area51novel Page 189
Page 189
Yuuki Asuna asked in confusion upon hearing this.
"why is that?"
"Because we did the preliminary tasks."
Asagiri shrugged and explained nonchalantly.
"First, you need to know about the existence of Blackwatch. Second, you need to find out about the hostile relationship between the followers and Blackwatch. These are two prerequisites. Only a small number of players can meet these two prerequisites. If you have to fight tooth and nail to unlock the hidden route even after meeting these two prerequisites, then the game mechanism is too boring. A game without any positive feedback is just a pile of shit."
Kato Megumi tilted her head, and although she didn't make any expression, this little gesture was quite cute.
"Now that you mention it, this game has a back-to-back mechanism? Information gained from previous dungeons might come in handy in future dungeons?"
At this point, Kato Megumi smiled.
"So it seems your excessive thirst for exploration has its benefits, Leader~"
"Hey, what are you saying?"
Asagiri waved his hand and said in a serious tone.
"My excessive desire to explore is not the only thing I have."
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki blushed, seemingly recalling some embarrassing memories, while Kotoko Iwanaga nodded in deep agreement.
"That's true."
……
Several hours later, in the corridor on the seventh floor of the hotel.
"We found this in a guest room on the 23rd floor."
The man in the white suit handed a form to Asagiri. Asagiri took it and glanced at it. The form contained only a few lines of information. In the column for "Time to Contact Headquarters," several numbers representing time were written. In the column for "Time of Arrival of the Black Mobile Force," several numbers were also written. The length of the two times was not uniform, with the longest being forty minutes and the shortest being only fifteen minutes.
"Mobile forces... that must refer to Blackwatch. From the moment the alarm is triggered to Blackwatch detecting the anomaly and dispatching action forces here, it shouldn't take more than forty minutes at most..."
Asagiri frowned slightly, looking at the information recorded on the form, as if she was considering something. Seeing this, the man in the white suit couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Do you think the information on this form is unreliable?"
"That won't happen."
Asagiri shook her head, speaking calmly.
"The system cannot link a certain route through the dungeon to information that players cannot verify. What's the difference between that and us pressing the alarm to gamble on the probability? I'm just thinking that a modern force like Blackwatch shouldn't leave paper information in such a place. In other words, someone else left this information."
Upon hearing this, Kotoko Iwanaga offered her own guess.
"Is it possible that the player has been here before? Although the specifics of each instance are different, it is possible to run multiple instances in the same location. Haven't we experienced that ourselves?"
"Yes, that's certainly a possibility."
Asagiri nodded noncommittally, but didn't think about the question in detail. After all, there would be plenty of time to consider these trivial matters after the dungeon ended.
"Then it's decided."
Asagiri looked at the four men in white suits in front of her and the three players from Mr. Ichikawa's team, and smiled.
"Two hours before the dungeon's time limit ends, activate the hotel's alarm system. Based on my understanding of Blackwatch, they are ultimately a regular military force. They will only proceed after confirming that there are no threats in the surrounding environment. Even if they arrive earlier than the believers, as long as we stay on the upper floors, we can eliminate the time difference between the Blackwatch and the believers' encounter."
"I see."
The man in the white suit seemed to understand Asagiri's plan and then asked a question.
"Let me confirm. Since Blackwatch is a modern military organization, they should be using firearms, right?"
"That was true before, but it's not necessarily true now."
"Huh? What does that mean?"
Seeing the puzzled looks on the faces of the man in the white suit and the others present, Chaowu smiled and spoke.
"Because they encountered an enemy that was immune to gunfire some time ago, all the members of the mobile units they sent out died, so we'll only know how their fighting style will evolve once we see it."
"Forehead……"
The man in the white suit said with a complicated expression.
"Let me ask you something first, you're the enemy who's immune to gun bullets, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"But how could you... how could you..."
The man in the white suit hesitated for a long time before finally coming up with a suitable remark.
"Why do you feel a strange excitement after confirming that Blackwatch will arrive here once we activate the alarm? It feels like you're finally reuniting with a long-lost friend?"
Asagiri spread her hands, her tone revealing a joyful sense of harvest.
"Killing them gives you bonus points for clearing the dungeon, and I was actually quite disappointed that I didn't encounter them this time."
"But...could it be that you..."
The man in the white suit, his teammates, and the three members of Mr. Ichikawa's player team all wore expressions of disbelief.
"You guys wouldn't... still be thinking about getting extra points for clearing the level at a time like this, would you?"
"So you still have a long way to go, newbie."
Asagiri patted the man in the white suit on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"My health bar is fully restored. There's no difference between clearing the game with full health and clearing it with low health. If I don't try because I'm afraid of the danger, wouldn't I be wasting my health and mana? As a gamer, I absolutely cannot tolerate that."
……
Soon, there was only an hour and a half left before the dungeon time limit.
They arrived at the hotel lobby ten minutes ago. Eleven ordinary members and a commander wearing a white mobile combat suit lining were conducting reconnaissance in the lobby.
It was obvious that a battle had taken place here, and judging from the marks on the floor tiles, there had been some kind of extremely hot flame. This immediately reminded the commander of the squad of a cult that could control fire and fanatically worshipped some kind of "god".
He has contacted Blackwatch headquarters and is waiting for support from headquarters.
However, at that moment, dozens of blinding fireballs suddenly emerged from the darkness outside, led by three men dressed in crimson Roman robes.
They stormed into the hotel lobby and saw the Blackwatch members with their guns raised and in battle formation. They looked as if they hadn't expected it. The priest in the lead stepped forward, facing the gun barrels without fear, his face twisted with anger and murderous intent.
"Where is that guy...where is he?!"
The Blackwatch squad commander frowned slightly upon hearing this, but did not answer the question, only maintaining a vigilant stance. The priest, seeing that the other party did not answer his question, became so angry that his body began to tremble.
"That blasphemer, your Blackwatch commander..."
"Lelouch Lamperouge! Where is he?!"
The Blackwatch members were completely bewildered.
Lelouch Lamperouge?
Who is it?
Have our commanders already arrived here? Headquarters didn't notify us.
"Heh, aren't you going to tell me?"
The Blackwatch members were speechless upon hearing the priest's words.
It's not a matter of whether you say it or not. The problem is that we don't know what you're talking about. What Lelouch? What blasphemy? We've never even heard of these things. How are we supposed to explain them to you?
Blackwatch believed the group of believers were delusional and hallucinating, talking nonsense. Meanwhile, the believers led by the three priests believed that Blackwatch, with their mission as their top priority, would not reveal any information.
In a word.
Both sides think the other is crazy.
Under the guidance of Blackwatch commander "Lelouch Lamperouge," the war between the two sides officially began at this moment.
48
Chapter 48: War.
Meanwhile, in her room on the seventh floor of the hotel, Asagiri, whose eyes were gradually glowing with a golden light, looked at Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, Kotoko Iwanaga, the three women in front of her, as well as the people from the white suit team and Mr. Ichikawa's team, and said softly.
"It's already started."
Upon hearing Asagiri's words and seeing the golden light shining in his dark eyes, the three members of Mr. Ichikawa's team and the four members of the white-suited team all had only one thought in their minds.
This guy's abilities are just too terrifying!
They had initially thought that the tall, dark figure, the blue-haired girl with twin ponytails, and the puppet-like monster with a bizarre and distorted face were just summoned creatures. But they had just learned that Asagiri's abilities were not as simple as those of a summoner.
He can observe things through what he "summons," and even if he is on the seventh floor of the hotel, he can know what is happening in the lobby on the first floor through the "summoned objects."
This ability to conduct remote reconnaissance is simply outrageously powerful, isn't it?
"How is the situation now?"
Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's question, Asagiri, while observing through the miniature Mita hidden in the hotel lobby, replied calmly.
"Yeah, the Blackwatch members were instantly killed."
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki sighed slightly, then said softly.
"This was an expected result, after all, the two sides are not on the same level..."
"It's not over yet."
Just as Asuna Yuuki was speaking, Asagiri saw the strange change taking place in the lobby battlefield through the miniature Mita.
The ground floor suddenly began to tremble.
With a roar of fury, the three priests and their followers turned around and saw two enormous monsters with exaggeratedly bulging muscles smash through the hotel wall and force their way in.
"Tank... It's finally here, Blackwatch's biological weapon."
As Asagiri muttered to himself, the believers and priests on the first floor of the hotel saw two tanks burst in and immediately took action.
They simultaneously conjured spheres of flame in their hands and blasted them toward the tank.
To the complete surprise of the believers, the tank did not dodge or flinch when faced with the barrage of fireballs they unleashed. Instead, it took the fireballs head-on and its massive, imposing body quickly emerged from the inferno. Although there were some charred marks on its surface, they were hardly any injuries.
Two tanks each grabbed a believer's body. Although the believers' bodies were engulfed in flames, they were still flesh and blood inside. The tanks quickly clenched their hands, crushing the believers' bodies. Then, as the flames gradually died down, they threw the pieces of flesh and bone out of their hands.
"Special infected with fire resistance... Blackwatch is definitely not that simple."
There's something Asagiri has always wanted to know about Natsumi.
Blackwatch went to great lengths, from viral infection to creating bizarre areas like the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital, and all these actions to produce biological weapons. What exactly is the purpose of these efforts?
Now, the answer has been revealed.
In this bizarre world, besides the Blackwatch, other forces exist, such as these fanatical believers who worship an unknown god and can control fire.
The tank, which has undergone special modifications and possesses extremely high fire resistance, is clearly not something that ordinary believers can contend with.
The three priests were clearly aware of this as well. Flames appeared on their wide, crimson Roman robes, forming the heavy armor that Asagiri had seen before. They also took up the flaming greatsword that the priest had once used.
However, at this moment, a sharp shriek suddenly rang out, and then a dark figure pounced on a priest wielding a flaming greatsword with lightning speed.
"woo woo woo woo……"
As the special infected "hunters" were dispatched, a woman's cry rang out.
"Witch," "Raider," and "Jockey"—three different types of special infected, along with the appearance of the witch and the tank, quickly stormed into the hotel.
"I see."
Seeing the cultists and priests begin fighting against the special infected sent by Blackwatch, witnessing the brutal scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere, Asagiri spoke calmly, whispering to Yuuki Asuna and the others beside her so that they would also know what was going on.
"The special infected sent by Blackwatch, whether through bizarre or biotechnology means, have all been specially enhanced with fire resistance. When the previous squad commander gave his report, Blackwatch had already sent reinforcements, specifically to deal with these fanatics who control fire."
After saying that, Asagiri changed the subject.
"However, things are probably not that simple."
Sure enough, after a brief period of panic, the three priests immediately led the believers to regroup.
Although these special infected individuals possess a certain degree of fire resistance, apart from tanks, whose defenses are already formidable, the defenses of the other special infected individuals are not so impenetrable. Under the continuous burning of high temperatures, their skin has completely melted, and their muscles have begun to gradually dissolve.
However, infected individuals do not feel any pain. Even if their bodies are mutilated or even severed in half, they can still move around as long as their heads are not extensively damaged.
While the three priests were not as physically imposing as the tanks, their strength and defense were far superior, and they had regained the initiative in the battle.
In just a few minutes, at the cost of five believers, they killed all the special infected, including the two tanks, and burned their bodies with flames.