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墨書 Inktalez
The red eyes of the Lemmings dimmed instantly, and no blood flowed from their bodies. Xu Nuan and the others could even see with the naked eye that purple currents of electricity were swirling around the Lemmings, and the short knife embedded in one of them also crackled with electricity.
"It's a mechanical mouse!"
Gu Ze, who had a keen interest in machinery but had not pursued it in this direction, raised his voice slightly. Soon, they heard a ticking sound coming from the Lemmings, reminiscent of an old clock's hands moving, clearly audible amidst the noisy chatter of the other Lemmings.
They were somewhat bewildered, not quite understanding why this game had created such a highly detailed batch of mechanical Lemmings.
However, the scene before them was too bizarre, and they lost interest in killing the lifeless Lemmings around them. They decided to leave this place, but that crazy Fan Beibei added more trouble for them.
Fan Beibei was initially stunned by He Min's flying knife and then became fixated on the Lemming surrounded by electricity. When no one was paying attention, she reached out to touch it.
This time, they couldn't stop her in time and could only watch as Fan Beibei twitched once and then fainted. However, her hair did not stand on end from the shock, and her complexion remained rosy.
"Honestly, even if she's gone mad, she just brings us trouble!"
Deng Yinyin completely forgot that she had previously thought Fan Beibei was just pretending to be foolish. However, it was true that Fan Beibei's erratic behavior made her an unpredictable factor in their group. Just a few moments into their journey, she had already caused so much trouble—truly living up to her reputation for causing chaos.
"Anyway, let's get out of here. It's better that she fainted from the shock; it saves us the effort of dealing with her."
Xu Hang took a long stride forward and casually kicked away a Lemming that was scurrying about. As he prepared to place Fan Beibei back on the stretcher, he noticed that the ticking sound had become clearer. Looking down at his feet, he saw that the Lemming he had just kicked had lost its sparkle; purple currents were now swirling around it as well—quite strange indeed.
"Hang, come here quickly!"
Gu Ze grabbed Xu Nuan, who was fidgeting restlessly with one hand while lifting one corner of the stretcher with the other. This time, Xie Huai quickly grabbed the other side of the stretcher and moved closer to Xu Hang to lighten his load.
As they got ready to set off again, those mechanical Lemmings relentlessly pursued them. They did not attack but kept circling around their feet, becoming increasingly annoying.
Irritated, they kicked at the Lemmings again. The Lemmings soon lost their mobility from the impact and collapsed by the roadside, producing a ticking sound. With more of these Lemmings piling up, their ticking merged into a continuous rhythm, intertwining like a drumbeat against their increasingly anxious hearts.
Even though they had destroyed some Lemmings out of impatience, the sheer number still caused them considerable annoyance and greatly hindered their progress. This left everyone feeling restless and unable to control their steps.
Xu Nuan had neither joined the action nor stopped others from participating; she seemed somewhat hesitant, and Gu Ze, who had been watching her closely, noticed this.
"Is something wrong, Nuan?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh?" Xu Nuan snapped back to reality from her thoughts, her expression still uncertain.
"I remember a player from my batch mentioning that things in this game that look like living beings but aren't are the most dangerous."
"Who are you talking about? I don't recall that."
He Min, who was also from Xu Nuan's batch, approached and casually kicked away a mechanical mouse that had tangled around her foot.
"Weren't you mostly with me during that time?"
"Uh..."
Xu Nuan hesitated for a moment, then stole a glance at Gu Ze before becoming even more uncertain.
"You probably don't remember that person—Liu Minghong. He always wrapped his face up and looked quite strange."
He Min tilted her head slightly, thinking hard before asking Xu Nuan, "Was there really such a person?"
Xu Nuan was at a loss for words. Liu Minghong always kept himself covered and preferred to stay in the shadows. Compared to the very capable but low-key Chi Xiaoming, Liu Minghong seemed to deliberately avoid drawing attention to himself. As for his reasons for doing so, Xu Nuan had no idea.
He Min pondered for a moment with a blank expression before suddenly grasping the main point.
"I remember now, you used to always be with that man. It seems he often taught you how to make some survival tools. After you left the team, he disappeared without a trace."
Xu Nuan nodded in agreement with He Min's words, but then turned to glare at Gu Ze due to the pain in her hand. Upon seeing the deep feelings reflected in Gu Ze's eyes, she felt a bit guilty and turned away.
"That's Liu Minghong. I was just thinking, do these strange creatures count as the dangerous things he mentioned we should be wary of?"
"But these creatures don't seem dangerous at all," Xie Huai interjected, voicing his doubts.
"Besides, your person is a Second Batch Player, right? No matter how thorough the preparations are, they can't predict the dangers in the game."
While one was oblivious, the other was attentive. Xu Nuan recalled how that man always wrapped himself up like a mummy and spoke in a somewhat eerie manner. Moreover, she still hadn't seen his face clearly, which made her suspicious; he had always given her a sense of unease. Now that she thought about it, that man seemed...
Before Xu Nuan could sort out her thoughts, someone lightly pinched her palm. She jolted and instantly forgot what she had been thinking.
"Although we don't know what dangers these things might pose, just to be safe, let's avoid direct skin contact with them and refrain from kicking them. It may slow us down a bit, but safety is guaranteed."
Xu Nuan deliberately avoided looking at Gu Ze beside her and pretended to be serious as she spoke to Xu Hang.
Xu Hang shared this sentiment. Knowing Xu Nuan's special status and that her sources of information were broader than anyone else's, he felt fortunate that both she and Gu Ze had joined their team. In his eyes, Gu Ze was also someone who played the game with an advantage; every time he made a decision without Gu Ze's input, he knew he was on the right path. After all, Gu Ze's identity was also unique but not as overtly apparent as Xu Nuan's; he quietly guided their team along the easiest and quickest route.
Xu Hang felt grateful that these two had joined their team. With the five unexpectedly obtained Tail Rings, they would surely be one of the luckiest teams.
Lost in thought, Xu Hang forgot to exert force while carrying the stretcher. The stretcher tilted, causing Fan Beibei to roll off. He and Xie Huai hurried forward to help her up.
Previously, they had been cautious around Fan Beibei, wary of her when she displayed erratic behavior and trying to isolate her when she was unconscious. However, people often let their guard down in front of what they believed to be facts. They thought that Fan Beibei, who had been unconscious, would remain so when Xu Hang and Xie Huai approached her. Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide and swiftly drew a knife from her sleeve, aiming it at Xu Hang first.
With Fan Beibei's posture clearly intent on taking Xu Hang's life, the others reacted quickly but their eyes turned red with anger. Xu Hang was relatively quick on his feet; he managed to dodge just in time but felt a sharp pain as the knife grazed his hand due to inertia. In that instant, he realized his right hand had lost strength and couldn't move; only then did he understand that the blade had been coated with something.
This was not something a madman would do; they had all been deceived by this woman's acting skills before. With this thought in mind, Xu Hang took several steps back to avoid Fan Beibei's frenzied attacks. As he saw Fan Beibei still staring blankly, doubts began to creep in. Was this woman truly insane, or was she being controlled? If she was being controlled, was it by Chi Xiaoming, Yu Yu, or someone else entirely?
His right hand felt numb, making his stance a bit unsteady, but Gu Ze quickly came to his rescue.
After pushing Xu Nuan towards Xie Huai, Gu Ze stepped forward and crushed several mechanical mice underfoot. He then grabbed Fan Beibei by the shoulder and forcefully yanked her backward. When Fan Beibei finally reacted and swung her knife at him, he mercilessly seized her wrist. With a slight twist, he rendered her hand useless. As if that wasn't enough, after incapacitating Fan Beibei's knife-wielding hand, Gu Ze bent his knee and thrust forward, delivering a brutal blow to her abdomen. When Fan Beibei doubled over in pain, he followed up with a powerful elbow strike to her back, showing no mercy simply because she was a woman.
The impact caused Fan Beibei to lose control of her body and fall to her knees. Unable to use her hands for support, she collapsed completely onto the ground. The mechanical mice that had been scurrying around their feet now surrounded Fan Beibei, some even crawling onto her face.
It was a bizarre and disgusting scene; if Xu Hang hadn't intervened just in time, Gu Ze might have beaten Fan Beibei half to death. As Gu Ze finally halted his assault, Xie Huai rushed forward to drag Fan Beibei aside and tied her up with a rope. Throughout the ordeal, Fan Beibei squealed and struggled, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Among them, Xu Nuan was the most shocked by Gu Ze's actions. She had seen the terrifying aura emanating from him before, but this version of Gu Ze was worlds apart from that moment. This man, with a face full of malice like a demon—was he really the Gu Ze she knew?
While Xu Nuan was still in disbelief, she noticed He Min quietly moving closer to her and whispering in her ear.
"He looks just like a demon now, but there have been times when he was even more terrifying."
He Min seemed intent on sharing this information with her.
"Just before we discovered you were missing and when we found Shen Shen's body among those scattered remains—at that moment, none of us dared to approach him."
Hearing this stirred mixed emotions within Xu Nuan as she looked at Gu Ze with both pity and sorrow. She clearly remembered how fiercely Gu Ze had once fought to protect his women and brothers. That was a promise—one of the promises Xu Nuan disliked the most. Yet here was the man before her actively fulfilling that promise through his actions.
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