69: Chapter 69: They found someone alive!

Lu Cheng only looked for two seconds before making a decision.

"Lin Tianjian."

Lin Tianjian raised his eyes: "Speak."

Lu Cheng turned around, scanned the group, his tone very concise.

"You take the team and pull back to the perimeter, head to a farther area to clear out exotic beasts."

"Stop fighting right next to the Abandoned City. The situation here is wrong; even Tier 3 ones are running out. If you drag this out, you won't be able to handle what comes charging out next."

Chen Wu frowned: "Then what about you?"

Lu Cheng raised a finger and pointed into the city.

"I'm going in."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the people around him changed.

"Go in?!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"Even the GPS is completely scrambled in there right now, why are you going in alone?"

Ma Dachun's scalp tingled, and his voice went up an octave.

"Brother Cheng! Bro! Even though you can take down Tier 3 monsters, it's definitely even more dangerous inside. We're here to help, sure, but... there's no need to go this far..."

Lu Cheng didn't explain much; he just looked at Lin Tianjian.

"Monsters will keep charging out of the perimeter here. Clear them from further away, and don't let the team scatter."

Lin Tianjian stared at him, silent for a few seconds.

He actually wanted to say that he could go in too. But the words reached his lips, and he forced them back down.

The four Tier 3 Polluted Exotic Beasts from just now had already made the gap in strength very clear.

If he really went deep into the Abandoned City, he might not be able to help, and instead, he might just hold Lu Cheng back.

Lin Tianjian's hand gripping the sword hilt tightened, and finally, he nodded.

"Alright."

Lu Cheng looked at the others.

"Listen to him. Before I return, no one is to charge inside."

Ma Dachun opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but after holding it in for a long time, he only managed to squeeze out: "Don't go and get yourself killed..."

Lu Cheng chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm tough."

After saying that, he prepared to leave.

Lin Tianjian suddenly spoke up: "Lu Cheng."

Lu Cheng paused, turning his head to look at him.

Lin Tianjian watched him, his face still wearing that cold expression, but his words were brief.

"Come back alive."

Lu Cheng looked at him and nodded.

"Sure."

The next second.

He stomped his foot and charged directly into the depths of the Abandoned City.

...

The further he went in, the more bizarre the surroundings became.

Broken streets, slanted buildings, shattered billboards, and charred vehicle wreckage were all wrapped in a layer of blue-purple mist.

The mist was thick, rolling along the ground and burrowing through cracks in the buildings. Even the air carried a strange stench of rot, metal, and blood mixed together.

As soon as Lu Cheng rushed to the edge of the central area, the locator at his waist began to flash frantically. Beep—beep—zzzt—

The coordinates on the screen jumped around wildly. A few seconds later, the screen went black.

"Fine then."

Lu Cheng glanced down and casually stuffed the locator back into his waist.

"It's completely dead."

For the rest, he would have to rely on himself.

With a thought, the holy radiance on his Dragon Scale Holy Armor brightened, illuminating the surrounding dozen meters clearly with its golden-white light.

The outlines of the ruins, which had previously been obscured by the blue-purple mist, gradually revealed themselves. His field of vision widened significantly.

Crack!

A harsh grating sound suddenly came from the ruined building on his left.

The next second, three Polluted Exotic Beasts lunged out from the broken windows.

One looked like a wolf, with half its face rotted away and black shreds of meat hanging between its teeth. Another had long, thin limbs and a split-open stomach, from which viscous fluid was still dripping.

The last one had a head swollen like a tumor, with one eye larger than the other, and it was emitting a strange sound like a crying baby as it rushed out.

"Disgusting... honestly, if I looked like you, I wouldn't have the face to see anyone..."

Lu Cheng's eyes turned cold, and his figure lunged forward instantly.

Bang!

Two punches smashed the head of the lead wolf-like Pollution Beast and the neck of the second one.

When the tumor-headed one lunged into mid-air, Lu Cheng had already raised his leg for a whip kick. The power augmented by the Dragon Scale Holy Armor exploded, kicking the thing into the wall, embedding half its body into it.

He stepped forward and delivered a finishing punch.

Filthy blood sprayed everywhere. The surroundings returned to silence.

Lu Cheng shook his hands and continued forward.

The sense of guidance toward "Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck" became increasingly obvious, pulling him deeper like an invisible thread.

After walking for about ten minutes.

A muffled sound suddenly came from ahead.

Bang!

Bang!

And the sound of weapons striking flesh.

Lu Cheng's gaze tightened, and he immediately lowered his steps, moving toward the sound.

After passing through a half-collapsed commercial street, he finally saw the scene ahead.

There were still survivors there.

Three soldiers.

They were all severely injured, their combat uniforms tattered, covered in blood, and barely holding on while leaning against an overturned armored vehicle.

And in front of them, a monster was slowly writhing.

The sight made Lu Cheng frown. A tentacle monster.

Its main body was like a huge, rotting ball of flesh, its surface covered in layers of pustules. In the center of the flesh ball, a circular mouthpart split open, filled with rings of fine, sharp teeth.

Beneath it dragged seven or eight thick tentacles, each covered in barbs and suckers, with bone-blade-like tips at the ends. Fragments of half-melted military equipment and flesh hung from those tentacles.

The aura of this thing was heavy.

It was a cut above the ordinary Tier 3 Pollution Beasts Lu Cheng had ruthlessly killed on the perimeter.

Lu Cheng's eyes darkened slightly.

This guy was almost touching the threshold of Tier 4.

The three soldiers ahead were clearly at the end of their rope.

They were only holding on by their last breath to buy time.

And in their hands, they were desperately guarding a metal case and a few items wrapped in anti-pollution cloth.

They were clutching them tightly.

The three soldiers also saw the holy radiance on Lu Cheng.

A student?

The soldier gritted his teeth and shouted at Lu Cheng:

"Are you a student! Quickly... take these things and leave... give them to... Commander Ji!"

His speech was intermittent, and blood was overflowing from the corner of his mouth. The other two were also staring intensely at Lu Cheng, their eyes filled with urgency.

Lu Cheng didn't answer immediately.

He first looked at the tentacle monster.

The holy runes on the surface of the Dragon Scale Holy Armor lit up slightly, the golden-white light flickering in the mist.

The tentacle monster seemed to sense a threat; several tentacles rose simultaneously, and a sharp screech emitted from its mouthpart.

Lu Cheng loosened his wrists and said indifferently.

"I don't pass on last words for others."

The three soldiers were stunned.

The next second.

Boom!

The ground beneath Lu Cheng's feet exploded, and he turned into a golden-white afterimage, instantly rushing out!

The tentacle monster reacted quickly; seven or eight tentacles lashed out simultaneously, causing the air to crack with sonic booms.

Lu Cheng shifted his body, fully utilizing Wandering Step, cutting hard between two tentacles. His right fist, wrapped in holy radiance, slammed directly into the main mass of rotting flesh!

Bang!!!

A wave of flesh exploded. The tentacle monster's entire body was knocked rolling backward, its tentacles twisting frantically, splashing black-green pus everywhere.

"Roar!"

It shrieked, and all its tentacles twisted toward Lu Cheng to strangle him.

The speed was extremely fast.

The power was also absurdly high.

One tentacle lashed against the nearby armored vehicle wreckage, and a deep gash was cut into the thick steel plate on the spot.

The three soldiers behind him felt their eyelids jump wildly.

This thing had used this move just now and almost crushed them to death!

Lu Cheng, however, didn't retreat at all.

The holy radiance on the surface of the Dragon Scale Holy Armor suddenly flared.

Dragon Rage!

Boom!

An even stronger Dragon Might exploded from him, scattering the surrounding blue-purple mist in a circle. The tentacle monster's movements noticeably stalled.

Lu Cheng seized this moment, charging up while tanking two tentacles. His left hand grabbed one of them, his five fingers exerted force, and with a crack, he forcibly twisted the thick tentacle off!

Black blood sprayed wildly. Holy flames burned up along the severed end. The tentacle monster shrieked frantically, and the remaining tentacles lashed out like crazy.

Lu Cheng raised his arms to block.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Dragon Scale Holy Armor dissipated the impact layer by layer. He only retreated half a step, then immediately charged forward again, punching into the monster's central mouthpart!

Bang!

A patch of sharp teeth shattered. These three were not designated as Lu Cheng's teammates, but with the damage reduction from Lone Hero and the hardness of the Dragon Scale Holy Armor, Lu Cheng was terrifyingly strong right now!

The monster's main flesh ball convulsed violently, and a fleshy tongue covered in barbs extended from deep within the mouthpart, stabbing toward Lu Cheng's face.

"Disgusting."

Lu Cheng cursed under his breath, raised his hand to grab the fleshy tongue, and yanked it outward!

Splat!

Half the tongue was ripped off by him.

The tentacle monster went completely mad, its entire body swelling, and the pustules on its surface lit up one by one with purple-black light.

The soldier behind him turned pale.

"Careful! It's going to spray pollution!"

Before he finished speaking.

Lu Cheng had already raised his hand first.

Holy Barrier of Light!

Hum!!!

A huge golden-white Holy Barrier instantly unfolded in front of him.

The next second, a large amount of purple-black pus and arrows of pollution mist slammed into the Holy Barrier, creating dense explosive sounds and continuous hissing. The surrounding ground was corroded, emitting white smoke. But the Holy Barrier remained steady, not even shaking.

The three soldiers were dumbfounded.

This... is he really a student?

The moment the pollution spray ended, Lu Cheng withdrew the Holy Barrier and charged again.

This time, he didn't hold back.

The holy flames on the Dragon Scale Holy Armor spread all the way to his fist, and a vague phantom of a dragon's head even appeared behind him.

Collapsing Fist - Three Styles: Origin!

Boom!!!

The entire tentacle monster exploded from the middle. Before the shredded meat and black blood could fly far, they were curled and charred by the holy flames, and a large amount of pollution aura was purified on the spot. A deep crater was blasted into the ground ahead.

The tentacle monster, dead!

The surroundings quieted down.

Only the blue-purple mist continued to roll slowly.

Lu Cheng shook the filthy blood off his hands and turned to look at the three soldiers.

"What's the situation now?"

The three were still dazed.

Especially the soldier who had called out earlier; he was completely stunned.

He opened his mouth, staring at the Dragon Scale Holy Armor on Lu Cheng, then looked at the pile of burning tentacle monster remains on the ground, his brain unable to process it for a moment.

Lu Cheng added, "I am a student from No. 3 High School here to provide support."

"Student?"

The soldier repeated it subconsciously, his voice drifting. He looked at Lu Cheng, his eyes full of shock.

Are students these days this fierce?

This monster is a Tier 3 Polluted Exotic Beast!

And it's a mutated Polluted Exotic Beast; the three of them, all in the Meridian Opening Realm, couldn't beat it... Yet this student rushed up and smashed it to pieces with a few punches?

The other two soldiers beside him had a similar expression.

Among them, the soldier with the severed arm even cursed under his breath, "Are they teaching this in school now?"

These polluted creatures were naturally countered by the Dragon Scale Holy Armor. If it were a high-level martial artist in the Meridian Opening Realm, Lu Cheng might not have won so easily. He looked at the injured soldier and asked, "What is the situation in the Abandoned City now?"

The soldier with the lighter injuries suddenly snapped back to reality, quickly suppressing his shock, and spoke rapidly: "There are Tier 4 monsters in the city center... Commander Ji and Commander Zhao are both in the very center, holding those monsters back."

"We are responsible for bringing the items back to the Military District..."

As he said this, he looked down at the metal case in his arms, his gaze intense.

Lu Cheng followed his line of sight.

"What are these things?"

The three soldiers looked at each other and finally shook their heads.

"We don't know either."

"The mission is a death order; it only says it must be brought back, and the priority is higher than our own lives."

After saying this, the soldier said solemnly to Lu Cheng, "Thank you very much for your rescue... It's dangerous here, student, please leave here with us..."

But as soon as he said this, he stopped himself. Because he knew clearly in his heart. Leave? How could it be that easy.

Within the mist, the environment of the Abandoned City was constantly changing; streets, buildings, and signals were all being affected by the pollution. Getting in was easy, but getting out was hard...

The three of them had been forced here while trying to retreat. Now communication was cut, the routes were chaotic, and monsters were wandering outside. To get out alive, they could only wait for Commander Ji and the others to deal with the Tier 4 pollution monsters in the center, or wait for Rong City to send stronger reinforcements to meet them.

Thinking of this, the soldier's expression darkened even further. He gritted his teeth and said, "Student... the top priority is for us to find a relatively hidden place to stay, wait for Commander Ji to resolve the Tier 4 monsters, or for Rong City to send support..."

Lu Cheng didn't answer immediately.

His gaze landed on the items wrapped in anti-pollution cloth. Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck was still alerting him. These things were very important.

Lu Cheng already had a judgment in his heart. The best choice was to get them and the items out together.

Just as he was about to speak... The mist about a hundred meters ahead was suddenly torn apart by a terrifying force!

Boom!!!

A huge shockwave instantly spread out, blowing away broken walls, rubble, and vehicle wreckage, and even shaking the ground fiercely!