Chapter 90

In the Nightmare Space, most of the contractors generally have low military ranks.

The reason is simple: when they enter the battlefield or kill characters from the plot, they rely on teamwork to defeat them. This is not inherently bad, but the reward for a powerful plot character is limited. If one person kills it, although the difficulty is high, they can obtain the full reward of survival points, soul crystals, and merit points. However, for those contractors who form teams, the rewards are distributed according to their contributions. For example, a major who can grant 5 merit points on the battlefield, if killed by one person, that person gets all 5 points. But if five people work together to kill it, each person only gets 1 point.

In larger teams, it's even possible that each person might not get a single merit point!

How long would it take to accumulate rewards bit by bit?

This is why Zhao Futu was able to lead in rank after just two plot missions!

...

The Mutated Spider Body is a large parasitic zombie insect variant, possibly weaker than a Tyrant but definitely stronger than other variants. Zhao Futu killed the newly formed Tyrant and received a reward of 10 merit points. The other two contractors, Frog and Crown Prince, received 3 and 2 merit points respectively. For a Tyrant, which is a powerful character for newbies at their level, the reward is roughly 15 merit points.

The merit points for killing powerful plot targets change based on the plot worlds experienced. Currently, Zhao Futu cannot obtain specific information, but one thing is certain: newbies who have just experienced a few missions will receive additional merit points for killing high-difficulty plot characters, similar to the bonus points given at the end of a plot world.

The Mutated Spider Body dropped 1500 survival points, two E-grade soul crystals, 5 merit points, and a deep blue key.

Since the main damage was caused by the cold young man with the code name A, Zhao Futu only received about 60% of the rewards. After taking the deep blue key, he immediately opened it. After experiencing several plots, he had completely given up the idea of exchanging keys for survival points. People change bit by bit with their environment.

The item inside the deep blue key was very bizarre: a long, writhing, worm-like creature, about 12 centimeters long and as thick as a pinky finger, with tiny sharp teeth at the head. It was disgusting to look at, but its attributes were unique:

"Parasitic Zombie Insect Type I" (Status: Unactivated)

"Origin: Resident Evil"

"Item Rarity: Deep Blue"

"Item Type: Special Item"

"Material: Unknown"

"Weight: 100 grams"

"Effect 1: Devour. If the contractor consumes it, the following effects may occur based on their resistance: 1) Permanently increase strength by 3 points. 2) Infection with the T-virus. 3) Temporarily increase strength, agility, and stamina by 5 points each, and undergo a spider mutation. 4) The contractor falls into a coma and gradually loses sanity, eventually becoming a zombie insect parasitic spider monster. 5) The contractor dies."

"Effect 2: Alchemy, black magic, and bio-experiment material."

"Effect 3: Parasitize a zombie in a near-death state. Based on the zombie's level, the Parasitic Zombie Insect Type I will mutate into a Spider Mutant (Juvenile), Spider Mutant (Adult), or Spider Mutant (Fully Developed) within ten minutes. The duration of control is determined by the contractor's secondary attributes, with one point of secondary attributes allowing one minute of control."

"The parasitic body can exist for a maximum of 3 hours and will attack indiscriminately after losing control."

"Upon reaching the existence threshold, the parasitic body will die due to genetic collapse!"

"Evaluation: This is a special variant of a zombie parasitic insect. The Umbrella Corporation once conducted genetic modification experiments on it. You can sell it to the Nightmare Space for 8000 survival points, one E-grade soul crystal, and 5 merit points."

...

Eat it?

Just the thought of it made Zhao Futu feel nauseous.

His current secondary attributes were: Spirit 15, Perception 30, Will 13, and Charm 8, totaling 66 points. This means that if he used the Parasitic Zombie Insect Type I for parasitic mutation, he could control a Spider Mutant for one hour and six minutes. If used at the right time, the benefits of this special item would be enormous!

However, after a quick glance at the Nightmare Space's buyback price, Zhao Futu immediately gave up.

The Nightmare Space is a bit of a rip-off. If it offers such a high price, the item's value is far more than that. Except for gray and white items, most things sold to the Nightmare Space result in a loss.

Zhao Futu put the Parasitic Zombie Insect Type I back into his private space.

Then, he ran toward the square. The battle there had already ended. Twenty-four contractors had gathered, with three more on the way. Including Zhao Futu, only about thirty contractors would make it here. It seemed that in this short half-day, nearly ten contractors had died, including one veteran, the one whose rank Zhao Futu inherited.

The contractors who made it here all had serious expressions, as they all felt the difficulty of this mission to some extent.

For some unknown reason, as if guided by a mysterious force, the massive zombie population in Shanghai had undergone a brutal natural selection. Many zombies were devoured by their own kind, evolving into higher-level individuals! The ordinary zombies that were once easy to kill were now almost extinct, and the remaining zombies were all enhanced in some way.

According to some contractors' information, these powerful zombies were still fighting and devouring each other, evolving to even higher levels!

When Zhao Futu returned to the square, the contractors were already looking for partners and exchanging information.

Under the immense external pressure, these usually wary contractors were forced to band together. Almost everyone could foresee that as the Golden-Class Main Mission progressed, the difficulty of the tasks would increase. If they didn't work together now, everyone present might die here!

The Nightmare Space's red warning about eliminating all contractors was not just a threat!

Zhao Futu stood quietly, listening carefully to the information being exchanged among the contractors. Many of the pieces of information were very useful. For example, at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, there was a Century Park with an artificial lake where a giant zombie crocodile was lurking. Its size was almost that of a heavy truck, and one contractor almost got swallowed by it while passing by!

Another example was near the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, where a Shanghai Zoo had a giant zombie ape, similar in size to a smaller version of King Kong. This information was provided by the tall woman who had previously cooperated with Zhao Futu to kill the Licker mutant. She was so scared that she turned and ran.

Such a monstrous existence was probably on par with a Tyrant.

Zhao Futu listened carefully and took detailed notes. He marked red crosses at locations with special mutated zombie monsters and blood-red skulls for extremely dangerous creatures.

As one of the three battlefield commanders, Zhao Futu, though possibly the weakest, was still quite noticeable.

Especially his action of giving a light blue key to the woman caught the attention of some observant contractors. Since they decided to work together, they needed to choose a leader. The most contractors gathered around Tiger, nearly twenty, because Tiger was a melee-type enhancement and could serve as a tank, making it safer to follow him than others.

The term "tank" originates from gaming terminology.

It mainly refers to melee-type enhanced contractors with strong natural abilities, such as "tough skin" that Zhao Futu had seen. Their primary enhancements focus on basic endurance and include extended skills like shield mastery, muscle enhancement, or martial arts techniques like the Golden Bell Cover, Iron Shirt, and Indestructible Body of the Buddha.

These people are standard tanks, with some melee capabilities. Although their health points are not extremely high, their damage resistance is very high, and they can even be immune to some low-intensity attacks. They have strong defensive capabilities and good health recovery. Most melee-type enhanced contractors can serve as tanks, but professional tank-enhanced contractors have even stronger survival abilities. For example, Zhao Futu's high reflexes and evasion skills also make him suitable for a tank role.

Most tank-enhanced contractors are in large contractor teams. Their weakness is a lack of burst damage, and they mostly rely on endurance to wear down opponents.

...

Most contractors gathered around Tiger, while only a few came to Zhao Futu: Frog and Crown Prince, who had previously cooperated with him, the small-eyed fat man who attracted many zombies, and the tall woman with the heavy sniper rifle. As for 'A', his heavy killing aura made many contractors hesitant to approach him. A few brave ones who tried were coldly glared at and retreated with pale faces.

A was planning to act alone! (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to起点 and vote for it. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

{Piaotian Literature}