Chapter 804

They got into their cars and followed one of the police cars.

After driving for over 10 minutes, they began seeing – up ahead – people panicking and fleeing. They were accompanied by shrill cries of terror.

Nicole and Tian Lie, who was beside her, exchanged glances. They saw a look of confirmation on each other’s faces.

Finally…

In order to avoid the incoming crowd, the police car driving before them had slowed down. However, before they could reach the end of the road, a few cars suddenly flew up from the corner ahead. The cars then smashed down the ground, erupting into several big balls of fire.

Immediately after that came a sky-shaking roar as a wolf jumped out from the corner.

It looked like a wolf but was several times bigger than an ordinary one. Sticking out of its body were not fur, but spikes gleaming with a black lustre. Its green eyes shone with a ferociously terrifying light.

Upon landing on the ground, it raised its head and roared. Then, its head swung down, picking up a fatty who had been a little late in running away. With a soft munch, it severed the man’s body into two. Its left paw then pressed down on the severed body, ripping out the internal organs.

“Is that it?” Tian Lie rolled his eyes. “He’d been hiding for nearly five days. Here I thought he would come up with some amazing monster.”

The police car in front of them had stopped. A white policeman and his partner quickly got out from their car. Using their car as cover, they brought out their pistols, aimed at the giant wolf and pulled the trigger.

But when the bullets struck the giant wolf’s body, they failed to pierce through the spikes jutting out from its body. Even after emptying whole magazines, they failed to inflict any damage on the giant wolf. On the contrary, their actions had seemingly only infuriated it, causing it to roar skywards again. This time, it turned towards the police car and rushed forward.

“Retreat!!!”

The policeman let out a wretched cry. Pulling his partner, he turned to run away, but it was too late. One of the giant wolf’s paws stomped down on the roof of the police car, flattening it. Next, it opened its big mouth, dripping with saliva and lined with fangs, which descended upon the two policemen.

“No, help!”

The two policemen screamed their lungs out and their legs went limp, causing them to fall to the ground. They could only watch as the big mouth that gave off a fetid breath move closer and closer.

Suddenly, another figure appeared before them.

It was a beefy man with a bald head.

“Good little doggy, sit.”

Tian Lie spoke as though he was actually coaxing a toy poodle. His right pinky was digging his ear while his left hand gripped one of the giant wolf’s fangs.

His actions seemed casual, but the giant wolf responded with a long and mournful hiss. No matter how hard it tried, it could not close its mouth.

The two policemen gaped at what they saw, so much so that they even forgot to get up and run.

“Say, do you two plan on dying here?”

The words surprised the two policemen, who turned to see Nicole standing behind them.

“Ma’am… it’s dangerous here! Please head…”

“The Department of Homeland Security will be taking over next. You fellows may leave now.” Nicole gave them a glance before interrupting them. Then, she pulled out her ID from her chest.

“Homeland Security?”

The two policemen looked at Nicole before looking at each other. Then, without any other word, they got up and ran back the way they came.

Everyone had alighted from their respective cars. Qimu Xi clanged her two blades against one another and was about to slay the giant wolf that Tian Lie was pressing down when Tian Lie turned around to wave her off. “Don’t move! Let me handle it.”

The giant wolf kept whining, its two fore legs continuously slapping the ground. But with its fang in Tian Lie’s grip, it simply could not raise its big head at all.

“Chuai! Chuai! Be good!” There was a smile on Tian Lie’s face as his right hand pressed down on the giant wolf’s head to gently stroke it. His mouth continued making puppy-coaxing sounds [1].

“I never saw it before, but you are still so childish.” Roddy took several steps forward. “Do you not plan on killing it?”

“I’m tired of sitting in a car. I’m thinking of getting a mount.” Tian Lie snickered. Seeing the giant wolf continue to struggle, he exerted some strength through his left hand, which was gripping the giant wolf’s fang. As a result, the giant wolf let out a sharp whimper. However, it instead struggled with greater vigour.

“I don’t think you can tame it.” Nicole, who was observing from behind, shrugged.

Suddenly, another sharp cry rang out from above their heads.

A big bird folded its wings and its body stretched like a bullet as it shot towards Tian Lie, who was on the ground, at high velocity.

“There’s more than one, eh? Now this is more interesting.” Tian Lie’s eyes shone and he swung his left hand, lifting the giant wolf up into the sky with its fang.

The big bird had just arrived atop their heads when the giant wolf’s massive body slammed against it like a tennis racket swing. As a result, half its body smashed into the building and feathers stained in blood scattered all around.

Tian Lie’s hand was still gripping the fang, but it had been pulled out from the giant wolf’s mouth. There was still blood on the root of the fang.

“Forget it. Since there are so many of them, let’s just… kill them all,” Tian Lie said coolly.

He exerted a slight force through his left hand, crushing the tusk-like fang in his grip into two. The powdery bits then rustled to the ground.

“Xiaolei, report on the number and distribution of the monsters,” Lun Tai said.

“There are many life signatures moving quickly. According to the map, the place with the highest concentration should be…” Xia Xiaolei brought out his mobile phone and checked the map.

“Griffith Park.”

“I remember, the Los Angeles Zoo is inside the park.” Qiao Qiao nodded. “These creatures have all been mutated.”

“Griffith Park? Although the location of the meteorite has yet to be revealed, we should go check it out.” Lun Tai looked at the others.

…

The valley was filled with trees, but the bottom area of the valley was an exception. Strangely, a flat open area – covering a radius of nearly 100 metres – had appeared there.

In the middle of the open area was a massive organic structure the size of a small villa. There were nerves and blood vessels all over its surface. It was like a freshly-dug, bloodstained heart, wriggling non-stop.

From beneath the surface, tens of blood vessels – each as thick as an oil barrel – extended into its surroundings before splitting off into one fine blood vessel after another. In the end, all of them extended their way into the ground.

Theodore was standing before the organic structure, his gaze not leaving it for even a single moment. There were seriousness and anxiousness on his face.

Finally, the organic structure trembled, creating four cracks on it. Green-coloured fluid then flowed out from the cracks, falling down the surface of the organic structure.

As the cracks grew bigger and bigger, the top part of the organic structure began spreading out like a blooming flower to reveal a figure inside.

“Guild Leader!”

Theodore cried out in a hushed tone as he watched Aderick slowly walk out from the blooming flower. “You… how are you?”

“Very good.” Aderick nodded before stretching his hand towards Theodore.

His body was completely naked. There wasn’t a single thread on his body and fluids were still slowly dripping down from his body.

Quickly, Theodore brought out a set of clothes from his storage gear and handed them to Aderick. He watched as Aderick calmly wiped his body clean before putting on one piece of clothing after another. Finally, he could not stop himself from saying, “Guild Leader, the system will display our location soon. There are…”

He looked at the timer in his personal system.

“2 hours and 12 minutes left.”

“I know.” Aderick continued to put on his clothes in an unhurried manner. “Do not worry. Victory in this instance dungeon can only be ours.”

“Just what kind of ability did you get?”

Seeing the look of indifference on Aderick, Theodore immediately felt more confident.

This valley lay deep inside the Rosemont Preserve. After bringing Theodore here, he had chosen a spot and grew out the heart-like organic structure before entering a deep slumber inside it.

For three whole days, Aderick did not move at all. And even though Aderick had informed him about it, Theodore still felt somewhat uneasy.

Through his personal system, he could also see the timer for their location reveal. He had been worrying all this time. Was it possible that Guild Leader Aderick would still be asleep when the timer ended?

Thankfully, when there were only a bit more than one hour left in the timer, Guild Leader Aderick finally ended his slumber, which had lasted for nearly three days.

“The state of symbiosis is now over. I have completely fused with the embryo and obtained its genes.” After he was done wearing his clothes, Aderick squatted down and inserted a finger into the soil.

Theodore then watched as several threads of mycelium emerged from Aderick’s finger before burrowing into the soil.

Instantly, several mushrooms burst out from the ground all around Aderick’s palm. They grew bigger and bigger, only stopping after they were several times higher than the average human.

Beneath the black canopy, countless bulging bacterial sacs grew larger and larger. Finally, they erupted and dust-like spores sprayed out from them. After that, the winds blew them off, spreading them into their surroundings.

“Don’t worry.”

Theodore’s face had sunk after seeing that and he took several steps back. Aderick shook his head and said, “It will not affect you.”

“Guild Leader, this is…” Looking at the spores flying in the wind, Theodore said in a hushed tone.

“Spores containing alien genes. Naturally, they also have the genes of earth’s creatures that I had fused with back in the zoo.” Aderick continued to maintain an emotionless expression, but there was a hint of conceit in his voice. “These mushrooms have a very high growth rate. They can quickly spread the spores around. Moreover, they are also capable of… self-reproduction.”

As Aderick spoke, the spores fell to the ground. Swiftly, more mushrooms grew from the ground. However, the new mushrooms were much smaller than the initial mushrooms. These new mushrooms were only the size of a thumb each.

“What do they do?” Theodore watched as the area occupied by the growing mushrooms kept expanding.

“It combines the alien genes that it carries with the host body, using a very short time to modify the target’s DNA for an alienization process. Once the alienization is complete…”

Aderick turned to look at Theodore. “We will have an endless number of soldiers!”

“Then… Guild Leader, how long will the alienization process take?” Theodore quickly asked the most important question.

“Depending on the differences in physiques, it will range between 1 to 24 hours.”

Seeing the frown on Theodore’s face, Aderick waved it off. “I know what you are worried about, Theodore. In around 2 hours, our location will be displayed on the radar 24/7. When that happens, all the Players and Awakened ones will come after us. However, do not worry. I have already made preparations for that.”

“Naturally, I believe you on that.” Theodore smiled. “I think… it must be related to the animals in Griffith Park.”

“Yes.” Aderick nodded. “Back then, I had embedded mutant genes into their bodies, but I did not have them mutate immediately. I was waiting for this moment. Just now, I have already stirred those genes to have them mutate immediately. Moreover, I also gave them the order to kill and destroy at will.”

“I understand!” Theodore’s eyes lit up. “Those fellows still do not know where we are. So, they must still be waiting for the countdown to end. By releasing the mutant creatures from the zoo now, they will all gather there.”

“That’s right.” Aderick smiled.

“But…” Theodore pondered for a moment. “Are those mutant creatures enough to hold the others in this instance dungeon for that long? When the radar displays our location, wouldn’t everyone turn their sights to this place?”

“Did you forget about the US Army?” Aderick extended a finger and waved it. “A force consisting of thousands have been wiped out. Can the military not be on alert at all? At present, the US Army must have raised the alert level to its highest. For such a big commotion to happen in Los Angeles, the nearby Pentagon would surely dispatch all the forces they could muster to hurry over. When they do, they will seal off the entire area. Breaking through the blockade set up by the heavy military forces from the US Army might not be difficult for Thorned Flower Guild. Unfortunately, Gaza and his Team B have already been wiped out. As for the remaining teams, how many of them possess the ability to reach this place? And how long will it take them? Moreover… did you not consider another possibility?”

“What?” Theodore hastily asked.

“If we can successfully throw Los Angeles into chaos and convince the US government that the situation has gotten out of hand…” Aderick smiled mysteriously. “Perhaps, sacrificing the largest city in the West Coast might become an option.”

“Nuclear bombs?” Theodore’s eyes lit up and he gave a heartfelt nod. “Your plan is truly perfect.”

Aderick did not appear modest about it.

Given the current situation, there was no need for him to be modest.

He had planned for everything and everything was going perfectly as planned.

Once this instance dungeon was over, he would be able to use the newly-acquired ability in the outside world.

Then… those from Zero City would no longer need to hide.

Zero City would once again become the icon of the Awakened world.

1 Calling “Chuai! Chuai!” is a way to call a dog to attention.

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