Card Room

It was already dark by the time everyone finished checking the information and preparing the supplies. Xiao Lou looked out the window. The street lights were on so the bugs clearly hadn't had time to destroy the city's electrical system. He asked Yu Hanjiang, "Are we going to the east of the city tonight or shall we wait until dawn?"

Yu Hanjiang thought about it before replying, "Let's explore the habits of the bugs first. We don't know if they will rest or become more active after dark."

After all, this type of bug was very new to everyone. It was unknown if they would become more aggressive at night. What if the bugs were more excited? Walking through the night was simply looking for death. It was only by knowing the enemy that they could better clear the instance.

Yu Hanjiang's eyes swept over the group. "The people who can move fast will follow me to explore the way."

Liu Qiao, Ye Qi, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue raised their hands. Then Shao Qingge said, "I copied the teleportation card and can also go."

Xiao Lou had the acceleration shoes from Yu Hanjiang but his running speed was too slow. He might not be able to escape from the bugs even at five times the acceleration. Yu Hanjiang thought about it and decided it was better to copy one more displacement card so he could take Xiao Lou with him.

He looked at Shao Qingge and ordered, "Chief Shao, copy the light footwork card for me."

Shao Qingge helplessly rubbed his temple. "My Rich and Willfull skill costs 5 million gold coins and it can only copy a card twice in a secret room. It also can't copy the same card."

Yu Hanjiang told him calmly, "It doesn't matter. You can go back to the main city to make money. It is more important to clear 8 of Spades first."

Since the captain said so, Shao Qingge was comfortable spending money. He copied Liu Qiao's Light as a Swallow.

Once everyone's cards were ready, Yu Hanjiang said simply, "This time, the path exploration is based on investigating the bugs' habits. Everyone has their invisibility cloak and displacement cards. Try not to disturb the bugs or have a conflict with them. We are investigating, not fighting."

He gestured to everyone, walked to the door of the decorating company and opened the iron door. The eight people flashed outside quickly and Old Mo locked the iron door behind them.

Outside the door, the street lights lit up the whole city. The streets were empty and most of the small stores were closed. The shopping malls were open but not a single person could be seen. In one day, the originally lively and bustling city had almost turned into an empty city.

From time to time, there was the sound of rats gnawing at the garbage bag. Yu Hanjiang watched the surroundings alertly. Not far away, a fat mouse saw then and immediately fled behind a trash can.

There were also stray cats and dogs looking for food in the bins. They were used to people coming and going and weren't afraid of humans. A stray dog even barked twice when it saw Yu Hanjiang. However, there were no signs of attacking them.

Yu Hanjiang lowered his voice. "It seems that the bugs only infect humans. They have no effect on these animals."

The eight people walked forward quickly.

Those who had been basking in the sunlight in the square and taking photos at noon were infected while others died on the side of the road. The corpses had bleeding eyes and the blood spots on the ground were infected. Some people became infected and chased other normal humans.

Now the square was empty. A cold wind blew through and everyone shivered.

Yu Hanjiang opened his mouth. "They should be systematically invading the entire city and chasing the locals. There are no prey in the square so they have shifted their targets. Places with a concentrated flow of people like the residential areas, shopping plazas, commercial centres, food cities, etc will definitely have a large number of mutated bugs. Everyone should be careful when moving."

Ye Qi quickly took out his flute and looked above his head.

The moment he looked up, a bug suddenly swooped down from the sky. It turned out to have been lying on the street light at the edge of the square. The light at night was too dim and he was wearing pure black clothing so he almost melted into the night. The scarlet eyes exuded a cold light as he stared straight at Ye Qi.

Ye Qi cursed in his heart and immediately blew the flute. The bug was fixed in place by the sound of the flute. Then Yu Hanjiang took out his glock 17 handgun from his card pack, equipped it with a silencer and blasted the other party's head!

Xiao Lou nervously clenched his fists. "Won't it merge and upgrade?"

Yu Hanjiang stared coldly at the man in the suit lying on the ground. "The premise of fusion is that a partner is nearby to fuse with. There is just one bug within 100 metres. I want to see if they can be killed this way."

The man who fell to the ground should've been a company executive before being infected. He was in a suit, leather shoes and had a briefcase in his hand. After being shot, he bled all over the ground. Sure enough, like the person killed with a headshot in the supermarket, countless black spider-shaped things crawled out of the blood.

However, there were no other parasites around for them to fuse and upgrade with. They couldn't directly infect Xiao Lou's group so the bugs quickly collapsed like they were drained of strength. There were a few squeaks and then no more movement.

Ye Qi had been very disgusted when he saw these things at first. Now he was used to it after seeing more. He stared at the group of bugs and wondered, "They aren't moving. Are they dead?"

Xiao Lou was thoughtful. "It seems that a single bug is easy to kill. As long as the bugs are driven out of the human body, they won't survive. In the future, we can find a way to separate the bugs and kill them one by one.

Of course, this approach was only useful in small-scale encounters. Once they encountered more than 20 bugs acting collectively, it would be difficult to separate and kill them one by one. Yu Hanjiang analyzed, "This type of bug should be a group species. The more there are, the stronger they become. We don't need to be afraid of one or two alone."

The others nodded in agreement.

Today, due to the large number of bugs in the supermarket, the upgrading and integration of the bugs caused trouble for everyone. However, it wasn't that terrible if there were only one or two. They couldn't merge and upgrade so it was only a dead end.

Group creatures. This judgment made everyone's hair stand up.

The square was empty and it seemed to confirm Yu Hanjiang's speculation that the bugs were hiding in the buildings and staying in groups. The sporadic lone ones on the street might've been lost and couldn't keep up with the big troops. This also meant that once they met the bugs, it would be in a terrible number!

Xiao Lou questioned, "The night seems to have no effect on them?'

Yu Hanjiang replied, "Most bugs like to come and go at night. My guess is that the night won't affect their actions. It will only make their eyesight and hearing more sensitive. If Xiao Ye hadn't been on guard then he might've been knocked down."

Ye Qi stared at the black things in the ground with lingering fear. "It must've been staring at us and waiting for us to approach before suddenly attacking. Fortunately, I reacted quickly!"

Humans were used to moving during the day and resting at night. Meanwhile, small animals like cockroaches, mice and these unknown bugs preferred the dark night. Night time was more dangerous for challengers.

It was unreasonable to cross half the city to reach the east district in one night. It was best to act during the day. Even so, Yu Hanjiang still wanted to seize the opportunity to avoid the gathering place of the bugs and to avoid the bug army when everyone acted tomorrow.

He thought up to here and ordered his teammates, "Everyone, put on your invisibility cloak. We have 30 minutes to investigate the nearby shopping malls, food cities and other places to see where the bugs are most active."

Ye Qi suggested, "The bugs can't see us when the cloaks are worn, right? The cloaks only last 30 minutes and it might take too long to check all these places. Should we split up?"

Xiao Lou was worried. "If we act separately, it is easy to be infected if you are weak and encounter danger."

Ye Qi spoke seriously. "I have the invisibility cloak and teleportation card. The bugs can't see me or catch me. It should be okay. If I meet a large number of bugs then I will immediately run away."

Liu Qiao followed him. "I am the same. I can put on the invisibility cloak and jump on top of the building. They can't be faster than me when I'm flying in the sky."

Long Sen added, "Wanyue and I don't have a problem with protecting ourselves. Before the bugs find us, we can use the cloak along with Long Jump and run 8 metres at a time. The bugs won't be able to keep up."

Yu Hanjiang frowned and didn't speak.

Ye Qi scratched his head, his clear eyes full of seriousness. "Our strength might not be as good as Group Leader Yu's strength but… we can't always rely on Group Leader Yu to protect us. We also want to help a bit."

Liu Qiao nodded solemnly. "Yes, this is only an A-grade secret room. We have to pass through the S-grade secret rooms. If we don't dare to investigate alone in A-grade secret rooms then will we always hide behind Group Leader Yu in S-grade secret rooms?"

Long Sen agreed. "Yes, the invisibility only lasts for 30 minutes. It is too wasteful if all eight of us investigate one place. Group Leader Yu, rest assured. We can protect ourselves with the help of the cloak!"

The others looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

Yu Hanjiang thought carefully. They were right. He couldn't always protect them. Everyone had to learn to protect themselves. If they had no way to protect themselves in 8 of Spades, what would happen in the more difficult J of Spades or K of Spades?

It was time to train the team members' ability and courage.

The invisibility cloak hid the body as well as the smell. They became transparent air for 30 minutes and the bugs wouldn't be able to detect them. Add in the various displacement cards and it would be really a waste if they couldn't escape!

Yu Hanjiang watched his teammates.

Since his teammates were so courageous, Yu Hanjiang didn't want to hurt everyone's self-confidence. He simply said, "Okay, I will arrange the groups now. Liu Qiao, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue, the three of you have cards that can fly and jump. You are responsible for the large high-rise residential area on the east side of the square. Check the movements of the bugs from the air. The three of you should act together and mutually care for each other. Don't be too far apart."

The trio nodded. "Understood!"

Yu Hanjiang continued. "Chief Shao, Ye Qi and Old Mo, go and check the financial centre and office buildings. These buildings have a large number of companies and banking institutions. I need rough data of the office workers' survival rate and infection rate."

Ye Qi replied, "No problem!"

Yu Hanjiang glanced at Xiao Lou. "We will go to the shopping mall and food city."

Xiao Lou naturally had no comment and nodded.

Yu Hanjiang whispered, "Be careful. If you encounter danger then use your displacement cards to retreat immediately. Find out the situation of the bugs within 25 minutes and come back here to meet. Don't fight and if there is trouble that can't be solved, throw the Night Pearl or lantern up directly to give a signal to your teammates!"

Everyone nodded. "We understand."

Yu Hanjiang waved his hand. "Action!"