Chapter Ten: Deadly Rank

“Brother Cao! We need to take a detour! We can't go back!” Tong Jia’s urgent voice rang out in the cab. He didn’t need to say it; I was already doing it.

At the next intersection, I floored the accelerator as if about to charge straight ahead.

When I sensed nothing behind us, I knew the opportunity had arrived.

I jerked the steering wheel left, skimming the car against the street wall at the last second and making the turn.

The nightmare beast, which had leapt high to pounce on the vehicle, missed entirely and bounded forward, failing to follow us in time.

But that didn’t slow its pursuit.

Drool dripped incessantly from its massive maw, thick, sticky liquid falling from its nearly four-meter-tall body and corroding deep holes into the pavement.

Sliding across the ground, it leapt several meters and latched onto a building, its sharp claws piercing through the structure. It darted through the air, all senses locked onto the vehicle I was driving.

Once targeted by this creature, survival is nearly impossible.

I remained exceedingly calm inside the car. The only chance to escape its grasp was to smash it once and flee while it regenerated.

“I know there’s an oil depot ahead…”

Driving, my face was grave. The thing behind us had caught up again. Today, a single misstep would make us a feast for the nightmare beast.

Damn it! Whatever you fear always comes for you! Could this be Murphy’s Law at work?

“There’s a horde of corpses blocking our way up ahead. Do you have any other devices in this car? At this rate, we won’t be able to break through, and that monster will catch up with us!”

With my enhanced vision, I could see clearly—shadows were converging ahead, as if summoned by some force.

Tong Jia swallowed hard, reaching to press several spots inside the car.

Suddenly, a camera-like device popped up in front of him.

“Performing retinal analysis… please wait…”

“Analysis complete… Authorized user: Tong Jia.”

“Bang!!”

A powerful jolt made the car leap. That creature, climbing the high-rise, had just dropped down!

“Activate all onboard weapons! Hurry!” Tong Jia shouted at the camera, no longer caring about concealment. Now that we’d been discovered, it was time to unleash everything.

“Activating… Roof firepower grid engaged…”

“Side rotating blades engaged…”

“Vehicle electric net engaged…”

“Front obstacle-pusher engaged…”

Hearing the AI’s voice, I finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the situation hadn’t improved.

“Rat-tat-tat…!!!”

“Screech, screech, screech…”

Sounds of gunfire, electricity, and blades slicing through flesh echoed from outside the windows as the corpse horde ahead was pushed aside, leaving a long trail of blood.

At last, nothing slowed the war machine’s progress.

Watching bodies fall in droves, I couldn’t help but think—if all this counted toward my genetic value, I’d be making a killing.

“Roar!!!”

“It landed in front of us! Quick, turn!”

Chaos erupted in the car. Tong Jia’s terrified voice rang out.

I didn’t turn. I accelerated straight toward the nightmare beast!

“Cao Fusheng! Are you insane? You’ll get us killed!” Tong Jia yelled, but didn’t grab the wheel—doing so would only hasten our deaths.

“Just shut up!” I snapped without looking back, my expression a bit crazed and twisted. My face must look deranged right now.

Tong Jia gritted his teeth, clutching his gun and closing his eyes. “We’re dead! You really are a maniac!”

Junk car! I miss my old brute! This thing just isn’t as fast as those from the former era!

I pushed the accelerator to the floor, wishing I could stomp right through it.

Damn it! I’ll smash you to bits!

I clenched my teeth and rammed straight into the nightmare beast!

But the scene I’d imagined didn’t happen. Drooling, the beast smacked the car aside with a single swipe.

The car spun across the ground, coming to rest facing another street.

That swipe had sent us twenty or thirty meters.

I exhaled and, without hesitation, kept driving forward. “Hahaha! Thanks for the rocket boost, buddy! That’s what I call a lucky break!”

Tong Jia and the other occupant stared at me in shock. They’d assumed death was certain, but somehow we’d survived!

“Roar…!! Hmph… hmph…”

In the rearview mirror, I saw the nightmare beast stomping in fury, shaking the surrounding corpses.

“Don’t celebrate too soon. The real show’s just begun. This thing is enraged now.”

My words doused my companions’ joy. Sure enough, a deafening roar echoed from behind. The nightmare beast leapt dozens of meters and crashed down from the sky!

The onboard weapons kept firing relentlessly, but the prolonged strain triggered alarms in the car’s systems.

Most crucially, they had no effect on the monster—the bullets felt like nothing more than tickles.

I skillfully maneuvered the war machine, suddenly slamming the brakes.

The tires screeched, but we dodged the beast’s attack again, making it overshoot by several yards.

Creatures like this nightmare beast possess extraordinary intelligence. If not, it wouldn’t have abandoned me for a mere forest last time.

Before it pounced this time, it must have calculated the landing precisely. If I hadn’t braked suddenly and kept charging forward, it would have smashed us to pulp.

Repeatedly thwarted, the nightmare beast pounded the ground in rage, its gaping maw emitting earth-shattering roars.

The monster may be clever, but I’m no pushover either. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have played hide-and-seek and parkour with it alone last time—even though the outcome was tragic, my spirit deserves praise.

“The oil depot is just ahead—once we cross this block, we’ll reach the crossroads!”

I growled, flooring the accelerator and turning hard, charging ahead once more.

But this time, the nightmare beast did not pursue. It watched as I drove away.

“It’s not chasing us?”

I saw no sign of the creature in the rearview mirror and was puzzled. Survivors know that a nightmare beast is impossible to shake off—it’s either kill or be killed, a relentless hunt!

“Detected host in extreme danger…”

“First encounter with lethal threat. Forced warning protocol activated. Host, please pay attention to your surroundings…”

“Detected an immensely powerful ecological source beside host… Threat level: lethal…”

Note: Threat levels are categorized as ordinary, moderate, dangerous, and lethal.

Every cell in my body tensed. I dared not ignore the warning from the genetic ecological chain. This lethal-level ecological source had to be the immortal nightmare beast!

“Woof… woof woof… woof woof woof woof…!!”