章 22: Chapter 22: What Kind of Prices Are These! (Please Favorite, Ask for Monthly Tickets)
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"Quite an accurate shot."
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A slightly frail and scholarly-looking middle-aged man squatted beside the incinerator, parting blood-soaked hair with gloved hands of pure white to examine the bullet hole that had precisely pierced the brow.
"That new kid seems to be a Talent-type sniper; all his shooting scores are excellent."
Beside him, a pot-bellied man with coarse skin, wearing a shirt and brown suspenders over denim jeans, lit a cigarette and clamped it between his lips.
"Verna, did you also use a gun the first time you killed someone?"
Smith did not turn around but quietly asked.
"Yes," Verna took a deep drag of his cigarette, as the red glow climbed up the pure white roll, and smoke billowed from his nostrils, "It was my first mission, faced a contaminated madman."
"How many shots?"
"Eight shots; the first seven didn't hit the vitals, but the last one blew the guy's head apart."
"But this kid only needed one shot," Smith twisted the corpse's head again, inspecting the shattered skull. Thin, fine white mycelium writhed within the broken cranium,
"If he doesn´t have some experience we don't know about, then he's a natural-born hunter."
He slowly turned around, tossing the blood-stained white gloves onto the corpse, and pressed the red button beside him.
Then he walked towards the exit door a few steps away.
The stretcher under the corpse began to move, slowly tipping the body into a huge silver duct, which led to a roaring incinerator.
The corpse seemed to sense the imminent destruction and trembled.
Subsequently, its bent head slowly straightened back.
Its shoulders heaved as if convulsing.
"Who do you plan to assign to Mu Xiu´s case?"
Verna watched Smith turn away and walk out, puffing smoke as he followed behind.
"Selena and that kid, since they discovered the clue. And after all, this case falls within the overlapping area of field service and criminal investigation."
Smith answered absently.
As he spoke, he had already stepped out the door; the pot-bellied Verna had also reached the threshold.
The slowly sliding corpse suddenly shuddered violently, shoulders contracting, sitting up abruptly with its head hanging on its neck.
Bang—
The booming gunshot followed instantly.
The hot bullet accurately pierced the neck of the corpse, the sheer force sending it tumbling rapidly backward into the silver duct.
Click—
The duct's gate abruptly shut, and flames gushed out, engulfing everything.
"So, what the hell is this thing?"
Verna retracted his handgun, cursing under his breath.
"Phantom Mushrooms' mycelium," Smith continued to lead, without looking back. "It entices creatures in the wilderness to consume it, then uses the gluttons' flesh as a breeding ground to proliferate more 'Phantom Mushrooms.'
After completely devouring the host, it replaces muscle with mycelium to control the poor souls' corpses and enter their community, luring more of the same kind to consume the 'Phantom Mushrooms' growing on them.
This guy was relatively lucky, he died before he was completely devoured. In the final stage of 'Phantom Mushroom' infection, he wouldn't want to stay alive."
"These Wilderness Wanderers really carry all sorts of things on them."
Verna took a heavy drag on his cigarette.
"But they are also human."
Smith suddenly added.
Verna fell silent, and the two walked off into the distance.
A gate lowered from above, sealing the door, the metal plaque on it reflecting a chilling light under the lamp,
[Incineration Room (Contaminated Mutations)]
——
He Ao and Selena sat silently in the Field Service Special Office on the third sub-level.
"Feeling any better?"
Selena looked at a distracted He Ao, thinking he was still trapped in the cycle of his first killing.
But persuasion is useless in such matters, and if He Ao continues this way, she had to consider getting him some psychological counseling.
Touch by Selena's concern, He Ao shifted his gaze from the character attribute panel and gave Selena a smile, "I feel much better."
He hadn't had time to check his character attributes until now, and as expected, upon entering the Copy World, there had been changes to the attribute panel.
[He Ao (Ande)]
[Authority Level: Ordinary Player]
[Physical Constitution: 15 (13) (Ordinary people in Copy World are at 10, ordinary people in the main world are at 5)]
[Skill: Talent Sequences 272: Super Memory (Soul Binding) (F-rank)]
[Mechanical Modification: None]
[Martial Arts: Qi Induction (F-rank) (Not Usable)]
[Character Ability: Basic Firearms Proficiency]
The name Ande appeared behind He Ao's name, the original physical constitution of 15 turned grey, and the number 13 in the brackets turned yellow, this number 13 was presumably Ande's physical constitution.
There was no change in skills, as Super Memory was bound to the soul, He Ao could still use it; Martial Arts' Qi Induction turned grey, with a note added 'Not Usable'.
Additionally, under Martial Arts, there was a new section, [Character Ability], which seemed to refer to the strongest ability of the character or an ability that had reached a certain standard.
Ande's ability was 'Basic Firearms Proficiency'.
Ande's marksmanship was indeed excellent, and He Ao was very impressed.
After all, who playing shooting games hadn't imagined themselves having such godlike aim, hitting headshots without cheats?
Anyway, He Ao liked this ability very much.
"Are you really okay?"
While he was pondering, Selena's query reached his ears again.
Looking at this beautiful and earnest blonde Sister, the fact was their relationship was simply that of superior and subordinate. She needn't have been so concerned about a subordinate, she only needed to ensure he could complete his tasks efficiently.
This is what makes a good person.
During the newbie missions, He Ao had realized that Selena was a somewhat stubborn good person.
You could tell by the fact that she had only disabled the resistance of the Wilderness Wanderers during her mission, without actually killing anyone.
So, He Ao closed the character attribute panel and seriously responded to Selena, "Indeed, there are no issues, well, if there really is an issue, it's that there is still a bit of pain under my chest."
It was where 'Ande' had been impaled by a steel rod when his Floating Airship was attacked; He Ao was rushed out by Selena before he was fully healed in some places.
"Then you'll stop feeling pain soon," hearing this, Selena displayed a smile; she pointed to the silver bracelet He Ao was wearing on his hand, "It's almost time."
"Hmm?"
He Ao, still a bit confused, suddenly felt the bracelet vibrate, and he lifted his hand.
He didn't know how to operate the bracelet, but that didn't matter. At times like this, one only needed to relax and not think about anything; Ande's muscle memory would skillfully unlock the bracelet.
Some actions don't require the brain, just like no matter how complex the method to turn off an alarm on a phone, people can always accomplish the entire process while still asleep.
However, the operation mode of the bracelet was relatively simple; after He Ao verified his iris and unlocked the bracelet, a message popped up, projecting onto the back of his hand.
But the projected text was not very clear.
"Try this," Selena handed him a pair of ultra-thin silver glasses.
After He Ao put on the glasses, the subtitles on the bracelet vanished immediately, and clear and accurate information appeared on the glasses.
This message at the top of the screen made He Ao's body stiffen,
[Thank you for using the services of Welme Medical Group. Your total medical bill is 435,791.73 federal coins, with the detailed costs listed below:]
[Surgery Fee: ...]
[Anesthetist: ...]
[Assistant Doctor: ...]
...
This is what a heart attack feels like.
He Ao no longer had time to look at the detailed bill as his weekly salary was only eight hundred federal coins, and even if he earned the maximum, it wouldn't exceed three thousand six hundred a month. Yet he'd undergone a surgery that cost four hundred and thirty-five thousand federal coins?
What kind of pricing is this in the Copy World? Darn it!
Instantaneously, he felt no pain in his wound anymore.
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