Ye Qi's teammates are all asleep.
Wrapped in a thick down jacket, I sat by the fire to warm myself.
Shao Qingge sat next to him with his hands and feet bound, his mouth gagged with a cloth. He was making incoherent "mmm" sounds. Ye Qi tried to connect to him using the " Telepathic Connection " channel, but failed and then ignored him.
But Shao Qingge's brows were furrowed and sweat was pouring down his forehead. Ye Qi couldn't bear it, so he removed the gag from his mouth and asked, "What do you want to say?"
Shao Qingge angrily retorted, "Knowing I'm a Zergling, why did you bring me here to warm myself by the fire?!"
Ye Qi: "......"
Sorry, I forgot.
Ye Qi awkwardly touched his nose, moved the fire aside, and asked curiously, "Why didn't you pretend to be CEO Shao and lie to me? You just admitted that you are a Zerg, so straightforwardly?"
Shao Qingge paused for a moment, then said, "I was so dizzy from the fire that I didn't bother to disguise myself."
The two looked at each other, and for a moment they were quite embarrassed.
The Zerg parasite in CEO Shao's body shouldn't be particularly intelligent, otherwise it wouldn't have been suddenly suppressed by Shao Qingge last night. Ye Qi saw that he looked terrible, and since he was bored anyway, he might as well chat with him and maybe get some information out of him.
Ye Qi tentatively asked, "Are you from outer space?"
Shao Qingge said, "This is a secret, I can't tell you."
Ye Qi said "Oh," and then asked, "You want to exterminate humanity and take over this city?"
Shao Qingge stared at Ye Qi and said, "It's not about eliminating humanity, but about merging with it. Humans are too weak physically. With our help, their physical abilities will double, and they will have a much longer lifespan."
Ye Qi asked curiously, "How long do you live?"
Shao Qingge said, "Low-level Zerg can live to 150 years old without any problem, while high-level ones can live to 200 years old."
Ye Qi: "..."
This is definitely science fiction. These insectoids want to merge with humans, take over human bodies, and improve themselves? Of course, they could also be fused with by humans, improving their own physical abilities.
Shao Qingge said, "Species fusion is itself a process of evolution."
Seeing that Ye Qi stopped talking, he smiled and said, "Want to give it a try? After merging with me, you will gain excellent climbing ability. For example, when your human elevators are out of power, they can't be used. But if you become an insectoid, you can climb a 100-story building in just one minute."
Ye Qi: "..."
Shao Qingge continued earnestly, "After being parasitized by the Zerg, your running speed and jump height will be greatly enhanced."
After listening to him talk for a long time about the benefits of fusion, Ye Qi suppressed a laugh and said, "You're a very hardworking Zerg. Your leader should give you a Best Promotion Award."
Shao Qingge asked in confusion, "Our boss?"
Ye Qi started to probe: "Like the Zerg Queen, the Zerg Emperor, or something like that, is there one?"
Shao Qingge shook his head: "No. Each batch of Zerg leaders is produced by the fusion and upgrading of this batch of Zerg."
Ye Qi was slightly taken aback. So, the Zerg leader hasn't been generated yet? The Zerg have been inactive for the past few days. Could it be that they've self-fused and created a Zerg leader?
This news is very important; we must tell Professor Xiao as soon as possible.
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge chatted for a while, then Shao Qingge yawned and said, "Why are you sleepy again..."
Upon hearing this, Ye Qi's heart skipped a beat—aren't the Zerg stronger at night? Why is it sleepy? Could it be that CEO Shao's consciousness is at work, slowly suppressing the Zerg's consciousness?
Before I could figure it out, the guy tilted his head to the side and actually fell asleep.
Ye Qi couldn't let him sleep in the snow, so he helped him up, gave him a pillow, and let him sleep next to the tent. Ye Qi then tossed the three eavesdropping devices to different locations, carefully listening to the sounds around him.
Time passed by, second by second.
At four o'clock in the morning, Yu Hanjiang woke up and asked him about the situation. Ye Qi relayed what he had gotten from the Zerg to Captain Yu. Yu Hanjiang also thought it was possible, so he said to Ye Qi, "To prevent the Zerg from launching a surprise attack after a new leader is elected, I will keep watch with you."
Not long after, Xiao Lou also woke up and came over to sit next to Captain Yu. He was connected to Yu Hanjiang via Telepathic Connection, so he knew what Ye Qi was saying. The Zerg had been burned to death so many times and hadn't made any moves for several days, so they were likely to launch an even fiercer counterattack.
Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance.
Simultaneously, Ye Qi heard the crunching sound of footsteps on snow coming from all three of his eavesdropping devices. Xiao Lou immediately opened the drone's monitoring card, where a dynamic image was displayed on the palm-sized screen—
Dozens of humans were walking together toward the wasteland, and many of them were familiar faces.
Xiao Lou saw Gao Xiaoyi's team, as well as the Challenger team from Luoying Pavilion and Eternal Kingdom.
Ye Qi's eyes widened in surprise: "Are they all Challengers? How did they all get together?"
Xiao Lou was also puzzled. Given that the Zerg could disguise themselves, it would be difficult for unfamiliar Challengers to fully trust each other and team up to clear the game, unless they had also experienced the predicament of being surrounded by the Zerg before and had no choice but to join forces.
The girls from Luoying Pavilion directly rejected Eternal Kingdom while they were at the supermarket. Bearded Uncle's invitation to "team up and clear the game" suggests the latter is more likely. In the past three days, Xiao Lou and his team haven't been attacked by the Zerg; perhaps the Zerg went elsewhere to attack other Challengers, forcing nearby teams to join forces to defend themselves.
The group of Challengers stopped nearby, and Xiao Lou heard a familiar Chinese voice.
A middle-aged man's voice: "Everyone, I am Hu Qiang, the captain of Eternal Kingdom Team 3. These are all Challengers around me. We are gathering Challengers to form an alliance to fight against the Zerg's attack."
Xiao Lou stood up alertly.
Hu Qiang continued, "I have a fire detection token. It indicates there's a fire source here, so I suspect there are Challengers gathered here. I hope you can join forces with us. Right now, the situation has reached its most difficult point. The Zerg have a new queen, and their strength has increased dramatically. On our way here, we were almost wiped out by the Zerg."
Yu Hanjiang's face darkened: " Zerg Queen?"
Hu Qiang said, "This is a powerful alien insectoid race. Once a leader is formed, their strength will increase dramatically. It's like a group of scattered soldiers having a general in command. They are almost omnipresent, forci
ng the Challengers hiding in every corner to come out. At first, we also wanted to complete the game alone without teaming up with other teams, but now it seems that this is simply not feasible."
Xiao Lou was skeptical of Uncle Hu's words.
With Shao Qingge, an Infected, in his team, who can guarantee that there aren't any Infected among the nearly 50 Challengers outside? Besides, once they team up, the fact that CEO Shao is infected can't be kept secret. What will the others think if they know Shao Qingge is an Infected? Will they secretly burn him alive?
Yu Hanjiang decisively refused: "No need, thank you, we will find a way to pass the level ourselves."
Hu Qiang said seriously, "Brother, aren't you being a little too confident?"
Yu Hanjiang said calmly, "I appreciate your kind offer, but you should find other Challengers to team up with. We'll just focus on our own team."
Hu Qiang remained silent for a moment, when Gao Xiaoyi suddenly said, "Their strength is indeed very strong. Since they are unwilling to join forces, then let's just forget about it. We should find a place to hide as soon as possible, because the Zerg army is coming again soon."
She shouted to Xiao Lou, "Be careful! This time, the Zerg are much stronger. Even the fire rings might not be enough to stop them!"
Xiao Lou said, "Thank you for reminding me."
As the group gradually walked away, Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and frowned slightly: "Something doesn't seem right to me. What are so many people trying to do by gathering together?"
Ye Qi scratched his head and guessed, "Could it be that one of the Infected is deliberately inciting everyone to gather together and try to eliminate them all at once?"
Yu Hanjiang rested his chin on his hand and said in a low voice, "No matter what their situation is, we can no longer team up with any Challenger teams. We need to consider CEO Shao's safety. Get everyone up and get ready. If necessary, Xiao Lou, use the Compass invincibility circle to hold out for 5 minutes. I'll go outside to find a place to place Li Qingzhao's skill mark and teleport everyone."
"Okay." Xiao Lou simply took out Compass and drew a circle in advance for later use, so he could release it directly when the Zerg attacked. Ye Qi turned around to wake everyone up. Yu Hanjiang took the Teleportation Card that CEO Shao had copied from Ye Qi, then picked up the city map and carefully observed it to see where to find the markers.
None of the three noticed that Shao Qingge, who was sleeping next to them, suddenly opened his eyes.
After being woken up, the teammates put on their supply backpacks and prepared to evacuate at any time.
Just then, a "squeaking" sound came from Ye Qi's eavesdropping device. The sound grew louder and louder. Ye Qi turned his head to look into the distance and saw a dense swarm of humanoid animals suddenly surrounding them from all directions, tearing apart all the fences outside the wasteland, and then pouncing down on Xiao Lou and the others like ferocious tigers!
This batch of Zerg has become much more agile, moving like the wind. In the blink of an eye, they pounced on the group from several acres away!
Xiao Lou immediately unleashed an invincible circle!
The Zerg crashed into Compass's transparent barrier, but were blocked by it and found it difficult to break through.
Yu Hanjiang immediately used his Lightness Skill to fly up, making several leaps in succession, and disappeared into the distance in an instant.
Seeing him fly into the sea of insects, Xiao Lou's heart leaped into her throat, and she said in a trembling voice, "Be careful..."
Yu Hanjiang's deep, calm voice echoed in my mind: "It's alright. I brought two cards: Lightness Skill and Teleport. If I use them at the same time, I can teleport 50 meters in the air. These Zerg can't hurt me for now. You hold the line, and once I find the marked location, I'll bring you over."
Xiao Lou breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this.
CEO Shao Captain Yu just took the Teleportation card from the card holder. It turns out it was for the Lightness Skill and Teleportation cards to work together to perform "aerial teleportation." Although the Zerg are agile, they can't fly. Yu Hanjiang teleported 50 meters in the air at once, which they really couldn't catch up with.
Just as Xiao Lou was about to stabilize the situation, Shao Qingge, who had been tied to the side of the tent, suddenly broke free of his restraints!
Ye Qi knew that Professor Xiao's invincible circle could withstand 10 minutes, so he wasn't worried about the Zerg's first wave of attacks. His eyes never left CEO Shao, so as soon as CEO Shao moved, he reacted immediately and shouted, "Watch out! CEO Shao has broken free!"
As soon as Captain Yu left, he broke free of the white silk, which was clearly not a coincidence.
A chill ran down everyone's spines, and they pulled out all sorts of cards to try and control him. However, as if Shao Qingge had known all along that Ye Qi was going to use the flute to control him, the moment he broke free of his restraints, he appeared behind Ye Qi like a flying shadow and snatched the flute from Ye Qi's hand.
When Ye Qi saw the flute being taken away, a chill ran down his spine. He thought that CEO Shao would bite his neck at any moment!
He was even prepared to be infected by CEO Shao.
However, Shao Qingge did not bite him. Instead, he put the flute back in Ye Qi's hand, gave Ye Qi a deep look, and then suddenly rushed out of Xiao Lou's invincible circle.
At this moment, several Zerg crawled out of the invincible circle. Shao Qingge's sharp fingernails forcefully tore through the body of one of the Zerg, and everyone saw that the Zerg was like...
The plant, having had its nutrients drained, withered instantly and collapsed limply.
Shao Qingge's eyes were bloodshot as he attacked the next Zergling, and another Zergling was fused with him.
Ye Qi trembled all over, her voice trembling with tears: " CEO Shao, what are you doing? It's too dangerous! Come back quickly!"
He connected to the Telepathic Connection, even if only for a brief moment.
Shao Qingge thought to himself, "It's embarrassing to always win by doing nothing. This time, I'll protect you."
This sentence came at the very moment he handed the flute to Ye Qi.
Seeing him risking his life to fight the Zerg alone outside, seeing the bloody scratches on his body, and seeing countless Zerg entering his body through his blood, Ye Qi's tears kept welling up in his eyes.
What if CEO Shao's consciousness is swallowed up during the Zerg fusion process?
Has he gone mad?!
Shao Qingge's laughing voice echoed in my mind: "Don't be afraid, I have completely assimilated the Zerg, they won't attack me on their own. We still have 5 minutes before we retreat, I'll just take this opportunity to fight some monsters and level up."
Ye Qi: "......"
The tears that almost fell were forced back by his joke.
Shao Qingge, can't you speak seriously when things are so dangerous?!