Delago had said that the Fire Mage would appear in various places throughout the city.

Although the sewer was special, it should still be considered within the city's boundaries.

And with the Fire Mage's abilities, coming to the sewer would be like taking a casual stroll for him.

Liu Zheng had originally planned to use his sick leave time to search for clues about him on the streets.

He never expected to encounter him in the narrow confines of the sewer now, not knowing whether this was fortune or misfortune.

Though somewhat apprehensive, he decided to follow and investigate.

Whether he died early or late, death was inevitable anyway. If he could contact the Fire Mage now, he could even save one Sick Leave Note.

Liu Zheng chased forward for a distance and made a new discovery.

He picked up a wrapper from the ground that read "Five-Spice Chicken Livers."

There were five wrappers total, each about half the size of a palm.

Given Liu Zheng's current appetite, eating thirty or forty packs in one go wouldn't be a problem at all.

First potatoes, now chicken livers.

For some inexplicable reason, he felt like laughing.

This Fire Mage, who even the plane tree deeply feared, actually had quite simple tastes when it came to food.

Someone like this probably wasn't too bad, right?

Too bad he hadn't brought any food when he went out, and he could only replicate meals after completing deliveries.

But as long as he could successfully communicate, he could always deliver food later.

Anyway, the restaurant lacked many things, but it never lacked food and drink.

Liu Zheng threw away the wrappers and prepared to continue forward.

Suddenly, he saw the wrappers move.

Several wrappers spun around, dancing in the air like industrial butterflies.

"The wind's picking up."

Feeling the cool breeze on the back of his head, Liu Zheng realized.

But why would wind start blowing in the sewer?

He turned around and immediately showed an expression of shock.

Because he saw dozens of Skinless Monsters charging toward him at full speed.

"I'm dead, I'm dead."

Liu Zheng instantly broke out in a cold sweat, then without hesitation jumped into the Sewage River.

However, he immediately felt that extreme cold and heat.

Within just a few seconds, his chitinous shell was completely corroded away.

The recovery speed boosted by the Heart of the Ocean couldn't keep up with the rate of erosion from the sewage.

At this rate, Liu Zheng would completely dissolve in the Sewage River in less than a minute.

"What's going on?"

He was both shocked and furious.

Just moments ago, getting in the river had been like soaking in a bathhouse—why did it now feel like soaking in a sulfuric acid pool?

The reason remained unknown, but Liu Zheng knew the Sewage River was no longer safe.

Gritting his teeth, he climbed back onto the bank.

Facing the approaching horde of Skinless Monsters, Liu Zheng tightened his grip on the Boning Knife and bone club.

He wasn't completely powerless to fight—as long as the plane tree's arm could create an opportunity for him, he could fight for survival amidst certain death.

One particularly emaciated Skinless Monster moved much faster than its kind.

It was the first to reach Liu Zheng, then swung its sharp claws.

"Direct close-quarters attack?"

He was somewhat surprised.

But that was fine—the Skinless Monsters' tongues were more threatening than their claw attacks.

One tentacle holding the bone club blocked this claw strike.

This Skinless Monster was considerably weaker than the one he encountered before, and with its muscles not bulging, Liu Zheng blocked it steadily.

Just as he prepared to counterattack, he saw the Skinless Monster continue running forward without hesitation.

"Huh?"

Liu Zheng was completely baffled. Follow current novels on novęlfire.net

Just as he stood there puzzled, the other Skinless Monsters reached him.

Liu Zheng faced them as if confronting a great enemy, ready to use the plane tree's arm.

However, those Skinless Monsters completely ignored him, flashing past him like the wind.

"Hey, that's kind of hurtful to my self-esteem."

Liu Zheng felt somewhat displeased.

But at the same time, he grew vigilant.

What were these Skinless Monsters doing?

Or rather, under what circumstances would a group of predators abandon prey that was right before them?

Soon, Liu Zheng had his answer.

That would be when another group of even stronger predators arrived.

These Skinless Monsters were fleeing.

Now, the wind grew stronger.

He could even see waves beginning to form on the Sewage River.

Though he didn't know what was happening, alarm bells were ringing loudly in Liu Zheng's mind.

Then, the plane tree's arm suddenly moved on its own.

They broke free from Liu Zheng's tentacles and burrowed into the ground.

Countless roots immediately broke through the earth, forming an impenetrable cage that trapped Liu Zheng inside.

The next second, he heard the sound of waves crashing against rocks.

The sound was so violent that he felt his internal organs being shaken out of place.

The tree cage shook wildly, and Liu Zheng even heard sounds like metal snapping.

"Squeak squeak!!!"

A small but highly penetrating cry came through.

It was the cry of the Black Mouse swarm.

It seemed they were also caught in this unknown disaster.

"Squeak squeak!!"

Liu Zheng tried hard to ignore other sounds, focusing only on the cries of the Black Mouse swarm.

If this had happened before, hearing this sound would have made him run as far away as possible.

But now, in a situation where he couldn't see anything, the mice's cries actually gave him some sense of security.

But this false security didn't last long.

The sound of the mouse swarm gradually weakened.

It even became disorganized, no longer unified and coordinated.

"Squeak!"

After one final high-pitched screech, the mouse swarm fell completely silent.

An entire colony had perished.

From their previous behavior, these black mice should have possessed considerable intelligence and decent combat capabilities.

But faced with the sewer's disaster, they could only be slaughtered helplessly.

Though the Skinless Monsters ran fast, their fate probably wouldn't be much better either.

The tree cage's vibrations grew increasingly stronger, even causing resonance in Liu Zheng's body.

Internal bleeding was secondary—the real problem was that his brain was starting to vibrate too.

In this shaking that felt like his brains were being blended, Liu Zheng's consciousness gradually blurred.

He seemed to separate from his body, passing through the tree cage, through the sewer, flying toward infinitely distant places.

His never-before-met great-grandmother was waiting for him there, holding a fishing rod in her hand.

"Come quickly, dear grandson, your great-grandma has prepared the fishing spot for you."

She said kindly.

"Coming, coming."

Liu Zheng replied happily and was about to run forward.

"Damn it, just got the fire going and now this wind—doesn't let a man eat in peace."

A rough voice interrupted their family reunion bliss.

Liu Zheng turned back in astonishment, but saw only brown tree roots before his eyes.

"Eww~ what is this thing? So sticky and gross. How utterly filthy?"

The voice said with disgust.

His volume wasn't particularly loud, but it completely overpowered the wind and waves, and even reduced the tree cage's vibrations considerably.

"There's also a pile of dead mice here, looks like the wind killed them. Some might ask—can you eat those mice?"

"Brothers, although we're homeless, we don't just eat anything. Eating this stuff—to put it nicely—wouldn't you drop dead on the spot?"

The voice grew closer, and Liu Zheng even felt like the person had arrived right in front of him.

"What's this ball here? Made of wood too."

"This is proper good wood, brothers. This looks like it'll burn well—just this one piece of wood could burn for two hours."

"What I burned earlier was pine wood—pine doesn't burn as long, nowhere near this. But pine has fragrance—some people like using pine for roasting meat."

"Tap tap."

Liu Zheng heard the person apparently knocking on the tree cage with something.

"Really good wood. But brothers, we can't take it. This clearly has an owner—even us homeless folks need to have standards."

"Let's go, brothers, let's broadcast from somewhere else. This place stinks too much—can't stand it."

The person outside said.

"Are you the Fire Mage?"

Hearing this, Liu Zheng quickly shouted with all his might.