“Pfft! That was them ambushing me!”
Xin turned and pointed at Bao Shi, refuting in a contemptuous tone.
“That thing, the one with a bunch of red tentacles! If she hadn’t set up an ambush, how could I have been caught by these people!”
Noah also looked in the direction Xin pointed.
All the Sin Organization members had turned into faceless puppets, but only Bao Shi remained her original form, still dancing with countless red tentacles, crawling on the ground faster than the zombies.
“Oh… I see…”
Suo’en nodded as if understanding.
He cut down a zombie with his blade and glanced back at Xin.
“Then Miss Xin, do you think you can defeat her head-on?”
“Kid, I have a name—it’s Xin!”
Xin frowned in reply.
“I’ve never fought her, so I don’t know how strong she is. But stalling her is definitely no problem. You said reinforcements are coming, right? When will they get here?”
More than an hour had passed since Suo’en left the Warehouse District.
In that time, he rescued Xin, returned to support Noah, and then the group spent another half hour fending off the Sin Organization.
Even after all this time, the promised reinforcements still hadn’t shown.
“Did he get lost?!”
Noah used her long spear to flip a zombie aside while running and asked Suo’en, “Did something happen on the way?”
“Impossible!”
Suo’en replied immediately.
“I already killed Daiduo, who could teleport. There shouldn’t be anyone else from other organizations on the way back. Madam, hold on a little longer—they’ll be here soon!”
At that moment, Tan Lan, who had been pinned to the wall by Xin, finally caught up.
He pulled the javelin out of his shoulder, pushed through the crowd, took aim, and hurled the javelin.
The javelin shot like a meteor, hitting Noah squarely in the shoulder.
Noah felt as if the javelin carried her through the air.
She steadied herself and angrily asked Xin, “Isn’t this thing yours?! Why did he aim at me?!”
“Ah, maybe you’re their main target?”
Xin replied while fending off zombies.
Noah was furious but had no choice.
The Sin Organization’s target was indeed her.
She gritted her teeth and pulled out the javelin, blood gushing out.
This shocked Xin.
“Hey! Don’t pull it out! You’ll bleed to death!”
“It’s fine!”
Noah knew her body was different now; even such a wound could stop bleeding quickly.
If she left it in, it would only hinder her movements.
Xin glanced at Noah’s shoulder and saw the bleeding had stopped.
Xin was amazed by the incredible recovery speed and asked suspiciously, “Why are your wounds healing so fast? Did the Truth Organization infuse you with the Life Spirit’s divine power?”
But Noah had no time to answer, because the Envy puppets had caught up.
Tan Lan, with his unmatched speed, appeared behind Noah in an instant.
He grabbed her neck and lifted her up.
Xin reforged her long spear into a short sword and slashed off Tan Lan’s arm.
Freed, Noah ran forward.
She looked up and saw a fork ahead.
The corridor to the right led somewhere unknown, while the left was the main entrance.
Noah immediately looked at Suo’en.
“Which way? The entrance or the corridor?”
“To the right corridor, Madam!”
Suo’en blocked zombies with his long blade without turning back.
“Right is the way back to the Primordial Organization! Going to the entrance will get us surrounded. Take the right corridor!”
The three quickly turned and fled into the right corridor, but the Envy puppets still pursued relentlessly.
Bao Shi extended her countless red tentacles and crawled toward them at lightning speed.
Xin fused all her steel into a katana and severed all the tentacles Bao Shi sent her way.
But Bao Shi seemed to feel no pain; she just watched coldly as Xin cut her tentacles apart, showing no other reaction.
Tan Lan, having lost an arm, regrouped.
He leaped into the air, ready to drop-kick Noah, but Bao Shi suddenly extended a tentacle and yanked him down.
Already a puppet, Tan Lan couldn’t understand Bao Shi’s actions.
He tore through her tentacles, stood up, and resumed the chase.
Through the corridor, they reached another office area, which was relatively spacious but easier for the Sin Organization to surround.
Bao Shi stabbed several zombies with her tentacles, lifted them high, and hurled them directly at Xin.
Noah, Xin, and Suo’en beheaded the flying zombies as fast as they could, but Bao Shi was already preparing the next round.
Xin looked up at the flailing Bao Shi and said angrily, “We can’t let her do whatever she wants! If she throws all the zombies at us, we won’t be able to escape! Kid, watch your Madam—I’ll stop her!”
With that, Xin sheathed her katana at her waist.
She stopped, closed her eyes, and felt the divine power of the Spirit of Struggle.
A cold force flowed through her bones.
She muttered softly, “Celestial One Line Technique!”
Just as the zombies were about to reach her, Xin opened her eyes and took a powerful step forward, her blade pointed straight at Bao Shi.
A flash of light, and Xin teleported directly in front of Bao Shi along the blade’s path.
The light cut through all obstacles, even cleaving the zombies in its path in half.
Xin severed the mass of tentacles before her and raised her katana to strike Bao Shi.
“Hey! Don’t—!”
Suo’en was startled.
Before he could finish, Tan Lan charged straight ahead like an enraged rhinoceros, ignoring Xin behind him.
His target was only Noah.
Tan Lan raised his remaining right hand and swung it at Suo’en like a gale.
Suo’en immediately raised his blade to block, but the terrifying force sent him flying.
Noah reached out to catch Suo’en but was knocked to the ground by the momentum.
Noah quickly rolled away from Tan Lan’s attack, scrambled to her feet, and ran toward Xin in panic.
But Xin was locked in combat with Bao Shi and couldn’t afford to protect her.
If the Sin Organization caught her, even death would be a luxury.
Ouruola would turn Noah into one of those living dead, and then even Death Return would be impossible.
Noah tried to block zombie attacks with her long spear while running toward Xin.
Behind her was Suo’en’s anxious shouts; ahead were the curses of Xin and Bao Shi fighting.
At this desperate moment, Noah suddenly remembered the mysterious voice’s hint.
She looked up at the center of the puppet ranks—Ouruola stood there.
Noah had always overlooked one question: how to truly kill Ouruola.
Even if you have countless puppets, even if you are one of the Seven Deadly Sins of the Filth Spirit, as long as you are alive, there must be a way to kill.
A flash of insight struck Noah.
She remembered a phrase the mysterious voice had told her.
[If we both have nothing, what do you have to be jealous of?]
Noah understood.
She suddenly thought of a possibility.
Instinctively, she rolled forward to dodge an attack from Tan Lan, scrambled to her feet, raised her long spear, and threw it with all her strength at Ouruola, shouting a curse, “Go to hell, you bastard!”