Chapter 149: Spider-Man
"...Then I'll be going?"
Charles stopped his right hand from reaching backward and retreated step by step.
"You don't need to worry about me. I don't kill people randomly without reason. What you should worry about are the monsters about to be born in the city. Time is running short."
Lin Ye continued setting up rune traps inside the church. He didn't think the other could survive alone in a city full of monsters, but that wasn't his concern.
Previously, the spiritual energy concentration in the City of Sin could only be considered average, but as some ritual began, the environmental spiritual energy density gradually increased, as if someone had sealed off the city and kept injecting spiritual energy inside the barrier.
This wasn't bad news for Lin Ye. As long as spiritual energy kept up, he could hold out here for a long time.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Lily watched Lin Ye busily preparing the church and asked softly.
"What are you good at?"
Lin Ye didn't directly reject Lily. In his view, even ordinary people had their uses, let alone a first-level spiritual energy user. "Well, I had pretty good grades in school... My friends say I sing quite nicely..."
Looking at those completely incomprehensible symbols on the walls, Lily's voice grew less confident with each word.
"Perfect. You can help me smash these flesh chunks, and sing me a song while you're at it. Preferably something uplifting - I didn't sleep well this morning."
Lin Ye dumped all the flesh from his loot space onto the empty ground and handed the sturdy thigh bone to Lily.
"...Okay."
Lily took the thigh bone and smashed it into the juicy meat chunks, spraying blood everywhere.
To prevent blood spray from getting in her mouth, Lily pulled up her collar and began singing, smashing a chunk of flesh with each line she sang.
Lily had never imagined that her first job after leaving school would be this.
Amid Lily's passionate singing, Lin Ye continued working in high spirits. With someone handling the menial tasks, his efficiency improved significantly.
Thirty minutes later, Lin Ye finished preparing the church, just as monstrous roars echoed from the previously calm urban areas in the distance.
"Take a break. We might not have time to rest later."
Lin Ye took out a bottle of what looked like expensive beverage from his loot space and poured Lily a cup. This was one of the rare drinks among William's collection - the rest were all high-proof liquors.
"Thank you. This cup is so beautiful."
Lily picked up the cup and held it toward the light source, the liquid inside sparkling brilliantly.
"You can keep it if you like it. I have several more."
Lin Ye poured himself a cup too. Through the glass, he could see monsters rushing toward the church in the distance.
It was a spider man, with spider features haphazardly spliced together with human parts. Snow-white silk strands twisted and writhed all over its body.
Of course, there wouldn't be just one such monster. Painful roars could be heard from all directions, as if these creatures retained some human consciousness but couldn't control their monstrous instincts.
Lin Ye sat on a bench savoring the liquid in his cup. He watched as spider men charged into the church through various broken openings, only to die in the rune traps.
Until the number of monsters breaking into the church reached a certain threshold, Lin Ye didn't need to do anything.
"Are we just going to sit here?"
Lily watched the gruesome deaths of the spider men and asked uneasily.
"You could sing them an encouraging song."
After finishing his drink, Lin Ye took out a milk soft candy and popped it into his mouth.
"Encourage them to come eat me? I mean, shouldn't we prepare somehow? Like smashing these spider men to pieces."
Facing a situation beyond her control, Lily desperately wanted to do something.
"I still have uses for these corpses. If you're bored, you can play chess with me."
Lin Ye took out an exquisite chessboard, another one of William's collectibles.
"Huh? I'm not very good at these aristocratic games."
Seeing that Lin Ye had already opened the chessboard, Lily had no choice but to help set up the pieces. She felt grateful she had played with Sophie before, otherwise she'd be embarrassed not knowing the rules.
"What are you doing? You can only place one piece at a time."
Lin Ye pushed the figurines Lily had arranged off the chessboard.
"Huh? Don't we need to set up the pieces first?"
Lily asked confusedly.
"No. The board is mine, so I make the rules. You can only place one piece at a time. The first person to connect five pieces in a line wins."
Lin Ye placed a black figurine at the center of the board.
"...Oh, so that's how you play. No wonder I could never win - I was using the wrong rules. I won't lose this time."
Lily seriously placed a red figurine next to the black one.
"No, you're just terrible. You'll still lose when you're supposed to lose."
Eighteen moves later, Lin Ye won the first game.
Lily resentfully cleared the board and placed a red figurine at the center.
But as a Gomoku master who had defeated all his classmates in high school, Lin Ye naturally wouldn't lose to a beginner, and he never went easy on anyone.
Ten minutes later, Lily achieved her first ten-game losing streak.
"...Why?"
Lily stared at the chessboard, beginning to doubt her intelligence.
"I make the rules. Why would you think you had any chance of winning?"
Lin Ye used his spiritual energy blade to finish off the first spider man that broke through the rune traps.
"But the rules are fair?"
Lily couldn't understand what was wrong.
"That's exactly right. If they weren't fair, you wouldn't have played ten games with me."
Heavy machine gun fire and car engine roars came from outside the church. Lin Ye turned to look at the church doors. Before long, Charles pushed open the church doors with one man and one woman.
"Friend, the City of Sin has been sealed off. Monsters are everywhere outside. We hope to cooperate with you to hold out until the ritual ends."
The trio were covered in silk strands and wounds everywhere, looking utterly wretched.
"I don't need to cooperate with you, but I can let you take refuge in the church, provided you show sufficient sincerity."
Although all three were quite powerful third-tier spiritual energy users, Lin Ye didn't care. The church was his territory - trespassers would die.
"Which family are you from? I'm the heir of the Donald family. Help me obtain the inheritance rights, and I'll give you anything you want after we leave here."
Jimmy pushed Charles aside and spoke to Lin Ye.
"So you're saying you're not planning to give me anything now. You're really not afraid of death."
Lin Ye turned back to continue tormenting Lily. Although the other party was somewhat rude, he wouldn't kill them directly... at most he'd watch them get bitten to death by spider men.
"I can give you the inheritance proof. May I come in?"
Sensing the complex runes inside the church, Bella straightforwardly abandoned her brainless companions.
"Permission granted."
Lin Ye liked smart people - they were less troublesome to deal with.