Chapter 44: Kitchen Nightmare

With disheveled hair and a white gown, the ghostly female figure, a typical character in horror movies, suddenly appeared and almost startled Felix before he could escort her away.

Fortunately, the "professional" psychological suggestion had some effect. Before raising the blood-stained kitchen knife again, he quickly raised his handgun, and the bullets flew out accompanied by the muzzle flame.

However, to his astonishment, the woman in white effortlessly swayed to the side, skillfully evading the bullets in an unscientific manner. The bullets whirled and embedded themselves into the wall behind, leaving a round bullet hole on the surface.

Felix was taken aback but didn't pause his actions. He half crouched, lifted the gun, and fired again. The muzzle flashed repeatedly as the bullets continued to be aimed at the woman in white.

Yet, her movements were simply not within the bounds of science. She gracefully dodged a shot by tilting her body, followed by an aerial spin that evaded two more shots. When she leaped, her white gown unfolded like flower petals, exuding an eerie beauty.

Felix's handgun was the standard-issue "Storm Falcon" of the Special Operations Division, equipped with a magazine of only eight rounds. Professor Miyazaki had mentioned that a considerable portion of the anomalies were born with innate shooting expertise, and Felix happened to be one of them.

His talent displayed on the shooting range was truly astounding; he never missed the target at fifteen meters, surpassing the capabilities of an ordinary person by a wide margin.

The handgun had a short barrel and a short sight baseline. When used, there was no support from both hands, and pulling the trigger required a force of more than one kilogram to prevent accidental discharge. Coupled with the powerful recoil, the instant muzzle shake was extremely exaggerated. Hitting the target relied purely on luck.

Only anomalies could truly unleash the potential of this dangerous toy.

Or at least, it should have been that way.

At a distance of about two meters, he emptied the entire magazine, leaving bullet holes in the walls and floors, shattering the plates and bowls in the kitchen. Yet, he didn't even graze a single thread of the woman's clothing.

The woman in white rolled to the ground, and with an extremely eerie posture, she rapidly crawled towards him, resembling a large reptile. Her disheveled black hair swayed as she crawled, and in the midst of it, Felix caught a glimpse of a corner of her face.

It was an extremely pale face, mostly concealed by long hair, making it impossible to see clearly. However, the mouth revealed a horrifying smile with grotesquely cracked corners, sending shivers down his spine.

Without time to reload, Felix swiftly discarded the handgun and replaced it with a specialized combat knife. His performance in the combat training courses was decent, especially in the application of combat knives. However, he wasn't sure if what he learned in those courses was applicable in the current situation.

However, he was completely unprepared for what he was about to witness next.

Boom!

The ceiling suddenly split open, as if someone had mercilessly smashed the floor from above with an oversized hammer. Fragments of reinforced concrete rained down on the crawling woman in white, and a dark figure descended amidst the rumbling and crashing of debris.

Felix's mouth hung open, unable to utter a word as he watched the cool landing of the figure right in front of him.

Batman had arrived.

When Chu Cheng sent him a message asking about their dinner invitation and learned that his senior brother had only "invited" him to eat without intending to be present, he was momentarily flustered. However, being adaptable, he immediately accepted this new development with enthusiasm.

His senior brother generously stated that he could eat to his heart's content, perhaps thinking about how much money he could spend on food.

Well, money was no issue for Chu Cheng anyway.

Upon hearing that it was free, Chu Cheng was deeply moved. He then called a waiter and inquired if he could have the food packed to take away. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Chu Cheng abandoned the idea of dining in, took out his phone, scanned the QR code, and opened the menu. He ordered all the impressive dishes he couldn't even name, one by one, in descending order of price, and had them all packed to go.

He returned home with the food, set up a folding table next to his computer, placed the dishes within reach, and enjoyed playing games while snacking. He even ordered a bottle of soda, indulging in his leisurely activities.

It felt strange to just freeload and eat alone in such a fancy restaurant. Especially with other people around, some engaged in candlelit romance, some confidently displaying their wealth, and some outright flaunting their opulence. The atmosphere was not friendly to solitary diners, and it would bring tears to the eyes of animal rights activists.

Indeed, eating, drinking, and gaming in the comfort of his bedroom proved to be more suitable.

As it turned out, it was a good thing that Chu Cheng chose to come back early. If he had logged into the game even a few seconds later, his senior brother might have already skipped the "nothing to fear" part and fast-forwarded to Headless Senior Brother.

Chu Cheng had coolly landed in his Batman-style manner, blasting open the ceiling with a gel bomb from upstairs. In theory, the impact from reinforced concrete should have been powerful, but the woman in white seemed completely unharmed. She rolled backward, swiftly got back on her feet, and brandished her kitchen knife as she charged towards Batman.

Clang!

The blood-red kitchen knife came down, only to be blocked by Batman's raised arm. The material of his gloves was a stab-resistant composite fiber, and his wrist was reinforced with alloy plates. As the knife struck, the blade curled against the protection.

Chu Cheng quickly realized that when engaging in close combat with the woman in white, the warning signs indicating her attacks that appeared above her head had a much shorter duration compared to regular enemies. He speculated that this was because her movements were too fast, leaving the player with even less time to react.

Moreover, the player had to judge whether they could defend or block the upcoming attack within that brief moment when the warning sign appeared above the enemy's head.

When a blue sign appeared above the enemy's head, simply right-clicking the mouse would initiate a counterattack.

When a yellow sign appeared, it required coordination with the directional keys. The player had to right-click the mouse the moment the enemy struck, and then release the right mouse button in the split second when the enemy's strength was used up but the next strike had not been executed yet, triggering a defensive countermove against the knife-wielding enemy.

However, when a red sign appeared above the enemy's head, it meant that the move could not be defended or countered. The player could only maneuver Batman in the right direction or roll to evade.

The control scheme was similar to the Batman games in the Arkham series. Chu Cheng had mastered this system to perfection when he completed the Arkham games without taking any damage. Therefore, he quickly adapted to the controls.

Felix was completely stunned by the spectacle unfolding before his eyes. The agility and speed of the woman in white were clearly beyond that of an ordinary person, while the black-clad figure displayed mastery of various techniques, almost reaching the pinnacle of martial arts proficiency in all styles. Within a few rounds, they were engaged in an intense battle that seemed impossible to separate.

From an observer's perspective, it was like witnessing a supernatural clash between Sadako and Dracula, a mystical and otherworldly fight.

Chu Cheng seized the opportunity and executed a perfect deflection with his knife. Batman took a half-step sideways, crossing his arms to block the incoming strike. With precision timing, the woman's knife landed right between the three blades on his gauntlet. He exerted force with both arms, causing the blades to slice through the woman's knife, rendering it into several pieces.

Disarmed, the woman abandoned the knife handle and lunged forward with open hands. However, Batman sidestepped and simultaneously pressed his palm against her abdomen, leaving behind a miniature thruster.

The thruster activated suddenly, unleashing a burst of transparent flames and a powerful propulsion force that launched the woman in white across the entire kitchen. She crashed through the entrance door with a resounding impact, tumbling into the hallway.

Simultaneously, something was flung from her body and fell to the ground during the chaos.

Felix couldn't help but stare blankly for a moment when he saw that thing, feeling a sense of confusion.

Because that thing seemed to be... a wig?