Atop the tall iron bridge in Rivet Town.
Two black figures stood erect.
Both were clad in black night-prowess attire, concealed within the darkness.
The man with pale green eyes spoke up and asked: "Are we still proceeding with the original plan?"
The other man gently shook his head. His golden pupils gazed faintly at the three girls below the high bridge and he smiled lightly:
"Too late~ The two of us have been showing our faces the whole time—the original plan is no longer suitable. Too many flaws."
He slowly walked away from the overpass and beckoned to the man behind him:
"Come on—follow me and switch to a different approach!"
The man behind nodded and vanished into the darkness with him.
…
Old floor tiles were cracked into fragments, and the barbed wire placed along the walls also appeared heavily rusted.
The young girl carried a massive scythe, constantly weaving and dodging amid the encirclement of numerous Fragmentum creatures.
The other two girls used ranged weapons, continuously providing fire support from the rear.
Seele narrowly dodged a fierce strike from a Fragmentum creature and frowned:
"Damn it—why are there so many of these Fragmentum creatures? We've already killed dozens just now!"
The scythe slashed into the monster's limbs, producing a crisp sound.
For the slightly weaker flying-type monsters, Seele could still achieve one-hit kills.
But the humanoid Fragmentum creatures were not so easy—most of the time, they required Bronya and March 7th from the rear to whittle them down before she could finish them with one scythe strike.
As for the even sturdier ones—the giant humanoid monsters over three meters tall—the three of them would fall into a tough battle.
These giant Fragmentum creatures in Rivet Town came in two types: ice giant forms or fire giant forms, with extremely strong defenses.
March 7th drew her bow and shot streaks of icy rainbows while complaining:
"Holy crap—why are there so many of these things?! That big guy has such thick skin, and its body is made of ice—my arrows are practically useless!"
Bronya was also very serious, continuously firing to repel the Fragmentum creatures sneaking up on Seele.
The three advanced slowly. Sometimes monsters charged toward the two in the rear, forcing Seele to backtrack for support.
"Up to now, I haven't heard Zeig's chainsaw at all." Seele gritted her teeth.
She was the one weaving alone through the monster horde—both dodging and attacking—bearing by far the greatest pressure.
When attacks inevitably landed on Seele, a transparent ice membrane would immediately appear, blocking the heavy blows for her.
March 7th was also very puzzled:
"I haven't seen any firelight either. Are they really in Rivet Town?"
"They definitely are. The Executor won't stray too far from us."
With Bronya's support, Seele felt an invisible force making her speed a bit faster, and even the power of each strike significantly increased.
With the two's help, she could move freely through the tide of monsters. Even if hit, March 7th's ice shields protected her.
It was pretty stable.
Though she wasn't really injured, Seele's mind had to remain highly focused.
"Hey! Where the hell did those two go? There are so many monsters here—they couldn't have been eaten, right?" Seele said.
"Impossible—they must have gone off to cause trouble!" March 7th retorted.
Bronya fired from range while gazing solemnly into the distant darkness:
"They've probably gone to search for Clara. Both have extremely high stealth skills—no sounds of conflict with Fragmentum creatures so far."
"Tch." Seele pursed her lips unhappily.
Her own stealth skills were also very high—but what good did that do?
If she didn't engage these Fragmentum creatures, March 7th and Bronya in the rear would be in danger.
They didn't have her kind of speed.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Seele barely dodged a giant Fragmentum creature's charge and shouted:
"Clara was looking for mechanical components, right? If we push toward Natasha's storage room, we'll definitely find her!"
The two behind nodded—indeed, that made sense.
Fighting while advancing, the number of Fragmentum creatures somewhat exceeded their expectations.
Along the way, neither Seele nor Bronya found any corpses of Fragmentum creatures killed by Zeig or Dan Heng, unlike last time.
This showed that the two's infiltration skills had truly reached the extreme.
And that they were in a hurry.
Completely no time to fight these monsters.
"I get it now—they're rushing to find Clara!"
March 7th had a sudden realization.
"They're definitely going to cause trouble! Deliberately avoiding us, and intentionally not killing these monsters—just to buy time and delay us!"
While fiercely battling the monsters, Seele had also figured this out.
With Zeig's level—casually wielding an ordinary guandao or a regular chainsaw—he could easily one-shot Fragmentum creatures while rapidly advancing and clearing them at the same time.
Yet he chose not to clear these Fragmentum creatures.
"What the hell are they doing?!" Seele complained.
With March 7th and Bronya's assistance, relying on Seele's strength as the Underworld's top fighter, they finally pushed all the way to Natasha's storage room.
As soon as they arrived, the three discovered the ground ahead littered with monster fragments.
Clearly, this was the handiwork of the corpse-shredding maniac Zeig!
Bronya looked at the traces on the ground and analyzed:
"They stayed stealthy all the way here before starting to fight. Does that mean Clara is nearby?"
Given Dan Heng and Zeig's previous behavior, if they wanted to avoid Fragmentum creatures, they absolutely could.
Going on such a killing spree must be to protect something.
Sure enough, as they expected.
In the corner of the storage room, the three discovered a smoking traffic-light robot.
It trembled nonstop, parts scattered all over the ground, black smoke curling from its head—clearly overloaded.
Bronya said gravely:
"This is Clara's robot."
"Aren't all these tin cans the same? How can you tell?" Seele retorted.
"There are still some differences."
"…"
"Listen—it seems to be saying something."
The robot named Perkins flickered with arcs and sparks all over, emitting an unstable electronic voice:
"Self-repair module initializing… Initialization failed…"
Perkins continued making sounds:
"Clara… under threat from monsters…"
"Must… protect…"
"Workshop… monsters… must clear…"
Bronya's expression turned serious:
"It means there are enemies at the workshop—Clara is trapped there…"
"The Executor and Dan Heng must have gone that way."
Seele immediately took the lead charging ahead, not waiting for the two behind to react, and hurriedly rushed toward the workshop:
"Hurry, hurry… we need to get there fast too!"
The three arrived at the destination.
"This is the workshop… No, Clara isn't here!" Seele frowned.
Bronya looked at the traces on the ground and quickly determined the direction:
"They probably ran down that lower path. Let's pursue."
…
On the streets of Rivet Town.
A large horde of Fragmentum creatures followed behind Clara, roaring madly as they chased.
Those eerie howls constantly affected Clara's mind.
Her breathing had gradually become unsteady.
Looking back, roughly dozens of Fragmentum creatures still pursued relentlessly.
A humanoid monster moved extremely fast, pouncing toward Clara like a fierce tiger.
It scared Clara into accelerating her run—she didn't dare look back again.
"Roar——!!"
Bang——!!
A faint flash of fire exploded at the Fragmentum creature's ankle, producing a crisp blast.
The monster rolled on the ground in pain, howling repeatedly.
The remaining Fragmentum creatures stepped over its body, barely continuing forward.
Since Clara was focused on fleeing, she completely missed the scene just now.
The monsters' roars also drowned out that crisp sound.
"Ah...!!"
Clara glanced back—suddenly seven or eight more monsters had appeared. Now over twenty Fragmentum creatures chased behind her!
The young girl was instantly terrified!
After thinking it over repeatedly, she had no choice but to reluctantly drop the package of mechanical components she was hugging by the roadside to lighten her load.
Then she ran off without looking back.
…
After Clara and the Fragmentum creatures had run far away.
A long spear hooked the package containing mechanical components, silently pulling it back into the darkness.
"…"
…