Chapter 484: Slaughter

"What?"

"What?"

Static crackled through the radio as Shen Yu and Joker exclaimed in shock—they had just been in long-range communication with Zhongtian Beiji, exchanging intelligence.

At this moment, the Apache attack helicopter slowly ascended, clearing the mountain ridges, its mounted cannon beginning to spin.

No time for detailed explanations—Li Cheng tucked away the radio, turned his head, and sprinted in an S-shaped path toward the depths of the dense forest.

Taptaptap—

A metal belt of bullets bit like a venomous snake; wherever it passed, tree trunks and branches exploded, spraying wood chips.

Li Cheng dove forward, clearing the shrubbery; Huiyu automatically shifted form, transforming into a thin, sturdy metal pad beneath him, allowing the two to slide down the slope like skiers.

"The Black Pharaoh doesn't want us lingering in the script world—and wanting to kill us—these two things aren't contradictory."

Li Cheng spoke rapidly: "He eliminated Andrew Prince and others from the original mission, kept Epstein, had Epstein designate new SVIP guests, then had the Three-Day Moon Hand—imprisoned somewhere by him—kill them."

In this 'kill-on-the-spot' manner, he ensures we hear the system notification."

In other words, in his design, if we still want to complete the mission, we must snatch Epstein alive from him, while—"

"—while he must ensure players don't linger here after failure."

Shen Yu's mind raced, integrating and analyzing the intelligence—the Black Pharaoh was too greedy, determined to devour the players completely: not only claiming seven Seed of Power, but also seizing the Chosen Qualification.

————

"Missiles! Launch missiles!"

Inside the attack helicopter, the Black Pharaoh slammed his fist against the cabin wall and roared.

Master Pi Fu's figure vanished beneath the thick canopy; thermal imaging struggled to discern him, but the screen still displayed a clear pinpoint of light.

The co-pilot pressed the button on the control stick; Hellfire missiles detached from their launchers, spewing long, narrow trails of flame as they dove toward the forest.

Boom!

The explosion's firelight illuminated the night sky; trees snapped and collapsed, birds startled into flight, and the layer of leaf litter and humus was ripped upward by the shockwave, forcing hidden snakes and insects to flee in panic.

The pinpoint on the attack helicopter's screen came from GPS signals—the satellite phone previously used at the Moro Altar had been fitted with a micro-tracker, continuously providing Master Pi Fu's location.

The Black Pharaoh took a deep breath and asked the co-pilot who had launched the missiles, "Did you hear any voice in your head?"

"Uh—"

The burly Black co-pilot's expression twisted strangely; he and the other U. S. soldiers had long been brainwashed by the Black Pharaoh's Corrupted Baron power, filled with absolute loyalty, and now, tense, he ventured, "And I said, Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone~"

The voice was shrill and hoarse—clearly Taylor Swift's 2023 country-pop song "Love Story."

The pilot's eyes widened; the U. S. soldiers in the rear sat in collective silence.

The Black Pharaoh, one hand gripping the cabin handrail, stared in shock, frozen for two full seconds before reacting: "What?"

"Sir, didn't you ask me what I heard?" the co-pilot said nervously. "That's the song looping in my head right now. My daughter and I are both Tay-Tay fans."

"You F***."

Had the situation permitted, the Black Pharaoh would have COSPLAYED as Pi Dashuai and thrown this co-pilot out of the helicopter.

But he quickly regained his composure—the co-pilot had not heard the system notification of acquiring the Chosen Qualification, proving Master Pi Fu was not dead.

He acted instantly, shouting to the pilot: "Gain altitude. Fast."

The Apache helicopter immediately climbed rapidly until it pierced the cloud layer; only then did the Black Pharaoh relax slightly, picking up the satellite phone: "It's me. Colonel, execute Plan C."

At the same moment, on the crowded dock, the U. S. Colonel behind the security line slowly lowered his radio and nodded grimly to his subordinates.

All U. S. soldiers raised their weapons, aiming at the terrified island guests and staff, fingers tightening on triggers.

Taptaptaptaptap—bullets rained sideways; crowds fell like wheat before a harvester. Screams and wails pierced the sky.

A small group of guests at the outer edge fled in terror toward the island's interior.

The Colonel didn't look back, leaving them to his men to hunt, and boarded a yacht, descending to the lower deck.

Here was the hidden room from the video. The Secret Service agents had spliced footage from two locations to create the illusion that the room was inside a cave.

But it didn't matter.

The Colonel pushed open the cabin door; three soldiers stood inside, each holding a pistol, aiming at three children on the operating table.

In the corner, several VIPs were bound and anesthetized.

This was the Black Pharaoh's Plan C: after the original plan was exposed, eliminate all VIPs on the island to deny players any chance to 'charge up,'

then have loyal subordinates directly eliminate the Three-Day Moon Hand and others, seizing and trapping their Qualifications within this world.

The Colonel said coldly: "Proceed. For America."

Thud!

A muffled thump interrupted the Colonel's words; heavy impacts and a volley of gunfire echoed from above deck.

The Colonel instinctively stepped toward the door and saw Zhongtian Beiji standing on the stairs, drenched in blood, his right hand gripping an iron club, his left forearm and palm completely gone, the wound bearing gnawing marks.

A tourniquet was tightly bound above the wound.

【Skill Name: Self-Cannibalism for Soul Recovery】

【Type: Dark Art】

【Effect: Devour Heaven and Earth. User must be a flesh-and-blood lifeform; consuming one's own body part restores Spirit Power. The more flesh consumed, the greater the pain, the slower the healing, the more Spirit Power regained.】

【Cost: None】

【Cooldown: None】

【Requirement: User's remaining weight ≥ 30kg】

【Note: "Human hearts are made of flesh." Cannibal scientist announces major discovery today】

Zhongtian Beiji's eyes burned red; he had injected himself with an overdose of painkillers and now, like a beast, gnawed off the skin and muscle of his left arm to extract Spirit Power.

After a brief shock, the Colonel raised his M16 rifle and fired hard.

But Zhongtian Beiji leapt like a monkey, darting between floor, ceiling, and walls, narrowly evading every bullet.

When the distance between the two sides closed to five meters, the muzzle pointing squarely at Tanabe Hokkyoku,

Click.

The bullet jammed.

"【Hard-to-Die Stance】, kid."

Zhongtian Hokkyoku was neither sorrowful nor joyful. His right hand swung the mace with full force, smashing toward the colonel's ankle and toppling him to the ground. Then he stomped and snapped the colonel's neck. While finishing the kill, he precisely caught the falling M16 midair, swept fire into the room without looking, and gunned down the three US soldiers who had no time to react.

【Hard-to-Die Stance】 originates from a man named Frane Selak in Croatia. This person encountered seven major accidents in his life — a plane crash, a bus plunging into a ravine, a car fire, a car collision, and others — surviving each one, and in his seventy-third year even won a one-million-dollar lottery.

Slightly luckier than the legendary blast-resistant king, Japanese Mitsubishi engineer Yamaguchi Tsutomu, who survived the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings.