Global Fog Survival

Chapter 97: Open Fire

The music remained low and somber but seemed to grow more intense. Some extremely deformed “people” entered the opera hall to this music. They wore tattered yet brightly colored noble attire, mostly in varying shades of red, contrasting sharply with their pale skin and wigs.

These “people” were generally about two meters tall but severely deformed, with hunchbacks, tumors, or limps. However, these deformities didn’t seem to affect them much. More horrifying were their heads, which were about half the size of normal human heads, with extremely twisted, decomposed faces and almost no symmetry. Their protruding jaws occupied most of their faces, filled with misaligned teeth emitting a choking stench.

As these terrifying creatures entered, the few survivors nearly forgot to breathe, stopping even their trembling.

“Twisted—Fallen Noble Offspring.”

This was the name given to these abhorrent lifeforms, a kind of transformed human even more unacceptable than mutants.

At that moment, heart-wrenching screams came from one of the rooms. Several smaller “Fallen Noble Offspring” carried palanquin-like “dining plates” out of the room the survivors had just escaped from. Each “dining plate” had a survivor nailed through the abdomen with wooden spikes, writhing and wailing in pain. The spikes were driven skillfully, avoiding vital organs, bringing unspeakable pain and despair. Their hands and feet were bound with thorny ropes, forcing them to twist, struggle, and scream on the “dining plates.” The plates also had sharp spikes, causing the survivors’ backs to be slashed open with every movement, adding to their agony.

The “Fallen Noble Offspring” seemed to relish the torturous screams that accompanied the somber music, even forcibly administering some special liquid to keep the survivors from dying easily, ensuring they could enjoy the “feast” longer. They didn’t care if this liquid greatly shortened the survivors’ lifespans.

This time, four survivors were brought out of the dungeon, their faces twisted in extreme pain and madness.

“Kill me, kill me, please, kill me.”

“Stop torturing us, please, let me die.”

“Mom, dad… help.”

The cries and screams echoed in the specially constructed opera hall. The “Fallen Noble Offspring” enjoyed these screams, their deformed faces showing grotesque “pleasure” as they emitted low growls of excitement.

With a thud, the palanquins were thrown onto the dining table. The man hiding under the table shivered, but fortunately, none of the “Fallen Noble Offspring” noticed him. The hall now had hundreds of these offspring; discovery would be catastrophic.

Suddenly, the opera hall quieted down, and all the “Fallen Noble Offspring” knelt, bowing in one direction. The man under the table felt a strong sense of oppression coming from that direction—a larger stone archway. The oppressive feeling intensified as several short, stout “Fallen Noble Offspring” carried a huge palanquin out, holding a bloated, obese figure with a crippled lower body. It had an unhealed wound, clearly having been severely injured at some point but surviving.

The man under the table realized this was the source of all the horrifying creatures in the basement.

“Fallen Noble—Primordial Source.”

When they had exited the mine, everyone received the quest named “Eradicate the Remaining ‘Nobles.’” They hadn’t realized the severity of the situation, blinded by their gains. The man himself had gained a lot. But after the collapse, they found themselves in a massive underground town filled with countless deformed human skeletons. They were attacked by the “Fallen Noble Offspring” while receiving system quests that were impossible to complete. Trapped with no retreat, they were captured and tortured both mentally and physically.

A sharp scream snapped the man out of his chaotic thoughts. He heard the sound of flesh being torn less than half a meter above him, and the table shook. These creatures could tear a person apart with brute force as if they were paper.

Blood dripped down, some splattering on him. A deformed head of a “Fallen Noble Offspring” rolled to his feet, making him shiver. Even the unfit offspring were food, though just side dishes. The man saw some “rats” in the blurred reflection on the table, creatures only visible through their shadows and sounds.

As the feast continued, the screams above his head grew hoarse and weak. The struggle sounds diminished. The hollow, raspy cries contained only despair, unspeakable despair, and a hint of peace. Finally, it’s ending? The man thought, biting the cloth in his mouth. As soon as the bloody feast ended, he would escape with the others, not wanting to stay another second.

Just then, a sharp pain shot through his heel, filling him with terror. Instinctively, he turned to see nothing but felt a bloody hole in his heel—a bite from a rodent. In the shadows, he saw a rat standing at his heel. His breath quickened, and his pupils dilated as he realized his shadow had been exposed to the “nobles.” The rats had long noticed him, licking the ground where his blood had dripped.

It’s over!

His mind froze as he turned slowly, neck creaking like rusted metal, locking eyes with a pale, ugly face staring directly at him. More deformed faces peeked down from the table, their colorless eyes filled with ridicule. He curled under the table, surrounded by pale faces, his heart stopping in terror, but a life-draining force kept it beating, adding to his despair.

A disproportionately long, thin arm grabbed his foot with terrifying strength, followed by another hand grabbing his other leg. In desperate, painful screams, his skin, toes, leg bones, and ribs were torn piece by piece. His internal organs were exposed, and his lower body was completely ripped off, yet he couldn’t die. His mind teetered on collapse, but a large hand grabbed his head, lifting him. In his blurry vision, he saw a mouth large enough to swallow him whole. He was being shoved into the “Noble Primordial’s” mouth.

In a last effort, he pulled out a single item from his backpack: a sphere of condensed light. As it appeared, the “Noble Primordial” recalled some terrifying memory, screaming to throw him away. The man’s bloodied face twisted into a grin.

Die, you monsters!

Blinding light erupted in the hall, causing the offspring’s skin to ulcerate, and they screamed in pain, terrified of the light imprinted in their genes. The entire hall fell into chaos. In the bright light, the man’s broken body was thrown to the ground, using his last breath to shout:

“Run! Run now! We’ve been discovered!”

He knew the creatures had spared the survivors behind the curtain to repeat the previous scene. “Run!”

His bloodshot eyes could barely see, unsure if the others had escaped, just repeatedly shouting. Finally, his voice became a wheeze, pointing in the direction of a dark stone archway.

Run, dying outside is our win. His jaw stopped moving as his mind faded into darkness, finding peace.

The four survivors ran for the archway, eyes red with fear, desperately charging forward, tripping over fallen offspring but getting up again. The light dimmed, and rats swarmed to extinguish it. Worse, the “Fallen Noble Offspring” stood up, blocking the way. Ten seconds wasn’t enough to cross the hall.

Forced to stop, they saw more humanoid figures approaching from the archway. One survivor trembled, ready to charge, but a flash of white light from the archway made several offspring explode, splattering foul blood.

Stunned, they saw a small white figure stop abruptly, crouch, and sweep their legs, knocking them down. Red flames flashed in the darkness, followed by a deafening explosion. Amidst the flashing fire, they saw a young man pointing ahead.

“Continue firing,” he calmly said.