A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

Most people in the crowd were whispering about the rewards. Zhou Lang wasn't too concerned about that; he was more interested in just how strong that four-star Ghost King really was.

"Attention everyone." Li Feng clapped his hands. "Before we begin, I want to emphasize one more thing—once you enter the instance, you are not allowed to act alone, and you are not allowed to hoard loot. Anyone who disobeys will be dealt with according to military law."

No one said a word.

The atmosphere was oppressive. Zhou Lang was about to discuss the cooperation plan with Zhao Qiang after they went inside when he suddenly caught sight of someone out of the corner of his eye.

At the very back of the crowd stood a girl.

She looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, thin, with her hair tied up a little loosely, wearing a worn-out school uniform jacket, and carrying no weapons or props. Among this group of fully armed advanced players, she looked like a passerby who had wandered onto the wrong set.

"Who is that?" Zhou Lang asked Zhao Qiang.

Zhao Qiang glanced at it and shook his head: "Don't recognize him. Doesn't look like a high-level player."

Han Ying noticed as well: "She didn't bring anything, not even the most basic defensive items. Could she be just there to make up the numbers?"

Zhou Lang remained silent. The Zhengui Division wouldn't stoop to using ordinary people to make up the numbers, but this girl was definitely acting strangely. She stood on the outermost edge of the crowd, neither talking to anyone nor showing any nervousness, just keeping her head down, as if lost in thought.

How can you just space out at a time like this?

"Everyone, prepare to enter the instance," Li Feng commanded.

More than fifty people began moving towards the gate of the abandoned factory. Zhou Lang took a few steps and couldn't help but look back at the girl. She was at the very end of the group, walking at a moderate pace with a calm expression.

really weird.

The gates of the abandoned factory were wide open, revealing a dark interior and a stench of decay. As soon as everyone stepped inside, the concrete floor beneath their feet suddenly gleamed with a gray light.

The instance has been started.

Zhou Lang felt the space around him distort for a moment, and when his vision returned to normal, the scene in front of him had completely changed.

The factory interior grew larger and darker. Rusty pipes hung from the ceiling, and the walls were stained with a blackened liquid. The corridors stretched in all directions, with no end in sight.

"Phase One," Li Feng's voice came through the communicator. "Everyone split into five groups and clear the perimeter. Group A, head north; Group B, head east—"

Zhou Lang was assigned to Group C, where he was with Zhao Qiang and Han Ying. There were seven other people in the group, all of whom were unfamiliar faces.

Then he noticed that the girl in the school uniform jacket was also in Group C.

"Damn it." A bald guy in the group cursed when he saw the girl, "Why did you put a little girl in our group? She's just causing trouble, isn't she?"

The girl didn't react and kept her head down.

Zhou Lang walked up to her and asked, "What's your name?"

The girl looked up. Only then did Zhou Lang see her face clearly; it was very pale, with dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept for several days.

"Su Nian," she said softly.

Do you have a weapon?

"no."

"Where are the props?"

"No, not at all."

Zhou Lang was silent for two seconds. He took out a defensive talisman from his pocket and handed it over: "Take this, tear it open if you encounter danger."

Su Nian looked at the talisman, hesitated for a moment, and then took it: "Thank you."

Zhao Qiang leaned closer and whispered, "What are you being so generous about? You might not even have enough for yourself."

"If she dies, it might affect the whole team," Zhou Lang said. He was half true and half false. He was indeed worried that someone dying would affect morale, but more than that, it was abnormal to throw someone who brought nothing into an A-level dungeon.

Either the Bureau of Demon Suppression has some kind of arrangement.

Either she is extraordinary in herself.

Group C, consisting of ten people, proceeded along the western corridor. The bald man led the way, holding a glowing dagger that illuminated a radius of several meters ahead.

After walking for about five minutes, a "click" sound came from ahead.

Like bones rubbing together.

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

In the darkness, something slowly emerged.

It was over two meters tall, its body stitched together from several corpses, with needles and thread threading through the flesh, and blood still seeping from some places. Its head was tilted to the side, and it was making a hissing sound.

Stitched Corpse Demon. Three-star Ghost.

The bald man took a step back: "Damn, they're serious."

"Don't panic." Zhou Lang took out the chainsaw and pulled the start cord. The chainsaw roared to life. "It's a Samsung machine, it can handle it."

The stitched-up corpse demon charged at them, much faster than expected. The bald man raised his knife to meet it, the dagger slashing at its arm, cutting three or four centimeters into the flesh before getting stuck.

"Damn, I can't cut it!"

Zhao Qiang circled around from the side and punched it in the knee. The stitched-up corpse demon swayed but didn't fall. Its other hand reached for Zhao Qiang's head.

Han Yingying screamed, "Watch out!"

Zhao Qiang had no time to dodge and could only block with his hands. The immense force pushed him three or four meters away, his back slamming against the wall.

Zhou Lang rushed forward, his chainsaw slicing horizontally across the neck of the stitched-up corpse demon. The metal chain ripped into the rotting flesh, making a piercing sound. Blood splattered everywhere.

The head of the stitched-up corpse demon was mostly severed, but its body was still moving. It swung its arms, sending Zhou Lang flying.

"Can you still move?" Zhou Lang got up from the ground, his ribs aching terribly.

The bandaged man's voice rang in my ears: "Cutting off the head won't help. The core of the stitched-up corpse demon is in its chest, at the intersection of the thickest sutures."

Zhou Lang looked at the corpse demon's chest and, sure enough, there was a spot where the needle and thread were particularly dense, forming a knot the size of a fist.

"Zhao Qiang! Hold it down!"

Zhao Qiang gritted his teeth and rushed forward, grabbing the stitched-up corpse demon around the waist. The other team members reacted as well; some slashed at its legs with knives, while others threw offensive weapons.

Zhou Lang seized the opportunity and aimed the chainsaw directly at the stitches on his chest.

One slash.

The stitched-up corpse demon's body fell apart as if it had been torn apart, with each part collapsing in different directions. All the stitches snapped, and body parts were scattered all over the ground.

"Dead?" the bald man asked.

Zhou Lang stared at the dismembered body for a few seconds. Then he stopped moving.

"He's dead."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Lang turned to look at Su Nian.

She stood at the very back of the corridor, motionless, her expression unchanged. It was as if she were watching a performance that had nothing to do with her.

This reaction is so strange. How can an unarmed person not even blink at a three-star monster?

Either they were terrified.

Either they're not afraid at all.

Zhou Lang prefers the latter.

"Keep going." He put away the chainsaw. "Watch your surroundings."

The group continued forward. They hadn't gone two hundred meters when they heard the sound of bones grinding together again ahead.

This time it's two.

"Here they come." Zhao Qiang swung his arm. "Attack them both at once."

The battle resumed. This time, with experience, their coordination was much smoother than before. Zhou Lang and Zhao Qiang each took on one enemy, while the others provided support and distraction.

Halfway through the fight, Zhou Lang glanced back.

Su Nian was still standing at the very back. But her lips were moving.

What are you saying?

Zhou Lang didn't hear clearly because the chainsaw was too noisy.

Then something strange happened.

The stitched-up corpse demon he was sawing suddenly stopped for a second. Just a second.

In that instant, Zhou Lang plunged the chainsaw into its chest and sutured the knot.