Please… get up

"Hisssss!"

Behind them, six six-legged black widows suddenly sprang up simultaneously, leaping like fleas toward the two. Their six sharp claws spread wide—like demonic talons of death—radiating lethal intent.

But Huan Tian seemed oblivious. He suddenly shoved Lin Qingqing to the ground and swiftly kicked the second-tier nightmare crystal straight into the oncoming swarm of black widows!

The Desert Eagle pistol was raised high, its muzzle already locked onto the Tier-2 nightmare crystal!

"Ugly creatures! All of you, die!"

Bang!

The trigger was pulled. A Tier-1 nightmare bullet screamed out of the barrel, striking the airborne Tier-2 nightmare crystal with perfect precision!

The exquisitely crafted bullet shattered the stable energy structure of the Tier-2 crystal instantly, triggering a violent detonation of the energy contained within. Wild blue energy erupted skyward, fiercely exploding and raging through the corridor!

Boom!

The Tier-2 nightmare crystal's energy fully detonated, unleashing a blast on par with a high-explosive grenade.

The raging blue energy swept through half the corridor, causing chunks of the ceiling to collapse. The radiated force tore apart everything within a five-meter radius of the blast center. The five six-legged black widows directly above the crystal were instantly engulfed and shredded into pieces by the immense explosion!

But this was only the beginning!

The five insect bodies were blown apart, and their shattered shells collapsed, exposing the inner Tier-2 nightmare crystals to the open air. The lingering shockwave of the blast still raged, igniting the freshly exposed crystals immediately.

The second one, the third, the fourth, the fifth…

In an instant, the deaths of the five black widows triggered a chain reaction of explosions.

The expanding shockwaves spread over an even wider area. The remaining six-legged black widows, sensing danger, frantically tried to flee—

But their escape speed was far slower than the rapidly spreading explosions!

"Hisssss!"

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

Amid the explosion, the six-legged black widows were like leaves in a hurricane—utterly powerless, with only one inevitable outcome: total annihilation.

More and more insect bodies were torn apart, exposing more and more Tier-2 nightmare crystals to the air. Engulfed by the raging blue energy of the blasts, each crystal ignited, setting off even more intense chain reactions.

Like a line of falling dominoes, once Huan Tian triggered the first explosion, there was no stopping what came next. The chain reaction was unstoppable—unless every single six-legged black widow was completely wiped out.

The blasts were destined to sweep through the entire corridor. From the very first moment, Huan Tian threw himself over Lin Qingqing, holding her tightly as they pressed close together, arms locked around their chests.

Fortunately, this explosion wasn't like a grenade—there were no deadly fragments. But the shockwave was brutal. It slammed into them like a steel wall, pressing so hard that Huan Tian could hear his ribs creaking under the pressure.

The violent wave roared above them, tearing through everything in its path with unstoppable force. The zombies, in their way, didn't even have time to flee—they were shredded by the blast, their black blood and mangled limbs flying in all directions, turning the corridor into a vision of hell.

Soon, the six-legged black widows that had parasitized the zombies were also exposed to the terrifying blue storm. Just as the explosions behind them began to die down, new waves of detonations erupted ahead, even more ferocious and relentless.

Lin Qingqing felt as though she were weightless, thrown into the air. The shockwaves surged back and forth through the corridor, threatening to tear her apart.

But Huan Tian's solid chest shielded hers, his strong arms wrapped tightly around her body, guarding her back like iron armor.

In that moment, Lin Qingqing felt as if Huan Tian had become her shell—an unbreakable armor. As long as that shell held, she would not be harmed.

An indescribable sense of safety washed over her, leaving her momentarily dazed.

She felt—for the first time—that Huan Tian was protecting her with everything he had.

Was this the same Huan Tian she had known?

But reality made it clear: the coldness and indifference she once saw were merely his armor against the world. Deep within, he was a blazing fire that would never go out.

The chain explosion lasted a full ten minutes before finally dying down.

Exhausted, Lin Qingqing slowly lifted her head. Looking around, she saw that everything in the corridor had been obliterated.

Even the walls were pitted and scarred with craters and countless cracks—

As if the entire place had just been baptized by the wrath of doomsday.

Black blood pooled across the floor, and shattered fragments of insect carapaces were scattered everywhere. Not even a single intact limb or corpse remained—everything had been reduced to mangled flesh by the explosion.

Beneath her helmet, Lin Qingqing's lips parted slightly. A storm of emotion flashed in her eyes before overwhelming tears surged from their corners, unstoppable.

They had survived.

They had truly survived!

"Huan Tian, did you see that? We made it! We're alive—we made it!"

Tears of joy welled in Lin Qingqing's eyes as she shouted, unable to contain her excitement. She slapped Huan Tian's chest, trying to rouse him, but seconds passed, and he remained completely still on the floor.

"Huan Tian? Huan Tian, don't scare me… Huan Tian!"

A flicker of panic cracked through her voice. She hurriedly rolled him over and pulled off his full-face helmet, only to find his face unnaturally pale, drained of all color. Her heart skipped a beat. A deep, cold dread rose in her chest.

In that devastating explosion, she had been protected entirely in his embrace—

And Huan Tian had taken the full force of the blast for her.

His backpack had been torn to shreds in the explosion, leaving his back completely exposed to the shockwave. That impact alone could've stopped his heart instantly. If the shockwave hit his head as well, it could have caused severe brain trauma.

An explosion powerful enough to obliterate an entire corridor…

It could easily leave a man with fatal internal injuries.

Lin Qingqing immediately pried open his eyelids—

His pupils were contracted. He was unconscious and in critical condition.

Without hesitation, she clasped her hands together and pressed down on his chest, beginning CPR with firm, rapid compressions.

But still, Huan Tian didn't respond.

"Huan Tian, hold on! Can you hear me?!"

"Wake up! Please wake up!"

"Raaahhh!"

There was no reaction from him—

But the hoarse roar of a zombie echoed from the distance. Just one… for now. But if they were spotted, a whole horde would come swarming in at any moment.

Lin Qingqing's face turned ghostly pale. She glanced toward the far end of the corridor.

If she left Huan Tian behind—if she ran now—

She would have enough time to escape.

But then, a sudden look of fierce resolve flashed through her eyes.

With a grunt, she slid her arms beneath Huan Tian's and began dragging him toward the ruins of a nearby office.

The explosion had destroyed all the doors in the corridor. She didn't expect to hide from the zombies for long—she just hoped that the approaching monster might see the empty hallway and abandon its search.

But that hope was shattered in the next instant.

The roar came again, closer this time. The zombie hadn't turned away.

The scent of blood had only further awakened its bloodlust. It advanced slowly, cautiously, testing the path ahead.

Its footsteps made wet, sticky sounds as they squelched through blood and mangled tissue.

Based on the sound, Lin Qingqing quickly visualized the creature's behavior in her mind.

The deliberate movements—the intelligence in its pace—meant only one thing:

This wasn't an ordinary zombie.

It was a host parasitized by a six-legged black widow.

Her heart sank like a stone.

Against a normal zombie, she might have had a chance.

But against one of them, she didn't stand a chance.

"Huan Tian, please… get up… let's escape together… we still can!"

She quickened her CPR, switching to pounding on his chest with her fists. Then she yanked off her helmet, leaned over, and began giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

But each strike of her fist vanished into silence, met with no response.

And as her lips pressed against his, she felt it—

His warmth was fading.

Little by little, Huan Tian's body was growing cold.