"There are more than one person behind the door, they should be people from the black market." Su Changxing warned, signaling Nobu to retreat.

Weigen’s movements halted, his face full of confusion: "No, the passage should be sealed, they can’t be here."

Then he shouted: "What’s going on inside? Please step back and leave, or don’t blame me for being rude."

No one answered, but the heavy breathing behind the door could be felt.

"Open the door, please, quickly." A man’s voice came from behind the door, hoarse and tinged with urgency.

Weigen had no intention of opening the door; those infected with the plague, when the symptoms worsened, all had the same characteristic, their voices became hoarse.

The woman from the shop also sensed something wrong, walked over, and stared nervously at the iron door of the basement, "We can’t let them out, or we’re finished; those critically ill patients are extremely contagious."

Su Changxing was a bit helpless, not expecting to encounter this issue, and asked Weigen: "Do you know of any other entrances? Besides this underground black market one."

Weigen shook his head, "No, I’ve heard there are traces of heretics in West City, but now you can’t even enter West City."

Su Changxing handed him a gas mask, "Lead the way, follow me in; if these plague patients don’t heed our warning, kill them all."

Weigen took the mask and nodded in agreement with Su Changxing’s statement, "Alright, I also want to see what’s happening inside. There’s another thick iron door on the other side of this passage, impossible to break by human force."

The underground black market is managed by the Black Dog Gang, hence there’s this additional passage, but not everyone has the privilege to use it, and few know of it.

As they were talking, screams and faint thumps came from inside, as if something was colliding underground.

The sound of the collision became more pronounced over time, the whole building started to shake as if an earthquake was happening.

"Open the door, please, open it, or we’re all going to die." The pleading voice came again from inside, filled with terror.

"What’s inside?" Weigen asked loudly.

"A monster, a giant rat!"

"Let us out quickly; it’s coming."

There were sounds of the iron door being hit, as those inside frantically pounded on it, trying to break it open.

Weigen inhaled sharply, thinking of something bad, and turned to Su Changxing, "Are we still going down? There seems to be something terrifying beneath."

Su Changxing, not stubborn, laughed and said, "For now, we won’t go down, but is it really fine leaving whatever’s below unchecked?"

"Have you ever seen such a thing before? The body is long, the mouth is enormous, big enough to swallow a human whole; it does indeed resemble a rat to some extent."

He perceived the location and form of the monster, not far from this door.

"What’s this monster? I’ve never seen anything like it before. Why did it appear here?" Weigen’s brow furrowed tightly, his hands trembling unconsciously.

The plague brought forth the monster.

Su Changxing found the logic in it, a familiar feeling, as if only through such complete destruction can there be earth-shattering change.

It will reveal the world’s true form.

Weigen grabbed the microphone on the table and started calling for help, "Come quickly, there’s trouble at the underground black market, it’s not plague patients escaping; a monster has appeared."

They had something similar to a telephone here, but the coverage range wasn’t wide, only usable in Mai Lun City.

But just as he finished speaking, a loud noise came from the basement’s iron door, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking, the rhythm being crushed.

Several more hits followed, the walls seemed to be getting struck, and dark red blood oozed through the door’s cracks.

With another loud bang, the entire iron door deformed from the middle, bulging out with the imprint of a giant hand.

The iron door was of good quality, surprisingly not breaking open; one more hit and it probably wouldn’t last.

"That thing is about to come out."

Su Changxing stepped back a few paces, drew his firearms, and prepared for battle.

He feared that the creature carried the plague virus, so he didn’t plan on engaging in close combat; getting infected would be troublesome.

At the third loud bang, the upper half of the door cracked open, flew, and half a head was flung against the wall, the nearby workbench getting stained with fresh blood.

It was a monster covered in spikes, with a massive mouth and thick, long forelimbs.

Yet, it still bore human traits, with giant hands resembling a human’s, although the body was large, its eyes were small, as if a person’s eyes were pasted onto it.

[Source of Plague: A monster born in the midst of the plague, resembling a rat in appearance, but it is definitely not a rat.

It can easily destroy a city of a million people...]

A large amount of green mist spread from the passage, accompanied by a foul smell, but Su Changxing couldn’t smell it, isolated by the gas mask.

The heavily made-up woman had already run out screaming, attracting onlookers due to the commotion.

"What is that?"

"There’s a monster!"

"Run, run, there’s a monster here."

The street was in chaos.

Seeing the terrifying monster, onlookers fled, their flight causing more to run.

Under the plague’s shadow, panic had already been present; now, it undoubtedly magnified this fear completely.

The surrounding streets descended into chaos.

Su Changxing raised his gun and pulled the trigger at the monster; dark shadows entangled around him, six identical replicas appearing, also pulling their triggers.

Seven bullets simultaneously shot at the Source of Plague, blood splattering from successive impacts, driving it back into the passage.

The monster’s body was unexpectedly hard, enduring seven bullets and only feeling some pain.

Su Changxing showed a grave expression, sensing something spreading through the air.

That was the plague virus!

The monster carried a vast amount of plague virus, spreading continuously with its breath.

Just being around could potentially lead to infection.

Should this monster break out, the entire city might fall.

This place would become Hell!

Weigen hurried upstairs, shouting, "I’m getting explosives to blow up this beast."

Faced with such a large monster, he immediately thought of bombs, the strongest firepower they could use.

Su Changxing, instead of retreating, advanced, a silver long-barrel revolver appearing in his hand, standing at the passage shooting continuously at the monster.

The passage was narrow, the monster blocking it completely, unable to dodge his bullets.

Triggered the Perfect Bullet Screen, he shot consecutively in a short time. Due to the monster’s huge size, the revolver triggered the Giant Slayer effect, maximizing its power.

Under this extreme firepower suppression, the monster couldn’t move, its flesh and blood being gradually torn away.

Su Changxing’s expression remained solemn; at full force, he could only suppress this monster.

Such a full-force burst couldn’t be maintained for long.

Monster!

For the first time, someone stood unyielding to his attack, unable to be killed.

Suddenly, the monster vanished from the passage, leaving no trace.

Where did it go?

Su Changxing quickly observed around, but didn’t find the monster.

Soon, he smelled a strong, fishy odor through the gas mask.

With the green mist, the monster appeared before him, pouncing heavily, knocking him to the ground.

Sharp claws tore through his clothes, slashing his flesh.

At that moment, Su Changxing’s skin glowed golden, interspersed with crimson patterns, forming a dazzling blood-gold light.

He withstood the blow, his skin without a single cut.