Thriller Paradise

"What is that…" Matcha Cookie could not help but gasp as she glanced at the strange phenomenon in the air. Several minutes later, she had silently walked away from the battlefield so now she was relatively safe. Of course, the reason she retreated was not out of fear or because she wanted 'preserve energy', she merely did not want to become a burden…

Earlier ROOT used 23 as lure and blocked Feng Bujue easily, that had proven many things. Even though one could not say Matcha Cookie was cunning, she was at least calm and bright. She knew… when it came to battle, as a player who specialized in workmanship… she wouldn't be of much use on the battlefield; better she left in a hurry to prevent herself from dragging her teammates down. And reality proved that she was right.

"That was Tendril Barrage Devastator…" A soft and warm voice suddenly appeared behind her.

"Who is it?" Matcha Cookie's expression changed and turned around worriedly. And… the thing that entered her sight was a black crystal about 3 metres cubic large with irregular shape.

"I am Shapeless Shade." The thing answered and added after a pause. "Don't worry, I'm not hostile."

[So he's an NPC…] Matcha Cookie thought. "Phew… that shocked me."

"But…" Shapeless Shade continued, "I would suggest… you to leave the scenario immediately."

"huh?" Matcha Cookie was startled. "It's not that I don't want to… If I could, I would have…"

"You could…" Shapeless Shade interrupted. "you could… in about an hour…"

…

At the same time, above the battlefield.

"Brother Jue will be fine right…" Xiao Tan appeared again. At that moment, under the effect of Heaven and Earth Inversion, he was 'falling' upwards. At that crucial moment earlier, Xiao Tan thought it was already over; even though he instinctually activated the skill but obviously… the skill was not enough to carry him out of danger. But at that moment, something strange happened… The time around Xiao Tan suddenly slowed down… When he recovered, he noticed he had lifted about 100 metres above ROOT…

On the other hand, several metres under ROOT, Phantom Dawn was lying in the hole on the ground in a strange posture. Many parts of his body was punctured by tendrils but none caused a fatal wound. His heart and lungs were unharmed. But… it was impossible for him to move. Unless ROOT stopped, or else Phantom Dawn was basically a sitting duck.

"Finally, I've suppressed the 'vessel'…" ROOT in the air said darkly. Looks like this seemingly non-targetable attack could be controlled to a certain degree. It was not luck that Phantom Dawn survived, it was because ROOT needed him to be alive.

"Even though the kid in the air surprised me…" ROOT continued, "But… hmph… since Feng Bujue is dead, there is nothing…"

Didi—

Warning, firewall being broken down…

Anomaly found in the core programming…

Logical circuit… Tsk…

A series of warnings flashed before ROOT's eyes. At the same time, 23's shout came from the distance. "Feng Bujue! If you are still alive, answer me!"

"Oh… here I am." Brother Jue's voice replied. "Don't worry." Then the millions of tendrils crumbled in the snap of a moment, they dissolved into rain of blood and fell from the sky.

"What's going on?" ROOT grumbled in shock. But the next second, she calmed down again and smiled wickedly. "hah… What do you think happened?"

Even though that 'what do you think happened' came out from ROOT's mouth but the voice… belonged to Feng Bujue.

"Are you kidding me…" Phantom Dawn on the ground looked at the sky and groused. "How did he manage something like this…"

Faraway, the white light was floating in 23's eyes. "The code has changed…" She looked at ROOT and asked probingly, "Feng Bujue."

"Yup, that's me." The thing answered. "This feels not so bad…"

"You…" ROOT's voice returned. The expression and presence shifted immediately. "…How did you enter my body?"

"That is a very long story…" Feng Bujue replied, "To put it simply… even though I have gained some improvement through ZERO's training but it is still far behind what we wish to accomplish. Under the duress of time, I came up with a solution…" Before he could finish, ROOT overtook the body and ended the sentence. "You… turned yourself into a virus carrier… to infect me!"

"Ha ha ha ha…" Feng Bujue guffawed and ROOT's perfect face was forced to make this absolutely hideous expression. "Actually… when you entered the first form, I've been waiting for this chance… the closer your data input gets to the maximum limit, the higher my success rate of infect. And tendril barrage devastator was undeniably… the perfect opportunity."

At that moment, from the outsider's perspective, it appeared like ROOT suffered from schizophrenia. She was conversing with herself into two different voices. Only 23 and Phantom Dawn… could see the actual battle that was happening on the data level.

"Hmph… do you think you have won by doing this?" ROOT's voice began again. The white light collected in her eyes and she attempted to start a counter.

"Yes, I have won." Feng Bujue chimed in. "Everyone! Disconnect from the scenario now!" He shouted and then he controlled ROOT's body to spin in the air before flying towards the Blast Tunnel…

"What do you think you are doing!" ROOT hissed. Her face twisted and her body started to change… A layer of dark red material on the surface of her clothes (the clothes was part of ROOT's body, they too would recover like her skin) was pulsating.

"Of course I know what I'm doing." Feng Bujue said in a calm and convincing tone. "From the very beginning, I have a very clear purpose…" he paused. "I've asked you at the start…'are you willing to give up'. At that moment, you could still retreat… your partners are all still alive, you could have stopped the plan and leave with them, but unfortunately… you rejected me."

As they spoke, they had arrived before the blast tunnel.

"And… I hate being rejected so very much."

Hong—

As ROOT charged into the blast tunnel, this dimensional hole started to compress and collapse. The next second, a dark energy pooled and an explosion blasted wide open. The next second, ROOT disappeared alongside the Blast Tunnel.

At the same time, all the livefeed of the scenario at all the servers turned into a screen of darkness…