“The blood in the barrel is almost full.” Feng Bujue walked to the barrel. “Looks like the Anomaly doesn’t need this. The reason it came was merely to kill the two players.”

“Then, why didn’t it come to kill us?” Xiao Tan asked. “Our levels are lower, aren’t they?”

“Not going after you is understandable since you were closest to the two GMs. Going after you would mean risking detection by the two GMs,” Feng Bujue said. “When the scenario started, Atobe-sama, Ming Zi, and I were all valid targets, especially me, since I had the lowest level and was alone. Even if I was killed, the GMs might think it was the work of the BW Zombies.

“But… at that perfect opportunity, the Anomaly didn’t come to kill me, nor did it reach out toward the other two. It was not until you and the two GMs reached Allerbmu’s building that it came here to commit this crime, so…”

At this point, Feng Bujue raised his head to yell at Pan Feng and Hwa Xiong, “Hey! Two generals, at the start of the scenario, is there a period when the Anomaly is unable to move?”

Hwa Xiong lowered his head to yell down the roof, “It’s not that they’re unable to move, but the transformation into virtual data hasn’t completed yet. Do you still remember that cup of coffee?”

“What about it?” Feng Bujue replied.

“Normal data is like normal coffee powder; it dissolves once it comes into contact with hot water, but the particle that represents the Anomaly will take a longer time to dissolve,” Hwa Xiong said. “Under normal circumstances, if we work fast to help the players finish the scenario, when the main quest is completed, the Anomaly will have just materialized and appeared inside the scenario.

“The one that’s inside this scenario materialized a lot faster than the rest.”

“Is that so?” Feng Bujue suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, how did you know that the target this time is a level four Anomaly? Did the system tell you that when you queued up in the scenario, or can you see that in your game menu?”

“After making ’contact’ with it, we can see its level in our menu,” Pan Feng replied. “We just need to brush up against it with a close-ranged weapon.”

“Wait a minute,” Feng Bujue said. “In other words, you’ve been saying this Anomaly is level four, but that is only a guess?”

Pan Feng and Hwa Xiong shared a look before laughing. “You really took us seriously when we said there are four levels to the Anomalies? Where are we going to find an Anomaly above level three? Our job is to clean out all the level four Anomalies. Unless we’ve failed many times or the level four Anomaly was lucky enough to run into a scenario with six friends, level three Anomalies have no chance of being formed.”

Feng Bujue chuckled drily. “Alright, I hope that you’re right.”

“By the way, Little Brother Feng,” Pan Feng said, “how goes your examination of the crime scene? Did you come up with any useful conclusion?”

“Hmm…” Feng Bujue kept his hands in his pockets and said as he paced around, “The Anomaly has the appearance of a female woman, around 1.5 meters tall, on the thin side and can retrieve or grow a claw-like weapon around twenty centimeters long from some parts of her body almost instantly. The speed and power should be no different from the Ashford Mutant that we saw in the Allerbmu building.

“In terms of surveillance, you are only able to detect her once she is close enough, but she seems to know about your location from the beginning. At the same time, she knew about every player’s exact location, so the plan to use us as bait will not work. As long as you are around, she will not come near us.

“Just how intelligent this Anomaly is, I can’t tell. But based on current situation, she has full consciousness of what she ’needs’ to do. Her main goal is to survive and evolve, and the necessary thing to do to complete that goal is to make sure that the GMs and players leave the scenario.

“So, to consider this from her perspective…

“First, she will not stop you from using your GM advantage to end the main quest quickly because this means that the players will all be teleported out, and this saves her some trouble. Secondly, under the assurance of safety, like when you’re faraway, the Anomaly will not hesitate to personally go after the players, perhaps it might help it grow? I have no idea about that…”

He stopped moving. “The thing that I’m more concerned about is its relationship with the monsters. Will the Anomaly be attacked by the monsters as well, or can it communicate with them? Will their interaction affect the plot line, and how much will it influence the main quest? That, I am unable to confirm. In any case… if I was the Anomaly, after understanding the actual situation in this scenario, there are three choices I can make.”

Feng Bujue sat back down on the sofa and lowered his head. He tapped his two fingers on his forehead. “Hmm… the best solution is to use myself as some kind of bait and find the perfect timing like after dark and purposely wander into your search range to lure you all to a specific location and cooperate with Ashford’s Mutant and the BW Zombies to ambush you.”

He raised his head and touched his nose. “I know you can look at the trigger event, monster information, and map, but you are unable to look at the exact coordinates of a single monster. After all, if you could, you would have gone after Professor Ashford after he jumped out from the building.

“If we assume that this Anomaly manages to find Ashford’s Mutant and can communicate with it, then it would be smart enough to make use of this monster to pursue its own goal.

“That plan is the choice that would bring the Anomaly the highest success rate.”

Right then, he pointed down the street and tossed a look at Xiao Tan. Xiao Tan turned to look and realized that a BW Zombie was shuffling toward them from that direction. He understood Brother Jue’s meaning and rushed toward the enemy with the baseball bat raised high. When Xiao Tan dealt with the zombie, Pan Feng and Hwa Xiong jumped down from the roof. Since Feng Bujue said that an ambush would not work, they did not need to stay up there anymore.

“For the second-best plan, it would be to seek out Ashford’s mutant and then kill it,” Feng Bujue told the two GMs. “Because, after it does that, Xiao Tan and I will be teleported out of the scenario since the main quest has been completed, and the Anomaly can focus on dealing with you or continuing its game of hide-and-seek. After all, you’ll be forced to leave the game after eighty hours due to the limitation of the gaming hub. Of course, as a set of data, it might not have the concept of the ’real world’ or know about this rule.

“If this route is chosen, it means that the Anomaly is unable to communicate with the monsters, and to prevent the unstable factor of the monster from ruining its plan, it has to do this. At the same time, this also proves that the Anomaly has confidence that it can beat you, one against two.”

Xiao Tan killed the zombie and was heading back.

“With regards to the weakest plan… the chance of that happening is low,” Feng Bujue said. “That plan is to pick a random time, charge out, and attack all four of us. Even though this plan is not befitting the modus operandi that the Anomaly has shown so far, if it really does so, then there has to be a reason behind it like… it has transformed into a very powerful monster after consuming Ashford’s brain and gained the confidence to take all of us on at the same time.”

After hearing Feng Bujue’s analysis, Pan Feng and Hwa Xiong’s lips were hanging open. They looked at him like he was a monster. “If you don’t mind us asking, what do you do in real life?”

“I’m a Great…”

Feng Bujue was about to reveal his habitual answer when Xiao Tan chimed in, “He’s a freelancer!”

Feng Bujue shrugged and pulled the topic back. He told the two GMs, “We should discuss how to deal with these three situations. Other than the second choice, Xiao Tan and I can be of some use.”

“The fact that the two level fourteen and twelve players have died has proven many things, right? Through your own analysis, you’ve grasped the Anomaly’s power level, and you still think you will be of help to us?” Pan Feng said. “I know you are a very capable player—one with principles and ideals, not someone who is toyed with by the game—but I’m a GM. I might not even be as good a player as you, but when facing off against an existence like the Anomaly, fighting ability is the most important—the rest is bonus.”

“That means you’ve been underestimating your player base,” Feng Bujue said in a light tone. “Just like you said, the chance of a single GM winning against a level four Anomaly is more than ninety-five percent. So, if we gauge this situation according to the power level of the GM… then in the scenario of our level, the power level of the Anomaly is no different from a player less than twenty level, right? Furthermore, it’s just an AI, not a real person.

“What happened to Atobe-sama and Ming Zi was due to carelessness. If they’d known about the Anomaly from the get-go and used guns and skills to deal with it, do you think they would still have been killed so easily? I think they would have been able to damage it and perhaps even had a chance to escape.

“I am anticipating the fight and personally witnessing the hunt of the Anomaly.” He paused. “So, assuming the Anomaly will choose the situation that will be most difficult for us, we should come up with a solution for it…”

…

The sun set, and darkness came. Night fell, and in this city, it was as if the very air was suffused with ice, spreading a cold that could cause people’s blood to freeze up in their veins.

The BW Zombies’ pupils turned blood rest, and even though they still dragged their bodies around like zombies, their sense of smell became more sensitive compared to when it was morning. Once they sensed the smell of prey, their gait would suddenly increase, and they might even go on all fours to start running. Their strength, speed, and viciousness were completely different from how they were in the morning. BW Zombies at night were at least twice as strong as normal zombies.

In the night, two shadows were hurrying forward. Behind them were at least fifty BW Zombies giving chase.

Twenty minutes earlier, the Anomaly had finally appeared within the two GMs’ detection range, but it was hovering near the edge and did not attempt to come any closer. This was a perfect fit for the worst situation that Feng Bujue had predicted.

At the moment, Pan Feng and Feng Bujue were using a speed much faster than the BW Zombies to rush toward the target, and their bodies were covered with uninfected blood that could attract the monsters.