Chapter 165: Desperate Situation |
[Number of rescued survivors: 15]
Not long after he set off, Bai Mu heard a system prompt.
The group had reached the Evacuation Point. Now, only the final survivor remained. Bai Mu could hear the distinct crack of gunfire and the heavy thud of explosions.
The gunshots rang out with startling clarity in the dead of night. Grenades detonated amidst the clustered buildings, causing already heavily damaged floors to collapse with a deafening rumble. He stood amidst the blowing sand, the evening breeze fluttering the hem of his Dance of Elvis.
After summoning the Walrider once again, he planted a Guard Mushroom onto the back of the invisible hand.
Then, this mobile ward soared high into the night sky. Like a bird flapping its wings, he gained a bird's-eye view of the entire area.
He spotted the Doppelgangers converging from all directions. Their dark silhouettes flowed like water through a canal, all pooling toward a single location. It was the exact position of the green dot. The final survivor was trapped in a desperate situation. His whereabouts were completely exposed, and the gunfire Bai Mu heard was actually coming from the Doppelgangers shooting at him. The man darted through the labyrinth of alleys and buildings. He did not just stick to the ground; employing parkour-like agility, he leaped across rooftops and vaulted between structures. Bai Mu watched as the man tossed a Molotov cocktail, instantly igniting a blazing inferno in the densest cluster of Doppelgangers. Agile, vigorous, and remarkably calm, the survivor navigated the deadly encirclement with an almost effortless grace.
In that brief moment, Bai Mu almost saw a reflection of himself. He, too, had once faced such desperate moments.
Bai Mu had gritted his teeth, fought with his life on the line, and somehow pulled through. But this survivor did not seem to have the same chance.
Bai Mu noticed one creature scaling a concrete wall like a spider. It was an elite monster among the Doppelgangers, and it was not alone. One by one, several more elite Doppelgangers began creeping toward the survivor from the dark corners.
Having pinpointed the survivor's exact location, Bai Mu broke into a sprint, rushing toward the chaotic scene.
The raging flames burned fiercely, cutting off the vast majority of the Doppelgangers from the inner circle.
Perhaps realizing he had no chance of escaping, the survivor bolted straight for the most intense area of the blaze. He plunged directly into the heart of the inferno, the sky above dyed a dark, ominous red by the glow.
However, out of the hundreds of Doppelgangers, a few unique ones stepped forward. Their skin gleamed with a greasy shine, though it was not oil, but rather some sort of cold, grotesque slime.
They possessed human faces, yet their bodies were completely coated in that viscous, wet substance. It was Bai Mu's first time encountering this specific variant of Doppelganger. These rare creatures walked straight into the sea of fire, completely unbothered by the scorching heat.
Furthermore, in the upper reaches of the buildings untouched by the flames, the elite Doppelgangers silently crept toward the center.
It was at this moment that Bai Mu barely arrived at the scene with Witch in tow. Since he made absolutely no effort to hide his presence, the Doppelgangers standing guard just outside the perimeter of the fire easily spotted him.
His Stamina was sitting at just forty percent, and fatigue was already setting in, but he still activated Charger's Collision without a moment of hesitation. His Stamina plummeted instantly to ten percent as a deformed silhouette materialized in front of him. Roaring like a maniac, the phantom charged forward with such momentum that not even a hail of bullets could stall its devastating rush.
The Charger smashed through every obstacle in its path, snatching its first target and slamming it viciously into the ground.
"Time to go Berserk," Bai Mu muttered, decisively activating his title skill.
The green dot on his map had stopped moving entirely. The survivor had nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide. In a situation like this, hesitating for even a single second could mean death. If Bai Mu could not save him within the three minutes that Berserk lasted, then the Script would undoubtedly end the moment the man died.
Bai Mu had no reason to hold back, and his current condition certainly did not afford him the luxury to do so anyway.
[Skill "Berserk" has been activated.]
[Remaining duration: 3:00.]
All traces of fatigue vanished completely. In its place, an overwhelming surge of boundless power rushed through his limbs, making him want to unleash it on everything in sight.
An hour had passed since he first entered the Script, meaning the Flaming Sword had finished its cooldown. He pulled the ring, sending sparks flying as the blade heated to a searing, glowing red. With fluid, almost dance-like spins, he cleanly decapitated the Doppelgangers rushing toward him.
The Doppelgangers' aim could not even come close to tracking him. His physical capabilities had been elevated to the level of a monster, not to mention he had an actual monster fighting by his side. Witch pounced forward as well, tearing directly into the ranks of the Doppelgangers.
Bai Mu left the enemies outside to Witch, silently ordering her to slaughter as many of them as possible. If he actually managed to pull the final survivor out, they would need this exact exit to make their escape.
Without another word, Bai Mu charged right into the sea of fire. With Berserk active, he had gained an extra fifty percent Stamina overdraft limit.
Thanks to his mission map, he quickly located exactly where the final survivor was holed up.
The man was inside a fifth-floor apartment choked with thick smoke. The old sofa, mattress, and dining table were all engulfed in roaring flames.
It was a young man with rough skin, his face and the backs of his hands completely littered with scars. He stood there panting heavily, his back pressed against the wall, clutching a Flaming Sword identical to the one in Bai Mu's hand.
At his feet lay the twisted corpse of a Doppelganger. He had cleanly severed the arm and head of an elite Doppelganger, leaving charred marks along the cuts, but he had sustained grievous injuries in the process. Across his chest ran an incredibly deep gash, cut so thoroughly that the stark white of his ribs was fully exposed.
His forehead was drenched in sweat, and fresh blood had completely soaked through his shirt and pants. The remaining elite Doppelgangers and those secreting the grotesque slime had surrounded him on all sides. Curiously, they did not seem to have any intention of killing him right away. Instead, they pulled out pairs of handcuffs.
A slime-covered Doppelganger drew a handgun, taking deliberate aim at his legs and arms before pulling the trigger.
He managed a strained, desperate roll to evade the shots, but the effort drained the absolute last of his strength. He could no longer even maintain his grip on his weapon. With a loud clatter, the sword slipped from his fingers and hit the floor.
As if finally accepting his grim fate, he slumped powerlessly against the floor and looked down at his own chest.
Hanging there, amidst the hideous scars, was a rusty pocket knife. He lowered his head to gaze at the small blade, and for some inexplicable reason, a faint smile graced his lips. In that singular moment, to Bai Mu's eyes, the young man's face perfectly overlapped with another, much more innocent face from his memories.
Bai Mu suddenly realized that a very, very long time had truly passed.
While watching the Script's cinematic cutscenes, he had not felt much of a connection to reality. But seeing the grown-up version of someone he once knew, he finally, viscerally understood that what had felt like a mere fleeting moment to him had not been a simple moment at all.
That little boy who had once stood anxiously by the window, keeping watch, had truly grown up.
"Holding onto this knife might make you feel a little better."
On a dark night long, long ago, someone had once spoken those exact words to him.
The man grasped the knife resting against his chest. Then, pulling a handgun from his jacket, he pressed the muzzle directly against his own temple.
A Doppelganger lunged at him violently. He tried to squeeze the trigger at the exact same time, but in the end, that final bullet was never fired.
He saw a tall silhouette suddenly block his path. The Doppelganger that had lunged at him was cleaved right in two by a searing red blade. It was a literal bisection, sliced perfectly at the waist into a top and a bottom half.
"You've grown up, Leon."
It was a reassuring voice. Even after so many years, hearing that tone once again brought Leon an overwhelming sense of peace. He tilted his head up to stare at that broad back. The physical agony racking his body, the paralyzing fear of impending death... every single factor that brought him despair vanished without a trace in that very moment.