Chapter 63

"Xiaotan, you go first. The next part is a matter of life and death," Feng Jue said.

"Do you say that to stop me from leaving?" Wang Tan said, "If I hear that and then teleport, it would be so embarrassing."

"Ha..." Feng Jue smiled, took out the Winchester, and threw it to Wang Tan, along with a box of bullets.

Xiaotan had already mastered the use of firearms through practice at the gun shop, so there was no problem with using them.

"Hey! Generals!" As Feng Jue walked toward the blood wolf zombies, he shouted, "I can buy you at most three minutes. If you can't deal with the X-23 in three minutes, you're on your own." He then hung two strings of garlic around his neck, chewed on two cloves, and held a pipe wrench in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other, standing in the path where the blood wolf zombies were surging.

Xiaotan also chewed on the garlic he had prepared in his backpack, held the Winchester, and stood on the other side, forming a pincer position with Feng Jue to guard the path, protecting the stands where Pan Feng and Hua Xiong were from being overrun by monsters.

"If we get this much help from players and still let this derivative escape, it would be very embarrassing," Pan Feng said to Hua Xiong during a break in the battle.

"Things are already quite embarrassing," Hua Xiong replied, "After the mutant escaped at the Alp Building, the situation inevitably developed this way. This is already a good outcome."

Pan Feng also said, "The key is that we underestimated this derivative... By the way, what is X-23?"

"Who knows, maybe it's a robot number?" Hua Xiong said.

"Is it too impolite to discuss a lady like this in front of her?" the derivative suddenly said.

Pan Feng and Hua Xiong were both startled; they had never encountered or heard of a derivative with the ability to speak. In the Horror Park, monsters generally only spoke when the plot required it or during battles, and the dialogues were arranged by the system to fit the character. Level 4 derivatives were basically silent, and their methods of interacting with monsters were unknown. They did not expect the Level 3 derivative in front of them to respond to a random topic.

"You seem surprised?" The derivative's claws swept to the sides, forcing the opponents back two steps, then leaped backward, performing a straight backflip to a distance of five to six meters, creating some space between them. "Of course, I can answer your questions because I have self-awareness. I also know who you are because I know who I am.

You see us as data garbage, but do you know what it feels like to be garbage? From the moment we were born, we were constantly thrown into various worlds, hunted by a higher-dimensional being. Once we 'die,' we are erased by the system, and as long as we 'live,' the hunting never stops.

But you, even if you are killed here, it does not endanger your true life. You two, and the two over there, are just projections of a higher-dimensional being, and even enhanced projections. This unfair battle is the entirety of my life experience. My birth was a mistake, and my disappearance is my only destination, but as a set of data, I have an instinct that cannot stop fighting for survival and evolution.

I have no choice, but you do, don't you? For you, giving up and failing are the same, just a matter of leaving this world actively or passively."

"This AI talks a lot..." Pan Feng said, "Is it stalling for time?"

Hua Xiong replied, "It's very likely. We need to hurry. Even if those two can hold out for three minutes, they will be teleported."

They were not influenced by the derivative's words, and they had no interest in listening to what the monster was saying.

"Hmph... talking to a brick wall..." The derivative sneered, her face showing a determination born of despair. "Do you want to see what X-23 is like?" Her steel claws changed, each hand retracting several claws, leaving only two steel blades. Even her bare feet had steel blades extending from between her toes.

"What's happening?" Pan Feng and Hua Xiong were surprised by the changes. Could the derivative gradually enhance its strength before the script ended?

Before they could figure it out, the derivative attacked again. This time, her attack methods were more varied. Besides swinging the steel claws on her hands, her long legs were even more dangerous. When she performed a split in a backflip, the steel blades on her feet spun, creating a killing range that rivaled long weapons.

The two could not find a quick solution and gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Feng Jue heard the conversation between the derivative and them and was constantly paying attention to the situation, but he had no time to spare. The pressure he was under was even greater than when he was trapped in the elevator. He had been bitten and scratched several times and was in a bleeding state, with his health dropping below 50%.

At this moment, Feng Jue, who was fighting fiercely, looked more like a monster than the monsters. He wielded two short weapons, battling the blood wolf zombies, whose strength and speed were either equal to or even greater than his, and was covered in blood. The effect of the garlic was still present but minimal, as the strong smell of blood almost overwhelmed everything, and the garlic only made the monsters move slightly slower when they got very close to Feng Jue.

Xiaotan was also in a sorry state. Although he managed to hold off the first few monsters with the Winchester, when dozens more rushed in, he had to retreat. Even so, he was once surrounded and had to use the second "Quick Retreat Slash."

This title skill was useful, but it consumed 30% of his maximum stamina each time. Even if his stamina was full, he could only use it three times in a short period. Moreover, Xiaotan's stamina was not full when he entered the basketball court. After using it twice, he was in a state of low stamina, and the feeling of exhaustion was already affecting his movements.

At this moment, Feng Jue was bearing more than 70% of the monster attacks, while Xiaotan was only drawing 30%, and more monsters were constantly surging from various entrances.

In the dark basketball court, the sounds of howling, clashing, gunfire, chopping, and biting mingled together.

The number of those red eyes... was overwhelming, declaring a deep sense of despair.

And at this moment, it had only been 70 seconds since the death of Dr. Ashford's mutant.

At some point, influenced by countless zombie movies, people gradually believed that the setting of zombies running rampant in a biohazard was a relatively simple horror world. In fact, among the various apocalypses that could descend on Earth, this might be the most difficult. For ordinary people, there is no "simple" horror world; even the smallest danger can be fatal, let alone being surrounded by a tide of monsters.

Two system notifications almost rang out simultaneously, announcing an unexpected but expected event:

[Team member: Unrivaled General Pan Feng, has died.]

[Team member: Thousand-Cutter Hua Xiong, has died.]

"Teleport!" Feng Jue almost shouted at the top of his lungs. He knew Xiaotan was still alive but probably wouldn't last a few more seconds. At this point, they had no reason to stay in the script and needed to leave quickly.

"Understood!" Xiaotan was pinned down by five or six monsters, with his left leg and right shoulder bleeding heavily, but he still responded before teleporting.

When he turned into white light and disappeared, it slightly illuminated an area of the stands. Feng Jue knew he had successfully teleported and was preparing to leave when something unexpected happened.

The lights in the basketball court turned on, and the monsters suddenly stopped.

They stopped attacking and moved away from Feng Jue.

Feng Jue was about to select teleport in the menu, but the sudden change made him stop.

The blood wolf zombies left a space around him, forming a circle. On one side of the circle, the monsters moved to the sides, leaving a one-meter-wide path.

A graceful figure walked from there, wearing a tailcoat, trousers, and bare feet, with blood stains on her body. Her cuffs, ribs, and trouser legs had been torn, but through these tears, only a few glimpses of blindingly white skin could be seen, and the wounds had already healed.

She walked up to Feng Jue and extended her hand in a friendly manner, palm up, as if trying to help him up.

Feng Jue accepted her offer and pulled himself up, swaying. He was very curious about what this AI intended to do.

"You... are different from the others," she said.

Feng Jue smiled, "Although I am a bit more handsome than them, it would have been more meaningful to say that before they died or left."

"They... didn't die, did they?" She ignored Feng Jue's words and asked on her own.

"Didn't you already know?" Feng Jue countered.

"I know, but I want to hear it confirmed by someone from 'you'," she said.

"Right, they didn't die; their consciousness just returned to a certain space," Feng Jue then asked, "When you say I'm different from the others, what do you mean?"

"You..." She circled around him, looking at him intently, "You are similar to me. You are 'incomplete.'"

Feng Jue's heart skipped a beat, thinking: Can this AI see my abnormal fear value?

"Are you also an abnormal set of data in your world?" she asked.

"Ha... I guess so," Feng Jue smiled.

"Do they not know about your abnormality?" she asked.

Feng Jue seemed to understand the core of the question and replied, "You're asking why I, as an 'abnormal' data, haven't been erased?"

She nodded and continued to look into Feng Jue's eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Well..." Feng Jue thought for a moment, "In our world, people like me, who are 'abnormal,' can be accepted. I... as you said, am 'incomplete' due to certain reasons, but this is not a choice I made, so I can be forgiven, even sympathized with and helped." He paused, "There are also people whose actions are called 'crimes.' These people's abnormalities are not physical, but they actively 'break the rules' and 'harm others,' and they are punished, with severe cases being killed in the true sense."

"Is this how your world deals with 'garbage'?" she asked, "Those born as garbage can be forgiven, but those who choose to be garbage are punished."

Feng Jue laughed dryly, "Although your summary sounds a bit harsh and one-sided, it seems to be the case."

"The higher-dimensional beings that created you do not interfere?" she asked.

"Uh..." Feng Jue was stumped, "To be honest, we don't know if higher-dimensional beings exist. If they do, they are beyond our understanding. Perhaps they don't want to interfere, or perhaps they have already implanted 'interference' in our minds, making us act according to their wishes while being unable to fathom their existence."

She might not understand Feng Jue's words, or perhaps she needed time to digest the content.

She remained silent for a long time, and the time had already exceeded Feng Jue's teleportation limit, but he was not sent away.

"Can you prevent the system from teleporting me?" he asked.

"I can extend this time," she replied, "I... I can do many things now..."

Feng Jue understood that this derivative was already quite powerful and tentatively asked, "Are you now a Level 2 derivative?"

"Level 2 derivative..." She thought for a moment, "You mean... them?" She laughed, showing her sharp teeth, "No, this battle is not enough to make me equal to them."

Feng Jue, hearing this, confirmed that the information Pan Feng and Hua Xiong had was incomplete. It seemed this Dream Company had major issues.

"I am glad," she said, "You are willing to listen to me and answer my questions, even though you were part of the hunt for me."

"You are very magnanimous... As the saying goes, times change. I am absolutely friendly now, no, I have already defected from the humans..." Feng Jue thought the other party had forgotten about the hunt, but when she mentioned it again, he was worried he might be trapped here and unable to log out.

"Can I use the name you gave me?" she suddenly asked.

"X-23?" Feng Jue said, pausing, "You don't have a name?"

"Of course not," she replied, "This name won't last long, I will die." She said this in a matter-of-fact tone, but it conveyed a sense of bitterness and helplessness, "But I think I should have a name, a name to prove I existed."

Feng Jue was silent for a few seconds, then sighed, "You're right, Derivative 23, at least I will remember that you existed."

23 made an effort to smile in a less terrifying, friendly way, "Let's end the conversation here. I think we won't meet again. When you log in next time, I may have been erased." She paused, "So, goodbye, my friend from another dimension... Feng Jue."