Containment, release, extraction, Fusion.
Containment here was probably similar to sealing.
Release was easier to understand. It summoned the Deformed Person again, and any Deformed Person released after containment would obey his commands.
It was equivalent to summoning a monster.
In other words, if the previously contained Deformed People suffered fatal injuries and could not be returned to the card in time, they would still die. Those seriously injured would also be unable to recover for a short time.
Without that restriction, he could really exploit an infinite loophole.
As for extraction, it drew one ability from a Deformed Person. The Ghost Card gave no further hints about Fusion.
Li Dan guessed it was something like demonic possession, or perhaps it directly turned him into a Deformed Person? Or could it fuse with other contained entities to create a new monster?
He would have to experiment to find out.
Li Dan walked outside and chose to release the Deformed Person from the Two of Hearts. Soon, a tall Deformed Person appeared in the empty yard. Compared to its previous dying state, the released Deformed Person was clearly completely unharmed.
The Deformed Person stood there blankly. Even when it saw Li Dan, it showed little reaction and merely waited for its next order.
He then experimented with fusing the Deformed Person's card.
He did not transform into the disgusting form of a Deformed Person as he had imagined, but it seemed that if he wanted to, he could take on that ugly appearance.
His strength had at least doubled or tripled. His pain sensitivity had decreased, his vision seemed slightly clearer, and his physique and recovery ability had improved.
This Deformed Person seemed to be the second of the three.
It was relatively intelligent and knew how to use a bow. That bow and its arrows had been left behind, while the other two Deformed People clearly could not use them.
A Two of Hearts plus a Deformed Person had such an effect. What, then, would the King, Queen, Jack, and the big and little jokers be like?
What kind of beings deserved to be contained by those Ghost Cards?
Li Dan could not think of an answer for now, but he eventually concluded that the original weapons of contained Deformed People could still be used. They had not become as stiff and lifeless as dead objects.
For example, if he ordered one to kill someone.
Without additional instructions, the Deformed Person would kill that person in its own way.
Li Dan did not choose Fusion. Instead, he brought the Deformed Person with him, returned the bow and arrows to the second Deformed Person, and had it follow him while staying hidden as they headed back to find Jessie and the others.
The entire family of Deformed People was valuable fighting power. He did not want to let any of them go.
Li Dan carried the shotgun while the second Deformed Person carried its bow and wore a quiver on its back, following behind him into the forest.
At dusk, the forest cast terrifying shadows, like an ominous portent.
Elsewhere.
In the steadily darkening woods.
Scott, the man from the young couple who had come with Chris, was sprinting across the ground, glancing back in terror from time to time.
He had been separated from the other three. The two Deformed People seemed to be toying with their prey, following at an unhurried pace behind him.
In an instant.
A large hand covered Scott's mouth and nose. He began struggling wildly as fear spread through his heart.
"Shut up!"
The low, rough voice snapped Scott back to his senses. When he saw Li Dan, his expression could no longer be described as merely delighted. It was as though he had seen God.
Li Dan stared into the jungle. Behind another tree, the second Mutated Ogre had drawn its bow and nocked an arrow, glaring fixedly at its two kin.
The roar of a car suddenly came from the distance, drawing the attention of the two Deformed People. They immediately turned and hurried back.
Seeing the Deformed People leave, Scott leaned against a tree and slid down into a crouch.
"Thank you, Li. If it weren't for you, I might already be dead."
"No need to thank me. Tell me what happened after you split up."
As Scott described what had happened, Li Dan had not expected him to be so sentimental. He had actually sacrificed himself to lure away the Deformed People.
As a selfish person, Li Dan really liked good people like him.
If most people were like Scott, how wonderful would this world be?
Halfway through his account, Scott seemed to suddenly realize something. He said angrily, "We have to go back and save Carly and the others. With you there, we can definitely take down those bastards!"
After the sun set.
The mountain region fell into quiet darkness.
Then a watchtower burst into blazing flames, like a beam of light in the darkness, growing brighter and brighter.
On the watchtower, Chris, Jessie, and Carly were like ants on a hot pan. Below them were Mutated Ogres, while staying meant burning to death. Chris spotted the surrounding trees and came up with the only solution: jumping onto the branches around the watchtower.
Jessie was already starting to regret it. She would have been better off following Li Dan back the way they had come. More importantly, her best friend Carly seemed unwilling to live anymore, crying and refusing to leave.
That only made the two Deformed People below even more excited.
But they did not notice that Li Dan and Scott had quietly approached from behind.
"Oh, fuck!"
The instant the three of them jumped onto the tree, the branch beneath their feet snapped, and they all fell.
As a Deformed Person lunged at him, Chris was so frightened that he scrambled away on his hands and knees.
Bang.
At the gunshot, the smallest Deformed Person instantly fled into the woods to hide.
Under the light of the fire.
Jessie finally saw the situation clearly. Scott had fired the gun, but he was currently being held by the tallest Deformed Person. Then a cold arrow pierced the tall Deformed Person's arm. It let out a pained howl and released Scott.
Li Dan stepped out from the shadows. He was speechless at Scott's aim. As bad as it was, Scott was still from North America.
Carly, who had been bent on dying, burst into tears of joy when she saw that her boyfriend was still alive.
"Scott!"
"Li Dan." Jessie was just as delighted. Li Dan was the only man in the group who made her feel safe.
Li Dan looked at the strongest Mutated Ogre and chambered a round in his shotgun.
The Mutated Ogre forcefully pulled the arrow from its arm and charged toward Li Dan, but in the darkness, the second Mutated Ogre slammed head-on into its former boss.
The Ogre Boss seemed to care deeply for its kin. As it watched the second Ogre attack it relentlessly, it looked bewildered, as if trying to awaken the second Ogre's conscience.
But under the second Deformed Person's frenzied assault, the Ogre Boss let out a pained roar and began to fight back.
Jessie and Chris were dumbfounded. The Mutated Ogres were fighting among themselves? Were they starting a dogfight?
By the blazing fire beside them, the two monsters crashed together, swinging their fists at each other's heads. A normal person would have been crippled by such a combo, but the Deformed People merely cried out in pain a couple of times.
Reduced pain meant they did not fear death.
The second Ogre was still far weaker than the Ogre Boss.
Jessie grabbed Li Dan's hand and pulled him away. "Dan, while they're fighting, let's run!"
"Jessie, where could you possibly run to now?"
She did not even know how to finish off an enemy. No wonder she would get killed in a counterattack. Li Dan shook free of Jessie's hand, chambered his shotgun, and aimed at the Ogre Boss. Under his command, the second Deformed Person moved aside.
Bang!
Li Dan shot the Ogre Boss in the chest. It did not fall. Instead, it ran toward him. He fired several more shots at its knees until it could only crawl using its hands.
Li Dan looked at the Ogre Boss crawling across the ground on its hands. He did not kill it, instead having the second Ogre drag it into the darkness.
The bullets in the shotgun had been used up, and Li Dan tossed it aside.
The watchtower continued to burn.
Though no one knew why the two hideous Ogres had turned against each other, they were all grateful to have escaped alive.
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