The murky floodwaters reached chest height as the group waded forward slowly.
Zou Yu led over a dozen Awakened, swimming silently ahead while occasionally glancing back at Han Ning.
"What exactly are these monsters like?"
The group was moving relatively slowly, so Han Ning hadn't activated his Gills Technique, keeping pace with them.
Zou Yu answered,
"The Fishmen mainly occupy the largest student cafeteria in the northern district. That building has five floors, and the first floor is probably completely submerged."
"These creatures… resemble humanoid forms, but they're more like twisted hybrids of fish and humans. Their skin is covered in slimy Scales, their fingers are webbed, their heads are flat, and their mouths are filled with rows of fine, sharp teeth."
His tone carried a hint of wariness:
"Even ordinary Fishmen are fast and strong, incredibly agile in the water—already comparable to newly Awakened individuals."
"The real trouble is the elite ones… They can manipulate water currents, firing High-Pressure Water Arrows or creating small whirlpools to disrupt movement."
"And…" Zou Yu's voice lowered, "they have an extremely dangerous attack method—Face-Hug!"
"Face-Hug?" Han Ning raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah!" A sallow-faced Awakened beside them couldn't help but interject,
"Just like the xenomorphs in movies, they'll suddenly launch themselves from the water or shadows at terrifying speeds, wrapping their slimy bodies around your head and face. Their sharp claws dig into your flesh while…"
"…their disgusting mouths try to force their way into your nose, mouth, or ears. Once they latch on, it's almost always fatal. Several of our comrades died that way."
Zou Yu took over again, continuing,
"These monsters… they didn't exist in our school before."
"About ten days ago, they suddenly swarmed in from further northwest. And not long after they appeared, the water levels on campus began rising abnormally, flooding the low-lying areas."
He looked toward the northwest, where heavier rain and endless floodwaters loomed,
"We suspect something catastrophic must have happened northwest of here, washing these monsters and the floods our way."
"Northwest?" Han Ning silently filed away the information.
The group exchanged occasional remarks as they moved.
Along the way, they frequently encountered wandering Fishmen.
Their skin was slimy, like toads, some yellowish-brown, others pale purple—utterly revolting.
Against this elite human squad, the stray Fishmen were obliterated into bloody mist before they could even react, struck down by various abilities.
After about twenty minutes, the group reached their destination.
Deliberately avoiding areas thick with Fishmen, they stopped above a submerged patch of greenery.
Ahead, a sprawling five-story building stood half-drowned in the murky water—the Central Cafeteria.
The flood had already swallowed the first floor, the structure flickering in and out of view through the rain and mist.
The dark, gaping windows were eerily silent as rainwater poured endlessly inside.
"This is the place." Zou Yu stopped swimming. "Most of the monsters are holed up in the cafeteria. They seem like amphibians—usually staying on land and only entering the water to hunt."
After speaking, he looked at Han Ning, his unspoken meaning clear.
Han Ning understood his implication and said, "Zou Yu, take a few people and lure the monsters out."
Zou Yu's expression darkened. "You... didn't you say you'd help us deal with the leader?"
"I don't know the situation inside. What if there are traps?" Han Ning met Zou Yu's gaze directly.
Zou Yu's face twisted in displeasure, and he shook his head. "Then let's all go in together. There's no way we're sending our people in first."
Han Ning didn't respond.
Instead, he picked up a stone from the waterbed and lightly tossed it toward a relatively intact window on the second floor.
Whoosh!
Under the stunned gazes of Zou Yu and the others, the stone struck the glass with pinpoint accuracy.
Crash!
The sharp sound of shattering glass pierced the air, startlingly loud.
"You—!" Zou Yu was both shocked and furious.
The loud noise, like a stone thrown into still water, shattered the cafeteria's silence.
"Tap, tap, tap~"
From the second floor came the sound of countless sticky footsteps.
"Rustle, rustle..."
Behind the windowsill, several massive fish heads appeared.
Their black-and-yellow, lifeless fish eyes rolled around before quickly locking onto the group below.
"Gah! Hehehe!"
Then, figures covered in slippery scales surged out like disturbed rats—through the broken windows, through the submerged doorways—rushing straight toward Han Ning and the others.
Their numbers were overwhelming, truly akin to a swarm of rats.
In the blink of an eye, they had surrounded the group completely.
"You son of a—!"
Zou Yu's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he watched the tide of Fishmen charging at them. He was about to curse when—
"Gah! Hehe!"
The frontmost Fishmen were already upon him, their slimy claws swiping at his face.
"Damn it!"
He swallowed his curses, blue flames erupting from his palms and sending the attacking Fishmen flying.
The other Awakened were quickly embroiled in fierce combat.
"Form up! Xiao Luo, hold the front!"
Zou Yu shot Han Ning a venomous glare, fireballs forming in his hands as he hurled them into the swarm and barked orders.
Boom! Crack!
"Kill!"
The twenty Awakened from the agricultural university had no choice but to engage the Fishmen in battle.
Meanwhile, Han Ning, the instigator, stood by and watched without lifting a finger.
But whenever a Fishman came within two meters of him, Vines would shoot out, blasting the creature apart.
Su Mingke, seeing her comrades under attack, tried to rush forward to help—only to be ensnared by Han Ning's Vines and dragged back.
Refusing to give up, Black Qi surged around her, her form growing indistinct.
Yet the Vines coiled around her waist, forcibly yanking her back from her ethereal state.
"Scheming coward! Leaving them to die!" She turned to glare at Han Ning, her eyes blazing with fury.
Han Ning didn't even blink.
His gaze pierced through the chaotic battlefield, locking onto a broken window on the cafeteria's third floor.
There, several pairs of cold fish eyes stared down silently through the rain, observing the slaughter below.
...
The Fishmen were too numerous.
Gradually, the battle line began to waver under the Fishmen's relentless, fearless assaults.
A young Awakened reacted just a fraction too slow—a Fishman pounced from the side and clamped onto his calf.
"Gyah, gyah~"
The slimy creature swiftly climbed up his body, claws digging into flesh, its flat fish-head lunging straight for his face.
"Ah! Help, help!" he screamed in terror, desperately trying to tear it off.
Thwip!
A Vine flashed before his eyes, piercing straight through the Fishman's skull.
Filthy blood and brain matter splattered.
The Fishman stiffened, then slumped lifelessly.