantly pulsating huge heart and organs entwined with ghostly green venom glands! A cold light burst from Ling Chen’s eyes! He plunged his hands in, grabbed the huge heart still faintly beating, and fiercely pulled it out!

Squish—!!!

The thick dark red heart, along with its entwined blood vessels and venom glands, was forcibly ripped out of its body! Foul-smelling venom and scalding fresh blood spurted out like a fountain! Ling Chen opened his mouth, like a giant python swallowing an elephant, and bit fiercely into the heart! His sharp teeth easily tore through the tough myocardium! Scalding heart essence blood poured into his throat like a high-pressure water gun!

Boom—!!!

A torrent of energy, far more violent than the Doberman’s flesh and carrying strong radioactive toxicity, exploded within him like an out-of-control nuclear reactor! Tearing pain shot through his meridians! Strange ghostly green patterns instantly appeared on the surface of his skin! That was the potent venom corroding his body!

“Ugh ah—!” Ling Chen let out a suppressed roar of pain! But there was no hint of retreat in his eyes, only a more crazed will to plunder!

The Soul Jade Physique’s cold will forcibly suppressed the rampaging energy! Like the most precise centrifuge, it frantically separated, purified, and refined! Forcibly stripping, compressing, and expelling the venom from his body! Leaving only the purest life essence!

Hiss hiss hiss—!

Fine, pungent, dark green sweat beaded from the pores of his skin! That was the forcibly expelled venom! At the same time, below his right eye, the seventh, eighth, and ninth crimson blood patterns, like burning chains, instantly lit up! The violent energy impact made the dark purple lightning patterns on his body surface flicker wildly, like an electric net about to burst!

Not enough!

He suddenly threw away the half-eaten Giant Lizard heart! Like a mad demon, he lunged at the massive corpse of the Mutated Rat King! His target was the huge charred blood hole in its throat! His hands like iron hooks, he plunged them deep into the wound! Frantically tearing and digging!

Splatter! Crack!

Bones shattered! Muscles separated! He forcibly dug out a fist-sized crystal core, still emitting a faint dark golden glow, from deep within the Rat King’s chest cavity! And…a large piece of dark golden heart tissue, like molten lava, wrapped around the crystal core!

The Rat King’s crystal core! The energy core of a peak first-stage mid-level Mutated Beast! And…the heart meat containing its purest life essence!

A terrifying glint burst from Ling Chen’s eyes! Without hesitation, he shoved the dark golden crystal core along with the scalding heart tissue into his mouth!

Rumble—!!!

It was like a miniature nuclear bomb detonating within his body! A torrent of energy, ten times more violent and a hundred times purer than the Doberman and Giant Lizard flesh, instantly swept through every corner of his body like a world-ending tsunami!

The Soul Jade Physique let out a wail of unbearable strain! Meridians snapped inch by inch! Bones groaned piercingly! The skin surface instantly cracked!

“Ah ah ah—!!!”

Ling Chen let out a shrill roar that was not human! His body convulsed violently and uncontrollably! He felt as if he had been thrown into a refining furnace of purgatory! Excruciating pain! Tearing! Burning! Annihilation! Countless extreme tortures instantly engulfed him!

But The Boulder-like cold will of the Soul Jade Physique stubbornly held onto the last shred of clarity! Like a reef standing firm amidst raging waves! It frantically operated! Refined! Devoured! Fused!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A dense, popcorn-like cracking sound of bones came from within him! The bones of his left arm, originally torn by the Rat King’s sharp claws, were forcibly squeezed and reshaped by an invisible large hand under the impact of the violent energy! Becoming tougher! More dense! Even…the surface of his bones began to show extremely fine, dark purple patterns like circuit boards! The characteristic of the Bone Eater Realm—initial bone mutation! It had begun!

At the same time! The crimson blood patterns below his eye, like ignited fuses, frantically spread and lit up!

The tenth! The eleventh! The twelfth!…The twentieth!…The twenty-fifth!…The twenty-eighth!…The twenty-ninth!

The moment the twenty-ninth blood pattern lit up, the violent energy torrent was finally forcibly suppressed and largely refined! The intense pain receded like a tide, replaced by an unprecedented sense of terrifying power, like a volcanic eruption! Muscle fibers tightened like steel wires! Bones were as tough as fine steel! Meridians were like widened river channels, surging with powerful dark purple lightning energy!

But…there was still one last one! The thirtieth blood pattern! Only then could he truly step into the threshold of the Bone Eater Realm! Only then could he truly complete the initial bone mutation!

Ling Chen suddenly opened his eyes! Purple flames, as if materialized, burned in his eyes! He looked at the three beast corpses on the ground, already gnawed to pieces but still emitting residual energy! Especially the Rat King’s head, mostly gnawed away, but still retaining a dark golden luster!

He let out a low growl! Like a tiger pouncing on its prey, he lunged at the Rat King’s head again! His hands grabbed its huge lower jawbone! Buli (Brute Force) erupted!

Crack—!!!

The tough bone was forcibly broken! He opened his mouth, revealing his pale teeth, and bit fiercely into the remaining, jelly-like viscous brain tissue deep within the Rat King’s head!

Gulp…gulp…

The last surge of pure life essence flowed into his body!

Boom—!!!

The thirtieth crimson blood pattern, like a red-hot branding iron, was fiercely branded below his left eye! The thirty blood patterns connected end to end, forming a complete dark red totem, like a crown of thorns!

Immediately after! A sudden change occurred!

The thirty crimson blood patterns that had just lit up, like branding irons thrown into ice water, instantly changed from fiery crimson to a cold, deep…pure jet black, as if they could swallow light! Like thirty dark cracks tearing through the void!

At the same time! An indescribable, icy cold power, as if from the depths of his bone marrow, swept through his entire body like an awakened glacier! All the bones in his body made dense, faint “crackling” sounds! As if countless tiny ice crystals were condensing and reorganizing within his bones! An unprecedented texture, hard as fine steel yet warm as jade, emanated from every inch of his bones! He could clearly “feel” that he could initially control and mobilize the icy cold power hidden within his bones! Although still very weak, this was a qualitative leap!

Bone Eater Realm! Achieved!