novelkee Chapter 718 The Wildfire
Chapter 718 The Wildfire
Just minutes before the intense fight was taking place upstairs.
On the fourth floor, something unprecedented in the history of the Desire Factory erupted.
Employee #28889, the first man to shout slogans and be controlled by the smiling man, is named Zhao Xinghuo.
When he was about to be forcibly taken away from this floor of the office area by the smiling man.
The first group of employees who surrounded him stopped him.
There were only a handful of them.
One of the employees closest to the Smiler was rather thin. Judging by the Smiler's strength, a single punch would send this guy flying at least three meters, a force that would either kill or seriously injure him.
The employee seemed to know this as well.
Those standing behind him could see that a small patch of his shirt was soaked with sweat, and his hands trembled slightly as he gripped the hem of his shirt, creating deep creases.
However, even so, he did not back down.
He spoke slowly and deliberately, under the gaze of the smiling person:
"He's not going anywhere!"
After saying that, the other two people behind him took a half step closer to the middle, forming an irregular line between their shoulders and each other's.
Behind them, more silent footsteps echoed.
It's like a slow but powerful tide rising upwards.
The smiling man narrowed his eyes, then opened his palm and pointed it at the thin employee who had just finished speaking.
He can push people away with brute force without causing fatal injuries, which is within the permissible range of violence that the Smiler can carry out without applying to the factory.
After all, all the employees in the factory are the energy source for the factory to operate.
If the Smiler can kill it at will, it would be considered a loss to the factory's profits or even its survival.
Therefore, the scope of their use of violence is limited.
At the very least, you can't just go on a rampage in the office area, killing off large numbers of employees like mowing grass.
However, just as he was about to exert his strength, the person next to the thin employee said coldly:
"Come on, if you push one person down, there are ten more behind him. If you push down ten people, there are a hundred more behind him!"
“Countless people just like us will rise up!”
"Justice can never be eradicated! For truth endures forever!"
The speaker was Tie Jian, the thin employee was Wen Xiaolou, and Lao Fan and others were with them.
But behind them are even more people who have never crossed paths with them.
Their act of stepping forward to intercept the Smiler with their own flesh and blood was not instigated by Wu Wang.
It was a completely instinctive behavior.
From that moment on, they fully understood what Wu Wang meant when he gave them the waste virus and the choice.
The best way to get out of trouble is always to save yourself.
That's right. They can't always wait for Wu Wang to come up with a solution to solve the problem, and they can't always expect others to help them change their situation.
The only thing they could do was stand up for themselves.
To be honest, when Wen Xiaolou blocked the path of the Smiling People with his chest, he didn't even expect so many people to follow them and surround them.
He just thought that even if he was all alone, he had to do something.
Old Fan, who had been bent over his whole life, is now straighter than ever before.
Tie Jian's words echoed in the minds of the employees on the fourth floor.
Some of the employees who were originally standing on both sides of the aisle, hesitating whether to give way or to lower their heads and pretend nothing had happened, now began to stand in the middle of the aisle.
Standing still is a very simple action.
All you need to do is stop, straighten your back, and look up from the computer or the ground, focusing your gaze firmly on the smiling person's face.
However, for a long time, very few people actually did this action on the fourth floor, or rather, in the office areas of each floor of the factory.
Because standing still means not avoiding eye contact, it means choosing to be seen, it means no longer pretending that you are just passing by!
At this moment, not only did more and more employees gather around and choose to stand still, but even Zhao Xinghuo, who had been pressed down on the table by the smiling man, began to support himself with his hands and tried to stand up.
His strength alone was clearly insufficient against the Smiler; no matter how hard he tried, he could only be pinned to the table and unable to move.
But as he tensed his muscles and strained, he managed to squeeze out a sentence through his clenched teeth:
"I told you to let go! I've had enough of lying down!"
A similar situation was occurring in the office area on the sixth floor.
However, the person who was smiling was not blocked in the aisle, but at the elevator entrance.
Two smiling people stood on either side of elevator door number three, in front of them in a passageway that should have led to the office area.
But at that moment, they were blocked by dozens of employees sitting on the ground.
Instead of standing and blocking the way, they sat down, leaned against the wall, stretched out their legs, and occupied the entire aisle like they were waiting for a long-distance bus.
Some people were holding paper cups filled with lukewarm, free coffee.
No one spoke, and no one moved forward.
They simply sat there motionless, blocking the smiling person's path to the elevator.
The eleventh floor.
The passageway next to the tea room was so crowded that it was impossible to pass through.
The smiling person was squeezed between the locker and the wall, unable to even fully straighten their arms.
Because there are people all around.
They are repeatedly requesting the factory to provide further instructions, but the factory's response time is getting slower and slower, and there is still no clear solution.
Because similar stranded situations occurred on almost every floor of the factory, the factory's data processing modules were filled with distress signals.
However, it cannot allow the Smiling Ones to force their way out; if all these employees are wiped out, it will be close to shutting down.
The twentieth floor.
This is where elite employees gather; until today, they were secretly pleased with themselves for having climbed to the twentieth floor.
But now, they're sitting on the ground too.
In the very center of the wide main aisle, hundreds of people were either standing or sitting, completely blocking the corridor.
The arrogance of "I am better than you" was no longer on their faces; instead, there was a kind of calm that came from being utterly exhausted.
A male employee who had once ranked among the top three in performance was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees.
He had already taken off his suit jacket, folded it neatly, and placed it aside.
Looking at the smiling man pacing back and forth, trying to find a way out, he sneered, "Dude, no need to turn around. I'm not going to move aside today. Sitting and resting in the aisle doesn't violate the contract, does it?"
The twenty-sixth floor.
A young female employee stood at the door of the break room, facing a well-built, smiling man.
The smiling person had already tried three times to squeeze past her.
Each time, she subtly adjusted her position, positioning herself precisely in the middle of the passable area.
She didn't speak, shout, or make any threatening gestures; she simply turned her body slightly to the side, placing herself directly in front of the smiling person's path.
Her chin trembled slightly, and her breathing was faster than usual, but she did not move aside.
Behind her, countless employees lined up diagonally in the same way, blocking the passage and making it impassable.
The smiling person stopped after several unsuccessful attempts.
He looked at the female employee and asked, "Why did you do that?"
It's unclear whether this statement reflects his own doubts or those of the factory.
The female employee looked up at the smiling man, her lips moved slightly, and she said in a very soft voice:
"You've been standing there for too long. Can't we just stand here for a bit?"
What was happening on each floor sent chills down the spines of the players who witnessed it.
They could clearly sense that things were spiraling out of control.
If we don't find a way to stop it soon, the main path of taking over the factory may be completely blocked!
If we were to try to liberate the factory again at that point, no one knows what to do given the unknown outcome.
Therefore, they have always used communication devices to pass on messages.
But for some reason, the hawksbill turtles never responded.
This also gave the few players who had dispersed a bad feeling—
"Holy crap, the hawksbill turtles are outnumbered ten to one! Are we going to lose?"
Meanwhile, the battlefield situation upstairs also became delicate.
The hawksbill turtle is constantly directing the other players to control the situation.
"Spread out your attacks and distract him!" "Raven, don't try to control the entire field with your control skills. Just focus on disrupting the two clones' offensive rhythm!"
"Fengyi, change the terrain faster and separate these clones as much as possible!"
"Lei, ignore the others, just hold off this clone in front of you and steer it to the right!"
"..."
After all, Wu Wang only has seven clones, and even including his main body, he can only deal with eight players at a time.
There are ten of them, and the extra two can easily help the others out of any predicament.
In addition, while Dai Mao was helping to relieve the siege, she was also constantly observing Wu Wang's skills and behavior, gradually making the players and Wu Wang fight back and forth.
But in the pause between their conversations, Wu Wang himself turned around to face her.
He smiled slightly at her, raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger three inches from her feet.
The earth element bullets blasted open a layer of soft mud and stone on the brick surface, and this mud and stone seemed to reproduce, continuously extending from the brick surface towards the tortoiseshell.
This forced her to jump to the side.
But in those fractions of a second of being airborne, Wu Wang's shadow, like outstretched wings, extended two other hands that precisely grabbed her ankles and yanked her violently to the ground.
The hawksbill turtle reacted quickly, flicking out a golden nail from its sleeve before landing. The nail struck the shadow, emitting a halo that briefly forced the shadow back, allowing the turtle to regain its footing.
"You are indeed very good at fighting."
The hawksbill didn't shout these words, but rather whispered them as if to itself.
Then he gently turned the ring on his right hand once.
The next instant, Wu Wang immediately noticed that all the players around him had started to move, as if they had planned a strategy in advance.
Almost simultaneously, the attack frequency and the variety of skills and items were raised to a new level.
This resulted in the surrounding clones not being defeated on the spot, but they were still forced back quite a distance.
These distances, combined with their positions at the time, coincidentally brought them to a point not far from where Wu was destroyed.
At this moment, all seven clones and the original body were together.
Suddenly, a glowing crack appeared in the ground beneath Wu Wang's feet, from which several cage-like skeletons made of mirrors emerged, rising upwards at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.
This thing formed extremely quickly. The moment Wu Wang and his clones regained their footing, it snapped shut with a click, locking them inside the semi-transparent cage.
The surrounding players also stood in the nine corners of the cage, and strange mirrors appeared under their feet, as if they were controlling the cage together.
"Unfortunately, you've always been alone."
Hawksbill continued what he had just said.
She was the only one who didn't stand in the mirror position.
Looking at the curious Wu Wang, he shook his head and said, "Why bother? Just give us the things and stop the absurd behavior downstairs, and this matter will be over."
"Please, we're not mortal enemies. After clearing the dungeon, all players can either leave or continue climbing the Tower of Calamity. Why are you so determined to do it your own way?"
"You don't actually intend to rescue those dungeon NPCs, do you?"
Wu Wang did not give a direct answer.
After gently tapping the mirrored cage, both the clone and the main body clapped and exclaimed in admiration:
"You are a smart commander."
"On the surface, they told me to fight separately, hoping to distract me by controlling my clones in different places. But in reality, they secretly used some kind of tool to subtly instruct them to force me and my clones to the same place as soon as they received the signal, thus achieving complete control."
"But you're so confident in this cage? What if I punch it and smash it to pieces? Wouldn't that be embarrassing for you?"
Hearing Wu Wang's teasing, Dai Mao shook his head.
A black needle appeared in each of his hands, which he quickly hurled towards Wu Wang, who was trapped in the mirror cage.
Strangely, when the needle touched the mirror, it didn't encounter any resistance at all, just like it disappeared into water, and directly pierced into Wu Wang's face.
Fortunately, the speed wasn't too slow to react, and Wu Wang casually raised his toothed blade, which then burned black flames and engulfed it.
The hawksbill turtle said coldly, "I attacked you. Now it's your turn to try and smash me with one punch, even if you say you'll do that."
A glint of madness flashed in Wu Wang's eyes as he grinned and said, "I would have tried it even without you telling me."
As soon as he finished speaking, he gripped the serrated blade with both hands and slashed fiercely at the mirrored cage.
hum-
However, the moment the blade struck, not only did it not break, but even the sound of the impact was strange.
The next second, blood bloomed on both of Wu Wang's shoulders at the same time.
He looked at the gruesome wound, so deep that the bone was almost visible, and felt a slight sense of familiarity.
"Interesting, this is a wound I inflicted myself?"
Indeed, this wound is clearly the work of the serrated blade in his hand.
Interesting. Besides allowing external attacks to enter freely, this mirror also has a certain counter-damage effect against internal resistance.
The hawksbill turtle didn't beat around the bush, or perhaps to make Wu Wang give up, so it stated directly: "That's right, any damage you cause to the cage will be reflected back at you in a certain proportion. If you can't smash it with one punch, then you shouldn't continue."
"Otherwise, if you deliberately injure yourself to death, it's not that we're targeting you, it's that you're just courting death."
Then she pointed to the players around her.
He sighed and said, "As for smashing it, I can tell you very clearly—you can't do it."
"In this [Mirror Cage], no movement skills or items can be used; all you can use is pure strength."
"Unless your strength can exceed the combined strength of all nine of them in one strike, the cage will not cause any damage, and you will only keep hurting yourself."
"A friendly reminder: even if all your clones punch at the same time, it will only be counted as one attack by yourself, not as an accumulation of power, and you will also suffer the corresponding amount of counter-damage."
"Sorry, this is a tool specifically designed for bullying the weak with numbers."
At this point, the hawksbill turtle was still a little smug.
At least from the current situation, the group has gained an absolute advantage.
They won!
However, he noticed the smug look on the faces of the tortoiseshell and the other players.
Wu Wang's smile grew even brighter, and he even nodded slightly, revealing a look of satisfaction.
He said, "Then you'd better stand firm."
"This next blow might be quite powerful."
After that, scenes that the players couldn't understand began to unfold inside the cage—
The seven identical clones walked towards the original body in the center. The moment they made contact, it was as if they had stepped into a perfectly fitting container, and they actually entered Wu Wang's body and merged into one.
This...this isn't right, is it?
Logically speaking, skills or items like clones should either disappear on the spot or have some kind of deathrattle effect after being canceled.
What does it mean to walk up and merge with the original body?
Although they couldn't understand the operation, they could clearly feel that Wu Wang's momentum was rising in an incomprehensible way.
The moment all seven clones entered his body, Wu Wang clenched his fists tightly.
boom--
This wasn't him throwing a punch at the cage, but rather the sound that came from his clenched palm the moment he made a fist.
The eerie sound of the airburst sent a chill down one's spine.
dong dong dong-
Immediately afterwards, a heartbeat like the roar of an engine rang out from Wu Wang's body.
Each jump made the players feel uneasy.
Wu Wang adjusted his posture to the perfect stance for a punch, and spoke softly to the hawksbill turtle outside the mirrored cage:
"Little Chrysanthemum Dad's class is in session. Question: If each clone can increase my current attributes by 40%, how many times will my attributes increase after creating seven clones?"
"Come and see the noble independent seating area."
This is also a further skill mutation of the [Heretical] state to the [Seven Star Steps of Heaven].
Wu Wang's clones can amplify the attributes of his main body by merging with it.
And it provides the same attribute bonus as the [Soul of Desire] given by the big boss.
Each of them is calculated individually for the current attribute.
Although it only lasted for a short minute.
But now he will be a true numerical monster with high damage from both his left and right fists.
Hawksbill turtle's pupils also contracted sharply as it subconsciously calculated and said:
"10.54 times..."
This punch will be just as Wu Wang said—it will be very powerful!
Boom! (End of Chapter)