If you were made a mascot, you would become a legend in the police force.

The night wind along the coastal road carried a salty, fishy smell that made one's hair stand on end.

Special police and chemical defense vehicles had completely cordoned off the area, setting up a perimeter of several hundred meters. The glaring red and blue police lights flashed intermittently, casting a somber expression on everyone's face.

Lin Wan had just finished her call with the command center and rushed to the wellhead. Her voice was extremely low, but it couldn't hide her anxiety: "The command center has activated the highest emergency plan. Director Chen is mobilizing the military's engineering troops to prepare for the physical isolation of the entire sewer system. But... this will take time."

She glanced at the bottomless well opening, where a stench of rotting flesh and chemical reagents continued to emanate, making people dizzy.

"Tuantuan, how many of those monsters are there down there?"

Li Tuantuan didn't turn around, but simply stretched out a furry bear paw with its five claws spread out, and then shook it with extreme impatience.

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: How many? Who knows how many! There are more than all the rats you've ever seen in your life! This isn't a sewer, it's like a scene from Resident Evil has been parachuted into our area!

Just then, the teeth-grinding chewing sounds and bone-grinding noises from underground abruptly stopped.

Dead silence.

A deathly silence, even more unsettling than the previous clamor.

"Squeak!"

Jin Dou, who had been perched on Li Tuantuan's shoulder, suddenly bristled, gripping Li Tuantuan's fur tightly with its two front paws and letting out an extremely sharp warning growl.

coming!

The next second, without any warning.

"roar--!"

A roar that seemed inhuman erupted from the well, the sound waves even stirring up a visible cloud of dust.

Then, one, two, three...

Seven or eight shriveled, emaciated monsters covered in filthy, rotting flesh scrambled up the well wall, using both hands and feet. They were incredibly fast, their pupil-less, grayish-white eyes fixed intently on the "fresh food" on the ground, which was radiating an enticing heat.

These monsters were much more complete and terrifying than the "Vanguard" that Li Tuantuan had just crushed with one foot.

Their skin had an ominous, ashen color, like a corpse that had been soaked in formaldehyde for too long and then dried out. Their muscle fibers were extremely atrophied, clinging tightly to their bones, yet strangely bulging with bulging tendons, as if containing explosive power. Their fingernails were long and black, gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen, and clearly incredibly sharp.

What's most disgusting is that their mouths are split open at an extremely exaggerated angle, with thick black liquid hanging from the corners of their mouths, and their canines protruding abnormally on their exposed gums, with bits of unknown flesh hanging on them.

"Fire! Free fire!"

The SWAT team members on the perimeter reacted extremely quickly. At the commander's order, more than a dozen automatic rifles instantly spat out angry tongues of fire.

"Da da da da da!"

The dense hail of bullets formed a metallic storm, precisely covering the monsters that had just climbed out of the well.

However, what happened next made everyone gasp.

The bullets struck these monsters with a crisp "clang, clang," as if hitting steel plates. Aside from sending up a shower of sparks and some dried skin flakes, they couldn't penetrate their seemingly fragile skin at all!

A few bullets managed to hit the monsters' eye sockets, but they only made them sway and let out an even more ferocious roar before continuing to charge forward fearlessly.

"Physical defense is that high?!" a young SWAT officer exclaimed in surprise, almost dropping his gun.

"Change to armor-piercing rounds!" the commander roared, but a hint of despair had already appeared on his face.

These monsters are beyond the capabilities of conventional weapons.

A ghoul had broken through the barrage of fire and was about to pounce on a chemical defense soldier who had no time to retreat.

"Awoo!"

A white bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky.

The white mastiff "Mantou" moved. Without even a slight movement, its massive body, carrying immense force, slammed its paw into the ghoul's forehead.

"Snap!"

A crisp sound of bone cracking.

The ghoul's head exploded like a watermelon hit by a battering ram, splattering foul-smelling black blood and brain matter all over the ground.

Sold out instantly!

The steamed bun's pure physical strength demonstrated overwhelming dominance.

But the trouble has only just begun.

One ghoul fell, but more ghouls seized the opportunity to swarm out of the well. They seemed fearless, even stepping over the corpses of their companions, roaring as they charged towards the steamed bun.

The steamed bun let out a low growl, its icy blue beastly eyes gleaming with murderous intent. It was preparing to unleash a wide-ranging frost breath, freezing all these scum into ice shards.

"etc!"

Li Tuantuan's steady and powerful voice (telepathic communication) rang in Mantou's mind.

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: Don't rush to use AOE to clear the area. These things look tough, but they don't seem to be very smart. I'll go up and test their strength first, see how many merit points I can get by taking them down one by one. If the returns are substantial, we'll work overtime all night to boost our performance!

Li Tuantuan pushed Lin Wan to a safe place behind her, and then slowly pulled out the jet-black titanium alloy nunchucks from her lower back.

"Bang!"

He slammed one end of the nunchucks heavily into the ground, creating a shallow crater in the hard asphalt.

His 300-pound body was like an insurmountable mountain, firmly blocking the well opening and the crowd.

The fastest ghoul had already pounced on Li Tuantuan. It opened its blood-red maw and, with a stench, bit at Li Tuantuan's round neck.

Li Tuantuan didn't even bother to lift her eyelids.

Just as the fangs were about to touch his fur, he moved.

The titanium alloy nunchucks in his hand transformed into a black afterimage, striking the ghoul's temple with perfect accuracy, accompanied by a shrill whistling sound as they tore through the air.

There was no earth-shattering noise, only a dull "plop".

The ghoul froze instantly, a hint of confusion flashing in its gray eyes. Then, its still relatively intact head began to crack rapidly, like a spiderweb, starting from the spot where it had been struck.

The next second, with a loud "boom," his entire head exploded.

[Ding! Successfully killed the D-rank mutated creature "Ghoul", reward: 200 merit points!]

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: Two hundred? Not bad, every little bit helps.

Li Tuantuan shook the filth off the stick and glanced at the remaining ghouls, her eyes like a butcher looking at pieces of pork waiting to be slaughtered.

However, just as he was preparing to go on a killing spree and boost his KPIs.

A sudden change has occurred!

A ghoul circled around to the side and behind the steamed bun, and with an extremely tricky angle, its sharp claws slashed viciously at the steamed bun's muscular hind leg.

"Sizzle—"

Even with the steamed bun's incredibly strong physical defense, it was still slashed open with a deep wound that exposed the bone!

Even more terrifying, the blood flowing from the wound was not bright red, but a black blood carrying an ominous aura! A visible black mist was frantically drilling into the flesh and blood of the steamed bun through the wound!

"Woof!"

The steamed bun, in pain, let out an angry roar and snapped its jaws back, biting the ghoul that had attacked it in two.

But when it looked at the wound on its leg, a hint of seriousness appeared in its icy blue beast eyes for the first time.

Corpse poison!

Although the spread of the corpse poison was extremely slow due to its constitution, the feeling of it constantly eroding its life force like a maggot clinging to its bones made it extremely uncomfortable.

Li Tuantuan's face instantly darkened.

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: Damn it! How dare they hurt my little brother?!

Looking at the wound on Mantou's leg that was constantly oozing black smoke, his relaxed mood of accumulating merit vanished instantly, replaced by overwhelming rage.

These monsters not only have high physical defense, but their claws also have a debuff that causes continuous damage.

"Everyone retreat! Mantou, come back!"

Li Tuantuan made a decisive decision and gave the order to retreat to the few underlings in his mind.

Something's wrong!

These are just the lowest-level cannon fodder, and they're already this troublesome. Heaven knows what even more troublesome things are lurking at the bottom of this well. The steamed bun is already injured; we absolutely cannot let it risk anything more.

While wielding nunchucks, Li Tuantuan smashed the heads of the remaining ghouls that charged at her, covering Mantou, Lin Wan, and the others as they retreated.

[Ding! Successfully killed the D-rank mutated creature "Ghoul", reward: 200 merit points!]

[Ding! Kill successful...]

A series of notification sounds rang out, and in just a few dozen seconds, the five ghouls that had burst out of the ground were cleared away, and Li Tuantuan gained 1000 merit points.

But those 1000 merit points resulted in my strongest fighter being poisoned. What a terrible deal!

"Tuantuan, Mantou's injury..." Lin Wan looked at the hideous wound on Mantou's leg and felt extremely distressed.

Li Tuantuan waved her bear paw, signaling her not to panic.

[Li Tuantuan's inner monologue]: It's a minor incident, not a big deal. But I'll remember this debt.

He gave a deep look at the well opening that was still emitting black smoke, his eyes cold.

He had a premonition that there was definitely a "king" hidden in the sewers who could command these low-level ghouls.

Only by bringing that mastermind to justice and reducing them to ashes can we quell his hatred!

Lin Wan immediately understood. Leaning against the wall, she suppressed her nausea and reported everything that had just happened to the command center in the most concise language.

"...The target has extremely high physical defense; conventional firearms are ineffective. Its minions are infected with a potent corpse poison; our special operations team member 'Mantou' is already wounded. Requesting immediate sealing off of the area and raising the danger level to the highest level!"

After hanging up the phone, the atmosphere at the scene became extremely tense.