C14 The Second Massacre

As Qin Feng's words hung in the air, a palpable shift swept over the crowd's expressions. A man leapt to his feet, exclaiming, "Crap. There's a bunch of vents on the second floor."

"I'll check it out." Without hesitation, Qin Feng sprinted towards the staircase.

Yet, he halted before reaching the stairs, a sudden, inexplicable terror seizing him.

Driven by an instinctive sense of impending danger, Qin Feng froze, retreating a step.

Simultaneously, a dark silhouette plummeted from the second-floor corridor, its razor-sharp claws swiping at Qin Feng.

Without missing a beat, Qin Feng drew the Dragon Bone, bracing for the creature's talons.

The clash echoed sharply through the air. As the shadow hit the ground, it lunged for Qin Feng anew.

Qin Feng needed no glance back to anticipate the beast's next move. He swung the Dragon Bone, striking the creature's shoulder with a heavy blow.

A crunch of breaking bones resounded, yet the Devil Eye Ratman wasn't repelled. Instead, it bore the agony and sprang at him once more.

These low-level monsters lacked both strength and resilience. But in their harsh world, they were exceedingly vicious and bloodthirsty. Once they locked onto a target, they were relentless.

With no other option, Qin Feng positioned the Dragon Bone before his throat.

The creature's fangs clamped down on the weapon, mere inches from Qin Feng's carotid artery.

But the Devil Eye Ratman would never strike Qin Feng again. The instant the Dragon Bone was gripped in its jaws, Qin Feng channeled all his might into his arm, snapping the beast's fangs clean off.

Qin Feng whirled, delivering a punch to the Devil Eye Ratman's snout. Its skeletal structure shattered, it let out a wail, and was hurled back two meters.

"You're asking for it!" Qin Feng bellowed, wielding the Dragon Bone to smash through the Ratman's skull.

Bones splintered, brain matter splattered, and the stench of gore filled the air.

Its face grotesquely misshapen, bone fragments and blood spewed from the gaping wound, eliciting screams from the onlookers.

"Quiet down. Get ready to engage the enemy!"

No sooner had Qin Feng finished speaking than every window on the second floor shattered. The relentless sound of breaking glass echoed through the air.

Shadows darted from the second-floor corridor, leaping down into view.

The monsters had arrived, their excitement palpable as they frantically sniffed the human scent.

Qin Feng knew well the instincts of these creatures. Most monsters hunted humans by the scents they exuded. The denser the crowd, the stronger the scent, and the more frenzied the monsters became.

Within moments, a horde of over ten Devil Eye Ratmen surged onto the second floor.

Perched on the railing of the corridor, the monsters' eyes bulged as they scanned their surroundings.

They gazed upon the petrified crowd in the hall as if beholding a feast of delectable morsels. Their roars, filled with unbridled excitement, grew louder as the savagery in their eyes intensified.

Hearing the monsters' cries, the people were engulfed in despair. Instinctively, they huddled together, silently praying for a savior.

But no savior came.

Survival was in their own hands now.

Brandishing the Dragon Bone, Qin Feng dispatched the first Devil Eye Ratman. Without hesitation, he thrust the Dragon Bone backward, targeting another.

The second beast, its maw gaping and bloodied, lunged to bite Qin Feng.

But Qin Feng was quicker. Before the creature's teeth could sink in, the Dragon Bone's tip had already found its throat.

To most, the Dragon Bone was nothing more than an oddly-shaped stick, its appearance crude and almost comical.

Yet, charged with a copious amount of Source Qi, this unassuming stick wielded extraordinary powers. It could not only concentrate energy to hasten Qin Feng's evolution and bolster his strength but also transform under the influence of Source Qi. The Dragon Bone, akin to a slab of refined steel, was not only incredibly hard but also capable of absorbing Source Qi.

The once mundane Dragon Bone effortlessly penetrated the monster's skull. As blood and brain matter burst forth, the creature's lifeblood splattered wildly.

In the blink of an eye, Qin Feng's toes found the edge of the corridor's pillar. With that force, he vaulted five meters across the space, landing deftly beside Wang Gang.

This was the transformation evolution had wrought upon him!

Just an hour earlier, Qin Feng was a mere ordinary man.

But after undergoing extensive modification by Source Qi, his endurance had become astonishing, and his explosive power and speed had multiplied several-fold. Moreover, having spent a decade in the post-apocalyptic world in his past life, he had mastered a wealth of lethal skills. Now, he was beginning to show his unmatched abilities.

Of course, Qin Feng's rapid advancement was largely due to the Dragon Bone.

The rest, however, weren't as fortunate.

Source Qi permeated everything, and these oblivious individuals had unwittingly been altered by it. Their bodies were slowly evolving.

But there wasn't enough time. Due to varying physiques, people absorbed Source Qi at different rates and their innate talents varied greatly.

The elites, accustomed to a life of luxury, lacked physical conditioning. So, they remained as vulnerable as ever. Confronted by swarms of vicious monsters, all they could do was clutch at nearby tables and chairs, screaming in utter despair.

Among them, several faint-hearted women had already crumpled to the floor, too paralyzed by fear to even scream.

The monsters swiftly overran the second floor. At least twenty Devil Eye Ratmen emerged, twitching their elongated snouts and emitting a chorus of harrowing roars before leaping from the corridor.

To the average person, a five or six-meter drop was insurmountable. But to these abyssal creatures, it was a trivial leap.

The first Devil Eye Ratman landed squarely on the head of a woman in a white blouse. Its razor-sharp claws were deadly weapons. With a heavy smack, it shattered her skull in one brutal blow. Blood sprayed as her cranium burst open, like a watermelon being split. Her body thudded to the ground; her head was obliterated, yet her limbs still convulsed. The Ratman wasted no time, baring its filthy fangs and savagely ripping into her flesh.

The men beside her let out a collective shriek, their voices piercing the air, even shriller than the women's.

As for the more faint-hearted women, they were so terrified that they collapsed to the ground.

Despair gripped everyone present as they observed the slaughter with unspeakable fear.

The five Devil Eye Ratmen simultaneously lunged at the woman's corpse, whose head had been shattered. They viciously gnawed at her limbs.

Her body was ripped open, her bloodied organs strewn across the floor. Her blood pooled on the ground and splattered across the faces of the onlookers, who watched in utter despair.

The searing heat of the blood made all who were present feel the chilling presence of death closing in.