The swing appeared smooth, but upon impact, William realized how much more powerful Alex was. The cement stone hit Ina's waist, leaving a shallow dent in her carapace but failing to deter her. Instead, William's hands went numb, and he dropped to the ground due to the force of the impact.Ina's tentacles snaked around the steel bar, prompting William to release his grip to avoid being pulled toward the monster. "Is this the best you've got?" Ina scoffed. Though her carapace wasn't as tough as that of an adult monster, the fall from the top floor wouldn't harm her."You think too highly of yourself," William retorted. He swiftly regained his footing and rushed up the stairs, with Ina in pursuit."You can't escape," the enraged Edna declared, deciding to toy with William before devouring him. "However, since you want to play, I'll indulge you."William sprinted as fast as he could, occasionally grabbing stones from the ground and hurling them at Ina behind him. Ina, however, remained unfazed, believing the roof to be a dead end. In her eyes, William's actions were merely a futile struggle before his imminent demise.But as they reached the roof, William made a sudden turn and charged toward Ina. Her reaction was delayed, and by the time she realized what was happening, William had already embraced her."Go to hell, you dog!" There was no protection on the top floor of the abandoned factory. With all his might, William leaped off the roof, taking Ina with him. "Do you want to die with me?" Ina's expression revealed incredulity as they descended. With a sharp "chi" sound, she looked down and saw a rusty steel bar piercing her abdomen.William had chosen this specific location for their descent because he remembered a section of steel bar protruding from that spot. Falling from that height was certain to pierce through Ina's underdeveloped carapace. Gazing at the monster on the ground, William couldn't help but laugh. "As I said, only you are dead."Ina let out a painful roar as she writhed in agony, desperately struggling to rise. However, the steel bar piercing her back kept her pinned to the ground, making escape impossible. Her movements caused the steel bar to shift within her body, and the tentacles in her abdomen swiftly wrapped around it. She attempted to pull the steel bar out, but it remained lodged firmly. So, she resorted to dragging her body slowly, trying to climb over the steel bar.William, realizing her intent, refused to give her the chance to escape. He climbed back up to the roof using the rope, his waist aching with every movement. He grabbed a stone from the ground, raised it above his head, and hurled it downward at the struggling monster without hesitation. With a loud thud, the stone missed her body but struck one of her worm-like appendages."Ah!" Ina roared in pain. "William! I'll kill you! I must kill you!""I'm going to skin you and break your bones one by one!" she continued, her threats growing more desperate."You won't get that chance," William retorted, his teeth clenched. "Because I'll always remember how you killed me right here."Ina froze, confusion in her eyes. "I... killed you?" she asked, her tone filled with disbelief. "William, what do you mean? I never intended to harm you!""You don't need to know," William sneered. "As long as I remember."He continued hurling stones at the monster below, relentlessly. When he exhausted the stones on the roof, he descended to the next floor to gather more ammunition. In the abandoned factory, stones were his most precious resource. William kept throwing them until Ina stopped struggling, until the monster breathed its last, and until the sky began to lighten with the approaching dawn.Exhausted, William slumped to the ground, as if he had drained every ounce of his strength. He gazed up at the sky and let out a triumphant laugh. Ina had killed him here, and now he had taken his revenge.At that moment, all the pent-up emotions inside him found release. Even though he had defeated an underdeveloped monster, it was a significant step forward for William."Wait!" William suddenly shouted. "One day, I'll kill all of you grotesque creatures!"His declaration was interrupted by the sudden ringing of his cell phone, causing him to jump. Hechecked the caller ID—it was Carl's number. "Hello?" William answered."William, pick up!" Carl's anxious voice came through. "Where are you?" "Houshan.""Houshan?" Carl sounded puzzled. "What are you doing up in the back hills?""Do you know what time it is? Alex has returned. Why haven't you come back?" Carl asked, concern evident in his voice."I thought you might have been captured by those monsters again," Carl continued, asking a series of questions that touched William's heart. While he didn't know his biological parents, at least he had a few friends."Almost, I ran into Ina," William replied."..." There was silence on the other end of the line, followed by Carl's inquiry, "It's not going to reopen again, is it?""Not really," William reassured him with a smile. "I took care of it.""What?" Carl sounded surprised. "You managed to kill a monster all by yourself?""Let's discuss it when I get back," William said. He realized it wasn't the time to relax yet, and he needed to return to Yinshan as soon as possible to plan their next move.After ending the call, William glanced down at the fallen Ina. "Goodbye, Monitor."...When William returned to Yinshan, Arthur rushed over. "William, are you okay?" Arthur asked anxiously, inspecting William to ensure he had all his limbs intact. "I was worried when Carl told me you encountered a monster.""He's just impulsive," William replied, "he rushed to the back hills looking for you."Carl joined them, his gaze scanning their surroundings to confirm that no monsters were trailing them. He then said, "Your boy got lucky. He not only survived but also killed a monster.""Did you get the key?" William asked.Carl nodded. "I've got the key, and there's something else too.""Come on, let me show you," Carl added. Near the cliff, they found Alex, who had awakened from his sleep as they approached."Alex," William greeted him, but Alex ignored him and lay back down.Beside Alex lay an iron box and a file folder. "The key is in the box," Carl said, picking it up and handing it to William. William opened the box and saw its contents, prompting a bewildered reaction.He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was mistaken. "Is this... the key?" An iron box the size of his palm held a diamond-shaped crystal. Upon Carl's nod, William realized that his perception had been challenged."I know what you're thinking," Carl said. "I felt the same when I first saw it. After all, this thing is nothing like the keys we expected.""Yeah, I thought it was a mistake when I saw it. It looks more like a crystal," Arthur added."It's less of a key and more of a jamming device," Carl explained. "Remember when Alex mentioned those invisible devices around the city? This should interfere with them and allow us to pass safely." William couldn't help but comment, "The world just keeps getting stranger."Carl handed over the file folder. "You might want to read this. You can be surprised later."Taking the file folder, William discovered papers pieced together inside. As he began to examine thecontents, he was met with a row of striking words—Human Ranch 798#."Alex found these materials near the skeleton," Carl continued. "The skeleton might have uncovered the monsters' true nature before his death and attempted to escape. However, I can't figure out what happened exactly, leading to a person with a key dying there.""Could it be that the monsters discovered him, chased him down, and killed him?" Arthur suggested. Carl shook his head. "If that were the case, we wouldn't have access to these materials.""It's a shame these materials were torn when Alex found them. Although he managed to piece them back together somewhat, the information he could extract was limited," William remarked, taking out the contents of the folder. The documents had been pieced together and glued back, but numerous fragments were missing. Nonetheless, they could still glean some information from them."It contains instructions on how to use the key," Carl pointed to one of the pages. "When you're near the city's edge, the key's center will begin to glow red, gradually spreading until the entire key turns red, allowing you to leave.""In addition to that, there's a sketch of information about the monsters on this page," William added, flipping to the back and finding a sketch. It depicted the monsters William had encountered—creatures with mantis-like forearms, octopus-like tentaclescovered in barbs instead of suckers, insect-like feet, two large compound eyes, and serrated mouthparts. These bizarre and horrifying creatures were a strange amalgamation of various animal features

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