TTAETSC Chapter 18.1: Killing a Player

Translator: Deyonna

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The signal tower at the supply station was damaged during the otherworldly creatures' attack last night, so there was no signal anywhere. The triangular-eyed man could only return to the signal vehicle to contact the lord on his personal terminal.

Half an hour later, Bard received a reply from the triangular-eyed man.

"The Lord said the person sent to take over had arrived, but they needed our cooperation."

Bard was surprised. "Already here, so fast?"

It seemed that, besides them, the Lord had already sent someone earlier, or it wouldn't have been so quick.

Bard looked at the triangular-eyed man and took a drag on his cigarette. "How do we cooperate?"

The triangular-eyed man smiled, half nervous and half cunning, and said:

"Before that decontamination officer arrives, we need to shut that bitch up."

---

On the other side, Chen Xinyue sprinted back to the clinic. To her surprise, she arrived a moment too late. The investigators who had been everywhere before had all vanished.

And the most crucial thing was that a mutation was spreading among the injured patients at the clinic.

"This is very serious."

"Many of the injured patients suddenly mutated."

Larry ran out with Old Man Xu, his face filled with fear.

"You both need to leave quickly and inform the investigators!"

Chen Xinyue's face darkened, and without a word, she rushed into the clinic.

On a distant hillside, Yuan Ye stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression blank, watching the battle below.

It was around two or three in the afternoon, and the sunlight was incredibly intense.

Fortunately, many trees grew here, shading them from the sun, so it wasn't too hot.

The little octopus, wearing his brand-new black "little shoes," stood on Yuan Ye's left shoulder and looked down with him.

Perhaps it was the way Ye Yunfan walked, using two tentacles as dirty feet and holding up the other six like a succulent, that had led Yuan Ye to misunderstand.

So the young man had made him just two small shoes for walking.

They were called shoes, but they looked more like pointed caps that fit snugly over the tips of his tentacles. Each was about one centimeter long. They weren't thick either, and Ye Yunfan could even use the suction cups on the shoes to stick to the young man's left shoulder.

Uh, no, to be precise, it was on his metal shoulder guard.

He no longer wore the crossed suspenders. Instead, he had switched to shoulder guards of spliced leather and metal.

The front and back are leather, while the center features metal buckles for adjustment. The left shoulder is covered by a piece of deep black sculpted metal armor, which completely isolates him from any contact with the little octopus.

In short, it had a distinctly medieval assassin style.

—Indeed, his younger brother's outfit was both trendy and cool.

Ye Yunfan sighed.

He had initially thought this person would keep him as a pendant on his knife, but he hadn't expected to become a mascot on his shoulder instead.

"..."

The little octopus pondered it but couldn't work it out. In short, he had abandoned his earlier theory that the long knife was Yuan Ye's true love.

In any case, resting on the young man's shoulder beat swaying back and forth on a knife.

Ye Yunfan looked down at the chaotic clinic below.

Miserable screams, furious curses, the sharp roars of monsters, and gunfire all mixed together into a particularly piercing cacophony.

The little octopus turned to look at Yuan Ye. Tree shadows cast mottled patterns across him, and small golden specks of light fell on the youth's handsome profile, like fragmented dragon scales that gave him a unique beauty.

"What's wrong?"

Noticing the little octopus's gaze, Yuan Ye tilted his head slightly. His heterochromatic eyes, usually indifferent and serene, suddenly reflected a jelly-like pink hue.

Ye Yunfan blinked, curious about what Yuan Ye thought of the matter and whether he would consider cooperating with Chen Xinyue.

Unfortunately, he couldn't speak, and he didn't know how to use the so-called special communication skill on the data panel either.

In the end, the little octopus simply shook his head, plopped onto the cold metal shoulder guard, and lay flat to cool down.

Indeed, it was scorching hot at this summer noon, and it was a mystery how Yuan Ye could wear two layers of clothing without breaking a sweat.

Surprisingly, the young man took a few steps to the side and stood in a cooler, breezier spot.

Yuan Ye's cold voice softened, and he said:

"Wait a little longer, just a little while."

"?"

The little octopus looked up in confusion.

Ye Yunfan wasn't sure whether it was an illusion, but he felt as if Yuan Ye was trying to comfort him.

This feeling was actually quite strange.

He turned to look at Yuan Ye again, but the latter had already averted his gaze and kept watching the clinic below. The youth's expression was indifferent, showing no intention of going down to help.

Ye Yunfan had started to feel anxious. The clinic had been fine just moments ago, and now it was suddenly under attack. This seemed to confirm Captain Chen's suspicions and Yuan Ye's speculations.

The little octopus became a bit worried about Captain Chen.

At the same time, he became even more worried about his own food.

Bang—!!!

The wooden door was smashed to pieces.

A humanoid monster, nearly two meters tall, stormed into the clinic's courtyard. It had only one arm and was completely unclothed. Its skin had been stripped away, revealing blood-red muscles that squirmed like maggots.

Its entire head had transformed into a gaping mouth, filled with shredded flesh and broken bones.

It pounced on a nearby man, tearing his head off with one bite and swallowing it whole. Then it turned and locked its gaze on Jon, who had been the first to run in.

Jon fired his gun wildly, but in his panic, the first shot missed.

Without hesitation, Chen Xinyue swiftly drew her gun and fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots hit the target with precision.

The wounded creature let out a painful roar, immediately disregarded Jon, and turned on Chen Xinyue, lunging at her.

Chen Xinyue rolled to evade the attack, but the move aggravated the wound on her side. A sharp pain made her movements stall for a moment.

Not good!

The woman's pupils dilated.

In a life-and-death struggle, that momentary vulnerability was deadly. Sure enough, the next second, the creature seized her ankle and dragged her away.

The monster's mouth split open as wide as it could, big enough to swallow two adult male heads.

It seemed the tragedy from earlier was about to repeat itself.

Jon's eyes widened, his voice nearly breaking.

"Captain—!!!"

At that very moment, just as the monster was about to bite down on the woman's neck, its body suddenly froze.

Chen Xinyue was just as shocked and bewildered, but facing death, her survival instinct and years of combat experience took over her body.

The woman immediately pulled a grenade from her waist, bit out the safety pin, and threw it into the monster's mouth. Then she rolled away to retreat.

Boom!!!

The explosion splattered bloody flesh everywhere, nearly staining the entire courtyard red.

Its head and half its upper body had been blown apart. The remaining half lay collapsed on the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

Jon immediately rushed over.

"Captain, Captain, are you alright?"

Chen Xinyue shook her head and staggered to her feet. She stared at the twitching half of the creature, her heart pounding harder than ever.

She didn't understand why it had frozen at that moment, but she had no time to dwell on it. She turned and ran toward the clinic.

"Wang Yuan!"

"Wang Yuan!"

The sudden mutation in the clinic had already confirmed Yuan Ye's guess.

Jon was a newcomer, temporarily recruited into the team just a week earlier. The other team members had gone through fire and water with Chen Xinyue for years. They were like family to one another.

But they had all died last night, leaving only Wang Yuan.

If Wang Yuan died too, she would truly be the only one left.

She was the only one left again…

Those words felt like a curse, and a wave of darkness clouded Chen Xinyue's vision.

She stumbled down the corridor, turned a corner, and saw the innermost ward.

The door was securely shut, with no sign of damage.

The woman trembled as she opened the door. Everything inside looked normal. The treatment cabin was functioning properly, and the purifying agents had been fully absorbed.

The man with the severed arm was sleeping peacefully, his vital signs normal. The black lines on his neck had begun to fade.

—That was a very clear sign of improvement.

Improvement…

He survived.

Survived.

Thud!

Chen Xinyue sat paralyzed on the ground, covering her eyes. She grinned and laughed silently, but her body trembled uncontrollably. She choked, unable to utter a single word.

On the hillside, Yuan Ye watched the farce come to an end in silence.

The little octopus was quiet too. Even from far away, the cruel, bloody scene weighed heavily on his heart.

Ye Yunfan had once again gained a clearer understanding of this world's cruelty and danger.

"That woman was still a step too late."

Yuan Ye suddenly spoke.

"?"

The little octopus raised his head, looked at the youth's face, and tilted slightly to show his confusion.

"Just now, she had already killed the person she most wanted to save, with her own hands."

The young man explained.

Huh?

Ye Yunfan suddenly froze.

Yuan Ye squinted slightly and looked south, toward the investigating soldiers stationed to deal with the aftermath at the supply station.

Earlier, Chen Xinyue had mentioned that many investigating soldiers had been secretly surrounding the clinic. But when the clinic erupted into mutation and riot just now, those investigators had mysteriously vanished.

This suggested that something suspicious was going on within the higher ranks of the investigation corps. After all, someone of Bard's rank wouldn't have the authority to mobilize so many investigators.

"The situation is a bit more complicated than I imagined."

Yuan Ye lowered his gaze, considered for a moment, then turned and walked down the mountain path. His expression stayed indifferent, but his eyes turned cold.

At least until the decontamination officer arrives, Chen Xinyue cannot die!

By now, the commotion outside the clinic had gradually subsided. The place was contaminated, and survivors had hurriedly fled. Only a few investigators and sentinels who had arrived late and were responsible for the cleanup remained.

Otherworldly creatures' blood and corpses can retain their vitality for a long time, so the usual way to deal with them is burning.

But the withered Chen Xinyue insisted on guarding the treatment cabin and refused to leave.

Since no one knew what to do, they temporarily sealed off the area. Jon brought a meal once. Chen Xinyue didn't refuse and ate it all.

As time passed, the sunlight in the ward gradually turned golden red.

At dusk, Wang Yuan, still weak, unexpectedly woke.

"Cap... Captain?"

Chen Xinyue paused, then was quickly filled with both surprise and joy. She opened the treatment cabin and helped Wang Yuan sit up.

"How are you?"

Jon's eyes lit up, but seeing the captain on the verge of tears, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness, stepped back, and went out.

"Cough, cough…"

Wang Yuan shook his head, his breath feeble. Suddenly, he remembered something and fixed his gaze on Chen Xinyue.

"King creature... the king creature has a problem. That big creature isn't... cough, cough!!!"

Before he could finish, he started coughing violently.

Chen Xinyue didn't expect him to bring this up as soon as he woke, but she didn't doubt him either.

"I know, I know."

She patted Wang Yuan's back and whispered in a low voice.

"I've already hidden the king creature's body somewhere very safe. Once the decontamination officer arrives in a few hours, everything will be fine."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yuan's eyes flickered.

"How about we hand it over to Commander Yuan Ye for safekeeping? He used to be a decontamination officer and is very powerful. If you keep it with you, it might..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Chen Xinyue already understood the unspoken words that followed.

"What you said is true. This matter is indeed of great importance, but it's also too dangerous..."

Chen Xinyue considered it.

"We need to seek his consent first."

She had had the same thought all along. She knew she couldn't protect it alone, and her position wasn't high enough. Anything reported to the royal court had to pass through several levels of review, making it easy for anyone who wanted to suppress it.

So Chen Xinyue had wanted to seek Yuan Ye's help. But when she went there in the morning and raised the subject, Yuan Ye's advice had worried her about Wang Yuan's safety. That was why she had come back in such a hurry.

"Let's go now!"

Wang Yuan suddenly struggled to stand and grabbed the woman's shoulders.

"Take your things. Let's go now! They won't let us off the hook! The longer we delay, the more danger we're in!"

Chen Xinyue frowned, clearly hesitating.

"It's not safe here anymore. This isn't just about the three of us!"

Wang Yuan was very agitated.

"Captain, have you forgotten our teammates? They... they died so tragically, for what reason?! Are we really going to let them die in vain like this?!"

Chen Xinyue stopped. Slowly, she clenched her fists, as if making up her mind, then suddenly got up.

"Okay, let's go now."

She turned and walked to the corner of the room, taking another step toward the hidden compartment beneath the floor.

Wang Yuan stared at the woman's back, his expression a mix of excitement and mockery. Just then, Chen Xinyue halted and asked with concern.

"Wang Yuan, how are you feeling now? Are you in pain? The painkiller you took earlier seems to be wearing off. Do you need another injection?"

The man paused, then let out two weak coughs.

"Cough... No need, no need. I'm not in pain right now. I can hold on for a while."

"Oh, that's good."

Chen Xinyue calmly kept walking, stepping directly over the floorboard that concealed the hidden compartment. Her eyes reddened, but the murderous intent in them only burned brighter.

One component of the purification agent reacts with painkillers, so when the purification agent was administered earlier, Dr. Xu had specifically given Wang Yuan a metabolizing fluid to flush out all the sedative components before injecting it.

So the person behind her was not Wang Yuan!

"Captain, please hurry... cough cough... I'm afraid…"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Without warning, Chen Xinyue turned and drew her gun, firing repeatedly.

The first shot hit the shoulder, but to her surprise, the man had been ready and dodged the other two.

"Damn, this woman has an incredibly fucking high vigilance!"

Zhang Nan cursed under his breath and spat. He managed to duck into the treatment cabin and avoid the other two shots. The next second, amid the sound of bones shifting and cracking, his figure shrank and his features began to wriggle, becoming a thin, sinister face completely unfamiliar to her. His severed left arm regrew as well.

At that moment, a crowd of footsteps sounded outside.

Chen Xinyue's heart skipped a beat. She realized she was surrounded.

Hold on!

Jon was still outside!!!

"I've already handed the thing over to someone else."

Chen Xinyue hid behind the medicine cabinet, calmly and quickly devising countermeasures.

"And I made an agreement with him: if he doesn't see me tomorrow, he will immediately hand the item over to Yuan Ye and bring it back to the Main City."

"Heh—"

Zhang Nan sneered.

"Don't even think about using smoke bombs*, Captain Chen. We don't necessarily need that thing, but if we can't get it in the end, no one at the supply station will survive."

*Not literally. Diversion tactic?

Chen Xinyue was suddenly alarmed.

Bang!

The next second, a buzz-cut man burst through the door.

—It was Bard!

But Bard's face was not the savage, arrogant expression Chen Xinyue had expected. Instead, he looked pale and drenched in cold sweat, as if consumed by extreme terror.

He held Jon hostage, pressing the gun hard against the curly-haired youth's temple. His mouth quivered, and he was so terrified his tongue couldn't even straighten out.

"Chen Xinyue! Chen Xinyue! You better tell... you better quickly tell that guy. If he dares to move again, this kid will…"

Before he could finish, a white line suddenly appeared across his shoulder, and he abruptly raised his gun.

The next second, his entire right arm was severed by an invisible force.

Thud—!

Blood gushed out, and the severed arm fell heavily to the ground.

For a moment, the whole ward fell deathly silent.

Then Bard let out a piercing scream that seemed to shake the entire room.

Half of Jon's face was splattered with blood. His eyes were glazed, and he didn't even realize what had just happened.

☰