Chapter Twenty-Five End

"It's over..." Lin Lei stared at the toppled giant monster, swallowed hard, but nonetheless took a step forward of his own accord.

He didn't dare to directly "plunder" this creature, but he could at least test how much Gluttony energy would be consumed in the attempt. For every difference of a single level in the monsters, the Gluttony energy required for "plundering" multiplied several times. Lin Lei estimated that plundering this thing would cost him at least five hundred units of Gluttony energy.

He quickly reached the monster's side. But as he tried to activate "Gluttony," his expression suddenly changed. With a swift motion, he dove to the side!

He realized he couldn't plunder this creature at all.

With his fifteen hundred units of Gluttony energy, there was no reason for it to be insufficient.

Most likely, this thing wasn't dead yet!

Boom!

Just as Lin Lei leapt aside, the monster that had been lying prone on the ground suddenly lunged forward, its massive body barreling toward him like a raging bull!

Though Lin Lei reacted in time, he was caught completely off guard and wielded no long weapon to defend himself. He was struck hard and sent flying, his bones crackling, blood gushing from his mouth along with fragments of his internal organs.

At the same time, the giant monster collapsed to the ground from the force of its charge. Although its body was charred black and its flesh was open and raw, it managed to struggle upright again by sheer vitality.

"Damn!" Wen Xiang's face was filled with panic as she retreated, raising both hands. Several serpents of fire shot forth once more, but their power and speed were greatly diminished—insufficient to finish off the giant monster.

Zhen Shuang raised her hands and cast a strengthening buff on Lin Lei, who was closest to the monster, before turning to flee.

Her combat ability was poor; without Lin Lei as a shield, a single touch from the monster would mean her death. It was simply too dangerous.

Meanwhile, the giant monster endured Wen Xiang's fire strikes and once again charged at Lin Lei.

Gritting his teeth, Lin Lei forced himself upright. His whole body glowed with golden light, and a savage gleam flashed through his eyes. "I refuse to believe this!"

He bent low, his body springing forth like a coiled spring, launching himself directly at the giant monster's charcoal-black body.

After plundering so many fiends and wraiths, Lin Lei was now more monstrous than any monster.

Whoosh!

His hands turned into claws, and with the force of his leap, he pierced straight into the monster's body.

He hung onto the beast, claws embedded in its burning flesh.

He had chosen the monster's left side, where it had lost an eye and was missing both left arms—an ideal spot for attack.

With his claws locked in place, his mouth extended razor-sharp fangs. He lunged forward, biting deep into the creature's neck!

Whether it was ghouls, fiends, or monsters of this kind, their jaws were formidable. With all his abilities stacked, Lin Lei's bite was terrifyingly strong.

In one powerful bite, he tore off a large chunk of flesh.

He immediately activated "Plunder" and swallowed the meat.

Although a single chunk could not heal all his wounds, it was better than nothing.

The giant monster howled in pain, refusing to let Lin Lei attack unchecked. It awkwardly swung its right claw at him.

But before the claw could strike, Lin Lei had already leapt away.

Thrown off balance, the monster crashed heavily to the ground.

Lin Lei pounced again, his claws raking and fangs biting nonstop, each mouthful of flesh plundered and swallowed, gradually healing his wounds.

The monster wailed in agony, its two remaining arms flailing, but with its strength and speed greatly diminished, it could not fend off Lin Lei's relentless, agile attacks.

After one final crash to the ground, the creature convulsed and could no longer rise.

Lin Lei stepped forward and pulled out the blade lodged in the monster's left eye, then, aiming at the torn gap in its neck, began hacking off its head.

To call it a head was a stretch—it was little more than a gaping vertical maw.

Once he had severed the head, Lin Lei collapsed to the ground, letting out a long, heavy breath.

About two minutes later, Zhen Shuang and Wen Xiang cautiously approached from a distance.

"Lin Lei... are you alright?"

Lying on the ground, Lin Lei replied weakly, "Not dead yet."

He had torn off plenty of the creature's flesh. After all, it was a third-tier monster, and even a portion of its meat was enough to heal much of his injuries. Though in a sorry state, he would not die from his wounds.

Wen Xiang hurried forward and helped Lin Lei up. "Lin Lei, that was incredible!"

Though it was dark and they were some distance away, Wen Xiang and Zhen Shuang hadn't clearly seen how Lin Lei killed the monster. But they had witnessed him charging at the beast again and again, colliding with it multiple times.

"Heh." Lin Lei's lips curled wryly.

He was resigned. If he could, he would never choose to brawl with such a creature.

Unfortunately, his was a "brute force" build, and all the monsters he had plundered so far were melee types. He had no choice but to fight at close quarters.

"I'll bandage you up!" Zhen Shuang took a medical kit from her backpack and came to Lin Lei.

This time, Lin Lei did not refuse.

He still had many wounds that had not yet healed.

As she bandaged him, Zhen Shuang noticed the unusual nature of his body.

"Your body is really something!"

She tried to suture some of his deeper wounds, but even her special steel needles couldn't pierce his skin.

Clearing his throat, Lin Lei said, "Just apply some medicine and wrap it up a bit. My recovery is pretty strong."

Zhen Shuang nodded, her expression complex. She took out some healing ointment.

"Bear with it... this might sting a little."

Lin Lei nodded, and she began to apply the medicine.

"Sss—ah!"

Zhen Shuang had not lied; it really did hurt.

Even someone as tough as Lin Lei found it difficult to bear.

"Look at that monster!" Wen Xiang suddenly pointed aside.

"Hmm?" Lin Lei turned and saw the corpse of the third-tier monster nearby suddenly begin to fade, then dissolve into countless points of light that soared into the sky.

He had planned to find an opportunity to plunder the creature, but now, after its death, it disintegrated on its own.

This was likely due to the core of this special zone.

As the points of light spread outward, a faint white glow appeared in the pitch-black sky, and the light slowly grew, spreading in all directions.

Dawn had come!

It was a slow process. After about five minutes, the sky was completely bright.

Zhen Shuang let out a long sigh of relief. "The core of the Forbidden Zone has been destroyed, the zone liberated, and its special rules have vanished."

She turned to Lin Lei and Wen Xiang with a smile.

"Congratulations to you both. Completing a Forbidden Zone mission is a major achievement. Forget the regular investigation points—some special 'hidden scores' are very valuable."

Lin Lei was intrigued by the mention of "hidden scores," and he smiled as well.

"Congratulations to you too."

With the Forbidden Zone liberated, the three of them quickly reestablished contact with Hodge and others outside.

"Consultant Hodge and the team will be here soon. Let's wait here," Lin Lei said, raising an eyebrow as he stood and stretched his battered body. "You and I should check the surroundings."

Wen Xiang hesitated, then warned, "Be careful. There could still be fiends around."

Lin Lei grinned. "Don't worry—one or two fiends are nothing to me."

Zhen Shuang shook her head, amused. "Have you forgotten the fiends' nature? They die instantly in sunlight. At most, there may be some left in caves, but outside, only their corpses remain. So it's perfectly safe."

Lin Lei's eyes lit up and he chuckled. "I'd almost forgotten that."

He turned and strode away.

Though his night vision was far better than most, there was no comparison between moving through darkness and being bathed in daylight—he could see much farther and more clearly now.

"Daytime really is better," he muttered.

Once out of sight of Wen Xiang and Zhen Shuang, Lin Lei picked up his pace.

Though his injuries were serious, they were still within manageable limits.

He sniffed the air, following the scent, and soon found several fiend corpses nearby.

Their bodies were twisted and emitting white smoke, the deaths gruesome.

"Tsk, tsk," Lin Lei muttered, showing no hesitation as he plundered a second-tier fiend. With the battle over, there was no need to save further plundering attempts.

Unfortunately, this time he gained little Gluttony energy, nor did he increase his strength or recover much from his wounds.

"I've reached my limit for plundering fiends..." This was his fourth second-tier fiend.

He felt a surge of relief.

Thankfully, he hadn't suffered a fatal wound in the final battle with the third-tier monster.

Swallowing the flesh, he pressed on and found even more fiend corpses in the area.

After about ten minutes, he had plundered all the fiends nearby and was moving farther out when he suddenly stopped.

"Hmm? What's this..."

He soon found two more fiend corpses at the edge of a grove, but these were wreathed in ghostly blue flames.

"It's Ghostfire! Has the Bureau's team already arrived?!"

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow and was about to consume the two fiends when he suddenly looked up and saw a drone pass overhead. In the distance, more drones hovered in the sky.

"Those are the Bureau's reconnaissance drones!"

He halted, narrowing his eyes. "Looks like my chance to eat fiends is over!"

At this moment, his Gluttony energy had already broken past two thousand units.

This harvest exceeded all his expectations.

Without another glance at the two burning fiend corpses, he turned and walked away.