Chapter 811
Chapter 811
“Manager, it is as you anticipated. The location has been displayed. Additionally, it is not in Griffith Park!”
Inside a Tidal Fighter that was cruising through the sky, Tong You briskly made his way to the rear cabin. He looked at Jiang Long with admiration.
“Are you saying… you did not believe me until now?” Jiang Long looked at Tong You with a half-hearted smile.
Inside the cabin were over ten fully-armed Awakened ones. Every one of them gave off a look of dauntlessness. They were the elite members from Starfall Guild’s China branch.
“Of course not.” Tong You wiped his sweat and hastily shook his head. “Only… back then, many teams had gathered at Griffith Park while you insisted on leaving immediately. Actually, we…”
He turned to look at the other team members inside the cabin and continued with a smile, “… felt somewhat puzzled. Back then, we all thought that the final BOSS would be there.”
“If you fellows can make the right decisions, what’s the point in me being the manager?” Jiang Long responded with a faint smile. “Now, where are we?”
“There are five more minutes until we reach our destination. The one you mentioned…” Tong You checked it for a moment before saying, “Wickenburg.”
“Very good.” Jiang Long nodded.
“Then… where should we land?”
“No, we will not be landing.” Unexpectedly, Jiang Long shook his head. “We’ll just wait in the sky.”
“Wait?” Tong You grew surprised. “Wait for what?”
“Naturally, we’re waiting for…” Jiang Long revealed an enigmatic smile.
“Air Force One.”
“The aircraft used exclusively by the US President? He’ll come here? Manager, could it be you want me to… possess his body?” Tong You revealed a wry smile. “My skill has a range limit of only 50 metres. Additionally, I need to concentrate for five minutes. There must not be any interruptions. In the past, taking over Cao Cao’s body in an instance dungeon that uses cold weapons, it’s not that hard. But the US President…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll create an opportunity for you.” Jiang Long did not even look at Tong You. There was a calm look on his face.
“Alright…” Tong You thought about it uncertainly for a while before continuing to ask, “Just what is your battle plan this time? Can you tell me about it first? Also, I still don’t understand. Why did you, without contacting Meteor Rock Guild, secretly brought us into this instance dungeon?”
“Naturally…” Jiang Long played with a chip in his hand and he revealed an enigmatic smile again. “To kill them in advance!”
A gorgeous multi-coloured light flowed through the surface of the chip.
The light of Star Sand.
…
Theodore gasped for air as he sat on the ground.
Before him lay the corpses of over a hundred monsters. Some corpses were covered in blade wounds, some were burning fiercely and some were covered in frost.
Theodore’s body was also covered in scars.
“Fifty this time.” Aderick nodded satisfactorily. “Do you want to try more?”
“Forget it… I say, Guild Leader… in the beginning, we agreed on five. After I killed them, it became ten, then twenty… are you trying to kill me?” Theodore shook his head wearily as he brought out two Healing Beast Blood. “This is just a test. There is no need to fight to the very limit. Later, I might still need to face the other Players and Awakened ones in this instance dungeon. Let me save some stamina.”
“No need.” Aderick shook his head. “Also, keep the Healing Beast Blood.”
Theodore raised his head in surprise as he watched another mutant monster walked forward to stand before him.
The monster was over three metres tall, but it had no head. Most of its body parts were growing out from its huge belly. It staggered as it walked. Its coarse and uneven skin aside, it looked like a penguin somewhat.
On its huge belly was a big mouth.
“Go in.”
When the monster arrived before Theodore, Aderick pointed to the mouth on the monster’s belly. Then, the monster stood there and straightened its posture. Next, it opened its big mouth.
“Err.” Theodore looked at the big mouth. There were no teeth inside, only faint-yellow fluids flowing inside.
It looked very disgusting.
“Healing. It’s faster and more comprehensive compared to Healing Beast Blood,” Aderick said coolly.
Theodore clenched his teeth and nodded before entering the monster’s big mouth. After his whole body was inside the monster’s body, the big mouth quickly closed up and even more fluids were secreted. Like a cistern, the water level kept rising.
“Take a good rest. Don’t worry.” Even though he was inside the body of the mutant monster, he could still clearly hear Aderick’s voice. “You’ll be fine after a nap.”
Although the fluids appeared disgusting, when Theodore’s body was completely submerged in the fluids, he instead felt warmth enveloping his whole body. An itchy feeling came from the wounds he took earlier. And even though the fluids filled his mouth and nose, Theodore was surprised to find that it did not affect his breathing at all.
Amidst the feeling of warmth, his consciousness began to gradually blur.
…
Theodore slowly opened his eyes, as though he was waking up from a most beautiful dream.
The monster’s body had opened up and Aderick continued to stand before him.
“I… fell asleep just now?” Theodore shook his head and crawled out of the monster’s body.
“His fluids have an anaesthetic effect.” Aderick patted Theodore’s shoulder. Behind him stood a high number of mutant monsters. “Come, give it another try. This time, one hundred.”
“What?!” Theodore uttered with a bitter look. “Guild Leader, just now, facing fifty, I was already nearly…”
“Begin.” Without waiting for Theodore to finish talking, Aderick had already stepped backwards.
The mutant monsters behind him were already – like a tsunami – rushing towards Theodore.
Gritting his teeth, Theodore saw no other option but to pull out the dual blades on his waist.
Slash!
With one slash, the three monsters leading the charge were cut into six parts.
“This…”
Theodore was shocked.
The strength of these mutants, enhanced through the pupae, was on a completely different level compared to those who directly mutated from ordinary humans. In the previous fight against fifty of these mutants, killing all of them was already Theodore’s limit.
At present, however, Theodore found that killing these monsters had become much easier.
In but two minutes, the one hundred monsters had all fallen to the ground. Theodore, on the other hand, had not suffered from a single wound on his body.
“I…” Theodore lowered his head, looking at both his hands. “I grew stronger?”
“I gave you a genetic augmentation. In addition to healing you, it could also increase your physical attributes to a certain extent.” A smile appeared on Aderick’s face.
“Naturally, it is limited to basic attributes like speed and strength. It cannot affect the skills given by the system. However, the effects of this augmentation will be maximized for melee types like you.”
“I… I have been modified?” Theodore was shocked and he hastily lowered his head to check his body. “I’ve also become like those disgusting monsters?”
“Don’t worry. Naturally, you did not.” Aderick shook his head. “It just adjusted and augmented the genes that you already have. It did not inject the alien genes into you. Though, if that happens, the level of augmentation you’ll receive will not be limited to just this, but…”
By then, Theodore had confirmed that his appearance remained the same and he breathed a sigh of relief. He then raised his head, a somewhat lost look on his face.
“I can become even stronger? Then, why didn’t you do it? I… no, it’s we… we need power!”
“Injecting alien genes into you means that you will lose your mind. You will truly become like one of those things. Do not forget, I am the Species Lord.” Aderick gave Theodore a profound stare. “They are just tools. You, on the other hand, you are my teammate.”
“Don’t worry!” Seeing Theodore about to say something, Aderick walked forward to pat him on the shoulder. “This instance dungeon, it is our victory! Rather, there will be no need for the two of us to take action. These mutants alone are enough to deal with all the teams in this instance dungeon. Even in the future…”
Theodore looked at the corpses of the monsters around him and hesitated for a moment. “But earlier, I… killed a good number of them.”
Aderick raised his head skywards and laughed. “Theodore, do you still not have a good grasp of the current situation?”
Theodore shook his head blankly.
Aderick placed his hands on Theodore’s shoulders and looked straight into Theodore’s eyes. “Listen well, Theodore. Let me tell you what kind of power I now possess.”
“The area for this time’s instance dungeon covers the entire Greater Los Angeles region. This place has a population size of over 17 million. My spores have infected 99% of them all, injecting them with alien genes! Listen properly, that’s over 17 million!
“Due to the individual differences of their bodies, not all of them have mutated and a good number of them were killed by those who mutated. But regardless if it’s 10 million or 1 million, that number is already an astronomical number for the Awakened ones!
“Those basic mutants do not possess any special abilities, but their number – for any instance dungeon – can already be considered as… infinite!
“They can either become cannon fodder for intercepting and besieging the other teams or become nutrients for me to cultivate high-level mutants!”
Aderick then released his grip and turned around to face the valley. Numerous basic mutants were in the process of walking towards the heart. Farther ahead, with the nutrients provided by the heart, the pupae cultivated out an unending number of high-level mutants.
“The other Awakened teams and Player teams have already grouped up and are following the coordinates given by the system to come towards our location. However, it is impossible for them to arrive here! Do not forget, I can link my mind with the modified high-level mutants to see everything that’s happening in the battlefield. Following the state of the battlefield, I am also constantly adjusting the genes of the mutants. I’m feeling around for the most suitable gene fragments to implant and create a species most suited for battle. Soon enough, they will be drowned under a tidal wave of mutants. Not a single one would remain!”
Only then did Theodore noticed it. The monsters now emerging from the pupae possessed external appearances that he had never seen before. Additionally, they now have more distinctive characteristics.
“The adjustment process is pretty much complete. Five most suitable combinations have been determined.” Aderick stretched his hand to point at the mutant monsters below.
“Assault-type, assassin-type, sniper-type, ranged-type and flying-type. They… will take our place, wiping out all the other teams in this instance dungeon. And also… all our future enemies!”
“Theodore. From this moment onwards, everything will change.”
When Theodore heard those words from Aderick, his heart thumped as though a heavy hammer had struck his heart.
“In the past, in every instance dungeon we participated in, we’ve only engaged in battles. From this day onwards, it will be upgraded to become… wars!”
“Guild Leader…” Theodore looked down at the foot of the mountain. The mutants were like products coming out from a factory’s assembly line. Assuming a formation, they then marched forward. Seeing that made all the blood in his body boil.
But his surging emotions quickly turned to a mix of regret, unwillingness and rage. He then punched the ground furiously. “If… if back then…”
“If back then, I possess this power… Zero City will not be destroyed?” Aderick interrupted Theodore.
“You’re wrong, Theodore. That is impossible.”
“Why?” Theodore promptly jerked his head up. “With such a high number of mutants, why would we fear the Thorned Flower Guild? Why would we fear the Electronic Guardians?”
“Do not forget. Back then, Zero City’s gate was sealed off.” Aderick sighed softly. “The requirement for building an army of mutants is that we have enough NPCs to infect. Back then, we did not have such an opportunity.”
Theodore nodded dejectedly. In his excitement, he had overlooked that issue.
“No matter,” Aderick said softly. “Zero City’s destruction was indeed a very big blow to us. However, we have once again obtained an opportunity. We may never be able to get back Zero City, but at least…”
His voice turned as cold as ice. “At least, we have to return, stand before all the Awakened ones and Players, and tell them, not everyone from Zero City died. More, we will never die! And, in the face of our will for vengeance, be it Thorned Flower Guild or Shen… all will be utterly destroyed!”