It was as quiet as a dead city here. The little monsters’ high-pitched singing could instantly echo throughout the entire town, accompanied by an eerie echo that sent a chill down one’s spine.
“Could it be a ruse, like an empty city strategy?” Dou Dou muttered, “For example, traps are set inside, just waiting for us to walk into them.”
Xin Meng glanced at Dou Dou, thinking that although this new teammate talked a lot, sometimes he could provide some fresh ideas. “Be careful.”
Without needing to say more, those who had survived to this point naturally wouldn’t make basic mistakes. Although Dou Dou was participating for the first time, he was quite clever and had exceptionally good luck. As long as he didn’t act foolishly and followed the experienced veterans in the team, it wouldn’t be easy to get into trouble.
The little monsters ran wildly along the main road into the town, singing and shouting, jumping and skipping, with some raising their arms in cheer. They looked very joyful; despite their strange appearance, they were actually quite cute.
They ran all the way to the center of the town, where there was a large oval-shaped square filled with a massive pile of tables, on which were stacked hamburgers piled high like a mountain.
In front of the tables stood a sign as tall as a person, with bright fluorescent marker writing in a flamboyant cursive: “Hamburger Contest! Who will be the champion!”
Everyone was taken aback, exchanging glances, unsure of what was happening. However, the black little monsters surged forward, quickly jumping onto the tables, grabbing a hamburger in each hand, and began stuffing them into their mouths!
The aroma of grilled beef mixed with the sweetness of the bread wafted through the air. Dou Dou watched the little monsters eat so contentedly that he couldn’t help but swallow, rubbing his belly and complaining, “Can I have two to eat too?”
“If you want to die, go ahead,” Qi Xiaokui rolled her eyes. “You think you can just eat whatever you want in a game?”
“But I’m really hungry,” Dou Dou retorted, shaking his backpack. “The backpack won’t open, and I can’t get the food out… Huh?”
As he shook it, he unexpectedly found that the zipper of the backpack, which he had been unable to open no matter how hard he tried, suddenly burst open, and the contents fell out.
“What is this?” He picked up a thin, balloon-like object, looked closely, and grinned, “A condom?”
The innocent Qi Xiaokui’s face turned red, and she immediately turned her head away, while the already married Luo Yingying cursed with her hands on her hips, “What kind of condom is that big? You could fit your head in it!”
Dou Dou: “…” The combat power of married women is terrifying! QAQ
The others also opened their backpacks and found that there was only this item inside, nothing else.
Dou Dou reacted and asked Qi Xiaokui in surprise, “No food? Sister Qi, didn’t you say there would be food in the backpack? Where is it?”
Qi Xiaokui was also a bit confused, “There used to be, why isn’t there this time?”
Luo Yingying and Li Wenjun exchanged glances. Indeed, every time they entered a game, the backpack would provide basic food and water, but where was the food this time?
Soon, they couldn’t help but all look at the pile of hamburgers, thinking, could it be this?
At that moment, You Yi, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, “The first line of the song.”
“Huh?” Dou Dou reacted quickly, “Are you talking about ‘Ten little black boys, running for survival’?”
“The second half of the line,” You Yi shook his head, but soon he added, “It’s too late, we have to rewind.”
Everyone followed his gaze and found that while they were talking, those black little monsters had displayed astonishing combat power, having eaten half of the hamburger mountain!
Their already bulging bellies were now round and taut, their thin skin revealing slender veins, looking like balloons that had been fully inflated. With one more bite, they would burst, and the terrifying part was that the little black monsters were still stuffing hamburgers into their mouths!
Their bellies began to swell, slowly expanding outward.
“Not good!”
Li Wenjun immediately pulled Luo Yingying behind him, while You Yi directly dragged Xin Meng back several steps. Sure enough, in less than a minute, there was a loud explosion sound, and the bellies of the ten little black monsters suddenly burst!
Chunks of flesh and blood flew everywhere. Luo Yingying and Qi Xiaokui couldn’t help but scream, and Dou Dou was so scared that he let out a howl!
Then the six of them saw everything go black, and when they opened their eyes again, they had returned to the save point!
“Ha… ha…” Dou Dou sat down on the ground, unable to regain his senses for a long time.
However, the others were clearly just startled and quickly calmed down, even the two women regained their composure.
Luo Yingying asked in confusion, “Why did we suddenly come back?”
Qi Xiaokui also asked, “What went wrong?”
Dou Dou quickly waved his hands, incredulously shouting, “I mean, you two beauties, how can you calm down so quickly! This is totally unscientific!”
Qi Xiaokui shot him a sidelong glance and calmly said, “You get used to it.”
Dou Dou: “…” Who wants to get used to this!
“What exactly happened?” Li Wenjun asked You Yi.
“The mission failed,” You Yi said flatly. “They are NPCs. If players don’t intervene, they will all die, and the mission will definitely fail.”
“So we have to stop them from dying?” Xin Meng asked.
“Can give it a try,” You Yi patted his head.
Dou Dou curiously muttered, “What the heck, you talk gently to Xin Meng but are cold to everyone else. Are you split personality?”
Luo Yingying slapped him on the back of the head from behind, “What are you talking about? That’s his wife, can she be the same as us!”
Dou Dou covered his head, grinning.
Xin Meng, feeling embarrassed yet unable to stop herself from laughing, thought this big boy was simply a live wire. Having him around was quite nice, as he could help ease the tension and prevent them from accidentally snapping.
The ground trembled, and the little monsters emerged from underground again, as if programmed, singing nursery rhymes and running towards the town. This time, the group did not hesitate and immediately followed, getting even closer.
Li Wenjun pulled Luo Yingying as they ran, saying, “How do we stop them? Who has a plan?”
Dou Dou’s mind turned, and he immediately said, “Why not just knock them out? Or tie them up, and they won’t be able to go looking for death!”
“I think that’s a good idea!” Luo Yingying panted, “It’s up to you!”
“What?” Dou Dou cried out, “There are ten of them! If I go over, who will knock out who!”
In the end, Luo Yingying and Qi Xiaokui hid aside to wait, while the other four went to confront the monsters.
Although the little monsters had previously ignored the players, once the distance between them shrank to a certain extent, they immediately turned around and pounced!
Sharp long claws emerged from their bony fingertips, glinting with a cold light, and their fangs grew rapidly, protruding like vampires. They bared their furry, ugly faces, and their piercing howls shook the eardrums as they pounced on the players like monkeys, scratching and clawing. The four fought back fiercely, and soon fourteen people were caught in a chaotic melee.
Originally, Qi Xiaokui wanted Xin Meng to wait with her, as she still remembered him as the boy who couldn’t even tie a chicken. However, when she looked over, she found that Xin Meng had somehow transformed from her initial memory.
Kicking, leaping, elbowing, sweeping—though his movements were still a bit unrefined and showed clear signs of imitating You Yi, it was undeniable that he had made incredible progress.
Qi Xiaokui couldn’t even believe her eyes. This person in the chaotic crowd not only could protect himself but could occasionally hold his ground against two opponents with sheer strength. Was this really the Xin Meng she knew?
She stared in astonishment, while Luo Yingying, not understanding her thoughts, assumed she was just overly worried since she didn’t know Xin Meng well. She kindly comforted her, saying, “Your teammates are all very strong, and with Wenjun, we can definitely clear the level.”
“Ah, ah? Yeah…” Qi Xiaokui came back to her senses and smiled at her.
This time, the teammates were indeed much better than before. She hoped they could all survive together.
“Last one!” Dou Dou kicked the little monster in front of him between its legs, with a lewd expression, “Ha! Watch my ancestral technique of ‘teasing the lower regions’!”
Even in an emergency, Xin Meng couldn’t help but almost burst out laughing, “Ancestral technique? What did your ancestors do?”
“I…” Dou Dou was about to speak when suddenly his head spun. Once the dizziness passed, he found himself back at the save point, with the others standing beside him, all looking bewildered.
“It seems it doesn’t work, ah ha ha…” Dou Dou scratched his head.
“Can’t attack NPCs?” Qi Xiaokui speculated, “Or did you just kill the NPCs?”
“No, no way…” Xin Meng wasn’t too sure either. The little monsters had fallen to the ground and hadn’t gotten up. They thought they were just knocked out, but could it be…
No way, are they that fragile??
The four fell silent, even Dou Dou looked confused.
He said in despair, “I just teased a little down there, and they can die… Looks like I’ve really brought our family’s secret technique to light. If my mom knew, she would probably be so happy.”
Li Wenjun asked with interest, “Does your family run a martial arts school too?”
“No,” Dou Dou said, “My mom is a police officer.”
Li Wenjun asked in confusion, “Then what about the family secret technique?”
Dou Dou covered his face, “Women’s… self-defense techniques…”
Everyone: “…”
No wonder he was targeting the lower regions in the fight earlier!
“We can’t let them burst, and we can’t touch them either. This is tough,” Luo Yingying frowned.
Xin Meng was also deep in thought when suddenly he had an idea, “I have a plan. You guys see if it works… I’ll go to the table and collect all the hamburgers into my inventory. Without food, they won’t be able to stuff themselves to death.”
“Good idea!” Qi Xiaokui clapped her hands, “Let’s try it again.”
The group followed the little monsters into the town for the third time. Xin Meng, relying on his ample stamina, sprinted past the little black monsters, reaching the table first. With a wave of his hand, the mountain of hamburgers indeed disappeared, taking up only one slot in his inventory, showing an icon of a hamburger, with the quantity in the bottom right corner—999.
An average of a hundred per person, no wonder they would burst their bellies…
The black little monsters stared at the empty table, their shiny black eyes dazed for a moment, then they flickered back to life. Since the others were farther away, and Xin Meng had also cautiously distanced himself after taking the hamburgers, the little black monsters could only look at each other. Suddenly, their claws and fangs surged, and they charged at their companions!
“Oh my god!” Luo Yingying covered her mouth, exclaiming.
The little black monsters began to tear each other apart like starving beasts. They bit into their companions’ flesh, pulling hard to rip off large chunks of skin, chewing and swallowing with force. Soon, blood flowed everywhere, and the sounds of beastly roars and painful moans intertwined, the smell of blood permeating the air, creating a scene so brutal it made one’s scalp tingle!
“Stop them!” Xin Meng shouted!
But it was too late. The little black monsters quickly collapsed one after another, and the six of them felt a wave of dizziness.
They were back at the save point.
“Damn! How are we supposed to play this!” Dou Dou angrily kicked the save tree, which stood there unfazed, not even shedding a leaf.
For a moment, everyone was at a loss, while the black monsters once again broke through the ground…
