Chapter 20: No Zuo, No Die

“Oh, so killing the demon dogs with a handgun also absorbs source energy.” Lin Xiao thought with surprise and kept pulling the trigger. Though he’d never trained with firearms, his improved physique had enhanced all his abilities. As long as his hand was steady and his eyes aimed true, each shot brought down a demon dog.

Bullets sprayed in all directions, demon dogs fell one after another. In stark contrast to the invulnerable Demon King, who couldn’t be slain even by submachine gun fire, these demon dogs were fragile—handgun bullets were enough to kill them.

The system’s notification sounded repeatedly, and the source energy soared rapidly—the feeling was nothing short of exhilarating.

Beside him, Sheriff Hopper was frustrated. He’d never faced demon dogs before, and in his panic, his hands trembled. After emptying two magazines, he’d only managed to kill three demon dogs, while Lin Xiao had dispatched at least four or five.

Unfortunately, ammunition was finite. They soon ran out of bullets, yet there were still more than ten demon dogs left, all ferocious and relentless. Lin Xiao turned and ran, with Sheriff Hopper hastily following.

The two of them sprinted with their heads down, demon dogs hot on their heels. Thankfully, their earlier barrage had slowed the creatures enough—otherwise, they would have been overtaken by now.

Deliberately slowing his pace, Lin Xiao checked his source energy gains. In that brief harvest, he’d earned a full ten points, bringing his total to thirteen. If there hadn’t been so many demon dogs, and with Sheriff Hopper present, he would’ve loved to turn around, unleash a massacre, and push his source energy to twenty, reaching level two.

But the real threat wasn’t the demon dogs—it was the enormous dark silhouette trailing far behind.

He glanced back and saw the Mind Flayer, a monstrous spider-like creature, stretching its legs, each over a dozen meters high. It followed at a measured pace, almost as if herding them.

“Could it be that inside Will…”

A sense of dread rose in his heart. The Mind Flayer was no mindless beast like the demon dogs; it was the true boss, with intelligence on par with humans. In the original story, it employed all manner of tactics—possessing human hosts, spreading tendrils to corrupt the world, orchestrating complex and meticulous schemes. Its ultimate goal was always to invade the human world.

They quickly caught up to Will and Barbara. The laboratory was now in sight. The four of them rushed inside, with Lin Xiao leading the way to a corridor, urging them to escape first.

A dozen demon dogs chased them into the lab. Lin Xiao hurried through the corridor, only to find a group of armed guards waiting on the other side, rifles raised and aimed at them.

Sheriff Hopper raised his hands in surrender. Will and Barbara did the same, trembling under the muzzles.

“Game over, everyone!”

A middle-aged man with snow-white hair stepped forward—the head of the laboratory, Dr. Martin Brenner.

Lin Xiao also raised his hands, glancing back at the corridor. He quickly said, “There are monsters chasing us! Let us through, or it’ll be too late.”

Dr. Brenner remained unmoved, refusing to believe him. If there really were monsters, how could they have escaped alive? If they wanted an excuse to run, they should at least come up with a believable one.

As the snarling of the demon dogs grew closer, Lin Xiao’s anxiety mounted. He wanted nothing more than to take out the opposition himself. At a time like this, how could they still refuse to believe him? Had they already forgotten the terror of the Demon King’s last rampage?

“Take them into custody and put them in the holding cells. Stay alert.”

Dr. Brenner gave his orders. Four armed guards stepped forward, positioning themselves behind the group, just about to seize them—when a demon dog squeezed through the corridor, lunged at one of the guards, and tore off his head with a single bite.

Seeing the situation turn dire, Lin Xiao immediately dove forward, putting distance between himself and the corridor entrance.

Screams echoed as Will and Barbara shrieked in terror. The guards, equally horrified, swung their weapons and unleashed a frantic hail of bullets.

Submachine guns rattled as one demon dog was riddled with bullets and collapsed at the corridor’s mouth. But then three more demon dogs forced their way through.

Unfortunately, in their panic, the guards had emptied their magazines and were now fumbling to reload, powerless to stop the demon dogs as they burst into the crowd.

“Run!” Lin Xiao grabbed Will and Barbara and dashed for the exit without looking back. Dr. Brenner, equally terrified, turned and fled as well—there was no time to worry about the others.

Three demon dogs tore through the guards, killing without mercy. Their flower-shaped heads snapped open wide, devouring the guards in a single bite.

Ahead, five or six guards fired back, but afraid of hitting their comrades, they hesitated to unleash a full barrage and failed to take down the demon dogs immediately.

Worse still, more demon dogs streamed from the corridor—soon there were over ten. At that point, it was too late to contain them.

As the gunfire in the room grew weaker, Lin Xiao knew things were taking a turn for the worse. They had underestimated the lethality of the demon dogs. In such close quarters, the massacre was all but inevitable.

Will and Barbara were terrified and exhausted, having gone two days without food or water and just spent all their strength running for their lives. Now, they were barely able to move, gasping for breath.

“Sheriff Hopper, each of us take one—carry them and move quickly!”

Without hesitation, Lin Xiao hoisted Barbara, who was heavier, onto his back, while Sheriff Hopper carried Will. They pressed onward down the corridor.

Behind them, the demon dogs burst out of the room and scattered throughout the lab, slaughtering indiscriminately. Many staff members who had rushed over after hearing the commotion were also caught in the carnage.

Dr. Brenner, fleeing for his life, bitterly regretted coming here to check the situation—now he was being chased by demon dogs once more.

Last time, when a monster had emerged from the corridor, they’d managed to drive it back with superior firepower and thought the threat was limited. They hadn’t expected so many monsters this time.

They could only blame themselves for opening the gateway to hell during their experiments, unleashing such horrors and suffering such heavy losses.

They ran all the way to the end of the corridor and reached the elevator. Dr. Brenner, in a panic, fumbled with his access card, swiping it repeatedly to no avail. Finally, Sheriff Hopper snatched the card and managed to get the elevator open.

They piled in. From the corridor, a horde of demon dogs surged forth, their flower-shaped heads gaping, jaws dripping with blood and flesh. The guards left behind were surely all dead.

“Hurry, hurry!” Dr. Brenner shouted in terror. He was an administrator, not a battle-hardened soldier. Though he’d persisted in his research out of stubbornness, he was far from fearless in the face of death.

Just as the demon dogs were about to overtake them, the elevator doors finally closed and began to ascend. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Lin Xiao set Barbara down. The girl’s face was flushed, and she lowered her head in embarrassment, while Will lay limp on Sheriff Hopper’s back, his face deathly pale.

Ding!

The elevator arrived at the first floor. As the doors slowly opened, Lin Xiao was horrified to see that they had returned to the Upside Down.

“What’s going on? Could it be…”

Lin Xiao looked at Will, who stood with his eyes tightly shut, his face contorted in agony, sweat beading on his forehead.

There was no longer any doubt—Will had already been implanted with the Mind Flayer’s seed. The scene before them confirmed it: the Mind Flayer was using Will as a medium to drag them back into the Upside Down.