Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 724 - 722 Mercury
Having been selected months after the first batch of players, 13MARK might not have been too far behind Black Holy Son in terms of level. However, the Ant King, to whom he was loyal, ranked high on the individual combat power leaderboard and had entrusted several precious items to 13MARK, urging him to ensure he survived and left the mission script alive.
This was one of the advantages of being in a large faction with a network of relationships. Players could sign contracts to lease, gift, or transfer equipment (provided they weren't personally bound items), relying on the power of their gear to increase their chances of survival.
If you count those few 'things', maybe I could kill Black Holy Son in a surprise attack... 13MARK narrowed his eyes, muttering, But the commotion it would cause would definitely alarm Bai Haozheng living upstairs... Tch, what a hassle.
As players undertaking survival missions together in the Dolphin Hotel, 13MARK couldn't just kill another "comrade" based on an unfounded assumption. Such behavior might not pose a problem in scenarios where everyone was a Lone Wolf with vastly different strengths. However, this time, players entering the Dolphin Hotel were all above Lv15. Whoever took the lead in backstabbing a teammate would certainly be scorned and held accountable by others afterward.
13MARK was indeed powerful. However, against tough opponents like Bai Haozheng and Liu Wu Dai, trying to take on multiple foes was a bit of a stretch. As the deputy of the Ant King, he had also collected information on high-level players from other continents and knew the strength of high-level Special Affairs Bureau officers like Bai Haozheng. He had even heard vague news of Liu Wu Dai and knew that both of them were definitely not weak.
As for the others... Mule, being an Information Broker, has substantial financial resources but isn't highly skilled in combat. Ω, as a member of the Demon Scientist Alliance, might be formidable. Wanli Fengdao, Plague Doctor, Yuyi Xinzhong, and that Li Rising in his bizarre outfit... If it really came to a true fight for survival, heh, they're not worth mentioning.
There are five who could be considered opponents. Images of Bai Haozheng and others flashed before 13MARK's eyes as he sighed softly. It's probably not possible to quietly take out Black Holy Son. Unless... I set a trap and lure him out of the elevator...
BRRRING— The alarm clock rang. 13MARK picked it up from the desk; the time showed 00:09. Two minutes left.
I wonder if there will be a bye tonight... 13MARK's eyes drooped as he pressed the alarm clock button, silencing the ringing. CLICK. CLACK. Sounds of mechanical assembly continuously came from his suit-covered body.
BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!!! An extremely sharp air raid siren suddenly blared in 13MARK's mind. His copper-colored pupils abruptly contracted. His suit shoulders ripped apart violently as the skin over his shoulder blades flipped open mechanically, revealing a dense array of mechanical parts. These parts quickly assembled into twin shoulder-mounted ion cannons with infrared aiming devices, swiveling left and right following 13MARK's line of sight.
The air raid siren originated from another one of his skills, which could connect with his Title Skill. Whenever a sentient lifeform within twenty meters was thinking about 13MARK in a hostile way, his brain would ring with this annoying noise. Although this skill didn't point out the enemy's location or number, its Mysterious Degree was quite high, ignoring most of the enemy's stealth abilities. This Special Effect had helped 13MARK survive many nightmare-level script missions, never letting him down.
A unit harboring animosity towards him had appeared nearby. The detection range of the skill is a spherical space with a diameter of twenty meters, a radius of ten meters, 13MARK's thoughts raced. The Dolphin Hotel has a ceiling height of about three meters. Black Holy Son is on the thirteenth floor, I'm on the eighth, which is fifteen meters apart. In theory, it shouldn't be him. Moreover, I have taken preventive measures; with my current position, other players on different floors above and below should not be within the detection range of hostility...
Could it be the corridor? 13MARK remained motionless as eight miniature rings extended from beneath the soles of his boots, emitting Repulsion forces. This allowed him to levitate about five centimeters off the ground, silently drifting toward the door.
His hand pressed against the door frame. The skin on his fingertips cracked and broke apart, revealing the complicated mechanical components underneath. A needle-sized micro-metallic arm extended into the lock, probing outside.
PFFT! The injection port at the tip of the mechanical arm suddenly burst with a large amount of silver metallic liquid. The metal liquid, resembling mercury, rolled back and forth on the carpet without seeping into it or flowing away along it. Instead, it gathered together. Within a few breaths, it had solidified into a human figure about one meter seventy-five tall. As time passed, its surface continuously hardened, ultimately taking on the appearance of 13MARK himself.
The Perfect Level item bestowed by the Ant King, "Mercury Blood Amber," is essentially a liquid metal. It can switch freely between solid and liquid states and change shape at will, much like the T-1000 from the *Terminator* movie series. It offers numerous advantages, such as ignoring most physical impacts, self-healing, long-range control, and intelligently executing the user's commands. Even if faced with molten steel from a 3,000℃ steel furnace or liquid nitrogen at -196℃ splashed directly onto it, these could only slightly restrict the mobility of "Mercury Blood Amber." As soon as it escaped the extreme heat or cold, it would immediately return to normal.
It is loyal and reliable, tough and durable, and has an extremely wide range of applications. It could be mechanical tools, modern firearms, swords, and polearm weapons. It could also be assassins, guards, or bodyguards. If necessary, it could even transform into a nanny, a home tutor, or even... a companion.
Due to the special nature of the Dolphin Hotel, even a Perfect Level "Mercury Blood Amber" could not stray too far from its user. However, a distance of ten meters was enough for Mercury Blood Amber to leave the room door and perform peripheral scouting. Where is the enemy?
The liquid metal-formed doll stood in the corridor, blinking lively. It naturally stepped forward, like a regular hotel guest passing through the corridor toward the staircase. Inside the room, 13MARK had an indifferent expression on his face. A strand of liquid metal as thin as a hair extended from his fingertips all the way to the boots of the Mercury Blood Amber doll; if one wasn't looking closely, it would be virtually invisible.
THUD. THUD. THUD. The slightly muffled footsteps echoed in the corridor. The liquid metal-formed doll had already reached the door of the staircase on the right side of the corridor. The noise in his mind was still ringing; hostile units were still within scanning range.
13MARK's eyelashes trembled slightly. The strongest aspect of "Mercury Blood Amber" wasn't its indestructibility or imperviousness to water and fire. Instead, it was the fact that as long as the user maintained a physical connection with Mercury Blood Amber, they could share both bodies and consciousness. Vision, hearing, smell, taste, personal attributes, combat experience, bodily instincts, and even the Special Effects of equipped skills could all be shared with Mercury Blood Amber, on the premise that the total quantity remained unchanged. These could be retrieved at any time as long as the connection was intact.
With this Special Effect, 13MARK could "personally" leave the room and safely explore the corridor. Mercury Blood Amber didn't have a life; it was theoretically just an item, not bound by the hotel's rules. He transferred all his scouting abilities into the "Mercury Blood Amber" and then reduced the sharing ratio, effectively reducing the size of the detection sphere on the Mercury Blood Amber's side. Through this method, 13MARK could directly pinpoint the location of the hostile target.
Is the target... upstairs? No, that's not right! Ten meters, nine meters, ten meters, nine meters, eight meters... The noise in his mind blinked in and out of existence. 13MARK immediately realized that the first target was moving towards his location from the ninth floor's staircase.
Impossible! It was 00:09, only two more minutes until curfew. To prevent misjudgment due to any discrepancies in the room's clock, 13MARK had specially prepared a rare-quality timing tool capable of precisely calculating time.
Even if Black Holy Son sensed his hostility and wanted to kill him, he wouldn't choose this time to act. 13MARK was no pushover. Even if his opponent was a player ranked in the top fifty for individual combat strength, it was impossible to kill him within two minutes and then return to Room 1308 on the thirteenth floor.
Or is the hostile target an Aberration? But that's not possible either! With two minutes left until curfew, Aberrations shouldn't and couldn't just appear... unless the hotel's rules had completely failed.
「The next second」
Both 13MARK in the eighth-floor room and the Mercury Blood Amber doll standing in the corridor widened their eyes, staring intently at the door to the stairwell on the right side of the corridor. That door was pushed open. A slender figure cloaked in red, clinging to the ceiling like a maggot, slowly squirmed into the corridor. It was... the Red-Dressed Old Woman.
