Chapter 72: Provocation

The moment they rushed into the stairwell, the closest window in the corridor was smashed, the glass pulverized, and the warped frame flew inward.

“Find the kayak and then come back for me!” Su Li’s voice echoed from above. He had already charged up to the roof alone.

“Got it!” Gong Xiao didn’t hesitate. She immediately pulled Xu Xuehui, rushing down the stairs.

Ding Longyun saw the Nightmare Beast’s tentacles reaching into the stairwell from the window. He gritted his teeth and yelled, “Su Li, you must be careful!” He then quickly chased after Gong Xiao down the stairs.

Su Li reached the roof, immediately spotting the large piles of monster corpses. However, he ignored them. He spun around and charged toward the roof’s edge. Looking down, he saw the colossal body of the Nightmare Beast tightly hugging the exterior wall of the 32nd floor stairwell. It suddenly tilted its body back, exposing the gigantic eye on its abdomen.

Su Li knew this was bad. It was preparing to use its ultrasonic/infrasonic attack on the stairwell again. With the power of that sonic attack, the stairwell could be completely obliterated.

“You damned monster!” Su Li roared. He shifted the machete and steel shovel to his left hand, gripping his iron rod with his right. The muscles on his right arm swelled up, his augmented strength reaching its maximum. Veins bulged across the back of his hand like earthworms crawling on his skin.

Following his roar, he threw the iron rod, which was imbued with his thousand-jin force, like a javelin toward the Nightmare Beast below. His target was the huge, exposed eye on its abdomen.

The iron rod, thrown by Su Li, flew like a sharp arrow, instantly striking the giant eye on the Nightmare Beast’s abdomen. At the exact same moment, the Nightmare Beast’s tentacles lashed out, striking the iron rod.

With a “crack,” the iron rod was bent and sent flying far away. The distance it traveled was farther than Su Li could have thrown it even with his full strength.

Although the iron rod failed to wound the Nightmare Beast’s eye, it caused a momentary flash of pain. The massive eye rolled upward.

Su Li knew he was in danger and immediately retreated.

With a deafening “BOOM,” the edge of the roof instantly shattered and exploded.

This was the invisible attack of the ultrasonic/infrasonic waves. If Su Li hadn’t anticipated it and retreated in time, he would have been instantly annihilated.

The only thing he felt fortunate about was that, compared to the Nightmare Beast’s terrifying power and invisible sonic attacks, its movement and striking speed were its only flaws.

Su Li had asked for Ding Longyun’s steel shovel and Gong Xiao’s machete, intending to throw them at the Nightmare Beast to draw its attention and lure it onto the roof. This would give Ding Longyun and the other two a chance to escape and find the kayak. Afterward, he planned to jump from the roof into the water and join them on the kayak to flee.

He only needed to throw the iron rod to draw the Nightmare Beast’s attention. He had successfully enraged the monster.

As the edge of the roof exploded, a torrent of tentacles shot out from the gap. Clearly, the Nightmare Beast had abandoned chasing Ding Longyun and Gong Xiao and was moving toward the roof.

Su Li immediately spun around and sprinted toward the other side. When he saw the massive piles of corpses, an idea struck him. He dropped the steel shovel and machete. He grabbed the body of a Corpse Beast with both hands and hurled it into the air like a projectile, aiming it at the tentacles that were emerging.

A continuous “shush-shush” sound filled the air. The colossal Nightmare Beast was climbing up. The two Corpse Beast bodies he threw were easily slapped away by its tentacles and flew far away, falling into the water below.

Su Li continued to grab the massive piles of corpses—Corpse Beasts, Water Rat Beasts, and Marine Iguana Monitors—and, using all his strength, launched them like weapons toward the ascending Nightmare Beast.

The corpses either struck the tentacles and were deflected into the water below, or they were directly smacked away by the tentacles, flying a distance before plummeting into the water, shattered and mangled.

Su Li threw nearly twenty corpses in one breath. Sweat began to pour down his forehead. Throwing the bodies with such force severely drained his stamina. He gradually felt a soreness in both arms.

Despite the obstacle of the corpses, the Nightmare Beast finally scaled the roof.

The Nightmare Beast was completely enraged by Su Li’s provocation. The moment it climbed onto the roof, it raised dozens of its tentacles, flailing them wildly in the air. It lifted its body, stood upright on its two rear limbs like a human, and charged toward Su Li in massive strides, like a flesh-and-bone tank.

It did not use its ultrasonic/infrasonic attack because, although powerful, that attack required a cooldown period for energy recovery after each use. Now, it resorted to ramming Su Li.

Clearly, in its fury, it had abandoned its plan to capture Su Li alive and intended to kill him immediately.

The Nightmare Beast, with its hard shell, was like a walking tank. Given its size and weight, the force of its charge was comparable to a crushing military vehicle.

If Su Li were hit by it, he would instantly be crushed, his bones broken, and his flesh pulverized into a bloody mess. His death would be too gruesome to imagine.

“Beast—” Su Li let out a low roar. He fiercely grabbed the steel shovel and threw it with all his might toward the giant eye on the Nightmare Beast’s abdomen.

He suspected that the eye on the Nightmare Beast’s abdomen was its fatal weakness. Unfortunately, striking it was difficult. His earlier throw of the iron rod had been a surprise move but still failed to inflict damage.

The steel shovel flew out. The Nightmare Beast, clearly sensitive about the eye on its abdomen, immediately bent its body forward, shielding the large eye. Dozens of its tentacles retracted and shielded its front.

The steel shovel was caught by the tentacles, which then hurled it back toward Su Li.

The steel shovel flew back.

Su Li grabbed the last remaining weapon, the machete. He did not use the machete to block the flying steel shovel, knowing that his strength was inferior to the Nightmare Beast’s. Attempting to block the shovel with the machete would likely shatter the machete and injure him.

He pushed off the ground with his feet and dodged, narrowly avoiding the steel shovel. He then sprinted at full speed toward the edge of the roof, opposite the monster.

The Nightmare Beast raised its dozens of tentacles, lashing out like whips toward him.

(End of Chapter)