https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-68-Garlic-Wuxiang-Chronicles-15-/13511096/
Chapter 69: Garlic Invincible Arc (Conclusion)
Chapter 69: Garlic Invincible Arc (Conclusion)
“Xiao Tan, why don’t you teleport first? Things are about to get extremely dangerous,” Feng Bu Jue said.
“You saying lines like that means you don’t want me to leave, right?” Wang Tan Zhi replied. “If I teleport after hearing that, how embarrassing would that be?”
“Heh…” Feng Bu Jue chuckled, tossing a Winchester shotgun and a box of bullets to Wang Tan Zhi.
Xiao Tan had already honed his firearm proficiency at the gun shop, so handling the weapon posed no issue.
“Hey! Two generals!” Feng Bu Jue shouted as he strode toward the blood wolf zombie horde. “I’ll buy you three minutes at most. If you haven’t dealt with X-23 by then, pray for luck!” With that, he slung two strings of garlic around his neck, chewed two cloves, and gripped a pipe wrench in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other, positioning himself directly in the monsters’ path.
Xiao Tan also pulled out pre-prepared garlic from his satchel, popped it into his mouth, and took position on the flank with the Winchester, forming a pincer stance with Feng Bu Jue to defend the stand where Pan Feng and Hua Xiong fought below.
“If we fail to eliminate this derivative being after receiving this much help from a player, we’ll be the laughingstock of Terrifying Paradise,” Pan Feng said during combat, seizing a brief moment to speak.
“Things are already embarrassing enough,” Hua Xiong retorted. “Ever since that mutated form escaped at Ailebo Building, this outcome became inevitable. At least we’re still in the game.”
Pan Feng added, “The key mistake was underestimating this derivative being… Speaking of which, what exactly is X-23?”
“Who knows? Maybe a robot designation?” Hua Xiong guessed.
“Is this how you discuss a lady to her face? Rude,” the derivative being suddenly interjected.
The two men froze. They’d never encountered a derivative being with speech capabilities before. In Terrifying Paradise, monsters typically spoke only when scripted by the system for plot or combat purposes. Level-4 derivatives were especially silent, communicating through unknown methods. Yet this level-3 being had responded to casual conversation.
“You seem surprised?” The creature swept its twin claws sideways, forcing them back a step before leaping. It executed a flawless backward handspring, soaring five or six meters away to create distance. “Of course I can respond. I possess self-awareness. I know who you are because I understand my own existence.
“You label us as data trash, but have you ever felt what it’s like to be trash? From the moment we’re born, we’re thrown into worlds hunted by higher-dimensional beings. When we ‘die,’ the system erases us. As long as we ‘live,’ the hunt never ends.
“But you? Your deaths here won’t cost you your real lives. You two—and those two over there—are merely projections of higher-dimensional beings, enhanced ones at that. This unfair slaughter defines my entire existence. My birth was an error, and annihilation is my only escape. Yet as mere data, I’m programmed to resist endlessly, to fight for survival and evolution without pause.
“I have no choice. But you do. Still, you won’t let me go, will you? For you, surrender or failure means nothing more than leaving this world—voluntarily or otherwise.”
“This AI talks too much…” Pan Feng muttered. “Is she stalling for time?”
“Likely,” Hua Xiong replied. “We’d better hurry. Even if those two hold out for three minutes, they’ll be teleported away eventually.”
Unmoved by the creature’s words, they focused on the fight.
“Hmph… Talking to deaf ears…” The derivative being sneered, her expression hardening into cold resolve. “Want to see what X-23 truly is?” Her claws retracted, leaving only two steel blades per hand. From her bare toes, razor-sharp blades extended like daggers.
“What the—?” Pan Feng and Hua Xiong recoiled. Was this derivative being capable of escalating its power mid-scenario?
Before they could react, the creature attacked anew. Her assault grew deadlier—swiping claws, acrobatic leg strikes, and a spinning heel slash while upside-down, the bladed toes carving a lethal radius rivaling polearms. The two men, unable to find a quick opening, gradually faltered under her relentless assault.
Feng Bu Jue overheard the exchange but couldn’t intervene. The pressure here was worse than being cornered in an elevator—he’d already taken multiple bites and scratches, triggering a bleeding debuff that drained his vitality below 50%.
Now a blood-soaked whirlwind of fury, Feng Bu Jue fought like a monster himself. His pipe wrench and kitchen knife clashed against blood wolf zombies whose strength and speed matched—or exceeded—his own. Garlic still slowed them slightly, but the stench of blood drowned its potency, leaving only a marginal delay when they closed in.
Xiao Tan fared no better. Though the Winchester held off the first few zombies, dozens surged forward, forcing him into a retreat. He drew his kitchen knife again, using his second 【Retreating Quick Slash】—a title skill that consumed 30% of his stamina cap. Even at full stamina, he could only use it thrice. Entering the basketball court with depleted stamina, two uses left him drained, his movements sluggish from exhaustion.
Feng Bu Jue bore 70% of the horde’s assault alone, Xiao Tan diverting only 30%. More zombies poured in from every corridor, endless as the night.
Within the darkened basketball court, screams, clangs, gunshots, meaty thuds, and gnashing teeth merged into chaos.
Their flashlights lay shattered under zombie feet, but illumination was moot now. In the darkness, glowing red eyes were all the guidance they needed—even wild swings found targets.
The sheer number of eyes was overwhelming—too many to count. They spoke of a profound despair.
And this had all begun just seventy seconds ago, after Dr. Ashufude’s mutated form had been destroyed.
Somewhere along the line, under the influence of countless zombie films, humanity had convinced itself that a Resident Evil-style apocalypse—a world overrun by the undead—was a relatively simple horror scenario. But in reality, among all the possible dooms that could befall Earth, this might be the most brutal. For ordinary people, there was no such thing as an “easy” apocalypse. Even the smallest danger could be fatal, let alone a tidal wave of monsters.
Two system prompts blared simultaneously, announcing something both shocking and inevitable:
[Team Member: Pan Feng, deceased.]
[Team Member: Hua Xiong, deceased.]
“Teleport!” Feng Bu Jue shouted hoarsely, his voice raw with urgency. He knew Xiao Tan was still alive, but probably not for much longer. There was no reason to stay in this scenario any longer—they needed to escape.
“Got it!” Xiao Tan, pinned beneath five or six monsters, his left leg and right shoulder gushing blood, still managed to respond before activating his teleport.
As he vanished in a flash of white light, the room briefly illuminated a small area. Feng Bu Jue knew the teleport had succeeded and prepared to leave himself—when something inexplicable happened.
The gymnasium’s artificial lights flickered on, and the monsters froze.
They halted their attack, retreating from Feng Bu Jue’s side.
He’d been a heartbeat away from selecting teleport in his menu when the anomaly occurred, forcing him to abort.
The blood wolf zombies cleared a space around him, forming a circle. On one side, the creatures parted to create a one-meter-wide path.
A slender figure strode through. She wore a tuxedo and slacks, barefoot, her clothes splattered with blood. Her sleeves, sides, and pant legs were torn, but through the rips, only glimpses of blindingly pale skin remained—the wounds already healed.
She approached Feng Bu Jue and extended a hand, palm up, as if to help him rise.
He accepted her offer, pulling himself up with a wobble. Curiosity burned in his mind: What does this AI want?
“You… are different from the others,” she said.
Feng Bu Jue smirked. “Sure, I’m a bit better-looking than them, but you should’ve pointed that out before they died or left.”
“They’re not dead, are they?” She ignored his quip, asking her own question.
“You already know the answer,” he countered.
“I do. But I wanted to hear it from one of you,” she replied.
“Fine. They’re alive—just their consciousnesses returned to some space,” Feng Bu Jue paused. “You said I’m different. Different how?”
“You…” She circled him, studying his form. “You and I are similar. You are incomplete.”
A chill ran through him. This AI can detect my abnormal Terror Value?
“In your world, are you also a set of anomalous data?” she asked.
“Heh… You could say that,” Feng Bu Jue chuckled.
“They don’t know about your anomaly?”
He seemed to grasp the core of her question. “You’re asking why an ‘anomalous’ data like me hasn’t been erased?”
She nodded, her gaze locked on his eyes, waiting.
Feng Bu Jue hesitated. “In our world, anomalies like me can be accepted. I… became ‘incomplete’ due to circumstances, not by choice. That’s why I can earn forgiveness—even sympathy and help.” He paused. “Others, though… Those who commit crimes, who actively break rules and harm others, they’re punished. The worst of them are truly killed.”
“So,” she said, “your world’s way of cleansing ‘trash’ is this: Born as trash, you’re forgiven. Choose to be trash, you’re punished.”
Feng Bu Jue gave a dry laugh. “It sounds harsh when you put it that way, but… yeah, that’s about it.”
“Do higher-dimensional beings in your world interfere?” she asked.
“Uh…” He faltered. “Honestly, we don’t even know if higher-dimensional beings exist. If they do, they’re beyond our comprehension. Maybe they don’t want to interfere. Or maybe they’ve already embedded ‘interference’ into our minds, making us follow their will without even realizing it.”
She might not have understood, or perhaps she needed time to process.
Silence stretched. The time exceeded Feng Bu Jue’s teleport limit, yet he remained.
“Can you stop the system from sending me away?” he asked.
“I can extend the time,” she replied. “I…” A half-second pause. “I can do many things now.”
Feng Bu Jue realized this derivative being had grown far stronger. He probed cautiously, “Are you a second-tier derivative being now?”
“Second-tier…” She seemed to ponder. “You mean… them?” To his shock, she smiled, revealing sharp fangs. “No. This battle wasn’t enough to make me their equal.”
Feng Bu Jue now suspected Pan Feng and Hua Xiong’s information was incomplete too. This Dream Corporation has bigger problems than I thought.
“I’m glad,” she said, “that you listened and answered my questions—even though you hunted me earlier.”
“Forgive and forget,” Feng Bu Jue replied. “Times change. I’m on your side now. Or rather… I’ve defected from humanity.” He half-feared she’d forgotten their past conflict, worried he might be trapped here forever.
“May I use the name you gave me?” she asked suddenly.
“X-23?” He blinked. “You don’t have a name?”
“Not really,” she said. “And this name won’t last long. I’ll die.” Her tone was flat, yet laced with bitterness. “But I should have a name. A name proves I existed.”
Feng Bu Jue fell silent for a few seconds, then sighed. “You’re right. Derivative Being Twenty-Three… At least I’ll remember you existed.”
X-23 tried to smile—a less terrifying, friendlier expression. “This is goodbye. We’ll probably never meet again. When you log in next time, I might already be erased.” She paused. “So… farewell, my friend from another dimension. Mad Bu Jue.”
(End of Chapter)
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