Chapter 442: Close Combat
The trapped ghost shadow did not give up strangling Zhu Rumin, and the few players outside did not care whether she lived or died. Kong Hui asked, "Tong Jian, can your item trap it?"
"No problem," said the gelatin-coated player Tong Jian. "It doesn't have a knife or a gun, so trapping it is fine. This is a special item, right? Maybe it was created by those ticket players."
"Not very likely," Kong Cheng said. "The Deep Blue Laboratory instance mentions 'ghosts,' so the key to clearing the instance lies here. It wouldn't be such a coincidence that a player with a ghost shadow item happened to enter this time."
"Do you want to get her out?" Dr. Deng sympathized, looking at Zhu Rumin lying on the ground. "She's about to die."
Tong Jian looked at Kong Cheng, who said casually, "We can't let this special item go."
Meaning they had to rescue her while keeping the ghost shadow trapped. Tong Jian hesitated briefly, then manipulated the seal of the plastic bag to slowly constrict upward along Zhu Rumin's body curves. Her legs were released first, followed by her upper body.
But the ghost shadow was wrapped around her head and refused to let go. In this situation, the plastic bag couldn't continue upward, so Tong Jian stopped there.
He originally thought the ghost shadow would only let go after suffocating Zhu Rumin to death. Unexpectedly, when the bag was only slightly larger than her head, the ghost shadow automatically slid off her head like a layer of paper skin, sticking to the bag and losing its vitality.
Of course, Zhu Rumin was not freed. Her head was still wrapped in the plastic bag. The evolved person's super-strong physique prevented her from suffocating immediately, but after being released, she took a deep breath, which instead sucked the bag in, blocking her mouth and nose.
Her survival instinct made her use the ring with hidden sharp edges on her hand to continuously slash at the bag, but she couldn't damage the item. In the end, she reached out to Tong Jian, but even from a few steps away, Tong Jian showed no sympathy for her.
Soon, Zhu Rumin died inside the bag.
Only then did Kong Cheng walk over. He put on a translucent glove, grabbed her hair, and reached his hand into the bag's seal.
The bag, which had been completely sealed and couldn't be pried open even when Zhu Rumin struggled desperately, was easily opened by him. Moreover, after his glove went in, the seal remained as tight as if it had never been broken, except for the extra hand.
Tong Jian's expression changed slightly, but he just watched quietly.
Kong Cheng reached out to grab the ghost shadow, but unexpectedly, the moment his hand touched it, the ghost shadow automatically disintegrated into powder, scattering inside the bag.
"How could this happen?" Tong Jian asked, puzzled. "Was it a single-use item?"
Kong Cheng withdrew his hand and said calmly, "An item born in a laboratory—how could it not have some special use?"
Tong Jian retrieved his item.
Now they were down to five people, fewer than the ticket players.
"I'll deal with them," Kong Hui said to Kong Cheng. "You stay here."
Kong Cheng looked at her. "Splitting up earlier already cost us a few people. Haven't you learned your lesson? This time, we move together."
"Fine," Kong Hui said, pointing at Dr. Deng. "Bringing him along is a burden."
"A burden still has to come," Kong Cheng said, taking out a music box-like item and handing it to Dr. Deng. "If you encounter danger, you can open this. It will protect you from attacks for three minutes."
"Only three minutes?" Dr. Deng asked urgently.
"Three minutes of protection is already long for an item," the severed-hand player said impatiently, glancing at him. "Not every player has a defensive item like this. I wish I had one."
Hearing this, Dr. Deng immediately shut up.
The group of six then advanced toward the eastern half of the laboratory.
The elevator that had malfunctioned earlier was now inexplicably working. As the lights came on, everything in the laboratory became clearly visible, bright and open, naturally making it impossible for any player to ambush them.
From the third underground floor to the second, there were no issues. But the lights on the first underground floor were destroyed, so after going up, there was no light.
"Right here," Kong Cheng said. As soon as he finished speaking, a green light, dragging a tail several meters long, began darting back and forth in the corridor.
In darkness, people instinctively focus on sudden light sources, especially moving ones—and this light seemed particularly special, making people involuntarily fix their gaze on it.
As several pairs of eyes followed the green light from left to right, Miao Yu, hidden on the left, silently struck from the darkness, two daggers aimed at the nearest player, Tong Jian!
But these people were already on guard against ambushes and wouldn't fall for such a trick. Tong Jian caught the daggers barehanded. The viscous liquid secreted from his hand acted like a lubricant, easily causing the daggers to slip from Miao Yu's grasp. Not only that, but the liquid was also somewhat corrosive. The moment Miao Yu withdrew her hand, her palm was already bright red. Tong Jian turned the tables, producing a water gun and pulling the trigger at her!
This was, of course, not an ordinary water gun. What sprayed out wasn't water but a foul-smelling gelatinous liquid. A single squirt produced a puddle that not only stung the eyes but also had strong adhesive properties. Miao Yu accidentally brushed against a splash of the liquid and, in her forceful movement, tore the edge of her shoe.
"Cleansing Talisman!" Wan Yunrong's voice came from a few meters away. She threw out a yellow talisman, and a large amount of water surged from behind it, washing over the walls and floor, sweeping the gelatinous liquid back toward Tong Jian!
Even the player himself couldn't tolerate this substance. Tong Jian put away the water gun and was about to switch to another item when Miao Yu, wielding a pair of Tang swords, charged right in front of him!
These were item swords. When the blades reflected light, Tong Jian involuntarily focused on them, missing his best chance to dodge. The Tang swords sliced through his defensive item and also cut into his shoulder.
Tong Jian ducked to avoid the attack. Miao Yu pressed her advantage. On the surface, the momentum seemed to shift back and forth, but in reality, Tong Jian was just luring Miao Yu closer to his teammates. Once the distance was right, he immediately used an item to move away from her.
The person under the Tang sword's edge suddenly vanished, replaced by a pair of longswords. Four blades clashed, sparks flying. Both sides were knocked back by the powerful recoil, but Kong Hui only retreated half a step, while Miao Yu crashed into the wall behind her, leaving a dent in the metal surface.
Testing each other's strength made the difference clear at a glance.
Miao Yu stared at Kong Hui, then, after two seconds, retreated without hesitation.
"Trying to run?" Kong Hui sneered and gave chase. Seeing Miao Yu turn the corner of the corridor, she was about to follow when another female player suddenly appeared in front of her. The woman shouted at her, "Calisthenics time begins!"
This player who appeared head-on was Wu Xiaonan. As she raised her hands, Kong Hui, facing her, involuntarily raised her hands as well.
(Chapter End)