Chapter 347: The golden fruit 58.

"They are afraid of something."

A roar answered from above.

The sound was deep enough to make dust fall from the ceiling.

Yan Cijin’s face became serious.

"Or they are afraid of what is waiting there."

Bai Li nodded.

They climbed faster.

The seventeenth floor had no monsters.

That was worse.

There were only nests.

Hundreds of them.

Eggs covered the floor.

Some were small.

Others were as large as people.

Many had already cracked open.

Bai Li studied the eggs.

"They are not breeding."

Yan Cijin looked at her.

"What?"

"They are feeding."

The golden glow beneath the floor illuminated the eggs.

Inside each one was a tiny creature connected to a root-like filament.

The roots ran downward.

Toward the fruit.

Yan Cijin’s expression hardened.

"The fruit is feeding them."

"Or they are stealing from it."

"Either way, there are too many."

Bai Li looked at the ceiling.

"Not for long."

They moved through the room without disturbing the eggs.

At the far end, they found another stairwell.

This one was covered in blood.

Fresh blood.

Yan Cijin crouched.

"Something passed through here recently."

Bai Li touched the wall.

"More than one thing."

They climbed.

Halfway up, the stairwell shook.

A heavy body crashed through the wall above them.

A monster fell toward them.

Bai Li caught it.

The creature had eight limbs and a head like a crocodile.

Yan Cijin struck its neck.

It fell down the stairs.

Three others followed.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin exchanged one glance.

Then the stairwell became a blur of movement.

They fought upward.

Every landing was another battle.

Every floor above was more dangerous than the last.

By the time they reached the eighteenth floor, even Yan Cijin had stopped making jokes.

The monsters here were different.

Some could use the golden energy.

Some had developed armor.

One creature could split itself into smaller copies.

Another could create false images.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin were forced to coordinate more carefully.

During one fight, Bai Li attacked a creature only to discover that she had struck an illusion.

The real monster came from behind.

Yan Cijin blocked it.

The impact drove her to one knee.

Bai Li reacted immediately.

She destroyed the illusion, turned, and attacked the real body.

The creature barely escaped.

Yan Cijin rose.

"I hate that one."

"Me too."

They tracked it by its shadow.

The monster tried to split itself again.

Yan Cijin destroyed the copies.

Bai Li found the original.

It lasted three more seconds.

The floor was silent again.

Yan Cijin looked at Bai Li.

"You are bleeding."

Bai Li looked at her sleeve.

There was a shallow cut.

"It is nothing."

Yan Cijin frowned.

"You should let me worry about you sometimes."

Bai Li’s expression softened.

"I know."

Yan Cijin did not know what to say after that.

So she looked away.

They continued upward.

The nineteenth floor was filled with smoke.

The twentieth smelled like burned metal.

The twenty-first was covered in frost.

Each floor had been changed by the monsters living there.

The mall no longer resembled a mall.

It had become an enormous layered ecosystem, every level belonging to something stronger than the last.

And above all of it was the golden fruit.

Neither woman knew exactly how large it was.

Neither knew what powers it truly contained.

But the creatures did.

They could feel it.

That was enough.

On the twenty-second floor, they encountered another group of humans.

But these people were not like the gangs below.

They were dead already.

Several bodies had been arranged in a circle around a strange symbol painted with blood.

At the center lay a note.

Yan Cijin picked it up.

Only three words were written.

THEY ARE WAITING.

A low roar came from above.

Bai Li folded the paper.

"They were right."

The twenty-third floor had no floor.

It had collapsed.

The only way across was a narrow section of exposed concrete between two open drops.

Below them, several floors were visible.

Above them, another opening led to the stairs.

Yan Cijin looked across.

"That is annoying."

Bai Li stepped forward.

"It is fine."

"You say that about everything."

Bai Li walked across the gap.

Yan Cijin followed.

Halfway across, a monster rose from the darkness below.

It was long and thin, covered in black armor.

Bai Li struck it while still walking.

The monster fell.

Then three more rose.

Yan Cijin moved forward.

The two women fought without stopping.

One after another, the creatures fell into the darkness.

They reached the other side.

The twenty-fourth floor was silent.

The twenty-fifth was worse.

A strange pressure filled the entire building.

Their skin prickled.

Their instincts sharpened.

The golden glow was no longer distant.

It was everywhere.

Yan Cijin looked toward the ceiling.

"We are almost there."

Bai Li nodded.

"Yes."

Then something landed behind them.

Both women turned.

A level two zombie stood in the doorway.

It was unlike any they had encountered.

Its body was wrapped in armor made of its own hardened flesh.

Its arms were unusually long.

Golden veins covered its face.

Its eyes were completely black.

It did not charge.

It stared at Bai Li.

Then at Yan Cijin.

Then it smiled.

Yan Cijin tightened her grip.

"I do not like that smile."

Bai Li took one step forward.

The zombie attacked.

It was the fastest creature yet.

The first strike nearly caught Bai Li’s shoulder.

She blocked.

The second strike came from the other side.

Yan Cijin intercepted it.

The impact sent her sliding backward.

Bai Li attacked the zombie’s chest.

It blocked with one arm.

The collision cracked the floor.

Yan Cijin entered from behind.

The zombie twisted.

It saw her.

Bai Li saw the opening.

She struck.

The zombie flew across the floor.

It hit the wall.

Then stood.

Yan Cijin stared.

"It is still standing."

Bai Li nodded.

"Yes."

The zombie roared.

The golden light in the corridor pulsed.

Its body changed.

Muscle expanded.

Bones shifted.

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.

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TO BE CONTINUED.