Chapter 15 Fifteen Minutes After the Blast Tunnel Opened

Five kilometers south of the lockdown zone.

At this moment, a player ranked among the top twenty in combat power was under attack by two Derivates.

Boom—

A violent tremor blasted a cloud of thick smoke and dust on the side of the street. Before the smoke dissipated, three figures tore through the screen and charged out, resuming their fight.

For a time, shadows of fists filled the air, and the sounds of metal clashing rang incessantly.

"Tch...just who exactly..." Cai Bupa Ne thought to herself, "Are there two guys like this among the top fifty..."

If Feng Bujue were here, he would tell her very clearly—no. Because Brother Jue had already watched the [Butterfly War] recordings of all forty-nine players besides himself, and he remembered everyone's nicknames, appearances, and fighting styles.

"Hic..." Suddenly, a burp sounded, and a man with a cigarette in his mouth, a bottle of wine in his hand, and a perm appeared at the end of the street.

The two Derivates, upon hearing the sound, immediately stopped their attack on Bupa, jumped back from the fight, and stared warily at the newcomer in the distance.

Data identification:

——Bypassing firewall...

——Downloading data...

——Activating counter-strategy...

External appearance identification database activated, downloading, writing correction, writing, writing.

[Player Nickname: Meng Jingchan]

[Level: 41]

[Title: Drunken Silver Sword]

[Height: 180 cm]

[Weight: 70 kg]

[Skills: ???]

[Equipment: ???]

[Danger Level: High]

Voice identification: Established.

Location: y-142.

Tracking and locating: Unable to activate.

Control status: Out of control.

Tactical control options: Calculating...

Since these two were only Tier 3 Derivates from the Source organization and had not undergone any mutation or enhancement, their combat power was far inferior to members of Tier 2 or higher. Although they could perform a certain degree of data analysis on players, pitting them against those top players in equal numbers would probably result in their demise.

"The individual capture probability has dropped to 7%, and it's still decreasing." Seeing Meng Jingchan, one of the Derivates said to his companion.

"Mm...the probability of capturing both of them together is close to zero." The other Derivate replied, "Call for backup."

"Okay, I'll call..." The Derivate didn't finish his sentence.

A flash of silver light was seen...and a head flew off.

The one who struck was Meng Jingchan.

He instantly crossed several zhang (丈, approximately 3.3 meters) and slit the throat with one sword strike.

If Meng Jingchan's movements were replayed in slow motion, one could see this scene... At that moment, he used the index finger and thumb of his right hand to take out the cigarette butt he was about to finish from his mouth, throwing it into the air. Then, with the same hand, he drew the quick sword from his waist. At the same time, his feet had already taken a shrinking-earth step (suo di, a mystical technique for rapidly closing distances), allowing him to advance more than ten meters like lightning.

Therefore...the moment the sword was drawn from its sheath, he was already in front of the enemy.

His sword was so fast, unbelievably fast. So much so that...the flying cigarette butt and the falling head landed at precisely the same second.

"Don't look at me like this now..." Meng Jingchan started his catchphrase again, "Back then, I was a master too~"

"He's still a master now..." Cai Bupa Ne silently complained in her heart. After a few seconds, she thought with some lingering fear: What would the result be if this sword were aimed at her?

"Humans...damn you!" The other surviving Derivate revealed a furious expression. He gritted his teeth, roared angrily, and stepped forward, seemingly wanting to fight Meng Jingchan to the death.

But...a long-handled giant hammer swept in from the side, using his forward momentum to smash heavily into his chest.

Thus, this second Derivate also met his end here.

"Why did you help me?" Cai Bupa Ne swung the [Thunderbolt Pestle] in her hand (an upgraded version of the "Shocking Thunderbolt Pestle" she used in the cloak contest), and then faced Meng Jingchan, "In this kind of situation, there's no such thing as a hero saving a damsel in distress, right?"

Meng Jingchan shrugged, put away his sword, picked up the wine bottle again and took a swig, then replied, "This girl, don't you think that the two 'people' attacking you...are a bit strange?"

"Oh?" Cai Bupa Ne asked tentatively, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean...they're not players," Meng Jingchan replied.

"Are you sure?" Cai Bupa Ne continued, "These two aren't weak, and their fighting style doesn't seem like an NPC..."

"Ha..." Meng Jingchan interrupted her with a laugh, "You guys on the 'Jianghu' side...are a bit too lax, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" Cai Bupa Ne didn't understand what he meant.

"Our studio...has a strict rule requiring all finalists to memorize the basic information of the top fifty players, and there's even a test..." Meng Jingchan said, lighting another cigarette, "Don't look at me like this...I barely passed."

"You can just say you know all the final players," Bupa replied, "Don't bring up 'Jianghu', I'm not a professional player."

"Okay..." Meng Jingchan said, "Anyway...the main point I want to make is that these two guys aren't players, but..."

"Derivates." Another unfamiliar voice sounded.

Meng Jingchan and Cai Bupa Ne looked in the direction of the voice at the same time.

The source of the voice was in a dilapidated building on the side of the street. In fact, that building was destroyed by Bupa and the two Derivates during their fight...

Buzz buzz buzz...

Accompanied by a strange buzzing sound, a crystal-like object floating in the air slowly drifted out.

"What's the situation?" Meng Jingchan took another sip of beer and continued, "Could this be the legendary...Coffin Flight?"

"I've only heard of Sword Flight..." The crystal, which was the [Invisible Demon], replied, "Besides...I don't look like a coffin at all." Its voice and tone were quite pleasant, sounding like a friendly radio program host, giving off a neighborly feeling.

"And what...are you?" Cai Bupa Ne hesitated before finishing this sentence, because she was considering whether to end the question with "who" or "what thing." Since the former was not quite appropriate, and the latter was not very polite, she finally used a more moderate wording.

"I am, the Invisible Demon." The Invisible Demon replied, "Ranked among the Nine Undying Demons." It paused, "I came here to inform you two...to abandon the struggle with your own kind and jointly fight against the Derivates."

"Oh...is that so." Meng Jingchan said, "Actually, I also had this intention..." This was naturally the truth, otherwise he wouldn't have saved Cai Bupa Ne.

Meng Jingchan looked unconventional on the surface, but he was essentially a sensible person. He had worked with Brother Jue to deal with the Derivate Red Iron, so he was very clear about the strength of those Derivates, and he understood...that the matter at hand was not that simple...