Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 427 - 58: Cocktail_2

As for the metaphorical snake being startled, it naturally doesn't refer to the creature that attacked Factory 105, but rather the Three Apes that disrupt things from time to time.

Taking a deep breath, Sun Hang pulled out the Bluetooth earphones from his pocket and plugged them into his ears.

An English song with a vigorous rhythm immediately flowed into Sun Hang's ears — this was a playlist shared by Mr. Wang, who said it was perfect for listening to during anaerobic exercises... a high-intensity battle against the creatures certainly counts as such.

It's just uncertain how intense the battle would need to be for Wang Xiyi to reach the threshold of anaerobic exercise, given their current cardio capabilities.

After all, it concerns the heart of a black dragon.

Sun Hang listened for a few moments, then turned off the music playback function and switched to the military radio.

He intended to scan through all frequencies from 111.1MHz to 999MHz. However, as soon as he switched to 111.1MHz, he sensed something off.

According to the scout team, the 111.1MHz frequency should carry intermittent, extremely faint whispers. But when Sun Hang tuned into this frequency, all he heard was silence... and within that silence, faint breathing.

The breathing gradually quickened, as if calm emotions were slowly succumbing to excitement.

"You've come! You're finally here!" shouted a woman from the other side of the earphones, her emotions even more excited than Sun Hang's. "I haven't even started looking for you! And you've delivered yourself here!"

"Who are you?" Sun Hang asked.

The opposite party did not answer Sun Hang's question but said to herself, "I'll capture you and slowly chew you bit by bit, making you feel the most agonizing..."

The voice abruptly ceased, leaving only the "buzzing" of electric currents in the earphones, infinitely extending into the distant virtual space.

Sun Hang noticed that everything around him had turned gray and white; the rotors of the drone were frozen in mid-air, leaving only him and the white girl sitting on the bent lamp post, swinging her slender legs as the only moving entities in the world.

She resembled a work of art carved from jade, her entire body exuding a cool yet lustrous glow, with perfect physical proportions and a face that seemed beyond what this world could bear. Yet, whether regrettable or delightful, the artist who sculpted this statue added black irises to its eyes just before completion, and in that moment, the statue came alive, turning into a girl akin to a deity.

Perhaps the scene Ling Xiao witnessed that night was just like this.

No matter how many times he looked, Sun Hang would always be captivated by Anna's appearance... though only captivated.

"Something important?" Sun Hang asked.

"You see, I've sent you away from the trouble spot, yet you insisted on coming back, and now you've run into trouble, haven't you?" Anna said, resting her chin in her hands and looking down at Sun Hang.

"Trouble? I don't see it that way..." Sun Hang shook his head.

"Do you know why the voice just then was so excited?" Anna asked.

"Why?"

"Because the object of her revenge is you! Everything she has done is to find you and avenge herself, and now that you've come here yourself, she is naturally overjoyed... to her, this is her only reason for existing in the world."

"How deep of a grudge is that?" Sun Hang scratched his head, "Did I kill her whole family?"

"Her very birth was a mistake, and you didn't prevent this mistake, which to her is the root of all hatred," Anna said.

"That's too unreasonable," Sun Hang retorted, "It's like an old man in Chunming City falling and dying, and because I, who was in Tianfu City, didn't help him, his children think I killed the old man. This logic is outstanding; I suggest she stop being a creature and go into politics instead."

"It's not like that... my dear mother," Anna smiled and shook her head. "You've given all beauty and love to me, leaving her only ugliness and abhorrence. If I were in her place, I might hate you as much."

"When you say it like that, it's almost as if..." Sun Hang started but suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

He realized something but knew that if the vague notion in his mind became clear, it would almost certainly invite the interference of the Three Apes... What he needed to do was keep this notion in a state between vague and clear, maintaining the status quo.

"Seems like you've mastered the knack," Anna chuckled, covering her mouth.

"Is she here?" Sun Hang asked.

"No, she's not," Anna shook her head. "Her true form is still inside that huge, hideous cocoon of flesh... What has descended here is merely her shadow."

"Her shadow has the ability to manipulate space-time?" Sun Hang was somewhat puzzled.

"Coincidence," Anna replied.

"Coincidence?"

"This place happens to be at a spatial instability point. With minor interference, you can cause many layers to split from the space, like a drink humans call a cocktail."

"Can the riddler just die already?" Sun Hang grumbled.

"You should be aware of the concept of the inner world, mom?"

"I've heard of it."

"Here, there are many layers within the inner world, layered upon one another," Anna explained. "And her shadow has projections in each layer. To restore spatial normalcy, you must clear all these projections."

"In which layer of the inner world am I currently?"

"Zero layer, the surface world," Anna said. "It's what conventional wisdom sees as the 'normal world.'

"How do I get in?" Sun Hang asked. "There should be connecting passages between the inner world and the surface world, right? How do I find them?"

"You don't need to find them; the passages will come to you," Anna laughed again. "Mom, you just need to stay put... She's much more eager than you are."

As soon as the words fell, in the next second, Sun Hang felt as if he was being swallowed by something.

The high-intensity spotlight from the drone turned into orange-red flames, even the pitch-black night sky was subtly tinged with red.

The entire Factory 105 was ablaze, flames consuming everything, scorched polymer materials crackling, emitting a pungent odor intermingled with the smell of smoke, relentlessly invading Sun Hang's nostrils.

The blazing heat slapped against Sun Hang's cheeks, and he could even catch a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of his facial hairs curling rapidly.

"Welcome to the first layer of the inner world." Anna's figure vanished, but her voice still lingered in Sun Hang's ears.

"Factory 105 shouldn't be burning like this. Almost all materials used in building the plant are flame retardant, and flammable and explosive items are strictly prohibited in the entire park..." Sun Hang mumbled to himself as he slowly walked into the flames. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The sensation of being scorched registered in his mind, with the surface of his skin rapidly carbonizing, cracking, and peeling away... Underneath, the fresh pink flesh was quickly charred, the blood bursting from the skin before it could drip to the ground, already evaporated by the high temperature...

Logically, inheriting the black dragon mimetic, Sun Hang, shouldn't be afraid of fire... Yet, within these flames, his body seemed to revert to flesh, losing his original flame and physical resistance except for the restorative powers granted by Taishui.

"Seems I guessed right; these aren't real flames."

Sun Hang reached out towards the flames before him.

He grasped onto a handful of sharp, invisible blades, slicing his palm which bled profusely.

Following that, countless more blades pierced through his body, slicing his flesh and bones.