Immortal In A Death Game-Chapter 221: Return

"Tell me the truth, you just wanted to fucking solo them. Right? Fucking asshole."

Several minutes later, Adam and the three were now resting on the side of the street. Beatrice was in communication with the IBAA, informing them about everything that had happened and all the other gata she’d gathered.

Of course, she... might have skipped some parts.

"And what the fuck was that...? You didn’t tell me you were a fucking cannibal. Y-you... you’re not going to eat me just because of how I’ve been treating you, right?"

Specifically, the parts where Adam might have consumed the flesh of an unknown alien.

"For the last time, I didn’t eat anyone," Adam lightly groaned, his back sliding on the side of a building as he didn’t let his focus slip away from the Leak even once. "I was just... trying to intimidate them."

"Right..." Carmen squinted, her feet slowly making their way farther and farther away from Adam, even pulling a car closer to her and subtly hiding behind it. "...Right, of course. I believe you."

"That was crazy, bro." Beside him, Harvey was also keeping his distance. Almost even poking Adam’s foot with his own, looking at him like some sort of... wild beast. And perhaps, he was. "But I think it worked."

Harvey also turned his focus back to the Leak, and even after half an hour, no other alien shadow emerged from it.

"No other jimmies are going to our planet."

Adam looked up at Harvey, blinking. "Jimmies...?"

"Yeah. They’re pink. Earthworm Jim. SNES?" Harvey squinted. "It’s a video game."

"Oh... I’ve never played a video game."

"That—"

"Fucking stupid," Carmen quickly scolded, slapping Harvey’s back and snarling at him. "You think he was born then? And don’t be fucking insensitive. Even if he was already born then, he would’ve been inside that clinic or something."

"...Who’s being insensitive between us?" Harvey raised an eyebrow. "And also, who the fuck let you in the country? Aren’t you also an illegal alien?"

"Bitch. I got my visa renewed. You think I break rules, you bald hairless motherfucker?"

"...You do know the fucking DHS is looking for you, right?"

"The fuck’s DHS?"

"Department of..."

And as the conversation of the two... colorful mouthbreathers was slowly spiraling into something else entirely, Adam quietly left them, groaning as he stood up and approached the Leak.

Before he could get close, however, Beatrice walked beside him, subtly blocking his path. Adam glanced at her, and she didn’t say anything at all. He waited for her for a few moments before stepping to the side and making his way to the Leak once more.

But alas, not even three steps, and Beatrice was once again in front of him.

"What... is it?" Adam asked, looking up at Beatrice, who... was still just busy looking at her tablet. "Uh..."

Beatrice didn’t respond at all, her eyes glued to her device. It would seem she wasn’t trying to block his path, after all—she was just lost in her own world, muttering something under her breath.

"Beatrice," Adam repeated, lightly tapping her arm.

"...Yes?" Beatrice slightly lifted her head, blinking several times as if being woken up. She stared at Adam for a while before raising a finger. "I thought of something that concerns you, Adam. Or rather, concerns you and others who were chosen as an Emperor."

"What is it...?"

"You will be stuck here forever," Beatrice quickly said, her eyes darting toward the portal. "The longest opened Leak in the world in Germany has been open for six years—and the only way we know how to close a Leak is to..."

Beatrice became quiet for a moment and then slowly turned her eyes back to Adam. Adam returned her gaze, responding with a sigh.

"...kill the Boss," he whispered. "I... need to die before the Leak needs to close? Should we... try? But doesn’t that mean—"

"No." Beatrice raised a finger, not letting Adam finish. "There is surely another way—everything that revolves around the Game always either ends by breaking a Crystal, or a countdown timer. There should always be a condition."

"But... you just said that the longest opened Leak is—"

"I know what I said." Beatrice returned to her tablet, placing her hand on her chin as her eyes almost flickered from how fast the screen changed. "But if our earlier assumption is correct—that the Leaks we have been... hunting were the worlds of non-intelligent aliens, that would mean that even if they were given a chance or a condition to close the Leak, they wouldn’t have an idea how to. That means, if my current assumption proves to be correct, then...

...there is something here that only you can do as the Boss that would close the Leak. Do you see anything aside from the black Dome?"

Adam stared at her for a long moment and then started looking around as he backed away.

"I’ll..." he whispered. "...look around. Please, make sure no one else dies or gets hurt."

"Hm... I’ll also tell Mira and..." Beatrice only waved Adam off before returning to her own world. Adam glanced at Harvey and Carmen, and seeing as they were also busy debating about the best way to cook an egg, he just left them be and started his search.

But, to no avail, he couldn’t find anything even after an entire three hours. He returned to the Leak, only to find more destruction and two more corpses.

"They... sent more?" Adam muttered, walking to Carmen, who now had a tourniquet on her leg.

"Fuck yeah, undiyng midget." Carmen nodded, smirking at him. "You thought you were the only one who would kill a fucking alien Hero? Fuck no."

"Why... are they still sending more people to die?" Adam looked at the corpses. "They’re... clearly weaker than us."

"What’s the color of the Crystal that went inside you again?" Carmen approached him, jabbing a finger at his forehead. "That’s right, Black. Of course, they would keep fucking sending more. They probably think this shithole of a city’s full of treasures. It—"

And before Carmen could finish, Beatrice suddenly came from behind her, lightly pushing her head away as she stood in front of Adam.

"Judging from your expression, you didn’t find anything?" Beatrice asked.

"No. I... also tried punching through the Dome if that would do anything, but... I might’ve just scared whoever was on the other side."

"You did. I saw a livestream of you." Beatrice nodded.

"What? They haven’t fully evacuated yet?"

Beatrice didn’t answer and just turned around, once again doing something on her tablet while walking away. Adam was about to follow her, but she stopped and pointed at the Leak, causing Adam to lightly bump into her from behind.

Beatrice didn’t seem to care at all, even as she stumbled forward, however, just keeping her eyes straight at the Leak.

"Then I suppose we shall now test hypothesis number two," she said before turning to Carmen and Harvey.

"The Hunters of Hunt Mode can close the portal by going into the Leak, killing the Boss, and breaking the Crystal. So, it would only make sense that the Survivors of Survival Mode can close the portal by going into the Leak... and doing something and breaking the Crystal."

"You mean..." Adam blinked before his eyes widened. "...You’re going inside?"

"Yes," Beatrice said without any hesitation, slipping his tablet back inside its protective case before checking all of her equipment. She turned to Harvey, who switched on his body cam at the same time as hers.

"Oho...?" A wide smirk crept on Carmen’s face, wrinkling her porcelain-like skin as she bared her teeth. "Are we finally going to have some fun? My leg’s aching to just dig into the flesh of these penis-looking aliens."

"Well, time to stretch some limbs," Harvey said, groaning as he stretched his flexible limbs to their limit, his bones groaning along with him. "Aight, aight. See you when we get back, Emperor."

Harvey saluted a wave, casually turning to the Leak and walking there without any hesitation at all. Beatrice nodded at Adam, following behind Harvey.

"Heh..." Carmen lightly slapped Adam’s stomach, causing him to slightly hunch. "...I’ll make sure to bring some heads, little Emperor."

The three made their way toward the Leak. And Adam, well...

...Adam didn’t stop them at all. He stood there, watching them walk into the void.

"Everyone."

Before they could actually step inside, however, Adam opened his mouth. The three quickly halted their steps, turning around to look at him. They waited for Adam to continue whatever it was he was going to say, but Adam only stared at them for a moment.

But finally, after what seemed like three seconds, he nodded and said,

"Return."

The three returned his gaze, and with smiles on their faces, nodded to him... almost a bow, in a way.

And with that, they turned around and walked into the void, each holding a different expression on their faces.

"Please..." Adam whispered.

"Return, my friends."