Chapter 58

"Almost all the blood in the bucket is still full." Feng Buque walked to the ice bucket again: "It seems the derivative doesn't need this; its sole purpose for coming here was to kill the two players."

Xiao Tan followed up: "Then why didn't it come to kill us? Our levels are lower, aren't they?"

"It's easy to understand why it didn't come to kill you. Your position is the closest to the two GMs. If it came to kill you, it would risk entering the detection range of those two," Feng Buque explained: "At the beginning of the script, I, Jibuboshi, and Mingzi were all potential targets. Especially me, with a low level and acting alone, even if I were killed, the GMs might misjudge it as being done by the Blood Wolf zombies."

"But... during that perfect hunting time, the derivative didn't attack me or the other two. It only came here to act when you and I were in the Elbow Building with the two GMs. So..."

Feng Buque paused here, then raised his head and shouted to Pan Feng and Huaxiong: "Hey! Generals, was there a period at the beginning of the script when the derivative couldn't move?"

Huaxiong lowered his head and shouted from the rooftop: "It wasn't that it couldn't move, but that it hadn't fully transformed yet." He then asked: "Do you remember the coffee?"

"How so?" Feng Buque responded.

"Ordinary data is like regular instant coffee, which dissolves quickly in hot water. But the derivative's powder takes much longer to dissolve," Huaxiong replied: "Usually, by the time we bring players to the point of almost completing the script, the derivative has just finished materializing and appears in the script." He paused for two seconds and added: "But this one we encountered this time materialized very quickly."

"I see..." Feng Buque suddenly remembered something and added: "Right, how did you know the target was level four? Was it a system prompt when the script was assigned, or can you check it in the GM menu?"

"After 'contacting' it, you can see its level in the menu," Pan Feng replied, "just a slight touch with a melee weapon is enough."

"Wait..." Feng Buque said: "So, when you say this derivative is level four, it's just a guess?"

Pan Feng and Huaxiong looked at each other and then laughed: "Ha... You really took it seriously when we said the derivatives have four levels? Where would we find a level three derivative? Our job is to eliminate all level four derivatives. Unless we fail repeatedly or a level four derivative encounters a six-player team by chance, a level three derivative won't even be born."

Feng Buque chuckled: "Alright, I hope you're right."

Pan Feng asked: "Hey, Xiao Feng, how's your observation of the scene down there? Have you drawn any useful conclusions?"

"Hmm..." Feng Buque put his hands in his pockets and paced back and forth: "The derivative's form is that of a human female, about 1.65 meters tall, with a slim build. It can instantly produce or extend a claw-like weapon from its body, about 20 centimeters long. Its speed and strength are not much different from the Ashford mutant we saw in the Elbow Building."

"From an information standpoint, you can only track its coordinates within your detection range, but it always knows your positions and the exact locations of all players. Therefore, using us as bait won't work; as long as you're nearby, it won't approach us."

"I can't yet determine the derivative's level of intelligence. From the current situation, it clearly knows what it 'should' do. Its goal is survival and evolution, and the necessary condition to achieve this is to make all players and GMs leave the script."

"From its perspective...

"First, it won't stop you from using your administrative advantages to quickly complete the script, as completing it means all players will be sent away, which is actually easier for it.

"Second, under safe conditions, such as when it's far from you, the derivative doesn't mind eliminating a few players, perhaps to aid its growth? I don't know..."

He stopped walking: "Another point of interest is its relationship with the monster faction. Whether the derivative will be attacked by monsters or can communicate with them, and whether their interactions will change the plot or affect the main quest, I can't determine.

"In summary... if I were the derivative, considering the actual situation of this script, there are roughly three strategies to choose from."

Feng Buque sat back on the sofa, lowered his head, and lightly tapped his forehead with two fingers: "The best strategy is to use itself as bait. At an appropriate time, such as after dark, it will deliberately enter your detection range, leading you to a specific location, and then team up with the Ashford mutant and the night version of the Blood Wolf zombies to take you down." He raised his head and touched his nose: "I know you can check flags, monster data, and the script map, but you can't see the real-time coordinates of each monster. This isn't hard to deduce, as you found Dr. Ashford through the plot flag. But once he mutated and escaped, you couldn't find him again." He said in a deep voice: "If this derivative can find the Ashford mutant and communicate with it, and if it's smart enough, it will definitely use the monsters to achieve its goal."

"This strategy is the one with the highest success rate for the derivative."

At this point, he pointed to the distance and gave Xiao Tan a nod. Xiao Tan turned and saw a Blood Wolf zombie approaching. Understanding what Juege meant, he picked up a baseball bat and went over.

While Xiao Tan was fighting the monster, Pan and Huaxiong had already jumped down from the rooftop, as Feng Buque had already said that ambushes were useless, so they didn't stay up there in the wind.

"The middle strategy is to kill the Ashford mutant," Feng Buque continued to the two GMs: "If it does this, Xiao Tan and I will leave the script upon completion, and then the derivative will come after you, or continue playing cat and mouse with you. After all, you'll be forced to log out after 80 hours due to the game pod's limitations. Of course, as a set of data, it may not have the concept of the 'real world' or know about this rule." He paused: "Choosing this strategy means the derivative can't communicate with the monsters. To prevent the mutant and players from disrupting the situation, it will do this. It also indicates that the derivative believes it has a high chance of killing you in a one-on-two situation."

Xiao Tan had already killed the monster and was walking back.

"As for the worst strategy... it's unlikely," Feng Buque said: "The worst strategy is to randomly choose a time to charge over and directly attack the four of us." He continued: "Although this strategy doesn't fit the derivative's actions so far, if it really does attack, there must be a reason, such as... it eating Ashford's brain and mutating into an extremely powerful monster, giving it the confidence to take on four of us."

After Feng Buque finished his analysis, Pan Feng and Huaxiong both had their mouths half-open, looking at him as if he were a monster: "May I ask what you do?"

"Great..." Feng Buque was about to loudly give one of his usual answers.

Xiao Tan directly interjected: "Freelancer!"

Feng Buque shrugged and brought the conversation back on track, addressing the two GMs: "Let's discuss how to deal with these three scenarios. Except for the second scenario, Xiao Tan and I can still play a role."

"The deaths of the level 14 and level 12 players have already revealed a lot. You've also deduced the derivative's strength through reasoning. Do you really think the two of you can help?" Pan Feng said: "I know you're a capable player with a lot of ideas, not someone who is 'played by the game.' If I weren't a GM, my game skills would probably be lower than yours. But facing a derivative, what's needed is combat strength, and everything else is secondary."

"You underestimate the players' strength," Feng Buque said lightly: "As you said, the success rate of GMs in solo hunting level four derivatives is over 95%. So, if we measure by your GM standards... in this level of script, the derivative's strength is roughly equivalent to a player below level 20, and it's just an AI, not a human.

"Jibuboshi and Mingzi were killed instantly because they were careless. If they had immediately recognized the derivative as a strong enemy and used firearms, skills, and other tactics to engage it, would they still have been killed instantly? I think they could have at least inflicted some damage, or even successfully escaped.

"I'm looking forward to witnessing and participating in the process of hunting the derivative while staying alive, so..." He paused: "Let's assume the derivative will choose the most difficult strategy for us, the best strategy, and think about how to deal with it..."

...

The sun set in the west, and the city was suddenly shrouded in darkness.

As night fell, the air in the city seemed to turn icy cold, a chill that could freeze the blood.

The eyes of the Blood Wolf zombies had all turned blood red. Their movements were still sluggish like zombies, but their sense of smell had become much more acute. Once they caught the scent of prey, their pace would suddenly quicken, and they would even crouch and run on all fours. Their strength, speed, and ferocity were vastly different from their daytime state, and at this moment, the Blood Wolf zombies were at least twice as strong as ordinary zombies.

Under the cover of night, two figures were moving rapidly.

Behind them, over fifty Blood Wolf zombies were in hot pursuit.

Twenty minutes ago, the derivative appeared within the detection range of the two administrators, but it only wandered at a distance without further approaching, which matched the worst-case scenario that Feng Buque had deduced.

At this moment, Pan Feng and Feng Buque were running at a speed faster than the Blood Wolf zombies, chasing the target. Both of them had smeared their clothes with uninfected blood to attract the monsters...