Chapter 135: The Building-Eating Beast

Ding Longyun said, “We can’t just call it fear. Who knows what those monsters are up to? Either there’s something special on that little island, and it’s so terrifying that it’s scaring the monsters away from a distance.”

“Hey, look, it seems like monsters are approaching the island now—” Xu Haishui suddenly cried out.

The island had now slowly drifted to within a kilometer of the skyscraper. The group saw that the monsters that had initially scattered were now approaching the island. Soon, Corpse Beasts and Sea Spiders began climbing onto the island.

“Well, that’s embarrassing. It looks like the monsters aren’t afraid of the island after all,” Ding Longyun chuckled.

The huge swarm of monsters surrounding the Purple Wind Building also showed signs of dispersing and moving toward the distant island.

Gong Xiao speculated, “I guess the monsters’ senses are sharper than ours. At first, they sensed something dangerous and scattered, but now they must realize the island isn’t scary and are approaching.”

“No, it’s a summon,” Xu Xuehui suddenly stated.

“A summon?” Gong Xiao was slightly confused.

Su Li asked, “Are you saying this island is summoning these monsters? That’s why they are gathering there?”

Xu Xuehui nodded.

“So, this isn’t just an island, but a life form that looks like an island?” Su Li murmured, staring at the rock-covered floating island in the distance. He noticed it was approaching a tall building.

That building was a 30-story tower, about 800 meters from the Purple Wind Building. Only one floor was visible above the water; the bottom 29 floors were submerged.

The floating island was drifting directly toward this building. Amidst the gasps of the onlookers, the floating island slammed into the building.

The floating island stopped. The impact caused the building to sway and begin to collapse. Just then, an astonishing scene unfolded.

The collapsing building tilted toward the floating island. The shattered walls, concrete, bricks, rebar, and all the debris were drawn in as if by an invisible force. They all landed on the floating island and fused with the rocks there, quickly transforming into new rock and becoming part of the island.

Staring across the pouring rain, everyone watched the shocking event unfold in the distance. They watched the floating island come to life, slowly “eating” the wreckage of the collapsing building.

The entire process took only a few minutes. The exposed portion of the 30-story building completely vanished, having been assimilated into the floating island.

“What kind of monster is that? It can eat buildings?” Ding Longyun couldn’t help but yell.

“Oh no, it looks like it’s heading in our direction now—” Someone else cried out in alarm.

Su Li turned his head and saw that it was Bai Wenwei, the man who was friendly with Xu Haishui. His face was ghostly pale, and his body was trembling slightly.

Everyone recalled the scene of the floating island “eating” the exposed part of the building. Their hearts sank.

Whether the monster had consumed the submerged part of the building was unknown since it was underwater, but everyone had just witnessed the entire process of the exposed floor being “eaten,” and they were all horrified.

With the 30-story building consumed, the floating island, which was already the size of a soccer field above water, moved again, approaching the Purple Wind Building.

As the distance closed, the floating island became clearer and clearer in their vision. The distance between them rapidly shrank.

“What do we do? It’s really coming toward us!” someone shouted in fear.

“Will the Purple Wind Building be eaten too?”

“If the Purple Wind Building is eaten, what happens to us?”

“Should we flee now?”

A clamor of discussion and panic broke out.

Su Li’s brow furrowed tightly. He watched the floating island continuously approaching in the heavy rain. It was now less than 600 meters from the Purple Wind Building.

As it drew closer, they could clearly see the floating island was covered in various stacked rocks. Many Corpse Beasts, Sea Spiders, and Lizards had climbed onto it and were wandering around the island, as if searching for something or simply drifting aimlessly.

“Brother Su, what’s the plan? Do we try to leave now? Should we try to move as many supplies as possible while we still have a little time?”

Xu Haishui looked at Su Li. The island’s approach to the Purple Wind Building was seemingly inevitable. The only thing they could do now was grab supplies and flee before the island struck and “ate” the Purple Wind Building.

Su Li remained silent. Ding Longyun gritted his teeth and said, “So many supplies! How much can we carry in this short time? Should we really abandon this place?”

“What choice do we have? We can’t stop this floating island. Unless it suddenly changes direction, but we can’t stand here and wait for that to happen.” Xu Haishui shook his head, his eyes filled with helplessness.

He was equally reluctant to abandon this place, but they were no match for the terror of the floating island that could devour entire buildings.

Suddenly, a low voice rang out from the crowd: “Who says we can’t stop it?”

Su Li heard the voice and turned to see who spoke. It was the 26- or 27-year-old man standing with his back straight and a crew cut.

Su Li recognized him as Luo Jun, the only Level 5 Spiritual Source Wielder in the canteen, whom Xu Haishui said was a retired Sanda fighter. Tao Bingjun’s group had tried to recruit him, but he had refused to join them.

“Luo Jun, what do you mean? Do you have a plan?” Xu Haishui looked at Luo Jun.

Luo Jun, who was usually taciturn, now clenched his hands. He said solemnly, “Everything has a weakness. If this island is truly a life form, it must have a weakness. If we don’t try, how will we know if we can stop it or even destroy it?”

Su Li quickly interjected, “Well said! I was thinking the same thing. How can we know if it’s impossible before we try?”

Xu Haishui looked at Su Li. “Brother Su…” He was trying to stop him.

Su Li put out his hand to stop him from speaking further. He said in a deep voice, “We’ll prepare for two outcomes. All of you who have reached Level 5 will come with me to confront this floating island and find out what it really is. The rest of the people will move as many supplies as possible onto the rafts, preparing for an emergency evacuation. If we can stop it, that’s great. If we can’t, we can retreat then. The island is 500 or 600 meters away, and it’s moving slowly. We still have some time before it crashes into the Purple Wind Building.”

Su Li didn’t know the floating island’s true nature or life form. Their only option was to get closer and use the “Peering Rune” to observe. Since the island moved slowly and seemed to pose no immediate threat, approaching it wasn’t overly dangerous for now.

“Good, that’s the best approach.” Gong Xiao nodded in agreement.

Hearing Su Li’s two-pronged plan, the crowd agreed and quickly moved into action.

Most people sprinted to the 37th floor to retrieve supplies, preparing for an evacuation.

All those who had reached Level 5 followed Su Li down the stairs.

Luo Jun also followed without hesitation. Many people didn’t know he was Level 5, and they were surprised to see him join the frontline group.

In this moment of crisis, he was clearly unwilling to hide his strength any longer.

Su Li saw Xu Xuehui following him. He had intended to ask her to stay, but then he remembered her “Aberrant Eye Technique” and the unique nature of her enhanced eyes. Since the floating island was so bizarre, her eyes might spot something special. He allowed her to follow.

A total of six people were Level 5 in the Purple Wind Building: Su Li, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, Xu Xuehui, Xu Haishui, and Luo Jun. They all grabbed their weapons and quickly charged to the bottom floor, jumping onto the nearest raft.

The large swarm of monsters gathered around the building, though scattered, was still numerous. The appearance of the six Level 5 Wielders drew their attention, and monsters immediately began to surround them.

“Brother Ding, don’t be shy. Treat them to your ‘Air Missile’,” Su Li said, extending his right hand to his chest and drawing out the Dragon Rhino Sword.

“I’ve been holding back long enough!” Ding Longyun laughed. He opened his mouth and spat out an “Air Missile.”

A flash of white light shot into the water ahead. With a loud “BOOM,” it exploded in the midst of the monster swarm. Flesh and blood flew, and at least four or five monsters were instantly killed.

“Damn it! Why didn’t I get a single effective Spiritual Source? Even if there aren’t any Level 5 monsters, are there no Level 4s either?” Ding Longyun cursed. He realized that even though he killed four or five monsters with the Air Missile, the Spiritual Sources he received were ineffective.

“The gap between Level 5 and Level 4 is massive. You won’t gain any effective Spiritual Sources by killing anything below Level 5,” Xu Haishui explained.

“Is that true?” Ding Longyun was stunned.

He had previously gained one effective Spiritual Source even by killing a monster one level below him. He hadn’t realized that after reaching Level 5, killing anything below Level 5 would yield no effective Spiritual Sources. This meant leveling up would be much harder, as they would have to kill Level 5 or higher monsters.

Several Corpse Beasts lunged toward them. Xu Haishui, explaining as he fought, held his short spear. Flames erupted on the spear as he plunged it into a Corpse Beast’s chest.

(End of Chapter)