Chapter 58

In the originally quiet residential area, the sound of gunfire and fighting broke the silence, startling the wandering zombies and more hidden舔食者 (Lickers). The three people, who were already struggling, found themselves in even greater danger.

A Licker saw its chance and lunged at Wang Xiaofu with its tongue extended. Neither the Persian Cat nor the Snowy Owl had time to help, and Wang Xiaofu seemed to be frozen in fear, fumbling in his pocket without trying to dodge.

Just as the Licker was about to pounce, a flash of cold light appeared, and a marking gun with a lit tail shot the Licker in the head, pinning the monster to the ground. The Licker struggled a few more times before losing its life.

Seeing the marking gun, the Persian Cat and the Snowy Owl both showed expressions of disbelief. They recognized this weapon; it was the harpoon gun that Ma Le had used to severely injure the vampire Brad! The Persian Cat's eyes widened, and her surprise gradually turned to joy. Could it be, could it be that person, he's not dead?!

The three of them looked up in the direction the marking gun had come from and saw a figure on the fourth floor, most of its body hidden inside, only an arm holding the harpoon gun visible. While they were stunned, the arm fired several more shots, killing four Lickers that were closest to them. The figure then changed the magazine and continued shooting, giving the three the confidence to continue fighting. In a short time, all the nearby Lickers were cleared, and the crisis was completely averted.

The three breathed a sigh of relief, and the Persian Cat called out, "Is it Eater? Are you still alive?"

The figure on the upper floor jumped out of the window and landed heavily in front of the three, grinning maliciously. "Eater? So the owner of this weapon is called Eater..."

The three were shocked. Looking at the person who had jumped down, they saw a tall, slender figure, not as robust as Ma Le, with golden hair. It didn't seem to be the person they remembered, and from the tone of his words, this guy could be...

The man stood up and pointed the harpoon gun at the leading Persian Cat. It was the vampire Brad! The Snowy Owl was shocked, jumping back and raising her sniper rifle; Wang Xiaofu's face turned white, and he fell to the ground, crawling backward in a panic; only the Persian Cat remained calm, facing Brad without a hint of fear. The Snowy Owl shouted, "Kitty, run! This guy is that vampire!"

The Persian Cat smiled calmly. "Vampire? That vampire's appearance was probably taken by someone else!" She looked Brad up and down, pointing at him. "Not to mention why an enemy would save our lives; or how you can speak Chinese with a dialect; just your outfit exposes your true identity. Which European would wear Chinese street market clothes, and even wear Adidas Wang shoes..."

Brad's face turned awkward, and he put away the harpoon gun, sighing. "You really can't fool you, you clever devil..." As he spoke, his body transformed into countless black tissues, instantly reverting to his original form—none other than Ma Le!

"It really is you, Eater, you're still alive!" Seeing Ma Le revert to his true form, the usually calm Snowy Owl couldn't help but get excited. On the other side, Wang Xiaofu sat on the ground, grinning foolishly, still not fully comprehending the situation. Only the Persian Cat remained the calmest, just lowering the brim of her cap a bit, but Ma Le seemed to see a glint of light under the shadow of the brim...

After the reunion, the three naturally asked about Ma Le's supposed death. Ma Le didn't hide it, telling them about his fake death skill, and that the adventurer from Hurricane City who died was actually Brad. The three also told Ma Le about the actions of the ordinary-level adventurers, who were all coerced by Sun Wenxing to act together.

Ma Le sighed when he heard this. He had long suspected that Sun Wenxing was no good, but he didn't expect the guy to turn on the ordinary-level adventurers so quickly. However, since he had left, Ma Le no longer cared about the main mission to protect Sarah Connor and was fully focused on eliminating the Terminator.

"By the way, how did you end up here?" Ma Le prepared some drinks and snacks for the three, leading them into the small house he had occupied. Climbing to the fourth floor wasn't difficult for the Snowy Owl and the Persian Cat, and Ma Le simply carried Wang Xiaofu up.

The Persian Cat took a sip of juice and asked, "I'm more curious about why you chose this place."

Ma Le smiled and answered, "I won't hide it from you. My ability comes from a bio-world, so I'm actually a natural enemy of zombies. Choosing a place infested with bio-monsters is actually safer!"

"I see, no wonder your transformation looks so disgusting!" The Persian Cat's sharp tongue didn't change as she teased Ma Le. She then explained her reason for coming: "Did you see the news? The guys from Hurricane City were accidentally photographed by citizens. Although there's no official warrant, the U.S. military is definitely on their trail. The military's entry into Los Angeles is to clear out the zombies, and this heavily infected area is a must-pass. So the remaining three from Hurricane City probably won't risk encountering the military by coming here. It's temporarily safe!"

"But you didn't expect to almost get your ass blown off by a Licker in this 'safe' place!" Ma Le teased with a smirk. The Persian Cat glared at him, and he finally calmed down, continuing, "So, what's your next plan? Just wait here?"

The Persian Cat nodded. "For now, the only method is to wait. The mission to protect Sarah has less than 30 hours left, and the Terminator has only been active for a little over two days. As long as we drag it out until Sarah's mission ends, regardless of who wins, they won't have a reason to stay in this world. Then we can deal with the Terminator."

Ma Le and Wang Xiaofu nodded in agreement, but the Snowy Owl said, "Since Hurricane City's goal is Sarah Connor and they don't care about our movements, why don't we take the initiative and eliminate the Terminator first? That way, we can return directly."

The Persian Cat shook her head. "I've considered that. Logically, they should only be able to track the mission target, Sarah Connor, or those who have interacted with them. Among us, only Eater has interacted with them, but he has already killed the enemy, and almost a day has passed without being found, so they probably haven't locked onto us. Therefore, as long as we leave Sarah Connor, we should temporarily escape Hurricane City's pursuit and be free to move."

"But the problem is that Hurricane City's actions are abnormal. They are trying to kill, so they should avoid conflict with the official forces of the story world and opt for a low-profile assassination. However, they are doing the opposite, spreading the virus widely, causing huge chaos, and even drawing the attention of the government and the military! If they had initially used the vampire's tracking ability to search the city, finding us would just be a matter of time, and a direct confrontation would be inevitable, and we would have no chance of winning. Why create chaos for such a simple task? They might have other motives, which I find very interesting!"

Ma Le opened a can of beer and sat on the sofa. "So you think staying here is safer?" The Persian Cat nodded, and Ma Le smiled. "Then stay. You're a clever devil, I trust your judgment!" He took a sip of beer and said, "American Budweiser is really good, nice, nice!"

The Snowy Owl, who was cleaning her gun, perked up her ears and quietly approached Ma Le, asking in a low voice, "Do you have more beer?" Ma Le was taken aback and pointed to the fridge. "Help yourself, there's plenty!"

The Snowy Owl cheered and rushed to the fridge, grabbing seven or eight cans and scattering them on the ground, opening one. The foam shot up over a meter, drenching her, but the usually cool and elegant woman didn't mind, raising the can and drinking it in one go, still unsatisfied, she wiped her mouth...

"Ha ha ha!" Ma Le laughed. "I didn't expect to find a drinking buddy. Come on, Persian Cat and Xiao Wang, don't just sit there, join us..."

Wang Xiaofu waved his hand, a bit embarrassed, and the Persian Cat said directly, "You idiot, it's illegal to encourage minors to drink!" Ma Le laughed. "You just look like a minor, but you have an old man's mind..." "You... idiot! Jerk! Drunkard..." The Persian Cat, rarely losing her composure, started to curse Ma Le.

As they were joking, a crow flew in from the window, landing on Wang Xiaofu's shoulder. He fed it a peanut, and the crow, delighted, chirped wildly at him.

Wang Xiaofu nodded and said, "Go on," and the crow flew away. Then he told the others, "The crow has found the location of the three from Hurricane City. They are now in an uninfected area 12 kilometers away, still spreading the virus, but not doing anything else."

The Snowy Owl and the Persian Cat nodded, but Ma Le was surprised. "Xiao Wang, you've tamed these creatures?"

Wang Xiaofu smiled sheepishly. "Not really, thanks to the Persian Cat's help..." The Persian Cat added, "I'm at least a water mage, and animals' bodies are rich in water. It's easy to make them suffer a bit... I used a rare water element gem to plant water poison in each crow I touched and gave the gem to Wang Xiaofu. This way, he can make the poisoned crows suffer terribly with just a finger movement. With threats and incentives, this guy has successfully tamed hundreds of crows since yesterday afternoon, and the intelligence network almost covers half of Los Angeles."

Hearing the Persian Cat's words, Ma Le didn't feel happy but instead looked at the little guy with suspicion. "You didn't do anything to me, did you?"

"If I wanted to, I would have done it long ago. Do you think you'd still be alive, you idiot?" The Persian Cat angrily said, "This trick can only be used on much weaker creatures. I can't even do it to ordinary humans, let alone adventurers."

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The story continues...