31: Chapter 36: The Spider’s Journey and the Cicada’s Transformation (Part 6) 31: Chapter 36: The Spider’s Journey and the Cicada’s Transformation (Part 6) Spider Monsters were raining down like a torrential downpour.

Li Cheng moved swiftly, his Mantis Arm Bone Blade cutting in succession, slaying each Spider Monster that approached.

Stamping the ground, he leapt up, kicking forcefully against the roof of an exhibition electric car, and sprang onto the second floor.

The corridor before and behind him was blocked by Spider Monsters, and all he could hear were the sounds of their advancing footsteps, crunching, and the clatter of mouthparts colliding with limbs.

Whoosh!

A chilly wind swept over from behind.

Li Cheng dodged to the side, eluding a sneak attack from a Spider Monster, then stepped forward and crushed it.

Green, smelly fluid splashed in all directions, bursting onto expensive jackets in the nearby Armani store.

Another Spider Monster lunged towards him.

He extended ant needles from underneath his skin and gripped the Spider Monster’s head with one hand, pressing it against the metal railing.

Grinding it forward, he scraped and flattened it completely.

He hacked his way forward to the middle of the corridor, stepping on the handrails to leap out of the floor.

In mid-air, he used the Bone Blade to hook onto the side of the escalator and reached the third level.

As before, he proceeded to flip to the fourth and fifth floors.

Most spiders in nature spin webs to catch prey, but a few are exceptions.

Take jumping spiders, for example, specialized in stealth, pursuit, and leaping.

The three-pronged flower spider changes its body color to match the surroundings, scouting for pests branch by branch, leaf by leaf, blossom by blossom on cotton plants.

Wolf spiders are apex predators among spiders of the same size.

There are burrowing wolf spiders like Barr’s wolf spider and hunters like the Bear Spider, as well as those capable of walking on water like the Water Wolf Spider and the smaller Wolf Spider.

Possessing active hunting skills, they do not need to weave sticky spider webs and lay in wait for their prey.

The same goes for the Ink Spider.

Being a top predator, the web at the top of its nest had little stickiness, more like a steel mesh, making it particularly firm to step on.

We meet again.

The Ink Spider raised its abdomen, and colors slowly rippled across its body, once again activating its ability to pollute information.

Li Cheng abruptly shut his eyes and slightly lifted his shoulders.

The Long Spear Rhinoceros Beetle perched on his shoulder received the command and immediately flipped its elytra and buzzed into flight.

The newborn Rhino Beetle, which had hatched after absorbing two pieces of the Insect Lord Blood Amber, had explosive power and agility far beyond all other species in its Coleoptera order.

It performed barrel rolls in the air, easily avoiding the small Spider Monsters that lunged at it, ultimately crashing onto the back of the Ink Spider.

Like the human brain and surveillance cameras, the Long Spear Rhino Beetle was also susceptible to the Ink Spider’s information pollution ability.

In its Perception, the Ink Spider did not exist – there was only air ahead.

Therefore, Li Cheng did not command it to attack the Ink Spider but directed it towards a wounded area on the Ink Spider’s back, covered in spider silk.

The Long Spear Rhino Beetle is native to places like Guadeloupe Island and Dominica in Latin America, typically found in trees, and feeds on tender leaves, fruit, and tree sap.

During evolution, males developed exaggerated horn-like protrusions and powerful, clawed legs with backward spines to win over competitors during the mating season.

At this moment, the beetle’s horns and legs got entangled in the spider silk, held tightly, unable to shake off.

That’s enough.

The subtle connection with the Rhino Beetle allowed Li Cheng to sense its position.

He cracked open his eyes, his gaze unfocused, neither looking at nor thinking about anything related to the Ink Spider, with only one thought in his mind.

Attack in that direction.

With his thighs bent, muscles tense, he launched off powerfully like an arrow leaving the bow, flying toward the front, and landed at the entrance of the cinema on the sixth floor.

The latest Marvel film was being screened in the real-world cinema.

On the exterior wall was a standard, clichéd giant promotional poster featuring waist-up shots of a bunch of nameless superheroes.

Under the poster was a stylishly dressed group of men and women, holding 3D glasses and laughing as they walked into the corridor in search of the cinema hall.

Li Cheng landed amidst the crowd, his blurred vision unable to see any trace of the Ink Spider.

Guided by his feelings, he swung his Bone Blade to tear the giant poster to shreds, not knowing if he had struck his target.

The position has changed!

A sudden decline in the intuitive Perception.

Li Cheng followed by flipping over the guardrail, fell from the sixth floor to the front of a toy store on the third floor, where his two Mantis Arm Bone Blades swept across like guillotine blades, slicing the shelves and a family shopping for toys in half.

In the Shadow Realm, damaged objects quickly repair themselves.

Like a runaway war chariot, Li Cheng charged violently through the mall, causing wanton destruction.

Pursuing a target that didn’t exist.

Thud!

Li Cheng was inexplicably sent flying, with blood gushing out from under his left ribs, the wound so deep the bone was visible.

If not for the genetic enhancement from the Long Spear Rhinoceros Beetle that he had just absorbed, growing a light-weight carapace on his skin and boosting the defensive power, that strike might have been fatal.

———

“Whew…”

On the subway platform, Yuan Zhixia slowly exhaled a murky breath, clutching a modified handheld radio in her hand.

The train car was just one step away.

Ding.

The train doors slowly closed, but she did not step forward.

Instead, just a second before the doors completely shut, she threw both the handheld radio and her smartphone into the train.

The train started moving, gradually Accelerating away from the platform.

According to the electronic signboard, the next train would arrive in at least four minutes.

“What are you doing?

Why aren’t you leaving?” Yang Ling asked anxiously.

Sounds of the battle faintly echoed from the direction of the mall, travelling through the tunnel, producing rumbling reverberations.

“I want to act on a whim, too.”

Without looking back, Yuan Zhixia declared, and pulled open the zipper of her backpack.

She took out the slightly damaged yet still barely operational drone and removed the green laser pointer hanging under her Glock.

She attached it underneath the drone’s movable camera using duct tape.

Ye Jiaying hesitated briefly, bit her lip, and then followed.

They made their way to the underground parking lot where Yuan Zhixia suddenly looked perplexed and turned to ask Ye Jiaying, “Did you hear something?”

“What sound?”

“Never mind, must have been my mistake.

Take this, you control the drone.

I’ve set up a program already.

It will automatically detect and track the most prominent heat source target.

That would be the big spider.”

Yuan Zhixia handed Ye Jiaying the drone’s remote control, and squatted down to take out various items from her backpack.

Smoke Bombs using White Phosphorus as the smoke agent;

Magnesium Powder Shock Bombs disguised as Pepsi cans;

And the last Incendiary Bottle;

“I don’t know if this method will be effective against information pollution.

That’s why I might have to rely on the radio and mobile phone as a contingency plan.”

Yuan Zhixia pushed back the Glock slide with both hands to check the chamber’s cartridge, speaking to herself: “It takes six minutes for the subway from here to reach Pujiang Police Station.

If it reaches there and exits the so-called Shadow Realm, the mobile phone with a signal will automatically dial the police according to my pre-written emergency program, and a voice software will relay the geographical coordinates I entered, which is this mall.

The handheld radio is a backup option for alerting the police.”

“One must repay kindness and avenge wrongs.

That Mr.

Daisaichi did save me twice, after all.

Once at school, once on the highway.

I can’t just leave him here.”

Yuan Zhixia gripped her gun with both hands, stood up from the ground with a small stature but filled with strong will and determination, and her gaze cold and steady, “Therefore, within my power, I will offer help.”

“I understand.”

Ye Jiaying took a deep breath.

She actually did not understand the specifics of the situation here, nor why “Daisaichi” suddenly turned back, and why Yuan Zhixia stayed.

However, her gaze swept across the nearby Spider Monster-faced Yang Ling, and she felt she could not just walk away.

Ye Jiaying grabbed the drone controller, flicked the joystick, and the drone slowly ascended, flying into the mall through the passageway.

The controller’s display screen immediately broadcasted the scene inside the mall—Li Cheng slashing and dodging like a madman, sometimes at empty space.

The Spider Monsters in the nest seemed to recognize that the drone was an external object and leaped at it aggressively.

Ye Jiaying maneuvered the joystick, controlling the drone to drift left and right, narrowly dodging the Spider Monster’s attacks.

Meanwhile, the pre-set heat tracking program automatically adjusted the drone’s attitude, aiming the camera at the most significant heat source on-site.

And the laser pointer stuck under the camera with tape also cast a green laser, illuminating that direction.