Chapter 8: Snail, Scissors, Deer
Near the Apocalypse Paradise base camp.
"Is that... an enemy? Just walking over openly like that?"
"Could he be surrendering?"
The Apocalypse Paradise contractors were all puzzled, because half a kilometer away, a chubby little guy in a motorcycle outfit with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle was walking toward them. His hands were in his pockets, he wore spiked shoes, and a small metal scissors hung from his right ear. This getup gave off only one feeling: bizarre.
A faint, elusive smile was on the little fatty's face. With each step he took, the metal ornaments on his body jingled and clattered.
"Shoot him."
The Nameless Saint saw this little fatty and immediately gave the order.
Bang!
A dull gunshot rang out. The bullet reached the little fatty's face and sank into the flesh of his cheek.
With a crack, flesh and bone fragments splattered. Nearly half of the little fatty's head was blown apart.
"Heh heh."
The little fatty's laugh was strange. His hands were still in his pockets as he walked toward the Apocalypse Paradise base camp with an odd gait.
"This guy..."
For a moment, none of the Apocalypse Paradise contractors dared to act. It was too bizarre. The enemy just walked over openly, and after having half his head blown off, he didn't even retaliate.
In an instant, they judged that this was one hundred percent, no doubt, a madman from Reincarnation Paradise. No mistake. Those lunatics were going crazy again.
Bang, bang, bang...
Several more shots. The little fatty's body was blown apart, and he died on the spot. The scissors hanging from his ear spun a few times, then stuck diagonally into the ground before gradually disappearing.
There is a creature in the world called the cone snail. It uses its soft body as bait to lure prey and then hunts them. At the same time, it is one of the most venomous creatures known. A single drop of its venom is enough to easily kill twenty adults.
"And he's dead just like that? Are you sure he's a Reincarnation Paradise contractor? Too weak."
A female sniper pulled the bolt. A hot shell casing ejected from the gun, and gun smoke curled up. It was quite stylish, but she didn't know that this kill had stirred up a huge problem.
"Ahem~"
The female sniper cleared her throat. She felt something uncomfortable in her throat. At first, it was a little itchy, but after a while, it felt like a fishbone was stuck there.
"Deer Huntress, slowly back away. Don't get close to anyone."
The Nameless Saint spoke in a deep voice because he saw a clear, scissors-shaped bulge under the skin of Deer Huntress's neck. Moreover, this scissors was slowly closing.
All the contractors moved away from Deer Huntress. She covered her throat with one hand and pulled a dagger from her calf with the other. She knew the situation was bad. She immediately used the dagger to cut open the skin on her neck, then pinched the scissors under her skin with two fingers.
With a tearing sound, Deer Huntress pulled the small scissors out of her neck, bringing a trail of blood. She threw the scissors far away and then began to gasp for breath.
"I'm fine now. That was an instant-death judgment. That lunatic was trying to trade lives with me."
Fear was in Deer Huntress's eyes. If she had been just a little slower, she would have died.
"Keep backing up. Quickly, get away from the spaceship!"
The Nameless Saint swung his mining shovel, which transformed into a spear form. Although [Heavenly Calamity +14] was lost, the Nameless Saint had used the resources he obtained from Afuni to buy a new weapon.
"What are you all doing?" Deer Huntress looked around and then said angrily, "I'm fine now. Don't point your weapons at me."
"The thing on you doesn't look like you're fine."
"Thing on me?"
Deer Huntress looked down to check. Eventually, she saw a lump of black rotten flesh on her arm. This lump of flesh seemed alive, tightly wrapped around her arm.
A sharp pain appeared in Deer Huntress's arm. She felt the lump of flesh gnawing at her.
Deer Huntress was decisive enough. She raised her dagger, ready to chop off her entire left arm.
Just as Deer Huntress raised the dagger, her body stiffened. The next moment, she collapsed to the ground with a thud, the light fading from her eyes. She died on the spot. Such an abrupt death made everyone's hair stand on end.
"What the hell? What kind of ghost is that?"
A red-haired youth was full of shock. He had just taken a step back when he felt a binding sensation on his torso. That lump of black rotten flesh was now wrapped around his body. His health points visibly plummeted and were emptied in an instant.
The red-haired youth, his face ashen, fell to the ground and died suddenly. This scene made the other contractors even more terrified.
"Nobody move. This is a stand ability. As long as we don't move, it can't do anything to us. And this thing is almost impossible to destroy. It will capture any moving target nearby."
A man wearing glasses spoke. He felt confident of victory because he had once killed a Reincarnation Paradise contractor and obtained a manga. The stand ability in that manga was similar to what they were seeing now. He had studied that somewhat unsolvable stand ability.
A binding sensation appeared on the glasses-wearing man's leg. First, shock appeared in his eyes, then fear. He hadn't moved at all. How could the enemy have attached itself to him?
In reality, this wasn't a stand ability. It was a power called "Fear Transmission." This lump of rotten flesh had no consciousness, and its trigger conditions were very strict.