After speaking, Qi Xu inexplicably felt her face heat up. Heh, no wonder Fortune God's Only Daughter enjoyed putting on airs—this feeling was actually kinda... thrilling. She just wasn’t used to it yet, and the slight blush made things awkward.
Luo Xinpan: "......? What the hell? Did the boss get infected by Qiuqiu or something?"
Qi Xu had already stowed away her chainsaw, casually slipping her hands into her pockets as she strode to the front. With a cool glance back at the group, she said, "Take a breather. Let me show you how it’s done."
There was no way they could defeat an Advanced Stitched Monster. The last two stitched creatures that had popped out of the supply crates hadn’t even been labeled "Advanced," and even those had required the Chinese Teacher to finish them off.
But this Advanced Stitched Monster... tsk tsk. Rather than exhausting everyone’s energy here, it was better to use her skill to push through this level and see what rewards—or hidden advantages—they could gain.
They could decide later whether to keep pushing forward. Every ounce of strength had to be spent wisely.
Before anyone could react, a deafening BOOM shook the ground as a massive black sphere of flesh plummeted from the sky. The impact cracked the earth like a spiderweb.
The Advanced Stitched Monster had made its grand entrance.
Standing at roughly two stories tall, its body was a grotesque patchwork of various creatures’ limbs, stitched together in horrifyingly disproportionate ways. Bulging muscles, crisscrossed with vicious scars, pulsed under its rancid, rotting skin.
But the strangest detail? A single piece of chalk was embedded in its forehead.
Qi Xu suddenly remembered—last time, when she’d summoned the Chinese Teacher, the first thing the teacher had done was hurl a piece of chalk and strike the stitched monster... right in the forehead.
She didn’t believe in coincidences. The only explanation was... even the monsters were being recycled?
And not just recycled—upgraded? If that was the case, how could they ever wipe them all out? What was the real way to end this nightmare?
The stitched monster let out a guttural roar, then ripped one of its own heads clean off and hurled it at them. Blood and gore splattered everywhere.
Qi Xu cleared her throat. Whatever the truth was, they’d have to uncover it step by step.
Worrying wouldn’t help. Right now, the most important thing was to move forward steadily. Her top priority was leading her sisters through this dungeon.
To boost morale, Qi Xu dodged the flying head with effortless grace, then raised a finger and pointed. "You. Are trash. Die."
The moment those words left her mouth, everyone—including the three prisoners inside the fish tank—stared in stunned silence. The boss was... cool, sure, but since when did she start trash-talking mid-battle?
Should they cheer her on? Or yell at her to dodge? The stitched monster was clearly winding up for a big attack!
But then—
The monster, which had been roaring and posturing just seconds ago, exploded.
Just like that. One finger-point, one insult, and—BOOM—it burst into chunks.
The group exchanged bewildered glances.
Qi Xu suddenly realized how amazing this skill was. The raining blood and viscera might as well have been celebratory confetti. She turned with a flourish, drenched head to toe in monster guts, looking like a slaughterhouse demon—but damn, she looked good.
The sheer absurdity of the scene left everyone’s brains short-circuiting for a solid few seconds.
Bian was the first to snap out of it. Right—this must be that insta-kill skill the boss mentioned. He hadn’t connected the dots earlier because... well, he hadn’t expected it to be this overpowered.
All it took was words. No fighting, no effort—just speak, and the enemy died.
Fortune God’s Only Daughter scrambled down from the rubble, no longer caring about poise or image. She grabbed Qi Xu’s sleeve, her voice trembling, tears streaking her face.
"Y-You’re an ability user too? Your power is... detonation? But... it hasn’t even been a year. Ability users shouldn’t exist yet. Unless you’re also... you..."
Qi Xu could feel it—the hope, the desperation, the crushing despair in Fortune God’s Only Daughter’s voice.
But... she shook her head gently. "I’m not. This is just a class skill. Don’t lose heart. You won’t be alone anymore, okay?"
Then, without hesitation, she pulled Fortune God’s Only Daughter into a hug. How to describe this feeling? Part of it was strategic—uniting strong allies for the road ahead. But another part... was pure, aching sympathy.
She looked like she was about to shatter.
Fortune God’s Only Daughter’s eyes dimmed with disappointment, a suffocating weight pressing on her chest. But at Qi Xu’s next words, she mustered the courage to lift her head again.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah. This game’s brutal enough as it is. But since we’ve met, let’s stick together—all the way to the end of the road. Deal?"
Fortune God’s Only Daughter was dazed, unsure how to respond—until Dongfang Yuan barreled into them, yanking both Qi Xu and Fortune God’s Only Daughter into a bone-crushing hug.
"Holy hell, you scared the shit outta me! Thought you were pullin’ some self-sacrifice crap! Turns out it was just a skill..."
Dongfang Yuan’s heart had finally settled back into place. In this death game, Qi Xu was the one person she was tied to most. Without her, she’d have died that first rainy night, when the mass culling began.
So no—she’d rather anything happen to herself than Qi Xu. Tch. Scratch that. They’d all make it. Together.
One by one, the others gathered around, embracing in a messy, bloody, tear-streaked huddle. Nothing monumental had happened. They’d just been struck by Qi Xu’s sheer coolness, then moved by Fortune God’s Only Daughter’s raw grief.
No one entered this survival game unafraid. It was sheer stubbornness—the refusal to die easily—and the determination to keep fighting that had brought them this far.
So finding a group like this—people they could trust, comrades to face the horrors ahead—was enough to make anyone want to sob.
"Boss... I wanna hug too... Waaah, I can’t reach!"
The Retired Magical Boy flailed helplessly inside his fish tank, legs bound, unable to even stomp in frustration.
Qi Xu burst out laughing. The whole group was a disaster—covered in monster blood, gore, and shattered bones, faces streaked with tears and grime. But hearing the Retired Magical Boy whine like that? Impossible not to crack up.
So she led the group back to the tank for a group hug.
Soon, the tears turned to laughter. The flickering flames from the stitched monster’s remains cast a soft glow over their tear-stained faces.
..........
