I’m a Max-Level Taoist Master, and You’re Throwing Me Into a Rules-Based Horror Game?! - Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Shouldn’t They Be the Ones Running?

Those familiar with the Strange Tale world know that the strategies for clearing it aren’t absolutely fixed; it just depends on whether you can think of even more unconventional moves.

From the very start, the Argentine challenger, Ramirez, who never intended to play by the rules, had an exceptionally clear line of thinking.

He had also developed his own method for interpreting the rules.

[Rule 2: Please do not believe what the Captain says, but you cannot refuse him.]

Looking at this rule, Ramirez had a bold idea.

He felt that going solo was too dangerous and that sticking with the group was better.

Since the Green Skin Captain was a trap, then wouldn’t the solution be to find a way to eliminate him?
As for how to do it? Well, isn’t there a ready-made solution right here!
Every mechanical guard is equipped with a parachute, and the Green Skin Captain needs one too.

He could simply tamper with the parachutes of the Green Skin Captain and the mechanical guard Lieutenant.

If he could make these two fall to their deaths, then wouldn’t he be free of the Captain, and also obtain the Lieutenant’s chip, thus gaining command of the squad?

Wasn’t commanding hundreds of mechanical guards in battle much better than fighting alone?
Once you abandon playing by the rules, you can think of all sorts of unscrupulous tricks.

Since the Green Skin Captain was problematic, most challengers avoided the problem, but Ramirez thought of ways to solve the problem.

Because anyone who had watched the clearance footage from the Dragon Nation’s Celestial Master would know that eliminating the person causing the problem is often more convenient and faster than solving the problem itself.

With this in mind, he began to act.

Using the advantages of his mechanical guard identity, he actively curried favor with the Green Skin Captain and the mechanical guard Lieutenant.

He gained a certain degree of trust. Combined with his boot-licking in the cafeteria yesterday, the Green Skin Captain even thought this mechanical guard was quite sensible.

Neither of them suspected anything when they took the parachutes Ramirez handed over.

Mechanical beings don’t sweat, don’t tremble, and their eyes don’t flicker; it’s very hard to tell if they are lying.

The five combat units assembled, and a faint light appeared in the sky.

Everyone began jumping from high altitude at this time, heading to their respective designated assembly points.

After deploying the combat units, the Sky Veil City would appear at another location according to its flight path.

The challengers had goggles that could receive signals. After completing their mission, they could go to the designated location on the map as indicated.

Other challengers were jumping from high altitude in an orderly manner, opening their parachutes at the designated height, and flying towards the location marked by their Captain.

Some challengers managed well, landing steadily.

Others had poor control, getting caught in trees.

But it wasn’t a big problem; they could cut the ropes with their weapons and fall to the ground. From that height, it wouldn’t kill a challenger with a mechanical body.

However, over at the Argentine challenger Ramirez’s location, two loud crashes echoed.

It seemed like something had fallen from high altitude with free acceleration, startling the birds and beasts in the nearby forest.

Seeing this, Ramirez smiled slightly. Just as he had anticipated.

He adjusted his parachute’s direction and went to where the Captain and Lieutenant had fallen.

The Green Skin Captain was needless to say his metal armor and flesh were smashed to pieces, with not even a complete piece of meat to be found.

But that wasn’t the key point. The key was that Ramirez finally found the chip from the Lieutenant’s wreckage. Now, he was the second man in this Strange Tale world to change his identity.

Seeing the mechanical guards rushing over, he could issue various commands. The mechanical guards followed his orders, making him feel extremely pleased.

This feeling of ordering others to work was truly wonderful.

No wonder the Dragon Nation’s Celestial Master always liked directing the natives to handle affairs.

Ramirez thought to himself, hadn’t he obtained command authority even faster than the Dragon Nation’s Celestial Master?
But he was just thinking it; his achievement was nowhere close. The Dragon Nation’s Celestial Master he mentioned had already obtained command authority over the entire Sky Veil City long ago!

Seeing Ramirez’s outstanding performance, the entire Argentine audience began to cheer.

Because his approach gave the people of Argentina hope.

In the Strange Tale world, the more you abandon conventional morality, the more likely you are to survive.

In the last Strange Tale, didn’t many challengers survive by selling out their teammates?

Now that Ramirez had gained command of these three hundred mechanical guards, his goal was certainly not simply capturing or killing elite beastman warriors.

The bonus mission for this level was written there: only by contacting the Queen Bee could one obtain a special reward.

Furthermore, judging from the rules, the Queen Bee was likely exceptionally powerful, and only by meeting her requirements could one get the special reward.

“Huh? Could it be like this?”

On the way, Ramirez suddenly thought of something.

It was a special connection between two rules.

[Rule 1: The black bear is the most dangerous animal here. Do not approach it unless necessary.]

[Rule 5: The Queen Bee can actually communicate, but the prerequisite is that you must fulfill her requirements.]

While having his troops stay alert, Ramirez pulled up these two rules.

Rule 1 clearly stated that the black bear was the most powerful existence in this area.

So, most challengers would definitely avoid the black bear upon seeing it.

But based on his understanding of animals, black bears like to eat honey and thus would attack beehives.

Therefore, there might be a certain relationship between the black bear and the Queen Bee.

If he wanted to get the special reward, he had to find these two species.

Then, whether to use the black bear to attack the hive or help the Queen Bee deal with the black bear would depend on intelligence assessment. For now, Ramirez was just speculating.

The tense and exciting raid journey for the challengers had also begun.

Over on the Dragon Nation’s live screen, there was no need to follow the Green Skin Captain’s script. Zhang Yangqing was the one writing the script himself.

The Green Skins wanted to plunder resources, but he didn’t need to; he only needed the so-called merit points.

In Sky Veil City, many rules were rigid. According to the mechanical repairman’s rules, even with his high authority, if he wanted a promotion, he could only rely on merit points.

As for how to obtain merit points, the rules spelled it out clearly.

As a veteran of the Strange Tale world, he personally led the team to the beastmen’s combat zone.

To avoid alerting the enemy, he only brought the beastman warrior brothers with him this time.

For other challengers, having more people was a safeguard, but for him, it was a burden.

These mechanical guards would be useful later; losing too many here wouldn’t be good.

Based on the previous level’s experience, mechanical guards were no match for elite warriors, and Zhang Yangqing’s target was precisely the elite warriors, so coming alone wasn’t a big issue.

With a rip sound, Zhang Yangqing released his parachute and landed steadily on the ground. This area inhabited by beastmen was about to encounter a nightmare.

Early morning in the primeval forest, the sky barely lit.

The cheerful chirping of insects reached the ears, then abruptly stopped, followed by the sound of birds and beasts flapping their wings.

As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm.

Everywhere you looked, there were thick tree trunks, densely growing shrubs, and broad-leaved plants.

If you pushed aside the obstacles ahead, you would enter another area.

Whether you encountered danger or opportunity was hard to say.

Under the faint light, you could see some beetles crawling on the trunks of these sixty- to seventy-meter tall trees, eating resin and fermented wood chips.

The weak sunlight above was blocked by leaves, casting scattered spots of light on the ground.

Zhang Yangqing stood next to a banana leaf, observing the surroundings. In the distance, there were some brightly colored mushrooms, looking delicious.

The unique scent of the tropical rainforest after rain, accompanied by the smell of fresh soil, reached his olfactory nerves. It felt much more real than the smell of engine oil and the artificial gardens in Sky Veil City.

The beastman warrior brothers had some experience fighting in jungles, being natives of this world.

Like guides, they began explaining the jungle situation to Zhang Yangqing.

This was also why Zhang Yangqing brought them.

Because if you asked mechanical beings, they would only talk if questioned.

Unless under special circumstances, mechanical beings wouldn’t take the initiative, nor would they consider your feelings; they only needed to execute orders.

So Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to bring them down.

The sun hadn’t fully risen yet. The challengers took advantage of this opportunity to search for the beastmen’s settlement in this ancient jungle.

Actually, there was a point most challengers hadn’t considered.

The prison on the third level of Sky Veil City held some beastmen, half-beasts, dwarves, and even elves.

These weren’t just samples for the challengers to look at.

If the challengers were more ruthless, they could torture these prisoners, even kill one or two to intimidate the others.

The goal was to obtain information about the half-beasts, dwarves, and elves.

It was undoubtedly cruel, but it would definitely yield useful information, reducing the dangers of entering these races’ territories.

But there were indeed few challengers who were this… unconventional. Though some existed.

Most challengers were kind-natured at heart.

Seeing the beastmen tortured so miserably, they truly didn’t think of this point.

As for Zhang Yangqing, he certainly thought of it, but he simply didn’t need to.

What danger could he possibly face? He was the greatest danger himself.
Those familiar with Zhang Yangqing knew he wouldn’t bother with such troublesome matters, at least not now.

Inside the Strange Tale world, even though Zhang Yangqing had the fewest people, his movement speed was not slow at all.

As for those challengers who hadn’t obtained command authority, they adopted the normal strategy: find a way to leave the team.

In a squad of three hundred mechanical guards, losing one wouldn’t make much difference.

These savvy challengers wouldn’t act alone; they would follow the main force from behind, waiting for an opportunity.

In other words, they were mopping up.

Leaving the team meant not having to follow the Captain’s orders, thus avoiding the Captain’s trap.

The so-called half-beasts were actually beast races with human characteristics.

They weren’t purebred beasts but mixed-blood races.

For example, after crossing a clear river, the challengers arrived at the territory of the Centaur tribe.

Centaurs had the body of a horse and the upper torso of a human.

It was very difficult for mechanical guards to capture them.

In the dim light, except for the sentries, most of the Centaur tribe was sleeping.

Why was capturing them so difficult? Because most Centaurs even slept standing up.

If startled, they would immediately run away.

In the primeval forest, the danger wasn’t necessarily the attacking Green Skins; other species would also attack these herbivorous races.

So they needed to remain vigilant at all times.

Normally, Centaurs didn’t have a strong sense of territory; they ate wherever they went.

If attacked, they would scatter and run, and run very fast.

Attacking them wasn’t very cost-effective. It was better to attack half-beast races that built nests.

Just like the beastmen city, when beastmen were attacked, their instinct was to hide in houses and wait to be captured, rather than run out of the city and scatter in all directions.

The city walls were their protective barrier, but sometimes also their prison.

Normally, the mechanical guard legion should avoid this place and search for other half-beast territories.

But this Green Skin Captain seemed to have a certain obsession or idea about the Centaurs.

Observing from a distance, this Centaur tribe only had about a hundred members.

He had three hundred mechanical guards; was he afraid of that?
If he could capture a half-beast race that others couldn’t, wouldn’t that make him look more capable?

Challengers needed merit points for promotion, and so did they.

The harder a race was to capture, the higher the merit points earned.

So he decided to surround the Centaur tribe and use absolute numerical superiority to capture them.

Seeing this, the observing challengers should actually run.

Although Centaurs were herbivores, it didn’t mean they lacked combat ability.

The moment the mechanical guards surrounded the Centaurs, cannons roared, and the earth began to tremble.

Everything proceeded under the Green Skin Captain’s command.

Facing such powerful firepower, the Centaur warriors’ flesh and blood couldn’t resist.

Bullets continuously pierced through the Centaur warriors’ bodies.

Coupled with the bombardment from bio-cannons, the Centaur warriors’ bodies burst open with bloody flowers.

As the Centaur warriors charging at the front continuously fell, those behind dared not advance further.

Under the Green Skin Captain’s command, this battle achieved initial victory, capturing 51 Centaurs.

The Green Skin Captain was overjoyed. With such a glorious achievement, wouldn’t he get a promotion upon returning?

This was one of the hardest types of half-beasts to capture!

But he faintly felt something was wrong, though momentarily dizzy with success, he couldn’t pinpoint the issue.

But next, he didn’t need to think; danger had arrived.

The Green Skin Captain felt his feet shaking.

No, wait, the ground was shaking.

What hadn’t appeared yet from the Centaurs was their hero-level figure.

The beastmen heroes were so powerful; the Centaur hero would be even more insane!
The moment the charge began, the Centaur hero, the elite Centaur warrior, let out a heaven-shaking roar. His body swelled violently, instantly growing from two meters to ten meters!
Seeing his tribesmen slaughtered, he was furious.

The elite Centaur warrior erupted with a terrifying aura, charging forward like a giant bulldozer.

Wherever he passed, the earth split, trees collapsed, everything was swept away, and the entire area shook.

The explosive force generated by his charging speed was enough to destroy all living things in his path.

The Green Skin Captain panicked, continuously ordering the mechanical guards to bombard the elite Centaur warrior.

He wanted to use firepower to repel this terrifying creature, or at least slow it down.

His commands were absolute. The mechanical guards continuously blasted the elite Centaur warrior with heavy cannons and hip-mounted guns.

It had to be said, Green Skin Heavy Industry’s technology was decent. Although the elite Centaur warrior was powerful, he was the type that charged head-on. After withstanding hundreds of cannon shots, his front legs and body were riddled with wounds, but his hind legs kept pushing forward, wanting to crush these murderers of his people.

But the massive body ultimately collapsed twenty meters in front of the Green Skin Captain.

Seeing him fall, the Green Skin Captain breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, with a smug face, he taunted, “Is that all you’ve got?”

The elite Centaur warrior wasn’t angry but used his last bit of strength to mock back, “You’re out of energy now, right? Take a good look around you.”

Having said that, the elite Centaur warrior closed his eyes.

Only then did the Green Skin Captain realize that the surroundings were full of eyes.

The half-beasts naturally had keen hearing. With such intense fighting sounds here, the other half-beast tribes had certainly noticed.

Besides that, there was also a giant black bear, twice as tall as the Centaur warriors.

Just standing there, it was like a mountain.

It was an existence even more powerful than the beastmen’s guardian beasts.

These beings had been observing nearby, not daring to approach due to the mechanical legion’s firepower.

But now, the Green Skin mechanical legion probably had little energy left!

In other words, the Centaur hero sacrificed himself to draw the fire and take out these guys.

“Oh no, I’m surrounded.”

As despair filled the Green Skin Captain, many challengers also felt despair, realizing they had been used as bait again.

Why didn’t they learn their lesson? They were sold out the same way in the previous round.

Unexpectedly, the Strange Tale world repeated the trick this round, causing them to be surrounded again.

Perhaps their landing point was inherently a point that would attract groups.

No matter which nearby tribe they attacked, they would be besieged by others.

Once the firing started, it would inevitably alert all the surrounding half-beast tribes.

Meaning, this entire squad was a huge trap.

And there was already a rule hinting at this.

[Rule 7: During combat, please pay attention to the surrounding situation; it is vital for your life.]

The clever challengers, when the elite Centaur warrior charged, had already noticed the surroundings and began leaving the area.

As for those challengers who were still focused on watching the fight on-site, they could only climb trees to survive, playing Tarzan.

That hated feeling returned, but this time, escaping alive would be considered lucky.

On the screen of the Dragon Nation’s challenger, the beastman warrior brothers also showed expressions of despair.

They had just killed an elite Centaur warrior when they encountered an attack by a large group of half-beasts.

The older beastman brother was panicking, his eyes full of fear as he said, “Divine One, we’re finished now. There’s no way we can escape.”

Zhang Yangqing was taken aback and said, “Shouldn’t they be the ones running?”

The beastman warrior brothers froze in place, as if saying: Sir, you must be joking!
Even if you are a deity, you can’t kill this many!

The beastman brothers calling Zhang Yangqing a god was essentially just flattery.

They didn’t truly believe Zhang Yangqing had god-like abilities.

While others might have been tricked into being bait in this area, for Zhang Yangqing, it didn’t matter where he jumped.

After speaking, Zhang Yangqing looked in a certain direction in the distance, as if considering something.

Those familiar with Zhang Yangqing knew that this guy was surely about to start some outrageous operation.

At this moment, the giant black bear in the distance, for some reason, felt a chill run down its spine.