Chapter 18 The Sculpture

"I haven't even used a single Contra Medal, and my personal time has already passed forty minutes. According to that rabbit, I'll be in the cell at the forty-first minute of map time, handing the puppet over to it. Which means... soon, I'll reach the starting point, enter the fourth corridor, capture the puppet, and return to the endpoint, taking up eighteen minutes of personal time..." This was the first time Feng Bujue had ever calculated so many things in a single scenario, and his physical condition wasn't relaxed either. He would definitely have to run non-stop next. "If I don't take care of a mini-boss during this round trip, I'm afraid I won't have enough time when I reach the endpoint again." In fact, when he rushed into this corridor, he had already overturned the plan of directly running back through the corridor. "The current difficulty... I came from the cell at eighty-five minutes of map time, so I must deal with the mini-boss in this corridor within seven minutes..." He thought to himself, quickening his pace, "As long as I can do that, and ensure that running through the corridor doesn't take more than twenty-three minutes, I won't fail due to map time."

Just as he was thinking this, a door appeared ahead of him. A door to a room had also emerged on the wall of this second corridor.

However, this door was very different from the dilapidated wooden door of the small room where Alden was in the third corridor. This one looked like the door to a warehouse equipped to store biochemical weapons.

The door frame was made of metal, gleaming and reflective, and the door panel was like an incredibly thick metal wall. There was no handle on the door, only a circular valve.

This scene couldn't help but remind Feng Bujue of the Saw scenario he had once played, the cold storage-like room, which also seemed to have such a huge and thick metal door.

"Don't tell me they're pulling the same trick again..." Feng Bujue thought to himself, but his movements didn't stop at all, without any hesitation or retreat.

At this moment, Feng Bujue vaguely felt that the mini-boss behind this door might need to be killed...

Before, in the endpoint cell after the eightieth minute, only one mini-boss was locked in the four cells, the puppet Billy. Rabbit only asked Feng Bujue to capture this one prisoner in the past timeline.

Regarding the mini-boss in the first corridor, Rabbit told him to deal with it last. This matter could be linked to the scene he saw at the starting point, in terms of personal time, Feng Bujue most likely went to the first corridor after reaching the endpoint for the last time in the near future, and then never returned to the cell... Let's put this matter aside for now.

Looking at it now, this prisoner in the second corridor was likely to be killed. Extrapolating from this, when Feng Bujue returns to the starting point and then goes to the fourth corridor to capture the puppet, he will have three potions, a puppet, and news of the death of the prisoner in the second corridor... So the later Rabbit didn't comment on the prisoner not being in the cell.

If things develop this way, Feng Bujue at the forty-first minute at the cell end should have a personal time of forty, plus eighteen, plus the time spent passing through this second corridor, which is optimistically estimated to be over seventy minutes.

The last twenty minutes are just enough for him to enter the first corridor from the endpoint... without causing a space-time paradox, triggering the previous scene. As for why? I'm afraid we'll only know when the time comes.

"Heave-ho..." Feng Bujue hunched over and exerted his strength, bending his knees, using his arms, almost his whole body, to turn the rather resistant valve a little. But once it started moving, it wasn't so difficult anymore. He turned the valve counterclockwise three or four times, and heard a "click", the lock inside the metal door seemed to have been released.

This metal door should open outwards, so Feng Bujue vigorously pulled the thick door towards himself. As the door opened, red light from inside the room shone into the corridor.

Feng Bujue subconsciously glanced inside the door. It was only a fraction of a second, and after the glance, he shifted his gaze. It was a continuous action. But the image of the monster inside the room was already engraved in Feng Bujue's mind, and unfortunately, a second later, he belatedly recognized the monster standing in the corner...

"Fuck!" The two words came out of Feng Bujue's mouth at the same time as the monster instantly moved into the corridor. It stood beside Feng Bujue, stretched out its arms, and with an incredible force and speed, twisted Feng Bujue's neck...

…………

【Related Information on ***-173】

Item Number: ***-173 (The Sculpture)

Object Class: Euclid

Biological Nature: Undetermined non-living entity with biological signs.

Source: Unknown.

Body Composition: Building materials.

Internal Organs: No life drive or organs.

Metabolism: Yes, confirmed to excrete.

Perception: Yes, can confirm whether there is gaze watching it.

Movement Method: Unknown, instantaneous movement.

Behavior: Twisting the necks of all living things.

Special Containment Procedures: ***-173 should be kept in a locked containment area (hereinafter referred to as the container) at all times. If personnel must enter this area, the number of people entering must be no less than three, and the entrance door must be locked after entering. At least two staff members must maintain eye contact with ***-173 at all times until the work is completed and the entrance is reopened.

Description: ***-173 was moved to Area 19 in 1993, the origin is unknown. It is constructed of concrete and rebar with traces of Krylon brand spray paint. ***-173 is mobile and highly hostile, but cannot move when observed.

Eye contact with ***-173 must not be broken at any time. Personnel in the same room must remind each other before blinking.

When unobserved, ***-173 will teleport in front of the target, snapping the connection between the skull and neck, strangling it. In the event of an attack, personnel must follow Level 4 Hazardous Object Containment Procedures.

Personnel reports indicate that scraping sounds can be heard from within the unoccupied container. This is normal, and any changes in the object's habits should be reported to the on-duty HMCL supervisor for handling.

The reddish-brown substance on the floor is composed of feces and blood, the origin of these substances is also unknown.

The container must be cleaned every two weeks.

…………

A flash of white light appeared before Feng Bujue's eyes, and he immediately appeared in the fan-shaped area at the starting point. The system prompt sounded at the same time: 【Your item Contra Medal has been consumed】

"Why am I here?" This was the first question that appeared in Feng Bujue's mind, and he quickly gave himself an answer, "Does death appear at the 'starting point' of the current space-time domain..." He thought to himself, "If I die in which corridor, I will appear at the starting point of that corridor, and be inside the door of the corridor..." He recalled the previous self who was killed, "If I step out and die in the fan-shaped area... I should be resurrected in the dead end at the beginning of the scenario."

As he was thinking, his gaze was facing the fan-shaped room just one door away from him, and at the same time, a buzzing strange noise and the sound of stones scraping against wood came from behind him.

An ominous premonition struck, but it was too late when Feng Bujue realized the problem. As soon as he turned his head, he was met with a pair of stone arms, and was instantly strangled for the second time.

【Your item Contra Medal has been consumed】

Before, I was still wondering how to use the four medals, but now two of them have been handed over in an instant...

Feng Bujue still had a relatively good understanding of the characteristics of ***-173, so when he was strangled for the second time and resurrected in place, he immediately widened his eyes and stared at the bizarre monster in front of him.

The surface of ***-173's body was like plaster, a dirty white body, with a red, black, and green logo pattern printed on its oversized "head". Its height was over two meters, and proportionally speaking, its legs were shorter and its hands were even shorter compared to its ultra-long torso. But as a monster with max-level Instant Step, that doesn't need a second move to kill, the length of its limbs doesn't mean it can't fight. On the contrary, it always instantly kills enemies, especially humans. The two strangulations Feng Bujue encountered just now were good proof.

The basic point of dealing with ***-173 is continuous "observation". When observed by a living being, 173 cannot move, but as long as there is a slight gap, such as blinking, 173 will instantly teleport over and kill the target.

Feng Bujue didn't want to be killed by the opponent for the third time, and he didn't have the formidable strength to hold a watermelon knife and chop from the South Heaven Gate all the way to the Bund, without blinking for three days and three nights. Nor did he believe that ***-173 could communicate with him.

So, in the next second, the sound of the One-Hit Kill Handgun rang out, and after being hit by this small pistol bullet, ***-173's body exploded.

Feng Bujue had never thought about what 173 would look like if it was killed, but at this moment he saw one of the possibilities with his own eyes. The white concrete body disintegrated, and several fist-sized fragments hit Feng Bujue, but this kind of injury was not fatal.

A large mass of blood also splattered out of ***-173's body, drenching Feng Bujue's head and face like splashed ink. He couldn't even dodge. Finally, one or two meters inside the door of this second corridor, a person covered in blood, a pool of red and black liquid, and scattered strange corpse fragments were left behind.

Feng Bujue wiped his face and smelled the scent of the "blood", "Hmm... it seems to be just blood." In fact, he was comforting himself like this, just worried that this blood was mixed with something like shit...

Among the corpse fragments on the floor, there was a spot glowing, just like the flashing spots emitted by items dropped on the floor in those top-down RPG games.

With such an obvious prompt, Feng Bujue naturally wouldn't ignore it. He walked over, touched it, and the light turned into an item. At the same time, the system prompt also sounded in his ear:

【Main Quest Progress Updated】

【Searching for Chemical Reagents (1/4)】