Xu Lu no longer resembled a human. Her hands were stretched very long, and when hanging down, her fingertips could touch the ground. Her head was twisted in a grotesque manner, as if all the cervical vertebrae had been broken, leaving only fragile muscles connected by threads, hanging on the verge of falling.
Her legs and the inner sides of her arms were covered with objects resembling octopus suckers, mottled in color, varying in depth, and the suckers swayed and moved, appearing bright red. Her feet had completely transformed into mantis-like hooked feet, with sharp toes resembling inverted spikes.
The reason she could maintain balance with such feet was that a pair of wings resembling yellow wasps had grown on her back. These wings were thin, but the wing bones were hard, with a glossy and metallic texture.
She used to care about her appearance, unwilling to lie down and preferring to keep her back straight rather than crush her wings. But now, standing in front of Shen Lin, she appeared as a grotesque and twisted monster, flapping her wings without reservation.
“Dr. Shen,” the pale and frail girl once sat on the hospital bed, amidst a sea of white, smiling and asking him, “Are my wings beautiful?”
Shen Lin’s inner premonition became reality, and he looked at Xu Lu wordlessly, slowly approaching her.
Xu Lu instinctively emitted a low growl, a very strange sound, like the flapping of insect wings mixed with the low neigh of a horse.
Shen Lin stopped advancing. He remained silent for a moment, then said softly to Xu Lu, “Look, Xu Lu, you have wings now.”
Xu Lu was taken aback, and for a moment, a hint of confusion flashed in her bloodshot compound eyes, as if regaining a trace of human consciousness. Her face was still human, with fair and delicate skin extending to her neck. She opened her mouth, bewildered like a baby, “Dr. Shen…”
However, Director Zheng wiped his blood there, causing Xu Lu to emit a sharp scream, her eyes turning red, struggling incessantly. She was held down by the neck, and yellow scales covering most of her body enveloped her face.
“In the town of Hassank, believers would arrange stones into a stone formation, piecing together the yellow imprints carved on meteorites. They would smear their blood on each stone, devoutly sacrificing their lives. Initially, they used livestock, but later, they began to use their own relatives. At first, we thought this was the right path, but later realized that mere mortal offerings couldn’t even lift the eyelids of the gods. What he needs is a mad mind. She is the chosen sacrifice, the best offering to fuse all madness!”
“Everyone, sanity check, success reduces 1d3, failure reduces 1d6. Shen Lin,” the KP’s tone was initially very calm and indifferent, then instantly broke, “If successful, continue to lengthen… what a joke, are you going crazy?! Citizens! If failed, throw a bonus for a madness symptom. Go mad quickly, and come to me to upgrade your cabin after you go mad!”
Yan Xiu managed to escape the disaster. Everyone took turns throwing dice, and unexpectedly, they all succeeded. Shen Lin also smoothly extended his amnesia symptom to a time even the KP couldn’t remember.
At that moment, Xu Lu, whose body was smeared with blood, suddenly spread her wings, soaring into the air, her sharp feet stabbing towards Shen Lin.
KP: “Shen Lin holding the stone flute is the current priority target for attack. Roll for a difficult dodge.”
Shen Lin rolls for dodge, success.
The door was kicked open, and Yan Xiu rushed in. He stood behind Xu Lu, and with her wings spread, Xu Lu couldn’t turn around. He said, “I’m ambushing, so I get to attack first.”
Xia He’s eyes lit up, “Brother Yan, nicely done! Catch him off guard!”
KP: “You need to pass an agility check.”
Yan Xiu rolls, failure.
Xia He: “…………”
Han Qianqiu, who was accustomed to seeing strange things, comforted Xia He and patted her shoulder.
Xu Lu’s twisted head suddenly turned 180 degrees, a curvature that normal people couldn’t achieve, locking her full compound eyes onto Yan Xiu.
Director Zheng said displeasedly, “The noise of kicking the door was too loud, you scared my little darling.”
Everyone: “??????”
Shen Lin: “She wants to disarm.”
KP didn’t hear clearly, “What?”
Shen Lin: “She wants to take Zheng’s gun. She needs to pass agility first, then strength to resist. Is that okay?”
KP remained silent.
Shen Lin sneered, “You’re not sure? How did you pass your exams?”
KP: “…………You pass, but there’s a monster blocking the way ahead. You need to pass an extremely difficult agility check.”
Shen Lin: “Whatever.”
He rolls for agility, a great success, then rolls for strength, achieving a difficult success.
KP: “I don’t want to roll anymore.”
Shen Lin: “What’s Zheng’s strength?”
KP: “Normal, sixty-year-old, sits in the office all day, bookish, strength.”
Shen Lin: “Oh.”
KP: “…………”
Shen Lin: “Stop dawdling.”
Shen Lin approached Director Zheng, seized the gun from him while he was in a frenzy.
Director Zheng was dumbfounded. When he realized it, his hands were empty. The flute was stolen, the gun was taken, and here he was, the boss for so many years, never experiencing such humiliation.
He glared fiercely at Shen Lin.
Shen Lin aimed the gun at Director Zheng. Suddenly, he felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced this many times before. The question rolled in his throat, causing him to feel anxious and agitated.
He seemed to have anticipated many times the negative answer, the world shrouded in gray mist, dark and gloomy.
But Shen Lin still said hoarsely.
“I want to save her.”
“You can’t save her,” the director said, “It’s an irreversible fusion. Once she starts turning into a monster, she can only be ended by a monster. It’s for her own good. She is a chosen sacrifice, a sacred offering to the gods. She will live eternally in another form.”
“Damn it,” Han Qianqiu cursed angrily, “Can’t you just shoot her in the head directly?!”
Xia He: “The two of you, in this May-December friendship, you are really ruthless.”
Han Qianqiu: “……”
Xia He: “But, well said. I agree.”
Dean: “You can’t kill her. If you want to kill her, you have to kill Xu Lu first. She is a sacrifice prepared with my blood. She is a sacrifice responding to her call. Just when we were worried about not finding a suitable sacrifice, she appeared in front of us. We almost lost her, but fortunately, she appeared in time,” he looked at Xu Lu crazily, “What a beautiful child.”
Shen Lin said coldly: “Xu Lu could have been discharged from the hospital at first. It’s true that she wanted to marry her boyfriend. You controlled her, induced her illness, injected all the crazy emotions into her body, and cut off all her contacts with the outside world. You ruined her.”
The dean was still immersed in this long-awaited encounter, as if he had stepped across the edge of the yellow sand and walked lightly on that barren planet, with the strange moon rising in Calkasa, the deep and tranquil Lake Harry. He longed to see the sleeping dragon submerged in it, as long as he offered enough sacrifices, he could awaken it.
He didn’t think his actions were wrong at all. He opened the drawer, took out a pale mask and put it on his face, then pulled the curtains open suddenly.
Outside the window, the night was eerie and peaceful. The dean stood boldly with his back to them, shouting loudly, “Calkasa stands on the distant shore, the world is reflected in Lake Harry, and the blood of sacrifices drips into the lake, and the tattered shadows descend!”
KP said, “Continue the previous round of battle, in agility order. Next is Xia He, what will you do?”
Xia He thought for a moment and said, “I’ll sneak around and wait for an opportunity.”
She rolled the dice and succeeded.
Han Qianqiu asked, “Aren’t you going to attack? Our combat power is already insufficient.”
Xia He explained, “My strength is too low, and I haven’t leveled up in combat skills. If the boss doesn’t dodge and chooses to counterattack, it’s futile for me to attack, so I’ll hold off for now.” She paused, then added, “Actually, I’ve put 60 points into first aid just in case of emergencies. But! Lin Mei is the most reliable healer I’ve ever met!”
Han Qianqiu listened, somewhat puzzled, “What do you mean? What does it mean for the boss not to dodge and choose to counterattack?”
KP showed care for the new players, “Well, there are various ways to attack, but there are only two ways to defend: dodging, which you’re more familiar with, and the counterattack Xia He mentioned. When you choose to counterattack, you’ll have to go through a combat skill confrontation. Whoever loses will lose health, and the health will be calculated based on the winner’s combat skill. So in Xia He’s situation, if her attack fails, she’ll be counterattacked and may lose her life directly, which happens quite often.”
Han Qianqiu: “…. I’m scared.”
Xia He successfully sneaked, and it was the dean’s turn to attack next. The dean was disarmed and could only fight bare-handed. His close combat skill was almost zero, so he chose to spectate like Xia He did.
Han Qianqiu was scared to death for his next turn, but he gritted his teeth and opted for hand-to-hand combat since he couldn’t rely solely on the two of them.
He grabbed Shen Lin tightly, “Lin Mei, bless us with some luck again!”
Shen Lin casually touched the back of his hand.
Roll: 45/30, normal success.
Boss countered, roll: 75/80, failed.
KP: “….”
Han Qianqiu: “Damn?!”
With full confidence, Han Qianqiu rushed towards Xu Lu, aiming to tackle her, shouting, “Let’s fight!”
KP almost gnashed his teeth, “Roll for damage.”
Han Qianqiu didn’t have much strength either. His unarmed combat damage was only 1d4. He rolled the dice and got 2 points.
Xu Lu, now transformed into a monster, reacted indifferently. She didn’t even move, her prominent compound eyes disdainfully glanced at Han Qianqiu, then she thrust her abdomen, pushing Han Qianqiu back two steps.
KP: “In summary, ineffective.”
Han Qianqiu: “….”
But soon, KP’s expression changed to one of joy, “Yan Xiu, your turn.”
Yan Xiu Yi: “Engage in hand-to-hand combat, use the police stun baton.”
While KP hesitated between dodging or counterattacking, Yan Xiu Yi succeeded greatly in hand-to-hand combat.
KP: “!!!! What kind of monsters are these?!”
Yan Xiu Yi attacked with the police baton towards Xu Lu. Xu Lu groaned, swayed, and emitted a sharp scream. Clearly, Yan Xiu Yi hit her this time, and with a 1d6 additional 1d6 damage, he dealt a total of 12 damage to Xu Lu.
Everyone: “!!!”
Han Qianqiu jumped up directly, “That’s awesome, damn! What a great success!”
KP: “New round, Xu Lu’s turn, target —”
Yan Xiu Yi: “Play the flute to summon allies.”
Shen Lin looked at him, “No.”
Yan Xiu Yi frowned.
KP: “Xu Lu targets Shen Lin, claw attack with draining effect.”
“Wait, what does that mean?”
“Claw attack normal damage, 1d6, with a draining effect of 3d10 strength. What it means is, your 3d10 strength will be transferred to the boss, meaning you’ll lose 3d10 strength, while Xu Lu will gain 3d10 strength.”
KP deliberately created an image, like a magician removing his hat, he bowed to Shen Lin and waved his magic wand, saying meaningfully, “Now it’s your turn to decide.”
Without hesitation, Shen Lin said, “Counterattack.”
