Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

"Thump."

The sound was muffled and drawn out, with a heavy, viscous quality, coming from the endless darkness above, only to be quickly swallowed by the abyss.

The platform fell silent instantly. Everyone froze, holding their breath. The sound, though faint, seemed to strike directly at everyone's heart, causing a dull echo.

"Wh...what was that sound?" Fatty Wang's voice trembled as he instinctively gripped his entrenching tool.

Wu Xie's face turned pale as he looked up into the darkness. "It sounds like... a heartbeat?"

"It's not a heartbeat," Zhang Qiling said calmly. He had already straightened up, his sharp gaze piercing the darkness above. "It's something else. It's moving."

Zhang Qiling also walked to the edge of the platform and stood beside him, looking up as well. "It's very close. I'll get off."

As soon as the words were spoken, a rustling sound, like countless rough metal sheets scraping against each other, came from the darkness above. Immediately afterwards, an indescribable stench, a mixture of strong rust, aged blood, and a pungent smell similar to formaldehyde, poured down from above like a tangible tide.

"Back off!" Black Bear shouted, and everyone immediately retreated to the inner side of the platform, their backs against the cold bronze jade wall, weapons drawn, staring nervously upwards.

The levitating live-streaming sphere lowered its height, pointed the camera at the darkness, and activated night vision enhancement mode. The live-stream chat froze once again.

The rustling sound grew closer and clearer, accompanied by heavy footsteps, as if someone were dragging something heavy.

Finally, at the end of the spiral staircase above, a huge silhouette slowly emerged from the darkness.

The thing was so large it almost filled the width of the steps. It had a roughly humanoid outline, but was extremely burly, nearly three meters tall. Its entire body was covered by a thick, dark blue-green "shell" that resembled a mixture of solidified gel and metallic scales. The surface of the shell was covered with uneven nodules and longitudinal cracks, and deep within some of the cracks, a faint, dark red light, like lava, was slowly flowing.

Its head was twisted, its features completely covered by the proliferating, distorted shell, leaving only two deep, faintly glowing red holes that could barely be considered "eyes." A gigantic mouth, filled with interlocking fangs, almost split to the roots of its ears, was now slightly open, dripping a viscous, pungent black liquid.

What is most striking are its arms. The arms are extremely thick and long, almost reaching the knees, with disproportionately large hands and black, sharp, hook-shaped metal claws at the tips. A light scrape across the bronze edge of the steps would send up a trail of dazzling sparks.

It slowly descended the last few steps and stepped onto the platform. Its heavy footsteps caused the entire bronze platform to tremble slightly. Its red-glowing "eyes" swept over the people on the platform who looked like they were facing a formidable enemy, and finally settled on Zhang Qiling, who was standing at the very front.

A low, gurgling growl, like boiling water, came from its throat.

"The Copper Corpse General," Zhang Qiling said, looking at the enormous monster, "is the guardian of the pillar. It was corrupted by nuclear energy and transformed into this form."

"Very strong," Zhang Qiling commented, his hand already on the hilt of the Black Gold Ancient Blade, his body slightly lowered, assuming a fighting stance. He showed no intention of letting anyone else step forward.

The bronze corpse seemed enraged by Zhang Qiling's slight provocation. It let out an even louder roar, and its massive body suddenly sprang into action! Its speed was completely disproportionate to its cumbersome size, like a runaway chariot, carrying a foul stench as it crashed straight into Zhang Qiling! Its enormous claws slashed down at his chest, the claws whistling sharply and piercing the air!

Zhang Qiling didn't take the blow head-on. In the instant the claws were about to strike, he shifted his footwork, his body sliding sideways like a ghost, narrowly avoiding the attack. The claws grazed his clothes, the force of the wind stinging his skin. He ducked, slipping under the bronze corpse's thick arm, and drew his black-gold ancient sword. A flash of light, and he slashed at the monster's supporting leg at the knee!

"clang--!"

The deafening clang of metal clashing against metal was deafening! The blade struck the eerie outer shell, but only managed to cut in less than half an inch before failing to advance further, instead sending up a spray of dark green sparks. The bronze corpse swayed slightly, but the attacked leg remained motionless. Instead, using the momentum of its forward charge, it swept its other arm across, its massive hand like a door, aiming for Zhang Qiling's ribs!

Zhang Qiling didn't have time to sheathe his sword, so he could only bend his left arm and use his forearm to block the sweep.

"Bang!"

The dull thud was like the sound of rustling leather. Zhang Qiling was sent flying by the immense force, but he quickly regained his balance in mid-air, lightly touching the railing at the edge of the platform with his toes to dissipate most of the impact, and landed gracefully back in the center of the platform, facing the bronze corpse once more. He moved his slightly numb left arm, his eyes growing even colder.

The bronze corpse turned around, its red-glowing "eyes" staring at him, seemingly surprised that this tiny human had withstood its attack. It growled, and this time, instead of charging recklessly, it slowly approached with heavy steps, each step causing the platform to tremble. Its sharp claws were slightly open, dripping dark red, corrosive sap from their tips, hissing white smoke as it burned on the bronze floor.

Zhang Qiling took a deep breath, transferring the Black Gold Ancient Blade to his left hand, leaving his right hand free and hanging slightly at his sides. He no longer waited and launched his attack! In a flash, he was already to the right of the Bronze Corpse General, his left hand flashing with lightning speed, aiming straight for its "eye"! This strike was as fast as lightning, intended as a test.

The bronze corpse reacted with lightning speed, tilting its head to the side. The tip of the blade grazed the outer shell of its eye socket, leaving a white mark. Its right claw suddenly lunged at Zhang Qiling's wrist, which was holding the knife! Zhang Qiling flipped his wrist, the blade spinning to deflect the claw, while simultaneously whipping his right leg hard into the same spot on the outside of the bronze corpse's right leg!

"Thump!"

This time the sound was muffled, and the bronze corpse visibly swayed, but still didn't fall. It seemed to be completely enraged, spreading its arms wide and lunging forward recklessly, intending to crush Zhang Qiling in its embrace!

Instead of retreating, Zhang Qiling advanced. The instant his arms came together, his body slid out through the gap under the bronze corpse's armpits as if it had no bones. At the same time, he swung his knife backhand and plunged it deep into the bronze corpse's left rib—there was a deep vertical laceration there!

"Pfft!"

This time, the blade pierced flesh! Thick, dark red, almost black blood spurted out! The bronze corpse let out a painful roar, its massive body twisting violently as its left arm swung backward! Zhang Qiling drew his sword and retreated hastily, but was still struck on the shoulder by the force of the blow, staggering back a few steps, his clothes tearing at his shoulder, leaving several bloody marks.

The bronze corpse bled profusely from its rib wound, but it seemed oblivious to the pain, instead becoming even more ferocious. It abandoned all restraint, its claws lashing out wildly with a chilling whistling sound as it attacked Zhang Qiling with madness. The platform's limited space sapped Zhang Qiling's room to maneuver, and he narrowly escaped death several times. Sparks flew as the blade clashed with the claws, the clanging sounds echoing incessantly.

The battle reached a stalemate. The bronze corpse possessed immense strength, terrifying defense, and was impervious to pain. Zhang Qiling's speed and skill far surpassed his opponent's, but his attacks failed to inflict fatal damage, while his stamina was rapidly depleting.

"Fighting like this isn't going to work!" Wu Xie said anxiously.

"It has a weakness," Zhang Qiling said suddenly, his voice not loud but clearly reaching Zhang Qiling's ears, his eyes fixed on the battle. "Right in the center of its chest, beneath its outer shell, something is throbbing. It's the source of the 'nuclear' contamination, and also its power source."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiling's gaze instantly locked onto the bronze corpse's chest. As it attacked frantically, beneath the thick outer shell of its chest, there was indeed a palm-sized area that rhythmically and weakly pulsated with its movements, emitting an ominous dark red glow.

That's it!

His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He dodged the copper corpse's sudden pounce, stopped fighting, and suddenly accelerated forward, deliberately crashing into the copper corpse's arms! The copper corpse's giant claw slammed down, but he neither dodged nor avoided it. His left hand, wielding the black gold ancient sword, slashed upwards, precisely blocking the descending claw. At the same time, his right knee slammed hard into the copper corpse's abdomen!

"Bang!"

The bronze corpse bowed its body. Zhang Qiling used the momentum to leap up, his right hand forming a halberd shape, concentrating all his power at his fingertips, and with an unstoppable determination, he fiercely stabbed at the bulging dark red area on the bronze corpse's chest!

"puff--!"

The finger pierced through the relatively thin outer shell, penetrating deeply! The touch was sticky and burning, as if it had stabbed into a boiling, malicious mass of flesh!

The bronze corpse abruptly stiffened its massive body! It let out an unprecedented, piercing shriek, so mournful it was inhuman. From the spot where the stab had pierced its chest, a dark red light flickered wildly, as if something inside was struggling desperately. Its hands flailing wildly toward Zhang Qiling in front of its chest.

Having landed a successful blow, Zhang Qiling immediately withdrew his hand and flipped backward, landing several meters away. Dark red, almost black, viscous fluid dripped from his fingertips, wriggling slightly as if it were alive. His face was slightly pale; that strike had not only consumed a great deal of energy, but the chilling, sinister, corrosive sensation emanating from his fingertips had also made him extremely uncomfortable.

The bronze corpse's dark red light flickered rapidly a few times before abruptly extinguishing. It stood frozen in place, its massive body beginning to tremble violently. The strange outer shell covering its body rapidly developed countless cracks centered on the wound on its chest, from which dark red, almost black, viscous fluid gushed forth like a fountain.

"Retreat!" Zhang Qiling shouted sharply.

Everyone hurriedly retreated to the innermost part of the platform. The bronze corpse trembled, emitting a series of cracking sounds, as if something were shattering, before finally collapsing to the ground with a thud. In the instant it fell, its massive body rapidly crumbled and dissolved like a weathered sand sculpture, turning into a pool of dark red, viscous liquid that expanded and emitted a pungent stench. Only a twisted, enormous, corroded, and riddled-with-hole bronze skeleton remained, submerged in the liquid.

The battle is over.

A nauseating stench permeated the platform. Zhang Qiling stood there, slightly out of breath, staring at the pool of liquid on the ground that rapidly lost its activity and eventually solidified into a black shell, and at the grotesque skeleton. He shook his right hand; the sticky substance on his fingertips had solidified and peeled off, but the chilling sensation remained.

The levitating live-streaming sphere slowly descended from the sky, giving a close-up of the mess on the ground and Zhang Qiling's silent, upright profile. After a long silence, the live-streaming chat exploded with comments.