This was the first time everyone had entered the underground mausoleum; they were all scrambling around in utter disarray. The moment they stepped inside, Zheng Zha and the others were swept away by the surging crowd. By the time things calmed down, only six people remained together: Zheng Zha, Zero Point, Zhang Jie, Zhang Heng, Qi Tengyi, and Qin Zhuiyu. Everyone else had disappeared down some unknown branching passage.

The entire underground tomb was pitch black and permeated with the stench of rotting flesh. If Zhang Heng hadn't grabbed a torch on the way down, navigating the labyrinthine passages of the crypt would have been impossible. Thankfully, they had at least regrouped safely.

Even so, Qin Zhuiyu couldn't help but grumble, "Ugh, what a terrible smell, so disgusting. It's worse than the smell I encountered when filming at that ancient temple last time…" The men ignored her. Zero Point suddenly asked, "Zheng Zha, did you see the other Reincarnation Squad just now? How many people were there?" Zheng Zha managed a wry smile. "I couldn't see clearly. It was so far away, and so dark... But they must be incredibly strong. They threw a small pebble from that distance, and I had to use my dagger just to block it..." He held up his right hand; a faint laceration was visible at the web between his thumb and forefinger. It looked like a minor injury, but only to an ordinary person. Anyone who knew about Zheng Zha's enhanced physique understood that for a thrown stone to tear his hand open like that, the force involved was extraordinarily excessive. Even taking a direct hit from a bullet wouldn't cause a tearing wound on his palm. At this realization, Zhang Jie and Zero Point’s expressions shifted.

Zheng Zha shook his head. "I don't think that pebble was just a projectile they threw. If it was, their physical strength must be more than ten times that of a normal person, and their accuracy would rival yours, Zero Point... This has to be some kind of legendary magic skill, or perhaps a stone projectile fired by some high-tech weapon. Though I can't imagine what kind of tech weapon uses pebbles as ammo."

While they were talking, a terrified shriek suddenly echoed from ahead. The group exchanged glances, each drawing their firearms. Zheng Zha, Zero Point, Zhang Jie, and Qi Tengyi loaded their guns with spiritual-type bullets, while Zhang Heng and Qin Zhuiyu stayed close behind them. The six sprinted toward the source of the scream.

Ten thousand meters away from the City of the Dead, eleven men and women stood atop a small sand dune. Several were clad in the silken robes typical of desert peoples, while the others wore monastic robes resembling those of monks.

"The desert is better after all. While it lacks the scent of the Dead Sea, just being able to touch the sand is a blessing... Hahaha, to hell with that freezing cold water, and to hell with that giant octopus..." A massive, dark-skinned man whose muscles bunched in defined blocks bellowed with laughter.

In front of the dark giant, a handsome young novice monk asked softly, "Imani, how does the HuGudi 80% muscle enhancement feel? Though they are among the cheapest of the B-grade enhancement series, combined with your close-quarters style, the power should be immense, right? Did that little stone hit the target earlier?" The dark giant roared with laughter. "It felt great! This strength is practically terrifying. If I can kill a few more people this time, I can enhance my nerve reaction speed when we return... Haha, next time I face an Alien head-on, I won't be afraid anymore, hahaha."

The young monk chuckled lightly, his gaze turning cold as he stared toward the City of the Dead. "...Be wary of that man from before. Your stone had more than enough power, and under Ram's psychic control, its accuracy was flawless. Yet, that man blocked the stone before it even reached him, and he executed a defensive maneuver a few tenths of a second before impact. He might be one of the strongest in that novice team. If their team has three members as strong as him... follow the protocol for Reincarnation Squads of equal strength: maintain distance until the horror movie ends. Xue Nai, how are the three newcomers?" The fair-skinned beauty beside the young monk, dressed in clothing resembling that of an Indian woman, replied deferentially, "Captain, the three newcomers are successfully hypnotized. Alot is assessing their aptitude now."

The young monk immediately turned to look behind him. There, a fair-haired European man in a doctor's coat stood examining three people—two men and one woman—by pinching their chins. After a minute or two, he finally spoke, "Captain, no good. These three newcomers have pitifully low aptitude. However, one of them has a slightly better brain structure; in the real world, he was probably some kind of clerical worker..." The young monk withdrew his gaze and looked back toward the City of the Dead before him, murmuring, "Then, after we return to the 'Main God' space, we will reverse the hypnosis on that one. If he's useless, he and the other two will become feed—my summoned beasts are close to advancing..." Xue Nai, the fair-skinned beauty, respectfully asked, "Captain, what do we do now? Do we enter the tomb and fight them, or do we proceed with the standard initial contact?" The young monk pondered for a moment. "No need. The Central Continent Squad has only just awakened; their strength is still unknown. Furthermore, they probably don't know the standard protocol for Reincarnation Squad encounters. Rushing contact might provoke a preemptive attack... And hasn't the plot just revealed the boss of this horror film? Let's head to Cairo first. We can arrange contact there... or find an opportunity to wipe them out entirely!" "The Central Continent Squad, huh?"

Zheng Zha and the others were now running deeper into the mausoleum. Ever since that initial shout, they had been hearing continuous shh-shh sounds from all around, as if countless tiny things were scraping against the ground. And the deeper they ran, the louder the noise became.

The group had just passed one bend when they saw O'Connell, Jonathan, and several Americans running toward them in panic. O'Connell shouted as he ran, "Run! There are so many behind you!" So many what? Zheng Zha and the others only glanced behind them, and suddenly, no one even had the inclination to ask. Behind them followed a dense swarm of scarab beetles—carnivorous insects the size of a finger. A local guide running at the very rear suddenly tripped and fell. The beetles instantly swarmed into his body. Within seconds, he was covered in a thick layer of insects, and when he reappeared, he was nothing more than a dried-out skeleton.

The six members of Zheng Zha's team immediately bolted, following O'Connell's group, running with all their might. The remains of the man devoured by bugs were too horrifying to contemplate; the feeling of being gnawed alive by insects was indescribable.

Zheng Zha, Zero Point, and Zhang Jie ran the fastest, quickly overtaking O'Connell's group within seconds. Then, a dull thud sounded from behind them, and everyone’s heart plummeted. Zheng Zha looked back in alarm and saw that the film actress, Qin Zhuiyu, had fallen. The flesh-eating beetles were only a meter or two behind her.

"You guys run!" Zheng Zha was so frantic his eyes were almost bloodshot. Losing one member of their team meant a deduction of one thousand points—a loss of two thousand reward points in total. With a two-thousand-point deficit already incurred, they could not afford any further losses. Seeing Qin Zhuiyu about to be consumed by the swarm, he disregarded his own fear and charged toward her with desperate strength.

He grabbed Qin Zhuiyu around the waist with one hand, then jumped with all his might, driving his other hand fiercely into a seam in the stone ceiling above him. His entire body—no, he and the person he was holding upside down—hung suspended in mid-air. The dense carpet of beetles crawled past barely ten centimeters below Qin Zhuiyu's forehead.

Instantly, the mausoleum echoed once more with a woman's piercing scream.

Leaping to...