Life and death

The beautiful woman was left dumbfounded as Su Chen immediately took his energy unit and departed without a second glance.

As she watched him disappear, the other survivors around her also expressed their disappointment at the failed attempt, knowing they also wouldn't be accepted.

Step by step, Su Chen approached the Yuncheng store, a five-story building with a long strip shape and a large square on the outer circle. However, as he drew closer, he noticed a thick, ominous smoke rising from the depths of the store, shrouded in darkness.

Suddenly, Su Chen's heart began to race as he approached the store's main entrance. A car was on fire, and several panicked figures were running and screaming, some of them even carrying flames on their bodies. Two terrifying black scale monsters were in hot pursuit, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse.

The black scale monsters were faster than the elongated ghosts, and they ran rampant, leaving no escape for the humans in their path.

Despite the danger, the Yuncheng store was a prime location for scavenging resources, attracting the attention of survivors and monsters alike.

For Su Chen, however, the chaotic scene provided an opportunity. The panicked survivors drew the monsters' attention away from him, allowing him to slip in through the third side door of the store.

The first floor of the Yuncheng store was a mess, with shattered glass counters and scattered high-end jewelry and watches of great value. Despite the chaos, the elongated ghosts that wandered the store moved slowly, allowing Su Chen to observe the situation with his enhanced vision.

In the eastern half of the first floor, Su Chen spotted three elongated ghosts, each approximately seven or eight meters apart from each other. With careful maneuvering, he could potentially navigate through the gaps between them and reach the safe passage near the dim green sign he had spotted.

After waiting for a moment, Su Chen saw an opportunity and quickly navigated through the gap between the two elongated ghosts, using the load-bearing pillar as cover. He successfully entered the safe passage and made his way towards his goal.

Despite the pungent smell of blood and large patches of it, there were no monsters in the safe passage. Su Chen continued to make progress towards his objective.

Upon reaching the third floor, he pushed aside the iron door of the concealed safe passage and squinted ahead to locate the "Iron Man Model" near the escalator.

Su Chen located the "Iron Man Model" on the third floor near the escalator.

It was the smooth-structured Mark 45, which had appeared in the second women's federation, was standing steady on the official booth of the Cloud City store.

However, Su Chen didn't have much time to be surprised as his pupils suddenly shrank.

An elongated ghost was wandering around the armor, moving slowly like a stiff puppet and circling around the side of the booth.

Damn...

Su Chen cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth as he surveyed the area. He noticed another elongated ghost hovering near the children's clothing store, more than 20 meters away from his current location.

With limited energy units on hand, Su Chen knew it was not enough to face the monster and transform into the war armor. He needed to deal with the danger first and then find a safe place to slowly reform the armor. He couldn't afford to rush into the situation without proper planning and risk losing everything.

Before attempting to drag away the heavy armor, Su Chen knew he needed to eliminate the two monsters nearby.

He hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to take action. However, he didn't act rashly and instead carefully observed his surroundings.

He noticed a terrifying tall figure shaking in the depths of a clothing store in another direction, which was the third elongated ghost.

Su Chen's heart sank at the sight, but with the Mark 45 armor within reach, he couldn't afford to hesitate. He quickly formulated a plan and acted on it immediately.

Su Chen cautiously approached the elongated ghost circling the Mark 45 booth, but the monster quickly noticed him and attacked. Its eyes glowed with an eerie light as it moved toward him with knife-like feet, twisting in the darkness.

However, Su Chen was prepared.

He let out a loud cry and wielded Thor's hammer, using it as a powerful throwing weapon. The hammer struck the elongated ghost with incredible force, knocking it to the ground and causing its body to twist and deform under the rapidly changing directional gravity.

As Su Chen dealt with the elongated ghost near the Mark 45 booth, the other two monsters closed in on him. The elongated ghost from the children's clothing store was coming, and the third one from another clothing store was also throwing itself into the fray, sandwiching Su Chen in the center.

Despite the overwhelming odds, Su Chen remained calm and executed his plan. He took a calculated step forward and quickly dispatched the nearest elongated ghost with a single shot. However, in that split second, the other two monsters had closed in and were now less than three meters away from Su Chen.

The elongated ghosts' knife-like feet sliced through the hard epoxy grindstone floor with ease, creating harsh friction as they closed in on Su Chen. With quick reflexes, Su Chen hurled an explosive dagger towards one of the monsters, hitting its waist and hip with a thunderous sound.

Thick blood splattered everywhere as half of the elongated ghost's hip and one leg were blown away on the spot. The surging energy tore through the black twisted matter that covered its body, causing it to pause for an instant before wailing and collapsing to the ground. If an army were present to witness this scene, they would be stunned by the effectiveness of the explosive dagger against the strange black material protection. It was clear that this was no ordinary fruit knife, but a powerful weapon capable of achieving incredible results.

With the third elongated ghost closing in on him, Su Chen had no time to spare.

He quickly retreated, using his enhanced speed and explosive power to fall back towards the atrium of the third floor store.

Once there, he leaned against the glass fence, raised his gun, and prepared to fight back.

But before he could take action, he heard a fourth roar.

This puzzled him as there were only three elongated ghosts on the third floor.

For an instant, the answer dawned on him.

In that moment, Su Chen turned his head stiffly and saw the fourth elongated ghost climbing along the wall with its sword-like feet, passing through the atrium and leaping high from the middle of the second floor. Its muddy eyes locked onto Su Chen, and it charged towards him with its numerous sword-like feet, slashing through the air like a killing array.

A voice from the west side of the third floor exclaimed, "Be careful!"

A woman, who had somehow obtained a bow and arrow, appeared on the west side of the third floor. She seemed to want to assist Su Chen and ran over to help him. From a distance of over twenty meters, she fired an arrow with remarkable precision, hitting the torso of the fourth elongated ghost.

Unfortunately, the arrow was not strong enough, as it was blocked by the black fluid substance surrounding the elongated ghost's body, rendering it useless.

Realizing her arrow had no effect, the woman quickly turned around and ran away.

Meanwhile, the two elongated ghosts had closed in on Su Chen, causing his pupils to shrink in fear.