The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 137 - 106 Shy Immortal Cactus_2

Chapter 137: Chapter 106 Shy Immortal Cactus_2

"Forget it..." the young investigator reluctantly put away his phone.

"Is the abnormal item in this room?" Chen Guangxi pointed her chin towards the bedroom door beside them.

A rope was tied to the doorknob, allowing the door to be closed remotely.

"Yes, be careful. As soon as you open the door, the cactus will shoot spikes. They’re very fast, you won’t have time to react."

The young investigator rubbed his chest, "Both of us got hit by a volley, and it didn’t feel good."

"Let me see what’s going on."

To be cautious, Chen Guangxi activated her Protective Gang Qi and pushed open the door.

Zhou Yuan hid behind her and, at the moment the door opened, he activated his Protective Gang Qi, entered Shadow Transformation, and deployed Ghost Walker in one smooth motion.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!!!

The piercing sound of spikes cutting through the air erupted, as countless cactus spikes shot towards them like a torrential pear blossom rainstorm.

"Owww—!!!!"

Chen Guangxi let out a scream reminiscent of Tom the Cat, instinctively dodging to the side and exposing Zhou Yuan behind her.

"Owww—!!!"

Zhou Yuan let out a similar scream, hurriedly scrambling to dodge aside.

One investigator quickly pulled the rope, slamming the door shut with a bang.

Zhou Yuan and Chen Guangxi were both covered head-to-toe in densely packed cactus spikes, making them look like two upright porcupines.

You must be kidding... Zhou Yuan couldn’t believe the excruciating pain coursing through his body.

Protective Gang Qi, Shadow Transformation, and Ghost Form were supposed to make him immune to most physical attacks. Yet, they were of no use against the cactus spikes which pierced through him without him even seeing them coming.

More absurdly, Chen Guangxi was also injured?

"This cactus is tricky, it even pierced my body to a depth of one centimeter. Is it a rule-based abnormal item...?"

Chen Guangxi shook vigorously, and the cactus spikes embedded all over her body instantly shattered. The tiny bleeding holes on her skin swiftly healed, and her clothes automatically mended.

Zhou Yuan mimicked her, shattering the cactus spikes. However, his recovery speed was nowhere near as terrifying as Chen Guangxi’s. His clothes remained torn, his body covered in small bleeding holes, blood dripping down, enough to make someone with trypophobia faint on the spot.

Luckily, in that split second, he had spotted the green cactus on the computer desk.

[A cactus that had been altered into an abnormal item by an unknown force. It was given the ability to "see," but it’s a shy introvert. So, whenever it "sees" something approaching or spying on it, it shoots spikes to fend it off—it just wants to stay quietly in its comfort zone.]

[Containing it is actually quite simple, just put it in an alloy containment box. But the question is, how to cover it?]

[The answer is simple. Didn’t you notice the system couldn’t be bothered to generate a task?]

I wish you’d generate a task to give me some Experience Points, even mosquito legs are still meat... But what is this unknown force that altered the cactus?

Zhou Yuan pondered, what kind of force could turn a cactus into a rule-based abnormal item?

The crew-cut glasses-wearing man said gravely, "We’ve tried many methods, but all have failed. The deeper we went, the faster and stronger the spikes shot out, even piercing through special alloy armor in just a few steps."

Given that this abnormal item has rule-based characteristics, even if you had the True Dragon’s body, you probably couldn’t withstand it.

This thing bypasses defense and deals percentage true damage!

Unless... we could find another suitable rule-based abnormal item and use rules to counter rules."

"No need for that," Zhou Yuan already had an idea. He looked at Chen Guangxi, "The time just now should have been enough for you to determine the position of the cactus, right?

Make an appropriately sized, opaque cover, then use Teleportation Skill to transfer the cover above the cactus. Once it’s covered, the problem is solved.

Hmm... a blanket might work too, as long as it obstructs the line of sight, the cactus shouldn’t attack."

"We did think of this plan, but we don’t know any spells." The crew-cut glasses-wearing man shrugged helplessly.

"Let me try."

Chen Guangxi took out several heavy black iron ingots from her Storage Ring and used Alchemy to transform them into a 50cm×50cm×50cm cubic metal box, with one side open.

She placed the open side on the floor, and with a point of her long index finger, a silvery-white spell glow lit up. Diamond-like sparkling light particles floated around.

Spatial Transference.

Thud!

A heavy object fell inside the room.

Confident in her memory and magic, Chen Guangxi confidently stepped forward to open the door.

No cactus spikes shot out this time.

On the computer desk, a pitch-black metal cube covered the spot where the cactus had been.

[The shy introvert now has a brand-new comfort zone, undisturbed, and it’s very happy.]

Zhou Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and then looked at the figure on the floor, a corpse turned into a mangled mess after countless cactus spikes pierced through it.

He couldn’t help but frown.

[A computer genius, a top-notch hacker, who loved surfing the web. He died because he came into contact with some things he shouldn’t have. Remember what I said? The shy introvert was turned into an abnormal item by some unknown force. Unknown force, computer, internet... What does this make you think of?]

Zhou Yuan suddenly felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his mind exploding: "Cyber... Demon?"

[Congratulations on discovering the truth about this incident, but unfortunately, there’s no prize for this quiz.]

"This person was killed by the Cyber Demon? Why would it kill a regular person? Because this person stumbled upon a secret that could expose its existence? Was he scared to death like Kevin, or killed by the altered cactus?

If he was scared to death, then the Cyber Demon altered the cactus to destroy evidence, using the cactus to obliterate the body and the computer alongside it, covering its tracks.

It’s getting stronger, now able to affect the real world and alter objects in reality..."

Zhou Yuan was shocked. It had been less than a week since the Amazon Rainforest incident, and Cyber Demon had already evolved.

Given more time, it might truly become a super AI!

"Okay, containment successful. The rest is up to you guys." Chen Guangxi clapped her hands.

"Thank you." Both investigators quickly expressed their gratitude.

"Let’s go, I’ll treat you to a nice meal. Xinyue has a lot of delicious food." Chen Guangxi beckoned to Zhou Yuan.

"Wait, I’m quite interested in the victim’s identity."

Zhou Yuan scratched his head, pretending to be curious, "I want to know how he managed to raise an abnormal item."

"Didn’t I tell you before? The appearance of abnormalities is completely random, don’t dwell on them. Why think about all this nonsense?"

Chen Guangxi dragged him out, "Come on, stop dawdling, I’m hungry too."

"Alright." Zhou Yuan thought for a moment, knowing there was no logical reason right now to have the Control Bureau investigate the network deeply. He decided to let it go for now.

But the Cyber Demon situation must be brought to the Control Bureau’s attention, so they can be on guard.

Hmm...

It was time for "Wang Zhen" to take action.

·

Late at night.

In a hotel.

Zhou Yuan used Wang Zhen’s forum account to send a message to Chen Guangxi: "Do you have time to meet?"

After a while, Chen Guangxi replied: "What’s the matter? I’m not in Xinhu right now, I’m in Xinyue."

Zhou Yuan: "What a coincidence, I’m also in Xinyue. Half an hour later at Maple Leaf Park, are you free?"

Chen Guangxi: "Alright."

Half an hour later, Maple Leaf Park.

In a surveillance blind spot, under a tree, Chen Guangxi looked at Fang Qing and said helplessly, "He sent you again?"

"Better to be cautious."

Fang Qing smiled, pulling out a whiteboard and black marker from her body, and quickly wrote a line.

[Put away your electronic devices, I have something important to tell you.]

Chen Guangxi raised an eyebrow and stored her phone in her Storage Ring.

Fang Qing said straightforwardly, "There’s more to this afternoon’s abnormal incident than it seems."