Bloody Key (A Special Chapter for Ally Bo Liang)

Fang Linyan was no stranger to this blood-colored key—he had seen it before when Fang killed Gale and Thornton—but this was the first time he had held it in his own hands, examining it up close.

Fang didn't carry any syringes on him, which disappointed Fang Linyan, but he was certain that current technology couldn't replicate this key. Maybe he could use it as leverage to trade for syringes with that damned company?

With a nervous heart, Fang Linyan tried touching the blood-colored key with his finger and found it surprisingly heavy, made of some unknown material. Looking closely, the key, only two or three centimeters long, was covered in strange, intricate patterns that seemed primitive and wild at first glance, yet with more scrutiny felt like they came from the future.

Not only that, but if he observed for a while longer, at the top of the key there was even a bizarre door pattern—metallic in texture, fleshy in color, adorned with chaotic fangs and sharp teeth.

As he gripped the key, a piece of information suddenly appeared in Fang Linyan's mind:

Do you wish to summon Bloody Treasure Chest, serial number DCS187? Yes/No?

Fang Linyan was startled and instinctively selected No, and of course nothing happened.

He hesitated, then gripped the key again, and the information reappeared in his mind. This time he chose "Yes," and immediately saw a blood-colored metal chest slowly take shape before him, its surface bearing a massive Grim Reaper Scythe pattern.

Then the metal chest began to open slowly, revealing a blinding, piercing red light inside that made it impossible to see what was within. A series of prompts immediately flooded Fang Linyan's mind, but he didn't notice that the old-fashioned phone he carried was flashing on its screen:

You have opened the Bloody Treasure Chest. You will receive the fol&￥##@

Data corruption detected.

Attempting repair.

Redundant data clearing, error byte correction in progress.

Then a long string of information popped up.

You may choose one of the following options as your loot.

1. Obtain 50% of the deceased's remaining Potential Points and Universal Points at the time of death.

2. The deceased was killed in the real world (affiliated with the killer), so there is a 50% chance to obtain one piece of equipment that the character had stored in the space. Note: Equipment selection is random.

3. Randomly obtain three items from the deceased's storage space at the time of death.

4. There is a 33% chance to obtain a scroll of one of the deceased's abilities. This scroll is drawn from all abilities the character mastered (including but not limited to basic abilities, advanced basic abilities, and talent abilities), becoming a scroll learnable by anyone. The ability level after learning is the original ability level / 2.

However, when Fang Linyan looked closely, he saw that options 1 and 4 were completely grayed out—unselectable. So he only had two choices: 2 or 3. Realizing this, he decisively chose the third option.

Because Fang Linyan's goal was simple: to survive. The retroviral vector syringes that Fang carried were his only hope of staying alive!

After choosing the third option, Fang Linyan saw the blood-colored chest gradually fade and disappear, leaving three things on the deck.

The first thing was a stack of cash. Fang Linyan picked it up and examined it, finding about eight hundred euros, with dark red bloodstains dotting the bills—a sight that felt rather eerie.

The second thing was a peculiar item, seemingly a medal made of black iron, engraved with the initials S.K.M. On the back was the text: "It can raise your military rank." Fang Linyan studied it for a while but couldn't figure out what use it had.

The third thing made Fang Linyan let out a long breath—it was that damaged silver-white case. He opened it immediately and found that, because it had been broken, only five retroviral vector syringes remained inside!

With what he wanted in hand, Fang Linyan turned and left without hesitation, tossing the silver-white case straight into the river. First, because it was too conspicuous and already damaged; second, because he couldn't rule out the possibility of a tracking signal on it.

He had already planned his moves in advance. After going ashore, he put on a helmet, hopped onto a secondhand motorcycle, and drove straight inland. Of course, given Fang Linyan's meticulous nature, he had thoroughly checked the motorcycle and filled it with gas.

This secondhand motorcycle took only county roads and small paths. By the time the Umbrelia organization recovered from its chaos and started tracking him, Fang Linyan had already reached a mountainous area a hundred kilometers away, a place where the power was cut for eight to ten days each month, where security relied on dogs, transport on walking, and entertainment on hands.

After arriving here, Fang Linyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. His arrival here was entirely random and uncertain—whenever he hit a fork in the road, he used a lottery draw to decide left or right. After five consecutive draws, he ended up at this destination.

What's the safest place? A place you didn't even know you'd be going to beforehand!

Then he dove straight into a farmhouse inn. The owner only cared about one thing: whether the money used for payment was real. Fang Linyan promptly holed up in his room, read the instructions, then took out a syringe, drew half a tube of blood, and mixed one retroviral vector syringe into the blood.

The transparent syringe liquid mutated upon contact with the blood, producing a large number of black particles that continuously emitted smoky patterns within.

Five minutes later, the black particles gradually turned blood-red, and Fang Linyan injected the liquid back into his body.

Watching that liquid enter his system, Fang Linyan felt a strange sense of being a lab rat.

Two hours later, after confirming he had none of the adverse reactions listed in the instructions, he began the first course of treatment. Over forty-eight hours, he injected four retroviral vector syringes into his body, while drinking water during that time.

To be precise, drinking large amounts of water.

This pushed his weakened body to the brink of water intoxication.

But Fang Linyan endured it easily enough, since the discomfort of water poisoning was utterly incomparable to the vicious pain of terminal cancer.

After the injections, Fang Linyan didn't notice any changes. He slept, ate, occasionally browsed apps like Momo, and of course, coughed as usual.

However, after two consecutive days of injecting the retroviral vector syringes, he began to feel changes in his body. At the very least, that stubborn, persistent cough noticeably shortened in duration, and his personal energy became significantly more vigorous.

In fact, if he went to the hospital for a checkup now, he would find that the cancer cells in all his lesions had been successfully suppressed. They no longer tried to spread, and their growth momentum had started to wither. His attending physician would marvel and call it a miracle.