Curse Gambler

Neither of them spoke. The only sound in the room was the soft rustle of files being turned.

The safe contained a number of experiment reports. There was an enormous amount of text, but Ji Xun read quickly.

Mechanical Arm Girl clearly understood the significance of those file classifications better than Ji Xun did. When she spotted the crucial detail, she muttered in astonishment, "What Anomaly 407 Containment Facility was researching... was actually a 'T-Class Calamity Source'!"

Ji Xun listened to the barely audible murmur while skimming through the documents.

This was what he had been looking for.

Some key clues to clearing the level.

In the files, he saw not only the Fallen Witch from Room 2012, but also the Corrupt Giant from 1099, the Curse Gambler from 3045, and several others.

Records existed for the most troublesome calamities discovered so far.

But clearly, Ji Xun had been wrong about one thing earlier.

This bunker had not been researching the monsters being held here.

Those monsters were merely experimental byproducts.

The true subject of research was something called a "Cataclysm Source."

Though he did not understand what a Cataclysm Source was.

Going by the descriptions, it seemed to be a dangerous object with immensely powerful contamination.

And from the corner of his eye, he kept watching Mechanical Arm Girl's expression as she browsed the files. It was not hard to infer that this was probably something extraordinary.

The two did not communicate. Ji Xun rapidly flipped through the files.

Then he opened another document envelope and found an incident report.

"Sealed File: S719 Incident Report"

"Incident Rating: D-Class"

"Details: On July 19, abnormal monitoring data was detected in the central laboratory. Aberrations in every chamber showed brief, unusual agitation. After careful inspection, no suspicious conditions were discovered. The risk was deemed low. Solution: increase patrols."

"Investigator: Dr. P. Luo"

"File Correction: On August 2, an aberration riot broke out in the experimental bunker. Only then did I realize that I may have made a grave mistake. This was an S-Class cataclysmic incident! That Cataclysm Source had actually begun leaking contamination long ago, and we had been contaminated without realizing it. My perception—indeed, the perception of everyone in the laboratory—had been eroded by some mysterious force, causing us to misjudge the risk level. It was too late to stop it. Everything was too late. The terror had already arrived."

Upon reading this, the puzzle-like clues in Ji Xun's mind seemed to connect.

Though a few pieces were still missing, he had roughly reconstructed the cause of the incident at Anomaly 407 Containment Facility. Someone had once researched a dangerous "Cataclysm Source" in this bunker, producing these monsters in the process. But contamination leaked during the research, infecting the entire laboratory. The monsters rioted and killed everyone in the lab.

It was not an overly complicated plot.

Seeing that there were not many files left, Ji Xun continued reading while casually reminding Mechanical Arm Girl beside him, "Careful. The monsters should be showing up soon."

Hearing that, Mechanical Arm Girl thought he had discovered something. Her expression immediately turned stern.

Yet after sensing the surroundings for a moment, she found no monsters.

Though she was confident in her own perception, she still asked to confirm, "What did you find?"

What could Ji Xun possibly have found? He chuckled. "Just judging by the usual plot progression, we've obtained the key clues. It's about time the difficulty ramped up."

Mechanical Arm Girl was utterly baffled by his cryptic jargon. "???"

"I'm only guessing."

Ji Xun smiled and shrugged, only then realizing that she could not keep up with his train of thought.

He pointed at the documents again. "At present, these materials appear to be necessary clues for clearing the level. So if monsters are coming, they will definitely appear after we obtain the documents. Otherwise, if a monster killed us the moment we entered, all those carefully designed level mechanics would be meaningless."

Mechanical Arm Girl still found it hard to believe.

A guess?

What kind of logic was that?

Just like how they had inexplicably found these files containing vital clues, she still could not understand why this fellow was so inexplicably certain that monsters would appear at any moment.

Ji Xun looked over the empty laboratory without further explanation and said meaningfully, "You'll know soon enough."

In this Alternate Dimension, he had sensed something unusual.

It happened to confirm some of his suspicions.

Yet before the monsters arrived, they were met by some outsiders.

While they were still searching through the archives, dense gunfire erupted beside their ears.

It seemed that the people on the first floor had charged up, intending to force their way to the Third Floor.

Their firepower was fierce, but the monsters were clearly fiercer.

The sounds of gunfire remained concentrated near the elevator on the second floor.

"Damn it! The monsters on the second floor have Mental Pollution. We can't charge our way to the Third Floor like this. Captain, should we retreat?"

"Retreating means death too. Hurry and find another exit!"

"Hey, there's actually a hole in the wall of Room 2013!"

"Get inside and hide!"

"..."

Whether it was coincidence or because they had been opening doors one by one, the people outside rushed into Room 2013 and found the hole.

There sounded to be quite a few of them, and those people entered the research lab as well.

Through the glass, Ji Xun saw an Elite Squad of fully armed people rush in, around a dozen in total.

Mechanical Arm Girl recognized the insignia on their uniforms and warned him, "Careful. They're mercenaries from the Blackwater Group. The kind who live by the blade."

Concise as that was, Ji Xun immediately understood that these people were probably bad news.

His eyes shifted as he asked, "Can you beat them?"

"..."

Mechanical Arm Girl said nothing and merely gave him a glance.

The meaning in her gaze was obvious: I can protect myself. You're the burden here.

Ji Xun immediately understood. He smiled, not taking offense.

Compared with the level of danger they were about to encounter, he did not consider these mercenaries much of a threat.

In fact, more people meant more opportunities for trial and error.

Being professional mercenaries, the armed group quickly discovered traces of the two from the marks on the floor.

"Captain, there are people over here!"

After Ji Xun and the other were discovered, both sides became extremely cautious.

Fighting was out of the question.

There were more than ten of them, and the odds of someone accidentally injuring a weakling were very high.

Ji Xun signaled for his teammate not to act rashly, spread his hands, and took the initiative to say, "Gentlemen, we have no intention of becoming your enemies."

Seeing him walk out of the room with his hands raised, the bald, burly man leading the other side studied him and lowered his guard somewhat. Then he asked, "Did you kill the monster outside?"

Everyone understood that the monsters were the greatest threat right now. Starting a conflict recklessly was not a rational choice.

"Yes."

Ji Xun replied, "We got lucky. While fighting the monster, we smashed through a wall and found this place."

The instant the man spoke, Ji Xun guessed that these mercenaries had not recognized what that lump of flesh and blood outside was.

Not everyone recognized the A-Class Calamity, the Fallen Witch.

At least within this instance, everyone who had previously seen its monster form was dead.

Otherwise, if they had recognized it, these mercenaries would certainly have spoken much more politely.

As he spoke, Ji Xun did not forget to gather information. "Gentlemen, what exactly happened? Why has this space suddenly become more difficult?"

The bald man clearly knew something, but he did not answer.

He sized up the two of them and asked in return, "Have you found anything?"

Perhaps because he considered Ji Xun's side to be merely two unaffiliated adventurers, every gesture and expression of his revealed the arrogance and domineering confidence of superior numbers.

With more than a dozen guns aimed at his head, Ji Xun looked properly compliant as he replied, "Oh. We just found a safe, but we couldn't open it."

Being a professional actor, he flawlessly portrayed the lucky opportunist who had survived this far by sheer dumb luck.

"A safe?"

The bald man was suspicious, but he could not spot any flaw.

Clearly, however, the Keyword "safe" instantly caught everyone's attention.

Their instincts told them: this was a vital clue!

With the dark gun barrels aimed at them, Ji Xun and Mechanical Arm Girl obediently retreated.

Two mercenaries went inside to check, then called out, "Captain, there really is a safe."

The Bald Captain immediately ordered, "Sixth, find a way to open it."

A sharp-featured mercenary in the group entered the room. "Yes."

A mature mercenary group would certainly have specialists of every kind. For example, members of the Thief Sequence, who excelled at opening treasure chests and disabling traps.

The moment Ji Xun saw the lockpicking tools the man took out, he knew the fellow was a professional.

But he was not worried that they would open the safe and discover it was empty.

Because there was no time left.

Earlier, the two of them had been few in number and quiet.

Now that such a commotion had been created, if monsters existed, they should be here by now.

He pulled Mechanical Arm Girl to a spot against the wall. At least no monster could appear behind them there.

Sure enough.

All at once, everyone clearly felt an inexplicable chill.

Mechanical Arm Girl was the first to notice something. In a grave tone, she warned, "Careful. Something has come in."

Her sharp gaze swept across the room.

Ji Xun, on the other hand, was rather relaxed.

If there was a fight to be had, that meant there was risk. If they could not win at all, then there was no need to consider the question of risk.

His own strength was not even worth worrying about.

He could leave combat to his teammate.

In his mind, he was sorting through the complex information in the materials they had just found, categorizing it piece by piece, selecting what might prove useful, then linking it to the current situation to formulate contingency plans.

His thoughts raced.

Among the Blackwater Mercenaries in the distance, there were clearly supernatural beings with sensory abilities as well. A moment later, they discovered something and cried out, "Captain, a calamity aura is approaching!"

At those words, the dozen mercenaries immediately entered combat formation, forming a professional-looking, airtight defensive line.

Gun barrels pointed toward the passageway at the far end of the laboratory.

For a time, the vast space was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Even breathing became heavy.

The difficulty of this Alternate Dimension had now risen to "unknown." No one knew what monster would appear.

The atmosphere was extremely tense.

Suddenly!

A shadow flashed around the corner of the distant passage, and several humanoid spiders rapidly crawled out from the ceiling.

Like cold water splashing into hot oil, the enormous laboratory exploded into chaos in that instant.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

All kinds of firearms and artillery erupted like torrential rain. The noise was so deafening that it felt as if they had been stuffed inside a drum and beaten wildly.

The muzzle flashes were like sprites of light in the darkness, flickering and dancing as they illuminated one terrified, tense face after another.

It had to be said that the Blackwater Mercenaries' Combat Power was directly reflected in their equipment.

All manner of heavy weapons and steam-powered black technology unleashed devastating killing power: Steam War Hammers, High-Pressure Spray Cannons, Mechanical Flying Forks.

The individual boilers equipped on these burly men were larger as well, and far more powerful.

The dozen or so men coordinated flawlessly, alternating fire to cover one another and giving the monsters no opportunity at all.

The humanoid spiders were riddled with holes the instant they showed themselves.

Compared with the monsters, Ji Xun was more curious about those magic cards.

During the battle, he saw another new type of magic card.

He watched the bald man send several red cards flying with a whoosh. Near the monsters, they suddenly exploded like grenades with two loud booms.

A single throw could launch many cards, and with sufficient skill, they could even be detonated with precision.

They were far more useful than hand grenades.

In the blink of an eye, however, the monsters at the edge of his vision had been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.

Yet the danger was far from over.

Mechanical Arm Girl sensed something, and her expression grew increasingly grave.

Ji Xun also felt that monsters of this level were still far below the anticipated intensity.

Sure enough!

The group had just eliminated a wave of minor monsters and had not even caught their breath.

Then, from another passageway, a monster more than two meters tall slowly walked out.

It was a humanoid monster with a dog's body, a ferocious face, and one severed arm.

Ji Xun looked over, his eyes narrowing slightly.

It was so distinctive that it was clearly the B-Class Calamity from Room 3045 on the Third Floor.

But it was no longer B-Class as listed in the intelligence.

Curse Gambler

Details: First-rank A-Class Calamity. It was once a gambler whose hand was chopped off for cheating. Even after mutating into a monster, it retained a gambler's vile nature. A Mystic Type contaminated entity, it excels in Curse Arts. It will gamble with you, and the wager is your life—whoever loses dies. It is a highly skilled gambler. Do not imagine that it will not cheat, and do not imagine that you can run away. Refuse to gamble, and you will certainly die.

This was a Curse Type BOSS!

At the sight of it, everyone, including Mechanical Arm Girl, had their Facial Expression change at once.

Because hunters had another nickname for this monster: Whoever Touches It Dies.

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