The blade slid across the surface of the fist, leaving only a shallow white mark, without even breaking the skin.

A009 let out a disdainful sneer: "What is this? A tickle? Do you think I'm still the same person I was before?!"

His palm suddenly split open from the middle, and from the twisted crack emerged a gaping maw full of sharp teeth, which snapped into the blade with a crisp snap.

Fine cracks gradually spread out, and a piece of the dagger was bitten off, chewed up and swallowed by that mouth in a few bites like a potato chip. Then a bright red tongue stuck out and licked its lips with lingering satisfaction.

A009 raised his other hand as well, reaching out to grab Xiao Cheng fiercely.

Seeing that Xiao Cheng was at a disadvantage and had almost no way to avoid it, at this moment, a thin, barbed whip flew diagonally and wrapped tightly around A009's wrist with a crackling sound.

The whip was instantly taut, and Xiao Cheng took the opportunity to dodge the attack. While catching her breath, she turned to look at the owner of the whip.

It turned out to be player number 66.

"What are you waiting for?! Don't think I'm trying to save you out of kindness. You're the only one unharmed right now, so unleash all your fighting power! Otherwise, we're all going to die here!"

There were still traces of dark blood at the corners of her mouth, and she looked extremely weak, but she still used almost all her strength to hold onto A009 with the help of the whip.

But she didn't last long either.

The whip, unable to bear the weight, snapped in two with a snap. The immense force propelled her backward, sending her crashing to the ground. She writhed in agony, vomiting blood, and remained there for a long time, unable to get up.

Xiao Cheng knew that now was not the time to waste, and she did not waste the few dozen seconds she had gained. She suddenly gathered her strength and leaped up, almost breaking her limits. She tightly gripped the broken short knife in her hand, twisted the tip of the blade, and stabbed it straight down into A009's empty left eye socket.

Just as the blade was about to pierce through, A009 suddenly roared in fury, its head snapping back so hard it almost broke.

On his bent neck, a huge gash was revealed, from which a pure black ball of flesh the size of a head emerged, then suddenly burst forth countless snake-like black worms. They intertwined with each other, their heads of all sizes emitting a dizzying hissing sound.

Under their influence, Xiao Cheng's movements involuntarily trembled, causing the knife tip to pierce off course, barely grazing the edge of the fleshy ball and severing a small clump of insects in half.

A foul-smelling, viscous liquid slowly seeped from the cut surface, dripping onto A009's head. He opened his mouth wide in a frenzy, savoring the taste with satiated delight.

"Hehe, mine..." He widened his bloodshot left eye and stared intently at Xiao Cheng in a contorted posture.

The arm, studded with sharp bone spurs, slammed down on Xiao Cheng with a heavy thud. Xiao Cheng was thrown to the ground, the bone spurs piercing through her entire abdomen.

She almost fainted from the pain on the spot; blood was rapidly draining away, and she could feel her body gradually growing cold.

My mind was almost completely blank, there was no flashback, only one thought remained.

"Ah... I'm going to die."

A009 laughed more and more arrogantly, its head turned back to its original position, sharing the neck with the snake head on both sides, and they actually seemed to be getting along quite harmoniously.

He withdrew his arm, the bone spur was pulled out, and Xiao Cheng's body was pulled upwards before crashing heavily to the ground.

She coughed violently twice, and blood clots surged out of her throat, almost choking her.

The worm mother, which had been coiled around A009's fingers, slowly climbed upwards and finally landed directly above the snake's head, calmly coiling down like a crimson crown.

The tentacle monsters on the ground began to stir, some attacking the half-dead players, while others tentatively crawled towards Xiao Cheng.

The first tentacle carefully rubbed the blood on the ground, then looked up towards the direction of the insect mother. Seeing that it didn't react much, it let out a short hiss and impatiently began to gulp down the blood flowing from Xiao Cheng.

More and more tentacles were attracted by the blood, and the blood on the ground was quickly sucked dry. They shook their bodies, still not satisfied, preparing to attack Xiao Cheng directly.

A009 suddenly shouted, "That's enough!"

Immediately afterwards, the insect queen shook her head somewhat displeased and ordered all the tentacle monsters to retreat.

Xiao Cheng didn't know what he meant, but it seemed like he wasn't planning to kill her like that? Something was definitely fishy going on, and she didn't expect a freakish zombie to suddenly have a change of heart.

Sure enough, A009 paused for a moment, then said again in a gloomy tone, "I want to play something interesting. I need a grand celebration to celebrate my hard-won research results."

"Alright then, I will return your superpowers and grant you one last hunt." He raised his head arrogantly, like an emperor who held the power of life and death.

Under the fake sun, a huge display screen suddenly appeared, showing enormous blood-red numbers.

27.

They have twenty-seven players left.

Qiao Liao and Su Xin, who were originally isolated outside the barrier, were suddenly pulled up by an invisible force and slammed to the ground without any cushioning, immediately losing consciousness.

The tentacle monster on the ground suddenly began to decompose rapidly, with each tentacle breaking down into a burst of energetic, colorful light that quickly entered the players' bodies.

Xiao Cheng was no exception.

An uncontrollable surge of violent emotion rose up, the penetrating wound in his abdomen began to heal gradually, and countless fragmented sounds echoed in his mind.

"My...kill...hahahaha...they're all mine! Kill them all!"

Xiao Cheng's mind gradually became blurred, and the world began to spin before her eyes. Countless strange figures twisted and intertwined, eventually turning into the shape of A009, surrounding her in the center.

Countless mouths opened and closed, constantly urging, "Kill! Kill them all!"

Xiao Cheng, her head throbbing from the noise, finally snapped and yelled, "Shut the fuck up!"

Then all the sound really stopped abruptly.

After a long while, A009's sinister laugh rang out: "In the final hunt, only one can survive."

He returned to his normal human form, and beneath his feet, a massive stone pillar rose from the ground, propelling him upwards to near the sun. He sat cross-legged, looking down at the frenzied players with a satisfied smile.

“That’s it.” He turned to look at the insect queen. “You see, what I promised you before we started working together is about to be fulfilled.”