CH 86

(The Strongest Weapon)

Edited by Silver Wind 

So ugly.

Shen Dongqing poked the sign.

White Coat said: “You are the most outstanding test product that our company has researched.”

Shen Dongqing rolled his eyes. 

What do they mean by a product of their research? He clearly grew up on his own.

The White Coat’s eyes seemed to be fitted with a filter because he was looking at Shen Dongqing with an affectionate gaze. “What do you want to eat? You were just born, you need a lot of strength, we cultivate all kinds of ghost experimental bodies here.”

Shen Dongqing: …… No thanks.

Ghosts were actually disgusting to eat, alright? He had worked hard for so long and he finally turned into a human after much difficulty, he absolutely refused to go back and eat trash!

White Coat faltered momentarily, “Then you…”

Shen Dongqing made a gesture.

I want ice cream.

White Coat: ? 

This was the first time he had seen such a strange request.

But it was acceptable. As a researcher, the White Coat’s ability to adapt was incredibly strong. He pressed on the control panel.

“Bring some food over.”

The figure of a young person appeared on the screen. He looked slightly hesitant. “What kind do you want? Human or ghost?” 

White Coat: “… Neither of those, bring food that humans eat.”

A string of question marks appeared above the young man’s head as well.

White Coat said with much difficulty: “What is there to eat in this base?”

The young man replied: “Nutrient liquid.” 

Shen Dongqing shook his head.

It did not sound tasty at all!

The young man continued to state: “Fried chicken, hamburgers, ice cream…”

With every food he mentioned, Shen Dongqing nodded his head once. 

White Coat had never seen a ghost who had shown interest towards human food but when he saw Shen Dongqing’s look of extreme interest, he could only instruct: “Bring all of it over.”

DI DI DI—

The corridor reverberated with the sound of the alarm, and the originally cold and indifferent white lights had turned into an eye-piercing red. 

Wu Jia could not resist asking: “Boss, we’ve already walked two full rounds, maybe we should look for someone to ask for directions?”

Zhou Wenyan: “I know.”

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Ycmf Qe Alj tfjgv atja, tf rtea tlr wbeat. 

Itbe Qfcsjc mbcalcefv ab obguf jtfjv, gjlrlcu j tjcv ab qgfrr la jujlcra tlr mtfra. Coafg tf mjwf bea bo atf ceaglalbc mjylc, tlr tfjgayfja tjv rqfv eq jczlberis. Lf vlv cba xcbk ktja Vtfc Gbcudlcu tjv fcmbecafgfv, ktlmt kjr kts tf kjr rb jczlber ab olcv tlw.

Soon.

Zhou Wenyan raised his eyes, looking forward.

Just around the corner’s bend and… 

Zhou Wenyan came to a stop.

Wu Jia was following behind him, and he almost bumped into him because he failed to react in time.

“What’s…” Wu Jia covered his head, nearly frightened silly.

There was a particularly bizarre thing hanging down from the ceiling in front of them. Perhaps owing to the fact that its mother had been particularly negligent when it was giving birth, but its hands and legs were not in the places they were meant to be. 

That brother looked like a noodle, all thin and long with four to five pairs of hands extending out of its ribs, which were roughly two metres long. It was askew and folded as it adhered itself to the ceiling. Its head was growing out its belly, its facial features were degenerated, which reduced its eyes into the size of beans while its teeth remained as sharp as knives.

Wu Jia: “That, that, that… It looks way too unconventional and alien.”

Technically speaking, he had been through a great number of games, but he had never seen something with this appearance.

Zhou Wenyan: “Test product.” 

Quite a few departed spirits who were demanding vengeance for their grievances were twined around that thing, making it apparent that it was forcibly assembled into that state.

Wu Jia: “This base of operations is truly amazing.”

They could have chosen to research anything, but they decided to research ghosts and monsters.

If they brought this determination to research outside, they would manage to yield results from their research, regardless of whether it was a technology or skill. 

That humanoid spider seemed to understand their discussion, and it issued a “zu zu” noise from its mouth as its arms abruptly stretched out, shooting towards Zhou Wenyan.

Just as its limbs were about to touch him, it swayed and feinted, trying to grab hold of Wu Jia and the Short-haired Woman.

Wu Jia quickly pulled out a talisman, slapping it on the pitch-black arm.

A sizzling noise sounded, followed by a burst of white appearing on that arm. However, for the humanoid spider, the talisman was akin to a tickle, and it only made its movement falter for a moment before it continued to brandish forward. 

Wu Jia thought in his heart, Will I meet my end right here and now?

But the pain he was expecting did not arrive. Instead, it was the humanoid spider whose arms were broken off from the middle, thus falling to the ground.

The humanoid spider was exceedingly enraged, its beady eyes glaring at Zhou Wenyan ferociously.

Zhou Wenyan kicked up the arm that had fallen to the ground with his toes before he caught it in mid-air. At the flick of his wrist, he countered by spearing the humanoid spider’s belly, pinning it firmly to the ceiling. 

The humanoid spider released a blood-curdling scream, as if it was notifying its companions to come over.

Zhou Wenyan made a prompt decision. “Run.”

Players who could survive through so many copies all relied on their pair of legs running fast enough.

Without needing further instruction from Zhou Wenyan, the pair proceeded to break into a swift sprint. 

When the humanoid spider finally disappeared from their sights, Wu Jia slowed down his speed. “Huff—Boss, you can’t withstand it?”

Zhou Wenyan shook his head. “It wastes too much time.”

He could deal with the humanoid spider, but it was quite evident that the humanoid spider had external assistance. If they allowed the skirmish to drag out longer, they would be wasting too much time there.

As for those strange and bizarre things, they could deal with them later if need be. 

Hence, the group avoided the ghosts and monsters and ventured deeper inwards.

After seeing all those grotesquely shaped ghosts along the way, Wu Jia remarked with lingering fears: “The clearance condition couldn’t possibly be to annihilate all of them, right?”

This difficulty level was slightly terrifying.

The Type A and Type B ghosts could not be considered as powerful, but that did not detract its sheer quantity, and the Type D and Type E ghosts that they faced later were quite similar to the mini bosses in most game copies. 

It was no wonder why this game was deemed as an S-level copy.

The Short-haired Woman: “The difficulty would be too high; it would basically end in death. The game wouldn’t come up with such a clearance condition.

Wu Jia glanced at Zhou Wenyan secretly.

Other players might be incapable, but that did not mean that this individual was incapable! 

As they ventured deeper, the players’ heart suspended as they became increasingly on edge, deathly afraid of encountering a Type S ghost.

For some unknown reason, the last part of the journey became abnormally quiet instead, since not a single ghost appeared.

Zhou Wenyan eventually reached another door. Before he had time to break it open violently, the door automatically opened in a very sensible manner.

Wu Jia and the Short-haired Woman exchanged looks. They did not know what kind of medicine this bottle was selling. 

Before they took a step in, they heard the screen hanging on the wall flickering once. Subsequently, a figure in a white lab coat appeared, wearing a smile on his face.

“The fact that you could reach this place symbolises that you have decent strength.

“However, the unfortunate thing is that you will never escape your fates of being experimental bodies.

“Even if you managed to come here, you can only serve as our little white mice. However… you should feel fortunate since you were not buried by the hands of inferior-quality products. Rather, you will become the food of our most perfect creation!” 

White Coat originally wanted to release the creatures inside the experimental cabins and slaughter this entire group directly, but after he noticed that the person taking the lead had some ability, he decided he might as well use him to test the powers of the newly born S-1.

White Coat’s gaze made it seem like he was looking at dead people. “The strongest weapon in the base is inside, if you’re not afraid of death, you may step in.”

Once his voice landed, the doors opened on command. The depths were dark and hollow, as if they were hiding a monster that could devour everything.

Wu Jia shuddered because of the oncoming cold wind. “I’m afraid that the final BOSS is inside, lao da…” 

Zhou Wenyan walked in without the slightest hesitation.

He could sense that Shen Dongqing was inside. No matter what terrors were held inside, it would not deter his footsteps.

Wu Jia and the Short-haired Woman looked at each other, and they could only follow.

After the three players stepped in, the doors to the testing lab closed with an audible click, isolating all the light. 

Wu Jia and the Short-haired Woman remained ever-so-cautious, deathly afraid that some kind of grotesquely shaped thing would jump out from the corner.

Despite being vigilant for the entire way, they did not see a single ghost or monster appear.

But all the players were aware that the quieter it was, the more abnormal it was.

When they reached the final door, the translucent but frosted door slowly opened. 

Wu Jia shifted his feet until he was hiding behind Zhou Wenyan’s body directly. He had no choice; the people with taller statures had to support the skies even if it collapsed. The Short-haired Woman was even shrewder, since she was standing even further back than Wu Jia.

After the pair waited for a long moment. Nothing terrifying appeared in front of them.

Wu Jia poked his head out, and he nearly thought that there was something wrong with his vision, which made him rub his eyes forcefully.

Wu Jia became dumbstruck. 

The Short-haired Woman was also dumbstruck.

This was the White Coat’s secret weapon?

With how frightening the White Coat made it sound just now, they had assumed that there was some kind of demon or monster waiting for them inside. In the end, they only saw a familiar figure inside, holding an ice cream in his left hand and a fried chicken in his right, and he was eating with relish.

When Shen Dongqing heard the sound of approaching footsteps, he was not in a hurry either; he took a bite out of his fried chicken first before raising his head. In the instant where he saw Zhou Wenyan, his eyes brightened, and he raised the fried chicken in his hand. 

Zhou Wenyan knelt down partially beside him. “It’s me.”

Since Shen Dongqing’s mouth was full of fried chicken, he could barely speak: “Wuu…”

I know it’s you, this fried chicken is quite tasty, try one.

Zhou Wenyan was directly stuffed with a piece of chicken that was still steaming hot because it was freshly made. 

Shen Dongqing gave him a smile.

The White Coat could not be more stunned. Wasn’t this supposed to be a scene of carnage the moment it encountered people?

“Hurry up and act!” He urged.

Shen Dongqing blinked owlishly before he understood what the White Coat was trying to say. Seeing that Zhou Wenyan had yet to move, he offered him his half-gnawed chicken with great generosity, willing to share. 

White Coat gnashed his teeth: “I told you to act, not feed him fried chicken!”

Shen Dongqing slanted his head: ? What should he be doing then?

The White Coat had been staying in the base for many years and his head was constantly buried in research. There were very few instances where his emotions got worked up, but it was fluctuating sharply today, like he was riding a roller coaster.

He roared: “Kill all of them!” 

Cold light flashed past the sign on Shen Dongqing’s chest. A hint of vacancy flashed past his eyes as he stood up with the fried chicken in hand.

Wu Jia reminded: “Lao da, something is wrong, it’s better if you move further away!”

Zhou Wenyan did not move. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on Shen Dongqing.

Shen Dongqing’s pupils shifted slightly, meeting Zhou Wenyan’s gaze. In the depths of his eyes, he saw his own reflection. 

The White Coat’s voice transmitted out from the stereo, slightly distorted in quality: “Get a move on!”

He was slightly regretting his decision to let S-1 out . When all was said and done, a newly born experimental body was not mature, but he had no other option left given the current circumstances, since the other experimental bodies were still slumbering.

Shen Dongqing stared at Zhou Wenyan, lost in a trance. The floral patterns on his cheeks became alive, roving across his skin. He seemed to have suffered a stimulus since the blood moon in his pupils became brighter and his yin energy gushed out, condensing to the point where it was nearly corporal.

Separated by the screen, White Coat clenched his hands, “Quickly—” 

Shen Dongqing raised his hand. Following his movement, the yin energy wrapped around his arm. Only one light punch was required to wrest away the life of the person in front of him.

However, his movements stopped there.

And then…

He twisted his head and ran. 

White Coat: ???

Weren’t you supposed to be the strongest weapon?