Chapter 46

Since they couldn't leave Los Angeles anyway, the group decided to find a hotel in the bustling area. On the way, Sun Wenxing fed Sarah a lot of information, telling her that the adventurers from Hurricane City were mechanical monsters sent to assassinate her. He also informed Sarah that another future warrior would come to protect her the next evening, laying the groundwork for Karlis's appearance.

At the hotel, the group had no documents or passports, and they were at a loss about how to check in. The short-bladed woman, Jasmine, stepped forward and gave the hotel owner a flirtatious look, and he obediently gave them several rooms, free of charge. Jasmine, who always carried a short blade, appeared to be a melee adventurer, but it turned out she was also skilled in illusions and could easily manipulate people's minds.

The fourteen people thus settled into the hotel, with adjacent rooms. Sarah and Jasmine stayed in the middle room, and as the strongest woman in the group, Jasmine naturally took on the responsibility of Sarah's safety. Not only that, Sun Wenxing had set up small mechanical spiders throughout the entire hotel. There were fifteen of these miniature robots, which had no combat power but served as a warning system.

Ma Le naturally shared a room with the Persian cat. After dinner, the two of them lay on their respective beds watching TV. The Persian cat's English was also very good, and he had no problem understanding the news. The biggest news of the day was the zombie attack. According to reports, experts initially concluded that it was a new type of infectious disease. So far, 65 patients had been controlled, and hundreds of injured people had been sent to the hospital.

"The U.S. government's response was really quick, minimizing the damage!" Ma Le yawned while lying on the bed. "But unfortunately, they haven't realized the danger of the zombie virus. The so-called 'patients' can't be cured, and those 'injured' will soon become 'patients'!"

The Persian cat sneered. "Idiot! You still have the heart to worry about others, but we are the ones in real danger!" Ma Le tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The Persian cat's expression turned serious. "I initially thought the other side was just a bit stronger than our three ordinary-level members. But today's zombie incident proves I was wrong. Their strength is likely far beyond our imagination!"

Ma Le sat up abruptly, frowning. "Explain clearly!"

The Persian cat sighed. "The zombie virus spreading in modern American cities has already caused hundreds of casualties... Starting tonight, this number will grow exponentially. I conservatively estimate that at least tens of thousands will die in this crisis. Have you thought about what would happen if this virus spread to an ancient world with underdeveloped medical care?"

Ma Le realized. "You mean, using this virus, the other side has the potential to completely destroy a story world?"

The Persian cat snorted. "Idiot, the key isn't the virus they have, but how they obtained it! If zombies were to run rampant in an ancient world, the destruction could be unimaginable. So, how did they get this dangerous item? Or, what kind of hidden task, with what level of difficulty, would they need to complete to obtain a super item capable of overturning a story world? And how strong would the person who completed that task be?"

Ma Le thought for a moment, and cold sweat trickled down his back. Indeed, he had fought hard in Prototype and received only a few bottles of enhancement fluid, even with a fourfold reward. Although the ability to bring this back to the real world was incredible, it was still insignificant compared to a super item capable of overturning a story world. At the same time, Ma Le understood why he didn't carry the Blacklight virus after obtaining the Blacklight enhancement ability—Miracle City had stripped him of his infectious capability! This showed how difficult it was to obtain such a virus.

Seeing Ma Le's serious expression, the Persian cat knew he had also realized the severity of the situation. He smiled and added, "It's not just that. They didn't save this dangerous virus for the most suitable mission world but used it in a modern world for a regular main mission. This means either the virus is a trivial trick to them, or they can gain enormous profits from this main mission!"

Hearing this, Ma Le understood. He continued, "If it's the latter, it means Sun Wenxing and the others are likely hiding some information from us! But if it's the former, it means... they are really strong!"

"So, you regret changing the main mission now, don't you!" The Persian cat said smugly. "If I'm not mistaken, those three ordinary-level members must know how powerful the other side is, so they made up a bunch of reasons to drag you into this! What do you think? Do you want to change the main mission back? I haven't changed it yet, so you can take the mission from me again and revert it!"

Faced with the Persian cat's temptation, Ma Le smiled faintly. "No need to tempt me. If high-difficulty missions could be easily changed to low-difficulty ones, who would do the high-difficulty ones? The system can't have such a loophole, and you can't be unaware of this!"

The Persian cat was somewhat surprised. "You're not that stupid! When did you realize this?"

Ma Le smiled. "From the moment Sun Wenxing said the main mission could be changed!" The Persian cat asked curiously, "Then why did you take the high-difficulty mission? Weren't you afraid you couldn't complete it and couldn't change it back?"

Ma Le shrugged. "Now I realize I was too arrogant, naively choosing the high-difficulty mission for the challenge... But I don't regret it. Only by facing strong opponents can I truly become stronger!" In his heart, Ma Le's real thought was: Only by absorbing true experts can I truly become stronger...

The Persian cat, no matter how smart, couldn't guess Ma Le's ability. He pouted. "Every inexperienced rookie says that. When you're beaten to the ground by an expert, all you'll think about is escaping!"

"Damn, you underestimate me too much!" Ma Le pretended to be angry. "It's like you've experienced life and death. You're not that old, so why do you talk like an old man?"

The Persian cat scowled. "I have experienced it, and I do talk like an old man. What's wrong with that? If you don't like it, you can move out and not stay in the same room as me!" He then lay on the bed, facing the wall, leaving Ma Le with a small back.

Ma Le guessed he had hit a sore spot, so he didn't press further. But the atmosphere was awkward, so he changed the topic. "Hey, why do you sleep with a hat on?"

The Persian cat didn't turn around or answer, just threw a pillow at Ma Le in frustration. Ma Le, feeling embarrassed, didn't push further and turned off the light and TV to go to sleep.

Around three in the morning, Ma Le suddenly heard an unusual noise and sat up abruptly. The Persian cat across from him was also awake. They exchanged a glance, nodded, and silently walked out of the room.

In the corridor, three people were already standing: Sun Wenxing, Shi Niu, and Snowy Owl. Sun Wenxing was slightly surprised to see Ma Le and the Persian cat come out, not expecting these two seemingly ordinary newbies to have such high perception attributes.

Ma Le whispered, "What's going on? Is it an enemy attack?" Sun Wenxing shook his head. "I don't know. One of my reconnaissance spiders was destroyed, but it didn't send back any information..." Ma Le glanced at Sarah Connor's room, and Shi Niu said, "Jasmine is protecting Sarah in the room, she'll be fine!"

Just then, a metallic clanging sound came from Sarah's room, followed by a woman's scream. The door burst open, and Sarah Connor screamed and ran out in a panic.

"Trouble, something's happened to Jasmine!" Sun Wenxing and Shi Niu immediately rushed into the room. In the dark, a thin, somewhat deformed figure stood by the window, holding Jasmine's hair and lifting her off the ground. Without a word, Sun Wenxing drew his fan and flicked it, sending several visible crescent-shaped air blades toward the figure. Shi Niu, not idle, took a pill, crushed it, and swallowed it, his muscles instantly bulging, almost tearing his clothes. With enhanced strength, Shi Niu roared and charged forward with the air blades.

The figure cackled, casually throwing Jasmine toward the air blades. Just as Jasmine was about to be sliced, Sun Wenxing flicked his fan again, and the air blades changed direction mid-air, bypassing Jasmine and continuing toward the figure.

The figure seemed surprised. "Oh, they can turn? Your abilities have improved!" he said in English. Though he praised, his movements were calm. He raised a short blade and deflected Sun Wenxing's attack with a few casual swings. Shi Niu, now close, saw that the figure was using Jasmine's weapon. He roared and swung his fists with all his might.

The figure sneered, and with a few agile steps, he moved behind Shi Niu, raising the short blade and stabbing down at his calf. With a thud, Shi Niu's calf tendon was severed, and he fell to the ground. Sun Wenxing, seeing this, held his fan with both hands, flipped it over, and drew a large arc, releasing a massive air blade that filled the room, leaving deep marks on the walls.

The figure's eyes lit up. "Not bad, you've improved!" He cast a spell on himself, and a green light flashed, making his body appear blurry. The massive air blade passed through him as if through a mist, without any effect.

"Damn, immune to physical attacks! It's a phasing ability!" Sun Wenxing cursed, forming a fireball in his hand. Suddenly, a loud bang came from behind him. A marker gun with a glowing tail flew past his ear, heading straight for the phasing figure.

The figure, thinking the physical arrow couldn't harm him, didn't dodge. The marker gun passed through his body, but as it did, it released a high-voltage current, causing him damage! Worse, the marker gun was long and stuck in the wall behind him, with the tail still in his body, causing continuous damage. He was paralyzed and couldn't dodge, taking a solid three seconds of electric shock!

It was Ma Le who had acted. Hearing Sun Wenxing say physical attacks were ineffective, he tried elemental damage. He didn't expect the electric shock from the marker gun to work, and it worked well! He didn't know that while the phasing state made the figure immune to physical damage, it also reduced his resistance to zero, doubling the elemental and magical damage. The electric shock dealt 300 points of damage, and during this time, Sun Wenxing also threw a fireball, dealing over 400 points of damage in three seconds!