Chapter 1354: Fake Person Mass Mobilization
"Generation Song is missing." Qiu Ming suddenly said.
Generation Song had originally been sitting in the back seat, getting out of the car one after another with Cao Qinglin. Now only Cao Qinglin stood behind them, while Generation Song had vanished without a trace.
"Did he run away?" Fan Zhigang said. "That makes sense, since Doctor Duo Er is gone, there's no point in him following us."
"Clack clack clack clack!" Not far away, that fake person started moving again, its lower jaw twitching at high frequency, continuously making sounds. Soon, more and more identical sounds appeared, gradually drowning out the rain.
"We're surrounded." Cao Qinglin and the others had already retreated together, standing back to back.
Soon, the first fake person leaped up, charging straight at Fan Zhigang, but it was immediately cut in half by the long saw spinning in his hand—these fake people, which looked like props, weren't sturdy and didn't seem to have any special effects.
However, the next second, the upper and lower halves of the fake person that had been cut in half at the waist moved separately. They crawled rapidly across the ground, instantly entangling Fan Zhigang's arms and legs.
Even if it were a real person using this kind of arm-locking and leg-binding method, it wouldn't be hard to break free, but soon other fake people filled in, and their hands and feet could detach and move independently, often launching unexpected attacks.
"There's no need to tangle with a bunch of fake people. Let's go first!" Qiu Ming pulled Cao Qinglin, preparing to leave, and said to Xu Huo, "We'll go along this road!"
With that, the two used teleportation props to leave.
Gou Wu and Wei Dong did the same. Fan Zhigang said, "You go first, I'll dismantle a few more fake people!"
As he spoke, he threw out a circular prop half a meter in diameter. The ring spun and sliced through a row of fake people. Turning back to see that Xu Huo and his companions had already left, he took out his teleportation prop. But just as he was about to leave, his hands and feet suddenly stiffened, and for some unknown reason, he froze in place. The next moment, his shoulder was bitten by a fake person that pounced on him, followed by his hands, legs, waist, abdomen, chest... throat, face, and the top of his head...
After Qiu Ming and the others left, Xu Huo broke free from the fake person encirclement. Within his perception range, he didn't detect any other players, and Generation Song had indeed left on his own. He must have known the other party, slipping into the nearby woods when no one was paying attention after getting out of the car.
The map indicated that this area was the habitat of a very troublesome mutant plant, where not even large mutant beasts moved about. Hiding inside was quite safe.
Continuously shifting the range of his spiritual realm, Xu Huo moved stealthily deeper into the woods.
The area was dominated by a vine plant called Wishful Fruit. When mature, it bore fist-sized red round fruits. The skin of these fruits was tough, and they didn't fall off on their own after ripening, so they would ferment internally and automatically explode. The fruit's aroma was sweet and toxic, capable of luring animals close. Even without eating them, smaller animals would fall into a coma.
Additionally, the fruit had a target-seeking function. For example, if a fruit suddenly burst under external pressure or was destroyed on a large scale, the vine mother plant would immediately sense it and quickly mobilize its body to launch an attack.
Xu Huo saw quite a few broken fake people inside.
However, the fake people themselves could be disassembled, and since they had no life, they were merely scattered and hanging in different places.
But this proved that the player controlling the fake people should be nearby.
After moving forward for another two minutes, Xu Huo happened to run into Bai Jing and his group.
The injured notebook player was not among them. Only Bai Jing and three Ya clan members remained, and they were checking the map.
"Another five teams of players have entered the Stairway to Heaven," a Ya clan woman said with a worried expression. "We're already short-handed, and we have to split some people to intercept outside the secondary city. Quite a few have been injured these past few days. How can we handle so many people now?"
The Stairway to Heaven was naturally a dangerous place for them as well. They also had to deal with the mutant plants and animals inside, and with rapid movement, the consumption of props was even greater.
"There's no choice. The news from Mr. Chi says that Doctor Duo Er has mastered a high-success-rate gene configuration method. If he makes it to the secondary city, our situation will only get worse." Another Ya clan man paused briefly after speaking, then said, "If only, if only Doctor Duo Er could work for us..."
The Ya clan woman glared at him. "What are you saying!"
The Ya clan man said helplessly, "Isn't it true? If he really completed gene configuration, allowing ordinary people to evolve quickly, it means we could use it too... Only if we become completely strong will those outsiders dare not bully us at will!"
That was true, but setting aside how difficult this was, even if it were feasible, there was still a mental hurdle to overcome. How many Ya clan corpses was the success of the experiment built on?
"What you said is correct. The experiments that worked on outer zone people could also work on us," Bai Jing stopped wiping his hands and looked seriously at the Ya clan man. "But don't forget what our bottom line is. Live human experimentation is inherently against human ethics. Once we open this crack, what if someone in the future tells you they can use the clan's genes to optimize future generations? What then?"
"That's different!" the Ya clan man said. "We've sacrificed so many of our compatriots. They can never come back to life. If I were them, I would be willing to entrust the fruits of that sacrifice to my fellow clansmen!"
"It's the same. It's just a difference between outsiders and our own, and between our own and our own," Bai Jing's gaze was sharp. "What Mr. Chi says is never wrong. Once the bottom line is broken, we will face endless depravity. So our mission is to kill Doctor Duo Er, not capture him alive."
The Ya clan man didn't argue further, instead changing the subject. "We've killed so many, which one is the real one?"
"It doesn't matter if it's real or fake," Bai Jing said. "By the time Mr. Chi and the others destroy the sample data that was pre-transported to the secondary city, even if Doctor Duo Er reaches the laboratory, it will be useless."
Experimental sample data referred to the theoretical foundation obtained from experiments on Ya clan people.
"Destroying all the data and samples means the Twin Cities won't be able to bring in so many people to repeat the experiment." Bai Jing's expression was cold and grim. As he spoke, he poured a bottle of black liquid into his mouth. After taking it, his lips slightly changed color, showing mild poisoning symptoms.
But the other three were used to it and also took the black liquid. After the toxicity passed, Bai Jing said, "What I'm afraid of is that Doctor Duo Er had already left the Twin Cities before the news leaked. Everything now is just a decoy to attract our attention. Mr. Chi considered this possibility, which is why he had us spread out within the Stairway to Heaven. It's a natural barrier, safer than outside the secondary city."
The Ya clan man was about to say something else when his expression suddenly changed and he stood up. "Someone is approaching, and very fast!"
(Chapter End)