— BOOM!!!

Bai Youwei didn’t dare stop for a single second — she sprinted toward the stairwell at full speed!

Shen Mo and A’Da, weapons raised, swept their fire as they fell back. The monsters surged toward them like a tide, and not even the hail of gunfire could stop them from closing in!

Hoarse howls, spindly limbs, grotesque fangs and tongues, and that sticky, wet fluid splattering everywhere with the acrid taste of gunpowder — it all seemed endless, without limit!

A’Da finally found the right moment and hurled every case of explosives into the mass! Shen Mo immediately ceased fire!

The two of them turned and threw themselves into the fire stairwell, hauling the metal fire door shut together, and simultaneously pressed the detonator!

A series of thunderous blasts followed, earth-shattering!

The sheer force of the explosions blew clean through the door!

The ceiling and walls came crashing down in waves!

Shen Mo and A’Da had already, in perfect wordless coordination, taken shelter beneath the staircase — yet even so, they couldn’t avoid being splattered head to toe with foul, reeking slime!

Another shriek rang out — the variants that hadn’t been killed in the blast were now bearing down on them!

Placing the explosives inside the mass of monsters produced enormous damage, but at the same time, the dense cluster of bodies itself formed a kind of “shield wall” — the variants on the far side of it would, of course, be unharmed.

A massive dark blue-black body squeezed through the narrow stairwell door —

Shen Mo’s expression shifted slightly. “It’s a guard.”

A’Da raised his gun and fired! He showed no restraint with the ammunition — shot after shot after shot rang out, yet it only managed to push the guard back slightly. The bullets left barely noticeable marks on its iron-plate-hard outer shell, and then it shrieked and came at them again!

Shen Mo and A’Da sprinted downward, and one monster after another gave chase through the narrow stairwell — the guards especially, outclassing the ordinary variants in both strength and speed by a wide margin!

“Yuri! Are the explosives in place yet?” Shen Mo asked as he retreated, “We’re on the 26th floor!”

“We’re here!”

The voice didn’t come through the earpiece — it came directly from below.

Shen Mo and A’Da had already descended to the 24th floor. They rounded the corner and spotted Yuri and Natasha running up toward them! The two raised their weapons — Shen Mo and A’Da immediately split to either side, and the fire blazed straight into the variants behind them!

Shells shattered, black slime burst outward — like smashing a row of rotten eggs!

“Run!” Yuri shouted. “The explosives are rigged on the 23rd floor!”

All four of them abandoned the fight and plunged downward at full speed. The moment they cleared a safe distance, Yuri triggered the explosives!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

The second detonation nearly obliterated half a floor!

Countless variants were killed or wounded. The ceiling collapsed with a thunderous roar, and even the guard let out a piercing howl. Then, from somewhere farther away, an answering shriek echoed out.

“The Queen isn’t dead yet.” A’Da heard that sound and wrapped his sweat-slicked hands back around his weapon. “We need to go up through the stairwell on the other side.”

Shen Mo asked, “Where’s Bai Youwei?”

“Downstairs.” Natasha caught her breath. “In the cinema on the 8th floor.”

The group hurried to the cinema. Bai Youwei was indeed waiting there, obediently. From there, they ascended via the fire stairwell on the opposite side as planned, and returned to the nest once more.

By this point, very few variants remained.

They went full firepower, clearing out the last dozen or so monsters. In the center of the 32nd floor’s hall, they found the Queen — barely clinging to life.

Her slender upper body lay collapsed against the floor, but her bloated, massive lower half continued to slowly undulate, laying egg after egg, even among the embers left by the gasoline fire.

Everyone was too revolted to even speak. Without a word, they simply opened fire.

After a frenzied barrage, the dungeon completion notification finally appeared —

【This run’s score: 889 points】

【Congratulations to the Hella NB Squad for breaking the Queen’s Nest new record!】

【Rankings: 1st – Hella NB Squad, 889 pts; 2nd – Azure Sky Squad, 887 pts; 3rd – Imperial Dynasty Squad, 872 pts…】

The smile froze at the corners of Yuri’s mouth.

They had broken the record, yes — but how… how was the margin only 2 points?

—