I told you to plant peas, and you summon Mordekaiser?

On the river, three military green motorboats are approaching from a distance, rippling the water as they approach the shore.

These three motorboats are emergency vessels for the outpost, specifically for troop evacuation, and each has limited space.

Obviously, these refugees will not be taken along.

The company commander's expression was ashen and grim.

"Attention, everyone! Prepare to board!"

He gritted his teeth and gave the order, his voice unusually clear amidst the wailing from the riverbank.

At that moment, the soldiers sprang into action, while the refugee column behind them completely collapsed.

Women knelt and begged, while men rushed forward to try and seize the soldiers' equipment, only to be kicked away.

Despair enveloped the last corner of Riverwood.

"Sir, please, take my child with you!"

A heart-wrenching cry pierced the air.

She is the little girl's mother.

She knelt down in front of the company commander, tears streaming down her face.

"Please, please take my daughter with you! She's so young, she can't stay here!"

The little girl looked around timidly and tightened her grip on the box in her arms.

The company commander's fists were clenched so tightly they turned white.

With just one word from him, this child could have a chance to live.

However, there was more than one child present, and he couldn't possibly bring all of them.

The soldiers boarded the ship one by one.

A faint, fishy smell was already in the air; the zombies were getting closer and closer.

There was no time to hesitate.

Just as he was about to step forward and pick up the girl.

A light and eerie melody drifted up from somewhere.

“Ding ding ding ding ding~”

The melody was melodious, yet carried a hint of eeriness.

The company commander's expression suddenly froze. He looked around sharply, his face full of vigilance.

How could there be music in a place like this?

Enemy attack?

However, the next second, his gaze began to wander, and the scenery around him gradually distorted.

Cries and screams, all the noise was swallowed up by this melody.

All that remained in the company commander's ears was the eerie, tinkling sound, like a nursery rhyme playing on repeat, carrying endless strangeness and malevolence.

The other soldiers gradually stopped moving, standing there blankly, having lost all consciousness.

"what happens?"

Chen Yang's heart tightened suddenly.

He heard the music as well, but Yuumi's shield flickered gently, isolating him from the music's corrosive influence.

He turned his head abruptly and found that his teammates' expressions were completely empty, as if they had become soulless puppets.

"Qinghe! Wake up!"

Chen Yang reached out and grabbed Huangfu Qinghe, who was closest to him, and shook him violently, trying to wake him up.

“Ding ding ding ding ding~”

The music continued to echo, and the atmosphere grew increasingly eerie as figures began to fall from the refugee crowd.

"What is this sound?"

After being shaken awake, Huangfu Qinghe turned pale and quickly assumed a guarded posture.

Chi Zigao was also awakened by the slap. He looked around and asked in a panic, "Where did that sound come from?"

Chen Yang did not answer, his gaze fixed on the source of the sound—right among the refugees!

“Ding ding ding ding ding~”

Amidst a sea of ​​fallen refugees, only one small figure stood alone.

It's that little girl!

"Mommy, what's wrong?"

She turned around blankly, looking at the woman lying on the ground, her eyes filled with confusion and panic.

When Chen Yang's gaze fell on the box she was tightly clutching in her arms, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The music was coming from that box!

"Get away from her!"

Chen Yang growled.

The girl, carrying the box, walked step by step toward the company, her face filled with helplessness.

"Mama..."

A strange sense of crisis welled up in Chen Yang's heart.

This box is definitely not simple!

"Come on!"

Without time to think, he turned around, grabbed Huangfu Qinghe and Chizi Gao by the collar, and rushed out with all his might.

With the help of Yumi, Chen Yang's physical abilities are beyond what ordinary people can describe.

With his strength and speed amplified several times over, Chen Yang unleashed an unprecedented speed.

Behind her, a bewildered shadow appeared in the little girl's eyes. The box vibrated slightly, and the eerie music melody grew even more intense.

Grabbing Huangfu Qinghe and Chizi Gao by the collar, Chen Yang moved with lightning speed, transforming into a blurry afterimage.

In just a few seconds, the three of them rushed dozens of meters away, and even the wind blowing behind them seemed to slow down.

Just as they created some distance between them, a strange sound came from behind them.

"Click——"

It sounded like some kind of mechanical device being activated, sharp and piercing.

The box in the little girl's arms was pushed open by an invisible force, and a comical and eerie clown popped out, bouncing around on a spring.

It was dressed in bright red clothes, with a small bell jingling on its pointed hat, and its smile was exaggeratedly wide.

The bell swayed slightly.

"boom--"

The box exploded the moment the clown appeared.

The explosion was more powerful than anyone could have imagined; the entire air seemed to tear apart in an instant.

At the epicenter of the explosion, a scorching and violent blast of air surged outwards, carrying a suffocating impact.

Purple smoke and dust swept out like a tide.

The ground trembled, the earth cracked, rocks were thrown into the air, and trees were uprooted.

Within the blast radius, no living thing can survive.

The three who escaped were thrown over by the aftershocks, staggered to the ground, and covered in dust.

Chen Yang felt a ringing in his ears.

"What the hell?"

"There's an ambush!"

Huangfu Qinghe gritted his teeth and growled, reaching out to support Chizi Gao beside him, his expression filled with shock.

Purple smoke rose up, forming a cloud that blotted out the sky, shrouding the riverbank in an eerie shadow.

This unassuming little box actually contains such terrifying power!

Purple smoke filled the air, enveloping the entire riverbank.

If Chen Yang hadn't managed to create distance in time, they would have been swept into the abyss of the explosion and turned to ashes along with the other soldiers.

He turned his head and looked at the three motorboats on the riverbank, which were now just twisted, charred wreckages, soaking in the river water like drowning victims struggling in vain.

The air was filled with the suffocating smell of burning.

Right there on the ruins, he saw a bizarre scene.

Countless green spirits rose from the center of the explosion, like fireflies, converging into a rushing river that surged toward his left arm.

Chen Yang was stunned. He felt a slight burning sensation on the skin under his gloves, as if it were being torn apart.

Those spirits pierced through the black glove and merged into his flesh and blood.

This left arm is like a bottomless well, greedily devouring the souls of the dead.

"Chen Yang, stop spacing out!"

Huangfu Qinghe's shouts brought Chen Yang back to his senses.

He turned his head and found that Chi Zigao and Huangfu Qinghe were completely unaware.

All they could see was the scorched earth and the swaying riverbank beneath their feet.

To them, the radiance of the soul was nothing more than a wisp of dust dissipating in the air.

"You...can't see?"

"What can't you see?"

"No...it's nothing..." Chen Yang shook his head, without saying anything more.

"What on earth happened?" Chi Zigao turned around and looked at the mess behind him, his face pale.

"Don't just stand there, Gargantuar is catching up!"

Huangfu Qinghe growled.

A loud thud followed, the sound of Gargantuar's massive footsteps, like war drums striking the ground.

When he came to his senses, he realized that the ground beneath his feet had begun to tremble.

Chen Yang had no time to think any further.

"run!"

he shouted.

The group ran wildly along the river.

The purple smoke gradually dissipated, but the tremors behind them grew clearer.