Chapter 103: Art Is an Explosion!

Blade light flickered, and the sky was stained with blood.

At the very heart of the Nest of Chaos, the giant tumor responsible for channeling nutrients to the chaotic eggs pulsed like a ruptured heart, with torrents of crimson gore gushing out like a waterfall. The blood spread rapidly, thick and deep red, soon submerging the ankles.

Fragments of corpses, not yet fully dissolved, flowed out with the bloody cascade, turning the floor into a literal ocean of carnage.

In such a terrifying environment, an ordinary person would have lost their mind long ago. While Su Cheng remained sane, his expression was far from pleasant.

Just as he charged toward the giant tumor with his blade drawn, a wicked tentacle lashed out from behind him, seemingly intent on delivering a "thousand years of death" strike to his rear.

However, Su Cheng’s reflexes were lightning fast. The moment the tentacle attempted its foul maneuver, his figure blurred as he slashed backward, sending a crescent-shaped blade of light arcing through the air.

幽 (Ghostly) blue spiritual light bloomed like fireflies. The strike, imbued with potent spiritual energy, severed the tentacle at a speed invisible to the naked eye. It crashed into the vast sea of blood with a boom, sending up a spray of crimson waves.

Su Cheng had no time to tangle with these tentacle monsters. After severing the limb, he stepped into the void, a powerful burst of air pressure jetting from his boots. Like a man equipped with rear thrusters, he propelled himself toward the giant tumor at incredible speed.

With Su Cheng’s current physical prowess, a full-power burst could instantly outpace a speeding sports car. Combined with the propulsion of his spiritual energy boots, his top speed at any given moment neared the speed of sound.

But just as he closed in, a chaotic monster—resembling a mythological hydra—hatched from an egg. A hideous, unformed serpent head opened its abyss-like maw.

【Chaos Hydra】 (Juvenile)
Monster Type: Elite Creature
Faction: Chaos Faction
Danger Level: High

An oppressive, terrifying aura swept in from all directions. This Chaos Hydra held a high rank within the Chaos faction. In its fully matured state, its combat power would likely exceed that of the dungeon’s final boss.

Yet, for Su Cheng, a juvenile Chaos Hydra was nothing to fear.

"Infinite Shadow Blade, Scattering Flower!"

Su Cheng’s eyes turned cold. The moment he uttered the technique’s name, countless shimmering blade beams—like dark flowers scattered by a storm—rushed toward the Hydra.

A split second later, countless shadow blades tore through the air, striking the Chaos Hydra simultaneously.

In less than ten seconds of its appearance, the Hydra was reduced to a pile of minced meat by Su Cheng’s Infinite Shadow Blade. It was finished.

Breaking through the defensive line of the chaotic monsters, Su Cheng leaped forward and tossed a palm-sized metal orb into the mass of the tumor. He then cut down another chaotic beast and sprinted away in a chosen direction.

The properties of the metal orb were as follows:

【Unstable Arcane Bomb】
Type: Engineering Tool
Quality: Rare
Item Description: A bomb developed by the Goblin Engineer Victor during a drunken stupor. Its performance is as volatile as a goblin’s temper. It blew up the goblin laboratory the very day it was created.
Note: Explosion is art. BOOM!

***

This arcane bomb was not a product of the Rat Extermination Squad; Su Cheng had purchased it from the game store before entering the dungeon.

Although its performance was unstable, its destructive power was terrifying.

Su Cheng had already set the bomb to detonate on a ten-second timer. With his speed, ten seconds was more than enough to escape the blast radius.

Five, four, three, two, one!

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion rocked the Nest of Chaos. The tumor detonated, sending flesh and gore flying everywhere, and hundreds of chaos eggs incubating within the nest were instantly reduced to ash.

Su Cheng didn't even look back as he fled the nest, heading toward the red dot on his radar.

A real man never looks at explosions.

As the Nest of Chaos was destroyed, the game’s voice prompt chimed in perfectly.

"Side quest completed. Rewards have been issued; please check your inventory."

In addition to game points, Su Cheng drew a D-grade Spiritual Art Mastery Experience Card.

The effect of this card was to grant the player double mastery experience within the dungeon. Currently, the only skills Su Cheng could use to grind his Spiritual Art mastery were *Spiritual Amplification* and *Magic Light Wave Slash*.

*Magic Light Wave Slash* went without saying; a single use consumed nearly eighty percent of his spiritual energy, making it impossible to use frequently for grinding. *Spiritual Amplification* also had a significant cooldown, preventing repetitive use.

"It seems next time I upgrade my mastery level, I need to choose a spiritual skill that can be used frequently to grind proficiency." Upgrading spiritual and magic-based mastery skills was far more difficult than upgrading swordplay, firearms, or combat mastery. The latter could be easily leveled by simply finding a group of monsters in a dungeon and using basic attacks. However, raising spiritual and magic mastery required the active use of corresponding skills. In the early stages of the game, there were few ways to learn skills, so naturally, leveling mastery felt like an uphill battle.

Half an hour later, Su Cheng appeared at the location indicated on his radar.

He found himself in what looked like a cellar where the rat-men stored their food; the floor was piled high with bleached skeletons. As Su Cheng arrived, a pack of mutant rat-men were busy gnawing on a mangled corpse with great relish.

Seeing a human appear on their turf, the mutant rat-men dropped the rotting meat. Their blood-red eyes fixed on Su Cheng, and their ugly rat faces twisted with greed.

Eating humans was their nature.

"Squeak-squeak-squeak!" (It’s been so long since I’ve tasted a live human; nobody better fight me for it!)

"Squeak? Squeak-squeak." (Why should you? Finders keepers.)

"Squeak, squeak..." (Old Thirteen, grab him! Don't let this human get away!)

Thirty seconds later, the nest of rats had been hacked into a pile of minced meat by Su Cheng.

"Things aren't looking good. Could it be that the missing members of the Rat Extermination Squad have already been eaten by these rats and turned into dung?"

After dealing with the rats, Su Cheng carefully searched the skeletons in the cellar.

Judging by the state of decay, they had been dead for at least a week, meaning they were not the missing squad members he was searching for. Furthermore, he found no tracking chips from the Rat Extermination Squad in the cellar.

"This is strange. The radar shows the location is right here. Where could the missing members be?"

Su Cheng thought for a moment—the game wouldn't provide an impossible task. There must be a hidden clue nearby he hadn't discovered yet.

***

About five minutes later, Su Cheng found a dark green tactical backpack hidden behind a rock in a corner.

This backpack must have been left behind by a member of the Rat Extermination Squad, and it couldn't have been long ago. Su Cheng found several bottles of clean mineral water and a bag of high-calorie chocolate bars inside.

Beyond these, there were two flashlights, spare batteries, a morphine injector, a sleeping bag, and a pocket pistol.

Incidentally, this pistol had a very short effective range and was not very lethal against mutant rat-men. The squad wasn't issued these pistols to fight rats, but rather to allow themselves a painless end if they were surrounded and mortally wounded.

To his surprise, Su Cheng pulled another piece of equipment from the bag.

【Groundhog’s Claw】
Type: Gauntlet
Quality: Rare
Attack Power: Average
Attack Speed: Fast
Item Description: No matter how hard the ground or rock, it becomes as soft as tofu before the Groundhog’s Claw.
Requirement: None

"So, the primary function of this equipment isn't combat, but digging holes?" Su Cheng couldn't help but scoff. "No, the system wouldn't place an item unrelated to the mission here for no reason."

A bold idea began to form in his mind.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiaolong was making his way through a pitch-black tunnel, waving his flashlight.

He had been lucky; since getting separated from Su Cheng and the others, he hadn't encountered any powerful elite monsters, only exterminating a few nests of rats along the way to reach this point.

Suddenly, a shadow flickered before his eyes.

Xu Xiaolong felt a chill run through his body, a coldness deep in his bones creeping up from the soles of his feet.

"Who’s there!"

Gripping his thick, sturdy magic staff in fear, he shouted in a nervous, low voice.

He shone his flashlight, and a familiar figure appeared at the end of the tunnel, about ten meters away, with their back to him.

"Wei-ge! You scared the hell out of me. I thought I ran into a monster." Recognizing the figure as Zhang Wei, Xu Xiaolong let out a sigh of relief and walked toward him.

Strangely, Zhang Wei didn't seem to hear him; he just stood there, back turned, motionless.

"Geez, Wei-ge, are you taking a leak? Perfect, I need to go too." With that, Xu Xiaolong walked up to Zhang Wei’s side, unzipped his pants, and happily relieved himself.

After finishing, Xu Xiaolong shivered and turned his head toward Zhang Wei, opening his mouth to say something.

Then, he saw Zhang Wei’s head had transformed into a hideous, snarling rat’s head.