Chapter 202
Chapter 202
In the Misty Forest.
Moonlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the forest.
Along the muddy path, a white figure streaked past.
Moving at incredible speed, the white figure flashed to the entrance of the Forest Tavern and rapped on the door three times: knock, knock, knock.
Jiang Li turned to look.
A Rabbit Man stood expressionlessly in the doorway, wearing sunglasses and covered in white fur, a medical case in his hand.
He wore a long white coat.
The smell of disinfectant clinging to him made Jiang Li frown.
The scent was familiar. Jiang Li had smelled it before in Fairy Tale World.
Back then, in Fairy Tale World, the Little Soldier had fallen into a deep sleep in Little Red Riding Hood Zhao Qingqing’s home, luring the killer to sneak inside.
When the killer had tried to dissect the Little Soldier, the room had been filled with this same disinfectant smell.
So… this rabbit-furred man was the murderer who had vivisected a large number of children?
Jiang Li’s gaze darkened.
“Proprietress,” the Rabbit Man said coolly, “the Doctor asked me to tell you that if you see the Rabbit Hunter, you’ll be the one to inject her with the antidote.”
The Rabbit Man took out a packet of injectable medicine from the medical case and silently placed it on the floor.
The Proprietress immediately plastered on a smile and agreed at once. “Yes, yes, yes, leave it to me. Don’t worry!”
“Chosen One, come with me.” The Rabbit Man looked at Jiang Li again, coldly tossed out those words, then turned and left.
Jiang Li glanced at the Proprietress, who nodded at her.
“Go on. The organization has its rules. He wouldn’t dare do anything reckless,” the Proprietress reminded her in a low voice.
Feeling uneasy, Jiang Li took a dagger out of her Space.
She had gotten this dagger in the previous Instance, when the Elevator Attendant Han Xueping had carried her downstairs. Worried that Jiang Li wouldn’t trust her, Han Xueping had deliberately handed it over to her.
If the Rabbit Man did anything out of line, Jiang Li would at least be able to defend herself with it.
“An ordinary dagger is useless. It can’t hurt an Aberration. To kill an Aberration, it has to be a Human Blood Dagger!”
“Calling it now, she’s about to cut her finger and turn the ordinary dagger into a Human Blood Dagger. [doge.jpg]”
“Isn’t Dai Chunli dead? Her meat shield is gone. Won’t cutting herself hurt like hell?”
“Of course it’ll hurt! But there’s no helping it. Staying alive matters more.”
“Poor Lili. [crying.gif] The Ghost Face Organization is so sinister.”
On the livestream screen,
Jiang Li held the dagger against the pad of her finger.
Just when everyone thought she was about to cut herself, Jiang Li suddenly moved the dagger away.
“Look, look, she’s scared. She’s scared.”
“But won’t it be dangerous without a Human Blood Dagger?”
“I’m shaking. I have a really bad feeling something’s going to happen. [prayer.emoji]”
Under the watchful eyes of the viewers, Jiang Li suddenly took the dagger and pressed the flat of the blade against the wound on Xu Haoran’s neck.
The wound the Drunkard had bitten open on Xu Haoran’s neck instantly turned cold.
Before he could even react, Jiang Li had already withdrawn the dagger.
“Thanks. Borrowing some blood.”
Jiang Li put the dagger away and quickly ran after the Rabbit Man.
And the ordinary dagger in Jiang Li’s hand, the moment it touched the blood on Xu Haoran’s neck, flashed red and became a Human Blood Dagger.
As Jiang Li ran out, she also seized the chance to grab a handful of the dug-up black mud by the door while putting the chocolate powder back into her Space.
Whether the chocolate powder was useful or not, having it was still better than not having it.
Behind Jiang Li, the Proprietress picked up the medical pack the Rabbit Man had left behind and injected Zhao Qingqing with the antidote.
Meanwhile, Zhao Qingqing looked anxiously in Jiang Li’s direction, silently praying that nothing would happen to her.
Following the Rabbit Man, Jiang Li arrived at the nearest empty cabin.
The Rabbit Man raised his hand and glanced at his wristwatch. Time was running out.
It was almost “Hunting Time”: 12:40 a.m.
He pressed the watch’s switch, activating Time Stop.
The people of Fairy Tale World continued carrying out their normal activities, but time in Fairy Tale World itself temporarily stopped flowing.
Jiang Li sat on a small tree stump while the Rabbit Man crouched in front of her.
He opened the medical case, quickly snapped open a glass ampoule, inserted the needle, and drew up the medicine.
Then he picked up a cotton swab and applied iodine to Jiang Li’s arm.
Next, the fine needle pierced Jiang Li’s flesh, and the medicine slowly entered her body.
Jiang Li was rapidly contaminated by the drug.
This accelerated contamination process was extremely painful.
Jiang Li clenched her teeth and endured the pain without making a sound in front of the Rabbit Man.
The injection was finished.
The Rabbit Man put away the syringe. “This vial is concentrated to ten times the normal dosage. It’ll guarantee you have enough attack power.”
Only after injecting the drug did the Rabbit Man finally let down his guard and fully treat Jiang Li as a member of the Ghost Face Organization.
Holding a signal flare launcher, he walked to the window of the cabin, aimed at the sky, and fired a firework.
The firework was a signal to tell the Doctor the mission was complete.
At the same time, it was also a celebration: the Ghost Face Organization had gained another fierce fighter.
“What’s your job? Vivisecting sleeping children?” Jiang Li asked casually, covering the needle mark on her arm.
The Rabbit Man turned back to look at Jiang Li and snapped his fingers with a smile. “Correct. All the children here are mine to dissect.”
“Why? Why does it have to be living children? I’m trying to learn,” Jiang Li said, doing her best to keep smiling and putting on an eager-to-know expression.
The Rabbit Man stood before the window with his hands behind his back, looking outside.
“Of course they have to be alive. Our Ghost Face Organization’s medical science is unmatched. We’ve already thoroughly researched dead people’s hearts. Now, for the organization, the hearts of the living are far more meaningful.”
The Rabbit Man looked back at Jiang Li. “Do you remember that before joining the game, they measured the children’s age in months?”
Jiang Li nodded. “I remember.”
At the entrance to Children’s Paradise, Jiang Li and her companions had been tested and found to each be babies over two hundred months old.
Thinking of that, the Rabbit Man curled his lips into a confident smile.
“Children of different ages have completely different states of physical development, especially their hearts. What we’re researching is adolescent development.
“The Doctor told me to show you the ropes. You’ll understand bit by bit.
“Here, in our Ghost Face Organization, our medicine is advanced and our technology is incredible. All of this is the result of our hard work.”
Jiang Li asked, “Why not vivisect the Ghost Face Organization’s own children? Why vivisect children from Huaguo instead?”
Hearing Jiang Li’s question, the Rabbit Man was visibly startled. “What? Are you standing up for them? Are you speaking as a citizen of Huaguo, or as a member of the Ghost Face Organization?”
Jiang Li felt a leaden heaviness settle over her.
“Sorry,” Jiang Li said with a forced smile. “I’ll adapt to my new identity as quickly as possible.”
Jiang Li’s body was still mutating at high speed.
She was currently somewhere between her “human form” and her “Rabbit Hunter form.”
The Rabbit Man stared at Jiang Li without blinking.
Suddenly, he threw back his head and burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Jiang Li. You’re Jiang Li! I’d heard a long time ago that we couldn’t kill you. Never thought you’d end up as my apprentice!”
The Rabbit Man was immensely pleased with himself.
He stepped forward and patted Jiang Li on the shoulder. “Do a good job! Don’t go getting ideas about letting those troublesome players escape!
“I can tell you this clearly: even if you eat the chocolate and use the sleeping state as cover to avoid attacking the other players, it won’t work.
“Our people will be monitoring them in real time. The moment they discover the players haven’t been killed, we still have countless Hunters waiting to move out.
“What’s more… if you let them go and fail to complete the ‘hunting mission,’ you’ll definitely die!
“Or if you ever start having second thoughts and want to kill me, the organization definitely won’t let you off either.
“I think you should know even better than I do what the correct choice tonight is. You’re a smart person.”
The Rabbit Man withdrew the hand he’d used to pat Jiang Li’s shoulder and gave her a meaningful look.
Jiang Li’s expression remained calm as she showed a gentle smile. “Of course. I value my life.”
The Rabbit Man gave Jiang Li a thumbs-up, then picked up the medicine case and said his goodbyes.
“I won’t take you along to kill anyone tonight. Practice on your own first. Consider this the organization’s entrance exam.”
With that, he turned and left with unhurried ease.
The Rabbit Man was secretly delighted. With Jiang Li as his apprentice, his future was bound to be bright.
But just as the Rabbit Man was reveling in his self-satisfaction, a knife stabbed into his abdomen from behind.