40: Chapter 40: Massacre!

Mutation.

The second this thought flashed through Su Ye's mind, the wild cat crouching beside the trash can suddenly moved.

Whoosh!

There was no warning.

Like a shadow ignited in an instant, it lunged out, hugging the ground. It was so fast that Su Ye's eyelids twitched violently. Under the streetlamp, it had just been arching its back, but the next moment it had already torn across several meters. Its sharp claws were extended, its fangs were stark white, and it headed straight for Su Ye's neck.

Too fast.

If it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn't even be able to see it clearly before having their throat slit by a single claw.

But Su Ye was not an ordinary person.

The moment that shadow lunged, his Mental Energy exploded outward like an invisible curtain of water, covering the surroundings. The surging crowd by the street, the flickering headlights, the light and shadows reflected on the billboards by the road, and even the plastic bags whipped up by the wind—everything seemed to slow down at that moment.

Under the perception that rippled out like water waves from Su Ye.

The trajectory of the cat demon's lunge, the arc of its tensed shoulders and back, the angle of its extended front claws, and even every single bristle of its fur were seen clearly by Su Ye.

The next moment.

Su Ye made his move.

Without retreating or dodging, he simply stepped forward, his five fingers hooking like claws, and gripped the cat demon's neck with extreme precision.

Snap!

The shadow stiffened in mid-air, a sharp screech suddenly erupting. Its limbs struggled frantically, its tail whipping the air with loud cracks. The force of its struggle was immense; an ordinary person wouldn't be able to hold it with one hand, but in Su Ye's grip, it was locked fast as if by iron pliers, unable to break free no matter how it thrashed.

The crowd around them continued to flow like a tide.

Someone saw it, but they just assumed it was a quick-handed young man who had suddenly caught a bristling wild cat. Someone even glanced over from afar, smiled, and said, "This cat is really ferocious."

No one knew.

Just a moment ago, if Su Ye hadn't been there, this cat demon would have been enough to turn this street into a river of blood within seconds.

Su Ye's expression remained unchanged. Holding the cat demon by the neck with one hand, he let it struggle frantically in his grip while his footsteps naturally led him toward a secluded alley nearby.

There were too many people here.

If there were bloodshed on the street, there would only be more trouble.

The cat demon clearly sensed something too, struggling more and more fiercely. Its beastly eyes stared fixedly at Su Ye, not with simple malice, but with a nearly greedy hunger, like a creature that had been starving for too long and had finally caught the scent of food.

Su Ye walked into the alley.

The alley was narrow and dilapidated. A few broken cardboard boxes and rain-soaked wooden planks were piled on the ground. The corners of the walls were stained with oil and moss, and the sliver of sky above was squeezed into a thin line by the buildings on both sides.

Reaching the depths of the alley, Su Ye finally stopped.

Then, he let go.

The moment the cat demon landed, without the slightest hesitation, its entire body sprang up like a black arrow, lunging straight for Su Ye's face.

This lunge was even fiercer than the last.

And more vicious.

Its sharp claws brought a cold light through the air, tearing through the wind as it approached.

Clang!

The claws slashed across the back of Su Ye's hand, producing a crisp sound of metal colliding with metal.

A spark even seemed to fly.

Su Ye looked down at the back of his hand.

The skin was completely undamaged, not even a white mark.

"Awoo!!"

The cat demon missed its strike. After landing, it quickly retreated, bracing its limbs against the ground. Its body lowered again, its spine arched high, and all the fur on its body bristled. A low, rumbling hiss rolled in its throat, as if in warning, and also as if gathering strength.

For some reason, the wind in the alley suddenly picked up.

It crouched there, staring fixedly at Su Ye, like a true beast.

Only now did Su Ye finally have the leisure to examine it carefully.

Its size was nearly double that of an ordinary wild cat. Its shoulder blades protruded high, its limbs were exceptionally thick, and the contours of its muscles were visible beneath its fur. Its claws were curved like knives, their edges even gleaming with a grayish-white cold light, and the teeth in its mouth were excessively sharp—it looked nothing like what a normal cat should be.

This was a creature born after the Great Fog.

A wild animal that was the first to mutate after being permeated by spiritual energy.

Su Ye looked at it, feeling a spark of interest instead.

"With so many people on the road, you chose to target me. Interesting."

His voice was calm, but his eyes held a hint of coldness.

This cat demon had been following Su Ye!

After a moment of thought.

Upon noticing the cat demon's gaze, Su Ye's mind immediately pinpointed the spot the cat demon was staring at intently.

Water-elemental Golden Core Embryo!

After realizing this, Su Ye's gaze sank completely.

So that was it.

After the surge of spiritual energy, not only humans would evolve, but wild animals would too. And these things that had mutated first already instinctively knew what truly valuable "food" was to them.

The cat demon moved again.

This time, it was faster, its killing intent stronger. The entire black shadow almost turned into a single line, heading straight for Su Ye's chest.

It no longer tested him, no longer held back. It had clearly decided that inside this human body before it, there lay something it had to devour.

Su Ye stood where he was, not retreating again.

Since he already understood what this thing wanted, there was no need to continue testing it.

He slowly pulled his right fist back to his waist.

His breathing naturally deepened at this moment.

His heart suddenly pounded.

Thump!

In that instant, his fascia tightened, his muscle groups contracted, and the "frequency"—a threshold Su Ye had already touched—quietly vibrated between his forearm and shoulder, like countless fine ripples layering deep within his flesh.

Condense!

Force like a rushing sea, condensed into a single point!

Inch Power, erupt!

Boom!

The moment his fist struck, it was as if a muffled thunderclap had exploded on the flat ground in the alley.

While the cat demon was still suspended in mid-air, its entire chest and abdomen suddenly collapsed inward.

Su Ye's punch wasn't flashy; it even looked somewhat plain, but that terrifying, compressed force had been poured entirely into the opponent's body the moment of contact.

First, it shattered the muscles and bones.

Then, it pulverized the internal organs.

Finally, it exploded everything at once.

The cat demon couldn't even let out a scream; its entire body suddenly exploded into a cloud of scarlet blood mist in mid-air.

Bang!

The blood mist scattered, and bone fragments and minced flesh splattered onto the walls and ground with a patter. A pungent, bloody stench assaulted the nose, and the cracks in the alley's bricks were stained dark red.

That fierce, malevolent aura also came to an abrupt end under that punch, like a lamp that had been forcibly extinguished.

The alley fell quiet again.

Only a lingering wisp of the bloody scent remained, slowly diffusing.

Su Ye slowly retracted his fist and looked down at his knuckles.

The tips of his knuckles were slightly warm.

Other than that, there was no abnormality at all.

He stood there, his heart also slightly shaken.

This was the first real-world combat application of Inch Power.

It wasn't hitting a tree, not hitting a stone table, nor practicing alone; it was a real, solid strike against the flesh and blood of a mutated creature.

The effect was astonishing.

A one-punch kill!

And it had turned it into a blood mist.

Su Ye stood still for two seconds before slowly exhaling.

It was even more explosive than he had expected.

He crouched down, rummaged through the blood and remains, and soon picked out a few things that were still relatively intact.

An exceptionally sharp front claw, a segment of forearm bone with tendons attached, and a small piece of tail vertebrae.

These items faintly carried a texture different from ordinary beasts, especially the claw—the bone was grayish-white, the edges sharp, and it even had a cold, hard, metallic feel to the touch.

Su Ye placed them one by one into a plastic sealable bag and stuffed it into his schoolbag.

These were all samples.

After doing all this, he stood up and glanced at the mess in the depths of the alley, frowned slightly, and then turned to leave.

The night was still noisy.

The crowd on the street continued to move forward.

No one knew that just beside this brightly lit street, a cat demon capable of tearing several people to pieces in a few seconds had already been beaten into a blood mist by a single punch.