(Correction, Lieutenant Ross to Captain Rose, a member of the other team.)
Zheng came to the seventh starship with the information. It was easy to navigate between starships with the mini shuttle. This kind of shuttles also served as survival capsules. Each one could only fit two people but they could sustain from the heat of entering the atmosphere. The speed wasn't slow either. The main female character escaped using the mini shuttle at the end of the movie. The only flaw was that the shuttle was only usable within space.
"Rose. Captain rank. A doctor in the biological study of Arachnids, done comprehensive research on the race. The first to come up with the hypothesis of brain bugs. Twenty one years old."
Zheng muttered to himself as he read the info. He didnt know where Xuan obtained this information. The info wasn't detailed but listed all the crucial facts such as how she rose to this rank and her hypothesis. This hypothesis along was enough to prove her as a member of the other team.
(Is this what Xuan wants to say? That this is their trump card. Once they find out all our members, they can label us as being controlled by the bugs and use the federation to wipe us.)
Zheng thought over the plan carefully. This was what he would do if he was in the other team. This influence could give them the win as long as they knew the names and location of every member on the other team. The title of doctor also gave her words authority. The most critical point was Zheng’s team performed too well. Once the higher ups doubt them as spies from the bugs, they would not want to take any chances. Furthermore, a bug that could enslave humans would definitely cause terror in society.
Zheng felt his heart getting chill as he thought through it. He even wanted to kill this Rose. However, remembering Xuan’s words that told him to just see this woman, killing her might mess up the plan and cut off any traces leading to the other team.
Zheng felt his brain turning into a mess. So he had to enter the third stage of the unlocked mode to simulate Honglu’s thinking process and continue the analysis.
The light dawned upon him. He had doubts when Xuan said the brain of the other team would send members to get killed by them, yet there was no reason given. This seemed absurd but their brain planned to use the death of his team members to clear the path to his survival!
Their team must have had usually stayed closely together. The troopers around them also knew this. When one of them died in this starship in a strange death, the others could spread words of people being controlled by the bugs and they had gathered evidence of such persons. That way, the federation would capture team China without a doubt.
“Such a ruthless plan!” Zheng sighed and praised it.
He finally saw the level of plans people like Xuan was thinking at, not something normal people would come up with. Among the people he knew, Xuan, Honglu, and this person from the other team should be similar in wits. Xuan was above the other two in comparison. Zheng himself never thought of utilizing all available resources to kill the other team without any physical fight.
The officers in the starship was notified of the death of that young man within just ten minutes. What Zheng got told was the young man died in a sudden heart attack during a brawl. A team was formed to investigate anyone the young man came in contact with before death. The officers also take notice of any abnormality among the troopers.
Zheng sighed as he exited the unlocked mode. He had be in this mode to think like this while Xuan was thinking all the time. He watched the shuttle enter another starship, the one Rose was in.
“No, this isn’t right!” Zheng growled as he clenched his fist. He murmured to himself as he left the shuttle. “He wouldn’t think like this. He wouldn’t do anything without any benefit in return. So benefits? Right!”
He immediately entered the third stage again to simulate Honglu. He twirled his hair. “Right, the benefit.”
Zheng thought back to the hero plan Xuan suggested. The reputation of the four of them grow to a peak that surpasses the officers. Then they will raise this influence and let their names spread throughout Earth, let the other team know team China is strong. Then he had Zheng kill the other team’s member without telling him the consequence, which made them step into the other team’s plan and he exposed Gando’s location. Everything…
All Zheng could do was sigh as he thought it through. Xuan was just Xuan. He avoided telling anyone the plan so no one would hesitate and mess up the plan. He simply enacted the plan without saying anything.
It was too hard to find the other team. So instead of looking for them, he had them show themselves. To make them do so, the thing he had to do was let the other team feel that they had won. Gando’s exposure was one piece, killing their member was the second. They were means to make the brain of the other team feel optimistic. Yet everything was within Xuan’s control.
The only thing Xuan needed to do was spread the rumors before they do. Rumors that these officers controlled by bugs planned to kill their heroes and all the troopers who fought in the battle to extinguish the hope of humanity. When both sides blame each other and the troopers were suspicious, the four of them could use their reputation to incite some troopers to act. Then they could gain control of the starships and open fire. If they get rewarded from the starships destroyed in this process, the amount would be…
Zheng shook his head and exited the unlocked mode. He then walked toward the dissecting room.
Chapter 15-2
Zheng continued along the hall. As he walked pass an intersection, a muscular middle age man came out from one of the rooms. He was over 6 feet 2, Caucasian, seemed like from northern Europe. Some resemblance to Kampa.
Zheng walked past him quietly. His uniform denoted his military rank, a major. As they crossed each other, Zheng couldn’t help but felt a thin layer of goosebumps over his body. He turned his head around a few seconds later but that man had turned around the corner.
Zheng recalled the man’s face and stored it in his memory before continuing his way. Several more turns later, the dissecting room’s door was in front of him.
Sweat soaked the middle age man’s head after he cross Zheng. He quickly walked along the hall and made several turns before he lay against the wall. His shaking hand pulled out a pack of cigarette from his pocket. Then he lit a cigarette with an equally shaking lighter.
“Is Hawfor retarded? How could he even dare to provoke someone so strong? His power is immense. It felt like walking along an axe’s edge when I merely walked past him. It was as though he could kill me with just one punch.” He finished the cigarette in a few puffs then gripped his fist.
He turned around toward the shuttles’ location. He was with Neos but when they learned Zheng was heading to the starship Rose was in, Neos sent their strongest man, Richard Tobias, to meet Zheng in this starship.
The strong tend to sense a link with people equally strong. Despite the strength Zheng showed in the fight, Neos induced it as an attempt to give a high impact by using his full power, and that Zheng wasn’t as strong in actuality. What Richard had to do was prove this. Neos and the others trusted Richard’s strength. So this was their display of strength against team China.
However, life was often more absurd and unpredictable than imagination. The effect Neos hoped for didn’t happen and instead, their strongest member got shocked.
This dissecting room could be renamed to Arachnid dissecting room. That was what happened in 99% of the cases here ever since the war started. The remaining 1% was on troopers killed by strange bugs. The first things Zheng saw upon entering were bug corpses lined up by the wall. He even saw a complete head of a blaster bug, which surprised him.
A young man and woman were chatting in this room. They looked at each other, then the man walked up to Zheng with a smile. “Hello, what are you looking for?”
Zheng scratched his head. He was confused at why Xuan sent him here to begin with, especially when the target was critical to Xuan’s plan. He thought about it for a moment then just followed his instincts. He looked at the woman and said. “Hello, I am Zheng Zha, the leader of team China. Are you Rose of team Africa (Southern Flame)?”
Rose was a half black beauty, healthy dark brown skin and silky long hair. Beautiful facial features also. Though she seemed a little indifferent. When Zheng said the words team Africa, their expressions changed and looked like they were going to pull out their weapons.
Zheng immediately said. “I have no plan to fight you right now. Don’t do anything hostile or I will kill you before you can attack. I am just here to see you.”
He felt that was wrong. What did it mean to see them when they were still enemies? A fight might break out at any moment. It was not like they could sit down and talk it through.
The man stared at Zheng. “The two of us don’t wish to become part of the team battle. You can fight however you want. We won’t do anything against team China as long as you don’t drag us in.”
Rose pulled his shirt sleeve and said in a smile. “This is Marni, my boyfriend. Hoho, just like he said. We don’t wish to join the team battle but don’t you think you can bully us that easily. We aren’t scared of any ambushes or challenges. Our combat techniques are special. We might not be strong in combat but we can drag some powerful people along to death. You wouldn’t think I am joking right?”
Zheng stared at her then nodded. “No. I think you have seen the video of the fight. You didn’t panic when you saw me so what you said should be true. I am just curious are you not worried about being erased by God? Each member that died is minus one point in score and 2000 points. Even if you saved up a lot of points, how can you guarantee that your points don’t go negative in a team battle?”
The young man laughed. He seemed like a half blood also, though closer to Caucasian. He pulled out three chairs then sat down with Rose. “This is an information we obtained from movies. Even though our teams are still in opposition, but the three of us have no intention to fight. Why don’t we exchange information?”
Zheng had favorable impression of them. He didn’t sense any killing intent. Secondly, their honesty was welcoming. And thirdly, he was cautious to the abilities they were hiding. He sat down and looked at them.
Marnie said. “We are very early members of team Africa. I have unlocked the first stage. But I did it two movies after we got our first team leader. Uh, our leader abandoned us when he was given the position by the Guide and went to team Celestial. So there was a second round of selection by the Guide. However, since the previous leader haven’t died, the second leader only have the power to search God. There was no inquiry about transferring to team Celestial since he didn’t reach the second stage. Team Africa’s strength remained very low since then.”
Rose brought them three cups of coffee. He handed a cup to Zheng and said. “There are no poison in the coffee. You don’t have to drink it.” She took a sip from her cup.
Marnie patted her hand and continued. “But we were lucky. We went through several low difficulty movies. One of them was Lord of the Rings. That was our first team battle. Fortunately, the other team was in the same situation as us where their leader went to team Celestial. Their strength was reduced by a lot. We came in contact and decided to complete that movie together peacefully. We obtained a lot of points and rewards but what was more fortunate was that we entered the Dwarves tunnel with Gandalf. We killed Balrog with a plan. Gandalf gave each us a Rune Word stone, which is a quest item. It was said that this stone saved Gandalf the Gray from the fall and turned him into Gandalf the White. The effect is to allow the bearer to survive three times from a negative score. This will be our first time using it.”
Zheng was surprised. This information was so important. An item with such effect could save the whole team at times. He also told him which movie it was from and how to get it. Zheng took a few deep breaths then said. “Don’t you feel unfair telling me such an important info? Its value is immense.”
Marnie waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter much. This information is useless no matter how important it is if we die. I can see that your team must have experience movies much more dangerous than we did. You should be way stronger than us. So we don’t plan to fight you and use this information to exchange for our freedom.”
Zheng nodded. “We won’t enter a fight. I can make this decision. However, I still want to give you an information of equal value for the exchange. You know about The Mummy? Have you gone through that world?”
Chapter 15-3
Zheng told them about completing the Scorpion King mission in advance in The Mummy world, the increase in difficulty and reward. He also added that the more difficult it becomes, the higher the reward would be.
“Even though the difficulty is high but The Mummy world is filled with various bonus missions. Many have generous rewards including quest items like the stone you have. These items are either extremely powerful, contain useful knowledge, or important to a team. Such as an offensive book and a resurrection book you can obtain from The Mummy. No words can describe how important these are to a team.”
This couple also seemed excited and asked one question after another on the possible situations one would encounter in the movies. Zheng basically held nothing back.
Once he finished talking, Marnie sighed. “Looks like we are can’t complete this mission. My enhancement is on close combat but my strength is far from you. Her ability specializes in one versus ones. Our strength is sufficient enough to complete bonus missions in a large world like The Mummy.”
Zheng also sighed. “This I can’t help you. You can only rely on yourself for a lot of things. Your strength isn’t too bad. I met a large middle age man in the hall. He’s pretty good.”
Marnie laughed. “Yes. His strength is strong, the strongest person in our team. And he’s the only one who created his own ability.”
Rose tugged him. He realized what he just said and apologized. “These words shouldn’t come from us. We don’t intent to join the team battle. Our initial suggestion was to stay in peace with you since you are the strongest of the three teams. However, our team is rather unstable at the moment. Neos and Hawfor…”
She tugged his shirt again and took over. “Zheng, this isn’t worth hiding. Our team has two groups. One is the new official leader’s group. He unlocked the first stage and is second to Richard in strength. The other group follows Neos. He’s a genius criminal. Both sides want to take control of the team. So whoever can take down team China, they will gain control of the team. But me and Marnie know our capacities. As long as team China don’t attack us, we won’t use our powers to fight. And you accepted this condition.”
Zheng nodded. “Right. I accepted it. However, there are circumstances that I can’t control. Rose. You have the title of doctor in the biological study of Arachnids and the theory you proposed. Get what I mean? We also have a member with superior intellect. He definitely surpasses that Neos. Actually, neither of us have control over things now since their battle has started long ago. I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
Rose replied. “This title is the identity God arranged for me. When we were still on Earth, Neos had me publish that theory. He said this will put us within the strongest influence and guarantee the safety of team Africa. I thought about it for several days before getting what he meant. It seems like he’s going to use this theory to kill you. Rest assure, we will stay away from this battle since we have decided not to participate. Our goal in this movie is simply survive. The military officials will be here in three to five days. Me and Marnie will find a chance to head back to Earth with their starships.”
Zheng stood up with a smile. “Then it’s decided. Let’s hope the final fight doesn’t start within these few days. Well, I envy you for being able to stay calm and choose your own path. Hope we can meet again. And next time we can complete a movie together.” He turned around and headed to the door.
Rose and Marnie met eyes for a moment. Marnie said. “Zheng, this is a free info that we obtained from another team in Lord of the Rings. Some movies are more prone to team battles. These movies tend to contain large areas, a deeper story background, and have many hidden missions and quest items. The Mummy is one of such. There’s also Lord of the Rings. That team also mentioned Transformers has a high probability of being one.”
Zheng listened to his words then waved his hand and walked out.
At the same time, Richard had returned to the starship he was in. He didn’t go straight to Neos but headed back to his room. Since team China now knew they were in this starship, Neos allowed Snow to use her psyche force ability to mask the whole ship. Richard didn’t have to see Neos at the risk of being followed. They could get in contact through their minds.
“Yes. I didn’t exaggerate. He’s extremely strong, even terrifying. Let me make a comparison. My power level is 5, my created ability is 50, our team when fighting together is 100. He’s at least 70 to 80 in a conservative estimate. This is just his own power level. Neos, I am starting to hesitate. Don’t fight him if it’s possible.” Richard muttered as he smoked a cigarette sitting on his bed.
There was a long pause before Neos replied with a cold voice. “Are you not going to trust me too? Why don’t you believe in me just like when you created your ability? We will die together if we lose. I won’t be the only one who lives.”
Richard took a puff. “Yes. I believe you. I believe there’s nothing that can stop your wit. But I really have a bad feeling this time. I feel like team China isn’t as simple as they had shown themselves. Don’t you feel that we found that person too easily? He looks just like a normal person. He’s like a new recruit more than a member of team China.”
Neos breathed out. “There’s nothing more to be said. The plan had been implemented. It’s a perfect plan. As long as we find all the members of team China, we will be able to take down this strongest team! Believe in me. Team Africa is too week. If we don’t grow strong with such a good opportunity, we might get wiped the next time when luck isn’t at our side. Richard, why don’t you believe in me one last time?”
Richard exhaled the smoke. He hesitated for quite some time before saying. “I don’t mind paying back my life to you if it’s just myself. It was your wit that saved me before. But their lives are also on the line. We have the rune word stones, even if our points go negative…”
Neos said abruptly. “How can we go negative! What about our efforts? Our reasons to become strong? If we back down when we encounter a strong team, what will happen next time? Richard. Nothing more needs to be said. Just listen to me like you use to! I already sent Aya to capture that exposed rookie. He’s probably the weakest compared to the other four. Aya’s abilities are best suited for sneak attacks so don’t worry. Every step is within my calculation. Believe me that we will be the victors in the end!”
Richard sighed. “Then I will fight with you until the end. Don’t disappoint us.”
“There won’t be any problem! I don’t believe there’s anyone in their team that can see through my whole plan! Capturing this rookie is only the start. The time they come to search this starship is the time we find the evidence to use in our influence!”
At the same time. On another starship. Xuan looked at the monitor quietly. Gando just turned the corner in the hall. A girl followed far behind him. When the two of them disappear from the screen, Xuan turned around. Inside the room were ten squad leaders. They were standing at attention and everyone seemed excited as if they were looking at their idol.
“Follow the orders I told you. Dismiss.”