Chapter 17: The Slaughtered Sanctuary

Ensuring the surroundings were safe, Lu Li hurried forward to investigate. Each iron-shelled beetle bore marks of being sliced open, clearly having their core crystals extracted. If this were the work of monsters, their bodies would have bite marks and would not remain so intact.

“Someone has beaten them to it... but why not the burrowing wasps’ corpses?” Lu Li pondered with some confusion. Like the burrowing wasps, the iron-shelled beetles also favored burrowing underground. Yet, due to differing habits, the two species could never share the same habitat.

After much thought, Lu Li decided to press onward—not out of any desire for plunder or killing, but purely to satisfy his curiosity.

Upon reaching the second subterranean level, he found even more iron-shelled beetles. The subway station’s power was still active, flickering lights lending an eerie, unsettling atmosphere to the dim underground space.

Standing at a fork, Lu Li concentrated and caught faint voices coming from an entrance leading to the underground parking lot. He crouched low, hugging the wall as he cautiously approached.

Suddenly, his view opened wide—it was an underground parking garage. The lighting here was far dimmer than in the subway, so fluorescent sticks were scattered every few meters on the ground.

In the distance, Lu Li saw a group of fully armed men in black, standing guard around a swollen dimensional rift with utmost vigilance.

“A secret realm entrance?!” Lu Li instantly realized why, in his previous life, Tianyi Plaza had become a massive nest for burrowing wasps.

The global apocalypse had brought not only monsters but numerous secret realms—hidden treasure realms harboring opportunities, competitive battle realms requiring combat prowess, purely logic-based puzzle realms, and more.

If he was correct, the rift ahead led to a slaughter secret realm.

Such realms typically did not limit the number of entrants; as long as enough people entered within the allotted time, even a whole army could enter. But the monsters within were terrifying—either matching the army’s numbers or led by extraordinarily powerful lords.

Once inside, the slaughter trial was triggered: either the players killed all monsters to win and escape, or the monsters wiped out or drove off the players, causing the dimensional rift to spiral out of control and monsters to flood into reality.

Recalling his past life, Lu Li knew this rift would surely lose control.

Instantly, he thought of fleeing! Once the rift lost control, a containment barrier would form, trapping everyone inside. Escape would be impossible.

Yet before this thought could take hold, the rift abruptly trembled, vomiting four bloodied women into the air.

The black-clad guards rushed forward, shouting frantic orders, though the distance rendered their words unintelligible.

But Lu Li didn’t need to hear them—the fluctuating rift made everything clear: it had lost control!

The narrow rift rapidly expanded as countless burrowing wasps swarmed out, overwhelming the crowd.

The containment barrier sealed instantly, enveloping the entire underground space—and Lu Li was trapped within it.

“Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, forming a blade with his right hand.

With a simultaneous activation of [Swift Strike] and [Mighty Force], he sliced through an oncoming burrowing wasp.

These creatures were smaller than his blade-armed mantis but incredibly fast. Their stingers were lethally poisonous; a single sting would kill an ordinary person within seconds.

These dangerous creatures might be manageable individually, but the real problem was their swarm nature.

“The barrier’s sealed. Looks like we can’t leave without exterminating all these monsters...” Lu Li frowned, watching the distant screams.

He quickly approached the severed wasp and reached inside its abdomen, retrieving a small red sac no larger than a fingernail.

Not a core crystal, but this he swallowed with a grimace.

Moments later, a status effect labeled ‘Toxin Affinity’ appeared on his data panel.

The wasps’ poison had an antidote, contained within these sacs in their abdomens. Taking it beforehand guaranteed immunity against the stinger’s venom.

Even so, the overwhelming swarm remained terrifying.

“Time to test out my newly acquired ability,” Lu Li thought, his mind sharpening.

He activated [Bloodthirsty Slaughter] (Platinum)!

Crimson mist seeped slowly from his pores, enveloping him completely.

He felt his speed and strength surge to new heights.

“Soul Weapon!”

At Lu Li’s command, a black blade-armed mantis rapidly materialized.

His accumulated spirit points from dissecting corpses had reached 150—enough to upgrade the mantis to level 4.

Most burrowing wasps were level 2, some rare ones level 3.

Even without focused control, the mantis’s level advantage was enough to handle them.

Together, man and insect charged into the swarm.

Lin Qinyue stared at the overwhelming wasp swarm before her, eyes blazing with fury.

They had been played by the Zhao family.

The costly intelligence they’d obtained turned out false!

According to the Zhao family, an underground dimensional rift at Tianyi Plaza led to a harmless opportunity realm.

Yet upon entering, the Lin sisters discovered it was a slaughter realm.

Unprepared, they had nearly perished inside.

If not for their unique awakened talents, they would surely have become wasp food by now.

“Everyone, stay calm. Qinyue’s [Holy Blessing] can neutralize the wasp venom. Hold formation—we retreat!” came the mature, magnetic female voice of Lin Qinfeng, the eldest sister.

Without her drawing the swarm’s attention, the crowd would have been devoured long ago.

“Sis, the third sister’s bleeding just won’t stop! What do we do?” sobbed Lin Qinhua as she frantically used her powers to treat the woman in her arms.

Lin Qinxue’s face was pale as death, a horrifying wound gushing blood across her chest, soaking her clothing.

The wound seemed cursed—no matter how hard Lin Qinhua tried, it showed no sign of healing.

“Second sister... cough... don’t worry about me... just go...” Lin Qinxue struggled to speak.

“Third sister, don’t say that! We’ll never abandon you! Zhao Jin, you bastard, I swear I’ll kill you once we get out!” Lin Qinyue clenched her teeth, trying to encourage her sister.

But in that fleeting moment of distraction, the [Holy Blessing] began to fade.

The radiant glow around eldest sister Lin Qinfeng dimmed, and several wasps seized the chance to sting her viciously.

Her fair skin rapidly turned purple, the wounds visibly worsening and festering.

The already fragile defense line shattered instantly.

Lin Qinxue closed her eyes in despair as her sister was overwhelmed.

Yet just as she braced herself for the agonizing death by countless stings, the buzzing suddenly quieted.

The swarm, seemingly drawn by something, was retreating rapidly...