Chapter 92: The Main God Acts! Target: Annihilate Team China!
An Audi R8 sports car pulled up to the KFC drive-thru window.
Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, got out of the car, approached the window, spoke a few words, then turned back and asked, "They're out of Original Recipe chicken. Can we get something else?"
"Whatever," Stephen Fang said without even looking at Black Widow, completely absorbed in studying the feather in his hand.
Black Widow showed no hint of impatience. She turned back to the clerk. "Then just give us whatever. A large order, you decide."
Ever since that day's incident, Black Widow no longer dared to show the slightest dissatisfaction toward Stephen Fang.
This was likely just the tip of the iceberg of Stephen Fang's power; no one could say for sure what his true strength was.
When Nick Fury learned that Stephen Fang had "abducted" Natasha Romanoff and brought her to the location of the hammer, he didn't dare to delay. He immediately began deploying defenses overnight, terrified that the hammer would be stolen.
Taking the bucket of chicken Black Widow handed him, Stephen Fang rolled his eyes at her. "I'm guessing this clerk is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, right?"
Black Widow's expression stiffened. She wanted to say no, but that would be a dead giveaway. "I... I don't know."
Stephen Fang chuckled. "Don't you know in your own heart whether it's true or not? Let's go! I'm not eating this!" With that, he tossed the chicken bucket out of the car.
Five hundred kilometers away, Nick Fury watched the feed on his screen. The black man frowned. "This kid is not easy to deal with."
His senior agent, Coulson, interjected, "Should we try talking to him face-to-face? Perhaps he doesn't have any malicious intent."
"We can't cede the initiative to him. He's just one person." Nick Fury thought for a moment. "Where's Agent Barton?"
"He's in Texas."
"Get him back here. Something big is about to happen."
"Understood."
***
The morning sun pierced through the thin fog, which should have illuminated every corner of the city, but today's sunlight seemed exceptionally pale and weak.
Last night's tranquility was shattered by a sudden, violent storm of blood, plunging the entire city into chaos and panic.
On the streets, ambulance sirens wailed one after another, and the busy figures of police officers and rescue personnel could be seen everywhere.
They were faced with one heart-wrenching scene after another: families attacked by Freddy in their sleep, only to wake and find their loved ones dead, their faces etched with grief and disbelief.
In the park, morning exercisers discovered bodies slumped on benches, their faces frozen in expressions of terror.
Newspaper headlines and TV news were filled with reports about the Freddy incident. The death toll was constantly climbing, and the entire city was enveloped in a shroud of gloom.
Many people didn't show up at schools and office buildings; their absence made the once-bustling places eerily quiet.
Those who were fortunate enough to survive exchanged horrifying stories from the previous night, their voices trembling with fear.
Seeing people harmed to such an extent, Zhan Lan and Zheng He, for the first time, felt dissatisfied with Ren Arakawa.
Zhan Lan stood before Ren Arakawa and said angrily, "How can you sacrifice an entire city just to save your own life?"
Ren Arakawa slowly raised his head. "You're wrong. I'm not sacrificing the entire city; I'm sacrificing the entire USA."
"You! You're insane!"
"You should be secretly thanking me." Ren Arakawa stretched lazily. "You should be glad I'm here. Otherwise, you would've died in a nightmare long ago."
Realizing Zhan Lan was also affected by those scenes, Ren Arakawa comforted her, "What you saw felt like real, living people, which is why you're so angry at what I'm doing. But in reality, it's all fabricated, all a deception by the Main God. We might just be projections cast into some movie. Don't be so anxious."
"This was always the world of a Freddy horror movie. The people here were already living under his threat. I've just amplified it."
Zhan Lan didn't know what to say. She could only squat to one side and silently wipe away her tears.
Zheng He watched Zhan Lan walk away, his stomach also churning with anger.
He felt as if he had become an accomplice.
His attitude toward Ren Arakawa was no longer as friendly as it had been initially.
Ren Arakawa glanced at Zheng He and disdainfully scratched his nose.
He was really looking forward to Chu Xuan's arrival in the Reincarnation Space, so he could snatch some of his side quests and Reward Points.
Because he, Ren Arakawa, was now triggering the landmines that Chu Xuan was supposed to step on in the future.
No one could afford to provoke the early-stage "Saint" Zheng He.
Once Zheng He started adapting to the intensity of the Main God Space...
...he'd say screw it! As long as there were Reward Points to be had, what would it matter if he nuked Raccoon City into oblivion? Who cared if there were any survivors?
Thanks to the many people getting drowsy during the day, which restricted Freddy's appearances, Zhao Yingkong and Zhang Jie, as well as Yan Wei and Xiaoye Hui, were also squatting beside Ren Arakawa.
In the corridor, after last night's ordeal, only four newcomers remained, along with the old woman who had lost her husband.
Yan Wei looked at the old woman, silently complaining in her heart, "This old hag is really hard to kill!"
The old woman was also secretly glancing at Yan Wei; only she knew what she was thinking.
Zhao Yingkong looked at Ren Arakawa and finally couldn't resist asking, "What tier has your Gene Lock reached?"
Zhao Yingkong was a genius assassin from a family of assassins. She had already unlocked her Gene Lock before entering the Main God Space. Ren Arakawa, who was familiar with the plot, naturally knew this as well.
"First Tier."
"First Tier?!" Zhao Yingkong was stunned. "How did you manage to hold off Freddy for several hours with just the First Tier Gene Lock?!"
"It's nothing special," Ren Arakawa shrugged. "Once you get to the Main God and exchange your points for some more abilities, you might even be able to kill Freddy yourself."
Zhao Yingkong naturally didn't believe such a claim. She didn't press the matter, silently waiting for another day to pass.
Ten agonizing days passed amidst the panic that gripped the city and, indeed, all of America.
Only one day remained until Team China's return.
The streets and alleys were desolate. Hospitals and pharmacies were in disarray, but the only things looted were drugs containing stimulants.
Not a single pane of glass in the coffee shops and supermarkets was left intact. After a few days, coffee and tea leaves had become the most common "currency" on the market.
After a few days, Zhan Lan and Zheng He were no longer hung up on these issues.
They, too, realized that they didn't want to die.
Surviving to reach the Main God Space, seeing the giant sphere of light, and creating an avatar of their ideal self—this became the motivation that kept them going.
Even saving up fifty thousand Reward Points to return to the real world wasn't an entirely impossible task!
Watching the clock tick down, with less than half a day left until their return, the members of Team China had less fatigue on their faces and more excitement in their hearts.
Xiaoye Hui, for once, took the initiative to speak to Ren Arakawa. "Ren Arakawa, sometimes I feel that even though you're a bit reckless, your mind is quite sharp. At least, I would never have thought of a solution like this. You've earned my respect!"
Ren Arakawa couldn't be bothered to play the flattery game with Xiaoye Hui. He continued to toy with the black feather in his hand, his eyes filled with worry.
And when less than two hours remained until their return...
A sudden change occurred!
Countless uncleared corpses lying on the ground and in the streets suddenly came back to life!
Target—Riel Hospital!
(end of chapter)