Boss Level

Chapter 20: Boss Level

Feng Ling immediately sat up straight and asked her, "Where?"

"I... I don't know..." Huangfu Miaomiao stammered. "This is a mission prompt. It won't tell the player the exact location, only give a range for the player to explore on their own."

Feng Ling asked, "Did the mission prompt say anything else? Read it to me."

Huangfu Miaomiao looked at the virtual screen before her and read it word for word to Feng Ling:

"Deep within the pitch-black cave, the monster is already ravenous. You need excellent judgment and astonishing courage to meet it. Silence is the Overture to Death, Light is the Prelude to Victory. Conquer your fear and you shall receive a generous reward—Do you accept the A-Rank Subjugation Task?"

After Huangfu Miaomiao finished reading, her expression turned extremely grim. "An A-Rank Subjugation Task... If it's A-Rank, that means the target includes a Boss Level Contaminant."

Feng Ling listened very attentively and asked, "How powerful is Boss Level?"

Huangfu Miaomiao's face showed difficulty. "I don't know..."

She had never encountered an A-Rank Contaminant before, so how could she know how powerful it was? Even a B-Rank Elite Monster was enough to scare her out of her wits.

Huangfu Miaomiao explained, "In the game, all killable targets are divided into five ranks: Minor Monster, Elite Monster, Head Boss, Lord Boss, and Abyss Boss."

Feng Ling asked, "The Head Boss is in the middle rank, so is its strength relatively average?"

Huangfu Miaomiao immediately shook her head like a rattle-drum. "You can't think of it that way! Among the five ranks, the Abyss is the strongest Boss directly generated by the system, with a fixed number—only twelve in the entire world. It's almost impossible to encounter, and even if you do, you can't beat it. It's usually outside the scope of player concern. So Boss Level is actually very strong! Even the weakest, most pathetic Head Boss has high-tier cards and has completed at least 3 digestions!"

Feng Ling silently pondered—her own cards were very special, likely high-tier, and she had also completed 3 digestions. By that logic, was her strength as a Hidden Boss equivalent to a Head Boss?

No, that wasn't rigorous.

Huangfu Miaomiao had used the word "at least."

Three was the minimum. Perhaps this Contaminant had already completed 5, 8, or even over a dozen digestions.

It must have digested many times; otherwise, its Corruption Value wouldn't have exceeded the limit, causing it to degenerate into a Contaminant.

"Super Strong Super discovered Xenomorphs in the tunnel, and you received a mission notification about a Contaminant. This probably isn't a coincidence." Feng Ling thought for a moment and asked Huangfu Miaomiao, "Can only you see this mission, or can all Xenomorphs see it?"

"This is a regional mission. Any player within the area will receive the message," Huangfu Miaomiao said.

The corner of Feng Ling's mouth lifted slightly. "In other words, we'll not only have to face the Contaminant soon, but we might also encounter attacks from Xenomorphs."

Huangfu Miaomiao fell silent.

She knew there were many lunatics among the players, people who pursued the thrill of killing and the rush of violence, showing no mercy even to their own kind, let alone the natives of Earth.

Feng Ling pulled out her phone and started typing, feeling it necessary to share this information with the group.

[Feng Ling: Little Skeleton just received a mission prompt. There's an A-Rank Contaminant nearby. I reasonably suspect the Contaminant is related to the large number of injured Xenomorphs Super Strong Super described finding in the tunnel.]

[Zhou Diao: Holy shit!]

[Su Yuqing: Can you confirm the Contaminant's location?]

[Feng Ling: No. The mission info only gave an exploration range.]

[Su Yuqing: @Feng Ling, share the exploration range in the group. I'll have the tech team analyze the terrain.]

Feng Ling opened her phone's map app and handed it to Huangfu Miaomiao. "Mark the range. I'll send it to them."

Huangfu Miaomiao took the phone, feeling a bit conflicted.

She thought her name was quite nice, so why didn't Feng Ling call her by name, instead calling her Little Skeleton?

And the people in this group immediately knew "Little Skeleton" referred to her, without even needing a few seconds to react...

"Done." Huangfu Miaomiao handed the phone back to Feng Ling.

Feng Ling took a look. The range was quite large, covering not only the shopping mall but also the surrounding residential areas and a park.

She took a screenshot and sent it to the group.

[Su Yuqing: Received.]

[Su Yuqing: I'll be responsible for organizing and coordinating the evacuation of residents. You continue with the plan as scheduled.]

[Zhou Diao: I want a rocket launcher!!!]

[Su Yuqing: Heavy weapons are Plan B. If your operation goes poorly, in an emergency I will apply for a special action permit to conduct a fire bombardment on that area.]

[Feng Ling: If you blow up the tunnel, we'll be buried alive.]

No one spoke.

The group went cold again.

But Feng Ling noticed an interesting detail: when she mentioned "Contaminant" in the group, neither Su Yuqing nor Zhou Diao asked what a Contaminant was.

It seemed the Supervision Bureau's internal intelligence on Xenomorphs was more extensive than she had imagined.

Su Yuqing sent her a private message.

[Su Yuqing: After this operation is over, I hope you'll consider becoming one of us.]

[Feng Ling: (^_^) Heh, we'll see.]

6:00 AM.

Super Strong Super sent a location pin in the group chat, ordering everyone to assemble at the shopping mall.

The group arrived at the mall, and Super Strong Super sent a second message, narrowing the location to Zone C of the underground parking garage on level B2.

When they reached Zone C, they lost contact with Super Strong Super.

No reply to messages, no answer to calls.

If Huangfu Miaomiao hadn't told them there was a Contaminant nearby, Feng Ling would have almost thought Super Strong Super was pulling a prank.

Thump, thump, thump—

A strange sound echoed through the empty underground parking garage.

Zhou Diao's sharp hearing immediately traced the noise to a nearby rolling shutter door.

They approached the door to investigate. It wasn't locked, and the ground in front was covered in messy shoe prints, as if something chaotic had happened.

Zhou Diao didn't open the door. Cautiously, he first reported the situation to Su Yuqing.

Huangfu Miaomiao's nerves were taut. She pressed close to Feng Ling and whispered, "What's behind the door?"

Feng Ling glanced at it. "This is a privately owned garage. Used for parking cars, sometimes storing car-washing tools and the like."

No sooner had she spoken than the rolling shutter door thumped again!

Huangfu Miaomiao flinched in fright, her small face turning pale. Her hand tightly gripped the hem of Feng Ling's clothes.

Feng Ling turned her head and asked Zhou Diao, "When do we open it?"

Compared to before, Zhou Diao, now in investigation mode, was like a different person. All his restlessness and arrogance had been suppressed.

With a calm expression, he gestured to his teammates.

Everyone retreated to both sides, raising their firearms.

Zhou Diao stepped forward alone, one hand gripping the handle of the rolling shutter door, while the other hand signaled a preparatory gesture to the teammates behind him: one, two, three—

He yanked the door up with force!

All gun barrels aimed at what lay beyond, ready to suppress any sudden danger.

The rolling shutter door screeched upward, revealing a huge pit inside!

Zhou Diao was stunned. He had imagined all sorts of scenarios behind the door, but never once a pit!

The pit was nearly vertical, about three or four meters deep. At the bottom stood two men, struggling to hold up a pair of bound-together, extended shovels.

The sound earlier had been them banging those shovels against the rolling shutter door.

The men at the bottom of the pit were disheveled and filthy. When they saw Zhou Diao, their eyes lit up with a frightening intensity. One of them said in a hoarse voice, "You're here? Hurry, come on down."