Compared to the twelfth floor, the eleventh floor was slightly easier. The number of insects wasn't large; they were all killed off quickly. However, the number of survivors was also much scarcer, only about ten people. They had either locked themselves in boxes or hidden in restrooms. It's unknown if their brains were flooded, thinking up such stupid methods. If the Venomous Spiders hadn't already eaten their fill and gotten bored, how could these dozen or so people possibly have survived?
What was worth celebrating was that the eleventh floor was mainly used for physics experiments, so many experimental instruments and tools were stored there. After clearing the eleventh floor, the group harvested quite a few hammers, steel bars, saws, pipes, shovels, and other metal tools. These items were naturally left for the classmates on the thirteenth floor to equip, giving them some weapons for self-defense.
While passing through a small exhibition room, the team also acquired two Nepalese kukri knives. These were donated to Xijiang University by an overseas Chinese. The blades flowed like water, extremely light, and incomparably sharp, capable of cutting skin with a slight touch, possessing greater killing power than fire axes.
Such sharp killing tools were naturally left for Ran Hongxia. After all, a girl like her was quite suited for such swift and agile weapons. Moreover, she was now considered the fourth main force in the team after Li Jiayu, the Dark Octopus, and Chu Xiang; the others wouldn't object.
Chu Xiang also discovered a medium-sized machine used for processing metal. It was cylindrical, weighing about 150 kg. This weight suited Chu Xiang best, so he decisively discarded the heavy air conditioner and used the cylindrical machine as his new weapon. Everyone looked at this two-meter-tall "Lizardman" with horns on his head, wielding the cylindrical weapon, and couldn't help but think of a certain mini-boss from games – the Totem Pole Minotaur!
Next, the tenth, ninth, eighth floors, etc., didn't pose much pressure either. They rolled through them all the way, encountering no particularly tricky monsters. So Li Jiayu simply had Chen Kun let out a loud roar, shaking the entire floor, attracting the Venomous Spiders drawn by the sound to crawl over and die, greatly increasing efficiency. Then they hacked open locked doors, checked if there were any insects inside, and finished them off with a couple of extra slashes.
By the time they progressed to the seventh floor, Li Jiayu and the others had already killed nearly fifty Venomous Spiders, eight Scythe Beetles, and three Acid Bugs. The harvest was quite pleasing; they actually obtained two spider brain cores and one Scythe Beetle brain core – Scythe Beetle brain cores were good stuff! Usually very hard to drop, they had excellent effects on internal injuries involving muscle and bone trauma.
"You... are you male or female?"
After Li Jiayu and the others rescued the only three remaining survivors on the seventh floor, they intended to immediately head to the sixth floor. But just as he turned around, he froze, then abruptly turned back, looking at a person wearing a black open-collar sweatshirt and asking in astonishment.
The reason for the gender ambiguity was that this person was clearly wearing men's clothing, but the clothes were far too ill-fitting, at least two sizes too large. The sleeves were longer than her arms, and the hem of the shirt almost covered her knees.
This person clearly had a woman's face, yet one could smell the scent of men's cologne on her. Most peculiar was her hair, messy as a chicken coop, like wildly overgrown weeds. And she lacked the frightened expression of ordinary girls, instead grimacing in terror like a man – this was simply too illogical. This was Xijiang University, after all; students should be quite normal. How did such a person with extremely strange attire and taste suddenly appear?
Vaguely, Li Jiayu thought of a certain legendary...
"Ah? Why ask that? Of course, I'm male!"
That strange person looked gratefully at Li Jiayu and reflexively answered about her gender. But as soon as the words left her mouth, her face filled with astonishment. She reached up to touch her throat, only to find with horror that her Adam's apple was gone!
And her two friends beside her looked as if they had seen a ghost, startled, looking at each other and saying:
"Guodong, your hair... and your height... what happened to you?"
"I don't know! What happened to my body? Why has my voice become so high-pitched..."
That person panicked instantly, sweating profusely like a cat whose tail was on fire. First, she pinched her throat, then touched her messy hair, then her hand slid down to feel the two mounds of flesh on her chest. As if collapsing, her teeth chattered!
"It's over... it's over..."
She realized a terrible transformation had occurred to her body, but she still clung to a final sliver of hope. Her hand slid down towards her crotch. Finally, her whole body jolted as if struck by a 5000 kg hammer, completely falling into despair. She stammered:
"My... my good brother is gone! Heavens, I've actually turned into a ladyboy..."
At this moment, everyone present had extremely strange expressions. After all this commotion, this person with a woman's face and female figure turned out to be a ladyboy? What terrible thing had happened to her?
"You're not a ladyboy... you're also an Awakened..."
Li Jiayu's mouth twitched, sighing with mixed feelings. He really hadn't expected Xijiang University to produce such a top-tier Beast Tamer.
If it were his previous life, without Li Jiayu coming to the rescue, this Awakened hiding on the seventh floor would undoubtedly die. Naturally, no one would know a Beast Tamer had ever appeared. But now, having been encountered by Li Jiayu, of course, he wouldn't ignore it.
Among the many professions in the apocalypse, Beast Tamer was considered a profession with great potential. Some were very strong, but some were also very weak. This mainly depended on the insects, magical beasts, lesser dragons, or even undead they tamed!
Beast Tamers could mentally resonate with alien creatures, communicating deeply. If luck was good enough, they could easily subdue ferocious alien beings. As far as Li Jiayu knew, in Yang City alone, there were nine Dragon Tamers who formed the Beast Tamer Alliance, wielding considerable influence.
There were many ways for Beast Tamers to emerge. They could naturally grow by absorbing knowledge from Yang Souls, or gain the Beast Tamer inheritance through a small chance by devouring Yin Souls, or even kill skeletons and zombies to seize their memories from before death!
However, the Beast Tamers with the most potential were those who awakened naturally. And a very risqué and violent branch among natural awakenings was – the Androgynous Beast Tamer. This profession was considered very disgusting by outsiders, reversing yin and yang, confusing gender, violating the laws of nature, and was never acknowledged by the Beast Tamer Alliance.
However, the power of Androgynous Beast Tamers was undeniable!
Because they could influence the production of sex hormones in insects, magical beasts, and lesser dragons, making them restless and mentally confused during the initial taming process, thus making them easier to tame!
As far as Li Jiayu knew, among the many powerhouses of Tianchao in the later generations, there was one Androgynous Beast Tamer from Xihai Province who tamed two Black Diablos, two Green Nargacugas, and even one Queen Vespoid!
His strength was extremely formidable, ranking within the top twenty of Tianchao's Earth Ranking!
Of course, Androgynous Beast Tamer was a heaven-condemned profession. They usually had their own gender reversed the moment their abilities awakened!
This strange woman before him was clearly the legendary Androgynous Beast Tamer. It was just that she was very tragic; probably unable to accept the blow of becoming a "ladyboy," and worse, having the entire school about to know... truly a tragedy.
However, compared to being eaten by insects right away, or muddling through life unknown in the apocalypse, sacrificing her gender slightly wouldn't make her lose a piece of flesh, nor would it get her pregnant. Was it really necessary to act so devastated?
"You... what are you talking about? Awakened? Uh... please, you must know what happened to me, right?"
The person named "Guodong" grabbed Li Jiayu's hand, yelling agitatedly at him like clutching a life-saving straw.
"Let go! Don't pull me! Get lost!"
Li Jiayu's expression changed. He forcefully pushed Guodong away, sending her tumbling to the ground. Then, as if touching something dirty, he wiped his hand on his pant leg before explaining:
"Your name is Guodong [Jelly]? An androgynous name... Mm, your awakening ability is Androgynous Transformation, a very incredible ability. So, you absolutely must not have physical contact with ordinary people for more than an hour, otherwise, ordinary people will also be harmed by you into changing sex! Male to female, female to male, ladyboy to idiot! Listen to me, calm down first... During this time, don't casually touch other people's bodies. After the school's problem is resolved... I will naturally talk to you in detail."
"Then! Can you turn me back into a man! Aiya, my voice is so disgusting! You must have a way, right?" Guodong scrambled up from the ground, completely ignoring Li Jiayu having rudely pushed her down, her face still full of hope.
Li Jiayu took two steps back. He psychologically found it hard to accept this yin-yang reversing deviant. He coughed slightly:
"Mm... there naturally is a way, but I probably can't think of it right away... Ai, don't be anxious first, go stay properly on the thirteenth floor. I don't have time to waste with you now."
Finished speaking, Li Jiayu ensured this "Androgynous Beast Tamer" wouldn't attempt suicide for the time being, then beckoned his eye-rolling team members and rushed out the door, heading towards the sixth floor.
Walking on the way, everyone stopped talking. Even Feng Liaoyuan, who usually loved asking questions, strangely kept quiet – Awakened seemed glorious, but looking at the situation, it wasn't necessarily as perfect as imagined. Some tragic awakenings might lead to a very wretched life...
Originally, Dragonoid Chu Xiang was still conflicted about turning into an ugly giant lizard. Now he just pursed his lips, feeling greatly relieved, finding his own image more pleasing to the eye the more he looked, no longer having any complaints.
Upon reaching the sixth floor, Li Jiayu began to get serious, his face devoid of any expression. He sniffed the air and said coldly:
"The strange grassy scent of Red-Crested Beetles?... Everyone, brace yourselves. We'll be facing Red-Crested Beetles on this floor."
"Red Beetles? Ugh... Understood."
Everyone's face stiffened. They naturally knew the combat power of Red-Crested Beetles was extremely terrifying, countless times stronger than trash like Venomous Spiders. Facing such giant insects comparable in size to Spanish bulls, everyone felt a chill rise from their hearts.
Descending the stairs, Li Jiayu naturally didn't dare let Chen Kun use sonic waves to attract the Red-Crested Beetles anymore. If he really alerted the enemy and attracted four Red-Crested Beetles, it would likely be a devastating disaster.
He led the six Awakened and thirteen axe wielders, each holding their breath, moving cautiously. Their movements barely disturbed even the paper scraps on the ground. Lan Xiaoyue, whose face was pale from vomiting earlier, also trailed heavily at the back of the team.
Suddenly, a "rustling" friction sound came from ahead. Li Jiayu abruptly stopped, seeming to sense something. With a wave of his hand, everyone stopped uniformly. A cautious look appeared in his eyes as he said: "Wait, I seem to sense a Red-Crested Beetle approaching. Not good, it's coming towards us. Retreat back to the stairs first for an ambush. Everyone prepare, just in case, conceal yourselves!"