Hell Roar was currently stuck at 20% of the third gear, but under Lu Ce’s insistent command, it began to charge up again.

Pulled to fifty percent!

But while charging, his body was already swarmed by a bunch of deranged patients. These fully controlled individuals clung to Lu Ce’s waist from behind, using their full weight to try and restrain him.

Their humanity was completely gone. With only beastly instinct left, they began using every part of their bodies as weapons—fangs, claws—leaving all kinds of marks on Lu Ce.

Up until now, Lu Ce had been using the handgun in semi-auto mode to take out about a third of the total crowd with precision. That kill rate was already impressive, especially for someone not fully used to this kind of thing.

According to international military conventions, once a combat unit suffers more than one-third casualties, they basically lose their combat effectiveness. Morale drops, mutiny can happen, and collapse becomes inevitable.

But right now, Lu Ce had killed a third of them like he was butchering chickens, and it still didn’t shake their resolve. They kept swarming in.

At this point, not killing wasn’t even an option!

So, from the results, the most dangerous kind of combat unit was one with no self-awareness at all.

At least three or four people were gnawing on Lu Ce’s arm, biting down like a pack of wolves.

Even though he couldn’t use the gun for now, Lu Ce still had a look of utter confusion on his face.

Right hand still gripping Hell Roar, he grabbed a guy’s head with his left hand and squeezed!

In an instant, the man’s eyeballs bulged out, like a squashed rubber ball about to pop.

Lu Ce swung the guy by the head like a sack and slammed him hard against the wall—his head burst like a smashed watermelon, splattering everywhere.

He used the gun to kill not because he couldn’t do it without it, but because Hell Roar could absorb life energy to charge!

It’s not like he needed the gun to kill, okay!?

Tom had fully finished his assembly at this point. All the special metal embedded in the prison walls and floor had been sucked onto his body, making him look like some artificially-made Megatron.

Suddenly, his iron head turned, as if he’d noticed something. He turned and looked at Kirk, who had been hiding in the corner the whole time.

“Player Kirk, what’s wrong?”

“He’s the most mentally unstable patient in this whole prison. Why haven’t you taken action?”

“You don’t seem like a very qualified player.”

Kirk had planned to do absolutely nothing—just hide and hope no one noticed him, maybe sneak a Completion if the red mask guy somehow pulled off a win.

But now that Tom had noticed him, Kirk’s mind was about to explode. What now?

He wasn’t a combat-type player to begin with. His main skills were analysis and puzzle-solving… which, admittedly, he already failed at earlier…

“I know, but right now I…”

Kirk’s mind raced, trying to think of a way to stall. But the next second—

Countless iron spikes came crashing down on him like a hailstorm!

Gunpowder was a horribly inefficient power source. With the force of electromagnetism behind them, these things packed just as much punch as firearms!

Lu Ce could take the hit because he was built different, but Kirk? If he took even one blow, that would be the end of him!

So, the moment the attack came, Kirk crushed the Exit Token in his hand and bailed from the Game.

It was a shame—his massive Reward Points and past Perfect Completion rewards all vanished in a blink. But when it came down to it, he didn’t have Lu Ce’s kind of resolve.

Watching him vanish into thin air, Tom looked surprised, but not shocked. After swatting the fly away, he took a big step forward and charged at Lu Ce!

His five-meter-tall body scraped sparks along the ceiling as he moved!

A fist half the size of Lu Ce’s entire torso rose high. Steam blasted from his wrist, supercharged with electromagnetic thrust—he punched Lu Ce straight in the chest!

And took one of the patients clinging to Lu Ce along for the ride—instantly turned into meat paste.

That hit packed more punch than a dump truck crash. If this were another novel’s protagonist, that’d be enough to get isekai’d!

But Lu Ce only got sent flying, smashed through a wall in the ward, spat out a few mouthfuls of blood, and felt his Pain Points go up by six.

The fully controlled patients didn’t care that their “boss” had just crushed one of their own. They immediately clung to Lu Ce again, not giving him a single second to breathe.

Though he landed a solid hit, Tom’s mechanical soul suddenly trembled in fear. Something felt wrong, as if a deadly threat had locked onto him and could kill him at any moment.

He knew Lu Ce was stupidly durable. That one punch probably didn’t do much.

So he didn’t dare play around with that cat-and-mouse mindset anymore—he rushed forward. If he could just finish Lu Ce off first, everything else would be fine.

But just as he took a step forward—CRACK!

That disproportionately small head of his jerked backward.

A metal chain had viciously whipped Tom across the face.

Tom had never expected that someone else in the prison still had the strength to fight back!

Looking up, he saw a figure leap high into the air—still shackled at all four limbs. It was Long Wu, finally free.

His eyes were no longer confused or dazed. All that remained was hatred and a determination that had been buried for who knows how many years.

He swung the chain in his hand and actually locked it around this “robot’s” neck like a chokehold. The way he fought was almost funny to watch.

Down below, any former Players who had managed to break free—even if only partially recovered mentally—began charging at this war machine.

These weren’t ordinary people. Maybe not quite as strong as Lu Ce, but definitely stronger than Jiu Tian.

Tom’s massive frame was actually being dragged down. One knee hit the ground. Even if he could throw them off soon after, this kind of concentrated attack was giving him real trouble.

That’s when it hit him—these people hadn’t had their meds for two days. Their mental state wasn’t the fully brainwashed one anymore.

Lu Ce had taken all the medication!

Was this part of his plan too!?

As Tom fumed over how these “toys” had started rebelling, a roar echoed from the distant pile of patients.

“Move!!”

Of course, that shout was aimed at the Players. The next thing Tom saw was a blinding red light covering everything in sight.

Hell Roar, 50% energy single-shot output!

It looked like a sun from hell crashing down to earth, bringing a fiery welcome straight from the underworld—smashed right into Tom, who had nowhere to dodge in the cramped space.

In the aftermath, the intense heat instantly vaporized the patients clinging to Lu Ce. The massive recoil completely destroyed Lu Ce’s right arm.

His shoulder blade burst through his back, and the arm holding Hell Roar was shattered at the elbow—flesh and bone tore loose, sent flying through the air.

In his third Game, after having his legs broken in the first two, Lu Ce finally switched it up and lost a hand this time.

Achievement unlocked…