Xu Xiaoyou continued her search forward, this time the influence of Five Alley far exceeded the data reported in previous news.

She vaguely remembered that previous news reports about Five Alley covered at most just one block, the area being only a few dozen to a couple hundred square meters in size.

But now she had already delved nearly hundreds of meters into it, and still hadn't seen that iconic wall, not even glimpsing the edge from afar.

The deeper she went, the more Xu Xiaoyou felt terrified inside.

This time, the coverage of Five Alley likely exceeded over a dozen blocks, nearly half of Zone Nine engulfed within. Such a massive urban legend incident is bound to explode on the city's hot searches tomorrow.

Five Alley is a grotesque entity, all this indicates it's continuously 'growing' through feeding, getting bigger.

A month ago, Five Alley was just an ordinary, weak grotesque being, only occasionally hunting some wandering homeless in the city for sustenance.

Through recent days of frenzied feeding, its size has almost multiplied by nearly a hundred times compared to the initial, even capable of wiping out dozens of well-equipped, organized Cleaners within two minutes.

Such a horrifying growth rate is akin to a plague; by the time people realize it, it's already spread to an uncontrollable extent.

Witnessing it firsthand, Xu Xiaoyou discovered that she'd far underestimated the threat level of Five Alley before.

Even when compared to countless urban legends in Nest City's history rated as Disaster Level, its growth rate is unheard of.

Recalling the words she'd heard from those Dissectors before like 'assimilation', 'hunger', 'feeding', Xu Xiaoyou felt uneasy altogether.

She had a premonition, sensing something that triggered Five Alley to suddenly enter this feeding frenzy, where the craving for fresh flesh and blood peaked, growing indiscriminately, risking being cleansed by the association while madly predating.

Human senses aren't as sharp as those relying on primitive instincts, like before a major disaster, fish in ponds, birds flying in the sky, squirrels residing in forests always sense the danger first.

This ominous feeling made Xu Xiaoyou very uneasy.

It felt as if countless clues in the dark were connecting to form a path, pointing to the same place.

She recalled all the events in the past month but couldn't detect anything amiss.

Creaaak——

A rusty, opening iron door interrupted Xu Xiaoyou's thoughts, drawing her attention.

She entered the house and searched around but found nothing. In the kitchen, there was a pot of boiling soup, upon opening it, Xu Xiaoyou almost couldn't help but vomit immediately.

An arm was being boiled within, white from being cooked, skin detached from flesh, the soup base boiling over, bubbling.

She'd seen many fresh severed arms, but this was the first of its kind she'd encountered.

Being away from the junkyard for so long, her mental endurance has decreased.

Xu Xiaoyou thought to herself.

Acts like severing one's arm to stave off hunger are quite common in this Nest City, maybe even some mentally twisted individuals deliberately do this, beautifully seasoning it with all kinds of spices, making a pot of broth, then adjusting posture at the dining table for a hearty meal.

Something seemed to have happened, causing the owner of this house to disappear abruptly before having the chance to enjoy this pot.

The scarlet moon outside grew increasingly creepy.

Xu Xiaoyou left that house, observing the old residential buildings lining both sides of the street. Through the windows, everything was deathly silent, every household shrouded in darkness, as if this street hasn't been lived in for a long time, the whole block lifeless and desolate.

Zone Nine is a government-controlled area, classified as a stable zone in terms of security. Even as an old district, it should have quite a few residents living in it, yet now it seems long abandoned, devoid of any signs of life.

She carefully searched every street corner.

The scene ahead grew increasingly gruesome, severed limbs and arms were everywhere, all belonged to those Cleaners before. Their bodies intertwined and entangled, few places intact.

The crimson tide underfoot grew increasingly viscous, the stench more unbearable.

Xu Xiaoyou, adhering to principles of frugality, picked up all miscellaneous weapons left by Cleaners off the ground and kept them.

"I'm just keeping them safe for you, don't get mad at me, okay."

Finally, as she passed by a street corner, a beast-like roar echoed behind her.

"Hey, you in the front, put your hands up!"

Xu Xiaoyou turned around, her gaze slightly trembling.

She saw a Cleaner, dyed in blood, half his body missing, was at this moment aiming a gun at her, eyes wide, teeth bared, ribcage and sternum ghastly pale under the red moon.

It's hard to imagine this guy still alive in such a state, his heart almost falling out yet still thumping vigorously...

"Monster..."

"You must be a monster too!!"

The Cleaner seemed mentally collapsed already, his robe in shreds, torn all over, hanging off his body messily.

He shouted, each vocalization would make his body tremble, dropping a few parts.

"How come there's not a single scratch on you!"

"You must be one of those monsters, an accomplice, right!? Stop pretending, I already know, hahahaha..."

Xu Xiaoyou remained cautious, subtly stepping back, gathering a ball of flame in her hand.

Anya too postured for combat, ready to pounce at the first sign of unusual movement from the man and end his life!

"Hahaha..."

The man seemed to have thought of something, suddenly squeezing out a grimacing smile more painful than crying, turned and aimed the gun at his own chin.

"I already know...we're all going to die...all will be assimilated, I'll become a monster too..."

He murmured the last few incomprehensible words, eventually pulling the trigger.

"All are going to die."

Bang——

Blood splattered everywhere.

Xu Xiaoyou felt a chilling fear.

Suddenly, she heard heavy breaths from the street corner, identical to what she'd heard over the phone before.

It was like breathing through a thick metal mask.

A Dissector heard the commotion and came over.

Thinking of this, she silently hid behind a wall with Anya.

Before long, a hulking figure appeared in her sight.

"Cookie, delicious. This one, that one."

The Dissector was almost three meters tall, standing like a small mountain in the crimson blood pool, clad head to toe in heavy Alchemy Armor, bulky, resembling the sumo wrestlers Xu Xiaoyou had seen on TV.

"I'm a little bee gathering honey, buzz buzz buzz."

The grating metal friction sound echoed.

It seemed in a cheerful mood, humming while using clamp-like metal arms to pick up bits of men scattered on the ground and toss them into the metal canister on its back.

"Lovely cookie biscuits."

Occasionally encountering well-shaped 'cookie crumbs,' it would grin like a hefty child, picking them up and putting them into its mouth, letting out a sinister chewing sound.

Judging from the nearly overflowing metal canister, it had harvested plenty for tonight's snack time.

Its good mood seemed destined to last,

until that blazing Fireball suddenly soared before its eyes.

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