When he fled Jiang City, Chen Ye had heard the rumors.

Anomalies cannot be killed. Only Sequence Beyonders can contend with them.

Sequence Beyonders are humanity's last hope.

Along the arduous journey, people in the convoy whispered the same mantras. He just never expected that one of these mythical figures was actually among them.

The giant from the convoy, already an outlier at over two meters tall, had transformed. He now stood over three meters, a devilish titan of iron muscle and raw power.

If this wasn't a Sequence Beyonder, Chen Ye couldn't imagine what else it could be.

The supermarket’s food section instantly became a battlefield.

It was only now that Chen Ye understood the giant's earlier, paralyzing fear of the White-Dress Scissor Lady.

The devil-muscle titan roared, swinging a fist the size of a boulder at the Scissor Lady. The force behind it was enough to turn a normal human into a fine red mist.

But the White-Dress Scissor Lady, looking emaciated and fragile in her soiled dress, caught the punch with a single, slender hand.

She didn't buckle. She didn't even slide back. She gripped the titan's fist as casually as kneading dough.

It was a total, humiliating domination.

Chen Ye watched, dumbfounded.

Even this... isn't enough?

The titan grimaced in pain, his massive frame bending under the Anomaly's crushing grip. Her laughter was a sinister, grating sound.

In that moment, instinct overrode logic. Chen Ye raised his Hand Crossbow and fired.

Thwack!

The bolt flew true, aiming straight for the face hidden behind her curtain of black hair.

It struck solid, lodging firmly into whatever lay beneath the hair. But there was no blood, no recoil. It had no effect whatsoever.

Slowly, the Scissor Lady turned her head. Through the veil of hair, Chen Ye felt a gaze of pure malevolence lock onto him. A shiver racked his entire body.

"Go to hell!!"

Seizing the distraction, the devil-titan roared and drove his free fist into the Scissor Lady's face, hammering the crossbow bolt deeper into her skull.

A system notification flashed across Chen Ye's vision.

[You attacked the Anomaly: White-Dress Scissor Lady. You obtained Slaughter Points +200]

He had no time to process the reward. Under Chen Ye's horrified gaze, the titan's desperate strike did nothing.

The Scissor Lady didn't even flinch.

With a slight twitch of her slender arm, she flung the three-meter-tall behemoth away like a ragdoll. He crashed through rows of heavy shelving, metal groaning and twisting under the impact.

This is an Anomaly.

The Sequence Beyonder, hailed as humanity's miracle, was nothing but a toy to her.

"Bitch! I'm going to tear you apart!"

With a furious bellow, the massive figure erupted from the debris. A faint, bloody aura swirled around his skin as he charged again. His vitality was terrifying; even that throw hadn't slowed him down.

He's tough, Chen Ye thought, impressed despite the horror. But he's an idiot.

The titan clearly couldn't win, yet he kept attacking.

Fine. You fight. I run.

Chen Ye never considered retreat disgraceful. Even legendary figures knew when to tactical withdraw. While the meat-shield kept the monster occupied, Chen Ye would vanish.

He shouldered his backpack and sprinted.

"Lady Moon, shines on the coffin bed, little brother waits for candy, crying till his heart breaks..."

The familiar, chilling nursery rhyme whispered right in his ear.

Something cold and unyielding clamped around his ankle.

Chen Ye looked down. The pale child was there, clinging to his leg, looking up with that permanent, painted smile.

"I want candy, I want candy!"

Chen Ye's legs felt like lead. He stumbled, his momentum dying.

It's over.

The thought screamed in his mind.

Then, his eyes landed on the floor. Amidst the chaos of the fight, bags of candy had spilled from the shelves.

Desperate, he grabbed a handful.

"Candy! Here! Take the candy!"

The Weeping Paper Effigy paused. It seemed confused, as if it hadn't expected the human to actually comply. It hesitated, but some binding rule of its existence forced its hand.

The pale fingers released Chen Ye's ankle to snatch the sweets.

The moment he was free, Chen Ye bolted for the exit.

Around him, survivors were screaming and fleeing. He risked a glance back. The Paper Effigy was happily unwrapping a piece of candy. Further back, the devil-titan was sent flying again, only to bounce back up like an unkillable cockroach.

That Sequence Beyonder is durable. Or maybe the Scissor Lady is just toying with him.

Regardless, the distraction held.

Chen Ye scanned his surroundings. Spotting two large, abandoned duffel bags filled with supplies near a toppled shelf, he grabbed them without slowing down.

Behind him, the eerie laughter of the Scissor Lady mixed with the enraged roars of the titan.

He didn't stop until he burst through the supermarket doors and into the sunlight.

The warmth hitting his skin felt like a resurrection.

Inside, the screams continued.

"Save me! I don't want to die!"

"No! Don't come over!"

Shadows danced in the gloom beyond the glass. Survivors were dragged back into the dark by unseen hands. The entire spectral population of Apricot Blossom Town seemed to have converged on the supermarket.

But the line of sunlight held them back. In the shadows just beyond the threshold, Anomalies clawed and snarled at Chen Ye, impotent against the light.

Chen Ye collapsed into the cargo bed of his tricycle, gasping for air, his lungs burning. Sweat plastered his hair to his forehead. He threw the two stolen bags into the bed.

"Chen Ye! Why are you sitting on our vehicle? Get down!"

A shrill, unfriendly voice cut through his exhaustion.

Chen Ye turned his head.

Jiajia and Qiangzi stood nearby, each clutching a bundle of supplies. They had evidently found a side exit and escaped the carnage.

"Chen Ye, what do you think you're doing? Trying to steal our vehicle?" Jiajia screeched, her face twisted in indignation. "I'm telling you, don't think we're afraid of you! Get off my tricycle right now, and I'll pretend this never happened."

Chen Ye didn't speak. He simply raised his Hand Crossbow and pulled back the string.

"Brother Ye, let's talk this out! Let's just talk!" Qiangzi stammered, raising his hands, panic flooding his eyes.

"Qiangzi, why are you so cowardly?" Jiajia yelled, slapping his arm. "I don't believe he has the guts to—"

Thwip!

The bolt cut through the air.

It bypassed Jiajia entirely, burying itself deep in Qiangzi’s throat.

Qiangzi’s eyes bulged. He dropped his bundle, hands flying to his neck, gurgling as he stared at Chen Ye in disbelief.

Blood sprayed across Jiajia’s face.

She froze, trembling like a leaf in a storm, unable to process the sudden violence.

"You... you..."

The apocalypse had arrived too quickly. For many, the old rules of civilization still held firm in their minds. You didn't just kill people.

But Chen Ye had adapted.

He killed Qiangzi first not out of malice, but logic. The fitness coach was physically stronger and posed a tangible threat. Jiajia was noise.

A notification flashed.

[You shot and killed your enemy. You obtained Slaughter Points +1000.]

Chen Ye paused for a fraction of a second, surprised by the reward, before calmly reloading his crossbow.

"Chen Ye... you... don't..."

He raised the weapon, aiming at her.

"Ah!~~~"

Jiajia shrieked, spun around, and ran blindly back toward the supermarket's side door. The terror of the man in front of her outweighed the terror of the monsters behind her.

Thwip!

The bolt missed, chipping the concrete wall where she had just been.

She disappeared into the shadows of the side entrance.

"Ah~~!"

A second scream, far more primal than the first, echoed from the doorway.

"Chen Ye! Save me! Save me!"

Jiajia stumbled back into view. She was weeping hysterically, her face a mask of pure horror.

Behind her, a figure in tattered rags stood just inside the threshold.

As Jiajia reached for the sunlight, the figure reached out. A hand, grey and withered, grabbed her hair.

"Chen Ye, I was wrong! I beg you, save me!"

"I don't want to die yet!"

"I'm still useful! I can do anything!"

"Chen Ye~~~ I... I have children at home! I can't die!"

"Chen Ye! You heartless bastard!"

Her pleas turned to screams as the figure slowly, inexorably dragged her back into the darkness.

Chen Ye watched impassively, backing away slightly to ensure he stayed fully in the sun. Her begging moved him as much as the wind.

Only when she vanished completely, leaving nothing but drag marks on the dusty floor, did Chen Ye realize he was soaked in cold sweat.

He turned back to his tricycle.

Other survivors who had escaped were scattered around the parking lot, witnessing the scene. But no one said a word. No one stepped forward to demand justice.

They scrambled to load their own vehicles, engines roaring to life as they fled the town in a panic.

Chen Ye stood on the pedals of his tricycle and pushed off.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to stop by Qiangzi's corpse, picking up the two bundles they had dropped and tossing them into his cargo bed.