Chapter 124: A Fake Chip
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"What's going on? Why are you blocking the road and not letting us in?"
Just as Feng Luo was putting away the recently disassembled Barrett into his bag upon testing its assembly for a while, there were some unpleasant sounds coming from behind him.
Lin Aotian, or "Young Master Lin," who was in the brand new SUV-bulletproof combat suit walked in through the door, glaring at the people who were blocking the road. Behind him, a Heavy Armor Warrior and an Earth Element Manipulator player followed him. From their facial expressions, it was clear that they were his followers.
"It's you guys?" After seeing Feng Luo and the other three who had just turned their heads back, the face of Lin Aotian, or Young Master Lin, quickly sank. Realizing that the other person was Brother Ling, Young Master Lin said with some dissatisfaction, "Brother Ling, I thought you said people who joined this mission had to be elites? How is it that now even noobs can also join this mission!"
Brother Ling's face went sullen, and the tone of his words was a bit cold with the intention to criticize. "Xiao Lin! Be careful with your words. Don't talk nonsense."
After that, the four of them just ignored them and walked together toward the pavilion in the Bamboo Forest not far away.
"Damn, what's up with this guy?"
Young Master Lin put on a long face and cursed the four of them in a low tone after they left. "Damn it! He is just a mere bodyguard. I'm already doing him a favor by addressing him as Brother Ling. How dare he be so damn ungrateful."
The Earth Manipulator standing behind him immediately spoke up. "Young Master Lin, calm down. After all, he works for the big boss. However, the boss has not made an appearance for the past two years. So just wait until Young Master Lu takes the lead. He will not dare to pull long faces to you anymore based on the relationship between you and Young Master Lu."
The four of them walked to the pavilion, attracting the attention of other people who had also participated in this mission.
"Come, let me introduce them to you all," said Brother Ling. "This is Ah Shui, Xiao Jiu... 100,000 Volts, Gunfire..."
It was obvious that he had given some consideration to the order of introduction. Of the players who were first introduced, most of them greeted Feng Luo and his gang immediately and enthusiastically, while those who were being introduced later were obviously a bit official and distant.
Based on Brother Ling's introduction process, Feng Luo could determine in his heart that among the seven people—which consisted of two females and another five males—approximately three of them had a rather close relationship with Brother Ling, while the other four were just regular friends.
On the other hand, there was a final Sniper player who sat alone to the side. At that moment, he had just finished cleaning his rifle. He put it away in his gun case and closed it.
After closing his gun case, the Sniper player stood up and walked toward Feng Luo with a faint smile while his eyes stared firmly at him.
"You are Feng Zhi Luoye, right?" he said. "I have been looking forward to meeting you since the last mission. I initially thought that we could meet previously at the celebration party in Nightless City. However, I didn't expect that upon my arrival, you would have apparently left already. Today, I finally manage to see you in person. "
Feng Luo saw the gun case laid on the table to the side and understood who the owner of the Python of Death mentioned by Brother Ling earlier was.
"This is Sha Lang," Brother Ling said, introducing him to Feng Luo. "He once served in a mysterious unit. Now he is the head of security at the group headquarters."
"Head of security?"
A shudder went through Feng Luo's heart. He remembered that Brother Ling had filled that position when he worked in Lu Conglomerate previously, but now, according to other players, he had been promoted to some sort of deputy manager. Would something happen between the two of them?
He was no stranger to the ID "Sha Lang." It was during the previous mission that this player had occupied the first place for a time in the list of the Snipers' accumulated points.
"It could be said that the two of you, who were the Sniper masters in this mission, helped the conglomerate to redeem their reputation," said Brother Ling. "In the Sniper occupation, at least, we are utterly superior to the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group and the Veterans Tribe. So the boss is hoping that this time, the two of you could continue to work harder and try to finish this last city-building mission in one try."
At this time, Young Master Lin and the other two also walked over with stern faces. Without wasting any time, Brother Ling started to bring the topic back to the proper business. He switched on the terminal, and a 3D map was projected in front of everyone. He pointed toward an area full of mountains and forest that was about 500 miles from Storm City.
"The place that we need to go in this mission is a small tourist town located in a place called Arklay Mountain Area."
"Arklay Mountain Area?" Feng Luo repeated.
"Brother Feng, is there any problem?" Brother Ling was slightly uncertain as he raised his head and looked at Feng Luo.
"No, please continue!"
Feng Luo shook his head, but, in reality, he was pondering.
Arklay Mountain Area... This seemed like the plot of Resident Evil. In that game, the T-virus was first released at Raccoon City in the Arklay Mountains. Only after that did the virus slowly spread to all of Raccoon City, unlike in the movie where the infection started directly in Raccoon City.
However, on the map, the town was hidden deep in the mountains, and the only way to contact the outside world relied on the construction of a small navigation point near the city. Thus, it ought to be more difficult for the virus to spread out. Moreover, Feng Luo had searched all the federal cities using the terminal, but still, he could not find any place named Raccoon City.
From this point, it seemed like there was a connection between War and Earth's versions of Resident Evil. But were there some differences, too?
While Feng Luo was thinking about this, Brother Ling continued to introduce the mission's situation.
"Maybe most of you haven't heard much about the Umbrella Corporation. But based on the information given to us by the FBI, we can tell that it is a large, well-known company among the NPCs. It is engaged in medicine, military, machinery, robotics, and a variety of industries. It is said that there are thousands of security units inside. This means that this time, we might be fighting against the NPC armed units..."
Brother Ling paused for a while before continuing.
"If we were to investigate their headquarters, it is certain that with this many people, we will not have a chance. However, one good thing is that this mission only requires us to look into the town. This is because the FBI suspects that there is a secret base belonging to the Umbrella Corporation in the small town that is engaged in illegal human body experimentation."
After hearing about the human body experiment, Sister Rui frowned. She seemed to be slightly disgusted, and thus, interrupted at this point. "Human body? What kind of human body experimentation?"
"Evolution Virus!" said Brother Ling. "You guys may not have heard of it before. We also just learned about it from the intel. This is a type that can greatly increase the virus in the human body. But if it is used on a player, it could increase the attributes of the character!"
After Young Master Lin heard that, a trace of shock appeared on his originally cold face, and he opened his mouth to speak immediately. "Increase the character's attributes? This is a good thing! We should take some of it out this time."
Brother Ling frowned and said, "According to the information, the Evolution Virus isn't stable, and the Umbrella Corporation is still in the pilot phase, so it would most likely cause significant side effects. Also, I have to remind all of you that our task in this mission is to investigate the Umbrella Corporation and get pieces of evidence that prove they are engaging in human body experimentation. So it's best not to save a little only to lose a lot."
"Ah!"
Young Master Lin smiled disapprovingly. His eyes, along with those of the other two players behind him, flickered discreetly.
"Also," continued Brother Ling, "to make it easier for us to move, the FBI has provided us with 15 identity chips in this mission. These chips will allow us to temporarily change our identity information within the span of five days and disguise ourselves as NPCs. However, it's just a data camouflage, and it has no effect on the players. Furthermore, if you use backpacks or special props in front of the NPCs, they may see right through you."
As Brother Ling spoke, he took out 15 nail-sized silver chips from his backpack and distributed them before giving a final summary.
"This is the last part of the city-building mission. If we fail, although we can change the mission and recollect again, it will lead to a big loss. Thus, for this mission, I hope that all of you here can do your best. The boss has already said that he will not mistreat everyone!"
"An identity chip to camouflage as an NPC?"
Feng Luo was curious about this type of chip. He accepted his chip straight away and downloaded it into his personal terminal.
You are using a camouflage chip. Duration: 4 days and 23 hours. Before using, please follow the prompt to temporarily change your character ID.
"Change my ID? Who knew there was such a thing?"
Feng Luo thought that this was slightly interesting, and, after giving it some thought, he entered two words onto the terminal: Illidan Stormrage!