The Main Boss Is Always Like a Dog

Si Ming was not lying to Colonel Robert Neville—he truly possessed a degree certificate from Miskatonic University. It was one of the identity credentials he had prepared when returning to the AVP world. Produced by the Main God, quality was guaranteed; regardless of how illogical the content of the certificate might be, it was fully functional.

He saw the Colonel's mouth hang open, and Sam, lying to the side, also had his tail stand straight up. The Colonel looked at him, then at the Skeleton Soldier, then back at him, and finally back at the Skeleton Soldier. Suddenly, he slapped his own head and let out a frantic sound.

"I've gone mad, so I really have gone mad... I knew it, how could there possibly be other living people, let alone some professor from Miskatonic University... Haha, haha, my brain must be broken."

One second, two seconds.

Si Ming watched him quietly.

The next moment, the Colonel suddenly let out a wild shriek. He lunged at Si Ming with claws and fangs, only to be immediately pinned to the ground by the Skeleton Soldier Si Ming had summoned.

The cold, shadowed ground might have helped him regain some clarity. Si Ming casually reached out and grabbed Sam, who had been growling as he lunged forward. A wisp of invisible Night Battle Qi seeped into the dog, ensuring this poor creature wouldn't die from a viral infection as it did in the original plot.

Three seconds, four seconds.

Shizuka Ishikawa, witnessing Si Ming's true methods for the second time, gently covered her mouth. The Colonel, pinned to the ground by the Skeleton Soldier, stopped struggling—his pupils dilated, contracted, contracted, and dilated. Clearly, his worldview was being reconstructed.

Very good, it seemed his SAN loss wasn't too severe; he hadn't reached the point of temporary insanity yet.

After a few more seconds.

"...Does Miskatonic University really exist?"

"What do you think?" Si Ming countered, preempting the question he knew was coming. "If it existed, where were we all when the KV Virus broke out?"

He then pushed further.

"But if it doesn't exist, then what exactly is this necromancy I'm using right now?"

Si Ming smiled and finally provided a summary.

"In that case, everything can be explained by one conclusion: Miskatonic University does indeed exist. But right now, it does not yet exist."

A contradictory statement, but a logical conclusion.

Colonel Robert Neville's eyes suddenly lit up, and a concept common in the Cthulhu mythos flickered in his mind like a lightbulb turning on.

Time travel!

Miskatonic University did not exist in the present, but it could exist in the past or the future... No! It must exist in the future! That was why Professor Si was wearing that 'motorcycle suit'—because it was clearly individual combat or exploration gear that would only appear in the future!

His voice trembled violently.

"Has humanity in the future... defeated the KV Virus?"

Si Ming did not answer directly. Instead, he provided information to confirm the timeline. "As far as I know, Colonel Robert Neville, you achieved a breakthrough in today's serum experiment. It was a composite serum ratio you called Compound Six, and it showed efficacy in suppressing the KV Virus in experimental animals."

With every word he spoke, the Colonel's eyes grew brighter. This was a minute detail that only the Colonel himself could have known. If anyone else were to know this, it would mean either his hard drive had been hacked despite having no network connection, or his memoirs had become a massive bestseller in the future!

"Did it succeed? Did I succeed?"

Si Ming's gaze drifted away from him toward a massive building not far from the harbor—a metal facility that sealed away a vast amount of now-useless banknotes. Many Night Demons were entrenched there, and among them was a Night Demon Lord.

In the original plot, it was from this building that Robert had used bait to capture the Night Demon Lord's daughter. He then used her for human serum trials and eventually obtained an antidote that could cure the KV Virus. Of course, he also suffered the retaliatory wrath of the Night Demon Lord, and in the film's two endings, he either survived but abandoned the antidote research, or sacrificed his life to protect the cure.

"You need to conduct some experiments to further verify the efficacy of the sample and make improvements to it."

The Colonel was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

"Right! I was just about to go catch a Night Demon today to conduct human experiments!"

"One isn't enough." Si Ming shook his head. "How can you only run an experiment once? There are clearly plenty of consumables available. The research and improvement of medicine is a long process. I personally think you should be bolder and move faster."

"Let me help you."

--[Triggered side quest: Assist Colonel Robert Neville in completing the KV Virus antidote. Success grants 1 B-rank side quest and 5000 reward points.]

The voice rang out.

The announcement of the Main God finally reached Si Ming's ears.

Shizuka Ishikawa beside him let out a soft gasp, which reminded Si Ming that he still had an assistant who could handle extra tasks.

He raised his hand, and a large stack of black sleeping bags he had scavenged from the underground supermarket dropped to the ground. This obvious display of spatial folding made the surprise in the Colonel's eyes grow even deeper, and he nodded slightly toward Shizuka Ishikawa.

"Ishikawa, organize these sleeping bags. We'll need them to hold the Night Demons later."

"Colonel, please prepare a larger vehicle. You should be more familiar with the environment here."

The girl nodded busily; this was an easy task for her. Robert responded immediately.

"Understood, I know of a truck nearby that we can use... Wait, the laboratory in my basement might not be able to hold too many Night Demons..."

His laboratory was small, and the number of beds was limited. Because he had always operated alone, he naturally hadn't needed the lab to be very large.

"That is a problem for later." Si Ming raised his hand, and the next moment, more Skeleton Soldiers were summoned from the summoning space according to his will. Under his command, they formed ranks and advanced rapidly, soon approaching the area where the vault was located.

The group set into motion.

Shizuka Ishikawa was safe under the sunlight, and Colonel Robert went off to start the truck, filled with excitement. He had initially wanted to enter the vault with Si Ming, but was politely declined. After Si Ming stated his reasons, he did not insist.

"You don't have night vision, and you can't compete with Night Demons in terms of strength." Si Ming lowered the helmet of his Nano-Biochemical Suit, pointing to his own heavily protected body and eyes. "Leave professional matters to the professionals."

He was indeed a professional.

When he walked into the vault with twenty Skeleton Soldiers—each with combat power comparable to a Xenomorph, possessing speed, strength, night vision superior to the Night Demons, and completely devoid of fear, all while being replaceable at any time—there was likely no one else in this world who could demonstrate a higher level of professionalism regarding Night Demons than he did.

Is there anything else that needs attention?

The only thing to be careful about is ensuring observation of the surrounding environment, thereby preventing this group of Night Demons from escaping through any potential underground passages.

Si Ming realized this, so he was very cautious.

Once the Skeleton Soldiers secured every traffic junction displayed on the Nano-Biochemical Suit's mini-map, the subsequent battle and slaughter became easy and effortless.

No, it was only a battle; there was no slaughter.

Si Ming did not even pick up his gun, opting instead to use the Main God-brand blunt weapon in the shape of a large hammer. This item cost fifty points and came with a high-voltage electric shock function. It was something Si Ming had found while deep in thought, checking for gaps and making up for deficiencies under the Great Light Sphere, specifically intended for non-lethal strikes against targets that needed to be captured. He even required his Skeleton Soldiers to use their shields and the hilts of their blades to attack.

The first Night Demon quickly fell to the ground.

Then came the second, and the third.

The remaining Night Demons were startled awake, emitting sharp, screeching roars. They lunged at Si Ming in vain, yet they could not pose any threat to him. Even those Skeleton Soldiers that could be pounced upon and knocked down did not actually yield any significant results for them.

What if one Skeleton Soldier is knocked down?

What if ten Skeleton Soldiers are knocked down?

If one falls, another can immediately take its place. If ten fall, another ten replace them right away. However, every strike from the electric hammer Si Ming swung effectively reduced their numbers and combat strength.

Bang— an exceptionally loud collision rang out.

A sensation of toughness transmitted through his hands. A Higher Night Demon, stronger than the others and possessing hardened skin, was knocked to the ground by this large electric baton—it did not faint, but continued to roar and struggle incessantly. Thus, Si Ming gave it another heavy blow for good measure.

A sound like bone cracking seemed to emerge.

This most powerful Night Demon finally collapsed completely. With its unconsciousness, the entire Night Demon colony in the vault fell into a state of panic and confusion. It was obvious that this was the Night Demon Lord of this area.

The final boss of the movie, the Night Demon Lord capable of shattering bulletproof glass with consecutive strikes of its bare hands.

Its superiority over a stray dog on the side of the road lay in the fact that Si Ming needed two hits to take it down.

As for those actual strays—the few infected wild dogs that had bitten Sam in the original plot—they were sent crashing into the wall after a casual kick from Si Ming, turning into puddles of leather-wrapped meat paste.

Objective complete.

The cleanup took Si Ming about ten minutes.

And by the time he finished packing and bundling all the Night Demons, stacking them by the side of the road with the assistance of Shizuka Ishikawa, who had finally finished the trivial task of organizing her sleeping bag, the total time elapsed was less than half an hour.

Colonel Robert, driving a large truck, arrived fashionably late. Then—

"I found the biggest vehicle I could; this truck can hold at least twenty Night Demons..."

He looked at the pile of at least one hundred black sleeping bag bundles stacked at the intersection and nearly drove the truck straight into a wall.