Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 525 - 4: The Curse Descends

Chapter 525: Chapter 4: The Curse Descends

These were all individuals with their own minds. They wouldn’t easily change their opinions based on others’ suggestions. The room was clearly dangerous, so they were wary of strangers, especially after seeing Tang Zheng and the others take out their weapons, they became even more cautious.

Tang Zheng didn’t care, he figured it would serve these self-important fools right if they died. Those who were left would inevitably look to him for guidance.

"Please note, you all have two minutes left to select your equipment." The countdown continued. Seeing that Tang Zheng didn’t speak again, the hesitant crowd chose protective clothing instead.

"I believe you." A wealthy lady showed Tang Zheng a smile and went to get a box of protective clothing.

"Did she take a liking to you? Even though she’s a mature woman, she’s quite well-preserved." Lin Weiguo teased Tang Zheng. He was truly grateful to this man for the continued chance at survival.

"Trojan, what are the clearance conditions this time?" Dantai opened the checklist, prepared to purchase items.

"This mission is the Curse of the Shadow, kill the beautiful queen and seal her soul!" A vile-looking test tube appeared on the screen, filled with green, bubbling potion, "Curse-removal potion. One hundred points per bottle. Of course, you can also obtain it in the game, but the quantity is scarce."

"I’ll take three bottles." Dantai immediately chose to buy, Pang Meiqin bought a bottle, Lu Fan and Qin Yan also bought three each, Xu Biyun was short on points so she could only afford one.

The newbies were nervous, they all thought this potion was valuable, but they didn’t have the points.

"May we purchase on credit?" Breeder Zhao Guangji licked his lips, imploring the Trojan.

"Yes, if you pledge one of your arms as collateral." The Trojan’s cold reply made the newbies gasp in dread.

"Mr. Trojan, can you make this easier for us?" The female celebrity smiled flirtatiously at the Trojan but was ignored.

"You could seduce Tang Zheng, he’s a soft touch. Roll around in bed with him and he should give you a few bottles." The Trojan was causing trouble for Tang Zheng.

"Don’t worry, I’ll steal the curse-removal potion from the game for you." Chu Baichuan’s simple-mindedness made instant enemies among the newbies, his comment garnered their caution and hostility.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ai Yixin gave him a twist, she was almost driven to frustration. If the newbies were also going into the game to steal, wouldn’t that create unnecessary enemies?

"I’ll take three bottles. And all of you, remember to prepare spiritual power bullets. The Thunderstorm rifle probably won’t be of use." Tang Zheng had 3936 points left, not willing to squander them. Besides, when it came to seizing resources in the game, he wasn’t afraid of anyone.

The newbies stared in envy as Tang Zheng and his team stored the potions in their space wristwatches. The sight of Lin Weiguo picking up the Roaring Reaper MG3 caused exclamations of surprise. The greater the firepower, the greater the chance of survival.

"Time’s up, teleportation beginning."

Twenty-eight newbies entered the Trojan Horse Game and found themselves in a dark alley. It was the middle of the night and everything was obscured.

"Stay alert." Tang Zheng took out an M4A1, replaced the ammo clip with spiritual power bullets. The Pepper Grinder had a cooldown, so Lu Fan used a G36C.

Qin Yan gave the Roaring Reaper back to Lin Weiguo. In her hand was a captured Apocalypse Plunderer, all black, filled with mechanical impressions. The ammo clip held 500 rounds and the entire weapon only weighed about five kilograms.

"What kind of hellhole is this?" The lingerie woman crossed her arms, she had stepped on some decaying cake. The slimy feeling instantly gave her goosebumps.

"Those with protective clothing, put it on now. The others stay put." Through night vision goggles, Tang Zheng observed their surroundings. There was a brightly lit main street opposite them, English shouts occasionally filled the air.

"Are we in a foreign country?" The presenter, Ruan Feifei’s English was decent, she volunteered, "Shall I ask for directions?"

"Men, get away from here. I need to change." The girlfriend of the man in a baseball cap scolded the others, thinking they were trying to take advantage of her.

"If you don’t want to change, so be it." Chu Baichuan snapped back at her, then asked, "What now? Where do we find the queen? Or do we find a safe place to hide and assess the situation first?"

"We have too little information. I’ll take two people with me to the main street." Dantai naturally wanted to use the newbies as bait but he had to get Tang Zheng’s approval as he was the group leader.

"Be careful." Tang Zheng had no reason to refuse.

Zhao Guangji and a male student named Chen Jiarong were pointed out by Dantai, but neither wanted to go. The result was a punch to their faces by Dantai.

The two unlucky souls fell to the ground, it seemed like they had landed on a pile of dog shit, the stench filled the air immediately.

"What are you doing?" Chen Jiarong, furious, gruffly questioned. Although, none of his classmates or advisers intervened, they just complained a few complaints.

"If you want to survive, you need to listen. Let’s go." Dantai kicked Chen Jiarong. The latter couldn’t take it anymore, he pointed his weapon at Dantai.

"Motherfucker, you thought you could kill without cocking the gun?" Dantai kicked Chen Jiarong hard in the face. Blood spurted from his nose and he even lost two teeth.

The newbies went silent, even the girlfriend of the guy wearing a baseball cap didn’t dare say a word.

The woman was not tall, wearing tight hole-exposing jeans and an off-shoulder cashmere sweater, her lips and eyes adorned with purple makeup, she was quite flashy and trendy.

Dantai’s show of authority had worked; the two men obediently fell in line.

"He’s only trying to help you. Any of you who disobeys definitely won’t last five days." Tang Zheng had a smooth sailing since he had someone to play the bad guy, and said that he had already given up on the newbies who refused to pick protective clothing.

The lingerie woman put on the protective clothing, and the other women, unable to swallow their pride, waited. People are always like this, waiting when they don’t know what to do, complying with the commands of the stronger ones, or compelled to change due to circumstances, never considering taking the initiative themselves.

"Old Lin, show them how to use firearms," commanded Tang Zheng as he moved towards the back of the line. He tried to summon the war chariot but failed, though the Velociraptor Mount did appear.

"This is London’s New Oxford Street. The British Museum is just ahead," Dantai quickly returned, adding, "The curse must have something to do with some of the museum’s exhibits."

"Since the Trojan game has brought us here, it must have some purpose. I guess we’ll get the next hint soon," said Tang Zheng as he cocked his gun. "Let’s head to the street corner and wait."

After a few steps, about a dozen black shadows jumped off the rooftops on both sides, stirring up chaos among the crowd. The women screamed and ran, trying to escape.

"Don’t open fire!" Tang Zheng shouted. The monsters moved too fast, and opening fire would only end up hurting his own men.

Several monsters caught up with the lingerie woman at the front of the pack. Suddenly, there was an explosion that sprayed a cloud of black mist and bits of flesh, which landed on everyone.

Tang Zheng quickly reached out, grabbed a black shadow, and violently slammed it into another shadow, throwing them both to the ground.

There was a series of explosions. The monsters went off before anyone could counterattack, leaving the alley shrouded in a fog. A silver piece of paper fluttered down.

"Get out of here!" Tang Zheng ordered, holding his breath. After grabbing the paper, he led everyone to escape.

"The note says we should wait for a blonde woman named Aima outside the British Museum," Tang Zheng explained under a street lamp, passing the note around. "Everyone okay?"

"Were those monsters some kind of joke?" Pang Meiqin sniffed her arm, which was stained with the black mist and fluids. There was no smell, and she hadn’t been injured.

Everyone agreed, but a minute later, they all started feeling unwell.

The middle-aged woman was the first to double over and vomit. She looked miserably ill, as if she was about to throw up even her bile. After that came the female anchor, the breeder. Within a few seconds, the newbies were all on their knees: weak, dizzy, and nauseous.

"Is this some kind of...curse?" Pang Meiqin barely finished speaking when Ai Yixin started to vomit profusely. It made Chu Baichuan shrivel up in concern. This was definitely going to hurt the baby.

The others were not spared either. Tang Zheng threw up everything in his stomach, dry heaved until his throat was hoarse.

Feeling utterly miserable, Lu Fan took out a curse-removal potion from a test tube and downed half of it, fighting back the stench. He vomited it back up, but didn’t throw up again after that.

"Phew...drink this fast. About a fifth of the bottle should do. Don’t waste it," Lu Fan sat on the ground, catching his breath. He glanced at Ai Yixin and passed the potion to her.

"Thank you," Chu Baichuan didn’t refuse, hastily pouring the potion into his wife’s mouth.

"Remember to listen to your uncle from now on. Don’t act recklessly," Lu Fan shot Chu Baichuan a look, clearly addressing Ai Yixin.

Tang Zheng took out a potion and handed it to Lin Weiguo, but didn’t drink one himself. He wanted to test the strength of this curse, to see if he could resist it, otherwise, what were the newbies going to do? Wait to die?

"Give us a bottle. We’ll buy it," the middle-aged man and the man in a baseball cap obviously thought they were be able to buy their way out, but their combined offers fell on deaf ears. In the game, money was worthless; points were the only valid currency.

"Just vomit. It might get better after a while," Pang Meiqin was not generous enough to give them a potion. Meanwhile, Qin Yan sighed, fearing that they had just managed to offend all the newbies.

Tang Zheng clearly thought of this too, so he told Lin Weiguo to give the rest of the potion to the cleaning lady, the actress, and the lady of leisure.

"You listened earlier and didn’t hesitate to pick the protective clothing. That’s why you get the potion," he explained.

It was lucky that it was night. If it had been daytime, a bunch of people vomiting in the street would definitely have drawn a crowd. However, after ten minutes, the nausea passed.

The newbies were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, only to see Tang Zheng looking grim. Their hearts jumped up to their throats.

"What happened?" The mature lady was faring better than the others who had chosen to wear protective clothing, and so had been lucky enough to drink Tang Zheng’s potion. As a result, her impression of him was quite favorable at the moment.

"There’s a palm-sized necrotic spot on my left side. It hurts when I press it." Tang Zheng checked his body and quickly found the issue.

The newcomers immediately forgot propriety, pulling off their clothes to check themselves. Those who hadn’t had the potion had ashen faces, while Ruan Feifei and the others were relieved their bodies were okay. (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to qidian.com to vote and support this story. Your support is my biggest motivation.)