"Magic infused mines? You mean by converting qi or blood energy to electricity? Is this form of electricity more powerful?" Zheng quickly asked for the details.
Xuan nodded. "Based on my analysis, this type of device requires two parts, the energy storage rule and the conversion to electricity rule. Upon converting the stored energy into electricity, it will release a powerful energy burst. The stone tablet calls it a powerful energy attack. Though how powerful is not certain."
Zheng slapped WangXia on the shoulder. "That's great. The next time we encounter a large group of enemies, these inexpensive mines will be the key to our victory. Xuan, make one to test it out. I also want to see if the energy storage rule is achievable."
Xuan waved his hand. "Unfortunately, it requires various materials to make the device. The stone platform from before was obsidian. Not all materials can trigger the effects of the symbols and characters. God probably has all these materials for exchange. May be slightly more expensive than regular materials but not far off. I have explained two of the rules. The last one anti-gravity is the basis for flying swords."
"Flying swords?" Everyone repeated simultaneously. WangXia's eyes were beaming. As someone who liked to read Xuanhuan novels, flying swords were two sensity words.
Xuan said. "Of course. Just think about it. Why did the Xians fly by standing on the swords in the legends? If they can remote control a sword to fly, it would be more flexible to just fly themselves. The answer is the flying swords contain an anti-gravity rule. When input energy into their swords remotely, the swords float and become a flying device. However, they don't have this rule on their bodies. Aside from this rule, I think there should be a few more on the swords. One is remote energy input. Two is energy encryption so that other people can't take over control. Three is attacks with attributes. They can let the sword convert their energy into other attributes for different effects. There might be more rules that's beyond what I can speculate."
Zheng smiled bitterly. "Well, you managed to put this legendary weapon into a scientific product. It sounds absurd but reasonable."
"Of course, there are things in this world that can't be explained with science, because our science is only a part of the world. However, nothing can't be explained. If it is, that's because we lack the knowledge." Xuan said calmly.
Zheng said. "Don't speak in such profound language. Only those who attempts to forcibly apply explanations seem foolish. We aren't doing that so we are self-aware. Anyway. Let's stay here for ten more days and see if we can dig anything else up. Then we will have five days to fly back to Cairo and go to Hamunaptra."
"Wait." Xuan stopped him. "I don't agree on reviving any members right now. Same reason as the last time. We need to save the points and rewards from this bonus mission for enhancements and weapons. Furthermore, we also need to use a part of the points for equipments and materials to test these rules. We don't have the points to revive members unless you ignore our lives, since we need enough strength to guarantee our safety in the next world. We can't revive anymore if we die."
Zheng paused for quite a while before he nodded slightly down. "I understand. Then we will decide on our exchanges after returning to God's dimension."
Most of what happens in the world don't follow our wills. Even though Zheng really wanted to revive his team members, he had no reason to refute Xuan's words. Just as Xuan had said, the five other people there also needed enhancements and exchanges. Not everyone was as strong as him and most movies still pose great dangers to them. Similarity, Zheng didn't want to lose anyone, be it his current comrades or those yet to be revived.
Ten days quickly passed. The stone fragment count increased by one. Though there was no new rule. It was filled with explanations on symbols. But Xuan was still satisfied. They saw that fanaticism on the emotionless man's face time and time again, which led to some degree of terror.
The team only had five days left after things were done in the ruins. To avoid any possible accidents, they decided to head back to Cairo on the same day, while the movie characters continued excavating the step pyramid. They indicated they would save the tablet fragments for Zheng's next arrival if they found any.
Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun left a few days ago. He obtained Indiana Jones's address from Evelyn and headed there with his lover. His desire for the holy grail was vivid. However, he indicated the deal was still in effect before leaving. If he couldn't find the holy grail or a way for eternal life, he would bring Anck-Su-Namun into the world of horror movies. It was only two movie's time so Zheng agreed and they would meet in Hamunaptra next time.
"What a world we live in. An archenemy from last time suddenly turned into a comrade. Even though he isn't too reliable but isn't this still miraculous?" Zheng said with a smile as they flew over the Atlantic Ocean in the evening.
The two Sky Sticks flew with one following the other. All six of them were quite excited. This adventure yielded a full harvest. The bonus mission was completed perfectly. The quest item came into their hands. And they obtained the knowledge to magic hidden under the pyramid. They felt as if they still hadn't woken up from the dream. This was a movie world where every adventure accompanies the possibility of death. Yet, they came as six and were returning as six plus a bunch of rewards.
"Let us continue working harder. We will keep growing stronger until one day every one of us can return to the real world!"
Yes. If we can keep growing stronger, everyone will be able to return. This was the thought within everyone in team China. Perhaps with one addition, to fight team Devil again.
They arrived in Cairo before long. Nothing special happened during the flight. The last few days in Cairo, Xuan oddly wasn't interested in fishing. He focused all his attention on the tablet fragments. Then Kampa, WangXia, and Zero started getting interested in fishing. Without the presence of the fishing demon, Zero's skills skyrocketed to his normal level. Kampa and WangXia just sighed. Time slowly passed in this leisure. The few days in Cairo came to an end. The half dreamy, half awake state brought them back to God's dimension.
A few days of resting had loosened up their tension. So as soon as they returned, everyone began their own training plans. However, during lunchtime, Xuan gathered everyone.
The team met inside Zheng's basement. Zheng turned the room into a weapon test site with an alloy ground. Xuan was the last to arrive. Without a word, he threw Zheng a Rubik's cube and said. "Channel your qi or blood energy into it."
Zheng took a good look at the cube and noticed the symbols and characters carved on it. He channeled his qi without another thought. A faint white light flashed across. A second later, he handed the cube back to Xuan. "It's full. Is this the energy storage device? It's pretty useless if the capacity is so low."
Xuan let out a sigh of relief. "No, this is a cheap product that only has a layer of mithril. The amount of energy stored has nothing to do with size but the symbols and characters combination. Which means if these symbols and characters are the size of a nanometer, you can carve tens of thousands on a ring. I am planning to make you two of those rings. However, mithril is expensive and nanometer size carvings require a lot of time. I have to test if the combinations actually work. Oh, what is the next movie? So I can make preparations in advance."
Zheng's expression turned serious as he looked at everyone. The others' hearts skipped a beat. They knew it was going to be something important. Zheng nodded and said. "I was planning to tell you tonight. Didn't expect you to gather everyone so early. Our next movie is Starship troopers. A military science fiction movie, very hard difficulty. Furthermore, we are having a team battle. However, I don't know whether we are fortunate or sigh. We are entering the movie late. God had determined us as stronger than the opposing team!"
Showing posts with label Vol 13. Vampiric Mask. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vol 13. Vampiric Mask. Show all posts
Chapter 16-1
Such an advance energy system from the Maya civilization shocked everyone. The movie characters might not understand the significance of this fact but the players realized the energy conversion and utilization within the step pyramid far surpassed technology of the twenty first century.
Imhotep’s reading speed was faster due to the light. Everyone got a rough idea of the purpose of the ruins. They then headed to the room with murals that depicted the history of the saints.
“After the saints died from the ten thousand years of lives, few who inherited their knowledge and powers ruled the civilizations located in each continent. They followed the wills of the saints and avoided wars with civilizations in other continents. Thus, one civilization in each continent survived. These knowledge and powers passed down generations after generations until people finally misused them.”
“In Asia and its surrounding lands, two sects appeared and fought each other for the remaining dozens of golden pills left by the saints. They called their sects Taoism and Buddhism. As a result, the civilization in Asia collapsed. Those who lived on the mountains nearly died off. All the golden pills were lost in the event. The new civilization only inherited a small part of the knowledge and powers. No more people resided on the mountains afterward. The locals called those who lived on the mountains, Xian.”
“In the continent of Babylon, two high level species created by the saints ruled the land. These two species had long opposed each other and finally a war started inside the saints’ laboratory, the Tower of Babel. As a result, these two species that had white and black wings, long life-spans but no reproductive ability disappeared along with the Tower of Babel. There was no successor to the civilization. The local who all died in the event called them Angel and Demon.”
“The saints from Africa and the saints from India followed the same theory to fuse the essences of life of humans with the essences of life of the monsters. The two essences came to a perfect fusion under the control of the saints and bore high level organisms that far surpassed humans. The locals called them Gods. Every God had a human body and an animal head. However, as the saints died off, so did the control over the essences of monsters. The Gods destroyed the civilization they were in. Thus, the Africa civilization and India civilization disappeared. Two new civilizations only inherited a small part of the knowledge and powers.”
“In the continent to the north, the saints discovered ways to control the essence of life through external means. However, these individuals had no control over their own bodies’ desires to evolve. Furthermore, the evolution was irreversible. As a result of these two critical flaws, the higher life forms destroyed achievements of the Maya civilization after the saints died. They also disappeared from history.”
Everyone listened to the lost history quietly. Imhotep read. “We document the truest history. Even after our bodies are gone, our spirits live with this passage and this land for eternity.”
Zheng sighed. “Is this the ending to the story? Even the saints who were like gods died. I can’t believe those magnificent civilizations ended up in such fates. Xuan, are you interested in these hieroglyphs?”
Xuan leaned over at the wall. He repeated Imhotep’s words and memorized the meaning of each hieroglyph. Evelyn was doing the same thing. Xuan replied without turning his head. “I got about a hundred hieroglyphs. Imhotep, reading more of it.”
Zheng smiled bitterly at Imhotep. He had no way to deal with Xuan during his lust for knowledge. So he said. “Let’s head to the crafting room. Hope we can find some surprises there.”
They easily found the crafting room in the depth of the ruins with Imhotep as a guide. Half the place had collapsed and the room was basically destroyed. They looked at the room and sighed. But Xuan was crawling through the broken stones quietly. When they were going to leave the ruins, he held out a little rock to Imhotep and asked. “What is the meaning of this hieroglyph?”
Imhotep took the rock and looked at the symbol. “No, this isn’t a hieroglyph. I don’t know what it represents. However, that half a glyph to its side seems like the word, light.”
Xuan took a deep breath after he heard it then said to Zheng. “Found it! This is our biggest treasure. Dig it out, dig the whole room out!”
What Xuan found was a stone tablet that explained the symbols and characters. This tablet was huge and shattered into rocks when the room collapsed. Some of the pieces were unable to be recovered. However, there were also some that were more complete. Xuan collected the rocks like treasures as soon as they found them.
Their days were busy afterward. In order to dig out the room as fast as possible, Zheng had no choice but to hire a group of laborers from the nearest town. He also hired a group of archaeologists. This took seven days due to the need for supplies and tools. Xuan, Evelyn, and Imhotep had no breaks in the time. Xuan had to analyze the meaning of the symbols and characters. Evelyn had to pick out the tablet from the rocks and attempt to piece them together. However, such a large task required the archaeologists to arrive. Imhotep had to translate the hieroglyphs. He was hugely puzzled when it came to specific nouns.
After all, their trip gained them way more than they expected. Zheng received 5000 points and a rank B reward. Everyone else received 4000 points and a rank C reward. One chance to experience the fifth stage after achieving the fourth stage, which might save the whole team in the future. The most valuable was these rocks. Even though they only repaired a corner of the tablet but the knowledge was enough to put them in daydreams.
“A lot of the rocks are beyond repair. We only retrieved 43 elementary rules for symbols and characters, 3 combination rules, elementary energy storage, energy conversion to elementary electricity, energy conversion to elementary anti-gravity. The rest are explanations. However, it also mentioned that there are seventeen such tablets in the Maya civilization. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough time or else we can search throughout the U.S. Some step pyramids are also underground so it further increases the scope of search.”
Xuan held the repaired tablet on his hands. “The elementary energy storage rule can store low level energies such as electricity, heat, light, qi, blood energy, psyche force, Nen, magic. However, it can’t store higher level energies like Xian energy or large quantities.”
The others didn’t totally follow. Zheng felt like he understood and asked. “So what is it for? Sounds like battery.”
Xuan smiled. “Uh. Let me describe it like this. How long does it take you to recover your qi and blood energy after you completely depleted them?”
Zheng thought for a moment and said. “Qi needs about three hours. Blood energy needs five hours. That’s the time if I don’t have one bit of energy left.”
Xuan nodded. “That’s right. In other words, you lose all combat capability when you use up all your energies. You can’t have your enemies wait several hours for you. Even though Destruction will stop due to limitation on your body, but what if you can stay in Explosion without limit? You exhausted all your energies but your body is still perfectly fine.”
Zheng nodded and got what Xuan meant. Xuan continued. “This is the purpose of the energy storage rule. The item created with the rule can store your qi and blood energy that goes back to your body when you need them. Which means you gain additional time in fights. The second rule allows WangXia to use magic infused mines.”
Imhotep’s reading speed was faster due to the light. Everyone got a rough idea of the purpose of the ruins. They then headed to the room with murals that depicted the history of the saints.
“After the saints died from the ten thousand years of lives, few who inherited their knowledge and powers ruled the civilizations located in each continent. They followed the wills of the saints and avoided wars with civilizations in other continents. Thus, one civilization in each continent survived. These knowledge and powers passed down generations after generations until people finally misused them.”
“In Asia and its surrounding lands, two sects appeared and fought each other for the remaining dozens of golden pills left by the saints. They called their sects Taoism and Buddhism. As a result, the civilization in Asia collapsed. Those who lived on the mountains nearly died off. All the golden pills were lost in the event. The new civilization only inherited a small part of the knowledge and powers. No more people resided on the mountains afterward. The locals called those who lived on the mountains, Xian.”
“In the continent of Babylon, two high level species created by the saints ruled the land. These two species had long opposed each other and finally a war started inside the saints’ laboratory, the Tower of Babel. As a result, these two species that had white and black wings, long life-spans but no reproductive ability disappeared along with the Tower of Babel. There was no successor to the civilization. The local who all died in the event called them Angel and Demon.”
“The saints from Africa and the saints from India followed the same theory to fuse the essences of life of humans with the essences of life of the monsters. The two essences came to a perfect fusion under the control of the saints and bore high level organisms that far surpassed humans. The locals called them Gods. Every God had a human body and an animal head. However, as the saints died off, so did the control over the essences of monsters. The Gods destroyed the civilization they were in. Thus, the Africa civilization and India civilization disappeared. Two new civilizations only inherited a small part of the knowledge and powers.”
“In the continent to the north, the saints discovered ways to control the essence of life through external means. However, these individuals had no control over their own bodies’ desires to evolve. Furthermore, the evolution was irreversible. As a result of these two critical flaws, the higher life forms destroyed achievements of the Maya civilization after the saints died. They also disappeared from history.”
Everyone listened to the lost history quietly. Imhotep read. “We document the truest history. Even after our bodies are gone, our spirits live with this passage and this land for eternity.”
Zheng sighed. “Is this the ending to the story? Even the saints who were like gods died. I can’t believe those magnificent civilizations ended up in such fates. Xuan, are you interested in these hieroglyphs?”
Xuan leaned over at the wall. He repeated Imhotep’s words and memorized the meaning of each hieroglyph. Evelyn was doing the same thing. Xuan replied without turning his head. “I got about a hundred hieroglyphs. Imhotep, reading more of it.”
Zheng smiled bitterly at Imhotep. He had no way to deal with Xuan during his lust for knowledge. So he said. “Let’s head to the crafting room. Hope we can find some surprises there.”
They easily found the crafting room in the depth of the ruins with Imhotep as a guide. Half the place had collapsed and the room was basically destroyed. They looked at the room and sighed. But Xuan was crawling through the broken stones quietly. When they were going to leave the ruins, he held out a little rock to Imhotep and asked. “What is the meaning of this hieroglyph?”
Imhotep took the rock and looked at the symbol. “No, this isn’t a hieroglyph. I don’t know what it represents. However, that half a glyph to its side seems like the word, light.”
Xuan took a deep breath after he heard it then said to Zheng. “Found it! This is our biggest treasure. Dig it out, dig the whole room out!”
What Xuan found was a stone tablet that explained the symbols and characters. This tablet was huge and shattered into rocks when the room collapsed. Some of the pieces were unable to be recovered. However, there were also some that were more complete. Xuan collected the rocks like treasures as soon as they found them.
Their days were busy afterward. In order to dig out the room as fast as possible, Zheng had no choice but to hire a group of laborers from the nearest town. He also hired a group of archaeologists. This took seven days due to the need for supplies and tools. Xuan, Evelyn, and Imhotep had no breaks in the time. Xuan had to analyze the meaning of the symbols and characters. Evelyn had to pick out the tablet from the rocks and attempt to piece them together. However, such a large task required the archaeologists to arrive. Imhotep had to translate the hieroglyphs. He was hugely puzzled when it came to specific nouns.
After all, their trip gained them way more than they expected. Zheng received 5000 points and a rank B reward. Everyone else received 4000 points and a rank C reward. One chance to experience the fifth stage after achieving the fourth stage, which might save the whole team in the future. The most valuable was these rocks. Even though they only repaired a corner of the tablet but the knowledge was enough to put them in daydreams.
“A lot of the rocks are beyond repair. We only retrieved 43 elementary rules for symbols and characters, 3 combination rules, elementary energy storage, energy conversion to elementary electricity, energy conversion to elementary anti-gravity. The rest are explanations. However, it also mentioned that there are seventeen such tablets in the Maya civilization. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough time or else we can search throughout the U.S. Some step pyramids are also underground so it further increases the scope of search.”
Xuan held the repaired tablet on his hands. “The elementary energy storage rule can store low level energies such as electricity, heat, light, qi, blood energy, psyche force, Nen, magic. However, it can’t store higher level energies like Xian energy or large quantities.”
The others didn’t totally follow. Zheng felt like he understood and asked. “So what is it for? Sounds like battery.”
Xuan smiled. “Uh. Let me describe it like this. How long does it take you to recover your qi and blood energy after you completely depleted them?”
Zheng thought for a moment and said. “Qi needs about three hours. Blood energy needs five hours. That’s the time if I don’t have one bit of energy left.”
Xuan nodded. “That’s right. In other words, you lose all combat capability when you use up all your energies. You can’t have your enemies wait several hours for you. Even though Destruction will stop due to limitation on your body, but what if you can stay in Explosion without limit? You exhausted all your energies but your body is still perfectly fine.”
Zheng nodded and got what Xuan meant. Xuan continued. “This is the purpose of the energy storage rule. The item created with the rule can store your qi and blood energy that goes back to your body when you need them. Which means you gain additional time in fights. The second rule allows WangXia to use magic infused mines.”
Chapter 15-2
"All corpses have been left rotting for about four days. I poured sufficient amount of gunpowder on each one and ignited them. Don't worry, I have control over the amount, the fire won't spread toward the wood nearby. The trees here are also rather moist so it's not likely to turn into a forest fire." WangXia said within the soul link.
The group had been in this village for a day. The villagers all turned into vampires when brown hair wore the mask and died along with brown hair's death. The village was now desolated. They were probably the first visitors in the past several days.
To prevent any possible plagues and also the smell of rotten corpses was not pleasant, Lan scanned for the corpses and WangXia burned them down with gunpowder. Then they headed toward the ruins.
"The archeological group didn't find the entrance in the beginning. They planned to break a way through. When they were digging the wall, they found that you just have to press this rock." Evelyn said and kicked a rock on the outer area of the ruins. The rock sunk down. Several rocks on its side moved away and exposed an entrance.
The players smiled. Kampa whistled and said. "What is this? Stone age automation? Haha. That's pretty cool."
Xuan stood underneath the step pyramid and stared at it. "Perhaps we found something valuable."
The others turned to him. Xuan adjusted his glasses then walked into the step pyramid. Evelyn quickly followed and the others right behind them.
Evelyn said as she walked. "Unfortunately, I am acquainted with Egyptian but not Maya script. I can only recognize about half the hieroglyphs. The rest are guesses. Even though the step pyramid is preserved very well but we still couldn't decipher the secrets within."
The inside was roomy. Due to the structure of this step pyramid, air could be ventilated between the stones. So the air was not stale at all. It was also not dim nor humid. There were no little bugs.
Zheng said. "This step pyramid is much cleaner than Egyptian pyramids. No bugs crawling all over the ground. Oh and Imhotep, do you know ancient symbols and characters and their rules? If you do, can tell us?"
Imhotep's mind was wandering off. He was looking until Zheng patted him on the shoulder. Then he turned his head around and took a breath. "Can you believe it? A civilization existed even before my time. That civilization created the step pyramid, the prototype of pyramids. After the civilization declined, the pharaoh thought using pyramids for rituals was too wasteful and they admired the magnificence. Under the encouragement of a high priest, the pharaoh altered the pyramids' shape and turned them into tombs. The earlier pyramids are only used for rituals, just like this Mayan pyramid."
"Although I was a high priest, the usage of these characters and symbols have been lost. The two books you have only recorded their usage but not meanings because Egyptian pyramids had changed in shapes and purpose."
Zheng immediately asked. "You mean we can find the meanings and rules of the characters and symbols in this step pyramid?"
As Zheng was talking, Imhotep stopped in front of a wall. He began reading out the glyphs in a language unknown to everyone else. The others also stopped. Xuan ran over to Imhotep and entered the unlocked mode.
Imhotep finished reading the wall then pointed toward a corridor. "The record keeping room is over there. This way is a room that contains the remains of the devil. Behind the wall is a stargazing room. Behind the other wall over there is the energy storage room and control room. That way is the crafting room."
Xuan's fingers moved over the glyphs. He repeated every line after Imhotep. When Imhotep mentioned crafting room, he suddenly said. "The person with tools represent crafting? Then what about the person covered in a strange thin layer right after?"
Imhotep explained. "The combination of these two means crafting of tools. It requires the crafter and the user."
Xuan pondered for a moment then turned to Zheng. "Do you think this looks like you? These person covered in a strange layer looks like when you covered yourself in qi or blood energy. If these tools are energy converting weapons, in other words magical weapons, does it mean this place can craft such weapons?"
Imhotep walked over to a smooth wall. He searched on the wall with his hand and finally pressed a section inward. However, nothing happened afterward, as if that section was nothing important.
Imhotep said with a confused look. "Maybe the mechanism is broken. The wall can't open the door."
Zheng shrugged. "Or maybe it ran out of energy since the ruins are several thousand years old. You also mentioned an energy storage room and control room so this door isn't totally mechanical. Let's go. We will check out the energy storage room and control room."
They followed the direction on the wall. Xuan and Evelyn was the most excited of the bunch. Actually, Xuan was in a craze while Evelyn was simply excited. The two kept inquiring Imhotep about the glyphs. Imhotep answered patiently. Zheng had to change the topic. "So how do you know the Mayan script? There wasn't any contact between Egypt and Maya."
Imhotep said with pride. "I was a high priest. The high priest of each generation raised a group of monks then selected the most learned and smartest one to teach. Only when this monk mastered all the knowledge passed down from generations would he be able to inherit the position as high priest. We were different from pharaohs in that our position was not inherited by blood but by knowledge."
Zheng then realized why the most beautiful woman of Egypt at the time liked Imhotep. Imhotep was also a brave warrior in history. His knowledge and handsome appearance were attractive at the time and even in modern age.
Imhotep continued. "Within the knowledge passed down to us, there were several areas that used hieroglyphs. One of them used Chinese hieroglyphs. I saw some bronze antiques that was said to be from the Shang Dynasty in museums while in the U.S., I can recognize most of the glyphs on them."
WangXia and Zheng's expressions turned cold. After some time, Zheng smiled bitterly. "Such irony that you saw our things in the U.S. Forget it, let's keep going."
Imhotep was confused and asked Xuan. "Did I say something wrong? That was certainly Chinese hieroglyphs."
Xuan shook his head. "No, the issue is with the matter itself. Back to what you were talking about. The knowledge you inherited contains scripts from several civilizations of various locations. Can we assume that those who passed down this knowledge once came in contact and all agreed to leave the keys to the civilizations within each other? So that when people find ruins of these civilizations in the future, they can use these keys to recreate the glory of the civilizations?"
Xuan muttered to himself, not looking for any answer. They continued heading forward until they reached an end. Imhotep began searching the walls. After some time, he pointed at a smooth wall and said. "The energy storage room and control room is behind this wall. But how are we going to enter it?"
Everyone turned to Zheng simultaneously. He was aware of it and walked to the wall. He placed both hands on the wall. Since he didn't know how thick it was or if there were writings on the other side, he had to use a stupid method to break in. The spear might damage important material behind.
Qi channeled to his hands and shattered the rocks into sand little by little. His hands gradually sunk into the wall. A minute later, his hands reached the other side. Behind the wall was a dark room.
Now that it was confirmed the other side was empty and the wall wasn't too thick or tough, Zheng focused his qi and smashed the wall with his fist. He broke through the wall in just a few punches.
Everyone held their torches in and observed the room. In the center was a smooth stone pillar. Next to the pillar were several stone platforms. The platforms seemed normal aside from an indent where one could place their hands.
Further in were just ruins. The stone pillars in the back were collapsed. They couldn't see the other half of the room. Maybe an earthquake or something else destroyed it. This stone pillar and the surrounding platforms were the only items intact.
Zheng walked around the pillar then looked at the platforms carefully. Due to the golden mask, he looked for symbols and characters on the platforms and indeed, there were symbols and characters carved all over. The hand shape indents were the size of an adult hand.
Xuan also studied the pillar and platforms. After some time, he turned to Zheng. "Do you want to make the bet? The probability is fifty fifty. Either we live or die."
Zheng smiled. This was what he said to Xuan the other night. He took a deep breath and stood in front of a platform. Then he placed his hands on the indents. As he channeled his qi, the point of contact between the stone platform and his hand glowed in a golden light. This light spread through the symbols and characters into the stone pillar. Finally, a golden liquid flowed onto the stone pillar. The pillar emitted a soft golden light. At the same time, the step pyramid was trembling. The crevices within the walls also glowed.
The group had been in this village for a day. The villagers all turned into vampires when brown hair wore the mask and died along with brown hair's death. The village was now desolated. They were probably the first visitors in the past several days.
To prevent any possible plagues and also the smell of rotten corpses was not pleasant, Lan scanned for the corpses and WangXia burned them down with gunpowder. Then they headed toward the ruins.
"The archeological group didn't find the entrance in the beginning. They planned to break a way through. When they were digging the wall, they found that you just have to press this rock." Evelyn said and kicked a rock on the outer area of the ruins. The rock sunk down. Several rocks on its side moved away and exposed an entrance.
The players smiled. Kampa whistled and said. "What is this? Stone age automation? Haha. That's pretty cool."
Xuan stood underneath the step pyramid and stared at it. "Perhaps we found something valuable."
The others turned to him. Xuan adjusted his glasses then walked into the step pyramid. Evelyn quickly followed and the others right behind them.
Evelyn said as she walked. "Unfortunately, I am acquainted with Egyptian but not Maya script. I can only recognize about half the hieroglyphs. The rest are guesses. Even though the step pyramid is preserved very well but we still couldn't decipher the secrets within."
The inside was roomy. Due to the structure of this step pyramid, air could be ventilated between the stones. So the air was not stale at all. It was also not dim nor humid. There were no little bugs.
Zheng said. "This step pyramid is much cleaner than Egyptian pyramids. No bugs crawling all over the ground. Oh and Imhotep, do you know ancient symbols and characters and their rules? If you do, can tell us?"
Imhotep's mind was wandering off. He was looking until Zheng patted him on the shoulder. Then he turned his head around and took a breath. "Can you believe it? A civilization existed even before my time. That civilization created the step pyramid, the prototype of pyramids. After the civilization declined, the pharaoh thought using pyramids for rituals was too wasteful and they admired the magnificence. Under the encouragement of a high priest, the pharaoh altered the pyramids' shape and turned them into tombs. The earlier pyramids are only used for rituals, just like this Mayan pyramid."
"Although I was a high priest, the usage of these characters and symbols have been lost. The two books you have only recorded their usage but not meanings because Egyptian pyramids had changed in shapes and purpose."
Zheng immediately asked. "You mean we can find the meanings and rules of the characters and symbols in this step pyramid?"
As Zheng was talking, Imhotep stopped in front of a wall. He began reading out the glyphs in a language unknown to everyone else. The others also stopped. Xuan ran over to Imhotep and entered the unlocked mode.
Imhotep finished reading the wall then pointed toward a corridor. "The record keeping room is over there. This way is a room that contains the remains of the devil. Behind the wall is a stargazing room. Behind the other wall over there is the energy storage room and control room. That way is the crafting room."
Xuan's fingers moved over the glyphs. He repeated every line after Imhotep. When Imhotep mentioned crafting room, he suddenly said. "The person with tools represent crafting? Then what about the person covered in a strange thin layer right after?"
Imhotep explained. "The combination of these two means crafting of tools. It requires the crafter and the user."
Xuan pondered for a moment then turned to Zheng. "Do you think this looks like you? These person covered in a strange layer looks like when you covered yourself in qi or blood energy. If these tools are energy converting weapons, in other words magical weapons, does it mean this place can craft such weapons?"
Imhotep walked over to a smooth wall. He searched on the wall with his hand and finally pressed a section inward. However, nothing happened afterward, as if that section was nothing important.
Imhotep said with a confused look. "Maybe the mechanism is broken. The wall can't open the door."
Zheng shrugged. "Or maybe it ran out of energy since the ruins are several thousand years old. You also mentioned an energy storage room and control room so this door isn't totally mechanical. Let's go. We will check out the energy storage room and control room."
They followed the direction on the wall. Xuan and Evelyn was the most excited of the bunch. Actually, Xuan was in a craze while Evelyn was simply excited. The two kept inquiring Imhotep about the glyphs. Imhotep answered patiently. Zheng had to change the topic. "So how do you know the Mayan script? There wasn't any contact between Egypt and Maya."
Imhotep said with pride. "I was a high priest. The high priest of each generation raised a group of monks then selected the most learned and smartest one to teach. Only when this monk mastered all the knowledge passed down from generations would he be able to inherit the position as high priest. We were different from pharaohs in that our position was not inherited by blood but by knowledge."
Zheng then realized why the most beautiful woman of Egypt at the time liked Imhotep. Imhotep was also a brave warrior in history. His knowledge and handsome appearance were attractive at the time and even in modern age.
Imhotep continued. "Within the knowledge passed down to us, there were several areas that used hieroglyphs. One of them used Chinese hieroglyphs. I saw some bronze antiques that was said to be from the Shang Dynasty in museums while in the U.S., I can recognize most of the glyphs on them."
WangXia and Zheng's expressions turned cold. After some time, Zheng smiled bitterly. "Such irony that you saw our things in the U.S. Forget it, let's keep going."
Imhotep was confused and asked Xuan. "Did I say something wrong? That was certainly Chinese hieroglyphs."
Xuan shook his head. "No, the issue is with the matter itself. Back to what you were talking about. The knowledge you inherited contains scripts from several civilizations of various locations. Can we assume that those who passed down this knowledge once came in contact and all agreed to leave the keys to the civilizations within each other? So that when people find ruins of these civilizations in the future, they can use these keys to recreate the glory of the civilizations?"
Xuan muttered to himself, not looking for any answer. They continued heading forward until they reached an end. Imhotep began searching the walls. After some time, he pointed at a smooth wall and said. "The energy storage room and control room is behind this wall. But how are we going to enter it?"
Everyone turned to Zheng simultaneously. He was aware of it and walked to the wall. He placed both hands on the wall. Since he didn't know how thick it was or if there were writings on the other side, he had to use a stupid method to break in. The spear might damage important material behind.
Qi channeled to his hands and shattered the rocks into sand little by little. His hands gradually sunk into the wall. A minute later, his hands reached the other side. Behind the wall was a dark room.
Now that it was confirmed the other side was empty and the wall wasn't too thick or tough, Zheng focused his qi and smashed the wall with his fist. He broke through the wall in just a few punches.
Everyone held their torches in and observed the room. In the center was a smooth stone pillar. Next to the pillar were several stone platforms. The platforms seemed normal aside from an indent where one could place their hands.
Further in were just ruins. The stone pillars in the back were collapsed. They couldn't see the other half of the room. Maybe an earthquake or something else destroyed it. This stone pillar and the surrounding platforms were the only items intact.
Zheng walked around the pillar then looked at the platforms carefully. Due to the golden mask, he looked for symbols and characters on the platforms and indeed, there were symbols and characters carved all over. The hand shape indents were the size of an adult hand.
Xuan also studied the pillar and platforms. After some time, he turned to Zheng. "Do you want to make the bet? The probability is fifty fifty. Either we live or die."
Zheng smiled. This was what he said to Xuan the other night. He took a deep breath and stood in front of a platform. Then he placed his hands on the indents. As he channeled his qi, the point of contact between the stone platform and his hand glowed in a golden light. This light spread through the symbols and characters into the stone pillar. Finally, a golden liquid flowed onto the stone pillar. The pillar emitted a soft golden light. At the same time, the step pyramid was trembling. The crevices within the walls also glowed.
Chapter 15-1
"Obtained quest item Mask of Evolution. Users who unlocked the fourth stage can experience the fifth stage once. Users at the third unlocked stage and below will lose control of his DNA. No other limitation."
Zheng held the golden mask in his hand. The mask glowed with a faint yellow light after they put back the fallen fragment. It was easy to tell this wasn't some normal mask as a careful look revealed the mysterious symbols and characters carved on the mask. When Zheng tried to channel qi and blood energy into the mask, it glowed in a golden light. However, there was no other effect.
Xuan was very curious about the mask. He had Zheng channeled qi into it while he studied the mask with a magnifying glass. He even entered the unlocked mode to aid his observation. After quite a while, he said to Zheng. "My speculations are correct. See the symbols and characters on the mask? They are similar to circuits in electronics. But these symbols are more systematic and more efficient. Circuits is a technology based on eletricity. This mask is a technology based on energy emitted by a human."
Zheng and the others were baffled. Xuan held the mask up to Zheng and said. "Enter your unlocked mode and observe carefully. Channel your qi into it bit by bit."
Zheng picked it up and channeled his qi. The mask instantly emitted a golden glowed again. The point where his fingers touched the mask emitted a white light instead. This white light moved through the symbols and characters then became absorbed into the carvings. These symbols and characters then lighted up again in a golden glow.
"Get it? Electronic components convert eletricity into signals. These symbols and characters convert your qi into another form of energy. The Spear of Osiris follows the same idea except that it performs this conversion inside the spear while the mask performs it on the outside." Xuan said with fanatism. His expression scared everyone around him since only one or two people here had seen him in this state.
They looked at each other and obviously no one actually understood him. Zheng waved his hand and said. "But what does this represent? I am not familiar with the technical aspects. Just get to the point."
Xuan wasn't irritated at all. He took over the mask. "It means once we grasp this energy conversion, we are 10% toward becoming a saint. Maybe a little less. However, it's still a large step. Let me make a comparison. Qi, blood energy, and even psyche force can be exchanged from God. Although the higher tier energies require training, every one of us can obtain some form of energy. Once we have this energy conversion, it will be like having an eletronic product with a power generator."
Their expressions looked totally confused. Xuan sighed. "A mortal's wisdom. The Spear of Osiris converts qi and blood energy into a destructive force. I observed the attributes of this force. It disintergrates an object at the atomic level upon contact. If we cracked the symbols and characters within the spear, we will be able to not only clone it but also create Gun of Osiris, Cannon of Osiris. As long as there's qi and blood energy for the conversion, these weapons will be possible."
"Another example is the Xiuzhen items like flying swords and magical gadgets. You can view them as items using different froms of energy conversion. The flying sword utilizes anti-gravity, psyche force for remote control, destructive energy, and self-replication in some legendary techniques that can cast endless flying swords. The gadgets are independent conversions to fire or ice or gravity or dimensional forces. This is a form of science. The science of energy conversion."
Xuan continued fanatically. "Now you should get it. Once we grasp these symbols and characters and can put them into meaningful arrangements, we can create magical items. I can finally be certain that magical items are all advanced technological products."
They were sweating as they watched Xuan speak without a pause. Jonathan whispered to Zheng. "He looks scary. He's just like when the current Germany president is giving a speech. Are you sure he's not a threat to us?"
Zheng smiled bitterly. "Well there isn't any special threat to speak of. It's rare to see him in this state. So it isn't a bad thing."
The group stayed in the hospital for three days total. O'Connell's arm still needed to be bandaged. Everyone else had completely recovered. Even though Zheng's injury was the worst but he recovered the quickest. The dragon's cells in addition to the vampire genetics pushed his rate of recovery near the level of trolls. Of course, that was still quite a way from the monster.
After three days, they discussed a bit and decided to head toward the Mayan ruins. There were still thirty days left in this world but who knew what would happen in the ruins. So it was best to go there first. To their surprise, Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun also decided to join them.
Imhotep smiled at their confusion. "I lived in a different time than you. I used to think Egypt is the center of all civilizations. It wasn't until I revived did I learn there is an ancient civilization in every continent. I am also quite interested in the saints. Perhaps the Egyptian civilization at my time was also remains of these saints."
They didn't have any special dislike or worry about Imhotep joining. They had changed their views toward the two after the fight. For one, Imhotep helped them a lot during the fight. If he didn't carried Alex away, Zheng wouldn't be able to fight with all his strength. Second, Anck-Su-Namun had a sharp tongue but wasn't a woman without reason. She just didn't get along with others too well. Their fight against the monster together close the distance between her and the others. Even Evelyn could talk a bit with her.
The group was increased to eleven people excluding the boy. O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and Anck-Su-Namun sat in a basket. Zero, Lan, Kampa, and Wangxia in the other. Zheng and Xuan piloted the Sky Sticks. Imhotep flew by himself as a sandstorm. They spread the weight evenly so the Sky Sticks could fly at similar speeds.
"The ruins weren't discovered before because they are located deep inside a canyon in a forest. An earthquake not long ago exposed the canyon. The villagers nearby then found the pyramid. Evidence from our archaeological studies show that the ruins are from 5000 years ago, thousands of years earlier than what we believed about the Mayan civilization."
During the flight on the Sky Stick, Evelyn explained the ruins to everyone. Her voice couldn't reach the other Sky Stick but soul link solved this issue. Lan connected with Evelyn and repeated what was said.
Evelyn sounded a little depressed. "There was a small village of native Americans outside the pyramid. The monster was originally a person of this village, a kind old man. But the mask transformed him into that cruel monster. He turned everyone in the village into vampires, even his eight year old granddaughter."
They were also upset upon hearing this and didn't know what to say. Lan comforted her through the soul link. As the Sky Stick continued flying ahead, a little village came into view. In the forest beyond the village, a part of the pyramid also came into their sight.
Zheng held the golden mask in his hand. The mask glowed with a faint yellow light after they put back the fallen fragment. It was easy to tell this wasn't some normal mask as a careful look revealed the mysterious symbols and characters carved on the mask. When Zheng tried to channel qi and blood energy into the mask, it glowed in a golden light. However, there was no other effect.
Xuan was very curious about the mask. He had Zheng channeled qi into it while he studied the mask with a magnifying glass. He even entered the unlocked mode to aid his observation. After quite a while, he said to Zheng. "My speculations are correct. See the symbols and characters on the mask? They are similar to circuits in electronics. But these symbols are more systematic and more efficient. Circuits is a technology based on eletricity. This mask is a technology based on energy emitted by a human."
Zheng and the others were baffled. Xuan held the mask up to Zheng and said. "Enter your unlocked mode and observe carefully. Channel your qi into it bit by bit."
Zheng picked it up and channeled his qi. The mask instantly emitted a golden glowed again. The point where his fingers touched the mask emitted a white light instead. This white light moved through the symbols and characters then became absorbed into the carvings. These symbols and characters then lighted up again in a golden glow.
"Get it? Electronic components convert eletricity into signals. These symbols and characters convert your qi into another form of energy. The Spear of Osiris follows the same idea except that it performs this conversion inside the spear while the mask performs it on the outside." Xuan said with fanatism. His expression scared everyone around him since only one or two people here had seen him in this state.
They looked at each other and obviously no one actually understood him. Zheng waved his hand and said. "But what does this represent? I am not familiar with the technical aspects. Just get to the point."
Xuan wasn't irritated at all. He took over the mask. "It means once we grasp this energy conversion, we are 10% toward becoming a saint. Maybe a little less. However, it's still a large step. Let me make a comparison. Qi, blood energy, and even psyche force can be exchanged from God. Although the higher tier energies require training, every one of us can obtain some form of energy. Once we have this energy conversion, it will be like having an eletronic product with a power generator."
Their expressions looked totally confused. Xuan sighed. "A mortal's wisdom. The Spear of Osiris converts qi and blood energy into a destructive force. I observed the attributes of this force. It disintergrates an object at the atomic level upon contact. If we cracked the symbols and characters within the spear, we will be able to not only clone it but also create Gun of Osiris, Cannon of Osiris. As long as there's qi and blood energy for the conversion, these weapons will be possible."
"Another example is the Xiuzhen items like flying swords and magical gadgets. You can view them as items using different froms of energy conversion. The flying sword utilizes anti-gravity, psyche force for remote control, destructive energy, and self-replication in some legendary techniques that can cast endless flying swords. The gadgets are independent conversions to fire or ice or gravity or dimensional forces. This is a form of science. The science of energy conversion."
Xuan continued fanatically. "Now you should get it. Once we grasp these symbols and characters and can put them into meaningful arrangements, we can create magical items. I can finally be certain that magical items are all advanced technological products."
They were sweating as they watched Xuan speak without a pause. Jonathan whispered to Zheng. "He looks scary. He's just like when the current Germany president is giving a speech. Are you sure he's not a threat to us?"
Zheng smiled bitterly. "Well there isn't any special threat to speak of. It's rare to see him in this state. So it isn't a bad thing."
The group stayed in the hospital for three days total. O'Connell's arm still needed to be bandaged. Everyone else had completely recovered. Even though Zheng's injury was the worst but he recovered the quickest. The dragon's cells in addition to the vampire genetics pushed his rate of recovery near the level of trolls. Of course, that was still quite a way from the monster.
After three days, they discussed a bit and decided to head toward the Mayan ruins. There were still thirty days left in this world but who knew what would happen in the ruins. So it was best to go there first. To their surprise, Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun also decided to join them.
Imhotep smiled at their confusion. "I lived in a different time than you. I used to think Egypt is the center of all civilizations. It wasn't until I revived did I learn there is an ancient civilization in every continent. I am also quite interested in the saints. Perhaps the Egyptian civilization at my time was also remains of these saints."
They didn't have any special dislike or worry about Imhotep joining. They had changed their views toward the two after the fight. For one, Imhotep helped them a lot during the fight. If he didn't carried Alex away, Zheng wouldn't be able to fight with all his strength. Second, Anck-Su-Namun had a sharp tongue but wasn't a woman without reason. She just didn't get along with others too well. Their fight against the monster together close the distance between her and the others. Even Evelyn could talk a bit with her.
The group was increased to eleven people excluding the boy. O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and Anck-Su-Namun sat in a basket. Zero, Lan, Kampa, and Wangxia in the other. Zheng and Xuan piloted the Sky Sticks. Imhotep flew by himself as a sandstorm. They spread the weight evenly so the Sky Sticks could fly at similar speeds.
"The ruins weren't discovered before because they are located deep inside a canyon in a forest. An earthquake not long ago exposed the canyon. The villagers nearby then found the pyramid. Evidence from our archaeological studies show that the ruins are from 5000 years ago, thousands of years earlier than what we believed about the Mayan civilization."
During the flight on the Sky Stick, Evelyn explained the ruins to everyone. Her voice couldn't reach the other Sky Stick but soul link solved this issue. Lan connected with Evelyn and repeated what was said.
Evelyn sounded a little depressed. "There was a small village of native Americans outside the pyramid. The monster was originally a person of this village, a kind old man. But the mask transformed him into that cruel monster. He turned everyone in the village into vampires, even his eight year old granddaughter."
They were also upset upon hearing this and didn't know what to say. Lan comforted her through the soul link. As the Sky Stick continued flying ahead, a little village came into view. In the forest beyond the village, a part of the pyramid also came into their sight.
Chapter 14-2
“This answer is pretty simple. Where do our energy come from?” Zheng smiled at the other people. “A normal human and even us rely on food for energy. I don’t think any human can use photosynthesis.”
“That was why we would eat a big meal after returning to God’s dimension every time. It is the same as eating more when you are exhausted. Though there are special cases such as my qi and blood energy. These two energies support my Explosion and Destruction abilities. I can’t use the abilities with only my physical body. The energy expenditure will turn me into a skeleton in a few seconds.”
Zheng laughed and continued. “In the same reasons, an organism, let’s assume the monster is an organism that’s beyond our imagination, can’t have an infinite amount of energy. My qi and blood energy will also get depleted. So without qi or blood energy, he had to sustain himself from the energy of his cells. Even though these cells can absorb food from outside the body, but what if I don’t give him the time to do so? Once he reaches the level of Destruction, the energy expenditure will consume him immediately. Plus, if his other cells evolve simultaneously, all of those cells, including the ones inside Alex will be consumed in under ten seconds.”
“I think the monsters from the Mayan civilization were wiped by the same reason. This kind of evolution is irreversible and none selective. When their only goal is to grow stronger, they will eventually end up as beings not suitable for survival. I have to admit that they are powerful, way beyond human imaginations, and unkillable. But never ending evolution will only have one consequence, the cells cannot sustain the power and die. I merely shortened this time to less than a minute.”
This was the best hospital in NYC. They rented the best rooms to recuperate. Zheng wasn’t the only one that was injured critically. Everyone else took various degrees of injuries. The worst was O’Connell. He had to protect his wife and one of his arms got dislocated by a vampire.
The injuries weren’t heavy because Xuan reacted in time and with incredible methods. He didn’t run to the park like Zheng said. He led everyone to the roof of the hotel while Wangxia bombed the stairs in his order. Most vampires couldn’t get to the top. Only the larger ones could climb the wall and was quickly shot off. That was how they defended until Imhotep’s arrival. No one suffered fatal injuries.
After the fight, they stayed in this hospital. Those who didn’t take any damage began to look for the golden mask at where the monster stayed.
Zheng asked Evelyn. “How is Alex? He’s going to be a grand adventurer when he grows up, having gotten into such dangers with us when he’s still so young. Haha.”
Evelyn’s eyes reddened but she was smiling. “Right. There aren’t any major side effects. We found the cells that were injected in his chest. Those cells are dead and leaked out in a pus. We thought he was turned at the time but fortunately not. These cells died so fast that he didn’t get infected. Thank you and your team, Zheng.”
Zheng laughed. “No need to say this. Aren’t we comrades that fought together? Do you have to be so polite to your comrades? Haha. We just need you to come with us to the Mayan ruins in a few days.”
Evelyn nodded. Her adventurer soul was activated again and her eyes gleaming. “Yeah. It was a rush last time. I have to take a closer look this time.”
“Right. Right!” Jonathan’s eyes were also gleaming, with gold. “We have to take a closer look at the things inside. I heard the word gold is written all over the walls.”
O’Connell said. “It’s golden mask ok? Stop ignoring the word mask!”
Jonathan laughed. “Fine, fine. Aren’t golden mask gold too?”
Zheng interjected. “They don’t seem like the same. Anyway, let’s head to the ruins together.”
Evelyn said. “I also heard my professor mention about a holy grail somewhere in the U.S. It was said the liquid from the holy grail can evolve human into higher level organisms and grant eternal life. My professor heard the story from a man called Indiana Jones. Not sure if this is true but is anyone interested? We can search for the holy grail instead.”
Everyone shivered as they heard the term higher level organism. They continued their conversation and ignored Evelyn as she panicked.
Though Imhotep got curious and asked. “Your professor really said the liquid from the grail grants eternal life? Are you sure the thing is inside the U.S.?”
Evelyn nodded immediately. “Right. Right. I don’t know if it is true but I will search for this Indiana Jones with the clues my professor gave me then ask him for the location of the holy grail. Even if the grail is fake I would confirm that it’s fake. Are you interested in the holy grail?”
Imhotep nodded. “I am actually interested. If we can find this holy grail, I want to see if it will grand eternal life.”
Zheng sighed. “So that means our deal is voided? You’re not planning to enter God’s dimension?”
Imhotep hesitated for a while before he made the decision. “I don’t know if Anck-Su-Namun will have to enter battles with me. If all the worlds you go into are as dangerous as this time, I won’t enter it now. I have to search for the holy grail first. If it doesn’t grant eternal life to Anck-Su-Namun, I will wait for you in Egypt to enter God’s dimension with you. You swear there is a pill that will grant eternal life in the dimension?”
Zheng nodded. “Right. I swear there’s this pill but it costs a lot of points and ranked rewards. The monster we defeated this time only gives me 5000 points and a rank B reward, which is not enough to buy the pill. But I think your undying body and magic can allow you to earn points easily. You sure you are not coming back with us?”
Imhotep hesitated again before he said. “In order to guarantee her safety, I have to test every method in this world first. If nothing really works, I will consider entering God’s dimension. How about this, three years. I will give you a reply in three years.”
Zheng estimated the time. One movie was close to two years in this world so it meant they could get Imhotep to join in at most two more worlds. They had to wait for quite some time but the addition of him would give them a boost in power. Even if an opposing team had the Book of Amun-Ra, they also had the Book of the Dead to revive him so they had no fear of him dying.
“Then it’s a promise! I will wait for your reply in three years!”
Zheng lay on the soft bed and stared at the white ceiling. Then he slowly drifted into his dream. The fight was exhausting to him. He used Explosion then Destruction afterward. He was still feeling the laziness and just wanted to sleep.
“After we find the golden mask, we will head to the Mayan ruins!”
“That was why we would eat a big meal after returning to God’s dimension every time. It is the same as eating more when you are exhausted. Though there are special cases such as my qi and blood energy. These two energies support my Explosion and Destruction abilities. I can’t use the abilities with only my physical body. The energy expenditure will turn me into a skeleton in a few seconds.”
Zheng laughed and continued. “In the same reasons, an organism, let’s assume the monster is an organism that’s beyond our imagination, can’t have an infinite amount of energy. My qi and blood energy will also get depleted. So without qi or blood energy, he had to sustain himself from the energy of his cells. Even though these cells can absorb food from outside the body, but what if I don’t give him the time to do so? Once he reaches the level of Destruction, the energy expenditure will consume him immediately. Plus, if his other cells evolve simultaneously, all of those cells, including the ones inside Alex will be consumed in under ten seconds.”
“I think the monsters from the Mayan civilization were wiped by the same reason. This kind of evolution is irreversible and none selective. When their only goal is to grow stronger, they will eventually end up as beings not suitable for survival. I have to admit that they are powerful, way beyond human imaginations, and unkillable. But never ending evolution will only have one consequence, the cells cannot sustain the power and die. I merely shortened this time to less than a minute.”
This was the best hospital in NYC. They rented the best rooms to recuperate. Zheng wasn’t the only one that was injured critically. Everyone else took various degrees of injuries. The worst was O’Connell. He had to protect his wife and one of his arms got dislocated by a vampire.
The injuries weren’t heavy because Xuan reacted in time and with incredible methods. He didn’t run to the park like Zheng said. He led everyone to the roof of the hotel while Wangxia bombed the stairs in his order. Most vampires couldn’t get to the top. Only the larger ones could climb the wall and was quickly shot off. That was how they defended until Imhotep’s arrival. No one suffered fatal injuries.
After the fight, they stayed in this hospital. Those who didn’t take any damage began to look for the golden mask at where the monster stayed.
Zheng asked Evelyn. “How is Alex? He’s going to be a grand adventurer when he grows up, having gotten into such dangers with us when he’s still so young. Haha.”
Evelyn’s eyes reddened but she was smiling. “Right. There aren’t any major side effects. We found the cells that were injected in his chest. Those cells are dead and leaked out in a pus. We thought he was turned at the time but fortunately not. These cells died so fast that he didn’t get infected. Thank you and your team, Zheng.”
Zheng laughed. “No need to say this. Aren’t we comrades that fought together? Do you have to be so polite to your comrades? Haha. We just need you to come with us to the Mayan ruins in a few days.”
Evelyn nodded. Her adventurer soul was activated again and her eyes gleaming. “Yeah. It was a rush last time. I have to take a closer look this time.”
“Right. Right!” Jonathan’s eyes were also gleaming, with gold. “We have to take a closer look at the things inside. I heard the word gold is written all over the walls.”
O’Connell said. “It’s golden mask ok? Stop ignoring the word mask!”
Jonathan laughed. “Fine, fine. Aren’t golden mask gold too?”
Zheng interjected. “They don’t seem like the same. Anyway, let’s head to the ruins together.”
Evelyn said. “I also heard my professor mention about a holy grail somewhere in the U.S. It was said the liquid from the holy grail can evolve human into higher level organisms and grant eternal life. My professor heard the story from a man called Indiana Jones. Not sure if this is true but is anyone interested? We can search for the holy grail instead.”
Everyone shivered as they heard the term higher level organism. They continued their conversation and ignored Evelyn as she panicked.
Though Imhotep got curious and asked. “Your professor really said the liquid from the grail grants eternal life? Are you sure the thing is inside the U.S.?”
Evelyn nodded immediately. “Right. Right. I don’t know if it is true but I will search for this Indiana Jones with the clues my professor gave me then ask him for the location of the holy grail. Even if the grail is fake I would confirm that it’s fake. Are you interested in the holy grail?”
Imhotep nodded. “I am actually interested. If we can find this holy grail, I want to see if it will grand eternal life.”
Zheng sighed. “So that means our deal is voided? You’re not planning to enter God’s dimension?”
Imhotep hesitated for a while before he made the decision. “I don’t know if Anck-Su-Namun will have to enter battles with me. If all the worlds you go into are as dangerous as this time, I won’t enter it now. I have to search for the holy grail first. If it doesn’t grant eternal life to Anck-Su-Namun, I will wait for you in Egypt to enter God’s dimension with you. You swear there is a pill that will grant eternal life in the dimension?”
Zheng nodded. “Right. I swear there’s this pill but it costs a lot of points and ranked rewards. The monster we defeated this time only gives me 5000 points and a rank B reward, which is not enough to buy the pill. But I think your undying body and magic can allow you to earn points easily. You sure you are not coming back with us?”
Imhotep hesitated again before he said. “In order to guarantee her safety, I have to test every method in this world first. If nothing really works, I will consider entering God’s dimension. How about this, three years. I will give you a reply in three years.”
Zheng estimated the time. One movie was close to two years in this world so it meant they could get Imhotep to join in at most two more worlds. They had to wait for quite some time but the addition of him would give them a boost in power. Even if an opposing team had the Book of Amun-Ra, they also had the Book of the Dead to revive him so they had no fear of him dying.
“Then it’s a promise! I will wait for your reply in three years!”
Zheng lay on the soft bed and stared at the white ceiling. Then he slowly drifted into his dream. The fight was exhausting to him. He used Explosion then Destruction afterward. He was still feeling the laziness and just wanted to sleep.
“After we find the golden mask, we will head to the Mayan ruins!”
Chapter 14-1
The brown hairs didn't attack Zheng immediately after he landed. They surrounded him then one of them said with a cold smile. "Why didn't you run? That sandstorm ran with the boy. Or do you think you can hold me here just by yourself? Maybe you still don't know the consequence of getting injected with my cells yet. After ten days, the boy will..."
"Enough!"
Zheng stared at him coldly. A smile slowly crept onto his face. "I only have one question. Will your cells all over the world evolve as the you in front of me evolve? How can you accomplish that over such distance?"
Brown hair touched his hair and said with a smile. "Is the low level organism admiring the higher level organism now? I can grant you eternal life as long as you can become my slave. Do you know about the life essences?"
Zheng nodded. "We call it genes, the thing that controls the development of cells."
Brown hair nodded. "Correct. Genes control the evolution of life. Absorbing lives do not necessarily make me stronger. It gave me more cells but I did not sense a growth in my genes. However, your genes gave me that sense of growth. With each time I fight you, my life essence is perfecting the flaws in my body. This is a restructure of life essence. It doesn't take a large amount of energy nor absorbing things. As long as my cells are connected to my life essence, the restructure will take place. Of course, given enough time and enough lives, my evolution will eventually reach perfection."
Zheng said. "So as long as one of you evolve, the rest will follow. Understood. Let us begin."
Brown hair asked in confusion. "Begin what?"
"The fight, obviously!"
Zheng's eyes went out of focus as he entered the second stage. His muscles also enlarged. "The power I used in the exhibition center is called Explosion. I know you will grow stronger and evolve after being hit. So you have to evolve to the same level as me in Explosion first!"
Zheng gave a shout. The two energies met in his heart. The brown hair nearest to him got punched in the face the next second. His whole head was crushed into pieces!
All the brown hairs immediately jumped at him. He had to admit that their speed and strength were improved substantially since the exhibition center. They were halfway toward him in the Explosion state. Which was scary because Zheng's power had a time limit while brown hair could clone himself and had no limitation.
Even so, these brown hairs were crushed one by one by Zheng. Explosion wasn't the only ability Zheng had. The combat status brought by the unlocked mode was a part of his strength. Brown hair obviously didn't have this combat status. Their fighting ability simply rely on their powerful bodies, a totally different level from Zheng.
However, they continued to evolve. They increased their speed to catch up to Zheng's movements. Their bodies became tougher to withstand his attacks. Their strength grew to rival his fists. Their bodies were unkillable. Every time they were crushed, they quickly regenerated. Before long, Zheng exited the Explosion state as he was panting. Brown hair had already adapted to the speed and strength of his Explosion. Zheng was sent flying dozens of meters until he crashed into a wall by a punch. Then just stuck in the wall.
One of the brown hairs swung his arm around in a surprise. Then he punched a hole in the ground then tore up a block of the concrete ground with his hand. The block was at least four meters in length.
Brown hair gave a shout then sneered at Zheng. "Can you see it? This is the power of higher level organisms. Can you see? Are you already exhausted? While I still have immense strength and speed. God. I never imagined I can evolve to such level. This strength and this body are simply amazing. Haha. I am the ruler of this world. I am the highest level organism from this point on. I am God!"
Zheng moved his body a bit. He was exhausted but he still reserved a lot of qi and blood energy. The punch on his chest didn't inflict critical damage because he shielded it with qi. The real gamble had just begun.
He circulated his qi to move his body then jumped off the wall. The brown hairs' movements were blurry to him since they could constantly move at the speed of Explosion. The nearest one walked over to him but Zheng smiled. "Aren't you feeling strange? Why can I achieve such strength and speed with a normal body? Aren't you curious?"
Brown hair hesitated for a bit then stopped his steps and asked. "This question is indeed intriguing even though you are not a normal human. The scales and wings from my body are derived from your life essence. But how can a low level organism has strength that surpass me? Is there a secret technique? Say it and I might let you retain your conscious and a normal body as a slave if it is of value. Since I only need you as a slave. It isn't a big deal letting you keep everything."
Zheng laughed. "Unfortunately I am allergic to the word slave. Haha. This isn't just power from the genes. This is the result of energy collision. It is difficult to reach this level with just your body. In fact, without the energy to burn through, it will be fatal to sustain this state with only the energy of your cells! You like to evolve? You can keep evolving. I have discovered your biggest and deadliest flaw. Your evolutions are driven by the instincts of your cells. You have no control over it or ability to reverse this evolution. Once you get accustomed to this state, how long can the energy from your cells sustain it? Ten seconds? Twenty seconds?"
"Haha. Take a look at Destruction! You disgusting monster."
Zheng gave a shout and entered Destruction. Everything around became slow motion though brown hairs' speed didn't get slowed down much. But it was enough for him!
"Fist-gan!" Zheng punched at a brown hair's chest then turned around and sliced two in half from the waist with Rankyaku. He focused back on punching the one in front of him while he ignored the brown hairs charging at him. In just a few seconds, he struck several hundred punches. Each one at the limit in his Destruction state and each one nearly crushing the body. However, he kept on hitting the smashed flesh that was recovering. In about five seconds, the rest of the brown hairs reached a third of his speed and were still increasing.
"Geppo!" Zheng grabbed the piece of smashed flesh and jumped up while he continued punching it. The brown hairs flapped their wings to follow. Their speed reached half of his Destruction. The monster didn't lie that all of him evolves while one gets hit.
Zheng sighed. His blood vessels were starting to burst so he had to smash the flesh back to the ground. This piece of flesh was smashed several meters into the ground. Zheng finally exited out of Destruction.
He couldn't see brown hairs' movements anymore in his normal state. A translucent barrier appeared and blocked the pressurized air caused by a punch. But as the ground was shattering, he knew one of them was charging at him. Once he got hit by a punch in close distance, he would get crushed in this state. He closed his eyes and waited for fate's judgement.
Several seconds later, the pain didn't come. Zheng slowly opened his eyes to see a rotten skeleton kneeled a few meters in front of him. The skeleton was still alive and its mouth trying to say something. However, as the flesh on its body melted away, it fell to the ground in pieces.
"Enough!"
Zheng stared at him coldly. A smile slowly crept onto his face. "I only have one question. Will your cells all over the world evolve as the you in front of me evolve? How can you accomplish that over such distance?"
Brown hair touched his hair and said with a smile. "Is the low level organism admiring the higher level organism now? I can grant you eternal life as long as you can become my slave. Do you know about the life essences?"
Zheng nodded. "We call it genes, the thing that controls the development of cells."
Brown hair nodded. "Correct. Genes control the evolution of life. Absorbing lives do not necessarily make me stronger. It gave me more cells but I did not sense a growth in my genes. However, your genes gave me that sense of growth. With each time I fight you, my life essence is perfecting the flaws in my body. This is a restructure of life essence. It doesn't take a large amount of energy nor absorbing things. As long as my cells are connected to my life essence, the restructure will take place. Of course, given enough time and enough lives, my evolution will eventually reach perfection."
Zheng said. "So as long as one of you evolve, the rest will follow. Understood. Let us begin."
Brown hair asked in confusion. "Begin what?"
"The fight, obviously!"
Zheng's eyes went out of focus as he entered the second stage. His muscles also enlarged. "The power I used in the exhibition center is called Explosion. I know you will grow stronger and evolve after being hit. So you have to evolve to the same level as me in Explosion first!"
Zheng gave a shout. The two energies met in his heart. The brown hair nearest to him got punched in the face the next second. His whole head was crushed into pieces!
All the brown hairs immediately jumped at him. He had to admit that their speed and strength were improved substantially since the exhibition center. They were halfway toward him in the Explosion state. Which was scary because Zheng's power had a time limit while brown hair could clone himself and had no limitation.
Even so, these brown hairs were crushed one by one by Zheng. Explosion wasn't the only ability Zheng had. The combat status brought by the unlocked mode was a part of his strength. Brown hair obviously didn't have this combat status. Their fighting ability simply rely on their powerful bodies, a totally different level from Zheng.
However, they continued to evolve. They increased their speed to catch up to Zheng's movements. Their bodies became tougher to withstand his attacks. Their strength grew to rival his fists. Their bodies were unkillable. Every time they were crushed, they quickly regenerated. Before long, Zheng exited the Explosion state as he was panting. Brown hair had already adapted to the speed and strength of his Explosion. Zheng was sent flying dozens of meters until he crashed into a wall by a punch. Then just stuck in the wall.
One of the brown hairs swung his arm around in a surprise. Then he punched a hole in the ground then tore up a block of the concrete ground with his hand. The block was at least four meters in length.
Brown hair gave a shout then sneered at Zheng. "Can you see it? This is the power of higher level organisms. Can you see? Are you already exhausted? While I still have immense strength and speed. God. I never imagined I can evolve to such level. This strength and this body are simply amazing. Haha. I am the ruler of this world. I am the highest level organism from this point on. I am God!"
Zheng moved his body a bit. He was exhausted but he still reserved a lot of qi and blood energy. The punch on his chest didn't inflict critical damage because he shielded it with qi. The real gamble had just begun.
He circulated his qi to move his body then jumped off the wall. The brown hairs' movements were blurry to him since they could constantly move at the speed of Explosion. The nearest one walked over to him but Zheng smiled. "Aren't you feeling strange? Why can I achieve such strength and speed with a normal body? Aren't you curious?"
Brown hair hesitated for a bit then stopped his steps and asked. "This question is indeed intriguing even though you are not a normal human. The scales and wings from my body are derived from your life essence. But how can a low level organism has strength that surpass me? Is there a secret technique? Say it and I might let you retain your conscious and a normal body as a slave if it is of value. Since I only need you as a slave. It isn't a big deal letting you keep everything."
Zheng laughed. "Unfortunately I am allergic to the word slave. Haha. This isn't just power from the genes. This is the result of energy collision. It is difficult to reach this level with just your body. In fact, without the energy to burn through, it will be fatal to sustain this state with only the energy of your cells! You like to evolve? You can keep evolving. I have discovered your biggest and deadliest flaw. Your evolutions are driven by the instincts of your cells. You have no control over it or ability to reverse this evolution. Once you get accustomed to this state, how long can the energy from your cells sustain it? Ten seconds? Twenty seconds?"
"Haha. Take a look at Destruction! You disgusting monster."
Zheng gave a shout and entered Destruction. Everything around became slow motion though brown hairs' speed didn't get slowed down much. But it was enough for him!
"Fist-gan!" Zheng punched at a brown hair's chest then turned around and sliced two in half from the waist with Rankyaku. He focused back on punching the one in front of him while he ignored the brown hairs charging at him. In just a few seconds, he struck several hundred punches. Each one at the limit in his Destruction state and each one nearly crushing the body. However, he kept on hitting the smashed flesh that was recovering. In about five seconds, the rest of the brown hairs reached a third of his speed and were still increasing.
"Geppo!" Zheng grabbed the piece of smashed flesh and jumped up while he continued punching it. The brown hairs flapped their wings to follow. Their speed reached half of his Destruction. The monster didn't lie that all of him evolves while one gets hit.
Zheng sighed. His blood vessels were starting to burst so he had to smash the flesh back to the ground. This piece of flesh was smashed several meters into the ground. Zheng finally exited out of Destruction.
He couldn't see brown hairs' movements anymore in his normal state. A translucent barrier appeared and blocked the pressurized air caused by a punch. But as the ground was shattering, he knew one of them was charging at him. Once he got hit by a punch in close distance, he would get crushed in this state. He closed his eyes and waited for fate's judgement.
Several seconds later, the pain didn't come. Zheng slowly opened his eyes to see a rotten skeleton kneeled a few meters in front of him. The skeleton was still alive and its mouth trying to say something. However, as the flesh on its body melted away, it fell to the ground in pieces.
Chapter 13-2
Imhotep was like a natural counter to monsters created from the mask. Their strength was useless against him. The blood vessels piercings had no effect since Imhotep had neither flesh nor blood. Anything that entered his body would be dehydrated. He ignored the attacks and caught two of brown hairs in the sandstorm then quickly drained all the water from their bodies. A minute later, two mummies fell to the ground.
Zheng took out a submachine gun from the ring. He fired at the brown hairs flying at him. Despite not fast enough to catch up to the Sky Stick, their movements were very flexible in dodging the bullets. Even when the magical bullets hit them, they were as ineffective as normal bullets.
"Fuck! Imhotep, can't you catch a few more at once?" Zheng shouted. Imhotep hadn't caught anyone after the first round.
Imhotep shouted back. "Do you think I don't want to? Their strength is too powerful. They crushed my body the moment I come into a form. This strength doesn't belong to humans."
"They are obviously not humans. What kind of people have this strength and rate of recovery? They are monsters! No wonder the mission is the same rank as the dragon. This is even harder than the dragon."
Zheng compared the monster and dragon. In some sense, the monster was much scarier than the dragon. Give him some time to live through the early stages, once he evolved to an extend and spread his cells out, this monster became unkillable.
Just imagine of a city with tens of thousands of people infected by him. At that point, even if parts of him got burned by sunlight, he would still be alive. It wasn't possible for sunlight to hit every single cell at once. He would just keep getting stronger and spreading his cells.
If this was the case, why was this monster only a rank B mission? Was the lack of a time limit due to it being too powerful? Were they destined to fail the mission?
"Xuan, can you hear me?" Zheng suddenly had an idea, but if this idea failed, they would all die here. He needed someone he trust to give him advice.
A few seconds later, he heard the calm voice. "I heard you. Just speak."
Zheng took a deep breath. "Back in the Scorpion King quest, we burned down a forest to enter the pyramid. You told me there are multiple ways to complete a mission. I want to know if I continued killing the pygmies, would I be destined to get killed by their evolved weapons?"
Xuan paused for a few seconds. "I don't know why you are asking this. Did you find his weakness but you are hesitating? The answer is no even if we killed a way through the forest instead of burning it. This is God's way to force you to evolve. As the pygmies get stronger, you have to keep evolving to stay alive until you can win them. This was the intention of God. There can't be one single solution to a mission. We just haven't found the shortcut yet. Similarly, the amount of rewards is equivalent to the degree of danger. Any other questions?"
Zheng breathed out and said. "Some small questions but I have decided. Everyone come take this bet with me, a bet with our lives!"
Xuan replied. "What is the chance of success? I won't agree on bets with less than 50% success rate."
"Fifty fifty. Either live or die."
Xuan paused for a while. "Then you can put our lives on the table. 50% chance is enough for us to take the risk."
Zheng continued. "I already sent you the info on the monster before. Why was it considered a flawed product in the Mayan civilization when it has the perfect ability to evolve, perfect survival mechanisms, a perfect body, and perfect reproductive ability? Why didn't they conquer this world after the saints died? These are my questions. What is the flaw of such a perfect being?"
Xuan paused even longer this time. "It is inconceivable that such a monster dies to mere sunlight. Where is his flaw? The only one I can think of is their perfection is beyond any living things. Just like myself. Being too perfect is a flaw."
Zheng dodged two attacks. There were eight of the monsters chasing after him now and this number would only increase over time. He accelerated the Sky Stick and took advantage of his speed to run. "Yes. They are perfect and invincible. So I hypothesize that their perfect evolution ability is the flaw."
"Xuan, we don't have time to wait for dawn. This is only 1AM. I can predict there will be over a hundred of these monsters in the next few hours. That isn't something I can kill off even with the help of Imhotep. As long as one single cell escapes, he would live. This was probably the reason for the lack of a time limit. But there must be a method to kill him aside from sunlight. It's impossible to burn every single cell under sunlight especially the cell inside Alex's body. So..."
Zheng turned around to face the eight monsters and the sandstorm. He muttered to Xuan. "Someone once said that the strongest part of a person is usually his most fragile. Xuan, I plan to challenge this perfect evolution. Let's put all your lives on me."
Zheng shouted. "Imhotep, come over to me. I found a way to deal with the monster!" He flew toward the sandstorm.
Ten seconds later, the sandstorm flew to Zheng's side. Imhotep said from within. "How? Hurry up and say it. Anck-Su-Namun and the others are in danger!"
Zheng smiled at him and handed the boy over. "Take him back to the others. Remember not to kill any vampires. Just dehydrate their bodies. And protect everyone. Leave the rest to me!"
Imhotep hesitated for a bit before taking the boy in his sandstorm and left. As the sandstorm went far away, Zheng heard the word 'careful', which gave him a smile.
Zheng landed the Sky Stick to the ground and smiled at the group of brown hairs approaching. He said in a low voice. "Come. I will let you evolve."
Zheng took out a submachine gun from the ring. He fired at the brown hairs flying at him. Despite not fast enough to catch up to the Sky Stick, their movements were very flexible in dodging the bullets. Even when the magical bullets hit them, they were as ineffective as normal bullets.
"Fuck! Imhotep, can't you catch a few more at once?" Zheng shouted. Imhotep hadn't caught anyone after the first round.
Imhotep shouted back. "Do you think I don't want to? Their strength is too powerful. They crushed my body the moment I come into a form. This strength doesn't belong to humans."
"They are obviously not humans. What kind of people have this strength and rate of recovery? They are monsters! No wonder the mission is the same rank as the dragon. This is even harder than the dragon."
Zheng compared the monster and dragon. In some sense, the monster was much scarier than the dragon. Give him some time to live through the early stages, once he evolved to an extend and spread his cells out, this monster became unkillable.
Just imagine of a city with tens of thousands of people infected by him. At that point, even if parts of him got burned by sunlight, he would still be alive. It wasn't possible for sunlight to hit every single cell at once. He would just keep getting stronger and spreading his cells.
If this was the case, why was this monster only a rank B mission? Was the lack of a time limit due to it being too powerful? Were they destined to fail the mission?
"Xuan, can you hear me?" Zheng suddenly had an idea, but if this idea failed, they would all die here. He needed someone he trust to give him advice.
A few seconds later, he heard the calm voice. "I heard you. Just speak."
Zheng took a deep breath. "Back in the Scorpion King quest, we burned down a forest to enter the pyramid. You told me there are multiple ways to complete a mission. I want to know if I continued killing the pygmies, would I be destined to get killed by their evolved weapons?"
Xuan paused for a few seconds. "I don't know why you are asking this. Did you find his weakness but you are hesitating? The answer is no even if we killed a way through the forest instead of burning it. This is God's way to force you to evolve. As the pygmies get stronger, you have to keep evolving to stay alive until you can win them. This was the intention of God. There can't be one single solution to a mission. We just haven't found the shortcut yet. Similarly, the amount of rewards is equivalent to the degree of danger. Any other questions?"
Zheng breathed out and said. "Some small questions but I have decided. Everyone come take this bet with me, a bet with our lives!"
Xuan replied. "What is the chance of success? I won't agree on bets with less than 50% success rate."
"Fifty fifty. Either live or die."
Xuan paused for a while. "Then you can put our lives on the table. 50% chance is enough for us to take the risk."
Zheng continued. "I already sent you the info on the monster before. Why was it considered a flawed product in the Mayan civilization when it has the perfect ability to evolve, perfect survival mechanisms, a perfect body, and perfect reproductive ability? Why didn't they conquer this world after the saints died? These are my questions. What is the flaw of such a perfect being?"
Xuan paused even longer this time. "It is inconceivable that such a monster dies to mere sunlight. Where is his flaw? The only one I can think of is their perfection is beyond any living things. Just like myself. Being too perfect is a flaw."
Zheng dodged two attacks. There were eight of the monsters chasing after him now and this number would only increase over time. He accelerated the Sky Stick and took advantage of his speed to run. "Yes. They are perfect and invincible. So I hypothesize that their perfect evolution ability is the flaw."
"Xuan, we don't have time to wait for dawn. This is only 1AM. I can predict there will be over a hundred of these monsters in the next few hours. That isn't something I can kill off even with the help of Imhotep. As long as one single cell escapes, he would live. This was probably the reason for the lack of a time limit. But there must be a method to kill him aside from sunlight. It's impossible to burn every single cell under sunlight especially the cell inside Alex's body. So..."
Zheng turned around to face the eight monsters and the sandstorm. He muttered to Xuan. "Someone once said that the strongest part of a person is usually his most fragile. Xuan, I plan to challenge this perfect evolution. Let's put all your lives on me."
Zheng shouted. "Imhotep, come over to me. I found a way to deal with the monster!" He flew toward the sandstorm.
Ten seconds later, the sandstorm flew to Zheng's side. Imhotep said from within. "How? Hurry up and say it. Anck-Su-Namun and the others are in danger!"
Zheng smiled at him and handed the boy over. "Take him back to the others. Remember not to kill any vampires. Just dehydrate their bodies. And protect everyone. Leave the rest to me!"
Imhotep hesitated for a bit before taking the boy in his sandstorm and left. As the sandstorm went far away, Zheng heard the word 'careful', which gave him a smile.
Zheng landed the Sky Stick to the ground and smiled at the group of brown hairs approaching. He said in a low voice. "Come. I will let you evolve."
Chapter 13-1
Zheng's qi and blood energy were about double what he had when he first obtained the Spear of Osiris. His qi also stepped up in quality. This throw only used up half his energies but it was definitely more powerful than his full power throw when he first obtained the spear. The glow from the spear seemed like a tiny sun. The vampires in the distance ignited themselves upon contact with the light. Brown hair's body didn't burn but neither did it had any defense against the spear. The spear passed right through him and disintegrated his chest. The force pulled the rest of his body to the ground as the spear and piercing through the floors.
Zheng panted heavily since this attack took over half his energy. Not even his body could withstand the strain without issues. But it was all worth killing the monster.
Yet, before he got the chance to contact Xuan and the others, a ball of flesh in the blood pool began moving. Small pieces from the burned vampires and the corpses nearby crawled their way to the ball and fused together. By the time Zheng came back to his senses, the ball slowly transformed to a human figure. Several seconds later, the brown haired man stood on the pool of blood.
He looked at the hole on the floor and said. "Impressive power. If it was the me that just evolved back in the town, I would have been killed. Haha. I am constantly evolving to a higher level organism. This hole is witness to my evolution. You can't kill me. No one in the world can kill me."
Zheng asked. "Why? Did you dodge the spear? It can't be. Not even me in the Explosion state can dodge the spear. That's impossible!"
Brown hair laughed. He walked over to a living human nailed to the wall and stabbed his hand into the man's stomach. The man's body slowly withered then grew back up. In just a few seconds, he turned into a vampire. The vampire tore himself off the wall and took on the task of draining blood off the living.
Brown hair licked the blood off his fingers. "My body took critical damage back in the exhibition center. Even though I can regenerate my body from the other flesh pieces, I still needed a large quantity of energy. These people all died because of you. Haha. You are to blame for their deaths!"
Zheng gave him a cold smile. "Shut up with your nonsense. Don't smear your shit on us. I can claim everything is your fault. If you died back there, no one would have died. You disgusting monster."
The man looked at his arm. "Disgusting monster? Really? You low level species won't understand the feeling of the higher organisms. The sensation of absorbing a human's blood and feeling them become a part of you was ecstatic, more so than sex. Do you want to know why I didn't get killed? Because I have become invincible."
He laughed in madness. Several balls of flesh rose from the blood then transformed into his figure.
Zheng was shocked but he acted with a sneer. "Don't try to deceive me with your vampires. Go fuck yourself. Once I retrieve the spear, you will be gone in an instant."
Brown hair shook his head. "Stupid low level species. You are ignorant if you think of them as fakes. Every vampire I created has my cells within. As long as one vampire survives, I will live forever. Those bitten by the vampires also have my cells. Get why you can't kill me? I have tens of thousands of bodies in this city and the number is still growing by the second. What you don't know is any one of me that evolve in the fight against you will cause all the others to evolve. Don't think that you can just kill the strongest me. My evolution can't be stopped."
Zheng didn't know the truth to his words but if they were real, his team would be in great danger. This monster was almost unkillable. Their only chance was killing him before he could first evolve. No wonder the lack of a time limit for the mission.
Brown hair saw Zheng's expression and sneered. "Don't try to run. The boy in your arms has my cells inside. Those cells are hibernating. Once ten days are up, they will activate and grow. The boy will become one of my vampires. My conditions are simple. Give me the diamond and fragment and I will spare you. There is no need to kill you since this city has enough people to feed my evolution. I don't have a conflict of interest with you. Why don't we come to deal?"
What Zheng needed the most was to delay for Imhotep or sunrise. So he replied. "Stop lying. You had said that your evolution had come to a stop, so you came to attack me and take my blood. Do you think I will believe your words? Furthermore, you are already cruel enough. Once you evolved, you will just annihilate the human race."
Brown hair sighed. His expression turned hideous. "What a thickhead! I planned to make you my personal vampire guard and let your friends live for a little longer. But it seems there's no way I can let you go. Be proud of becoming the guard to the future ruler of this world!"
A pair of black webbed wings spread out from his back and the four copies of him. They floated up to the air to Zheng's surprise.
Brown hair laughed maniacally. "This is thanks to your life essence. It evolved my body and gave me the ability to fly. Even though I will eventually gain this ability but it's still nice to have it early. Don't be concerned about your friends. My vampires are surrounding them. Once enough of the vampires died, a copy of me will arise. That will be the time of their death."
Despair was slowly clouding Zheng's heart. He watched the five copies of brown hair flew toward him and turned the Sky Stick around. He started calling for Lan in his mind as he flew toward them. He sent this message over and told them to run and avoid killing vampires.
As the multiple brown hairs were chasing after Zheng, a sandstorm whirled over to Zheng. He heard Imhotep's voice. "You look terrible. You are the person that defeated me. How can five little bats scared you running like this?"
The sandstorm enveloped the five brown hair men. Zheng also stopped in surprise. However, when he saw the sandstorm surrounding the men, he noticed several more of them was flying over from afar.
P.S. No update to Terror Infinity tomorrow. The last chapter to the Bizarre Terrors story will be up tonight. I will make a post on it.
Zheng panted heavily since this attack took over half his energy. Not even his body could withstand the strain without issues. But it was all worth killing the monster.
Yet, before he got the chance to contact Xuan and the others, a ball of flesh in the blood pool began moving. Small pieces from the burned vampires and the corpses nearby crawled their way to the ball and fused together. By the time Zheng came back to his senses, the ball slowly transformed to a human figure. Several seconds later, the brown haired man stood on the pool of blood.
He looked at the hole on the floor and said. "Impressive power. If it was the me that just evolved back in the town, I would have been killed. Haha. I am constantly evolving to a higher level organism. This hole is witness to my evolution. You can't kill me. No one in the world can kill me."
Zheng asked. "Why? Did you dodge the spear? It can't be. Not even me in the Explosion state can dodge the spear. That's impossible!"
Brown hair laughed. He walked over to a living human nailed to the wall and stabbed his hand into the man's stomach. The man's body slowly withered then grew back up. In just a few seconds, he turned into a vampire. The vampire tore himself off the wall and took on the task of draining blood off the living.
Brown hair licked the blood off his fingers. "My body took critical damage back in the exhibition center. Even though I can regenerate my body from the other flesh pieces, I still needed a large quantity of energy. These people all died because of you. Haha. You are to blame for their deaths!"
Zheng gave him a cold smile. "Shut up with your nonsense. Don't smear your shit on us. I can claim everything is your fault. If you died back there, no one would have died. You disgusting monster."
The man looked at his arm. "Disgusting monster? Really? You low level species won't understand the feeling of the higher organisms. The sensation of absorbing a human's blood and feeling them become a part of you was ecstatic, more so than sex. Do you want to know why I didn't get killed? Because I have become invincible."
He laughed in madness. Several balls of flesh rose from the blood then transformed into his figure.
Zheng was shocked but he acted with a sneer. "Don't try to deceive me with your vampires. Go fuck yourself. Once I retrieve the spear, you will be gone in an instant."
Brown hair shook his head. "Stupid low level species. You are ignorant if you think of them as fakes. Every vampire I created has my cells within. As long as one vampire survives, I will live forever. Those bitten by the vampires also have my cells. Get why you can't kill me? I have tens of thousands of bodies in this city and the number is still growing by the second. What you don't know is any one of me that evolve in the fight against you will cause all the others to evolve. Don't think that you can just kill the strongest me. My evolution can't be stopped."
Zheng didn't know the truth to his words but if they were real, his team would be in great danger. This monster was almost unkillable. Their only chance was killing him before he could first evolve. No wonder the lack of a time limit for the mission.
Brown hair saw Zheng's expression and sneered. "Don't try to run. The boy in your arms has my cells inside. Those cells are hibernating. Once ten days are up, they will activate and grow. The boy will become one of my vampires. My conditions are simple. Give me the diamond and fragment and I will spare you. There is no need to kill you since this city has enough people to feed my evolution. I don't have a conflict of interest with you. Why don't we come to deal?"
What Zheng needed the most was to delay for Imhotep or sunrise. So he replied. "Stop lying. You had said that your evolution had come to a stop, so you came to attack me and take my blood. Do you think I will believe your words? Furthermore, you are already cruel enough. Once you evolved, you will just annihilate the human race."
Brown hair sighed. His expression turned hideous. "What a thickhead! I planned to make you my personal vampire guard and let your friends live for a little longer. But it seems there's no way I can let you go. Be proud of becoming the guard to the future ruler of this world!"
A pair of black webbed wings spread out from his back and the four copies of him. They floated up to the air to Zheng's surprise.
Brown hair laughed maniacally. "This is thanks to your life essence. It evolved my body and gave me the ability to fly. Even though I will eventually gain this ability but it's still nice to have it early. Don't be concerned about your friends. My vampires are surrounding them. Once enough of the vampires died, a copy of me will arise. That will be the time of their death."
Despair was slowly clouding Zheng's heart. He watched the five copies of brown hair flew toward him and turned the Sky Stick around. He started calling for Lan in his mind as he flew toward them. He sent this message over and told them to run and avoid killing vampires.
As the multiple brown hairs were chasing after Zheng, a sandstorm whirled over to Zheng. He heard Imhotep's voice. "You look terrible. You are the person that defeated me. How can five little bats scared you running like this?"
The sandstorm enveloped the five brown hair men. Zheng also stopped in surprise. However, when he saw the sandstorm surrounding the men, he noticed several more of them was flying over from afar.
P.S. No update to Terror Infinity tomorrow. The last chapter to the Bizarre Terrors story will be up tonight. I will make a post on it.
Chapter 12-2
Being the parents, O'Connell and Evelyn were the quickest to respond. The two of them rushed toward the bedroom as soon as the sound came about. O'Connell pulled out the gun by his waist then shoulder charged the door open.
Zheng was slightly slower to react but he moved much faster. He leaped off the sofa and headed in one step ahead of O'Connell. A narrow tentacle like flesh stood by the bedside. It came all the way from the bathroom and held up the baby boy. Two more tentacles suddenly dropped down from the ceilings. They turned sharp and stabbed toward Zheng and O'Connell.
Zheng bit his teeth then jumped up. He opened his arms to reach for the thorn flesh. The thorns stabbed into his palms then he activated Red Flame which enveloped them. They struggled for merely a second before being burned to ashes. However, he was still too late. The tentacle wrapped around the boy and moved to the window then dropped down. Zheng, O'Connell and Evelyn looked out the window but the boy was nowhere to be seen.
Zheng turned around and shouted. "Lan! Did you lock onto Alex's mental waves? Send his location to my mind!" He kicked at the window that had a hole and shattered it, then jumped out.
Lan quickly closed her eyes and lock onto the boy's location then connected to Zheng's mind. The image entered his mind as he jumped off. He took out the Sky Step and sped toward the location.
Looking down from the sky, there were dozens of people running away. In the middle of the crowd was a giant vampire with seven or eight human legs and a body multiple persons big. It seemed just like a fusion of multiple people. The boy rested on one of his many arms. As Zheng came into its view, it held the boy inside his arms and the vampires surrounded it.
"This is Xuan. Don't attack the giant. Let it take the boy away. Lan had locked onto him. The monster isn't aware of this ability. The time is still too early. We will wait until before dawn." Xuan's voice came into his head.
Zheng hesitated for a bit and asked. "What if the monster turn Alex into a vampire? I can't take such a big risk! 10,000 points penalty for everyone! And he's the son of O'Connell and Evelyn! I am going to follow Alex until I find that monster. Then I will attack!"
Xuan's voice paused for a second. "Both chances account for 50% possibility each. So either way doesn't matter. However, Imhotep won't be able to help you. The flesh invaded the hotel so he must escort us to the nearby park first. Zero and Kampa are heading over to you."
Zheng's mind wavered as he stared back at the hotel far away. The flesh was difficult to defend against. Any contact might let it enter the body. He worried if his comrades could defend the attacks but it was already too late to go back now. He might as well just go kill the monster.
Zheng followed almost directly above the boy so that if anything happens, he could attack the vampires and giant immediately.
He pondered over the fight coming up but he had no effective methods to fight the monster. Even if he tore the body into pieces or blew it up, the monster was still alive. Sunlight was its weakness but there was no way he could delay until sunrise.
Yet that was still the only method he could come up with. The characteristic of the Chaotic Unity Qi was being neutral and enduring. Once he activated the qi over throughout his body, he could increase his resistance by several folds. With the addition of the dragonshard, he could drag out the fight. However, he was worried about hurting the boy since he had to carry him during the whole fight.
The vampires left the main road and headed toward a construction site. There was a recently built skyscraper that hadn't been occupied yet. Zheng saw the brown hair man looking down from the roof. He retrieved the Sky Stick into the ring then jumped down directly onto the giant's arm.
Followed by the sound of broken bones. The giant's body was nowhere near that of the monster's nor had the regenerative ability. Zheng broke its arm then regained Alex at once. He stepped on the monster again and forced it to the ground.
The vampires around all leaped at him. He jumped up while his other hand took out the Spear of Osiris from the ring. Once qi and blood energy entered the spear, he threw it straight down. The vampires pierced by the spear turned to dust then it emitted a golden shockwave that burned the vampires. It seemed like the spear was especially effective against these vampires.
Zheng landed back on the ground then pulled out the spear from the ground. His eyes moved from the boy to the man on the roof. He took out the Sky Stick again and flew up.
Brown hair didn't seem worried at all. He waited for Zheng to come near quietly with a glass of red liquid on his hand. Zheng's heart rate suddenly increased as soon as he saw the rooftop. It was a scene of nightmare.
The whole roof was painted with blood. Over a hundred corpses lay on the floor behind the brown hair man, a big pile of corpses to the side, and over a dozen people still alive nailed to the wall and had their tongues cut off. Two vampires flipped a man around and blood dripped onto the floor.
Zheng looked closely at brown hair. His legs had turned into small tentacles submerged in the blood. He seemed enjoying absorbing the blood into his body while he drank the glass he was holding. He allowed Zheng to come closer and stared at him.
Zheng gritted his teeth. "Not only did your body turned to a monster, your mind and heart are also monster. Death will be the best liberation for you!"
He began charging the Spear of Osiris. Brown hair also sensed the danger and retrieved the tentacles back into a pair of legs. The spear glowed in a golden light that was increasing in intensity. As the man's legs returned, Zheng gave a shout and threw the spear.
Zheng was slightly slower to react but he moved much faster. He leaped off the sofa and headed in one step ahead of O'Connell. A narrow tentacle like flesh stood by the bedside. It came all the way from the bathroom and held up the baby boy. Two more tentacles suddenly dropped down from the ceilings. They turned sharp and stabbed toward Zheng and O'Connell.
Zheng bit his teeth then jumped up. He opened his arms to reach for the thorn flesh. The thorns stabbed into his palms then he activated Red Flame which enveloped them. They struggled for merely a second before being burned to ashes. However, he was still too late. The tentacle wrapped around the boy and moved to the window then dropped down. Zheng, O'Connell and Evelyn looked out the window but the boy was nowhere to be seen.
Zheng turned around and shouted. "Lan! Did you lock onto Alex's mental waves? Send his location to my mind!" He kicked at the window that had a hole and shattered it, then jumped out.
Lan quickly closed her eyes and lock onto the boy's location then connected to Zheng's mind. The image entered his mind as he jumped off. He took out the Sky Step and sped toward the location.
Looking down from the sky, there were dozens of people running away. In the middle of the crowd was a giant vampire with seven or eight human legs and a body multiple persons big. It seemed just like a fusion of multiple people. The boy rested on one of his many arms. As Zheng came into its view, it held the boy inside his arms and the vampires surrounded it.
"This is Xuan. Don't attack the giant. Let it take the boy away. Lan had locked onto him. The monster isn't aware of this ability. The time is still too early. We will wait until before dawn." Xuan's voice came into his head.
Zheng hesitated for a bit and asked. "What if the monster turn Alex into a vampire? I can't take such a big risk! 10,000 points penalty for everyone! And he's the son of O'Connell and Evelyn! I am going to follow Alex until I find that monster. Then I will attack!"
Xuan's voice paused for a second. "Both chances account for 50% possibility each. So either way doesn't matter. However, Imhotep won't be able to help you. The flesh invaded the hotel so he must escort us to the nearby park first. Zero and Kampa are heading over to you."
Zheng's mind wavered as he stared back at the hotel far away. The flesh was difficult to defend against. Any contact might let it enter the body. He worried if his comrades could defend the attacks but it was already too late to go back now. He might as well just go kill the monster.
Zheng followed almost directly above the boy so that if anything happens, he could attack the vampires and giant immediately.
He pondered over the fight coming up but he had no effective methods to fight the monster. Even if he tore the body into pieces or blew it up, the monster was still alive. Sunlight was its weakness but there was no way he could delay until sunrise.
Yet that was still the only method he could come up with. The characteristic of the Chaotic Unity Qi was being neutral and enduring. Once he activated the qi over throughout his body, he could increase his resistance by several folds. With the addition of the dragonshard, he could drag out the fight. However, he was worried about hurting the boy since he had to carry him during the whole fight.
The vampires left the main road and headed toward a construction site. There was a recently built skyscraper that hadn't been occupied yet. Zheng saw the brown hair man looking down from the roof. He retrieved the Sky Stick into the ring then jumped down directly onto the giant's arm.
Followed by the sound of broken bones. The giant's body was nowhere near that of the monster's nor had the regenerative ability. Zheng broke its arm then regained Alex at once. He stepped on the monster again and forced it to the ground.
The vampires around all leaped at him. He jumped up while his other hand took out the Spear of Osiris from the ring. Once qi and blood energy entered the spear, he threw it straight down. The vampires pierced by the spear turned to dust then it emitted a golden shockwave that burned the vampires. It seemed like the spear was especially effective against these vampires.
Zheng landed back on the ground then pulled out the spear from the ground. His eyes moved from the boy to the man on the roof. He took out the Sky Stick again and flew up.
Brown hair didn't seem worried at all. He waited for Zheng to come near quietly with a glass of red liquid on his hand. Zheng's heart rate suddenly increased as soon as he saw the rooftop. It was a scene of nightmare.
The whole roof was painted with blood. Over a hundred corpses lay on the floor behind the brown hair man, a big pile of corpses to the side, and over a dozen people still alive nailed to the wall and had their tongues cut off. Two vampires flipped a man around and blood dripped onto the floor.
Zheng looked closely at brown hair. His legs had turned into small tentacles submerged in the blood. He seemed enjoying absorbing the blood into his body while he drank the glass he was holding. He allowed Zheng to come closer and stared at him.
Zheng gritted his teeth. "Not only did your body turned to a monster, your mind and heart are also monster. Death will be the best liberation for you!"
He began charging the Spear of Osiris. Brown hair also sensed the danger and retrieved the tentacles back into a pair of legs. The spear glowed in a golden light that was increasing in intensity. As the man's legs returned, Zheng gave a shout and threw the spear.
Chapter 12-1
Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun were sitting on the sofa quietly. Imhotep didn't need to consume any food while Anck-Su-Namun was enjoying a cup of coffee and cakes. When Xuan turned to them, Imhotep refused. "I have no obligation to help you. We haven't come to any terms yet."
Zheng asked. "I have been curious. Why did you come to New York with the others? Are you seeking the mask too? You can't even turn into a monster since you are not a normal human. What would you need it for?"
Imhotep nodded. "Yes. I don't have any use for the mask but Anck-Su-Namun could. If we use the diamond on the mask, she won't turn into a monster. Otherwise, she is growing older day by day. I can help you fight the monster but the mask must belong to me."
Evelyn coughed to get their attention. "What the murals depicted is only a possibility. You should be aware that the monster and the vampires it made will burn to dust upon contact with sunlight. Yet, it says to shine concentrated sunlight on the mask's forehead. Are you sure about taking this risk?"
Anck-Su-Namun looked hesitated. No normal person would want anything to do with the mask after seeing the experiments on the flesh even if the mask brought immense power. Especially a woman as beautiful as her. However, Imhotep didn't seem to get her feelings and acted stubborn.
Zheng had to enlighten him. "Imhotep, stop acting so selfish. Is it fine turning your lover into a monster just so you can be with her forever? Do you love her or yourself?"
Imhotep turned to Anck-Su-Namun with doubts. She looked back at him with a pair of pitiful eyes. He hesitated before saying with difficulty. "At least let me experiment the mask on an animal. If it really turns into a monster, I will give the mask to you. Give me that piece of flesh." He held out his hand to Xuan.
Xuan handed him the bottle with the largest piece. Imhotep opened the cap then the flesh instantly shot out at his hand and trying to dig its way in.
Everyone was shocked. The women screamed and the men all stood up. Imhotep waved his hand and said. "Not a problem. My body is different from yours." His whole arm transformed to a wave of sand then back to an arm. On his palm was a piece of dehydrated flesh.
Imhotep smiled at them then tore the flesh in half. There was no sign of regeneration anymore.
Xuan took over a piece and pondered for a moment. He opened the saline solution bottle and threw it in. The thin slice that was originally inside the solution surrounded the dehydrated flesh. As it absorbed the solution, the dehydrated flesh grew back up and in the end, merged with the thin slice.
"Dehydration only takes away the cells' ability to move but not kill them. The only methods we know that can destroy the cellular structure in a short time are strong acid and base, fire, and sunlight. Silver will poison the cells and disable the cells' ability to split, but won't kill them." Xuan shook his head and said.
Zheng breathed out. "That's enough. Not all battles have a perfect solution. Just like you said, 50% chance of success is worth taking the risk. I will assign the roles now. Imhotep and I will be our main attackers. Since the monster already fought me and absorbed some of my blood, his strength and speed are exceptionally fast. Firearms aren't fatal to him but if he gets inside your body, you will turn into a vampire. So the two of us are the only ones that can get near him."
"Zero will support us from afar. Your first targets will be his legs. It takes him time to regenerate. So if he tries to run, blast off his legs. I will use Explosion or even Destruction to beat him down. Imhotep then take the chance to dehydrate him, every single cell. Afterward, we will just have to wait for sunrise. Which means our attack starts at before dawn!"
Once their strategy was decided, they were left with determining the time and how to find the monster. Even though the flesh were alive on their own but could they still return to the main body when they were separated so far away? No one knew but they decided to test this possibility at 4am.
"Kampa can come with us to help clear the vampires on the side and offer fire support when needed. Everyone else stay in the hotel. WangXia, Xuan, and O'Connell protect them. Lan keeps our communication in place. Any questions?" Zheng finished talking then asked.
The others shook their heads and Jonathan said with excitement. "Don't worry. We will stay in the hotel and won't interfere with your fight in any way. I promise."
Zheng smiled bitterly. "Why do your words feel like a thorn to my ears? Like some accident is prone to happen to make you mess the fight up."
Xuan frowned. "There might be an accident. I seemed to have missed something in my calculations, something critical. Let me go over my thoughts again. A person obtained the golden mask, turned into a monster then killed the group of archeologists and everyone in the town. You escaped by luck. Jonathan stole a fragment of the mask. The monster wanted to retrieve this fragment and obtain the diamond so he chased after you and kidnapped Alex on the way. Then he followed you to New York."
O'Connell and Evelyn looked at each other then nodded. Xuan rubbed his temples. "Which means he had two chances of killing you but he didn't. While you managed to steal a fragment from him. He also has a sense of connection to the fragment but you mailed it to Cairo instead of carrying along. That was why he kidnapped Alex. So I was wrong since the beginning. This monster has a high level of intelligence. He let Jonathan steal the fragment so he could follow you to the diamond. Yet, after you mailed away the fragment, he had to kidnap Alex instead."
Xuan bit his finger. "I know the reason the mission includes protecting Alex's life and preventing him from turning into a vampire. The monster had already injected his cell into Alex's body. He can easily find our location and ambush us. Once the cell grows, Alex will turn into a vampire! Fuck. He might be in the hotel already."
The sound of glass shattered came from the room Alex was sleeping in right as he finished talking.
Zheng asked. "I have been curious. Why did you come to New York with the others? Are you seeking the mask too? You can't even turn into a monster since you are not a normal human. What would you need it for?"
Imhotep nodded. "Yes. I don't have any use for the mask but Anck-Su-Namun could. If we use the diamond on the mask, she won't turn into a monster. Otherwise, she is growing older day by day. I can help you fight the monster but the mask must belong to me."
Evelyn coughed to get their attention. "What the murals depicted is only a possibility. You should be aware that the monster and the vampires it made will burn to dust upon contact with sunlight. Yet, it says to shine concentrated sunlight on the mask's forehead. Are you sure about taking this risk?"
Anck-Su-Namun looked hesitated. No normal person would want anything to do with the mask after seeing the experiments on the flesh even if the mask brought immense power. Especially a woman as beautiful as her. However, Imhotep didn't seem to get her feelings and acted stubborn.
Zheng had to enlighten him. "Imhotep, stop acting so selfish. Is it fine turning your lover into a monster just so you can be with her forever? Do you love her or yourself?"
Imhotep turned to Anck-Su-Namun with doubts. She looked back at him with a pair of pitiful eyes. He hesitated before saying with difficulty. "At least let me experiment the mask on an animal. If it really turns into a monster, I will give the mask to you. Give me that piece of flesh." He held out his hand to Xuan.
Xuan handed him the bottle with the largest piece. Imhotep opened the cap then the flesh instantly shot out at his hand and trying to dig its way in.
Everyone was shocked. The women screamed and the men all stood up. Imhotep waved his hand and said. "Not a problem. My body is different from yours." His whole arm transformed to a wave of sand then back to an arm. On his palm was a piece of dehydrated flesh.
Imhotep smiled at them then tore the flesh in half. There was no sign of regeneration anymore.
Xuan took over a piece and pondered for a moment. He opened the saline solution bottle and threw it in. The thin slice that was originally inside the solution surrounded the dehydrated flesh. As it absorbed the solution, the dehydrated flesh grew back up and in the end, merged with the thin slice.
"Dehydration only takes away the cells' ability to move but not kill them. The only methods we know that can destroy the cellular structure in a short time are strong acid and base, fire, and sunlight. Silver will poison the cells and disable the cells' ability to split, but won't kill them." Xuan shook his head and said.
Zheng breathed out. "That's enough. Not all battles have a perfect solution. Just like you said, 50% chance of success is worth taking the risk. I will assign the roles now. Imhotep and I will be our main attackers. Since the monster already fought me and absorbed some of my blood, his strength and speed are exceptionally fast. Firearms aren't fatal to him but if he gets inside your body, you will turn into a vampire. So the two of us are the only ones that can get near him."
"Zero will support us from afar. Your first targets will be his legs. It takes him time to regenerate. So if he tries to run, blast off his legs. I will use Explosion or even Destruction to beat him down. Imhotep then take the chance to dehydrate him, every single cell. Afterward, we will just have to wait for sunrise. Which means our attack starts at before dawn!"
Once their strategy was decided, they were left with determining the time and how to find the monster. Even though the flesh were alive on their own but could they still return to the main body when they were separated so far away? No one knew but they decided to test this possibility at 4am.
"Kampa can come with us to help clear the vampires on the side and offer fire support when needed. Everyone else stay in the hotel. WangXia, Xuan, and O'Connell protect them. Lan keeps our communication in place. Any questions?" Zheng finished talking then asked.
The others shook their heads and Jonathan said with excitement. "Don't worry. We will stay in the hotel and won't interfere with your fight in any way. I promise."
Zheng smiled bitterly. "Why do your words feel like a thorn to my ears? Like some accident is prone to happen to make you mess the fight up."
Xuan frowned. "There might be an accident. I seemed to have missed something in my calculations, something critical. Let me go over my thoughts again. A person obtained the golden mask, turned into a monster then killed the group of archeologists and everyone in the town. You escaped by luck. Jonathan stole a fragment of the mask. The monster wanted to retrieve this fragment and obtain the diamond so he chased after you and kidnapped Alex on the way. Then he followed you to New York."
O'Connell and Evelyn looked at each other then nodded. Xuan rubbed his temples. "Which means he had two chances of killing you but he didn't. While you managed to steal a fragment from him. He also has a sense of connection to the fragment but you mailed it to Cairo instead of carrying along. That was why he kidnapped Alex. So I was wrong since the beginning. This monster has a high level of intelligence. He let Jonathan steal the fragment so he could follow you to the diamond. Yet, after you mailed away the fragment, he had to kidnap Alex instead."
Xuan bit his finger. "I know the reason the mission includes protecting Alex's life and preventing him from turning into a vampire. The monster had already injected his cell into Alex's body. He can easily find our location and ambush us. Once the cell grows, Alex will turn into a vampire! Fuck. He might be in the hotel already."
The sound of glass shattered came from the room Alex was sleeping in right as he finished talking.
Chapter 11-2
Zheng’s team was shocked. Xuan frowned and bit his finger. “Why do you say that? The monster is currently powerful, similar to the one you described. If it is still considered incomplete, then its full power is beyond imagination and much more than what our rewards are.”
Evelyn asked. “What rewards? The murals said the design of the golden mask had flaws. It couldn’t evolve the wearer to the intended stage. Firstly, the beings lose control over their emotions. They will act according to their present desires. Secondly, they have to absorb human blood to maintain their life force. And the last flaw is fatal. They have no resistance toward sunlight. A minute amount of sunlight will kill them."
Zheng suddenly took out the gold fragment from the ring. "That wouldn't be due to this little piece right? How did you even manage to get this piece off him?"
O'Connell took the gold fragment and smiled bitterly. "While the monster was chasing after us, Jonathan sneaked into the town to steal the mask. However, the monster seemed to have an invisible connection to the mask. He went back to attack Jonathan at once. I am not sure what happened. The building caught fire and Jonathan came back with this fragment."
Zheng smiled. "I basically get it. You can see how powerful the monster is if Jonathan only managed to steal a fragment. I have to keep my things in my hand if I don't want him to take it away."
Jonathan smiled modestly.
Zheng asked. "Is he going to overcome the flaws with this fragment?"
Evelyn shook her head. "No. That is only the first step. The murals indicated he also needs a large diamond to gather sunlight then shoot a beam into the forehead of the mask. He will evolve again to the same stage as the saints. There is only one such diamond in this world."
Zheng said. "That wouldn't be the one Jonathan got from the pyramid right? How did he know that you have the diamond?"
O'Connell nodded. "Right. That's the one. Jonathan bragged about his diamond in a game of poker while we were with the archeologists."
Zheng rubbed his brows then turned to Lan. "Still no results from the scan?"
Lan shook her head. "No. The zombies scattered throughout the city. There are no trace of the monster. I have to put the hotel under surveillance in case he attacks the hotel."
Zheng nodded then looked at Xuan. "Any discovery on the monster's cells?"
When Zheng retrieved the Spear of Osiris after the explosion, there was a piece of the monster's flesh stuck on the spear. This flesh was wriggling like it wanted to fall off the spear.
Xuan nodded. He took out a glass bottle from a large leather bag. "I had the guards of the hotel bought me a set of laboratory supplies. These tools are rather simple but some data are easy to gather also. To begin, this piece of flesh is a complete organism on its own."
A piece of pink meat was moving inside the glass bottle. There were several tiny eyes and tentacles grown on the meat. Its size was bigger than when they initially obtained it.
Xuan continued. "Its size was very small initially. I then cut off a third of it for experimentations. However, once I poured cow blood on the meat, it absorbed the blood then grew to this size. Various organs also began to emerge from the meat, such the organs for vision, and smell. This meat can be considered a complete organism at this point."
He took out several more glass bottles. A piece of meat was floating inside liquid on each bottle. "I submerged the meat with different liquids. In concentrated sulphuric acid, the meat quickly dissolved. However, this bottle consists of diluted sulphuric acid. Take a look here."
They followed Xuan's finger. Inside the bottle was a small ball filled with holes. The holes were bubbling at a slow pace. "The meat evolved to resist the corrosion of the acid in a short period of time. It turned its outer layer into a form of isolation. The cells on the other layer are dead but its inside is still alive. Alkaline solution yielded similar results. But saline solution as a different effect. See the evolution in this bottle."
Xuan pointed to a glass bottle. A thin slice of meat was floating on top of the saline solution and breathing. It looked like a marine species.
After showing all the bottles, Xuan said calmly. "Understand? This meat is different from ours at the most basic level. We can speculate that the creators of the golden mask intended to give the wearers control over their genes. However, the experiment failed and the genes gained control over the hosts. Every cell became an individual organism. The aggregation of these cells became the monster. The monster doesn't have control over its evolution anymore. These cells will evolve on their own when they sense danger. As long as a single cell is still alive, the monster is still alive."
"What a rank B difficulty mission. One mistake and we won't even finish it. Luckily there is no time limit and no penalty for not completing it. Otherwise we might just wipe here."
Everyone was silent. The movie characters basically didn't understand much of what was said. Though they get that the monster was difficult to kill. If luck wasn't on their side, countless monsters might emerge from his meat.
Zheng pondered for a moment. "This is indeed difficult to deal with. But I think it might be a chance. Why didn't the meat pieces separate from the monster's body? Why didn't they attack and devour each other? Do you still remember the fight? The meat returned to his body after I smashed him. Which means this piece might lead us to the monster."
Xuan gave him an approving look. "Correct. There's a high chance of finding the monster using this piece of meat. However, I want to do one more experiment first. Imhotep, dehydrate it. I am curious if the cells will evolve to a form of life that doesn't require water."
Evelyn asked. “What rewards? The murals said the design of the golden mask had flaws. It couldn’t evolve the wearer to the intended stage. Firstly, the beings lose control over their emotions. They will act according to their present desires. Secondly, they have to absorb human blood to maintain their life force. And the last flaw is fatal. They have no resistance toward sunlight. A minute amount of sunlight will kill them."
Zheng suddenly took out the gold fragment from the ring. "That wouldn't be due to this little piece right? How did you even manage to get this piece off him?"
O'Connell took the gold fragment and smiled bitterly. "While the monster was chasing after us, Jonathan sneaked into the town to steal the mask. However, the monster seemed to have an invisible connection to the mask. He went back to attack Jonathan at once. I am not sure what happened. The building caught fire and Jonathan came back with this fragment."
Zheng smiled. "I basically get it. You can see how powerful the monster is if Jonathan only managed to steal a fragment. I have to keep my things in my hand if I don't want him to take it away."
Jonathan smiled modestly.
Zheng asked. "Is he going to overcome the flaws with this fragment?"
Evelyn shook her head. "No. That is only the first step. The murals indicated he also needs a large diamond to gather sunlight then shoot a beam into the forehead of the mask. He will evolve again to the same stage as the saints. There is only one such diamond in this world."
Zheng said. "That wouldn't be the one Jonathan got from the pyramid right? How did he know that you have the diamond?"
O'Connell nodded. "Right. That's the one. Jonathan bragged about his diamond in a game of poker while we were with the archeologists."
Zheng rubbed his brows then turned to Lan. "Still no results from the scan?"
Lan shook her head. "No. The zombies scattered throughout the city. There are no trace of the monster. I have to put the hotel under surveillance in case he attacks the hotel."
Zheng nodded then looked at Xuan. "Any discovery on the monster's cells?"
When Zheng retrieved the Spear of Osiris after the explosion, there was a piece of the monster's flesh stuck on the spear. This flesh was wriggling like it wanted to fall off the spear.
Xuan nodded. He took out a glass bottle from a large leather bag. "I had the guards of the hotel bought me a set of laboratory supplies. These tools are rather simple but some data are easy to gather also. To begin, this piece of flesh is a complete organism on its own."
A piece of pink meat was moving inside the glass bottle. There were several tiny eyes and tentacles grown on the meat. Its size was bigger than when they initially obtained it.
Xuan continued. "Its size was very small initially. I then cut off a third of it for experimentations. However, once I poured cow blood on the meat, it absorbed the blood then grew to this size. Various organs also began to emerge from the meat, such the organs for vision, and smell. This meat can be considered a complete organism at this point."
He took out several more glass bottles. A piece of meat was floating inside liquid on each bottle. "I submerged the meat with different liquids. In concentrated sulphuric acid, the meat quickly dissolved. However, this bottle consists of diluted sulphuric acid. Take a look here."
They followed Xuan's finger. Inside the bottle was a small ball filled with holes. The holes were bubbling at a slow pace. "The meat evolved to resist the corrosion of the acid in a short period of time. It turned its outer layer into a form of isolation. The cells on the other layer are dead but its inside is still alive. Alkaline solution yielded similar results. But saline solution as a different effect. See the evolution in this bottle."
Xuan pointed to a glass bottle. A thin slice of meat was floating on top of the saline solution and breathing. It looked like a marine species.
After showing all the bottles, Xuan said calmly. "Understand? This meat is different from ours at the most basic level. We can speculate that the creators of the golden mask intended to give the wearers control over their genes. However, the experiment failed and the genes gained control over the hosts. Every cell became an individual organism. The aggregation of these cells became the monster. The monster doesn't have control over its evolution anymore. These cells will evolve on their own when they sense danger. As long as a single cell is still alive, the monster is still alive."
"What a rank B difficulty mission. One mistake and we won't even finish it. Luckily there is no time limit and no penalty for not completing it. Otherwise we might just wipe here."
Everyone was silent. The movie characters basically didn't understand much of what was said. Though they get that the monster was difficult to kill. If luck wasn't on their side, countless monsters might emerge from his meat.
Zheng pondered for a moment. "This is indeed difficult to deal with. But I think it might be a chance. Why didn't the meat pieces separate from the monster's body? Why didn't they attack and devour each other? Do you still remember the fight? The meat returned to his body after I smashed him. Which means this piece might lead us to the monster."
Xuan gave him an approving look. "Correct. There's a high chance of finding the monster using this piece of meat. However, I want to do one more experiment first. Imhotep, dehydrate it. I am curious if the cells will evolve to a form of life that doesn't require water."
Chapter 11-1
"Ha. You don't know how many times the word 'gold' was mentioned in the Mayan ruins. It definitely surpassed what we saw in Hamunptra. I swear there's definitely a mountain of gold hiding within the ruins. Let's go, Zheng. Apply your usual measure to hiring a few thousand people and excavate it." He said to everyone but his eyes only had the symbols of gold.
"Oh please. It was all 'golden mask'. Don't omit the second word." O'Connell walked over and slapped Jonathan's head. He sat down on a sofa.
Zheng had Lan scanned the whole exhibition center after the explosion and coincidentally saw the movie characters coming out of a car. They were standing not far away from the center with Imhotep and Anck-Su-Namun.
Zheng met up with the team then went over to the movie characters. Evelyn cried at once when she saw the baby boy. She held him in her arms and O'Connell had to comfort her. Everyone followed Zheng back to the hotel.
They helped Evelyn confirmed the boy was perfectly fine then fed him some milk before finding the chance to sit down and talk.
"Due to the growing tension in England, we immigrated to the U.S.. We originally planned to buy a mansion on the east coast since we have the savings. But when Evelyn contacted her college professor and found out he went to the west coast with a team of archeologists, we put the mansion aside and took the train to the Mayan ruins." O'Connell narrated their experience. Though the others were curious as to why Jonathan was with them.
Zheng asked. "Jonathan, didn't you plan to go to China? Why were you with O'Connell at the Mayan ruins?"
Jonathan took a sip of the coffee then laughed boldly. "Why would you think a brother as responsible as me would leave my dear sister and brother in law to take a trip on my own? They can't accomplish anything without me. I have no choice but to take it upon myself to protect them."
O'Connell exposed the lie instantly. "Are you sure it wasn't because you heard of a newly discovered gold mine in San Francisco? Then you heard that the Mayans had the custom of burying the royals with gold."
Jonathan immediately laughed. "Of course not. Do you think this gentleman would dig someone's grave just for some gold?"
"I think he will." Zheng said in a low voice.
"Not think. He definitely will." O'Connell said.
The movie characters arrival made Zheng feel better. When he learned that the boy was O'Connell and Evelyn's son, he was prepared for the worst, that the main characters had been killed.
Zheng said. "Let's go back to the monster. How did he come into existence? How did you get that mask?"
O'Connell nodded. "We arrived at the Mayan ruins. The archeologists were trying to open a gate. Evelyn and her professor could only identify a part of the characters carved on the gate. There were two possible meanings. One, the hope of mankind rests behind the gate. Two, the devil that destroys the world hides behind the gate. Of course, this wouldn't stop the archeologists. They opened the gate and entered the pyramid."
"To be honest, that place was nothing like a tomb, more like a factory with many bronze tools. The handles of those tools were wood and had decayed long ago. Aside from the tools was a huge hole on the ground filled with human bones. The archeologists said it was a place for human sacrifices."
Evelyn came out from the room and took over. "But those bones were all deformed. A small quantity of them didn't even look human anymore. How could those retards think the bones were human sacrifices. I have never seen any civilization use monsters."
"We kept heading inward and reached the inner most part of the pyramid. There, we found a gold mask embedded on a wall surrounded by words and murals. However, the archeologists were getting inpatient and just took the mask and left. We discovered more from the words and murals."
Evelyn sat next to O'Connell and muttered. "The murals depicted the era of evolution from apes to humans. When humans were still apes, the world was inhabited with countless monsters. Many had strength and abilities way beyond that of humans. Then a group of 'saints' emerged among the apes. They led the apes to victories over the monsters. The Apes survived then eventually evolved to humans."
"However, the saints began to die of age. Since the monsters were nearly wiped out in the war, no more humans could become saints anymore. Those who were still alive started to think of solutions. Some wanted to create saints by building a dimension then throw humans and monsters into it and kill each other."
"The other saints felt it was too cruel. They began to develop items that can turn humans into saints. A group that wore robes and a hat developed a golden pill that can turn humans into saint-like beings. These resided on the mountains. Another group that wore capes did surgeries on humans to give them feathered and webbed wings. Those who were transformed followed their saints and left. The last group of saints wore masks. They created this golden mask. Once a human wears this mask, he will become the closest being to a saint."
"However, what followed in the murals depicted everything the saints did were meaningless. People that took the golden pills became cruel and attacked the saints with robes. They then split into two factions and went to war against each other. These people all died in the end. The humans with wings lost their reproductive ability. Those with feathered wings went to war against the webbed wings and they all died. Humans who wore the golden mask eventually turned into monsters and started hunting other humans as food. They also feared sunlight which will turn them into bones."
"As the last remaining saint died, all that was left was the dimension."
Zheng and his team were shocked with their eyes wide open. That was almost unimaginable. The murals depicted the origin of God's dimension and everything that happened before it.
Xuan adjusted his glasses. "So that means the monster was a normal person that wore the mask. Are the ruins still preserved?"
Evelyn nodded. "The ruins are still there but the archeologists had turned into vampires. The monster was originally a regular old man. However, he isn't a complete monster yet. He's currently a defective product."
Chapter 10-2
Brown hair's face was completely deformed. The kick also punctured a hole in his chest. Either of these wounds was fatal to any normal person.
However, he was like a shapeshifting insect without a specified body. The wounds began regenerating. Flesh and bone branched out to fill in the wounds. In just several seconds, he was able to got himself down from the streetlight. Though his back was bent. The smash probably broke his spine. Yet this also healed in no time. The dragon and Zheng's regenerating rates paled in comparison.
Brown hair touched his body then raised his head to give Zheng a cold smile. "Very good. Very strong. I had felt that my evolution stopped recently because I was surrounded by a bunch of trash and low level species. It was useless absorbing their bodies. Without a strong force to give me comparisons and fight with me, this perfect body of mine couldn't improve further. I mistaken you. You are a high level being like me. I can taste the essence of that high level species from your blood. Such a delicious taste. Just one bite of it and I can feel my body evolving again. Become part of me. Use your full strength to make this perfect body evolve again!"
Brown hair charged at Zheng. The concrete ground exploded with every step he took. His strength increased again. Not only strength but also speed. He reached Zheng in just three to four seconds. Dozens of blood vessels from his body stabbed toward Zheng like a rain of arrows.
Zheng frowned. He used over 70% of his strength during explosion but the monster came back at him without any wound. He wasn't sure if this was an ability of the mask or a native ability of the fourth stage. Growing stronger when faced against tough opponents?
He jumped up over five meters high using the movement technique and Explosion. The blood vessels stabbed under him. Then he dropped down and stepped the vessels to the ground. The force smashed the blood vessels and a half meter deep hole on the ground. However, the baby boy in his arm cried before he could take the next action.
Zheng felt irritated. The monster couldn't rival him in the Explosion state but the monster also didn't care about the life of the boy. Zheng couldn't do the same since the boy's life was linked to the 10000 points punishment for the team. Furthermore, he would also choose to protect the boy with his life since the boy was O'Connell and Evelyn's child. He cursed and ran toward the exit.
Brown hair's strength and speed were still increasing. It seemed like once he fought Zheng, his body would continue evolving until it reached the same strength and speed as Zheng in his Explosion state.
"Zero, can you hear me? Shoot his legs. He needs time to recover. We have to limit his mobility for now." Zheng was aware he couldn't kill the monster at this time since he had to protect the boy.
About two seconds later, he heard Zero's reply. "I can see him but my hands can't keep up with the speed. I need you to slow him dow for one to two seconds."
"Ok! Kampa, can you see us? Once his legs get shot, tear him to pieces. WangXia, I need you to lob a bomb over. Set it to five seconds. Throw it as soon as Zero shot his legs. I am not fighting alone! His body may be strong but our strength as a team will tear him to pieces!"
The soul link connected the whole team closely together. They could plan and react to any situation immediately.
Zheng held onto the the boy with one arm and swung his other arm at brown hair. Two hands smashed together. Brown hair's bones immediately broke but the impact also pushed Zheng back a step. He was still in Explosion state! Brown hair's strength and speed continued increasing even during the fight. Tiny scales started appearing on its skin. And two bones were protruding on his back.
When Zheng broke his arm, brown hair reached his other arm toward Zheng's head. His fingers burst open and five ligaments shot out. Zheng held his place. "Now! Zero!"
Bang! Brown hair instantly fell to the ground. One of his leg was shot into paste. His body couldn't block off the force from the Gauss sniper rifle. The ligaments didn't reach Zheng's head after all. While brown hair rolled on the ground, Zheng jumped away. A second later, the EMP rifle roared and tore the man and the ground apart. In just a few seconds, his whole body was in pieces.
Zheng jumped once more to grab the bomb that was coming in the air. He threw the bomb behind then entered Destruction.
"Soru!" Zheng charged to the end of the exhibition center in almost an instant. An explosion went off in the center. The blastwave crushed all the decorations and lights.
Zheng held the boy tight in his arms and stood in place with his back toward the blastwave. The dragonshard actually activated and blocked all the fragments and stones flying at him.
After the blastwave subsided, he turned around to see the exhibition center became a total wreckage with a ten meter hole in the center. Dark smoke and fire were all over the place.
Zheng immediately contacted Lan. "Scan the whole exhibition area and its surrounding. See if there's anything moving that has no mental energy."
Lan paused for a while before she said. "There are still a lot of vampires. None of them has any mental energy. I will send the results over to your mind."
Zheng closed his eyes to receive the results then sighed. They couldn't lock onto brown hair with so many vampires here. There was also no way to tell if he was still alive or some part of his body ran away.
"Let's go. We will go find the movie characters."
However, he was like a shapeshifting insect without a specified body. The wounds began regenerating. Flesh and bone branched out to fill in the wounds. In just several seconds, he was able to got himself down from the streetlight. Though his back was bent. The smash probably broke his spine. Yet this also healed in no time. The dragon and Zheng's regenerating rates paled in comparison.
Brown hair touched his body then raised his head to give Zheng a cold smile. "Very good. Very strong. I had felt that my evolution stopped recently because I was surrounded by a bunch of trash and low level species. It was useless absorbing their bodies. Without a strong force to give me comparisons and fight with me, this perfect body of mine couldn't improve further. I mistaken you. You are a high level being like me. I can taste the essence of that high level species from your blood. Such a delicious taste. Just one bite of it and I can feel my body evolving again. Become part of me. Use your full strength to make this perfect body evolve again!"
Brown hair charged at Zheng. The concrete ground exploded with every step he took. His strength increased again. Not only strength but also speed. He reached Zheng in just three to four seconds. Dozens of blood vessels from his body stabbed toward Zheng like a rain of arrows.
Zheng frowned. He used over 70% of his strength during explosion but the monster came back at him without any wound. He wasn't sure if this was an ability of the mask or a native ability of the fourth stage. Growing stronger when faced against tough opponents?
He jumped up over five meters high using the movement technique and Explosion. The blood vessels stabbed under him. Then he dropped down and stepped the vessels to the ground. The force smashed the blood vessels and a half meter deep hole on the ground. However, the baby boy in his arm cried before he could take the next action.
Zheng felt irritated. The monster couldn't rival him in the Explosion state but the monster also didn't care about the life of the boy. Zheng couldn't do the same since the boy's life was linked to the 10000 points punishment for the team. Furthermore, he would also choose to protect the boy with his life since the boy was O'Connell and Evelyn's child. He cursed and ran toward the exit.
Brown hair's strength and speed were still increasing. It seemed like once he fought Zheng, his body would continue evolving until it reached the same strength and speed as Zheng in his Explosion state.
"Zero, can you hear me? Shoot his legs. He needs time to recover. We have to limit his mobility for now." Zheng was aware he couldn't kill the monster at this time since he had to protect the boy.
About two seconds later, he heard Zero's reply. "I can see him but my hands can't keep up with the speed. I need you to slow him dow for one to two seconds."
"Ok! Kampa, can you see us? Once his legs get shot, tear him to pieces. WangXia, I need you to lob a bomb over. Set it to five seconds. Throw it as soon as Zero shot his legs. I am not fighting alone! His body may be strong but our strength as a team will tear him to pieces!"
The soul link connected the whole team closely together. They could plan and react to any situation immediately.
Zheng held onto the the boy with one arm and swung his other arm at brown hair. Two hands smashed together. Brown hair's bones immediately broke but the impact also pushed Zheng back a step. He was still in Explosion state! Brown hair's strength and speed continued increasing even during the fight. Tiny scales started appearing on its skin. And two bones were protruding on his back.
When Zheng broke his arm, brown hair reached his other arm toward Zheng's head. His fingers burst open and five ligaments shot out. Zheng held his place. "Now! Zero!"
Bang! Brown hair instantly fell to the ground. One of his leg was shot into paste. His body couldn't block off the force from the Gauss sniper rifle. The ligaments didn't reach Zheng's head after all. While brown hair rolled on the ground, Zheng jumped away. A second later, the EMP rifle roared and tore the man and the ground apart. In just a few seconds, his whole body was in pieces.
Zheng jumped once more to grab the bomb that was coming in the air. He threw the bomb behind then entered Destruction.
"Soru!" Zheng charged to the end of the exhibition center in almost an instant. An explosion went off in the center. The blastwave crushed all the decorations and lights.
Zheng held the boy tight in his arms and stood in place with his back toward the blastwave. The dragonshard actually activated and blocked all the fragments and stones flying at him.
After the blastwave subsided, he turned around to see the exhibition center became a total wreckage with a ten meter hole in the center. Dark smoke and fire were all over the place.
Zheng immediately contacted Lan. "Scan the whole exhibition area and its surrounding. See if there's anything moving that has no mental energy."
Lan paused for a while before she said. "There are still a lot of vampires. None of them has any mental energy. I will send the results over to your mind."
Zheng closed his eyes to receive the results then sighed. They couldn't lock onto brown hair with so many vampires here. There was also no way to tell if he was still alive or some part of his body ran away.
"Let's go. We will go find the movie characters."
Chapter 10-1
Zheng exhaled as he heard the familiar sound. He took two steps forward but then jumped back instantly. A faint mark appeared on his face. Something shot out from the man's sleeves at his head. Luckily he had a strong sense for danger and backed off immediately. Though that thing still left a mark on his face.
(He's not dead. No blood. Still standing there. The force from the bullet would have knocked the person's whole body away. How is here still there?)
Zheng didn't want to get near the headless body. He stared at the body then noticed something moving through peripheral vision. The shattered flesh and bones of the head were wriggling on the ground. The pieces slowly moved themselves to the body then climbed up. Almost a minute later, the man recovered in whole.
Brown hair turned his head and stared with his cold eyes. "Bullet? That force was actually strong. I should kill him first."
The people that were being eaten by the vampires stood up. Their bodies grew in size but not as big as the first group of vampires. However, they looked more terrifying with torn open skin and exposed organs. These people began moving toward Zero's location.
Zheng told Zero to leave through soul link. He wouldn't take light of this man now. This bonus mission was worth a B rank reward after all and rewarded the whole team. The level of danger was equivalent to the dragon.
He finally saw what attacked him. A blood vessel that came out of the man's body! This kind of weapon gave him creeps.
Zheng took a deep breath. His eyes defocused. Information of the situation streamed into his head, including where the man might attack him, the speed of the hair and blood vessel, how to avoid the baby boy when he attacks.
He then took out the dragonshard necklace from the Na ring and held it in his fist. He charged at the monster. Several blood vessels shot toward his forehead and heart. Both sides were moving at extreme speeds. Zheng didn't dodge as the blood vessels reached inches close to him. A translucent barrier blocked them off right before they reach his skin. At the same time, he stabbed the Spear of Osiris toward the monster's head. Unlike when he was facing the vampires, he channeled qi and blood energy into the spear, giving it a golden glow.
Brown hair's expression finally showed emotion. He lifted his leg to block the spear. The spear hit his heel and pierced right through the leg. Despite Zheng only had time to channel a small amount of energy, the golden light completely wiped off a part of the man's flesh.
Brown hair seemed like he didn't feel any pain. He continued his action and drove the spear down to the ground with his leg. At the same time, he grabbed Zheng's neck with a hand. A deep chill spread from the hand. Zheng lost sense of his neck in under a second. Zheng immediately punched at the arm. Pah! The punch snapped the arm and he quickly pulled himself away.
Before he could follow up, he heard brown hair muttered at the broken arm. "Body toughness isn't enough. Strength needs to increase by three times." His arm had already recovered and the muscles on his body were moving violently. A scale like layer surfaced from his skin. Everything happened within just ten seconds. Zheng was totally shocked.
A thought crossed his mind. This situation was what unlocking the fourth stage of the genetic constraint would be like, to be able to alter one's DNA at will. A person could use different amounts of power depending on the situation. The normal weaker body was beneficial to conserving energy and lessening the strain on the body. Then the person would evolve to a combat ready body during combat. This was the stage his clone was in.
Zheng took a deep breath. He entered the second stage. Both his arms enlarged. Qi and blood energy were channeled into the spear once again. As brown hair charged at him, he stabbed the spear toward the man's head. Brown hair raised his arm to block. The two came in contact with a clank! But the spear still pierced into the arm. However, it stopped going forward halfway in then stuck in the arm. Zheng was shocked for a moment. Brown hair kicked toward his chest at the same time. He had no choice but to let go of the spear. He jumped back several meters before the kick hit him. But the wind pressure from the kick still caused some pain on his chest. If brown hair was only seven to eight times a normal person's strength in the beginning, his strength was now at least twenty times.
Brown hair sneered. He pulled the spear out of his arm with content and said with a cold smile. "You are much stronger than a normal human, a strong low rank organism. I have decided to make you a vampire obedient to me, a slave that fights for me. In return, I will give you eternal youth and immense strength."
Zheng also smiled. "It's wonderful that I get to fight you before meeting my clone. Yes, you have an ability belonging to the fourth stage of the unlocked mode, but you aren't as strong as someone in the fourth stage. You will be a demonstration subject. Good that I don't have to guess how strong he is blindly. I only need to use Explosion for you!"
Brown hair was obviously confused at Zheng's words. At the same time, a series of gunshots were going off by the edge of the exhibition center. That was Kampa firing at the vampires.
Brown hair was ready to attack again when Zheng suddenly disappeared from his vision. The ground that Zheng was standing on exploded. The force from his steps crushed the concrete. He charged toward the man at lightning speed then punched the man's head into his body. Zheng seized the baby boy from the man's arms then sent him back a few dozen meters with a kick. The man smashed onto a street light.
"Didn't get it? This is Explosion!"
(He's not dead. No blood. Still standing there. The force from the bullet would have knocked the person's whole body away. How is here still there?)
Zheng didn't want to get near the headless body. He stared at the body then noticed something moving through peripheral vision. The shattered flesh and bones of the head were wriggling on the ground. The pieces slowly moved themselves to the body then climbed up. Almost a minute later, the man recovered in whole.
Brown hair turned his head and stared with his cold eyes. "Bullet? That force was actually strong. I should kill him first."
The people that were being eaten by the vampires stood up. Their bodies grew in size but not as big as the first group of vampires. However, they looked more terrifying with torn open skin and exposed organs. These people began moving toward Zero's location.
Zheng told Zero to leave through soul link. He wouldn't take light of this man now. This bonus mission was worth a B rank reward after all and rewarded the whole team. The level of danger was equivalent to the dragon.
He finally saw what attacked him. A blood vessel that came out of the man's body! This kind of weapon gave him creeps.
Zheng took a deep breath. His eyes defocused. Information of the situation streamed into his head, including where the man might attack him, the speed of the hair and blood vessel, how to avoid the baby boy when he attacks.
He then took out the dragonshard necklace from the Na ring and held it in his fist. He charged at the monster. Several blood vessels shot toward his forehead and heart. Both sides were moving at extreme speeds. Zheng didn't dodge as the blood vessels reached inches close to him. A translucent barrier blocked them off right before they reach his skin. At the same time, he stabbed the Spear of Osiris toward the monster's head. Unlike when he was facing the vampires, he channeled qi and blood energy into the spear, giving it a golden glow.
Brown hair's expression finally showed emotion. He lifted his leg to block the spear. The spear hit his heel and pierced right through the leg. Despite Zheng only had time to channel a small amount of energy, the golden light completely wiped off a part of the man's flesh.
Brown hair seemed like he didn't feel any pain. He continued his action and drove the spear down to the ground with his leg. At the same time, he grabbed Zheng's neck with a hand. A deep chill spread from the hand. Zheng lost sense of his neck in under a second. Zheng immediately punched at the arm. Pah! The punch snapped the arm and he quickly pulled himself away.
Before he could follow up, he heard brown hair muttered at the broken arm. "Body toughness isn't enough. Strength needs to increase by three times." His arm had already recovered and the muscles on his body were moving violently. A scale like layer surfaced from his skin. Everything happened within just ten seconds. Zheng was totally shocked.
A thought crossed his mind. This situation was what unlocking the fourth stage of the genetic constraint would be like, to be able to alter one's DNA at will. A person could use different amounts of power depending on the situation. The normal weaker body was beneficial to conserving energy and lessening the strain on the body. Then the person would evolve to a combat ready body during combat. This was the stage his clone was in.
Zheng took a deep breath. He entered the second stage. Both his arms enlarged. Qi and blood energy were channeled into the spear once again. As brown hair charged at him, he stabbed the spear toward the man's head. Brown hair raised his arm to block. The two came in contact with a clank! But the spear still pierced into the arm. However, it stopped going forward halfway in then stuck in the arm. Zheng was shocked for a moment. Brown hair kicked toward his chest at the same time. He had no choice but to let go of the spear. He jumped back several meters before the kick hit him. But the wind pressure from the kick still caused some pain on his chest. If brown hair was only seven to eight times a normal person's strength in the beginning, his strength was now at least twenty times.
Brown hair sneered. He pulled the spear out of his arm with content and said with a cold smile. "You are much stronger than a normal human, a strong low rank organism. I have decided to make you a vampire obedient to me, a slave that fights for me. In return, I will give you eternal youth and immense strength."
Zheng also smiled. "It's wonderful that I get to fight you before meeting my clone. Yes, you have an ability belonging to the fourth stage of the unlocked mode, but you aren't as strong as someone in the fourth stage. You will be a demonstration subject. Good that I don't have to guess how strong he is blindly. I only need to use Explosion for you!"
Brown hair was obviously confused at Zheng's words. At the same time, a series of gunshots were going off by the edge of the exhibition center. That was Kampa firing at the vampires.
Brown hair was ready to attack again when Zheng suddenly disappeared from his vision. The ground that Zheng was standing on exploded. The force from his steps crushed the concrete. He charged toward the man at lightning speed then punched the man's head into his body. Zheng seized the baby boy from the man's arms then sent him back a few dozen meters with a kick. The man smashed onto a street light.
"Didn't get it? This is Explosion!"
Chapter 9-3
Zheng retrieved the Book of the Dead and joined his team on the food while the professionals he hired for this event acted like the hosts.
"These public figures just needed an excuse and the party provided this excuse." WangXia said to the others.
Since nothing happened during the day, Xuan, Lan, and Zero came to the exhibition center. Getting food was more convenient here. Plus it didn't matter much to them if anything gets stolen since they already took back the Book of the Dead.
Kampa was chewing through a whole roasted chicken without any etiquette and drinking a large glass of vodka. He said as people frowned at him. "These people are funny. They should have just hold parties if they like them so much. Haha. Try the roast chicken, it's good." He brought a stick to his plate.
Zheng felt full from just watching Kampa eat. He grabbed a plate of fruit salad. "I am not that interested in western cuisine. Chinese cuisine taste much better to me, especially spicy Szechuan food."
Lan sat next to him and giggled. "Then let's have a hotpot after going back. I had a friend from Szechuan and saw her made it. I will make the best hotpot you ever tasted."
The atmosphere was quite relaxed. Xuan was eating a steamed fish quietly. Every once in a while, he would pick out a bone from his mouth. It seemed like he wasn't used to eating fish. Showing such a difference from his other abilities.
Zheng got up to get some drinks. After a few steps, he suddenly blocked everyone behind him. The four men had all been through life and death situations and fought with Zheng. They immediately surrounded Lan in the center to guard her. WangXia and Xuan took out their submachine gun and pistols.
"What's the situation? Enemies nearby?" Xuan observed the surrounded and asked Zheng.
The waiters were shocked for a moment. Several screamed and began running away. However, there were screams at the same time coming from far away, actually from three difference places. The place turned into a chaos as people trying to push themselves out. Many fell and got stepped on.
"The smell of blood. A very strong smell of blood. Lan, scan what happened over there." Zheng shouted.
Lan replied then closed her eyes. After a while, she muttered with confusion. "This can't be right. There is nothing over those three places or there is nothing alive."
As she was talking, the three places were emptied out as the crowd backed away. Three large and strong men crouched in the centers. These men were tearing apart the dead bodies on the ground. The attire of the bodies looked like the public figures in the party. Blood and organs splattered over the ground.
One of the men stood up and turned to Zheng. The man's face looked twisted like someone from an abstract sculpture. His eyes, nose, ears were in different locations. His mouth covered a third of his face. Sharp teeth protruded outside the mouth. Traces of blood, flesh, and bones stuck on the teeth.
Zheng took out the EMP rifle and Gauss rifle without a second of hesitation. He said in a light voice. "They should be the beings created from the mask. But I haven't received any notifications so the golden mask is probably not a bonus mission. We don't know how many of them are there. Try not to engage. Kampa and Zero escort Lan and Xuan back to the hotel. WangXia follow me to cover the retreat. I will signal you if we need to use bombs."
Just then, the man that stood up was walking towards them. Another wave of screams came from the crowd by the entrance. A brown hair young man stood there with a baby boy in his arms. His hair was waving in the air like they had lives. Anyone stabbed by the hair instantly fell to the ground then got back up. They began growing to two meters tall and their body became muscular. However, all their faces were distorted drastically like the three men from before.
"Hidden bonus mission activated. Kill higher life being Tidus. Rewards a rank B reward and 5000 points. Other team members receive a rank C reward and 4000 points. Prevent Alex from becoming a vampire. If Alex dies or becomes a vampire, deduct 10000 points from each member. No time limit."
The team looked at each other. Their hearts were clenched tight. The four who fought the dragon felt a chill arose from the bottom of their hearts. This brown hair Asian that didn't look too different from a normal person was on the same scale as the dragon. Even if protecting Alex was part of the difficulty, the man still wouldn't be far off from the dragon. The penalty was extra weight added to them. If that person dies, their lives would end by the time the days in this world was over.
"Who is Alex? Who the fuck is this person? How can there suddenly be an unknown person?" Kampa cursed and aimed the EMP rifle at the brown hair Asian. However, Xuan pushed the rifle up before he could fire.
Xuan massaged his temples. "Alex.We are in The Mummy's world. Between the end of World War 1 and before World War 2. The same time frame the stone mask came to the U.S. in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Out of all the main characters in these two stories, Alex should be the son of Rick O'Connell and Evelyn Carnahan. His current age is around one year old!"
Their eyes turned to the baby boy in the man's arms. The boy's face and skin looked Caucasian. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Kampa was drowned in cold sweat. If he pulled the trigger just then, everyone would got erased at the same time.
Zheng exhaled and said. "Good. Let's take care of the bonus mission here. These monsters came when we are unprepared but a face to face fight is better than ambushes. Lan, remember his mental waves. Get ready to lock onto his location. We can't let him run away. Kampa, shoot the vampires at will. Protect Lan and Xuan. Zero, find a spot for sniping. I need you to blow his head with magical bullets. Everyone move!"
Kampa escorted Lan and Xuan heading out of the place. Lan scanned the area and linked with Zheng, Xuan, and Zero's minds. However, she couldn't scan nor lock onto the brown hair just like those vampires. If was as though he was already dead, not emitting any mental waves.
The first vampire that ran at Zheng had gotten close. Its speed was not fast but its strength was tremendous. Each step left a footprint on the concrete ground. He jumped three meters high and leaped at Zheng.
The vampire might be unstoppable against normal people but Zheng surpassed it in both strength and speed. He wouldn't be scared of a mere vampire after surviving multiple life threatening trials, obtaining powers from God, and the enhancements from the dragon's cells.
When the vampire was one meter away from Zheng, a golden light pierced through its head. Zheng was holding the Spear of Osiris. It still had exceptional sharpness despite not using it with qi or blood energy. Zheng lifted the vampire through the spear then threw it at brown hair.
Brown hair was walking over to Zheng. He held out a hand at the coming vampire and grabbed its head. The vampire began freezing at the head and soon became a frozen statue. He threw the statue on the ground and shattered it.
Brown hair stopped at ten meters away from Zheng. "Give me the gold fragment. I can smell the fragment from your body. I can promise I won't kill your friends."
Zheng laughed. "You think you can kill them so easily? You think you can kill them with just these vampires? Stop kidding me. These vampires are nothing compared to T-Rexes. No defense against scientific weapons, similar speed and only three to four times the strength of a normal person. Too bad there are no points from killing them."
Brown hair was slightly confused but he got the gist of what Zheng said. It was refusal and contempt. He frowned and started walking again. His hair wavering like snakes.
Zheng didn't move a step. He trusted his abilities and he received a message through soul link that told him to stay put. Just one more step.
Bang! A bullet penetrated the man's head at the same time the sound came out. The bullet was so powerful that it crushed the head into powder and broke off a street light behind before puncturing a hole into the ground.
The sound of the Gauss sniper rifle went off once again.
"These public figures just needed an excuse and the party provided this excuse." WangXia said to the others.
Since nothing happened during the day, Xuan, Lan, and Zero came to the exhibition center. Getting food was more convenient here. Plus it didn't matter much to them if anything gets stolen since they already took back the Book of the Dead.
Kampa was chewing through a whole roasted chicken without any etiquette and drinking a large glass of vodka. He said as people frowned at him. "These people are funny. They should have just hold parties if they like them so much. Haha. Try the roast chicken, it's good." He brought a stick to his plate.
Zheng felt full from just watching Kampa eat. He grabbed a plate of fruit salad. "I am not that interested in western cuisine. Chinese cuisine taste much better to me, especially spicy Szechuan food."
Lan sat next to him and giggled. "Then let's have a hotpot after going back. I had a friend from Szechuan and saw her made it. I will make the best hotpot you ever tasted."
The atmosphere was quite relaxed. Xuan was eating a steamed fish quietly. Every once in a while, he would pick out a bone from his mouth. It seemed like he wasn't used to eating fish. Showing such a difference from his other abilities.
Zheng got up to get some drinks. After a few steps, he suddenly blocked everyone behind him. The four men had all been through life and death situations and fought with Zheng. They immediately surrounded Lan in the center to guard her. WangXia and Xuan took out their submachine gun and pistols.
"What's the situation? Enemies nearby?" Xuan observed the surrounded and asked Zheng.
The waiters were shocked for a moment. Several screamed and began running away. However, there were screams at the same time coming from far away, actually from three difference places. The place turned into a chaos as people trying to push themselves out. Many fell and got stepped on.
"The smell of blood. A very strong smell of blood. Lan, scan what happened over there." Zheng shouted.
Lan replied then closed her eyes. After a while, she muttered with confusion. "This can't be right. There is nothing over those three places or there is nothing alive."
As she was talking, the three places were emptied out as the crowd backed away. Three large and strong men crouched in the centers. These men were tearing apart the dead bodies on the ground. The attire of the bodies looked like the public figures in the party. Blood and organs splattered over the ground.
One of the men stood up and turned to Zheng. The man's face looked twisted like someone from an abstract sculpture. His eyes, nose, ears were in different locations. His mouth covered a third of his face. Sharp teeth protruded outside the mouth. Traces of blood, flesh, and bones stuck on the teeth.
Zheng took out the EMP rifle and Gauss rifle without a second of hesitation. He said in a light voice. "They should be the beings created from the mask. But I haven't received any notifications so the golden mask is probably not a bonus mission. We don't know how many of them are there. Try not to engage. Kampa and Zero escort Lan and Xuan back to the hotel. WangXia follow me to cover the retreat. I will signal you if we need to use bombs."
Just then, the man that stood up was walking towards them. Another wave of screams came from the crowd by the entrance. A brown hair young man stood there with a baby boy in his arms. His hair was waving in the air like they had lives. Anyone stabbed by the hair instantly fell to the ground then got back up. They began growing to two meters tall and their body became muscular. However, all their faces were distorted drastically like the three men from before.
"Hidden bonus mission activated. Kill higher life being Tidus. Rewards a rank B reward and 5000 points. Other team members receive a rank C reward and 4000 points. Prevent Alex from becoming a vampire. If Alex dies or becomes a vampire, deduct 10000 points from each member. No time limit."
The team looked at each other. Their hearts were clenched tight. The four who fought the dragon felt a chill arose from the bottom of their hearts. This brown hair Asian that didn't look too different from a normal person was on the same scale as the dragon. Even if protecting Alex was part of the difficulty, the man still wouldn't be far off from the dragon. The penalty was extra weight added to them. If that person dies, their lives would end by the time the days in this world was over.
"Who is Alex? Who the fuck is this person? How can there suddenly be an unknown person?" Kampa cursed and aimed the EMP rifle at the brown hair Asian. However, Xuan pushed the rifle up before he could fire.
Xuan massaged his temples. "Alex.We are in The Mummy's world. Between the end of World War 1 and before World War 2. The same time frame the stone mask came to the U.S. in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Out of all the main characters in these two stories, Alex should be the son of Rick O'Connell and Evelyn Carnahan. His current age is around one year old!"
Their eyes turned to the baby boy in the man's arms. The boy's face and skin looked Caucasian. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Kampa was drowned in cold sweat. If he pulled the trigger just then, everyone would got erased at the same time.
Zheng exhaled and said. "Good. Let's take care of the bonus mission here. These monsters came when we are unprepared but a face to face fight is better than ambushes. Lan, remember his mental waves. Get ready to lock onto his location. We can't let him run away. Kampa, shoot the vampires at will. Protect Lan and Xuan. Zero, find a spot for sniping. I need you to blow his head with magical bullets. Everyone move!"
Kampa escorted Lan and Xuan heading out of the place. Lan scanned the area and linked with Zheng, Xuan, and Zero's minds. However, she couldn't scan nor lock onto the brown hair just like those vampires. If was as though he was already dead, not emitting any mental waves.
The first vampire that ran at Zheng had gotten close. Its speed was not fast but its strength was tremendous. Each step left a footprint on the concrete ground. He jumped three meters high and leaped at Zheng.
The vampire might be unstoppable against normal people but Zheng surpassed it in both strength and speed. He wouldn't be scared of a mere vampire after surviving multiple life threatening trials, obtaining powers from God, and the enhancements from the dragon's cells.
When the vampire was one meter away from Zheng, a golden light pierced through its head. Zheng was holding the Spear of Osiris. It still had exceptional sharpness despite not using it with qi or blood energy. Zheng lifted the vampire through the spear then threw it at brown hair.
Brown hair was walking over to Zheng. He held out a hand at the coming vampire and grabbed its head. The vampire began freezing at the head and soon became a frozen statue. He threw the statue on the ground and shattered it.
Brown hair stopped at ten meters away from Zheng. "Give me the gold fragment. I can smell the fragment from your body. I can promise I won't kill your friends."
Zheng laughed. "You think you can kill them so easily? You think you can kill them with just these vampires? Stop kidding me. These vampires are nothing compared to T-Rexes. No defense against scientific weapons, similar speed and only three to four times the strength of a normal person. Too bad there are no points from killing them."
Brown hair was slightly confused but he got the gist of what Zheng said. It was refusal and contempt. He frowned and started walking again. His hair wavering like snakes.
Zheng didn't move a step. He trusted his abilities and he received a message through soul link that told him to stay put. Just one more step.
Bang! A bullet penetrated the man's head at the same time the sound came out. The bullet was so powerful that it crushed the head into powder and broke off a street light behind before puncturing a hole into the ground.
The sound of the Gauss sniper rifle went off once again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)