Lin Tao didn’t take Boss Hu’s bravado seriously. He silently raised his gun and moved forward, pulling a high-powered fshlight from his belt. With a click, the beam of light illuminated the dark corner of the basement, revealing what was lurking there.

  Everyone’s scalp tingled with fear. Hanging upside down from the concrete ceiling was a creature about half the height of a person, covered in bck scales. It resembled a giant, wingless bat, with piercing green eyes fixed on the group.

  The creature had a humanoid shape, with cwed feet resembling an eagle’s talons but ten times rger, firmly embedded in the concrete. Its disproportionately long arms ended in scissor-like cws. In its grasp was a still-steaming human heart, blood dripping rapidly from its fingers. When the light hit it, the creature hissed angrily, shielding its eyes with its cws and emitting a metallic, grating screech.

  “Wh-what the hell is that?!” Boss Hu stammered, his machete trembling in his hand. If not for the copious amount of hair gel, his hair would have stood on end.

  “A Hell Ripper. It fears sunlight, moves fast, and feeds on human brains and hearts. Its weakness is its eyes,” Lin Tao expined calmly as he advanced. With a swift motion, he ejected the magazine from his gun, stashing it in a nylon pouch at his waist, and repced it with a new one.

  The observant among the group noticed that the previous magazine had contained ordinary bullets, but the new one held rounds engraved with intricate bck runes. These bullets exuded an eerie, almost hypnotic aura.

  “Stop gawking! Get in line and be ready to run!” Lin Tao barked, snapping everyone out of their daze. Boss Hu, relying on his usual commanding presence, quickly organized the group into a rough formation.

  *Bang!*

  Lin Tao fired a shot. The copper bullet tore through the air toward the Hell Ripper, but the creature moved with unnatural speed, blocking its eyes with its arm. The bullet struck its brow, sparking off the scales and causing its head to jerk back. Shaking off the impact, the creature roared and charged forward, seemingly unharmed.

  Despite its small stature—only half the size of an adult—the Hell Ripper moved with terrifying agility. Its cws dug into the concrete as it scurried across the ceiling like a gecko, closing the distance with arming speed. The debris it kicked up created an oppressive atmosphere, as if a bulldozer were bearing down on them.

  *Bang!*

  Lin Tao fired again, but this time the bullet was different. The first shot had been a regur round left in the chamber, but this one was one of the rune-engraved special bullets. It streaked through the air with a faint purple glow, almost too fast to see, and aimed directly at the creature’s right eye.

  Sensing the danger, the Hell Ripper jerked its head down at the st moment. The bullet struck its forehead instead, sending it crashing to the ground with a howl of pain. Though not fatal, the shot left a deep gash in its skull, bck fluid oozing from the wound. The creature twitched sporadically, as if electrocuted, but Lin Tao knew better. Having faced Hell Rippers before, he recognized this as a ruse. Without hesitation, he fired two more shots, but the creature twisted its body, dodging the bullets with unnatural agility, and lunged at him again.

  Realizing Lin Tao was a formidable opponent, the Hell Ripper abruptly changed course mid-charge, veering toward the panicked crowd. Its grotesque appearance belied a cunning mind. After slicing through several people, chaos erupted once more. The crowd surged toward the exit, trampling and shoving each other in a desperate bid to escape.

  Amid the chaos, Lin Tao stood at the periphery, his gun raised but unable to fire for fear of hitting the fleeing crowd. Heads, limbs, and blood flew in all directions as the Hell Ripper wreaked havoc. Boss Hu, who had been trying to maintain order, had vanished, leaving the group to fend for themselves.

  “Ahhh! Help!” A girl in a white shirt was knocked to the ground, her pretty face ignored as people trampled over her. She curled into a ball, trying to protect herself.

  It was Ah Xue. Separated from Ling Ling in the initial rush, she had been swept along by the crowd. Just moments ago, a man had callously shoved her aside and kicked her down.

  Ah Xue’s frail body couldn’t withstand the stampede. She crouched low, trying to avoid being trampled, but it was futile. She saw a dark shadow descend upon a man nearby. Before he could scream, the creature’s cws plunged into his chest, extracting his still-beating heart. The Hell Ripper devoured it in a few gulps, then turned its glowing yellow eyes toward Ah Xue.

  As the man’s heart was torn out, Ah Xue’s muscles locked in terror. She had seen zombies feed before and thought she was numb to such horrors, but the creature’s gaze sent a shockwave through her mind. Her legs gave out, and she felt warmth spread between them—she had wet herself in fear.

  The stench of the creature’s breath filled her nostrils. Ah Xue wanted to close her eyes and await her fate, but her body was frozen. She could only watch in horror as the blood-drenched cws inched closer and closer…