Damn it! Let's smash the darkness together!

[Status checked...]

[Scarred but full of unreleased energy, you decide to set sail again.]

[You head towards the direction of the sun, exploring the south.]

[You carry ten steel rods, over a meter long each, as weapons. Since they hinder movement when held, you tied them with a rope on your back, fanned out.]

["This time, I must return fully loaded," you silently vow, resembling an old general on stage, adorned with flags.]

[You find the buildings in the south crumbled like blocks, forming a large barrier in your path. After observing for a long while, you finally choose a narrow path ahead with light, and advance into it.]

[Initially narrow, and after dozens of steps, even narrower.]

[At the end, a thick iron door blocks the way. It looks like a dead end; maybe it's time to turn around and find another way, you...]

[You launch a series of powerful punches, smashing open the despairing iron door. Truly worthy of a Warrior! Just brute force it!]

[After a tense and thrilling search, you briefly assessed threats within a five-hundred-meter range, and started advancing further.]

[You walked a full kilometer without encountering any monster attacks. Feeling slightly pleased, you believe this road holds promise, and start heading southwest, thinking that if you reach that place, you might bypass the tunnel, too.]

[Outside an abandoned clinic, you suddenly hear several cries, "Help me, help me," a hoarse female voice emanates from inside, seemingly on the verge of being killed at any moment. You decide: ?]

[Following your conscience, you did not ignore the plea for help, and you approached cautiously without rashly entering but laying in ambush at the doorway.]

[After waiting quietly, you see three voluptuous, blonde women, stunningly beautiful, crawling outside in bikinis in the dead of winter, their eyes casting a seductive look at you.]

[The cries for help still emanate from their mouths as if they were still desperately pleading for help, yet they seemed unthreatened and very calm, expressionless.]

[Perhaps they too are refugees from a nearby shelter? Facing these three temptresses that could disrupt Yueyang City, you choose: ?]

[You throw a steel rod backwards, and it pierces through one of the beauties' heads on the spot!]

[Her gorgeous head shatters into four pieces, and you feel no remorse. Instead, you pull out a second rod, ready to completely eradicate them.]

["Abnormal situations always hide demons, I saw instantly she wasn't human."]

[Your method of judgment and reasons for action may be reckless, but your decisiveness is astounding!]

[As expected, upon being attacked, the remaining two women's faces turn ferocious. Their waists twist several times with their upper bodies anchored, and they rip off their human skin, revealing shiny black spider bodies underneath. Their eight long black legs shimmer coldly, while the human part of their upper bodies appear utterly disgusting and twisted, with wrinkly, sagging skin—no dairy cow even has such disgraceful, gigantic milking apparatus.]

["Ah, Black Widow?"]

[Although they look completely different from the shy, adorable Black Widows resembling noble princesses encountered before, you still identify their species—Alien Species·Black Widow]

[From their appearance, you conclude that these two Black Widows are far inferior to the one you encountered before. They can only don human skins to pose as humans and cannot actually speak.]

"They seem to be just using the vocal cords of the dead, imitating their screams before death, so they keep calling for help!"

"Damn beast," you snarl in anger at such desecration of a fellow species' corpse.

With a popping sound, two Black Widow Spiders arch their abdomens, raising their rears to shoot a large clump of white webbing at you.

Black Widow: Spit Silk!

"Barking up the wrong tree!" You unceremoniously retaliate, opening your mouth to spray out a web; your spray far stronger and fiercer, instantly covering one and pinning her against the wall, binding her temporarily.

But you too are covered by another web. The webbing's thick and resilient as you struggle forcefully.

The scent of kin supremacy you emitted while spitting silk instilled panic and then rage in the remaining Black Widow. She took advantage of your confinement to lift her sharp front claws towards your head.

Your skin might be rough and tough, but a spike through your frontal lobe would kill you on the spot—every creature has weaknesses, monsters and you alike.

However, her rage turned into erotic confusion in a second, thanks to a skill you bestowed upon her: Charm as Smooth as Silk.

This silvery, transparent, stretchable skill proved far more useful than white silk.

She whimpered, suddenly embracing you, starting to shower you with light kisses and licks, cleaning your face of the sticky fluid. Her fat spider abdomen undulated as she pitifully sought your affections.

You're quite enticing! True to an Enchanting Demon! A vicious one at that! Facing adversaries of the opposite sex in single combat, you're nothing short of a disaster!

The charmed Black Widow suddenly came into heat, causing her sisters to stare dumbfounded, even forgetting to struggle against the web that bound them.

This gave you enough time to break free, having thorough knowledge of the Black Widow family's physiology, knowing her weakness wasn't that human head, but the small heart deep within her abdomen!

You turned your hand into a claw and cruelly tore through her belly, sparing the offspring, effectively killing her.

And in your hand, you clutched a dripping white Erosion Crystal, scorchingly hot!

Showing no mercy, you attacked the remaining two Black Widows, seizing the initiative and ultimately killing them too.

You counted the filaments inside the three Erosion Crystals, finding them to be, astonishingly, one level 7 and two level 5.

And the cost to you was much less than when you'd killed Beautiful Snake—merely some scratches on your chest and abdomen.

That's the advantage of a preemptive strike, otherwise, you would have suffered far worse injuries, maybe even died in battle here.

After a brief rest, you continued forward, reaching a large lake blocking the way after another kilometer, which could be crossed via a large bridge.

You were thrilled to discover that crossing this bridge could bypass that tunnel, bringing you very close to the shelter Zhang Zheng mentioned!

You resolutely chose to climb onto the bridge, observing the rusty old cars littering it, mostly bumper to bumper, battered, and this sight helped you imagine the catastrophe that occurred here.

The bridge stretched over two kilometers, you carefully and swiftly moved along the side, reaching halfway, when three monsters with bat-like wings, lion-like bodies, and fierce human heads caught up from behind!

"Damn, so you three were here!"

Upon seeing the close-up of the monster on the screen, Xu Shu immediately flared up.

The old acquaintance!

This was clearly the human-headed griffin he had simulated before, which had eaten him once; the memory of being eaten bite by bite was unforgettable.

The issue was, the three griffins were quite strong, each probably as capable as a land shark.

Facing one head-on, Xu Shu had a slim hope, but facing two was definitely futile, and three would undoubtedly be fatal.

[Upon encountering your foes, your hatred flares! Three human-headed griffins block your escape route, beneath the bridge lies a dark, calm lake—it appears safe, perhaps diving into it might offer a slim chance for a level up?]

[Your choice is…]

[Good heavens, you crouch to build momentum and then shoot out like a rocket, sprinting toward the end of the bridge in front!]

[The three human-headed griffins reacted a beat too slow, flapping their wings in pursuit, and for a moment they could not catch you.]

[Your heavy footsteps pounding on the bridge sounded like cannon fire, the human-headed griffins could only eat your dust.]

[You ran madly for several kilometers, and the other end of the bridge was now in sight…]

"Good!"

Xu Shu let out a breath of relief and waved his fist as if to celebrate.

It turned out, though Warriors were slightly lacking in agility, agility mainly affected the finer details such as darting about and dodging in small areas.

But in a straight-line run, a Warrior's physical strength and stamina provided a particularly fierce burst of speed—and it lasted!

Xu Shu had already completely understood his own strength through several bouts of fighting, which was why he made this choice to "flee without fighting."

He even saw the distance between himself and the three griffins increasing.

The human-headed griffins were preparing to fly high into the air, circling to find an opportunity—evidently prolonged low-altitude pursuit was not advantageous for their large frame.

But given the right conditions to adjust, those on the ground would ultimately never outpace those in the air.

However, Xu Shu's target was the end of the bridge!

He didn't need to keep outrunning the human-headed griffins indefinitely; once he reached the other side, which had many ruined buildings, he hoped to use the terrain to shake off the three griffins.

The end of the bridge was getting closer and closer!

Xu Shu's powerful heart pounded wildly.

I can do it! Victory is in sight!

Suddenly—

Snap!

Everything went black before his eyes.

Then, the interface for settling scores lit up:

[You have died, your journey has ended, calculating results…]

What?

What the hell?

Why did I die?

This time, why didn't I even feel any pain?

Xu Shu, in his vehement rush, was completely dumbfounded.

It felt as if just as he was about to reach the peak, someone forcibly pushed him back.

It was extremely uncomfortable!

Could it be that I exceeded the map range simulated by the Tai Chu Scroll, automatically wiping out my simulated consciousness?

That shouldn't be right, the Tai Chu Scroll's sophistication was supposed to be very high; in the legends, it even accurately simulated gods.

How could it fail to continue the simulation simply because of exceeding the map?

Since it's not a map issue, having ruled out the possibility of "later exploration of the area ahead," Xu Shu could preliminarily conclude.

There must be some other monster or strange thing lurking at the end of the bridge.

And it's strong!

So strong that he didn't even realize what happened and was "brain-dead" on the spot!

After several journeys, Xu Shu knew that the standard for ending a journey in simulation mode was his "complete brain-death."

As long as even a tiny bit of consciousness remained, the simulation would continue, like the last time he was dismembered by the griffins leaving only his head, still simulating until they finished eating him, the land shark, and another companion.

And then there was the time he actually died when the Nagoul's little demon… no, damn it, why am I recalling that stuff?

In any case, there's definitely a very dangerous monster at the bridgehead.

"Damn it, that place had such high hopes of escape, just a little bit more... need to think of a way."

Xu Shu touched his head, looking toward the settlement interface with a heavy heart.