88: The Falling Giant Eye

As if the shadow of an entire building had collapsed, a jelly-like body weighing dozens of tons slammed violently onto the composite armor plates on the roof of the bus.

Boom—!

The specialized shock-absorbing suspension let out an overburdened groan. The heavy truck bus, like a tin can kicked by a naughty child, tilted sharply to the left at nearly forty-five degrees.

Items inside the carriage crashed to one side, and the sound of the chassis keel being squeezed could be heard, a sound that set one's teeth on edge.

Su Chen's body swayed with the vehicle, but his hands gripping the console remained as steady as a rock.

Without any hesitation, and without even glancing at the armor plate overhead that was writhing frantically, his fingers swiped rapidly across the touch screen and snapped down on a red physical button.

All the lights in the vehicle were extinguished instantly.

Not just the headlights, but the dashboard backlight, the interior ambient lighting, and even the emergency exit indicators were completely cut off in that second.

The entire survival bus instantly blended into the surrounding ink-like night and mist, becoming a cold and silent steel tomb.

Only Su Chen's eyes, enhanced by Extreme Yang Inner Qi, contracted slightly in the darkness.

The hair-raising sound of suction cups rubbing came from overhead; it was the 'King of Time Devourers' searching for its prey.

This creature's sensitivity to light was ten thousand times that of a human. Without a light source, this vehicle with its engine off was just a cold stone that was difficult to bite into for it.

As long as there was silence for three minutes, it would leave because it couldn't find a heat source.

However, in this world, there is always a type of teammate called a 'pig'.

“Ah—! Don't come over! I have the Holy Light! I can purify you!”

A hysterical roar suddenly erupted from the rear carriage.

Immediately after, a beam of milky-white light, blinding enough to cause sight loss, pierced through the darkness Su Chen had carefully cultivated without warning. Like a high-intensity spotlight suddenly hitting a dark stage, it shot straight into the air.

The muscles at the corner of Su Chen's eyes twitched violently.

That idiot.

Turning on a high-powered flashlight in a territory full of Time Devourers was like cutting an artery in a shark tank to prove one's innocence; it wasn't just seeking death, it was delivering takeout.

Roar—!!

The rubbing sound overhead instantly turned into an excited roar.

The massive monster seemed to have caught the scent of the most delicious dessert. Its huge body writhed, and hundreds of compound eyes simultaneously locked onto the only light source in the rear carriage, smashing down frantically with devastating kinetic energy.

Sizzle—

The special alloy steel plates were torn open like paper under the monster's sharp claws. The ear-piercing sound of metal snapping exploded along with the screams of the women in the rear carriage.

Su Chen's figure vanished from the spot.

While that white light was still recklessly shining, Su Chen had already appeared at the junction of the front and rear carriages like a ghost.

He looked expressionlessly at Zhao Zihao, who was holding up his hands like a charlatan, attempting to use 'Level 1 Holy Light' to convert a Rank 5 Lord-class monster.

That face, distorted by fear, even carried a hint of self-intoxication known as 'heroism.'

Su Chen didn't waste words. His right hand reached out like an eagle's claw, and his five fingers instantly clamped onto Zhao Zihao's crown.

A domineering burst of Pure Yang Inner Energy surged through his fingertips. It wasn't for enhancement, but to crudely disperse the ability circuits that were forming within Zhao Zihao's brain region.

“Ugh...”

The white light in Zhao Zihao's eyes instantly dissipated. Without even a groan, he slumped to the ground like a boneless mollusk, his eyes rolling back.

That fatal 'Holy Light' was finally extinguished.

But the monster's claws had already torn open the roof. A mouth filled with fine, sharp teeth was squeezing through the crack, and foul-smelling saliva dripped onto the floor, corroding it with sizzling white smoke.

“Shen Qingqiu, directly above, Sword Ring!” Su Chen barked, his body tensing like a bow at the same time.

Though Shen Qingqiu's face was pale nearby, her combat instincts were excellent.

Without the slightest hesitation, she swung the longsword in her hand upward. The blade vibrated, emitting an extremely sharp, silk-tearing ring.

For the Time Devourers, who relied on sound waves and light for positioning, this sound was like nails scraping across a blackboard—extremely ear-piercing.

The monster's massive head instinctively turned toward the source of the sound, revealing the giant main eye, over a meter in diameter, protected in the center by layers of fleshy folds.

That was its only weakness and its only lethal point.

Now!

Su Chen didn't use the door; instead, he stepped directly onto Zhao Zihao's unconscious body for leverage, launching himself like a shell from a cannon through the torn gap in the roof.

In mid-air, his hands gripped thin air, and a pre-prepared, glowing red-hot rebar materialized out of nowhere.

“Get. Down!”

Su Chen exerted force from his waist and abdomen, his spine snapping like a bowstring. Gripping the rebar with both hands, he thrust it with the force of ten thousand catties into the giant eyeball that had just turned toward him.

Puchi!

Like a hot knife through butter, the rebar imbued with 'Extreme Yang Holy Fire' penetrated the monster's lens without resistance, sinking in up to the hilt.

The monster let out an earth-shaking wail, its massive body thrashing wildly in an attempt to shake off this flea.

Su Chen's feet were firmly attached to the monster's carapace as if rooted. He released the end of the rebar with his right hand, turning his palm into a fist, and delivered eighteen punches in a single second.

Inch Strength: Bone Penetration.

Every punch slammed into the end of the rebar, and every punch channeled a searing, violent burst of Extreme Yang Inner Qi through the rebar into the depths of the monster's brain.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The dull impact sounds were like war drums.

The monster's wails came to an abrupt halt.

The fragile neurons inside its skull were instantly carbonized into a mess under the dual assault of high temperature and vibration.

That mountain-like body instantly lost all signs of life, sliding limply off the roof. With a heavy thud, it crashed into the rubble of the gas station ruins, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Su Chen flipped lightly and landed on the ground, his boots stepping onto the monster's corpse without kicking up a speck of dust.

He pulled a tactical dagger from his waist, skillfully sliced open the cartilage between the monster's brows, and picked out a fist-sized core emitting a faint purple light.

The core felt as warm and smooth as jade, and the energy contained within made the Holy Yang Vortex inside Su Chen's body accelerate slightly.

“Good stuff,” Su Chen muttered, a satisfied curve appearing at the corner of his mouth as he casually wiped the blood off on the monster's corpse.

Only then did the sound of coughing start to come from the rear carriage.

Zhao Zihao clutched his head, which felt like it was splitting open, and staggered to his feet.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Su Chen standing on the massive monster's corpse, playing with the energy core that made his heart skip a beat, looking down at him with cold eyes.

“Su... Su Chen, I was just trying to save...” Zhao Zihao looked at the damaged walls of the vehicle and tried to explain, sounding a bit guilty.

“The outer armor of the hull is 15% damaged, and the rear cabin's airtightness has failed,” Su Chen interrupted him, his voice as flat as if he were reading an autopsy report. “Repairs will require three units of Metal Essence and one unit of High-Energy Fuel.”

He jumped off the corpse and walked step by step toward Zhao Zihao, the thick smell of blood forcing Zhao Zihao to retreat repeatedly.

“These losses will be deducted from your team's future food rations. Until the debt is paid.”

Su Chen extended a finger and poked the chest of Zhao Zihao's tattered suit, the force making the other man's sternum ache: “Also, given your ‘outstanding’ ability to taunt and pull aggro, you won't be staying inside the bus for the next battle. Take your shield and stand on the roof. You can come down when this debt is cleared.”

After saying that, Su Chen completely ignored Zhao Zihao's face, which had instantly turned as pale as paper, and turned to walk toward the cockpit.

“Drive. Let's get out of here,” he waved to Shen Qingqiu, who had just regained her senses, his fingers tightly clutching the purple core.

This Lord-class core, along with the scattered crystals collected earlier, seemed to have just reached a certain threshold.

Su Chen pushed open the door to the core cockpit. Feeling the searing heat coming from his palm, his gaze fell on the 'Synthesis Furnace' icon on the center console, which had always been displayed in gray.