Chapter 509.1: Feel Honored... This Was Originally Meant For The Adjudicator

Right after hopping offline, Ye Wei synced the shocking situation discovered in Zone X-13 to the official site. Not daring to stay offline too long, he immediately put his helmet back on and returned to the game after posting.

Even if Zone X-13 hadn't been infected by Slime Mold, remaining offline in the wild for too long was extremely dangerous.

Moreover, there was still a difference between allies and their men. He had only interacted with Yunyi for a few hours, so he couldn’t fully trust her.

The dim lighting returned to his view. At the moment, Night Ten was reclining in a folding chair, legs propped on the table, pretending to nap.

Across from him, Yunyi sat staring at him intently, her face filled with a strange expression.

10 minutes earlier, he suddenly upped and ran away.

"A little tired, gonna rest..." That was all he said before he nonchalantly found a chair and dozed off.

What surprised Yunyi wasn't his disregard for the situation, but the fact that he could actually sleep in that kind of environment.

Though Zone X-13 hadn’t been infested, meaning no active Mutant Slime Mold were around, there was still a rotting corpse in the room next door.

And on that corpse, they had found Yi Hai’s ID tag...

There was no proof that the decaying figure was definitely Yi Hai, but all signs indicated that something was very wrong with the guy lying on the ground.

Things were really wrong...

Yunyi took a deep breath. Her mind was a mess and she needed to calmly sort through the clues they had.

Just then, the guy across from her stirred, lowering his legs from the table.

"You’re awake?"

"Yeah..."

Meeting Yunyi’s odd gaze, Night Ten realized his earlier behavior probably seemed weird from a normal person’s perspective. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and explained, "Side effect of my awakened talent... Sorry."

"It’s fine. I was tired too. No harm in sitting down for a bit," Yunyi replied casually, not pressing the issue.

She wasn’t an expert in biology and didn’t know much about awakening, especially since the field was already related to cutting-edge technology even before the war. Even actual experts might not know much.

Still... The guy seemed decent, though surprisingly frail.

Unaware of her thoughts, Night Ten was relieved she didn’t probe further. After all, some things really couldn’t be explained, as stated in the Player’s Handbook.

After checking his weapon, he glanced around and changed the subject. "Is it just me, or are the lights in this room dimmer?"

Yunyi looked around and replied, "It’s been like that for a bit... Probably because we switched to backup power."

"Is that so? Then Jiang Xuezhou and Wally must’ve succeeded?"

"Could be the administrator's office too," she said, glancing at the door to the living quarters and adjusting her glasses. "Either way, we need to speed up."

The bullet-riddled room from earlier kept bothering her. Just seeing the sheer density of holes in the wall made her worry about what awaited them up ahead...

As she rose from her chair, the alloy door behind them suddenly opened.

Night Ten instinctively raised his rifle, barking, "Who’s there?!"

"It’s me..." A familiar voice came from beyond the door. Jiang Xuezhou leaned against the frame, clutching her arm. Her face was pale, and blood had seeped through where she’d seemingly been scratched by a Mutant Slime Mold.

"Jiang Xuezhou?" Night Ten stared in shock, slowly lowering his weapon.

Jiang Xuezhou flinched at the sight of his rifle, but forced a concerned expression as she limped into the room.

"Are you guys alright? I passed by the records room earlier and there were bullet holes all over the walls."

"We’re fine. Those were from a long time ago..." Yunyi looked at her in surprise. "You’re injured?"

Jiang Xuezhou nodded grimly. "Yeah... We ran into a corpse tide near the power room. Wally died covering me, and Wangy was destroyed. But I managed to activate the fire suppression system and injected coolant into the reactor... The Hive is frozen now."

So that robot dog was called Wangy...

Night Ten had never heard her refer to it by that nickname before, but something about her pitiful look made him deeply uneasy.

Wait a second.

Why is she here?

Why will an Academy researcher care about the pioneers’ crew? Shouldn’t she be heading straight for the administrator’s office?

This is too strange...

Even stranger, Night Ten clearly remembered the woman always looking at him with disdain, distrust, and even hostility.

Why act concerned now?

That’s when he suddenly recalled Yi Hai in the camp’s hospital, and the Yi Hai’s corpse he had seen.

So that’s it...

Night Ten’s eyes flickered.

He didn’t know how she had pulled it off or what she wanted, but he was sure the woman had ill intentions.

Yi Hai’s death was most likely related to her, or to the organization behind her.

Having high perception didn’t mean he could sense everything while making no mistakes. Even beasts like Deathclaws could mask their presence and killing intent, so a trained human could too.

Especially when awakened sensory abilities weren’t exactly a secret in the wasteland...

Without revealing his realization, Night Ten looked at her with concern. "You were scratched by a Cruncher! If we don’t treat the wound, it might get infected. Let me help you wrap it up."

If he could catch her, maybe he would get answers.

And if it turned out to be a misunderstanding, he could just apologize later.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

It shouldn’t escalate into a diplomatic incident.

With that in mind, Night Ten took out a bandage roll and walked over with exaggerated courtesy.

Jiang Xuezhou didn’t seem suspicious, in fact, a subtle smile even flickered across her lips. She hesitated, then uncovered her arm and softly said, head lowered as if she was shy. "Thank you... I’ll leave it to you."

Seeing her bashful expression, Night Ten was even more convinced.

There’s something too fucking suspicious about this! No way would someone who hated him ever show that face!

He didn’t want to rough up a girl, but it was for the mission.

Muttering an apology silently, he suddenly looped the bandage around her in a flash the moment he unwrapped it.

"What are you doing?!" Jiang Xuezhou was startled by the sudden move, eyes wide as she tried to back away.

But Night Ten didn’t stop, he wrapped the bandage over and over again.

New Alliance-issued bandages were laced with Devil’s Silk fibers. Escaping from them wasn’t easy.

Soon she was bound tightly in loops.

Even Yunyi stared in shock.

"Night Ten... What, what are you doing?!"

"Back off!" he shouted.

"What do you mean..."

"She’s a fake!"

Yunyi blinked in confusion, then remembered the corpse she’d seen earlier. Suddenly realizing something, she cast a stunned look at the woman.

But almost instantly, that woman’s face began to distort before her eyes.

The pale complexion faded, revealing a tanned, muscular face and a scar running down her neck.

"Fuck... How boring." She spat crudely, then suddenly kneed Night Ten’s crotch.

Sensing his life in danger, Night Ten jerked back just in time to dodge the fatal blow, though her knee still hit his chest.

The massive force slammed into his bulletproof vest, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

Before he could recover, the woman had already broken free from the bandages, spun her body, and unleashed a whip-like kick aimed at his neck, channeling all her strength from ankle to waist.

The killing intent was no longer concealed. The wind from the kick roared like an axe.

But this time, Night Ten was faster.

He instinctively predicted her next move, grabbed his rifle from his chest, and smashed the butt against her leg.

The stock of the gun slammed into her shin and the stabbing pain made her flinch.

However, her reactions were equally as fast. She quickly drew the dagger strapped to her thigh and stabbed straight at Night Ten’s throat.

The flash of the blade made his hairs stand on end. He reflexively raised his LD-50 rifle just in time to block it.

The blade lodged in the barrel housing, the steel casing stopping that deadly glint cold.

Their faces were so close he could feel her breath on his skin. Though they were so close, the chilling killing intent and gleaming blade erased any sense of intimacy.

All Night Ten felt was a chill running down his spine.