"Boom!"
The first Snake-Tailed Beast was sent flying, crashing heavily against the opposite wall.
The second Snake-Tailed Beast's sharp claws came slashing down, only to be blocked by a scaled arm, sending sparks flying.
The Ultraman's right claw plunged into the gill-like organ, then twisted violently.
Xu Hao stared dumbfounded at this slaughter.
This Aberrant's combat style was savage yet efficient, each strike aimed directly at vital points.
When the first Snake-Tailed Beast struggled to pounce forward,
The Ultraman directly grabbed its jaws and tore the monster in half with brute strength.
Hand-tearing a Snake-Tailed Beast!
The second Snake-Tailed Beast tried to flee when it saw the situation turning bad, but had its tail caught.
The Ultarman used the momentum to leap up, its claws piercing through the beast's skull in one fluid motion.
Not forgetting to tear off the tail as well.
The battle ended much faster than Xu Hao had anticipated.
Two Snake-Tailed Beast corpses lay in pools of blood.
And that Aberrant wearing the Ultraman mask was slowly turning to look at him.
Xu Hao's Adam's apple bobbed as he pressed his dagger against his own neck.
"Who... who are you?"
The Ultraman tilted its head slightly, as if thinking.
Then it did something Xu Hao never expected.
Slowly raising its fully scaled hand, it waved toward the other end of the alley.
An unmistakable "get going" gesture.
Xu Hao's pupils contracted sharply as he stared intently at the creature's crimson vertical pupils.
Trying to discern something behind those ridiculous yellow lenses.
An Aberrant... was letting him go?
According to academy textbooks, Aberrants should react to living humans like starving wolves to fresh meat.
He tentatively took half a step back.
The Ultraman mask remained motionless.
Another half step.
Still no reaction.
Xu Hao suddenly turned and ran, the excruciating pain from his injured left leg be damned.
After running about a dozen meters, he inexplicably glanced back.
That bizarre creature was squatting beside the Snake-Tailed Beast's corpse, palm pressed against it.
As if sensing his gaze, the Ultraman mask suddenly turned toward him and made another shooing motion.
"Fuck!"
Xu Hao cursed and ran even faster.
Never in his life had he been so humiliated.
Saved by an Aberrant wearing a children's toy mask, then dismissed like some annoying fly.
After turning three street corners, he finally collapsed behind some rubble, gasping for air.
That bizarre scene kept replaying in his mind.
What the hell was that about?
Meanwhile.
Feng Jue and Liu Ziming were facing a similar situation.
...
When Su Zhan returned to the convenience store, the Aberrant energy within him was boiling at its limit.
Staggering, he crashed into the employee break room and locked the door behind him.
The Ultraman mask was roughly torn off and tossed aside.
Looking in the mirror,
His face was covered with pulsating veins.
It was coming.
Gritting his teeth, Su Zhan fell to his knees.
His nails uncontrollably elongated, carving deep grooves into the concrete floor.
The most drastic change occurred at his tailbone.
Su Zhan could clearly feel his bones restructuring, muscle fibers proliferating wildly.
Finally, a tail covered in pitch-black scales burst forth!
He let out a subhuman growl.
The newborn tail lashed restlessly, effortlessly smashing a nearby metal cabinet.
Panting, Su Zhan examined his arms—the originally gray-black scales had completely transformed into jet black.
"Low-risk level."
Su Zhan casually swung his right arm, the black scales leaving afterimages in the air.
"Those Snake-Tailed Beasts that required my full strength to tear apart before probably wouldn't even need thirty percent now."
His power had at least tripled, his senses becoming far sharper.
"I'm really evolving into a monster."
Su Zhan looked down at his tail and chuckled wryly.
The tail was big, long—one and a half times his leg length.
It swayed gently behind him, effortlessly piercing through the wall.
This new organ was more dexterous than expected, practically usable as a third arm.
"Aberrant form has reached low-risk."
Su Zhan murmured to himself: "I wonder when my Awakened realm will reach Dew Realm."
A single punch sent the entire concrete wall crashing down.
Dust filled the air.
Su Zhan looked down at his completely unharmed fist.
"Not bad."
Su Zhan deactivated his Aberrant form.
The scales and tail retracted, returning him to normal human appearance.
After changing back into his clothes, he piled the mask and bloodstained uniform together.
"Can't leave any traces."
He grabbed several bottles of high-proof alcohol from the shelves and evenly poured them over the clothing pile.
"Click."
The lighter's flame was especially bright in the dim room.
Su Zhan watched the flickering fire for two seconds before tossing it onto the alcohol-soaked pile.
"Whoosh!"
Blue-white flames instantly erupted.
When the fire gradually died down, leaving only charred remains,
Su Zhan did one final check, still unsatisfied.
"Not secure enough."
He swept all flammable products from the shelves.
Cooking oil, alcoholic drinks, insecticide... various chemicals mixing together.
"BOOM!!!"
Blistering flames instantly engulfed the entire convenience store.
"Now that's more like it."
Su Zhan straightened his collar and calmly walked out after confirming no living souls remained nearby.
Passing through the billowing smoke, he finally spotted three familiar figures behind the ruins of a half-collapsed mall.
Xu Hao was grimacing while bandaging his leg wound.
Feng Jue leaned against a broken wall polishing his blade.
Liu Ziming sat sprawled on the ground, his expensive designer jacket already in tatters.
"Su Zhan?!"
Liu Ziming noticed him first, his dirty face lighting up: "Fuck! You're alive!"
Feng Jue immediately straightened: "Are you hurt?"
Xu Hao staggered up and grabbed Su Zhan's shoulders to inspect him: "We thought you were..."
"Almost didn't make it."
Su Zhan coughed weakly and slumped onto a pile of rubble: "When the Snake-Tailed Beasts cornered me, some... Aberrant wearing an Ultraman mask suddenly appeared."
The air froze.
Xu Hao started: "Wait, what kind of mask?"
"Red and silver, with yellow lenses for eyes."
Su Zhan gestured: "After tearing the Snake-Tailed Beasts apart, it actually let me go."
"Fuck!"
Liu Ziming suddenly jumped up, immediately wincing from his wounds.
Grimacing, he said: "Was it wearing a convenience store uniform too?"
Now it was Su Zhan's turn to be shocked: "How did you know?"
Feng Jue nodded slowly: "Same for us. That thing... terrifying strength, could rip Snake-Tailed Beast heads apart barehanded."
"Me too!"
Liu Ziming pulled open his collar to show bandaged wounds: "That thing even made a 'get lost' gesture after saving me!"
Su Zhan: ...
"That thing"?
Oh really? Is that how you talk about someone who saved you?
The four exchanged glances, momentarily speechless.
"So..."
Xu Hao swallowed hard: "The same Aberrant saved all four of us?"
Feng Jue nodded: "It's hunting Snake-Tailed Beasts."
"And only intervenes when we're about to die,"
Liu Ziming added.