The fourth barrier contraction ended, and the fifth began.
This ti the barrier was much smaller than before. With nine players remaining, one could encounter another player simply by wandering around rather than staying put.
Li Ang and Liu Wu Dai saw a black Ball Technique rising in the distance, signaling player contact at the edge of the barrier's range. The roads were congested, so they abandoned their vehicle in a parking lot and proceeded on foot toward the Ball Technique.
Combining the intelligence they had previously obtained with the current special situation in Yin City, the two were almost certain that this Datura-involved anomaly was extrely serious and could even threaten the safety of the entire city.
In such circumstances, doing nothing was the worst option. To get answers, they had to make direct contact with other players, such as Ji Jiu, the Datura mber who had fled with severe injuries.
Relying on their formidable physical abilities and reaction speed, they swiftly ran against the dense flow of the crowd. Liu Wu Dai glanced at the Ball Technique ahead and asked casually, "Have your bugs found anything?"
Li Ang vaulted over a railing and crossed the street. "No, not yet," he replied. "They're either inside the Ball Technique right now, or they haven't shown themselves."
Their parkour-like dash attracted the attention of many pedestrians, and even several low-level operatives began to approach them.
But the two players paid them no mind and even quickened their pace.
Before the low-level operatives could report the unusual activity to their superiors, Li Ang and Liu Wu Dai had already entered the Ball Technique. The surrounding scenery quickly faded to gray and white.
"Their location should be over there."
Liu Wu Dai put away his phone and looked a kiloter away.
「————」
This was the entrance to a subway station abandoned for many years. It was situated next to an expanse of wild grass where no new buildings had yet been constructed. Having been unused for a long ti, its steel structure was covered everywhere with yellow rust marks. Only a relatively new iron rolling door sealed the entrance tightly.
In the likewise abandoned subway tunnel below, a space that should have been pitch-black and silent, the sound of panicked, staggering footsteps echoed.
It was a young man in ordinary clothes. He held a flashlight in one hand and clutched his blood-soaked abdon with the other. His face was as pale as paper, his forehead beaded with large drops of sweat, and his shirt was soaked through, as if it had just been pulled from water.
He stumbled along the gray-white subway tunnel, finally reaching the abandoned station platform.
"Help... help ."
His faint voice echoed in the empty, dust-covered, and debris-strewn station waiting area. PFFT. More blood spurted from his abdon, splattering onto the tracks below.
Powerlessly, the young man leaned against the wall of the subway tunnel and slowly slid down, the hard surface scraping his back.
"I... I'm Wu Mu, a Lone Wolf Player from Yin City, a Bounty Hunter for the Special Affairs Bureau, identification code 002042. I've carried out three Level 8 missions before, and... and I know Mu Qingshuang, the captain of Mobile Detachnt Unit Five."
The pale-faced young man fumbled in his inventory slot, pulling out a rectangular tal card similar to a postcard. He tossed it towards the waiting area, but lacking strength, the card failed to reach the platform and instead fell onto the subway tracks below.
"I was Si Wenbin's teammate—he was killed by the Resentful Demon. That Resentful Demon's companion planted parasitic eggs in . They planned to use
to activate the Ball Technique to shield themselves from the Mobile Detachnt's pursuit, but I managed to escape using a skill. They... they didn't catch ."
Wu Mu looked at the unresponsive subway station and struggled to say, "My Title Skill lets
morize a person's sweat scent through a handshake. You carry Mu Qingshuang's scent. I'm sure at least one of you t and shook hands with Mu Qingshuang before this scenario, leaving his sweat on your palm. I followed that scent all the way here, tracked you down, and confird that you're Special Affairs Bureau operatives and also players in this scenario. ARGH—"
Once again, blood sprayed from Wu Mu's abdon. He looked at the desolate waiting area, pressing his trembling hands hard against the wound. Agony and despair sent tears streaming down his face. "Please, I beg you..."
CRACK—
A whip made of Ash shot out from the darkness of the waiting area. It coiled around Wu Mu's abdon with a swift flick, dragging him up onto the platform.
Before Wu Mu could react, his hands and feet were shackled with pink restraints. (These were identical to the ones Xun Zian had produced earlier—a standard-issue item for the Mobile Detachnt, developed and manufactured by the equipnt departnt.) A heavy chain collar was also fastened around his neck.
Instantly, Wu Mu felt an imnse weight descend upon him. His chest felt compressed, making it hard to breathe. His mind grew sluggish, as if under an Illusion Technique, preventing him from using his skills at will.
He wasn't terrified; instead, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. The two Special Affairs Bureau players hadn't abandoned him, a Bounty Hunter who had cooperated with the Bureau before.
A bright light flared before Wu Mu's eyes. His hands were pulled from his waist, and soone tore open his shirt over the abdon.
HISS.
A sharp intake of breath sounded in the station. Chu Yin, who had ergency first-aid training from the Mobile Detachnt, was wearing temporary surgical gear. Her lips pursed tightly as she examined Wu Mu's injuries.
Wu Mu's abdon was grotesquely swollen, as if a spherical tumor had grown there. At the center of the bulge was a clear, fingernail-sized wound.
Continuous streams of blood and pale-yellow pus gushed from the wound—a horrifying sight.
But even more terrifying were the faint green parasitic eggs wriggling just beneath the skin near the wound.
Wu Mu had been parasitized.
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