Just as the four groups were confronting each other and discussing countermeasures by the lake, the liquid in the "Blood Lake" began to move on its own without any wind… Before long, a vortex appeared in the center of the lake, constantly expanding…

"What's going on? Is there something in the lake?" Wu Si Can Xuan asked, startled, turning to Sheng Yu Pian.

Clearly, Sheng Yu Pian possessed some kind of "listening" ability, so in the face of such emergencies, his teammates would mostly ask him first.

"You really think of me as a super ear…" Sheng Yu Pian replied with a troubled expression, "My detection range is limited. It's already a bit of a stretch to listen to conversations over a hundred meters away through the air. Even if there really is something in this lake… I can't hear it through so much liquid."

"Could this be related to the city-wide monster resonance from a few minutes ago?" Zui Wo Chang Ran interjected.

"Wait!" Sheng Yu Pian's expression changed, because at this moment, he finally "heard" something. "Uh… that's not important anymore…"

Two seconds later, a huge humanoid creature emerged from the center of the Blood Lake vortex. This giant was at least fifteen meters tall, with no skin on its entire body. Its surface was covered with muscle fibers and oozing blood. It was well-built, with hooked fingers and two bulging, circular eyeballs rotating strangely in their sockets.

Seeing this monster, the twelve players around them couldn't help but take a few steps back.

The "Difficult Name" trio even shouted, "What a huge blood zombie!"

…………

On the other side, in the center of the quarantine zone.

Four derivatives of the Origin organization met here.

From the east, came a little boy wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, with amber-colored light faintly visible in his eyes.

From the north, came a tall woman covered in blood. Her torso and limbs were somewhat deformed, and her face had some canine features. These were all signs that she had already activated "Beast Mimicry Enhancement."

From the west, came a small figure about the same height as the child, but with the build of an adult and a large squirrel-tail-like beard.

From the south, came a "light person" whose skin was glowing all over, so he wore a set of light-masking armor.

These four "people" were origin's D1-Long, L2-Xue Lan, J1-Kuai Duo, and Y2-Shan Yao.

They arrived almost simultaneously at a crossroads in the center of the quarantine zone.

"You're badly injured," Long said to Xue Lan as soon as he opened his mouth.

"It's nothing," Xue Lan replied, "Even if I die, I will complete the mission."

"Sigh…" Kuai Duo sighed but said nothing.

Shan Yao continued, "So… shall we begin?"

"Of course," Long replied. "Everything must proceed according to plan."

As soon as he finished speaking, the four exchanged glances, then turned their heads and stood at the four corners of the intersection.

…………

At the same time, on top of a building two blocks away, Tun Tian Gui Xiao and Shiva were secretly monitoring the scene.

"What are they trying to do…" Gui Xiao muttered, gazing at the four derivatives in the distance.

"Actually, I'm more curious… what exactly are you trying to do?" Shiva squinted, glancing sideways at Gui Xiao. "Instead of going for points, you insist on paying attention to those NPCs…" He paused. "The time I'm wasting here with you is enough for me to get a lot of points."

"They're not NPCs…" Gui Xiao corrected him. "They're derivatives." His gaze was very focused. "And very strong derivatives. Two of them are Level Two, and the other two… I can't even observe them from a data level. This has never happened before."

"Derivatives, Four Pillars Gods…" Shiva said impatiently, "In the end, they're just data. This is a game, we're players, and no matter how strong the data in the virtual world is, it's just a setting for us." He shook his head. "If you want to waste time here, then go ahead. I'm leaving…" He turned to leave. "It's your freedom to play the Pinnacle Showdown as a team survival mode, but I want to focus on the competition."

"Cover your ears!" At that moment, Gui Xiao's expression suddenly changed, and he turned to shout.

The sentence was somewhat sudden and inexplicable. However, Shiva's reaction was correct in an instant, and he instinctively did as he was told…

Buzz—

Boom—

The first sound was a long buzz; the second was an explosion.

The whole city heard similar sounds.

The next second, a sound wave that spread like a tsunami rushed out and swept across the city. Creatures outside the quarantine zone felt a pain in their eardrums and their feet felt unsteady; while inside the quarantine zone… only Gui Xiao and Shiva were still alive besides the derivatives. All the other mutated creatures fell to the ground and died instantly.

Twelve seconds later…

"Ha… ha…" Shiva panted as he climbed up from the ground. He didn't even know how he had fallen. "You… you…" He staggered and sat down on the ground again. He looked down and saw that his hands were covered in blood. "You actually launched a sneak attack…" He didn't say the last "me" word, because when he looked closely, Gui Xiao was also sitting on the ground like him, blood seeping from both of his ears.

"You should sit down for a while," Gui Xiao said, looking relatively calm. "Inner ear injuries can affect your balance. Even if you force yourself to stand up, you'll fall."

"What… what's going on?" Because they were close and facing each other, Shiva could barely hear what the other was saying. "Did someone launch a surprise attack on us?"

"It's obviously not a player…" Gui Xiao replied as he adjusted his breathing. "It seems like something big has happened… Huff… Something I've never seen before… something completely beyond my imagination, has arrived…"

…………

Above the intersection, a spherical space rift with a radius of about five meters had been opened, with scenes as deep as black holes visible on any side of the sphere.

A moment later, a stream of silver data slowly descended from it.

The substance looked like mercury, but it quickly condensed into a human form after landing, with the appearance of a woman.

Root looked around and said, "Where is Xue Lan?"

Long replied, "She sacrificed herself to bear the energy required for the Burst Tunnel."

Root was silent for two seconds, and a subtle fluctuation appeared on her face, but it instantly returned to normal, and she raised her voice and said, "Did you all hear that? Origins!"

Before she could finish speaking, hundreds of shadows swarmed out of the Burst Tunnel and came to… this world.