Chapter 5: None of Them |
Trap! It's a trap!
Lin Shuman instantly understood, raising her dagger as she looked at the surrounding customers closing in. Trembling, she demanded, "What have you done to my brother and the research institute?!"
"I named my ability 'Desire Virus.'"
"Apart from making others have an uncontrollable craving for my body, its greatest effect is to parasitize the consumer and control their mind, making them another vessel for me."
"The only problem is, it must lie dormant in the host for three months—sounds long, doesn't it?"
"Lin Wu" laughed devilishly through the earpiece: "Unfortunately, it has been exactly three months since you captured my first parasitic host."
"And in just the first day, my parasite infected over twenty people. In an enclosed environment like the research institute, can you imagine how fast the infection spread? Hahahahaha..."
"Lin Wu" laughed, seemingly switching the earpiece to a public channel.
A chaotic mix of fighting and gunfire could be heard, indicating the fall of the third team and its affiliated research institute.
The so-called reinforcements waiting outside to assist her were nothing but a lie.
She retreated step by step, forcing herself to stay calm, trying to buy time: "So, this whole operation, from planning to execution, has been under your control, and the remaining uninfected people are just clowns in your eyes."
One of the female customers spoke in Fang Minmin's voice, smiling as she approached Lin Shuman: "That's right. But because Lin Wu's resistance was too strong, he even sealed off part of his self, so I couldn't fully access his memories. I only learned right before the operation that your ability is to erase your presence."
"The invisible you became the only uncertain factor."
She paused, then continued: "At least, until now."
Lin Shuman's pupils constricted as she understood their plan: "So, you tricked me into attacking head-on? Once you detect me, my ability breaks on its own."
Fang Minmin's smile grew eerie: "Stop stalling. The research institute is fully under my control."
"You carry no weapons other than a gun with special bullets and a dagger because your ability requires you to keep your body weight below 50kg to be effective."
"And your gun was taken by that guy..."
The customers closed in, their eyes like wolves eyeing their prey.
Lin Shuman kept retreating until she bumped into a table. She swallowed hard and shouted, "You know he took my gun. Aren't you afraid he'll kill your husband?!"
Data showed that Zhao Hong and Fang Minmin were a married couple before awakening their abilities.
And Zhao Hong was the dominant partner.
That’s why the plan assumed that once Zhao Hong was lured away, Fang Minmin would follow.
Fang Minmin's smile grew even brighter as she stepped forward and grabbed Lin Shuman's throat, tightening her grip slowly: "I don't know where that lunatic came from, but do you really think he can kill a pure physical enhancement ability user with just a few bullets?"
She saw clearly that the disruptor had no abilities! With Zhao Hong's strength, a few punches would turn him into mush.
More laughably, he had willingly swallowed her parasites, so many of them that with a single thought… nothing happened.
Fang Minmin's smile froze, turning into disbelief: "Impossible! How can my parasites… how can they not respond?!"
Her confidence suddenly vanished. She turned around sharply.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Gunshots rang out.
The mountain of flesh that was the chef fell with a wail.
——
"Roar——"
The roaring meat mountain closed in within the targeting view, moving unbelievably fast.
The chef's gaping maw revealed spiral teeth leading straight to the throat, covered in rotting meat. The foul breath felt almost tangible.
Tables and chairs shattered along the way, an unstoppable force like dark clouds ready to crush everything.
In just three seconds, the chef charged forward, eyes filled with pure malice and killing intent.
Five meters, three meters, one meter! He raised his massive arm, swinging a meter-long butcher knife, the blade like a crescent moon—
Guan Shan's heart pounded, ready to leap out of his throat, his hands trembling.
In this almost slow-motion scene, he finally saw the chef's marked weak spot! The silver blade slashed towards Guan Shan's head! "Bang!"
The gunshot rang out.
A spray of blood erupted.
"Roar—"
The chef howled in pain, dropping the knife, clutching his bleeding lower body.
"Bang! Bang!"
Guan Shan had no pity for a horror game BOSS that nearly killed him. He fired the last two bullets immediately.
Blood flowed like a waterfall, looking painful.
But Guan Shan, seeing the "-300" "-300" "-100" damage float up, felt only joy.
"Hitting the same spot has limited effect, but dropping from 1200 to 500 health is huge!"
Guan Shan, previously scared to death, now felt vindicated.
Strike while the iron is hot! He put the gun in his bag, bent down, and grabbed the butcher knife.
[Large Butcher Knife]
[Attack: 100]
[Description: A custom-made oversized knife, once used to skin lambs, leaving indelible bloodstains.]
"A new weapon already?"
The simulator auto-equipped it, adjusting his stance.
"A fixed attack of 100, meaning with luck and a critical hit, it might end the fight in one blow!"
Feeling victory close, Guan Shan walked to the fallen, wailing chef.
He flexed his fully healed arm, raised the butcher knife, aiming at the chef's exposed red-marked neck.
Guan Shan took a deep breath. Facing a human-shaped monster was different from killing chickens or ducks.
At the crucial moment, it wasn't easy to strike.
He encouraged himself: "Nothing to fear… it'll be over soon."
"It's just a game."
For better leverage, Guan Shan stepped on the chef's grotesque jaw, forcing it shut, and plunged the knife down.
400!
Critical hit!
The chef's struggles weakened, eyes wide, gasping harshly.
"Still has health?"
Guan Shan prepared for another strike.
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But then, a piercing scream sounded.
The customers suddenly went berserk, crawling towards him.
The waitress's face turned inside out, like unzipping, skin falling to reveal tentacles and a giant central eye.
Tentacle-laden appendages advanced like spider legs, reaching him in seconds, a sanity-draining sight.
Guan Shan's eyelids twitched, nearly stepping back: "Final stage BOSS summoning minions… troublesome."
But now his level was higher, and his equipment better.
With the main BOSS underfoot, no need to fear the minions! "Roar—"
The leading customer lunged at Guan Shan, mouth full of writhing tentacles.
Guan Shan swung the butcher knife upward.
"Slash!"
The blade pierced through the jaw, exiting the top of the head, a critical hit, skewering the level 3 customer.
[EXP +150]
Guan Shan kicked the lifeless body, sending several customers flying.
Some level 1 unlucky ones died instantly, hitting their heads.
[EXP +50]
"Such a level difference makes them fragile?"
Guan Shan's eyes lit up, seeing the minions as walking EXP.
With the unintelligent minions crowded together, Guan Shan calculated the angle, standing firm, and spun.
The butcher knife sliced through several customers' abdomens, spilling blood.
[EXP +100] [EXP +50] [EXP +50] [EXP +150]
[lv.5 → lv.6]
[Current EXP: 200/600]
[Current Health: 600]
The leveling-up chime rang as the waitress reached him.
Seeing the "lv.6, Health 400" label above her, Guan Shan shoved the corpses aside, exhaled, and faced her head-on.
"Your turn."
Guan Shan murmured, swinging the knife.
Blood dripped from the blade.
[EXP +50]
"Hmm? That's it?"
Guan Shan was puzzled, then saw a figure among the customers flash, becoming the waitress, marked as such.
He recalled the waitress's description—she's everywhere.
"So, she has clones!"
Realizing this, Guan Shan surveyed the area: "I'll have to clear all the minions."
——
Lin Shuman sat on the ground, coughing for a while before recovering.
She staggered up, seeing the carnage.
Nearby, Guan Shan decapitated another customer—or rather, a parasite.
He tossed the headless body aside, mumbling: "Not this one."
Then continued to the next.
With each kill, he murmured.
"Not this one… not this one… this one neither..."
Lin Shuman, terrified, covered her mouth and hid in a corner.
The earpiece suddenly crackled with Lin Wu’s weak, urgent voice: "Xiaoman! Xiaoman! What's your status? Reinforcements have arrived, breaking Fang Minmin’s control over non-deeply parasitized individuals. Evacuate the restaurant immediately. It's about to be purged violently!"
"Yes... understood!"
Lin Shuman nodded vigorously.
She noticed Fang Minmin's parasite was dead. Though unsure if Lin Wu's voice was genuine, she needed to leave the restaurant quickly.
Zhao Hong, barely alive, struggled desperately, his gaze filled with despair and bloodshot eyes.
So… was Guan Shan looking for Fang Minmin’s real body?
Seeing Zhao Hong's bloodshot eyes filled with desperation, and Guan Shan, drenched in blood and killing one by one, Lin Shuman shivered.
It suddenly dawned on her… Maybe this guy was torturing Zhao Hong.
In front of her husband, Guan Shan was methodically killing every potential host, trying to find Fang Minmin's true body, and then killing her.
There could be no greater torment than this. Was this guy avenging that punch?
But after searching the entire restaurant, killing all but two remaining minions, and collecting all the loot, Guan Shan still couldn't find the real waitress.
He thought for a moment and suddenly turned to stare at the barely breathing chef: "Eliminate all impossibilities, and whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth, right?"
Guan Shan walked over and delivered the final blow.
[EXP +1200]
[lv.7 → lv.8]
[Current EXP: 450/800]
[Current Health: 800]
The chef's eyes went completely dark. Simultaneously, his chest began to wriggle, countless tentacles bursting out, spreading everywhere.
But halfway through their spread, they lost vitality, turning into charred fragments that disintegrated and scattered.
The chef's heart was actually the waitress's "flesh nest."
[EXP +600]
[lv.8 → lv.9]
[Current EXP: 250/900]
[Current Health: 900]
[Final BOSS defeated]
[Simulation ending, this scene will be destroyed, please leave immediately]
[Countdown: 00:59]