Dust billowed in the distance, and a vast expanse of yellow sand swept in, accompanied by a dense horde of zombies.

In the distance, the silhouette of a dilapidated and sinister building slowly emerged on the horizon, its exterior walls entwined with a thick layer of withered vines. Zombies emerged from that silhouette in an endless stream, their wails almost echoing through the sky.

“It’s that building!” Xiao Cheng recognized it at a glance.

“But this is just a mirage.” Fang He frowned slightly. Seeing that the situation was becoming more and more urgent, he used his time-stop ability on the half-dead Qiao Liao to barely keep him alive.

"Including us, there are thirty-nine people in total," Xiao Cheng suddenly blurted out.

Fang He knew she was worried about Su Xin and Xu Chu, so he could only offer a weak attempt at comfort: "Look on the bright side, this dungeon has so many bugs, maybe you'll encounter the same situation as us."

Xiao Cheng knew that this possibility was unlikely, so he sighed helplessly, shook his head vigorously to temporarily shake off these messy thoughts, and looked at the approaching horde of zombies in the distance.

The other players here were clearly not new to dealing with this kind of attack. Even though they were exhausted, they regrouped, their eyes warily fixed on the direction of the zombie horde. Various superpowers were brewing, and everyone was ready to fight at any moment.

Number 66 stood at the very front, her brows furrowed, with two long, serpentine flames slowly swirling around her, encircling her entirely and giving her an imposing presence.

"I don't know why you came out of there," she said coldly without turning around, "but since you're still players, I advise you to focus entirely on the fight. And just between you two, there are level three zombies lurking in there."

Level 3 zombie.

Xiao Cheng wasn't quite sure what level her ability had reached. The egg she ate had given her an explosive increase in experience points, but the problem was, her level was still stuck at level two.

The first wave of zombies had already arrived, and Number 66 was the first to go forward. Two fiery snakes rushed over aggressively, and the flames instantly burst into flames when they touched the zombies, filling the air with a burnt smell.

She alone managed to hold off more than a dozen zombies, but that was far from enough. Countless zombies surged forward, quickly engulfing the players, and soon shrill screams filled the air.

However, Xiao Cheng and Fang He, standing in the most conspicuous place, seemed to be completely outsiders. The zombies seemed to be completely unaware of their presence, passing by repeatedly but not making a move, and the atmosphere even seemed somewhat harmonious.

They tried to attack the zombies, but all their attacks seemed to be infinitely weakened, having no killing power whatsoever, and were even less effective than a tickle.

Even Qiao Liao, who was lying on the ground, was completely ignored. The zombies consciously detoured, forming an eerie open space that appeared peaceful and undisturbed amidst the squeaking and howling.

But Xiao Cheng didn't want to live a life of quiet desperation.

A zombie was knocked in front of her, rolled several times, and was almost broken apart, but it still stubbornly grabbed its severed arm and charged back without fear of death.

They didn't even glance at them.

"So what's going on here?" Xiao Cheng tried using her superpower again, but it was all in vain. She only managed to remove one of the zombies' left fingernails.

What's the point of this, damn it!

The other players seemed to completely ignore them, perhaps because they were too busy to do anything else. Even player number 66 didn't come over to mock them for not doing anything.

"I don't know, but it might be related to that mirage." Fang He was busy using his superpower to prolong Qiao Liao's life. The weakening effect on them here seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. Now they could barely last half a second. Qiao Liao's breathing was irregular, and he was practically jumping back and forth on the brink of death.

"A mirage?" Xiao Cheng squinted, gazing at the dilapidated building almost completely covered by yellow sand. Fortunately, no more zombies were coming out; the sandstorm had completely blocked the entrance. But even so, the swarming zombies would still be a serious problem for the players.

Fortunately, those who have survived to this day are all somewhat skilled. Although injuries are inevitable and blood is splattered everywhere, making the scene look somewhat inexplicably tragic, at least there have been no casualties in the battle.

“This won’t last long either,” Fang He said seriously. “At least for now, the level three zombies that No. 66 mentioned haven’t appeared yet.”

As another zombie flew to her feet, Xiao Cheng tried her superpower again, but this time she couldn't even remove a fingernail. Frustrated, she kicked the zombie, then watched helplessly as her calf passed right through its rotting body.

Xiao Cheng: "..."

Fang He also gave up on continuing to use his supernatural abilities to prolong Qiao Liao's life, otherwise he might have died of exhaustion here before Qiao Liao.

The bracelets on both of their wrists trembled simultaneously, and an electronic synthesized voice rang in their ears. It sounded crisp and loud, and seemed to carry a hint of human schadenfreude.

"Warning! Warning! Player identity verification error! The instance vulnerability has been automatically fixed! Identification of unknown source has failed and will be automatically deleted soon!"

An invisible barrier suddenly rose around them, completely imprisoning them within. Above their heads, countless sharp blades hung high, their tips all pointing downwards, falling with lightning speed.

"Holy crap! Is this how people die?!" Xiao Cheng's pupils shrank sharply, his mind racing, trying to find a glimmer of hope.

At the critical moment, Fang He suddenly pulled the tattered ID card from his pocket, slammed it against the transparent barrier, and shouted at the horde of zombies, "Listen! Can you recognize this?"

The words had barely left his mouth.

Time and space stood still, and the players even remained in the postures of using their powers. The attacks that had not yet landed hovered in the air, a large expanse of colorful light that looked exceptionally stunning.

The blade hovered less than half a meter above their heads in the unknown, its gleaming surface reflecting their slightly distorted shadows.

The barrier shattered silently.

An ordinary-looking zombie strolled leisurely out of the sea of ​​corpses. One of its eyeballs had fallen off, and the other eyeball looked strangely normal. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that it was actually an electronic prosthetic eye.

A faint red light emanated from the zombie's eyes, scanning the identity card in Fang He's hand from top to bottom. Then, the zombie slowly walked up to the two of them, circled them halfway, and finally leaned close to Xiao Cheng and sniffed hard.

“This is the taste.” A look of fascination appeared on its half-rotten face. “It’s the Insect Queen, the Insect Queen who can lead us to the ultimate evolution.”