Chapter 7
In the dark corridor on the second floor of the library, the teeth-grinding "cracking" sound was getting closer and closer, as if countless bones were dislocated and rubbing against each other.
Chen Mengzhou's gaze slowly shifted from the dark blue bone spur on the doorframe to Zhao Jun's face. The expression of "concern" and lingering panic on his face was perfect. If it weren't for her extraordinary perception, she would almost believe that his previous move was pure "heroism."
"Thank you." She repeated it again, without any warmth in her voice. Her gaze stayed on his hand on her waist for 0.1 second, then moved away as if nothing had happened, looking into the darkness where the voice came from.
Zhao Jun's heart skipped a beat. That look she had just given him...was it a coincidence? He quickly released his hand from his waist and assumed a defensive stance, facing the corridor. "What is that? It doesn't sound like one of those ordinary monsters!"
Excellent acting skills.
Chen Mengzhou ignored him and concentrated his attention. His time perception extended forward again, trying to capture the next few seconds of the thing in the darkness's movements.
A blurry image flashed by: she "saw" a pale, multi-arthropod insect-like figure suddenly rushing out from a reading room, so fast that it left an afterimage, and at the same time, it ejected more than one bone spur, covering a very wide area!
“Stand back!”
Chen Mengzhou growled, not out of concern, but because he didn't want him to get in the way or get in the way during the chaos.
She suddenly stepped back to the side, while pushing her hands forward!
"Buzz—"
The space in front of him suddenly twisted and folded violently, like a broken, shaking mirror!
Puff puff puff!
Several dark blue bone spikes shot out and crashed into this twisted space. Their trajectories instantly became chaotic and weird. Some were deflected to the ceiling and deeply nailed into the cement; some collided with each other, broke and fell to the ground; only one bone spike narrowly brushed past the corner of Chen Mengzhou's clothes and tore a small piece of cloth.
And the pale figure followed closely behind, screaming and rushing into the range of the distorted space!
Its speed suddenly stagnated, as if it had fallen into an invisible quagmire. Its body twisted in all kinds of unnatural angles, making teeth-grinding creaking sounds, as if it would be crushed by the power of space at any time!
Taking this opportunity, Chen Mengzhou took in its full appearance—a strange spider that looked like a patchwork of countless pale human bones. A half-rotten human head could be vaguely seen in the center of its torso, and a faint blue light flickered in its eye sockets. Each of its eight legs was covered in sharp bone spurs. The ones that had attacked them just now were the smaller bone spurs ejected from its mouthparts.
The spatial distortion lasted only two seconds before shattering. Chen Mengzhou's face paled slightly. Continuously using supernatural powers, especially defense and control at this range, consumed a considerable amount of energy.
The bone spider broke free from its restraints, let out a sharp hiss, and pounced again, but its speed was obviously slower!
Now is the time!
Chen Mengzhou flipped his wrist, and the saber fell into his palm again. He lowered his body and rushed forward like a cheetah!
She no longer used her spatial abilities, relying solely on her enhanced speed and reflexes to engage the mutant bone spider in close combat. The spider's leg spikes stabbed frantically, leaving trails of afterimages, but she always managed to dodge them by the hair of a millimeter at the crucial moment. The saber collided with the bone spikes, sending up tiny sparks.
She was saving her strength, familiarizing herself with the attack pattern of this mutant creature, and even more so... forcing Zhao Jun to take action.
She wanted to see how long this "companion" would hide.
Zhao Jun watched with trepidation. Was this woman's close combat prowess so formidable? Her uncanny anticipation and evasion weren't at all like that of a normal person! And that space-distorting technique just now... How many abilities did she have?
Seeing Chen Mengzhou gradually "struggling," being forced back by the bone spider until he neared the door to the other reading room, Zhao Jun knew he couldn't wait any longer. With the woman dead, facing this mutated bone spider alone was too risky. Furthermore, he needed to gain her trust, at least superficially.
There was a gleam in his eyes, and he seemed to have made up his mind.
"Miss Shen, I'm here to help you!" He roared, and suddenly pulled out a short-handled demolition crowbar that looked like an engineering tool from the side pocket of his backpack. He rushed forward with a brave posture, but cleverly chose the side and rear of the bone spider as the attack point.
However, the moment he rushed closer, his speed suddenly increased! The dark pattern under his feet flashed again!
"Bang!"
The crowbar made a heavy sound as it hit the joint of one of the bone spider's supporting legs accurately!
Snap!
With a crisp sound, the bony leg broke!
The bone spider let out a painful scream, its body suddenly tilted, and its attack instantly became chaotic.
A cold light flashed in Chen Mengzhou's eyes. He seized this fleeting opportunity and slid his body like a fish into the gap left by the bone spider due to its imbalance. The saber in his hand stabbed from bottom to top, fiercely into the suspected core area under the half-rotten human head!
Phew!
The dark blue liquid spurted out!
The bone spider's screaming stopped abruptly, and its huge skeleton fell to the ground with a crash. It twitched a few times and stopped moving.
The battle is over.
The second floor of the library returned to dead silence, with only the heavy breathing of the two people remaining.
Chen Mengzhou drew her saber, shook off the stain, and sheathed it. She panted slightly, sweat on her forehead, and looked exhausted.
Zhao Jun also leaned on the crowbar, breathing heavily, with fear and a hint of exhaustion from "trying his best" on his face. He quickly looked at Shen Mengzhou: "Miss Shen, are you okay? That was really dangerous just now!"
Chen Mengzhou stood up, his eyes fixed on his powerful crowbar, and then scanned the speed and precise strike point he had just struck.
"It's okay." She said calmly, no emotion in her tone. "You are very strong and fast."
Zhao Jun's heart skipped a beat, but a simple yet somewhat embarrassed smile appeared on his face: "Alas, I was forced to do this. It's the end of the world. If I didn't have some strength, I would have died long ago. I can't compare with your ability, Miss Shen."
He tried again to bring the focus back to her.
Chen Mengzhou didn't say anything else. She walked to the pile of scattered bones, poked them with the tip of her knife, and picked out an irregular crystal the size of a fingernail from the shattered core. It was shining with a faint blue light.
[Low-level energy crystals (corrosion/bone system) detected, can be absorbed and converted into a small amount of contribution points (calculated based on future dream rules)] The system prompt sounded at the right time.
Energy crystals? Contribution points? The hard currency of the future dream world has already appeared in this form?
She calmly held the crystal in her hand and could feel a weak and cold energy flowing into her body. It was slowly assimilated and absorbed by the space-time power, and her mental fatigue was relieved a little.
Zhao Jun watched her movements, his eyes intense for a moment, then quickly concealed it. He knew that these mutant creatures sometimes produced these crystals, but he didn't know their specific use. He only knew that some powerful monsters seemed to be attracted to them.
"What is this?" he asked with feigned curiosity.
"I'm not sure, but there seems to be some energy reaction." Chen Mengzhou said vaguely, put the crystal away, and then glanced into the depths of the corridor. "It's not safe here anymore. Let's look for anything useful and leave as soon as possible."
She took the lead and walked towards the reading room where the bone spider had just rushed out.
Zhao Jun watched her back with a complex expression. She had taken the crystal, as if she knew its value? How much had she seen through his probing and concealment? This woman named Chen Mengzhou was more difficult to deal with than he had imagined, and also more... valuable.
He gripped the crowbar and hurried after him, his expression once again becoming reliable and slightly ingratiating. "Yes, yes, let's search it quickly. I remember that old libraries like these sometimes have some emergency supplies or local maps. They might be useful."
Each with their own thoughts, they began searching the second floor of the library. The dark corridor was filled with the smell of moldy books and a faint scent of blood.
Temporary cooperation is still continuing, but the undercurrent beneath the surface is becoming increasingly turbulent.
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