Chapter 268: The Return of Contamination
For Huichen, the contaminated creatures are merely Gold Grade小怪, with the only troublesome aspects being their splitting and rebirth skills.
As long as we make good use of the Purifier title granted to Starry, wealth and prosperity will be within reach.
So, from this perspective, the punishment for the task isn’t that serious.
Just pull the monsters to the Crimson Plain and take down most of them.
As for Hedy… she doesn’t seem to be acting deliberately, at least not for now.
“…Do you really know what will happen if the contaminated creatures get out of control?” Hedy questioned, seeing Huichen’s dismissive demeanor.
“Uh… they’ll run around causing chaos or something?” Huichen guessed.
“…Hedy didn’t know how to respond. After a moment, she finally said, ‘The contaminated creatures will gather together, and the most likely outcome is— the return of the Lord of Contamination.'”
“…!” Huichen was taken aback.
Since the game’s launch, there have been four lords heard of.
Storm, Shadow, Scarlet Flame, and Contamination.
Among them, Storm was forcefully repelled by Xieu and has since vanished without a trace.
Shadow was personally killed by Wencheng, and with a World Announcement, it shouldn’t have been a hoax.
As for Scarlet Flame, Kokoni dealt with it using Lava Flowers; at that time, the Blue Ranger was also present, so it probably wouldn’t have caused much stir.
Finally, there’s this Lord of Contamination, who had already died before the game launched, but the remnants left behind have caused a lot of havoc.
To be honest, each lord has a sense of peak ability in their respective domains.
The hundreds of thousands of troops led by the Shadow Lord, summoning Bone Dragons and the Scarlet Flame Lord’s shadow barriers, along with the overwhelming fire that nearly engulfed players in the city, are undeniably bug skills.
If the Lord of Contamination truly revives, under the current circumstances, the chances of winning are almost nonexistent.
Big moves have been mostly exhausted, only a few small skills remain, and there’s a need to exit combat and recover.
“So what do we do now? Why did the old man call us to liberate you?” Juchan wondered.
“The caretaker… misinterpreted my meaning. Over the years, many have died by Father’s sword. I thought you would suffer the same fate, but that turned out not to be the case.”
“…”
“A small portion of the contaminated creatures has already begun to break free from my control.
The true contamination has started to take shape. If we want to prevent the worst outcome… From now on, I will mobilize all the contaminated creatures I can control to counteract those things. I hope you can assist me.”
“Ding!”
System Notification: SS Level Task “Liberate Hedy” has changed and entered the second phase “Prevent the Birth of Contamination.”
At the same time, a red-green bordered progress bar appeared next to the task, the previous countdown vanished.
Red occupies the upper 10%, while green takes up the remaining 90%.
Squinting again, it changed to 11:89.
The total count was 2500.
“From now on, these contaminations will gradually break away from my control, but before that, you must do your best to eliminate them. When the total number of contaminated creatures is less than 10, the Lord of Contamination won’t appear. However… once the number of uncontrollable contaminated creatures exceeds 500, the Lord of Contamination will immediately reveal itself.”
“The contaminated creatures I control will suppress their splitting abilities. I’m counting on you.” Hedy lowered her head, and a purple magic array lit up beside her.
This must be the portal to return.
Wow, this whole process is quite organized. So why did you bring us down here for no reason?
“Is it really necessary to go through all this trouble? Even if the Lord of Contamination appears again, with your father’s strength, he should be able to defeat him with ease.”
According to what the old man said, he has previously slain the Lord of Contamination; this should not be a lie.
“…Hedy bit her pink lip, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke. ‘Father… has completely lost his consciousness. Now, he only retains a body driven by battle instincts preserved through necromancy and cannot stray too far from me.'”
Battle instincts!? No wonder he has been fixated on Starry; among those present, only Starry herself could engage with him.
In just a few exchanged words, the red-green progress bar changed again; it is now 12:88.
The total count became 2510.
Why is it still increasing? Did Aya and the others do something?
“Starry, Butterfly Dance, you go ahead first.” Zane said.
“Huh? Big Brother, aren’t you coming?” Little Butterfly was taken aback, questioning.
“Well, I’ll try not to take shortcuts; you go ahead first.”
“Okay… I’ll do my best with Starry!”
“Alright, do your best!” Zane casually replied.
“…”
“What… are you staying here to do?” Hedy asked suspiciously.
Huichen stroked his chin, pretending to think seriously, and said, “Miss Hedy… If, and I mean if, I could bring your father back to life, would that resolve the crisis?”
“Revive…!?” Hedy shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. Father’s soul has completely dissipated; his current state is the best proof of that.”
Soul dissipated? The Wish—Revive can only be used on complete corpses and souls. Butterfly Dance might be an exception; she was forcibly pulled back with all the elements of her similar soul during the revival in the illusion…
Wait… Huichen suddenly thought of a possibility.
“Hedy, has your father remained trapped in this Despair Nest and never gone out?”
“He’s already dead… how could he go out?”
“That’s great!” Huichen cheered, then faltered under Hedy’s killing gaze. “I mean… that’s truly unfortunate; could you let me try?”
……
Regarding revival, Huichen was already very adept.
Hedy had Mar stop moving and lay down.
Grievance + Sacrificial Blood + Blue Bottle filled with MP, then, under Hedy’s anxious gaze, Huichen began the revival endeavor.
The filled blue bar was instantly drained, coalescing in mid-air into a water-blue mirror large enough to cover Aima, clear and transparent.
“Hedy, don’t slack off! More are betraying us!” Huichen reminded her while working.
“Ah! I forgot, sorry.” Hedy, focused on Huichen’s actions, panicked and began to regain control over the contaminants.
At this moment, she didn’t seem like a boss but rather an ordinary neighbor girl.
The blue mirror slowly sank, passing through Aima’s armor, and her feet…
As before, it lasted around 10 minutes.
The progress bar had changed to 50:50.
The total count is… 1079!?
What’s going on? Haven’t the conditions for appearance already been met!?
Just now, he was so focused he didn’t even check the situation with Starry.
In the dark path, countless tiny particles gathered, forming a golden torrent, slowly drifting toward Aima.
On the other side, through Starry’s perspective, Huichen clearly saw numerous contaminated creatures devouring each other, forming an increasingly dense deep black substance.
The remaining half of the contaminated creatures kept their distance from this thing, looking as if Hedy controlled them to retreat, avoiding getting consumed.
Contaminations fused together, eventually taking the form of a man.
“Ah hahahaha! I have waited for this day for too long! How ridiculous that the fallen thought they could collect my blood… Now, is there any human in this world that can threaten me? Little Hedy, what do you think?” The Lord of Contamination seemed able to see through the ground of the Crimson Plain directly into the Abyss of Despair.
Huichen was somewhat speechless; why did this speech sound so much like a villain destined not to survive a single episode!
