"Bang!"

With a muffled sound, Chu Xiu fell to the ground.

Darkness enveloped him, and the air was filled with a faint, rotten odor, reminiscent of an ancient tomb left undisturbed for years.

"Snap."

A faint light rose beside Chu Xiu. It was an artifact he possessed that could emit light.

The bright light illuminated the dim underground, revealing a long corridor ahead of Chu Xiu, with an elevator at the end descending downwards.

At that moment, the mission prompt sounded.

[You have arrived at the target location.]

[Mission update: Find the person in charge of the shelter.]

"Person in charge?" Chu Xiu frowned slightly.

He could sense that the oxygen levels in the air were very low, most likely due to the shelter's ventilation system being damaged. It was hard to imagine anyone surviving in such conditions.

But... who said the person in charge had to be human?

Without further thought, Chu Xiu stepped in front of the elevator and pressed a button, which, as expected, elicited no response. It seemed the entire energy system of the shelter had collapsed.

He used both hands to pry open the elevator's outer door, tearing it apart with a grating screech of metal, then leaped forward, plunging down the dark elevator shaft.

After dropping about thirty meters, he landed heavily on the top of the elevator at the bottom. Chu Xiu casually swung his Perfect Quality Horse-slaying Saber a few times, easily destroying the elevator roof. Along with it, he dropped into the shelter, officially entering it.

A long corridor stretched before him again, leading to a living area after crossing it. The corridor was lined with numerous vacant rooms, including office spaces, residential zones, and even a children's playground.

But they were all deserted now, with scattered documents everywhere and thick dust covering the tables, as if some catastrophe had struck this place long ago.

Chu Xiu leaned closer to examine a wall of the children's playground, noticing large, dried bloodstains and sharp claw marks, as if some creature had been caged here, desperately clawing at the walls.

He continued forward, finding a large field where all the crops had withered, and in one corner lay two charred corpses, seemingly a mother holding her child.

"I wonder what happened here."

Various theories flashed through Chu Xiu's mind: perhaps the curse of the Corpse Demon had infiltrated, causing Corpse Demons to appear inside, or perhaps food became scarce, leading to deadly struggles among the residents, or maybe the shelter suffered a malfunction, damaging the life support system, and so on.

While lost in thought, Chu Xiu noticed something from the corner of his eye. He swiftly turned his head to look at the ceiling!

There, a surveillance camera was silently aimed at Chu Xiu, but due to the energy loss, its lens hung down like a weary person.

However, Chu Xiu distinctly sensed a flash of light from that camera just now.

"Interesting, there's still some unused energy left?" Chu Xiu chuckled.

He never doubted his Perception Ability; he was sure of what he had just seen. His entry had clearly been noticed by the shelter's overseer.

He hadn't planned to hide anyway and continued moving deeper inside.

At a crossroad intersection, he suddenly heard the faint "buzz" of machinery, and the entire shelter seemed to come alive as incandescent lights lit up, with four cameras at the entrance simultaneously zooming in on him.

The next moment, ceiling panels abruptly flipped open, and two suspended flamethrowers descended, spewing fierce tongues of fire at Chu Xiu!

Fueled by high-pressure liquid, the flames reached temperatures of three thousand degrees Celsius and could extend thirty meters, engulfing the entire corridor!

But Chu Xiu reacted swiftly, leaping back in the instant the ceiling opened, evading the scorching flames. Simultaneously, his Bone-Piercing Nails fired in sequence, and with two resounding "bangs," the flamethrowers were punctured and began burning on the spot.

His expression darkened slightly. If he hadn't dodged in time, he'd have been caught in the fire. Though not fatal to him, it would have been somewhat embarrassing.

Then a cold female voice echoed from a corner speaker: "Intruder, leave immediately, or I will resort to forceful eviction."

Chu Xiu sneered. So, realizing that its attack was easily neutralized, it resorted to threats? The average Awakened would have already been incinerated in the three-thousand-degree inferno.

Chu Xiu asked, "Are you the person in charge here?"

However, the voice didn't respond, merely repeating, "Leave immediately, or I will initiate eviction procedures."

Seeing the unwillingness to communicate, Chu Xiu said no more and continued moving forward. As he did so, there was a cold snort from the speaker. Just then, a heavy iron door in the corridor abruptly lifted, and a humanoid Corpse Demon, clad in Heavy Plate Armor, stormed out, brandishing a War Axe and charging at him with a roar!

Chu Xiu didn't flinch; the Celestial Demon Hand emerged and smashed the Corpse Demon, armor and all, into a bloody pulp with a single punch.

Blood splattered like a burst tomato, coating the walls.

"..."

This scene silenced the "person in charge" of the shelter for a long while before her voice returned: "Outsider, what do you want? Gold or food?"

"I dislike those who hide," Chu Xiu calmly replied. "If you're willing to come out, perhaps we can talk."

There was no response, as if the other side was contemplating. After a while, a cold laugh echoed: "Outsider, don't be ungrateful. Do you think the shelter's defenses are limited to this?"

"Moreover, you'll never find my location. I'll give you one more warning: leave immediately."

Hearing this, Chu Xiu had nothing more to say. He waved his Yin Wind Banner, and numerous Ghosts surged forth, spreading out to explore in every direction.

His initial exploration revealed that the shelter covered a vast area, and searching it on his own would be quite time-consuming.

Seeing him unwilling to retreat, the voice immediately went silent. Then with only the sound of "clang," all the doors in the shelter sealed shut.

These iron doors were forged from high-strength steel several centimeters thick, extremely solid, but to Chu Xiu, they were mere decorations. With a blast of his Frenzied Celestial Demon Hand, a single punch created a huge dent in the middle of the door, bending the lock. With another punch, the lock completely broke, sending the entire door flying out.

Chu Xiu rampaged through the shelter like a bulldozer.

All around were scattered flamethrowers and automated turrets, along with many cryptic ghouls wielding human weapons.

After Chu Xiu dispatched these ghouls, their equipment would drop directly, unlike ordinary monsters.

Of course, these ghouls posed no real threat to Chu Xiu, each falling with a single punch, but a few scouting Yin Ghosts were caught in the shelter's traps and had their Soul Bodies shattered.

Strangely enough, after searching the shelter up and down for more than half an hour, he found no trace of any person.

This made Chu Xiu thoughtfully stroke his chin.

"Is there a hidden chamber? No wonder they're so confident."

"But do they think such tricks will stop me?"

Chu Xiu let out a cold laugh, altering his strategy. He instructed the scouting ghosts to transform into Soul Body forms and squeeze into the ventilation ducts to search, while others infiltrated the wall crevices, tracing the circuits embedded within.

Even if there were hidden chambers in the shelter, it couldn't be fully isolated. The ventilation systems, power supplies—these inevitably leave traces.

Sure enough, after another round of searching, Chu Xiu successfully discovered a hidden passageway leading further down on the fourth underground level!

It was concealed behind a large desk in a sizable office.

"Boom!"

With a punch from Chu Xiu, the cement wall behind the desk shattered, revealing a staircase leading downward.

At this moment, the voice echoed again, "Intruder, the guard in the secret chamber is far tighter than you imagine. It's still not too late to turn back. Name your price, I'm willing to offer some supplies."

"But if you insist on moving forward, don't blame me for not holding back."

Facing the voice's threat, Chu Xiu didn't bother to respond. Without hesitation, he descended the stairs, while the voice cursed in frustration and fell silent again.

Chu Xiu continued down the secret passage, reaching its deepest point with ease.

The space was a spacious, brightly lit laboratory, which, unlike other cluttered areas, remained spotlessly clean. Clearly, someone regularly maintained it. Glass walls sectioned off individual experimental areas, filled with numerous high-tech pieces of equipment Chu Xiu didn't recognize, but they clearly appeared advanced.

Chu Xiu casually clicked on a computer, surprisingly discovering that it seemed to lack an operating system. No, to be precise, its operating system didn't seem intended for humans, with no desktop, icons, or text, only streams of 0s and 1s.

"Is this some kind of encryption method?"

Chu Xiu didn't ponder it further; his nature wasn't suited for this unfamiliar domain. He simply continued forward.

At the lab's end, there was another iron door. Just as Chu Xiu intended to enter, the door unexpectedly swung open on its own. The slight sound of rollers moving emanated from behind the door, tensing Chu Xiu without a second's delay. He rolled forward, manifesting his Celestial Demon Hand as shields to protect himself!

The next instant, amidst the gunpowder's roar, a barrage of armor-piercing rounds gushed out!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

In the deafening burst of gunfire, the terrifying metal storm annihilated everything in the lab! Wherever the gun barrel aimed, all instruments were destroyed. Even walls of solid bulletproof glass shattered under the fierce artillery!

Countless debris fell to the ground, creating a "crackling" sound.

Several seconds later, seemingly due to an overheated gun barrel, the ear-piercing firing noise finally ceased. Chu Xiu, with a grave expression, looked up to find a towering corpse demon emerging from behind the door. The creature wore heavy exoskeleton armor and brandished what appeared to be a cannon torn from a fighter jet, its six 20-centimeter caliber barrels glowing red-hot.

This large cannon, designed for aircraft, had enough power to destroy a heavy tank!

Though Chu Xiu had tried to evade, he was still hit by dozens of rounds, and fissures appeared on the surface of his Frenzied Celestial Demon Hand, filling him with shock.

Then, Chu Xiu noticed something else, his eyes narrowing.

The back half of the cannon seemed fused into the corpse demon's arm, with the ammo belt extending into the demon's body. A large sac on its back appeared to be storing the bullets!

Chu Xiu recalled that all the ghouls he'd encountered in the shelter were like this, fused with human weapons!

"What a pity, despite the strong weapons, the corpse demon's foundational strength is quite ordinary."

Confident in his appraisal, Chu Xiu surged forward. The corpse demon immediately swung its cannon, the six-barrel wheel starting to spin, but Chu Xiu was far faster. As he charged, the enhanced Blood Curse Bone-Piercing Nail shot out with a "bang," directly blowing the corpse demon's head to pieces.

"Bang."

The demon's body fell, releasing an item as it hit the ground.

[Vulcan Machine Cannon (Perfect)]

"Great stuff," Chu Xiu cheerfully collected it.

This weapon was particularly effective against large creatures.

He then stepped towards the iron door at the end.

The loudspeaker came to life again, and this time the female voice softened, pleading with Chu Xiu not to go any further, offering a generous supply of food, weapons—anything Chu Xiu desired.

But Chu Xiu ignored it entirely.

He passed through the iron door, navigating the corridor to its end. With yet another door blown open by his Celestial Demon Hand, a spacious hall unfolded before him.

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