Chapter 3: Six Suns (3)
Even more people flooded into Jian Yuntai’s livestream room, and the chat exploded with activity.
Many of them put themselves in his shoes. If they were Jian Yuntai, they would already be hiding in the grass alongside Young Master Xue—the tragic fate of the bird-type creature still fresh in everyone’s mind!
A shiver ran through the crowd. Their perception of Jian Yuntai had instantly elevated to a higher level.
Another large portion of viewers appeared exceptionally tense. “The entire left side of the plaza is full of mutated plants and animals, and the right side is packed with enforcers. This is a death trap from the start!”
With nowhere to run, what was Jian Yuntai going to do?
Viewers who had climbed over from Young Master Xue’s livestream room had long forgotten their earlier promise to “just take a quick look.” They were fully focused, eyes glued to the big screen.
“Woof woof woof! Wooooof woof woof!!!”
A poodle had reduced a woman to nothing but bones and now turned its cold, piercing gaze on Jian Yuntai.
It looked intelligent, as if sensing that Jian Yuntai’s power level was far below the woman it had just torn apart. It didn’t rush him but barked wildly in place.
Barking echoed from all directions, growing louder and closer.
Jian Yuntai realized almost instantly that the dog was sending signals to its companions—it was planning to surround and attack him!
The livestream viewers panicked even more:
“Holy… my legs are trembling just watching…”
“Ahhhh, newcomer, run, hide!”
“Where do we hide? Can’t you see the sky is a death trap too?!”
Amid the chaos, Jian Yuntai displayed a calmness far beyond ordinary. “Look at that person.”
The viewers were confused. Their perspective could only show the host and nearby objects. But Jian Yuntai could see clearly. He spotted another host.
This host had a sturdy build, short legs, and ran extremely fast, charging toward a mall thirty meters away.
Clearly, this wasn’t a smart move. The mall wasn’t necessarily safe—most had greenery inside. If he ran somewhere with no exit, things would only get worse.
Soon, Jian Yuntai noticed something unusual.
After the host ran through the mall’s back door, the trailing vines flailed wildly in the air, then reluctantly retreated and turned to attack others in the plaza.
“The vines didn’t follow him in,” Jian Yuntai said without hesitation. He pivoted and sprinted, even faster than that host.
The poodle barked furiously behind him, chasing.
Three meters from the back door, the dog was almost on top of him. Jian Yuntai spun around sharply. The dog was too close—he couldn’t run with his back exposed.
“Guess what I’m going to do.”
He smiled and flexed his wrists; the joints cracked sharply.
Before the poodle could react, Jian Yuntai lightly tapped the ground with his toes and closed the distance in a few steps, throwing a punch. One hit sent the dog’s entire head twisting sideways. Skin and flesh detached from the bone, tracing a parabolic arc before dropping to the ground with a thud.
The poodle let out a mournful howl, retreating several meters in cautious steps, furious but only able to snort through its nose.
Jian Yuntai clicked his tongue. “A bit tricky.”
If that punch had landed on a normal dog, it would have split it in two. But the instance’s mutated dogs had much harder bones. The force of his punch even hurt his own hand, yet the dog had only lost some skin and flesh.
By now, the barking from all directions had grown very close.
Jian Yuntai completely dismissed the idea of fighting head-on. As he prepared to retreat, a sudden itch appeared at the back of his neck.
Something’s fur had brushed against him.
His heart sank. He turned his head and saw a massive golden cat circling behind him. Its head was only a few inches away, its dazzling golden vertical pupils contracting. As it opened its mouth, the cat’s tongue flicked his cheek.
“First a dog, now a cat?!!!” Many viewers in the livestream exclaimed. Some timid ones even couldn’t bear to watch the screen.
Jian Yuntai reacted quickly, immediately reaching out to grab the cat’s tongue, intending to pull it away. Just then, an anxious voice shouted from behind: “Hold your hand—its tongue! That’s an ally!”
“…?” Jian Yuntai released his grip.
The golden cat let out a pitiful meow, tiptoed over his head, and leapt at the poodle with full force. The fight between the two beasts was gruesome—cat fur and dog fur flew everywhere.
Jian Yuntai quickly backed into the mall’s back corridor. The moment he entered, shadows enveloped him. No sunlight reached here, and the suffocating heat eased somewhat.
The fat host who had run into the mall earlier hadn’t ventured far inside; he slumped on the ground, excitedly saying, “I know you! You’re the newcomer transferred from the Xiang’an Team, right? That punch you just threw at the dog… so cool. I was staring in awe!”
Jian Yuntai didn’t waste words. “Who are you?”
Fatty grinned foolishly and spilled everything in a few sentences. “I’m Chen Sanxian. I joined the livestream team two months before you—we’re from the same batch of newcomers.”
Jian Yuntai pointed to the golden cat outside and asked, “And that… is that your pet?”
“No, no, no, not a pet,” Fatty whispered. “Don’t say that in front of it—it’ll get angry. That’s my companion, Jinjin. I think it actually likes you. Usually it’s super aloof, but just now it even licked you.”
Jian Yuntai smiled. “It can get angry?”
Fatty laughed too, whispering teasingly, “You wouldn’t guess it, right? Round head, round body like a gas cylinder—but its temper’s bigger than anyone’s.”
While they talked, Jinjin had already finished off the poodle and was eating voraciously. After swallowing it, its fur became smoother and shinier than before, gleaming under the sunlight. Meanwhile, the other dogs called by the poodle gathered around. Jinjin’s eyes lit up as if it saw a banquet, utterly excited.
“Jinjin actually doesn’t like eating raw meat. If it weren’t for the fact that eating these mutated instance creatures increases its power, it wouldn’t touch them,” Fatty said, seemingly disturbed by the bloody scene outside. He leaned closer: “Can I see your arm?”
“Huh?”
“I want to see your bones and meridians.” Fatty’s memory of Jian Yuntai’s punch was vivid. He exclaimed, “You have the most powerful evolved body I’ve ever seen. Just awakened and already this strong… in time, you’ll be unstoppable!”
Jian Yuntai rolled up his sleeve and extended his forearm.
Fatty shook his head, touching and pressing it carefully, his expression focused. “Strange… really strange.”
Jian Yuntai chuckled at his fortune-teller-like expression. “What’s strange?”
Fatty didn’t laugh. He said in puzzlement, “Normally, a Sinister Monster Type’s strength is proportional to muscle mass. The top-ranked Sinister Monster Type hosts are all muscular beasts. Your arm is so much thinner than I imagined—why are you different from other Sinister Monster Type?”
Jian Yuntai raised an eyebrow. “Who said I’m a Sinister Monster Type?”
Fatty froze. “You’re not a Sinister Monster Type?”
Jian Yuntai: “No.”
For several seconds, Fatty’s face went blank. Then realization hit, his eyes wide with shock. “If you’re not a Sinister Monster Type, then what are you? Sinister Human Type and Sinister Spirit Type physiques are weaker than any Sinister Monster Type; there’s no contest. Sinister Ghost Types… I’m a Sinister Ghost Type, and if that punch had hit me, my bones would have shattered.”
“You’re a Sinister Ghost Type?” Jian Yuntai’s shock matched Fatty’s. At eighteen, this was the first time he had ever met a Sinister Ghost Type.
Sinister Ghost Type were extremely rare—too rare!
They were the rarest of all the species in the new world. How rare? Among the nearly 500 hosts in the livestream team, there were fewer than 40 Sinister Ghost Type.
And compared to other types, Sinister Ghost Type evolved abilities that were far more complex, usually related to mental powers—mind-reading being the most iconic, along with telekinesis and controlling others.
Fatty’s ability seemed to be beast control. His potential was huge. Though he only had Jinjin now, in time, he might command an entire animal army!
Originally, Jian Yuntai thought he himself was a Sinister Ghost Type, but the Xiang’an Team had made it clear he wasn’t.
Then what kind of species was he?
Fatty asked the same question. Jian Yuntai snapped back to attention and smiled mysteriously: “Guess.”
“I can’t guess,” Fatty said, lifting his shirt hem to fan himself, grinning mischievously. “There’s no privacy in our line of work. Over time, everyone can tell a host’s species. Even if you don’t tell me, I’ll figure it out eventually.”
Just as Jian Yuntai was about to reply, a furious shout came from outside: “There’s an escaped suspect here!”
An instance native gestured angrily at the enforcers, glaring at the two hiding near the back door. Fatty cursed under his breath, exasperated. “These instance natives are way too professional. They’re practically food themselves, yet they still want us to be collateral damage.”
He called out again: “Jinjin!”
The golden cat turned and ran inside. As it approached, its size gradually shrank. By the time it leapt onto Fatty’s shoulder, it was only palm-sized, resembling a desert feline—a sand dune cat.
“You raised a creature that would’ve spent a lifetime in prison,” Jian Yuntai joked. Fatty glanced at him in confusion. As they turned to run down the corridor, Jian Yuntai explained, “If you’d raised this cat before the new world came, it would’ve been sentenced to life.”
Fatty ran, breathing hard, teasing, “Is that why you got caught by the Xiang’an Team?”
Jian Yuntai laughed, saying nothing.
Turning further into the corridor, their expressions grew cautious. They instinctively held their breath.
The enforcers were close behind. They couldn’t linger at the back door, so in near darkness, they blindly picked a side corridor and ran. After zigzagging nearly fifty meters, they finally slowed down.
The mall’s power system seemed damaged; no lights were on anywhere. All the shops had half-lowered shutters, and footsteps echoed frantically from upstairs and downstairs, rattling the walls.
Voices called out family members’ names, while instance natives stumbled along the corridors, bracing themselves against walls.
“The whole floor’s clothing stores. No difference,” Fatty said, picking a concealed shop. He whispered, “Do you want to hide with me, or try to find your own way?”
“Together. Someone to watch my back.”
Jian Yuntai followed him in. In the pitch-black interior, even his sharp vision was useless. They could only make out the room faintly through the light seeping past curtains. Clothes racks and mannequins filled the space, dim and eerie.
They went further in, each choosing a corner to crouch in, blending among the clothes, completely still.
Before long, the enforcers came charging. Boots struck the floor, and instance natives screamed in terror. The enforcers, having lost track of their target, seemed furious, pacing the area two or three times before finally leaving.
Jian Yuntai didn’t get up. He stayed completely still. Fatty didn’t speak either, just struggling to control his heavy breathing.
About five minutes later, Fatty was still panting. Jian Yuntai frowned and asked, “Do you have asthma?”
The heavy breathing paused. Fatty said, “What?”
“Asthma.” Jian Yuntai leaned his head slightly toward the shop’s entrance and glanced outside, casually saying, “I can hear you breathing heavily.”
“…”
Fatty was silent for several seconds. The bewilderment in his voice almost solidified into a tangible thing: “Wait… haven’t you been the one breathing heavily all this time?”
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