64: First Blood! A Curse of Words! (3000-word chapter)

Rustle, rustle... A hand made of mud pushed aside the reeds.

Immediately after, a wobbling "mud statue come to life" rushed out.

This thing was covered from head to toe in silt.

Forget its facial features, it was hard to even distinguish its species.

"Holy crap! What is that thing?!"

Xia Lai's hand jerked, and the bone nail she had just screwed on almost flew off.

She backhandedly snatched the bone shield by her feet, her face full of vigilance.

"A new species? A Rot-Swamp Sludge Monster?"

Chen Du lifted the newly assembled Bone Chainsaw, his posture as wild as if he had just rushed over from the set of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.

He tentatively pulled the tendon starter cord.

The bone teeth spun at high speed, creating a whistling wind.

"Whatever it is."

"Since it's delivered itself to our door, it's the perfect time to give this Ripper its first taste of blood."

With that, he took a step forward!

He raised the chainsaw high, intending to give the mud-man a physical 'deliverance'!

"Don't... Chen Du! It's me!!"

The mud-man let out a scream, dropping its arms and giving up resistance.

This voice... sounded a bit familiar?

Chen Du paused his movements, the chainsaw hanging just three inches above the other's head.

The high-speed airflow forcefully blew away the sludge on the person's face, revealing a pair of terrified yet beautiful eyes.

"...Li Yaozhi? Study Committee Member?"

Chen Du raised an eyebrow; this contrast was quite significant.

Confirming the familiar gaze, her tensed nerves finally snapped.

Li Yaozhi's knees buckled, and she fell straight forward.

She didn't hit the bone-dust ground.

A powerful arm steadily caught her by the waist.

Even through the thick mud, Chen Du could feel the body in his arms trembling and spasming violently.

"Seems like my coin was quite useful?"

Looking down at the wretched state of the icy school beauty in his arms, he couldn't help but tease.

"But Madam Study Committee Member, your look is quite unique. Did you just come back from an internship in a septic tank? A battle-damaged version?"

"Shut up..."

Li Yaozhi's eyes were red. She wanted to push away this toxic-tongued bastard, but she couldn't muster a shred of strength.

She could only rest her forehead against his bare muscles, feeling extremely aggrieved: "Dirty... I'm so dirty, don't touch me..."

The fear, disgust, and helplessness from the journey completely gave way the moment she felt this man's body heat.

At that moment, a wolf-whistle came from the side.

Xia Lai thudded the bone shield onto the ground and leaned in, her gaze scanning Li Yaozhi unscrupulously.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Usually, you won't even let anyone touch the hem of your skirt, so how did you turn into a mud wrestler?"

As she spoke, the female rogue wiped a hand across Li Yaozhi's mud-covered chest.

"The elasticity is still there! Seems like this layer of mud didn't shrink these good things; the quality holds up."

Xia Lai took a big advantage and even wanted to feel down her thigh.

Slap!

A large hand unceremoniously slapped away her paw.

"Get to work, stop touching randomly."

Chen Du glared at Xia Lai, then crouched down himself.

His large hand grasped Li Yaozhi's slender, straight calf, which was coated in black mud.

Using his thumb, he wiped away the silt at her knee.

On her fair skin, several bloody gashes cut by the reeds were startling to see.

"Hiss..." Li Yaozhi flinched from the pain.

"Don't move."

Chen Du held her leg down, his eyes scanning the wounds, his tone unreadable: "This is my private property. Who gave you permission to damage these legs?"

Li Yaozhi's face heated up, a blush rising on her cheeks.

Private property? This overbearing bastard... It was clearly concern, but why did it sound so punchable coming out of his mouth?

"I didn't mean to..." she murmured softly, the fear in her heart miraculously dissipating.

"Favoritism!"

Xia Lai curled her lip to the side, grumbling sourly: "Captain, you're double-standard! Just now when I was grinding bones until my hands almost blistered, I didn't see you blowing on them! Hmph, you stinky man, I'm going to tell Third Sister later!"

"Next time I'll get you an electric one," Chen Du offered a casual brush-off.

Suddenly!

Li Yaozhi shoved him hard, her face turning pale.

"Left side! Two o'clock! Killing intent!!"

Chen Du's gaze instantly became cold as a blade, his perverted aura vanishing without a trace.

Without any nonsense.

He hooked his large hands and directly pressed the two women's heads behind a mammoth leg bone.

At the same time, his right hand violently pulled the chainsaw starter cord!

Almost in the same second.

Two leaf Kunai shimmering with blue light flew past Chen Du's scalp, pinning into the bone tree behind him.

If it had been an ordinary person, their head would have been blown open by now.

"Baka! Such a fast reaction?!"

Shadows distorted.

Two figures wearing black tight-fitting combat suits launched themselves off the ribcage like geckos.

One tall, one short.

The tall one held a cold-gleaming katana, while the short one's hands were forming seals—clearly people from the Sakura Country team!

"Huaxia dog, leave the women and the equipment!!"

The short ninja barked, raising his hand to throw a grass ball.

Bang!

Purple smoke instantly exploded, obscuring all vision.

Chen Du stood in the center of the smoke, revealing a sinister grin: "Playing misdirection in front of me? Don't you know my support calls out positions?"

Inside the smoke, killing intent lurked everywhere.

The ninja's footsteps were extremely faint, circling behind Chen Du like a ghost.

A flash of cold light!

A vine ninja blade aimed straight for Chen Du's heart from behind!

"Watch out! He's behind you!!" Xia Lai screamed, wanting to raise her shield but it was too late.

"Shut up! Follow the lead!"

Li Yaozhi closed her eyes, clutching that coin tightly as she roared out the coordinates: "Chen Du! Ten o'clock! Attack low!!"

This was the terror of a Diviner!

In her perception, the enemy's trajectory was like a black line drawn on white paper!

Chen Du didn't need to look back at all.

He had absolute trust in Li Yaozhi.

His body sank with the momentum!

Evading the lethal strike from behind!

Simultaneously, his left leg swept out like a steel whip!

The blow connected solidly with the ninja's shin bone.

"Nani?!"

The ninja let out a scream, his body staggering, his invisibility state directly broken to reveal a terrified face.

Before he could adjust his center of gravity.

Chen Du suddenly looked up.

Within his eyes, the golden pupils were as if an ancient Tyrannosaurus had awakened!

Talent Skill: Tyrants Gaze!

A wave of soul pressure crashed into the ninja's mind.

That feeling was like a rabbit being stared down by a T-Rex—total paralysis!

"Stunned for 0.5 seconds? Enough!"

Chen Du's lips curled into a grin, and the Bone Chainsaw let out a thirsty roar.

"Go... DIE!!!"

Vrrr—Squelch!!!

The high-speed spinning chainsaw cut through the ninja's armor without any resistance!

It sawed down diagonally from the collarbone!

Blood sprayed wildly!

The sound of the chainsaw grinding into bone became the most terrifying movement in this forest.

"Fujita-kun!!"

The other katana-wielding samurai's eyes nearly split from rage.

He hadn't expected that in a single exchange, their assassin would be insta-killed by this Huaxia man wearing only a pair of pants!

"I'm going to kill you!!"

The samurai roared and charged,

His katana gleamed coldly, clearly a powerful weapon from an airdrop.

"You want to touch my Captain?"

From the side, a beautiful silhouette rushed out.

Xia Lai stood before the samurai, bracing the fifteen-pound bone shield.

"Taste my big bone stick!!"

Clang!!

The katana struck the dense mammoth bone, sparks flying everywhere.

The massive impact sent Xia Lai sliding back two meters, landing flat on her butt, all dignity lost.

"Ouch! My butt! It's split, it's split!"

Wretched as she was, she successfully blocked the strike!

The samurai was bounced back by the counterforce, and just as he was about to adjust his stance for a follow-up slash,

Li Yaozhi suddenly stood up.

Her eyes were hollow as she tossed the coin between her fingertips toward the samurai!

Word Spirit: Misfortune!

"You will trip... you will step on your companion's skeletal remains!"

This was the Word Spirit power she had just comprehended after witnessing the wipeout of the Indian team.

As soon as she spoke,

The samurai's foot slipped inexplicably.

Just like stepping on a banana peel, he unfortunately stepped right on his companion's skull.

His balance was lost!

In that instant, a shadow loomed over him.

Chen Du, covered in blood, pounced out from the smoke.

He directly choked the samurai's throat with his hand, pinning him to the ground!

"Want to kill me?"

Chen Du's face was inches away, his golden-ringed pupils staring dead into the samurai's eyes.

"In your next life, don't choose to be born on that island, and definitely don't mess with Huaxia people."

Snap!

A twist of the wrist, and the cervical spine snapped.

The samurai's eyes widened, his body twitched twice, and then he was still.

Battle over.

Double kill!

The air was thick with the smell of blood.

Xia Lai rubbed her butt as she climbed up. Looking at the two corpses on the ground, her stomach churned: "Blegh... Captain, this is too brutal..."

"It's called efficiency."

Chen Du flicked the bits of flesh off the chainsaw, his gaze indifferent.

He pressed his palm onto the ninja's corpse.

"Sacrifice!"

The dark red light surged again, more crimson and eerie than ever before.

The corpse rapidly shriveled and dissipated in the red light.

[Sacrifice successful! Looting phase begins!]

[Obtained: Steel Shuriken x3]

[Obtained: Unidentified Ninjutsu Scroll x1]

[Obtained: One portion of life essence]

Chen Du's eyes lit up.

Shurikens were good stuff, perfect for making up for his lack of ranged attacks.

As for that scroll... He unfurled it and revealed a satisfied smile.

[Shadow Clone Technique: Can summon two clones with 30% of the original's strength, lasting 5 minutes.]

Good stuff!

This was practically a god-tier skill for scouting and luring enemies!

Chen Du backhandedly sacrificed the samurai's corpse as well.

[Obtained: Military Canned Food x2, Mineral Water x2.]

"Catch!"

Chen Du threw the food and water to the two startled women.

"Eat it, we have to move fast. The poison circle is coming."

Xia Lai took the water, her hands still shaking: "Cap-Captain, where are we going?"

Chen Du looked up at the eerie purple sky above.

There, the static clouds began to churn, turning into a startling blood-red.

A grand and cold voice boomed in everyone's mind once more:

[Current survivors: 72. The thrilling game officially begins!]

[Phase One Circle Shrink starting!]

[The Despair Poison Mist will engulf the outskirts of the Withered Bone Forest in 10 minutes!]

[Countdown: 09:59...]

Meanwhile.

Several kilometers away, at the other end of the Withered Bone Forest.

"Huff, huff~~"

Xia Xin's hair was disheveled, and she had even lost one of her shoes while running.

She sprinted through the Bone Forest in despair, her soles cut bloody by bone fragments.

"Little girl! Don't run!!"

Behind her, three Kimchi Country hulks, built like iron towers, were closing in with sinister laughs.

The leader was brandishing a large thigh bone, his eyes full of lust.

"Aishiba! These legs are top-tier!"

"Catch her! Let's teach her properly how to serve an Oppa! Hehehe!"

Xia Xin looked back, her eyes filled with despair.

In front was a bottomless abyss; behind were three evil wolves.

"Second Sister... Third Sister... Captain..."

"Someone, please save me..."