“It’s a newly opened area…” After that episode, Xing Yue calmed down a bit. The combatants had their guns aimed at him, and he looked trapped, unable to escape. He slowly withdrew his beast form. “The newly opened Zone F, geographically, is in the same country as Zone C. So just judging by appearances, it’s easy to confuse the two.”
He Wuning nodded. “Looks like you reached an agreement with the monsters a long time ago.”
“Speaking of which, today, once the monsters realized Zone A was hard to deal with, they turned their attacks to other zones. Zone E was their main target, but Zone F…it seems it only suffered a token attack.”
Q-chan, like a broken record, repeated, “It only suffered a token attack!”
He Wuning looked at him. “The attack on Zone C was also probably intended to let you sneak from Zone C into Zone A, right? After all, Zone F is farthest from Zone A; escaping directly from Zone F would attract too much attention.”
He Wuning sneered. “Looks like you’ve been cooperating quite well with the monsters.”
Q-chan glared fiercely. “Cooperating quite well!”
He Wuning glanced at Q-chan but quietly withdrew his gaze.
“Cut the crap,” the young man said, suddenly calm. He even spoke standard Chinese, making Q-chan exclaim in surprise: “Wow!”
“He… he… he can speak Chinese!”
“Hmph, this is the power of God! He has granted us infinite knowledge!” The young man’s face showed a fanatical gleam. “A mere language or script is nothing—trivial for us…”
Q-chan mocked him wildly. “Idiot! Overconfident and bit your tongue, huh? It’s ‘hand to capture,’ not whatever nonsense you said!”
“Hmph! So what? Our system also possesses extensive knowledge of Blue Star!”
The young man stood proudly before the monsters, flaunting his fluent Chinese.
Xue Xun laughed wryly. “Even the system is competing with the monsters… But come to think of it, the previous monsters also spoke Blue Star’s languages. I guess the game just gives them that knowledge?”
“If winning the game meant I could effortlessly learn an alien prophecy, I’d be motivated too.”
He Wuning looked toward the voice. It was Zuo Qianming, who had rarely left the lab.
Peeking curiously at the young man, he turned to He Wuning with a smile. “By the way, why isn’t Yi Luo with you? You two were glued together like a couple in love before…”
He Wuning, expressionless, hadn’t replied when Q-chan jumped in first, shouting, “Don’t use such weird metaphors! Not a couple at all!”
He Wuning frowned. “Is this the time to talk about that?”
“Yeah, the guy’s emotional—show some respect!” Xing Yue crouched slightly, baring his teeth, trying to intimidate him.
Finally, the group’s attention returned to the monster present.
The young man had lost some human features, standing out awkwardly among the players, to the point that he could be called a “monster.”
Zuo Qianming thoughtfully touched his chin. “Since you claim to protect others, may I ask—did everyone else also become ‘believers’ like you?”
“Of course!” The young man, unafraid of the guns aimed at him, raised his hands toward the bright sun with fanatic devotion. “Of course, everyone believes in God. We are about to gain the same power as God and the miracle of infinite rebirth!”
Xue Xun shook his head disapprovingly. “I find it hard to believe anything he says with that mindset.”
He Wuning paused. “So the monsters told you that if you become a ‘believer,’ you can respawn infinitely like the monsters in the game?”
He found it almost laughable. “You didn’t come to be an assassin just because of such a lie, did you?”
“What lie!” The young man exploded with rage—literally jumping with surprising strength, looking both bizarre and comical.
Judging by his face alone, he still had an exotic, handsome appearance.
“Dare to slander God, foolish human! You will be punished by heaven!”
He Wuning shook his head. “Looks like they didn’t tell you: even the monsters attack humans with a determination to die.”
“Those spider women who chased me earlier would sacrifice their comrades to kill me—they’re ruthless, yes, but they also die in the process.”
‘They also die.’
“Seems like your strong desire is not to die. Too bad—you’ve been deceived.” He Wuning looked at the young man from above. “Your ‘God’ lied to you.”
The irrational youth, having forgotten he had already learned all Blue Star prophecies, instantly reverted to his original state. He babbled excitedly in his native language, likely cursing, no translation needed—He Wuning could guess.
Master Zhi Yin’s hand had already been treated and stopped bleeding.
In the game, wounds healed unusually quickly, giving an almost unreal feeling.
He Wuning looked at his unscathed large palm, silently stood, and gazed down at the assassin who had attacked him, frowning and shaking his head. “You are confused.”
Probably overwhelmed by the master’s aura, the young man froze, miraculously quiet, eyes wary as he looked at the monk before him.
“Too much attachment, a weak mind, and you’ll be exploited,” Master Zhi Yin said, hands clasped together. “An evil spirit taking the form of a Buddha is still an evil spirit.”
“What do you know!” The young man’s eyes instantly became bloodshot. He Wuning seemed to see his faith teetering. “You damn heretic! If you can, kill me! I will be reborn elsewhere, escape this suffering life, and achieve true liberation…”
“Ha!”
Master Zhi Yin suddenly stepped forward with a powerful punch, the size of his fist almost as big as the young man’s face, smashing straight into his stomach. The youth rolled twice on the ground, clutching his stomach, unable to speak.
He Wuning’s eyebrows twitched.
Master Zhi Yin glared. “Wake up! One who persuades others to evil cannot be God!”
The young man curled up in pain, speechless. Xue Xun wiped cold sweat from his forehead, startled. “I thought that punch would’ve killed him.”
Zuo Qianming: “…Honestly, I also felt that punch had that kind of force.”
He Wuning hummed thoughtfully. “I remember Buddhism has a story about awakening someone with a single strike. Maybe the master was referencing that?”
Zuo Qianming touched his chin. “You mean… Sun Wukong?”
He Wuning: “That one usually kills people with one stick.”
Master Zhi Yin glanced at the youth and nodded with satisfaction. “He seems to have some remorse. Tears of repentance have fallen.”
He Wuning: “I’d guess those might be physiological tears caused by the strike.”
The young man’s face twisted in agony. He struggled to speak: “Kill me, kill me! Let me go to… that world…”
“Alright.” Zuo Qianming, unsympathetic, coaxed him, “Come with me instead, to my lab—a world you haven’t seen yet, just like your ‘other world.’ Young man, I see fascinating potential in you. Let’s walk toward a future of science together!”
Xue Xun frowned. “Professor Zuo, I must remind you: we prohibit live experiments. Unless he consents, we must protect his human dignity.”
He lowered his gaze. “Even if he voluntarily relinquishes his human identity.”
Zuo Qianming shrugged. “I’m just joking.”
Zhao Yantong looked up. The storm had ceased.
“Looks like they’re not planning another attack,” she said, a trace of helplessness in her expression. “Do they really think one person alone can stop me?”
“Being underestimated like this feels… subtle,” He Wuning muttered.
“We still have countless comrades,” the young man suddenly lifted his head, wincing, and stared straight at Zhao Yantong. “First you, then…”
His gaze landed on He Wuning. “You.”
He Wuning crouched and spoke calmly, “Can you go back and raise my priority? I quite want to play along with you guys.”
“Oh, by the way, now that you’re a monster, if we kill you, will you drop anything good?”
The youth glared, silent.
He Wuning chuckled. “Relax, they probably won’t let me do that.”
He stood, walked to the balcony railing, and looked down at the operatives' heads below. “But… how exactly did he get up here?”
“Wall climbing, probably!” Zuo Qianming was eager to study his legs. “I think his feet secrete some adhesive, letting him cling to the building exterior…”
“But when we arrived, the perimeter was full of operatives,” He Wuning raised his head. “And not just near the main gate.”
“Exactly,” Xue Xun nodded firmly. “After receiving He Anan’s call, I arranged multiple layers of researchers outside the building.”
“He absolutely couldn’t have climbed from below!”
Xing Yue nodded. “Our operatives aren’t careless enough for that!”
He Wuning glanced at the opposite building. “Then he must have come from there?”
Xue Xun looked around curiously. “Why the opposite building?”
“Because Yi Luo went over there,” He Wuning reasoned. “He said it’s convenient for sniping. If it’s convenient for him, it’s likely convenient for the enemy too.”
He trusted Yi Luo’s combat instincts without question.
“By the way,” Xing Yue frowned, “that guy… hasn’t sent any messages yet? Is he too quiet?”
He Wuning raised an eyebrow. “I’ll go check.”
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Yi Luo: I can only appear in the background today, right?
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