City of Sin and Shadows (The Black Death) Chapter 135: The Murderous Maniac

Liu An’s expression was especially hideous, bearing an uncanny resemblance to those people in the city who had gone mad after being affected by the black mist.

People altered by the black mist were, in essence, much like those with antisocial personalities mentioned earlier: cold, lacking any sense of morality or empathy, and highly aggressive.

In simpler terms, they were bad seeds.

As for Liu An, he had been an antisocial personality from the beginning.

People like him could usually act just like ordinary human beings, but deep down, they never regarded anyone else as human.

Before becoming a player, Liu An had already been a serial killer. What was more, he was a master at making every victim appear to have either gone missing or committed suicide.

When someone disappeared or committed suicide, the police would not investigate too thoroughly. Only murder cases prompted large-scale inquiries into social connections, surveillance footage, and the like. Compared with many of his fellow killers, who liked to leave marks on their victims’ bodies, Liu An had always acted discreetly and without leaving a trace. That was why he had never been caught.

Or perhaps disguising the bodies as suicides was itself his mark.

He was already Level Six.

During the process of leveling up, he had killed quite a few teammates. Often, by the end of a game, hardly anyone besides him was still alive. As a result, few people knew Liu An.

In his daily life, he maintained habits much like those of an ordinary person. He was utterly inconspicuous.

Taking part in the Black Plague game was something Liu An found immensely gratifying. After the initial arrangements had been made and the city descended into chaos, he could finally kill to his heart’s content.

First, he would eliminate the players before him who might become troublesome.

At the beginning, the game had never mentioned any awakened ones to them. It was only a few days ago that it had suddenly begun indicating their locations—and even then, only once.

It was as though something had interfered with the Demon God’s power. The thought was almost unbelievable.

This area had been mentioned repeatedly. Something was very wrong. Yet Liu An had lingered here for a long time, conducting reconnaissance for more than a day, and had not seen a single player above Level Five.

So he made his move.

He did not care about other people’s lives, nor did he care about his own.

Death accompanied him wherever he went.

Looking at the man’s smile, Wang Xiaodie recalled the lunatic from the previous game who had come running over to burn down her raft and Wu Hui’s.

He was so similar.

Why was this man attacking them? What was wrong with him? Had he lost his mind?

Wang Xiaodie was still puzzled.

Outside the city, Ironhand punched the black clouds once more.

Her memory seemed to have cleared somewhat. The things Wu Hui and the others had mentioned over the past few days surfaced in her mind.

The environment was crucial. When everyone around you was an awakened one, the mental influence on you would naturally weaken little by little. Things that grew up in different environments could differ enormously—not only in the case of people, but even among plants and animals.

And so Wang Xiaodie awakened as well. But awakening at a time like this made little difference.

The willow catkins continued to drift through the air, while the flashes of exploding fire gradually became fewer.

Li Xiaoyue activated the Book of Raging Flames. Wu Hui’s nightmare chess piece moved as well. The true nature of these willows seemed to be a kind of seal beast. It appeared that the textbooks Wu Hui had read on the Moving Island had been right: seal beasts came in a vast variety of forms. Besides animals, there were plants, machines, and even things that were impossible to classify.

But even all of this together would have trouble stopping the willow catkins, and Liu An certainly had other abilities.

The situation was not looking good. The members of the Insect Cocoon Company whom Wu Hui had summoned might be willing to help his sister out of respect for her, but expecting them to risk their lives was unrealistic. Wu Hui at least had to injure Liu An and make them feel that the enemy was not overwhelmingly powerful before they would provide the support they ought to.

Without hesitation, Wu Hui released a large number of chess pieces, then sacrificed them to summon something.

His strongest chess piece, the Dark Cantor, appeared.

Although he immediately ordered the Dark Cantor to flee as far from the area as possible, residual sound waves still affected everyone in the room.

This was clearly not something a low-level player could control. The fact that Miss Doll, a Level Ten player, had carried the Dark Cantor with her—even if she had never intended to use it and merely planned to sell it—was proof enough of its power.

It nearly drained Wu Hui’s mental strength, forcing him to half-kneel on the ground. He could not get back up for a long time.

The indiscriminate sonic attack swept across the entire battlefield, causing the willow catkins to wither rapidly. Liu An removed his glasses. Black, unidentifiable objects appeared around him, barely blocking the sound waves.

“This is something a low-level player can use?”

The attack was tremendously powerful. Even Liu An was wounded by it. The willows had all fallen into a state of decay, yet the sonic assault continued.

After using an item to replenish his mental strength, Wu Hui looked around at the girls who were vomiting blood alongside him, especially Li Xiaoyue, who looked as though she were on the verge of death. He took out the Book of Life and activated it, but a throbbing headache began to seize his head.

Ren Yin withdrew directly from the rooftop. Her hearing was exceptionally acute, so the injuries she suffered at a time like this were even worse. She was currently coughing up blood.

A low-level player attempting to control a high-level item was simply asking too much.

But the results were undeniably excellent.

Liu An grew ruthless. He pulled out several of the items he had kept hidden as trump cards. Cards flew through the air, and flames rose amid the willow catkins and the corpses of the willows, surging toward the Dark Cantor.

For a moment, the blaze illuminated half the sky.

The Dark Cantor reverted to a chess piece and returned to Wu Hui’s hand. It could not be summoned again for a while.

Li Xiaojing threw out her doll.

A cloth doll missing one button eye rapidly grew larger. Its cotton-stuffed fist swung toward Liu An.

With a loud bang, Liu An was knocked backward.

Gunshots rang out nearby. People from the Butterfly Organization had finally arrived to provide support, though they were still quite far away. In any case, Liu An had not noticed them earlier. Even now, it was not too late for him to flee.

Wu Tong clearly had connections in the city; otherwise, she would never have sent Wu Hui and the others to hide here. However, given the current chaos, the people she knew might not be entirely reliable.

If they had not arrived, Wu Hui still had a backup plan—one meant for escaping. But now, it seemed he would not need to use it.

“If that is all you have,” Liu An said with a smile, “then you still cannot kill me.”

He drew a knife.

Serial killers generally preferred knives and other close-combat weapons. Only with such weapons could they savor the pleasure of killing. Guns were too quick and too simple.

The same applied to summoned creatures.

Thus, although the willow catkins and willows were not weak, they were by no means Liu An’s most powerful techniques.

Facing the doll and the Butterfly Organization members led by a Level Five player, he struck with his knife. With a single slash, the doll was cut back into its original form, while a bloody gash appeared across Liu An’s own body.

But the Level Five player and the several Level Four players from the Butterfly Organization were clearly long-range fighters. Liu An’s blade could not reach them, while bullets riddled his body.

The black protective barrier shattered. One bullet after another bored into Liu An’s flesh.

Yet fangs sprouted from the wounds, transforming them into a series of gaping mouths.

It somewhat resembled Miss Doll’s ability…

Wu Hui frowned. His experience was still too limited. The game’s system of abilities was vast; neither the forums nor his sister could possibly tell him everything.

By now, Liu An no longer looked human at all.

The Level Five player who had just rushed forward to help began hesitating again, clearly wanting to retreat.

“Mm. That should be enough.”

In the distance, the Orb Weaver nodded. The Shadow Node activated, and the net began to close.

P.S. First update of the day. Hmm… please bookmark the story.