Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 276 - 27: Resolving the Head-exploder Crisis

Chapter 276: Chapter 27: Resolving the Head-exploder Crisis

"If we cannot find the reason, we will remain under the control of Alice, constantly facing the danger of a head-exploding death. We must take the initiative." Tang Zheng didn’t want to be controlled by others, once again stating the current crisis, while inconspicuously glancing at Han Zifeng, who was standing outside the human wall. That was his ultimate target.

Everyone fell silent, they knew that someone had to do these things, but it was always Tang Zheng who stepped up, making them all feel guilty towards him.

"What if the destruction of the magic array is noticed by Alice?" Han Zifeng unintentionally inquired, his first concern being his own safety, which once again earned him everyone’s contempt.

Zhang Hao’s eyes lit up, he looked at Han Zifeng, immediately pounced on him. The latter realized that something was amiss and tried to escape, but it was too late. Zhang Hao grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him back, gripping his throat.

"Indeed, it’s great to have someone as a scapegoat." Tang Zheng certainly had thought about using someone else as a guinea pig. However, they had just jointly confronted the second game and were somewhat united. He was not suitable to carry out such an act. As for Zhang Hao, who always held a grudge, ever since he got tricked by Han Zifeng on the stone bridge, he had been eager to teach him a lesson. Now with this opportunity, he naturally would not give it up.

"As you’ve all seen, this kid is not holding up his end, only thinking about himself. It’s his turn to make a sacrifice for everyone." Zhang Hao was no fool, and he knew that he had to first front Han Zifeng as the antagonist.

In view of Han Zifeng’s detestable behavior, nobody pleaded for him. He was on the verge of despair when he suddenly remembered the rule and shouted, "You cannot harm me, otherwise you will also be killed."

"No, you’re volunteering." After finding an excuse, Tang Zheng grabbed Han Zifeng by the collar, pinned him to the ground, "Besides, Alice said we couldn’t attack the super team, but she didn’t mention anything about self-harm."

"Exactly. Even if we do anything, Alice is not here, how could she possibly know if you’re injured or not?" Lu Fan kicked Han Zifeng effortlessly, "Move, don’t be a coward, destroy the magic array yourself."

"Please spare me." Handing the knife, Han Zifeng couldn’t bring himself to do it, and begged for help from his classmates, "Can you really just sit back and watch me die?"

"Class president, I admire your courage, so I was going to participate in the competition too, but Tang Zheng had taken up all the slots." Han Zifeng sobbed pitifully, looking utterly miserable. However, had he not mentioned the last part, the students remembered Han Zifeng’s cowardly act and felt even more contempt for him. They all turned their heads away from him.

"Don’t insult the dead Gao Meilin and Wang Shang, and Yang Chen. They are our heroes. You, a scumbag, go to hell." A girl who was close to Gao Meilin spat in Han Zifeng’s face, thinking of her dead friends.

Han Zifeng had been pampered from a young age, never had endured such humiliation, he instantly felt nauseous, his sobbing face twisted with anger, but then another gush of spittle landed on his face.

"Still unrepentant? Traitor." The students finally found an outlet for their emotions and began to cast their blame on Han Zifeng, as if doing so would unify them as a whole.

Although the high school students were impassioned just now, two or three of them were extremely anxious, not willing to participate in the competition but not wanting to be looked down upon either. Especially after a few rounds, when the fervor had cooled down, they didn’t want to start again, this was why Tang Zheng lamented the deaths of Gao Meilin and Wang Shang, these two kids were capable of becoming worthy teammates.

"Hurry up and do it." Seeing Han Zifeng being spat at, Zhang Hao was overjoyed, picked up the knife and stuffed it into his hand, then stripped off his clothes.

In a panic, Han Zifeng did not have the courage to cut his own skin, his mind in a whirl, he turned and stabbed Zhang Hao with the knife.

"Fuck." Zhang Hao experienced a shock and delivered a punch to his chin, instantly knocking out several of his teeth, and cursed, "You son of a bitch, you still want to revolt eh."

"It seems that hurting others is indeed allowed. Zhang Hao, you do it." Tang Zheng certainly would not do it personally, presenting a righteous demeanor.

"Eh?" Zhang Hao, who was about to punch Han Zifeng again, paused, scratching his head, he didn’t want to do it, but seeing that everyone’s gaze had turned contemptuous.

"I’m not afraid." Zhang Hao couldn’t bear this contempt, picked up the knife and slashed Han Zifeng’s shoulder where the magic array was.

In pain, Han Zifeng wanted to scream, but Tang Zheng swiftly gripped his jaw, leaving him only able to whimper,

"Is it done now?" Zhang Hao wiped the sweat off his face and asked tentatively, he was indeed afraid, and the wound was just a superficial one.

"At least the magic array has to be erased or destroyed, I’m afraid a simple slash won’t do." Lu Fan put forward his suggestion, "At least more than half of it should be destroyed for the magic array to become invalid."

Lu Fan was correct. Only by destroying more than half of the magic array would it become ineffective.

The green gas in the venom pool was not as simple as it appeared. Anyone who inhaled this gas and had their skin contaminated by it would have a magic array grow out of their shoulder. At that point, not only can Alice remotely detonate their heads at will, but she would also be immune to any of their attacks.

"Destroy this patch of skin?" Zhang Hao gestured, wondering how to do it, "Should we use an anesthetic needle?"

"Peeling it off is the fastest method, in an hour, we don’t have much time to waste," Lu Fan, removing her protective clothing and exposing her shoulder, said with resignation. "Regardless of whether it’s useful or not, as long as his head hasn’t exploded, we have to peel off the magic array."

The students were taken aback, subconsciously clutching their shoulders, shuddering at the thought of having to endure the pain of skin being peeled off.

"I only have ten anesthetics." Li Xinlan sighed, it wasn’t enough.

"I have some, what a pity, you won’t be able to show off the drama of scraping bones." Tang Zheng made a joke, took out an anesthetic, and injected one into Han Zifeng.

"Such a waste." Zhang Hao muttered and began to peel off the skin. Students watched the bloody scene but didn’t feel the need to vomit. They were used to it.

Tang Zheng did not deny it. He was not compassionate, but he didn’t want his test subject to faint. What if he missed any details?

Three minutes later, a sweaty Zhang Hao peeled off the whole skin marked with the magic array from Han Zifeng. His head did not explode. This relieved everyone.

"It seems to be fine. Let’s get to it, Lu Fan, bear with the pain." After injecting Little Lolita with an anesthetic, Tang Zheng took out a surgical knife and disinfectant alcohol and started working.

Watching Little Lolita’s shoulder skin being peeled off bit by bit, the few students who were initially resistant to the idea also compromised. They didn’t want to be labelled as cowards.

"Without the risk of our heads exploding, shall we participate in the third game?" Xu Guanlin looked at the Supermen Squad opposite them. They seemed to not have discovered this detail yet and were all sitting sluggishly.

"We probably won’t be able to leave this room if we don’t participate, unless we manage to kill Alice here. Look at those hundreds of armored knights and poker soldiers. Although they’re not smart, their combat power is not to be underestimated. They can totally wear us out." Yin Shangwu, who was removing the magic array from Li Xinlan, didn’t hold much faith in the students’ fighting strength, "Besides, aren’t you afraid of the Supermen Squad robbing you while you’re under attack? Anyway, we’ll have to kill them in the end, so we might as well participate in the game."

"We only have this option." Xu Guanlin sighed, unsure about the number of people that would be killed in the last match.

"Don’t worry. It’s twenty-one versus eleven. We have a high chance of winning." Yue Tong encouraged everyone and looked at Tang Zheng, "Teacher, can we have something to eat?"

Qin Yan, sitting next to Bai Guo’s corpse, took out the relics from her space backpack, carefully organized them, and then tossed some food towards everyone.

Pang Meiqin, who had been silent all along finally had an opportunity to shine. She opened her backpack and offered all her supplies.

"FU.CK, what’s wrong with these easterners again? They’re even giving food to the ’chips’, are they trying to eat me out of house and home?" Brant hit the ground in frustration, but he also had to distribute the food, lest the morale of his men plummeted.

"These forced team battles are so annoying. You can never choose your teammates willingly." Andrew also looked frustrated.

"What are they doing? Some kind of wicked ritual? Cutting their own skin?" A spectacled man watched the Eastern team the whole time, but a human wall blocked his view.

"What’s there to fear? I’ve heard that during the Qing era, an organization known as the Boxers also claimed to be invulnerable to weapons, but in the end, they were still defeated by the firearms of westerners!" Brant didn’t bother about these matters. He was pondering over the fact that Alice could explode anyone’s head but he had no clue how to deal with her.

"Have you rested enough, you lowly human bugs?" Alice and a group of ghost maids entered the room. She snapped her fingers and a stone door opened. "You will reach the room of the third game through here. Don’t waste time, hurry up."

"Run, those who get there first may have an advantage." Tang Zheng sprung from the ground and dashed towards the stone door. Yin Shangwu followed closely behind, and Brant also pounced out like a cheetah.

The other people were like a swarm of bustling ants, desperately trying to squeeze themselves through the stone door.

Qin Yan cast a final glance at Bai Guo’s corpse and entered the passageway. The stone door slammed shut, forever entrapping the severed fingers, blood, and corpses in the dungeons of Demon City.

Another five hundred meter dark passage, without any light, only consisted of heavy breathing and the sounds of frantic footsteps constantly ringing in the ears, everyone was running as fast as they could, fearing to fall behind.

Brant had outrun Tang Zheng within fifty meters, which made him quite pleased. He thought his opponent’s physical strength was worn out, but when he had run two hundred meters and saw Tang Zheng still following him closely, he realized he had been tricked.

"This Easterner knows he can’t outrun me, so he deliberately vied for the first place to make me chase him. As soon as I went ahead, he followed just behind me. This way, he could let me step on any landmines and still reach the third game location at almost the same time." Brant immediately figured everything out and was infuriated. This guy was too cunning. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for a recommendation or monthly ticket on qidian.com. Your support is my biggest driving force.)