Red Driver surveyed the surrounding bushes and slowly stopped, his chest heaving due to heavy panting.
He had rushed too much while escaping and failed to pay attention to the positions of others, accidentally becoming separated.
Holding the Task Battery in his hand and flanked by Pocket Monsters like the Fire Mouse and Pichu at his feet.
These little creatures were trained not to make noise, but they had just witnessed the cruel murder of their companion, the Explosive Monkey, leaving them in low spirits.
Red Driver touched his Pocket Monster with mixed feelings, thinking about how hellish it was that the killing field was full of dangers and inexplicable phenomena.
Even dying cleanly wouldn’t be the worst outcome. Chapters first released on novel_fіre.net
After a brief moment of sadness, Red Driver’s expression turned serious again as he began to ponder countermeasures.
The killing field wouldn’t issue a definitely fatal task; there must be one or more ways to complete the mission.
Maybe, as Ant had said, there were clues in the bushes that other players hadn’t discovered yet.
Maybe the second battery was inside Cliff’s belly; they would have to kill him to get it out.
Of course, regardless of the outcome, the most urgent task was to find the others and regroup.
The bushes in front were suddenly parted, and the exhausted-looking Zhao Zijing appeared, hovering a few centimeters above the ground as if not wanting to leave footprints.
Red Driver sighed in relief, lowering his voice, "Where are the others?"
"Haven’t found them yet." Zhao Zijing said calmly, "Hold on to the battery, let’s go together."
Zhao Zijing took out the radar navigator to check the direction, then gestured to Red Driver to follow, heading towards the blue arrow’s diagonal direction.
Red Driver and the remaining Pocket Monsters hurried to catch up, fearing they might get separated again, "Not going back to that clearing?"
"No more. We only have one battery; going there would be futile."
Zhao Zijing explained without turning back, "Instead, we might as well explore the bushes to find other lines..."
Before she could finish saying "lines," the Pocket Monsters by Red Driver’s feet simultaneously launched their Skills: Wind Blade, Thunder, Fireball, and Flying Leaf Rapid Blade, all targeting Zhao Zijing.
All the attacks were blocked by an invisible telekinetic barrier, Zhao Zijing stood unscathed, her eyes coldly turning to look at Red Driver who was clutching the battery and fleeing backward.
She raised her arms and swung them to both sides, the tall grass in front parting like the sea.
Red Driver, swept by the Telekinesis, also fell, tumbling into a mud pit along with the Task Battery.
The nearby Pocket Monsters immediately tried to counterattack, but Zhao Zijing used Telekinesis to control Red Driver’s hands, forcing him to take out the Spirit Balls and recall all Pocket Monsters.
She then smashed the switches of the Spirit Balls, preventing the Pocket Monsters from escaping.
After finishing these actions, Zhao Zijing stepped forward, looking down at Red Driver in the mud pit, and asked calmly, "Why did you attack me?"
"You are not Zhao Zijing, at least not the one I knew."
Red Driver gritted his teeth, "I possess a Skill that could detect if someone recently killed and accumulated karmic energy.
The original Zhao Zijing had no karmic energy, but you do.
If you didn’t kill Cliff, that means you just killed someone else."
Zhao Zijing frowned, "Just because of this?"
"Not just that," Red Driver clenched his fists, "When Cliff first appeared, he was already heavily injured, and he also said ’who shall I kill this time.’
Moreover, in the dry corpse pit of [Bismuth Yellow], Ant and the others claimed they saw two Catherines, one Catherine was cleaved in two by an unknown presence in front of them, her body also taken away.
Combining this information, just as Ant said, this whole tall grass is like a ’Horror Cruise’ time-loop model.
At the same time, there are two or more groups of us players.
The Zhao Zijing I know cannot possibly kill a teammate in just a few minutes.
That means, you are Zhao Zijing from a future in the time-loop model."
"Zhao Zijing," as if seeing Red Driver for the first time, looked at him with surprise, "...You are smarter than you look."
The smile on Red Driver’s face was uglier than crying, all Pocket Monsters sealed in Spirit Balls. His body was only slightly stronger than an Ordinary human, and he had no chance against the corrupted Zhao Zijing.
In this desperate situation, Red Driver calmed down and said, "In those time-loop themed movies, ordinary people always panic.
But players should be more rational, calm. Facing another self, another group of companions, it might not be impossible to sit down and cooperate properly.
You didn’t consider cooperation, whether it’s to cooperate in killing Cliff or to use two batteries to open the gate to complete the mission,
Indirectly proving that in the future you gained certain information, believing there’s no possibility for cooperation.
It might be that only one group of players can ascend, while the other group will be left behind.
Or it might be necessary to kill all other living beings to escape from the bushes."
"You are right, unfortunately, there’s no reward."
"Zhao Zijing" snapped her fingers.
Telekinesis quietly poured out, piercing the skin. Red Driver’s organs were all crushed, spitting out fragments of his internals, just as depicted in the prophecy.
At the last moment of his life, he managed to smile painfully, pulling out an explosive device from the Backpack.
"Zhao Zijing" didn’t hesitate and withdrew her Telekinesis, forming a thick wall in front of her, and the next second, the explosive detonated.
The Telekinetic barrier blocked all of the direct blast waves, but the Task Battery was struck high, leaping above the tall grass.