Chapter 57: The Wall Fractures

Mu Chen swept his arm across, firmly pulling Chen Si, who was closest to him, into the crook of his elbow, while his other hand gave Chen Jiahe's the back a reassuring squeeze. His voice was low yet exceptionally clear: "Don't panic. I've got this."

There was an unquestionable strength in his tone that forcefully suppressed the mounting terror of the three girls, helping their wildly racing hearts to calm down slightly.

Before his voice had even faded away—

"BOOM!!!"

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering explosion erupted from the deepest depths of the black mist! The entire property management lobby shook violently as a rain of dust and debris cascaded from the ceiling. The chandelier overhead groaned and clattered, looking as though it was about to crash down at any moment.

"What's happening?!" Chen Si screamed in shock, stumbling on her feet. Mu Chen applied strength to his arm, holding her steady.

Following the deafening roar came the hair-raising sound of concrete walls cracking apart.

"Crack... crack..."

The black mist rolled and churned more fiercely than ever as a colossal dark shadow, shrouded in gravel and smoke, violently smashed its way out through the wall from the very source of the sound!

It was a head! A hideous, triangular head several times thicker than a water barrel! Dense dark-green scales covered its surface, reflecting a chilling, metallic gleam in the dimness. Two massive eyes with crimson vertical slits burned with an undisguised, bloodthirsty greed.

"Hiss—hiss—"

Its Forked tongue flicked in and out, and the sound burrowing into their ears made their very souls tremble.

"A snake... a snake!" Xie Youyou caught a glimpse of that terrifying corner of the head through the gap of Mu Chen's arm, her shriek morphing into a high-pitched, ear-piercing pitch.

This was no ordinary snake! This was unmistakably a giant python mutated to a horrifying degree! This single head alone was several times larger than Da Zui's entire body!

The giant python's head slowly rotated, its pair of crimson vertical slits scanning the darkness before finally locking dead onto the spot where Mu Chen had just stowed away the ability fruit.

Although the fruit had already been retrieved into Mu Chen's system space, the residual, pure energy signature had been precisely captured by this colossal beast, which possessed an exceptionally keen perception of energy.

"Hiss-hiss!" The python let out an even sharper, more excited hiss, its naked greed and violent murderous intent practically condensing into substance.

Mu Chen's heart gave a violent wrench.

The pressure emanating from this mutated giant python was nothing compared to trash like Pan Guang! It was an absolute suppression originating from the hierarchy of life, making every single cell in his body scream frantic warnings of fatal danger!

This was unequivocally the most terrifying enemy he had encountered since arriving in this apocalyptic era!

"Mu Chen..." Chen Jiahe's voice turned dry and strained as she clearly perceived the soul-crushing, despair-inducing aura radiating from the python.

"Fall back!" Mu Chen let out a low roar, forcefully shoving the three women back a distance, while a ferocious-looking black Desert Eagle materialized in his hand.

Though the heavy weapon rested in his palm, it offered not a shred of a sense of security. Facing such an unimaginable behemoth, the firepower of a regular firearm was probably no different from a burning stick.

The giant python did not seem in any rush to launch an immediate attack; its suffocatingly massive body slowly and gradually slithered out from the breach in the wall.

"Boom... crash..." As its body moved, more of the wall was crushed and pulverized, sending chunks of brick and concrete clattering down in a chaotic cascade.

When the entire serpentine body fully entered the property management lobby, everyone present was completely paralyzed by its overwhelmingly terrifying size, their minds going blank.

This giant python was at least fifteen meters long, and its thickest section was wide enough to almost span the entire breadth of the lobby! It coiled in the center of the hall, its cold, dark-green scales reflecting a ghostly, heart-stopping chill in the flickering, dim light.

Pan Guang's three subordinates, who had just surrendered, had long since collapsed onto the floor, involuntary voiding themselves. A pungent, foul stench filled the air, and they couldn't even muster a single thought of resistance.

Before such a prehistoric behemoth, humanity appeared so utterly insignificant, so fragile.

"Gulp." Chen Si swallowed hard, her knuckles whitening as she gripped her fire axe with trembling hands, her palms drenched in cold sweat. Staring at Mu Chen's solid back, her voice quivered yet remained unusually resolute: "Mu Chen, we... we are with you!"

"Right!" Chen Jiahe also abruptly whipped out the dagger at her waist. Although the sharp blade looked ridiculously minuscule before the giant python, her tone was ironclad: "If we die, we die together!"

Though Xie Youyou was shaking uncontrollably from head to toe and her teeth were chattering, she managed to fumble a utility knife out of her backpack. Her voice carried a heavy, crying sob, yet it radiated a desperate, do-or-die determination: "I... I can... I can help too!"

Mu Chen did not look back, but he could clearly feel the unwavering resolve of the three girls behind him. A wave of burning warmth surged through his chest.

Facing the massive, destruction-radiating behemoth head-on, the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a cold, mad arc.

"Want to hog the prize all to yourself? You'll have to see if you have the appetite and the life for it!"

"Roar—!!!"

Perhaps Mu Chen's provocation completely enraged it, or perhaps its craving for the ability fruit had been suppressed to its absolute limit, but the mutated giant python violently hoisted its hideous, terrifying head and unleashed an ear-splitting, heaven-shaking roar!

A violent shockwave rippled wildly outward, shattering every remaining glass object in the lobby into a blinding cloud of crystalline powder in an instant!

The next moment, the python's massive, heavy body arched downward, and with irresistible momentum, it crushed fiercely toward Mu Chen!

A foul wind rushed forward, carrying a suffocatingly thick stench of blood and decay that threatened to blow them clean off their feet!

Though the python's form was unimaginably massive, its speed was faster than anyone could possibly conceive! Its gaping maw—large enough to swallow a compact car whole—flung wide open, looking as though it was about to devour Mu Chen and Da Zui beneath his feet in a single bite!

Life and death hung by a hair!

Mu Chen's pupils contracted to the limit. Every muscle in his body tightened to an extreme degree in a split second, and the energy within him surged at an unprecedented, frantic speed!

Far from taking even half a step back, he met the impenetrable shadow of death rushing toward him with a suppressed, low growl: "Well timed!"

"Da Zui, the left!"

"Awooo!" Da Zui roared, its black form suddenly accelerating as it lunged fiercely toward the left side of the python's head, attempting to draw its attention.

The giant python's movement didn't pause for a fraction of a second as its massive tail whipped out casually!

"Bang!"

Da Zui took the full brunt of the thick tail, letting out a miserable, agonizing whimper. Its massive body was sent flying directly, crashing hard into a distant load-bearing pillar and fracturing the sturdy concrete with a web of deep cracks!

"Da Zui!" Xie Youyou cried out in dismay.

"Ignore it! Watch yourself!" Mu Chen barked furiously, simultaneously rolling to the right in an over-limit maneuver, barely dodging the mountain-like impact of the python's head by a razor-thin margin in the nick of time!