Chapter Fifty-Two: Dreamscape 4

“Do you want to find out where your wife is? I can help you!” That familiar voice echoed once more in Long Yu’s mind.

“Yes! No matter what you want, I’ll agree!” Long Yu replied immediately.

“This time, you need pay nothing. Consider it my kindness.”

To Long Yu’s surprise, the voice demanded no price from him this time. As soon as the words faded, an image appeared before Long Yu’s eyes, materializing out of thin air. At first the vision was hazy, but quickly it sharpened—his wife stood there, unmistakable, caught in the projection.

At that moment, she was trapped in the town’s only shop, surrounded by several mutated dogs and other people. No wonder Long Yu hadn’t found her; she had hidden here.

Seeing that his wife was not in immediate danger, Long Yu’s heart eased somewhat.

“Come, let’s go save your mother,” he said, embracing his daughter.

His daughter, unaware of what had happened or how her father knew where her mother was, was nonetheless elated. A smile bloomed on her face as she heard they were going to rescue her mother.

The supermarket was not far; in the blink of an eye, Long Yu used spatial transfer to arrive at its entrance.

He cared little for these mutated beasts. Newly transformed creatures were hardly formidable—dispatching them would be a trivial matter.

His wife was inside the supermarket; slaying the beasts would set her free.

The mutated dogs attacking the supermarket door noticed Long Yu. With snarls, they charged at him.

They were just newly mutated creatures, their physical prowess less than twenty—though they seemed swift to ordinary eyes, their movements were slow to Long Yu.

He pressed his foot lightly, and his body shot forward like a streak of light. Landing at the supermarket entrance, he found the mutated dogs still frozen in their lunging poses; moments later, they collapsed, each with a fist-sized hole in their heart.

Long Yu forcefully opened the heavy iron door. Inside, the people at first thought the mutated dogs had broken through and rushed in, scattering in panic.

“It’s me! Don’t be afraid,” Long Yu called out, and only then did the chaos subside.

Just as Long Yu spotted his wife among the crowd, a mutated dog, more than two meters tall, suddenly appeared.

It barked fiercely, threatening Long Yu.

This dog was different; Long Yu dared not be careless.

The aura it emitted was dangerous even to him.

How could this creature, freshly mutated like the others, be so powerful? Long Yu couldn’t fathom it, but he had no time to ponder—the mutated dog was right before him, and no matter how unwilling he was to believe it, facts were facts.

Moreover, the massive mutated dog had lost patience and lunged at Long Yu.

With a splatter of blood, Long Yu was struck by the mutated dog’s paw, sent flying over ten meters.

It was the dog’s skill: “C-level skill: Lunge!”

It coordinated all its muscles for an instant assault, tripling its normal speed!

The mutated dog’s physical abilities were almost equal to Long Yu’s; with the Lunge skill, its speed left him no time to react.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Long Yu shielded his daughter from the attack, protecting her in his arms as they fell. The little one was unharmed.

He glanced over her to confirm she was safe, then, ignoring his own pain, launched his counterattack.

“Beast Control!”

Unable to evade the dog’s attacks, he knew a few more blows would mean certain death. He had to resolve this quickly, and Beast Control was his best option.

If he could control the mutated dog, he’d lose an enemy and gain a powerful bodyguard.

He sent his mental power into the dog’s mind, but it was instantly wiped out by another force. Beast Control was useless.

Unbeknownst to Long Yu, this was the dog’s other skill: S-level skill, Dominant Body—when activated, the creature was immune to all mental attacks, and its physical abilities doubled!

“No effect?” A chill swept through Long Yu’s heart. Beast Control had always been his strongest skill. Now, with it useless, this battle would be tough.

If he were alone, he could flee with spatial transfer—but with his wife and daughter present, escaping would be difficult.

Spatial transfer slowed with more people; carrying both would cause a delay of a fraction of a second. Normally, that might be fine, but now, under the mutated dog’s gaze, it was impossible.

That brief delay would be enough for the dog to strike and stop their escape.

But what else could he do? With his loved ones here, who else could step up?

There was no choice; Long Yu braced himself.

His wife and daughter were right behind him. “I can’t lose. If I lose, they’ll die.”

Yet faith could not bridge the gap in strength. The mutated dog’s physical abilities were nearly equal to Long Yu’s, and with the Dominant Body skill, it was twice as strong.

That difference meant complete suppression in strength, reflexes, speed, perception, and more.

Long Yu exerted himself to the utmost, moving as fast as he could, but in the mutated dog’s eyes, he was still too slow—much too slow.

Seeing Long Yu suspended in midair, the mutated dog’s eyes betrayed disdain. It had thought it found a worthy opponent, but this human was still too weak.

The mutated dog was done playing. It wanted to finish off this human, then slaughter everyone here and feast.

“Lunge!”

The mutated dog activated its skill again, swiping at Long Yu in midair, then snapped at his neck. If it could bite down, one crunch would end the human.

It had already imagined the human’s head rolling and blood spurting—a splendid scene.

Long Yu, reeling from the heavy blow, felt his mind clouded by pain.

Yet as the dog’s jaws closed in on his neck, he managed to react in time, using spatial transfer to dodge the attack.

The dog’s bite missed, and it was momentarily stunned. “This human can evade my attack?”

The dog was surprised, but it would not be careless next time.