Freeze the entire population, activate my Superman system?

In the evening, Shen Yuan's group installed a row of protective fences on each of the northeast sides of the artificial lake.

The protective fence that can be redeemed from the lord interface can be placed near the territory.

It's called a fence, but it's more like a semi-transparent wall of light, about two meters high, with faint blue light patterns flowing across its surface.

Ling Shuang reached out and touched it. It felt like elastic plastic, but when she struck it with the alloy rod, the feedback force was harder than hitting a steel plate.

"Can this thing block that thing?" Zhang Mu asked with some doubt.

Shen Yuan's face also showed signs of fatigue. "The system description says it can 'block low-level mutated creatures' and trigger a weak electric current."

At least it can buy us some time, right?

"That's enough," Ling Shuang said. "At least let us know what the danger is."

Wang Can and Yang Xiuming set up three traps behind the fence.

The first obstacle is a trigger-activated tripwire, with bone spurs worn off from the claws of a mutated orange cat attached to it.

There was a pit behind it.

A two-meter-deep pit was dug on the only way from the artificial lake to the building, and the bottom of the pit was filled with sharpened long bones of mutated animals.

There are also animal traps.

Based on his experience in outdoor survival, Wang Can modified the animal trap that Yang Xiuming had exchanged for, welding the teeth of a mutated blackfish onto the clamp teeth.

"What if that thing attacks from another direction?" Zhang Mu asked.

"Then we have no choice but to try to fight back with weapons," Ling Shuang said. "Our resources are limited; we can only cover the areas with the greatest threat."

At 10 p.m., the night patrol team began its patrol.

Wang Can was assigned to the first half of the night, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

He was wearing a riot vest he got from the management office and carrying a piece of rebar he borrowed from the construction team.

Ling Shuang wasn't on night duty, but he didn't sleep either.

He sat cross-legged beside the heater in the living room, the alloy rod resting on his hand, his eyes closed, but his ears were always perked up.

The walkie-talkie was placed on my lap, and the volume was turned up to the maximum.

At 11:20, Wang Can's hushed voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Xiao Ling, there's movement on the east side of the artificial lake."

Ling Shuang opened her eyes and grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"The water is bubbling."

It was a large area, and it looked like something was stirring up the silt underneath.

"Don't come closer, keep your distance."

Don't try to fight it, I'll be there soon.

Ling Shuang turned over and stood up, grabbed the alloy rod and walked out.

Zhang Mu hadn't slept well either. "I'll go with you."

"Your hands are for saving people, not for slaying monsters."

"Keep an eye on the people inside," Ling Shuang said without turning her head. "Keep in touch via walkie-talkie."

He jogged all the way to the vicinity of the artificial lake.

Wang Can and two other defense team members squatted behind the fence, staring intently at the lake.

Guo Yueshan and all the defense team members are on their way.

Ling Shuang leaned closer and followed their gaze.

The lake was indeed bubbling, but no monsters had yet shown themselves.

"When did it start?" Ling Shuang asked in a low voice.

"About ten minutes ago," Wang Can said, "At first there were only a few bubbles, but then there were more and more."

Ling Shuang stared at the lake, her left hand unconsciously gripping the alloy rod tightly.

He could feel the cool energy surging in his left palm.

This feeling is strange.

It wasn't fear, it was more like...hunger.

"They're here," Ling Shuang suddenly said in a low voice.

A whirlpool appeared in the center of the lake.

It's not big, about one meter in diameter, but it rotates very fast.

The water level at the center of the whirlpool was constantly dropping, as if something was drawing water in from below.

A few seconds later, a black hand reached out from the center of the vortex.

It's not a human hand.

The hand had five fingers, each as thick as a carrot, with black scales covering the knuckles and hooked claws at the tips.

The hand is twice the size of a normal person's, and the skin is covered with a layer of mucus that glistens oily under fluorescent light.

A figure suddenly rose up from the lake, seemingly floating.

Ling Shuang finally saw the thing in its entirety.

It is about 1.8 meters tall and its size resembles that of a severely malnourished human.

Its limbs are slender and its torso is thin, but its head is unusually large, taking up almost a third of its entire body.

Its skin is dark black, covered with fine scales, and has bony spurs protruding at the joints.

The most terrifying thing is its face.

It has no eyes, no nose, only a large, horizontally split mouth that extends all the way to the base of its ears.

"Holy shit!" Wang Can muttered, "What the hell is this thing?"

Upon seeing this, the two young guards beside him turned and ran away in terror!

Wang Can was about to start cursing when Ling Shuang stopped him.

"This guy seems to be blind."

The thing emerged from the lake and stood on the shore, its enormous head turning from side to side.

Seemingly sensing danger, it did not act immediately.

Although it has no eyes, Ling Shuang can sense that it is "observing".

It's completely different from when facing mutated animals.

A sudden surge of physiological fear about the unknown welled up inside me.

Ling Shuang gripped the alloy rod tightly in her hand, her breathing becoming heavy.

"Damn it, I'm actually scared!"

The humanoid monster walked a few steps along the lake shore, then turned towards the building and started walking.

Its gait was strange, like that of a toddler learning to walk.

"Get ready," Ling Shuang said softly.

The thing walked up to the fence.

It stretched out its huge black hand and tentatively touched the surface of the fence.

Blue light patterns lit up instantly, and a visible current surged up the thing's arm.

It let out a piercing screech, abruptly withdrew its hand, and took two steps back.

The fence is in the way.

But that thing didn't leave.

It stood still, tilting its huge head as if it were thinking.

A few seconds later, the monster approached again.

This time, instead of touching it with its hands, it slammed its body into the fence.

boom!

The fence shook violently, and blue light patterns flickered a few times, but it did not shatter.

The object was jolted back several steps by the rebounding force, staggered, and almost fell.

But he quickly regained his footing and charged at the fence for the third time.

This time, Ling Shuang heard the faint cracking sound coming from the fence.

Wang Can appeared very nervous and subconsciously stepped back.

"The fence is about to give way, Xiaoling, should we run away?"

I heard that several households have hidden compound crossbows.

People who grew up in peacetime have never experienced anything like this.

Ling Shuang pressed down on Wang Can's shoulder.

"There's only one over there, I'll go and find out what's going on with it."

Brother Wang, keep a close eye on the artificial lake; I'm worried it might have other similar lakes.

Wang Can looked at him incredulously.

Ling Shuang's tone was heavy.

"It ate two people, Brother Wang!"

The community is only so big; if we retreat any further, where can we go?

Wang Can instantly thought of his wife, gritted his teeth, and nodded.

"Xiao Ling, let's fight it!"

The fourth impact on the fence has occurred.

click-

A visible crack appeared on the fence, and the blue light patterns began to dim from the crack.

"Now!" Ling Shuang roared, stood up abruptly, and jumped over the fence.

Hearing the noise, the thing turned its huge head toward Ling Shuang.

It opened its mouth and let out a low growl.

Ling Shuang didn't give it time to react.

He gripped the alloy rod in his left hand, and with a powerful thrust of his right leg, charged toward the object.

Ten meters, five meters, three meters—

The thing finally moved.

Its speed was much faster than Ling Shuang had expected. Its slender limbs burst forth with astonishing power, and its entire body shot towards Ling Shuang like a cannonball.

Ling Shuang dodged to the side, and swung her alloy rod out horizontally, smashing it into the side of the thing.

boom!

The feeling of being hit by the alloy rod was not like hitting flesh, but more like hitting a piece of hard rubber.

The object's body was knocked off course by the impact, but it was unharmed. It adjusted its posture in mid-air and landed steadily on the ground.

It turned around to face Ling Shuang, and made gurgling sounds from its open mouth.

Ling Shuang's heart sank.

This thing is more troublesome than he thought.

The terrifying head stared directly at him, and fear began to wash over him again.

He's just an ordinary person with fighting experience!

"Brother Wang! Lure it into the trap!" Ling Shuang shouted.

Wang Can rushed out from behind the fence, carrying a piece of rebar, and circled around to the side of the object.

The thing noticed Wang Can, turned its head, and seemed to be judging which threat was greater.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ling Shuang rushed forward again.

This time, instead of using the alloy rod, he used his left hand to smash directly at the thing's head.

The icy energy in his left palm reached its peak at this moment, and a faint white light even appeared on his fist.

The best way to overcome fear

It's just shouting.

"Fuck your mother!"

boom!

The fist slammed into the thing's skull.

This time, the feedback felt different.

The thing let out a scream, its huge body fell backward, and black slime splattered from its head.

Ling Shuang stood in the open space,

The surge of adrenaline made his whole body tremble.

The humanoid monster immediately broke through towards Wang Can, who posed a lesser threat.

When Wang Can saw the monster turn towards him, he screamed "Wow!"

He instantly assumed a 100-meter sprint stance and took off running.

"Xiao Ling, you've mutated, so go beat him up! I can't beat him!"

"Oh my god, stop chasing me!"

But then he suddenly remembered Ling Shuang's instructions and his wife at home, gritted his teeth, turned around and headed towards the trap, then turned and shouted wildly,

"Come chase after your brother Wang! You big-headed monster! You drank a lot of Sanlu milk powder when you were a kid, didn't you!"

But then the monster strangely stopped.

They did not follow into the trap zone.

Ling Shuang's heart sank.

This thing can actually think.

"Oh no! It's heading towards Building 8!" Wang Can shouted.

Building 8 is the building where Aunt Wu was dragged away early this morning.

Although the residents on the lower floors have been relocated, some people are still living on the middle floors.

Ling Shuang chased after him at full speed.

But that thing was faster than him.

Its slender limbs made almost no sound as it ran, and its black figure moved like a ghost in the night.

They climbed directly onto the outer wall.

Its sharp claws embedded themselves deeply in the wall, climbing upwards rapidly like a climbing vine.

"Which floor is it going to?" Wang Can asked breathlessly as he caught up.

"I don't know." Ling Shuang stared at the rapidly rising black shadow. "We have to follow it."

The dark figure stopped on the sixth floor.

Ling Shuang heard the sound of glass shattering.

Then came a scream.

It was the voice of a young woman.

The sounds of tables and chairs overturning and a woman crying came from inside the house.

Ling Shuang tucked the alloy rod behind her waist, grabbed the windowsill on the first floor with both hands, and began to climb upwards.

The power of his left hand erupted completely at that moment.

His fingers were like steel hooks embedded in the wall, and with each exertion of force, he could pull himself up a great distance.

Ling Shuang then climbed into the sixth-floor window.

The room was a complete mess.

A young woman huddled in a corner, holding a child in her arms, trembling all over.

Fortunately, the woman was clever; during the day, she placed the tables, chairs, and sofas to block the view from the window.

It took the monster quite a bit of effort to push aside the obstacles.

"Hey!" Ling Shuang shouted.

The thing turned its head.

Ling Shuang kicked off the windowsill and instantly rushed to it.

His left fist, imbued with all his energy, slammed into the creature's head.

This punch was far more powerful than the previous ones.

The thing's skull shattered, and black slime splattered everywhere.

Its body flew backward, smashing through the balcony walkway and crashing into the living room.

But he did not die.

Its head is regenerating rapidly, with shattered bone fragments being pushed out by newly formed tissue, and new scales growing from the edges of the wounds.

Ling Shuang chased after her, drew the alloy rod from her waist, and struck repeatedly.

One stick, two sticks, three sticks—

Until the monster is completely dead!

"Slay the Night Demon (juvenile) and absorb one Perfect White Crystal."

"Currently enhanced areas: left hand (5/5), right hand (1/5)."

Tier 1 ability activated – Scale Armor Burst (consumable, requires charging).