[Side Quest, accomplished.]
When the system's notification arose, Feng Bujue breathed a sigh of relief while sitting on the floor.
"So weird… It's still invisible even when it's dead?" Wild Trace Sword Shadow squatted down and tried to touch the dead body of the monster.
"This means," Feng Bujue said then cut off a piece of skin from the monster's body, putting it on his palm, "its invisible mechanism isn't a proactive skill, but a passive attribute." He threw the piece of skin away. "The way it went invisible isn't similar with a chameleon, which could produce optical camouflage to blend in with the surroundings… This thing is completely transparent." He picked up his flashlight with one hand, while the other was using the steel sword to cut the body on the floor, which produced some sounds from blood gushing out and knife cutting meat. "Not only skin, its muscles, internal organs, bones, and fluids… are all transparent. Hm…"
"Yeah… Feng-Ge," Wild Trace Sword Shadow said, "I got it. Can you stop playing with that monster's dead body?"
"I'm not playing; I just want to check if we can use something as a camouflage tool from the body of this monster." Feng Bujue curled his lips. "Well, it turns out that I can't…"
"If you can… will you use it as your skin to make it like a coat…"
"I'll consider," answered Feng Bujue.
"Yeah…" Wild Trace Sword Shadow mused. "It's such a waste using the grenade like that… I think if the benefit is good enough, even if I ask you to bite the maggot to death, you will surely do that."
"Of course, if using a mouth to kill that fat worm could give me five million coins, well, let alone biting it to death, it's okay if I had to eat it."
"Tough. Stop imagining that…" That imagination nauseated Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"Then, back to our business," Feng Bujue stood up. "Now we've done the Side Quest, no matter how this Killing Game will end, at least we will have a reward from the Side Quest later." He walked towards the heavy metal gate and pulled it with both of his hands. The light outside had crept into the small area near the door. "Next, we will take the other turn. In this scenario, since resting isn't different from consuming anything, I suggest maintaining the state of taking actions."
Wild Trace Sword Shadow regarded and followed him out of the room. The two of them then walked on a path around five or six meters long, which was flooded with rusted metal material and pus left by that monster. After that, they took dozens of steps more to reach the T-intersection, taking the other turn.
The lighting condition in the corridor had stayed the same since a drab area was connected to an illuminated section, and it went like that to the other far-away end.
The four walls that surrounded them were made from iron, which were as cold as ice. Together with the terrible air quality, it created an annoying pressure… Describing it, it could be said that each second spent in this underground laboratory was like their lungs had to breathe with rusted air. This discomfort was like a shadow was following them and they didn't have any way to escape as it regularly reduced their Survival Value… When Feng Bujue's and Wild Trace Sword Shadow's Survival Value had declined to under 50%, Feng Bujue took two Survival Value Supplements bottles (medium), giving his teammate one and drinking the other.
"Feng-Ge, you only have four bottles of this type of Survival Value Supplements," Wild Trace Sword Shadow didn't take the medicines, "at this moment, don't try to be generous. You should keep it for yourself. I have big bottles here."
Feng Bujue didn't retrieve the bottle but answered, "I suggest you shouldn't bring large blood bottles. It's a waste consuming Survival Value Supplement large bottles. The effect is that you can recover 100%, which should be drunk when your Survival Value is at the lowest point, well, 1%. But in fact, players will consume it when their Survival Value has decreased to 10%, since they will be easily killed within one strike in that state of shortage, leading to having no chance to refill their blood.
"In short, under normal circumstances, a large bottle of supplements, which can recover 100%, can only recover 80% to 90%. The remaining is the redundant data. But there's a simple way to solve this problem."
Although Wild Trace Sword Shadow wasn't done listening to Feng Bujue's theory yet, he already took the bottle and drank it, since he had a strong feeling that… he would soon be persuaded.
"In consideration of the effect to be reduced after each time of use," Feng Bujue continued walking forward, "as long as we can prepare enough supplements in small or medium sized bottles, and I suggest that it should be five bottles for each type because five bottles will take up one slot, when encountering blood loss, you should drink the small bottles first, and later on, when it comes to the time you need to use the big bottles, it won't be a waste at that time since the big bottle can't recover fully 100%." He paused for a while then continued, "In this scenario, let alone injuries in fighting, our method is more cost-saving, using less supplements and we won't waste anything."
Wild Trace Sword Shadow was walking shoulder to shoulder with him. Having listened to this, he contemplated for seconds. Although he felt that this whole theory was reasonable, somehow he felt that there was something unsuitable…"Feng-Ge, can I explain it this way. You gave me a medium blood bottle and then later on in this scenario, when we need it, we will use the large bottle that I'm bringing along until we don't have anything more…"
"Yes. Anyway, my bag is limited. You should keep those large bottles with you. When you feel that you need to recover your Survival Value, just consciously give me one." When Feng Bujue was saying this, his tone was still confident and upright.
"Let me think about this," Wild Trace Sword Shadow said. "First, you force me to receive a medium blood bottle, which is 6,000 coins. Then I have to supply unlimitedly big blood bottles, which costs 12,000 coins each, for both of us."
"Yeah," answered Feng Bujue, "didn't you just mean this? Why do you need to say it twice?"
"You brat really don't see yourself as a stranger to me," said Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"According to what I've observed, this level of resource sharing in the party will not surpass your expectation or financial capacity," Feng Bujue said. "And, if within the next hours, we can find some way to prevent the Survival Value from being constantly reduced, perhaps we don't need to use your big bottles with our amount of Survival Value at that time. Then, you just had one of my medium blood bottles for free." He unfolded one finger. "Moreover, you've just learned the whole theory of how to save money and utilize blood supplement bottles, which would be a big benefit in the future. Well, if we convert this to coins," he turned his head around, "why do you have that face?"
"Because I feel that you are accelerating from lying to extortion…"
"I'm just discussing with you. Two adults talking about knowledge of properties ownership, blah, blah, blah, it's normal though."
"Alright, Da-Ge, my bad. My blood bottles, you can take as many as you please."
They were chatting while walking forward. All of a sudden, there came a sound banging from where they were heading to… The noise had come from a turn dozens of meters away from them. Something was walking. From the frequency of the steps, perhaps it was a creature with two legs.
"Perhaps, it's a human being… Heavy, disorderly steps. A little bit limp, and that person is running and leaning against the wall along the way…" Feng Bujue muttered, "this guy is running away from something…"
Wild Trace Sword Shadow also concentrated on listening to the noise. He continued, "Why is the thing chasing after him doesn't create sounds from its footsteps?"
"Moreover, the one who is running away doesn't pant or call for help. This is not quite right…" Feng Bujue cautiously took out his steel sword.
Soon, a figure had emerged from the turn which answered their questions.
That one was wearing an orange protection suit accompanied with a helmet connected to each other by the collar. At this moment, his head was wrapped by a creature that looked like an octopus, and only the lower edge of his mask could be seen. The tentacles of that 'octopus' had already pierced through the helmet, stabbing into the man's brain.
This evil octopus had controlled the man instead of his brain, and, it seemed that the octopus didn't understand how to use a human body. While he was running, both of his hands were dangling along with his body's movement. This would affect his balance, leading to that staggering gait.
Wild Trace Sword Shadow looked at the man who was running towards them and said, "Say, if we take off that thing on his head, will he survive?"
Feng Bujue shook his head, took several steps forward and positioned himself as if he was about to hit a baseball. He then swung the steel sword and beheaded that person.
"Oh, I miss my Shotgun." Feng Bujue walked towards the head on the floor. "Such scenarios based on European and American thriller science fiction movies could be as nauseating as desired."
That octopus was still alive. It just detached itself from the neck of the head. When it retreated its tentacles from the helmet, they could clearly see that the head inside the helmet was just a mess of bloody flesh. There were at least seven or eight holes on the head. Brain matter and blood were spewing out from there, pouring on the ground.
Feng Bujue felt lucky that he had bought this sword before he entered this scenario. Well, it had already saved him from using the wrench to pound this mollusk. Even the Zombies had a skull, smashing it with the wrench was just a matter of time, but if he wanted to pound this chewy mollusk to death, the time it took wouldn't be different from rolling out dough for noodles… The devil octopus didn't resist too much. After the steel sword had cut it into some simple pieces, a subtle colored fluid gushed out from its body, puddling the ground. Then, it stopped moving.
"The way this thing attacks people is like the 'Facehugger' in 'Alien'," Feng Bujue shook off the stains stuck on his sword then returned to the head and observed it. "Anyway, the parasitic method is different. Facehugger will not use so many holes to get inside the victim's head. It will only poke its tentacles inside."
While Feng Bujue was mincing the octopus, Wild Trace Sword Shadow had come to that dead body and started to search. He then found something that looked like a weapon. Indeed, it was actually an item, which could be summoned from the menu.
[Name: Anti-gravity Launching Device]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Attack Power: Medium]
[Attributes: None]
[Special effects: Can levitate objects lighter than 10 kilograms and smaller than 1 cubic meter, and shoot it forward.]
[Equipment Conditions: Shooting Specialty D, Weapon Specialty E, level 15]
[Remarks: Please don't try to suck your own eyeballs. I'm sure to tell you that the results will be very terrible.]
"Feng-Ge, check it out. See if you can use this weapon." Wild Trace Sword Shadow handed the item to Feng Bujue.
This Anti-gravity Launching Device looked like an iron, but it wasn't that thick. There were two buttons on the handle, which clearly stated 'Lift up' and 'Eject'. Feng Bujue read the item's properties then casually aimed at a direction, 'sucking' the head on the ground, which was several meters away from them. The head, which still wore a helmet, hovered inches in front of the weapon; at the same time, the device was constantly buzzing.
Feng Bujue swung his arms, aimed at a place behind their back and pushed the 'Eject' button. Then, the head was shot out with the speed of about 70 yards per second, disappearing at the other end of the corridor just like a rocket.
"High technology," Feng Bujue appraised, "Too bad this guy couldn't use it to save his life."
Wild Trace Sword Shadow was dazed while looking at the flying head. "You've played with the body again…"
"Hey Wild-old-man," Feng Bujue put his hand on Wild Trace Sword Shadow's shoulder. He was about to say something, but the other had interrupted him, "You can call me Young Sword Master …"
"As in lowly? Okay…" continued Feng Bujue.
"You do know the 'sword' I implied here is the Treasure Sword, right?"
"Got it~ of course, I got it~," Feng Bujue said, "I say, Young Sword Master, this item…" [1]
"You can keep it if you want. My Shooting and Weapon Specialties are all at low grades." Wild Trace Sword Shadow assumed that Feng Bujue was about to talk about this matter. Since he couldn't equip it, he just gave it to Feng Bujue that easy.
"I will not be polite then," Feng Bujue stored the item and looked at the body on the ground. "This scenario isn't simple, indeed… There are humans in the lab though."
"The short introduction that mentioned the 'Archaeology team' has brought Jason and left… Is it… Besides them, is there any other human team that came here?" said Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"Currently, we can only have this sort of explanation," answered Feng Bujue while he started to take off the suit on the corpse.
"Hey, what are you doing? This is a man!" Wild Trace Sword Shadow pitched his voice. "Are you addicted on playing with corpses?"
Feng Bujue took off the protective suit of the headless body. Behind the suit, it wore a white shirt and shorts. Feng Bujue lifted one arm of the corpse, pointing to a tattoo on the outer edge of the arm. "Check this out."
Wild Trace Sword Shadow came closer to look. The tattoo depicted a ship and the word 'Scavengers'. He mused for a while and spoke up, "Hey, is this man a member of a tomb-rider gang in the future?"
"If the tattoo is the badge of some organization, it will be a reliable assumption." At this moment, Feng Bujue was checking the hand of the corpse. "Of course, this tattoo could have no meaning at all as this guy thought it just looked cool, so he had it tattooed on his arm just like a little tramp."
"Does this type of person exist?" asked Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"Hard to tell," Feng Bujue drew the hand of the corpse closer to him that it almost touched his nose. "When I was in primary school, I used to see in some online games where some kiddos had named their Guild 'Nazi' something. I don't remember the full name. They thought it was so cool, so the members of the guild always wore that symbol on their heads wandering around the game." After he was done observing the hand, he moved to check the back of the hand and nails. "Thus, bury a stupid seed into the soulless soil, use the—beep—pretentious fertilizer on it, and water it with poisonous irrational exam-oriented education. Eventually, 80% is the chance that it will result into a few slags who always want to humiliate themselves."
"Dang! Feng-Ge, didn't you study the censored languages system in this game? You can say something like that with only one censored word, and it doesn't affect the whole meaning though…"
"This guy had worn out his fingerprints." Feng Bujue didn't answer Wild Trace Sword Shadow's babble, he just switched right to the main business. "Perhaps he used glue or some other more violent ways… Well, in short, he doesn't have fingerprints." He paused for a while. "This pair of hands doesn't seem to belong to a heavy labor worker. His body isn't really muscular though."
"If he has a tool like this Anti-gravity Launching Device, there are many things that can be done without much effort," said Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"From his elbows, I can say that he didn't regularly use computers," Feng Bujue continued, "anyway, we can't omit the possibility that humans won't use mouse devices anymore in the future."
"Hey detective, are you going to peel off this corpse and analyze everything from his top to toe?" asked Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
Feng Bujue smiled. "I don't have much time. And, if I want to do that, I wouldn't chop off his head." He answered, "I just want to see if his limbs were mutant, and..."—Feng Bujue lifted up the shirt on the dead, scrutinizing the body for a while—"is there any strange extra organs on his body or whether or not he had different skin from our well-known human beings."
"What do you mean?" Wild Trace Sword Shadow said, "This scenario is not based on the 10th movie of 'Friday the 13th' franchise but on X-men or something else?"
"I have another hypothesis," answered Feng Bujue. "What if this man was different from the others from the ship? What if they weren't from space? Perhaps, there are still some human cities on this Old Earth, which that group of 'immigrants' knows nothing about. The small number of their descendants has survived and hid here, and their civilization is still thriving…"
[1] Wild Trace Sword Shadow asked Feng Bujue to call him Young Sword Master (剑少 jian xiao). Then Feng Bujue answered asking him whether the 'xiao' he mentioned was from the word lowly (贱少jian xiao). Therefore, Wild Trace Sword Shadow threatened him by reminding him the word jian he had used here is from the word Treasured Sword (宝剑bao jian).