"I'm not one of those lunatics; I have absolutely no desire to get close to that giant shadow... But since you're willing to go up, I have no problem helping you deal with some of the crazies."

The middle-aged police officer began organizing the ammunition on his person. He threw a fully loaded pistol to Lin Ye, not wasting any more words.

"Count me in. I don't have many good years left anyway. Rather than dying in a sickbed, I might as well help the young folks do something before I go."

The old man slightly lifted the longsword at his waist and spoke.

"What about Little Yi? We can't just leave her here, can we?"

The woman with glasses nervously looked down below, as if afraid of being noticed by the things above.

"Wuuu yi!"

Little Yi suddenly let out a loud sound.

"Then let's all go together. There's no safe place here anyway."

Kexi drew his pistol. He was already prepared for death; those lunatics were no fools.

"What's the action plan? We can't just drive straight into them, right?"

The middle-aged police officer asked.

"We *are* driving straight into them. Those lunatics have already spotted us. Don't give them too much time to prepare."

Lin Ye spun the pistol on his index finger. The magazine held twelve bullets. With this thing, dealing with those lunatics wouldn't be so troublesome.

"...You're the one who said it!"

The middle-aged police officer stomped the accelerator to the floor. The van accelerated and charged towards those Giant Infants. Lin Ye rolled down the car window and poked the gun barrel out.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Twelve bullets, twelve lunatics who poked their heads out were shot dead.

These lunatics needed to meet certain conditions to deflect bullets. If they couldn't determine the direction the bullets were coming from, naturally they couldn't deflect them.

"...Holy shit!"

Kexi placed his pistol into Lin Ye's hand.

This time, Lin Ye wasn't in a hurry to fire. Now that those lunatics were on alert, they wouldn't give Lin Ye an easy chance to kill them.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lin Ye began taking precise shots at the lunatics. They couldn't continuously deflect bullets, so just one follow-up shot was enough to blow their heads apart.

The van plowed through the survivors blocking the way. After Lin Ye's reminder, the middle-aged police officer knew very well those survivors were beyond saving. They had to destroy the tips of the Umbilical Cords before the cords pierced their bodies.

The Giant Infants gathered in the city center all turned their gaze towards Lin Ye and the others. Hundreds of survivors controlled by Umbilical Cords charged at the van like zombies.

These 'zombies' weren't the main problem. The real issues were the Umbilical Cords hidden inside them and those lunatics hiding behind cover.

Lin Ye's two magazines earlier had created some deterrence. Once they realized Lin Ye and his group had very little ammunition left, they would swarm over and tear them to pieces.

"What do we do! There are too many Giant Infants and lunatics gathered here! We can't hold out for long! The van isn't broken yet, we can still retreat!"

The middle-aged police officer drove the van, crushing over the survivors.

"Then ram the nearest Giant Infant! We can climb onto the Giant Infant's back and climb up along the red umbilical cord! Once we reach a certain height, we won't have to fear being surrounded!"

Lin Ye never even considered retreating. With the place in this state, where could they even retreat to?

"Damn! I'm really fucking crazy!"

The middle-aged police officer stopped overthinking. He floored the accelerator, charging at full speed towards the nearest Giant Infant.

Thud!

The van's front end embedded itself into the Giant Infant's body. Everyone in the vehicle had braced for the impact in advance.

Lin Ye forcefully yanked the car door open and climbed directly from the van onto the Giant Infant's back.

The critically injured Giant Infant had lost the ability to resist, but the Umbilical Cords from the surrounding Giant Infants were already closing in on them.

Ignoring the surrounding cords and the lunatics poking their heads out, Lin Ye climbed onto the thick red umbilical cord and began his ascent towards the sky.

Since the red umbilical cord slanted upwards rather than going straight up and down, and had many fleshy structures on it, climbing wasn't particularly difficult.

The others followed behind Lin Ye. From the moment they drove the van into the Giant Infant, they only had two choices left: keep up, or be swallowed by the Umbilical Cords and lunatics.

Lin Ye climbed swiftly. He was gradually adapting to this body. He could reduce his stamina consumption rate through his exertion posture and breathing rhythm.

Those lunatics also began climbing up the red umbilical cord. They didn't believe these ordinary people could affect the Real World, but they also wouldn't just let Lin Ye and the others climb up unhindered.

The middle-aged police officer and Kexi continuously fired shots downwards, but their marksmanship was nowhere near Lin Ye's level. Many bullets were deflected by the lunatics.

Lin Ye paid no attention to the intense battle below. He needed to climb up as quickly as possible to deal with this somewhat troublesome task.

Just as Lin Ye was climbing upwards at full speed, a slender arm suddenly shot out from within the umbilical cord, stabbing towards Lin Ye's chest.

The arm paused briefly as it passed through the cord. Seizing this gap, Lin Ye shifted a short distance to the side, narrowly dodging the arm's ambush.

Before the arm could retract back into the cord, Lin Ye stabbed it with the bone dagger and activated the dense mental energy contained within.

Massive bone deformities and growths erupted inside the arm. A young man with eyes full of madness crawled out from within the umbilical cord. He forcefully chopped off his right hand, which was afflicted with the bone growths. The bone proliferation and the pain of amputation didn't make him feel unbearable; instead, it brought a smile of pure happiness to his face.

Lin Ye continued climbing upwards. He didn't want to get entangled with this clearly abnormal young man here.

"Where are you going? If you keep climbing up, I'll go down and kill those ordinary people who came with you."

The young man moved a short distance downwards. Seeing that Lin Ye showed no intention of stopping, he began climbing upwards rapidly.

He crawled along the umbilical cord like an animal, but Lin Ye's speed was slightly faster. The two of them kept climbing higher. Before long, they were approaching that enormous shadow.

"Is this shadow lower than before?"

Phoebe communicated with Lin Ye in their shared consciousness.

"Yes. This should be the Real World those lunatics talk about. It's descending to merge with the real world."

Lin Ye increased his climbing speed. Although he had been conserving stamina, this body's energy was nearly depleted.

"Hehehehehehe, climbing up is pointless. Even we, the Real Humans who are closer to the Real World, can't enter it before it descends. Cherish this last stretch! I'll tear you to pieces bit by bit beneath the Real World!"

The young man below laughed maniacally. The reason he followed was precisely to see the look of despair on Lin Ye's face and to turn Lin Ye into a Creation of the Real World amidst that despair.