Chapter 245: Rebelling Against The Perfect Man (ii)

Large chunks of ice began falling from above. With the support of the four managers’ abilities suddenly disappearing, the situation on the ninth floor took an immediate turn for the worse.

"Heh, heh, heh! It’s my turn!"

Buzz!

With the ice seal gone, the Perfect Man’s figure flickered. In the blink of an eye, it appeared directly in front of Shen Yu and Wen Lan.

This time, when it lowered its hands from its eyes, it fixed its gaze firmly on the two of them.

"Damn you!"

Before Shen Yu could react, the arms that had been covering the Perfect Man’s eyes suddenly shot forward.

One hand seized Shen Yu by the neck, while the other grabbed Wen Lan.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The terrifying force of its grip crushed their throats. Wen Lan’s breathing abruptly stopped, and Shen Yu’s eyes rolled backward as he struggled helplessly.

"Still trying to bite me? How ridiculous!"

The Perfect Man laughed.

"I originally liked both of you quite a lot. I thought you would become my best slaves. What a pity! What a pity! You just had to rebel."

It clicked its tongue mockingly.

"Tsk, tsk. It’s over."

Crack! Crack!

Shen Yu’s neck bent at an impossible angle, and his breathing nearly stopped.

"Damn it! Damn it! Why? Why can’t we win? Why?!"

With their combat strength disappearing one after another, Long John had completely broken down. The Fox and Wolf factions had failed to turn the tide, and he collapsed to the ground.

"What went wrong? There should have been twelve! The twelve correct people should have been able to open every region. So why? Why?!"

He clutched his long hair and pulled at it desperately, abandoning the refined composure he had always maintained.

"Die! Die!"

Lin Yao and the Giant Tiger glared viciously at the Perfect Man, but it ignored them completely.

Its mouth continued chewing on Lin Wan’s remains. Meanwhile, another arm suddenly seized the suspended Zhu Xian.

"Ah!"

Without saying a word, the Perfect Man opened its mouth.

CRACK!

It bit Zhu Xian in half.

Blood sprayed across the ceiling of the ninth floor.

Half of Zhu Xian’s body disappeared into the Perfect Man’s mouth, while the other half fell from the air, leaving behind a mangled corpse.

"Ah... ha!"

The vast space suddenly fell silent.

The only sound that remained was the Perfect Man chewing.

The scene resembled a grotesque celebration feast.

In a matter of moments, the twelve factions had collapsed.

The Perfect Man held Shen Yu and Wen Lan by the necks with one pair of arms. One hand grabbed Lin Wan’s remains and stuffed them into its mouth, while another pulled a black spike from Zhu Xian’s remains.

Two of its heads continued chewing.

The remaining head suddenly turned toward Long John and Lin Yao.

In the blink of an eye, its final pair of arms shot forward and seized Lin Yao and the Giant Tiger.

"Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!"

"What kind of ultimate demon god is this?! It’s defying heaven itself!"

"After all those attacks, we couldn’t even scratch its armor!"

"Three heads and six arms! It’s slaughtering everyone!"

"We’ve lost. It’s over!"

"Zhou Qifei, run! Find your friends and escape!"

The live-stream comments plunged into absolute despair.

No one had expected the rebellion to end in such a devastating defeat.

The Other Side of the Ninth Floor

Buzz!

After a wave of intense dizziness, Yaning and the others suddenly appeared inside a conference room.

The room contained twelve seats, each equipped with a button.

On the wall at the center of the room hung a particularly striking painting.

It depicted twelve towering figures surrounding a four-legged monster wrapped in black mist. Among them, two figures stood out because of their enormous size: one had the horns of an ox, while the other possessed the tail of a horse.

One wielded a hammer, and the other held a sickle. Together, they pressed down on the monster’s head.

They were the central forces suppressing the creature.

"What is this?"

The moment Chu Chanan saw the painting, he felt as though his understanding of the world had been overturned and reconstructed.

"Is this... the twelve zodiac animals? A beast-suppression diagram?"

He stared at the painting, and a sudden realization struck him.

"Wait! Doesn’t this painting correspond to what happened earlier? Could it be that the two missing members of the twelve management positions aren’t the Fox and Wolf, but the Ox and Horse—the lowest-ranking positions?"

"But how could I have forgotten something as simple as the twelve zodiac animals?"

Chu Chanan stared at the painting as countless chaotic thoughts surged through his mind like a tidal wave.

"It’s the dungeon!"

He suddenly understood.

"The dungeon alters our perception of crucial information. Before seeing this painting, we didn’t even know the twelve zodiac animals were relevant. But now that we’ve seen it, the clues have become sufficient, allowing our minds to recover information that was previously concealed."

Yaning stared at the beast-suppression diagram. Then she glanced at the dimmed Rat Medal in her hand.

Her expression darkened.

"I think I understand now."

She took a deep breath before continuing.

"No matter what we do, we can’t defeat the Perfect Man. To reach him, we need to gather all twelve medals. But the moment we confront him, someone will inevitably use their mutation ability and enter this world that only humans can access."

"And once that happens, the twelve zodiac animals will be incomplete. We won’t be able to defeat him."

She paused before adding, "Even if we had tried to investigate the ninth floor from the beginning, it would have been impossible. We’re mutated beings, so we can’t enter that floor. But to enter the human-only ninth floor, the twelve zodiac animals must be separated. We can’t enter, and we can’t discover the answer."

"Isn’t that a guaranteed defeat?"

Yaning sighed helplessly.

She stared at the medal in her hand. It had no mutation points left.

Their shift had ended, and they had violated company rules by remaining on the ninth floor. They could no longer gain mutation points.

If they wanted to return and help Shen Yu, they would have to go back to the sixth floor, sleep, and transform into animals before returning to the ninth floor.

But without the complete set of twelve zodiac animals, they wouldn’t even be able to access the ninth floor again.

"It’s over. It’s really over."

Yaning’s voice trembled.

"We and the deputy captain are now people from two different worlds. We can’t win. This time, it’s truly over."

Chu Chanan’s mind worked faster than anyone else’s. He had already reached the elevator and pressed the button.

There, he saw Huan’s corpse lying in the elevator lobby.

His expression filled with sorrow.

Huan had completely returned to human form.

That meant only humans could see and enter the ninth floor.

Chu Chanan noticed a bloody mark resembling the number two on the elevator. It had been left by Huan as a clue.

But it wasn’t the number two.

It was an incomplete character representing the Ox.

"Ah..."

His face turned pale.

"What about the deputy captain? Are we really going to be wiped out?"

Ning Xu paced anxiously around the room.

Chu Chanan adjusted his glasses and let out a deep sigh.

"No. There’s another way to clear this dungeon besides killing the Perfect Man."

Everyone turned toward him.

"We can leave this place."

"Leave? How?"

"At first, we didn’t know how. But now I understand."

Chu Chanan pointed toward the painting.

"It’s simple. We must abandon the pursuit of higher positions. After signing a contract, we need to gradually transform into Ox and Horse. We must complete the transformation and become true Ox and Horse before awakening their powers."

"During the transformation, we must avoid being hunted by the higher-ranking managers until our abilities awaken."

He looked back at the two towering figures in the painting.

"Look carefully. The Ox and Horse are the central forces suppressing the beast. Once their powers awaken, they must be terrifying. Their abilities might even allow us to break through the first floor directly."

His expression grew grave.

"But there’s a catch. We might die before the awakening is complete."

"Then... does that mean we really can’t save the deputy captain?"

Ning Xu still refused to accept the situation.

Yaning, however, suddenly seemed to remember something. She pointed toward the screen.

"Hey, Ho Yunying! Are you watching? Hurry! Use Offside Assistance to tell Shen Yu to activate the powers of the Ox and Horse!"

She grew increasingly agitated.

"Quickly! Snake Catcher Su Xian, damn it! Now I finally understand how insidious this dungeon is!"

The live-stream comments erupted as the viewers began putting the clues together.

Dragon Nightingale Shipping: Amazing! I never would have guessed it! The Ox and Horse are actually the strongest forces!

Another viewer: Every day, the Ox and Horse worry about being eaten. Everyone instinctively avoids becoming one, right? Who wants to remain at the bottom instead of climbing to the top?

Another viewer: Exactly! The more desperately they try to rise through the ranks, the farther they move away from the real way to escape!

Evil Spirit Night, Kai Chen: Invincible! This dungeon is designed to force people into becoming Ox and Horse. But before their powers awaken, they risk being eaten. Who can resist the temptation to rise through the ranks?

The viewers finally understood the terrifying logic behind the dungeon.

It had seemed as though everyone was steadily climbing toward freedom. In reality, they were moving farther and farther away from the only viable exit.

The most important clue had been right in front of them all along.

And almost as soon as Yaning made her request to the live-stream audience, Ho Yunying at the Jochi City Defense Department urgently dialed the emergency number.

Back on the Ninth Floor

From Shen Yu’s perspective, his breathing had become so weak that it was almost inaudible.

"Hello, Shen Yu! Quickly, take off your medal! You—"

Ho Yunying had barely finished speaking when a series of violent coughs interrupted him.

"Cough! Cough!

Memory Alteration!

Buzz!

At that moment, the White Fox’s head tilted slightly, and its foxlike eyes locked onto the Perfect Man.

The Perfect Man, which had been moving toward Lin Yao, suddenly paused.

It released its grip on Shen Yu and Wen Lan, then stared blankly at Shen Yu.

"You... you..."

The Memory Alteration ability had taken effect.

For a brief moment, the Perfect Man appeared dazed.

However, the golden mask on its face shimmered. Slowly, its enormous hand began reaching toward Shen Yu again.

Shen Yu refused to waste this one precious opportunity.

"Tell me something. Out of all the people here, why are you so determined to kill Wen Lan and me first?"

The Perfect Man’s expression shifted slightly.

"You... you two are the greatest threats."

"What?!"

Long John abruptly snapped out of his stupor and stared at the Perfect Man in disbelief.

"The Fox and Wolf were supposed to be useless! How could the two of them possibly pose the greatest threat?"

Shen Yu narrowed his eyes.

"So it seems I guessed correctly."