F-class thief? Sorry, I can steal anything.

Chapter 248 Equalizing the Chips

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Chen Yifan didn't turn around, but instead flicked out something he had been holding in his palm.

It was a red sphere the size of a glass bead.

It landed precisely on the air blade of Patton's battle axe, which was about to strike.

After a crisp sound, the red ball shattered.

It contains a highly concentrated psionic interference dust.

This is one of the spoils Chen Yifan just took from that fire mage.

The dust spread over a small area, just enough to cover Patton's upper body.

When the air blades on the battle axe encountered the dust, they vanished instantly, like ice and snow meeting fire.

Barton's charged attack was abruptly interrupted, its power reduced by half.

The battle axe, stripped of its psionic power, cleaved into the ground behind Chen Yifan.

Pebbles flew everywhere.

Using this momentum, Chen Yifan pulled Mu Wanqing into the alleyway.

Patton inhaled the dust and coughed violently.

When he brushed away the dust in front of him, the alley entrance was already blocked by dozens of monsters.

He put the blame on Chen Yifan.

There were no streetlights in the alley, but it wasn't dark. The glow of the chips on Mu Wanqing's body illuminated the moss-covered walls clearly.

"Do you usually go out this conspicuously?"

Chen Yifan released his grip and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

Mu Wanqing straightened her disheveled collar.

"These are the rules. In the final stage, the person with the most chips will receive the key to unlock the core area. The prerequisite is survival."

Chen Yifan understood.

Raise Gu worms. Highlight the fattest Gu worms and let everyone scramble for them.

Whoever survives to the end wins.

He sized up Mu Wanqing.

"Distribute the chips."

"No." Mu Wanqing refused decisively. "Once it's separated, the key won't be able to reassemble. All our previous efforts will be wasted."

Chen Yifan was so angry he laughed.

"You plan to hack your way into the core area with this eight-star, eight-arrow special effects? The monsters in this city could drown us all with a single spit from each of them."

A rustling sound came from the top of the wall.

Several humanoid monsters with long, thin limbs were crawling on the wall.

It has no eyes; its head consists only of a mouth filled with sharp teeth.

Just as Old K was about to make a move, Chen Yifan raised his hand to stop him.

He picked up a brick from the ground, weighed it in his hand, and threw it towards a main road outside the wall.

The brick hit the ground with a sound.

The monster on the wall turned its head and scrambled away in the direction of the sound.

"Did you understand?"

Chen Yifan brushed the dust off his hands.

"They find people by sound and light. Your light is too bright; you'll be a sitting duck in an open area. Now go through the sewers or building corridors."

Wang Fugui swallowed.

"The sewers? There are even more monsters in there."

Chen Yifan glanced at the street where hunting dogs were still emerging from the cracks in the ground.

"Outside is for food delivery, inside is for opening blind boxes. Which would you choose?"

He turned to Old K.

"Find an underground entrance."

Old K didn't hesitate.

He walked deep into the alley and lifted a manhole cover covered in rust.

The mine was dark and emitted a foul stench.

Chen Yifan took the lead and jumped down.

Wang Fugui gritted his teeth and followed.

Lin Xiaoyu and Zhao Hu also jumped in.

Mu Wanqing stood at the wellhead, looking down at the dark opening.

"Young Miss".

Old K urged in a low voice.

The howls of the monster outside grew closer and closer.

Mu Wanqing bit her lip and jumped down.

Old K was the last to enter, and he pulled the manhole cover back up and locked it.

The sewer was spacious, with a maintenance walkway for people to walk on. In the middle flowed sewage.

The light emanating from Mu Wanqing illuminated the area within a dozen meters.

Unidentified debris floated on the water's surface, and the walls were covered in green slime.

"Turn off your communicator and don't make a sound."

Chen Yifan spoke in a breathy voice.

The team groped their way forward, hugging the wall.

Chen Yifan walked at the very front.

The sound of flowing water echoed in the empty passageway.

There's a fork in the road ahead.

Chen Yifan stopped in his tracks.

He crouched down and touched the puddles on the ground.

The water is flowing in the wrong direction.

It doesn't flow naturally; something is stirring it in front of it.

He made a stop gesture.

In the darkness, two green lights, each the size of a lantern, lit up. But they weren't lanterns.

Those are eyes.

A giant two-headed crocodile, as large as an armored vehicle, crawled out of the water onto the maintenance walkway.

Half-rotten bits of flesh clung to its scales. It blocked the way.

Water splashed and churned, and from the passage behind, came a dense crawling sound.

We are surrounded.

Chen Yifan stood up and switched the long sword to his right hand.

He reached into his pants pocket with his left hand.

"Zhao Hu, set up your shields. Old K, protect them!"

He stretched his neck.

The two-headed crocodile gave them no room for negotiation.

The left side of the head opened its blood-red maw and spewed out a stream of dark green acid.

Acid was spilled on the maintenance walkway, causing the cement to sizzle and burn several large craters.

Wang Fugui landed his shield, activating the [Resilient Skin] talent. The shield glowed faintly, blocking the splashing acid rain.

The shield was pitted and gave off a pungent smell.

"Fanzi, this thing is too strong at breaking through defenses, I can't take a second bite!"

"You don't need to take a second bite."

Chen Yifan stepped on Wang Fugui's shoulders and used the momentum to leap into the air.

He raised the long sword above his head.

He didn't aim for the hard scales, nor did he slash at the crocodile's eyes.

A vibrant spiritual energy surged into it.

next second.

“Puff…”

The long sword pierced through the gap in the scales on the right neck.

It didn't reach the hilt.

Chen Yifan exerted force with his wrist and slashed downwards.

Blood gushed out and sprayed all over him.

He used the momentum of falling into the water to avoid the crocodile's frantic tail sweep before it died.

The crocodile's massive body thrashed about in the water, smashing against the walls on both sides of the passage, causing rubble to fall down.

A few minutes later, it stopped moving completely.

Chen Yifan climbed ashore from the sewage and wiped the stinky water off his face.

"Hurry up, the smell of blood will attract all those things behind us."

Without his prompting, Old K had already lifted Lin Xiaoyu up and run to the left side of the fork in the road.

That was a passageway located at a higher elevation.

The crawling sounds behind me grew more and more intense, like thousands of insects gnawing at the wall.

They ran wildly all the way.

Mu Wanqing became the best guiding light, but also a beacon that could never be shaken off.

I ran for about five minutes.

A huge iron gate appeared in the passage ahead.

The door lock was rusted shut.

"Get out of the way."

Old K stepped forward and smashed his brass knuckles three times.

The steel chain broke.

Pushing open the iron gate, you'll find yourself in a huge underground reservoir control room.

The control room has several louvered windows leading to the ground, letting in a dark red light from outside.

Chen Yifan went inside, closed the iron gate with his backhand, and found a thick steel pipe to insert into the bolt position.

Temporary safety.

Several people collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

Zhao Hu's wound reopened, and Lin Xiaoyu went up to re-bandage it.

Mu Wanqing leaned against the control panel.

The light was still dazzling.

Chen Yifan walked up to her and extended his hand.

"What are you doing?" Mu Wanqing looked at him warily.

"Distribute the chips." Chen Yifan's tone left no room for negotiation. "If you don't, we'll all die here."

"I told you, the key will fall apart."

"Then let it go."

Chen Yifan stared into her eyes.

"The so-called key is nothing more than pooling resources together to generate a high concentration of psionic energy resonance, thereby unlocking the barrier in the core area. Since resonance is required, who says it has to be located on a living person?"

Mu Wanqing was stunned for a moment.

She had never heard of this logic before.

"You've seen what's happening outside. On our way to the core area, we'll encounter countless of these mutated monsters. If you're the only one acting as a third wheel while we cover you, our success rate is less than five percent. Let's divide the stakes into five parts."

Chen Yifan pointed to the people present.

"The brightness will be shared among five people. It will still be bright, but not as blinding as it is now. Once we reach the core area entrance, we'll pool our chips again, and the resonance will still occur."

This is exploiting loopholes in the rules.

Mu Wanqing weighed the options for a few seconds.

She raised her hand.

The mountain of virtual chips emitted a halo of light, splitting into five streams that flew toward Chen Yifan, Wang Fugui, Lao K, and Zhao Hu respectively.

The light was distributed evenly.

Each person was enveloped in a faint red glow, which, though noticeable, was no longer the humanoid self-propelled searchlight.

Mu Wanqing breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been under constant pressure from high concentrations of psionic energy, which had greatly depleted her physical strength.

"Is there a charter?"

Old K asked.

Unbeknownst to him, this bodyguard had come to regard Chen Yifan as his pillar of support.

Chen Yifan walked to the blinds and looked out through the gaps.

Outside was an abandoned square.

In the center of the square, the dark red beam of light shooting straight into the sky was radiating energy outwards continuously.

That is the core area.

A black barrier surrounded the pillar of light.

The outer perimeter of the barrier was teeming with all sorts of monsters.

There are strange beasts, corrupted professionals, and twisted winged lumps of flesh.

They are killing each other.

On the outermost edge of the monster, Chen Yifan saw several human teams.

They were also killing in the direction of the pillar of light.

Those were the other survivors who had chips in their hands.

They were driven to the brink of despair and had no choice but to seek a glimmer of hope.

Chen Yifan also saw people from the North American branch.

Barton had fewer than ten men left, but he wielded his battle axe and tore a bloody path through the monster horde.

This person has the vitality of a cockroach.

There's only one road left.

Chen Yifan turned around and glanced at everyone.

"Men, there is no turning back now. If you want to survive, you must move forward."

Wang Fugui grabbed the tower shield and paused on the ground for a moment.

"Let's do it! Fanzi, whatever you say goes."

Zhao Hu stood up, leaning against the wall.

"My life was saved by Miss, count me in."

Lin Xiaoyu didn't speak, but clenched her hands tightly.

Mu Wanqing looked at Chen Yifan.

This young man, who is always joking around but turns ruthless when it matters, has something about him that makes people trust him.

"The solution is very simple."

Chen Yifan clapped his hands.

"Once the door opens, Old K and Fugui will hold off the pressure in front and cut in along the relatively weaker path on the right. Don't linger on tough monsters; leave them to the other teams nearby. Our goal isn't to kill monsters, it's to get into the safe zone. Whoever gets in our way will be the one to suffer."

He drew the long knife he had taken, its blade reflecting a faint light in the dim red light.

"Let's go. Let's see what tricks this old madman from your chamber of commerce is up to."

He was the first to pull the bolt.

The heavy iron gate was pulled open.

The rumble of the ground and the roars of monsters surged in.

Chen Yifan was the first to rush out.

Followed by.

Five people plunged into the meat grinder of the square.