The appearance of Shao Qingge's consciousness finally put Ye Qi at ease. Although Shao Qingge kept disconnecting, he only chatted with Shao Qingge for a few minutes on the Telepathic Connection before his mind went silent again, receiving no response from Shao Qingge …
At least Ye Qi knew that Shao Qingge was still conscious.
As long as CEO Shao is still around, he doesn't need to worry too much; he can just lead CEO Shao through the secret room.
Ye Qi had a rare good night's sleep, without any dreams.
Little did they know, the young CEO Shao, who was placed in the bottle, suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and began to crawl around restlessly inside the bottle.
The Zerg prefer cold but dislike heat.
Ye Qi was worried that CEO Shao would catch a cold, so he put the bottle in his blanket and slept with it. There was also a heater in the tent, so the sealed Mineral Water bottle had become a natural greenhouse, and the Zerg were going crazy from the heat.
At first, it was crawling around everywhere, but later, for some unknown reason, it suddenly quieted down and lay down at the bottom of the bottle to sleep. Shao Qingge tentatively called out, "Xiao Ye?"
Ye Qi was fast asleep and had no idea what was happening inside the bottle.
Shao Qingge smiled slightly: "Xiao Ye is really smart. Keep heating the bottle until it dies from the heat."
Ye Qi wasn't particularly clever, but he was concerned about CEO Shao and worried he might catch a cold, which ironically helped Shao Qingge suppress the Zerg.
***
The next morning, when Ye Qi woke up, he picked up the bottle and saw that it was warm and cozy in the quilt. The young CEO Shao was sleeping soundly under the quilt he had made with scissors the night before, and was using a pillow the size of a fingernail.
Ye Qi couldn't help but smile, thinking that CEO Shao was quite cute after shrinking. If he returned to reality in the future, he could make a Q version of CEO Shao keychain to hang on his phone.
Without disturbing Shao Qingge, he stepped out of the tent and asked Liu Qiao, " How much longer until Thumbelina's transformation?"
Liu Qiao said, "One hour."
Let CEO Shao sleep an extra hour, then Ye Qi will go over and have dinner with everyone.
Nothing happened last night. Yu Hanjiang went to patrol the area early this morning but found no trace of the Zerg. Everyone was puzzled. Old Mo asked while drinking milk, "If the Zerg were searching for us, they should have found us by now. Why haven't we made a sound for two days? Could they have gotten lost?"
Xiao Lou also found it strange. He frowned slightly, thought about it carefully, and analyzed, "It's very likely that they encountered a troublesome Challenger team and lost a large number of them?"
That night, the two waves of Zerg that were chasing them encountered a gasoline explosion. In addition, the players used Hairdryer, pigeons to send gasoline, and badminton shuttlecocks to throw alcohol to fuel the fire. In the end, more than 70% of the Zerg were burned to death by the raging fire. The remaining ones either fled for their lives or merged and upgraded to attack them. However, they were controlled by Li Qingzhao's mass slowdown.
The past two days have been peaceful; the Zerg army has not caught up.
Yu Hanjiang concluded: "Either, as Xiao Lou said, the remaining Zerg were wiped out by other Challengers, or they learned their lesson after suffering heavy losses and are holding back for now, just to organize the next attack plan."
Everyone agreed that it made sense.
Old Mo laughed and said, "Then let's continue to rest and wait here!"
The long journey was exhausting, and no one knew where was safer. They risked accidentally wandering into a Zerg nest. At least this place was one they'd scouted beforehand; it was deserted, with a wide field of vision making it difficult to ambush. If they were surrounded by Zerg, they could use Li Qingzhao's card skill to escape in time.
Yu Hanjiang made a decisive decision: "We will also hold back. Protecting CEO Shao is the priority right now."
Upon hearing this, Ye Qi immediately exclaimed excitedly, " CEO Shao connected with me via Telepathic Connection last night and we even chatted for a while!"
His teammates all turned to look at him, and a hint of joy appeared in their eyes.
Long Sen asked, "Really? He's still conscious?"
Ye Qi nodded vigorously: " The Telepathic Connection channel doesn't lie. He asked me to tell everyone that the Zerg parasitism isn't that simple. If a human's will is strong enough, they can assimilate the Zerg. Moreover, humans who assimilate the Zerg not only retain their human consciousness but also gain Zerg abilities."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance. They had always thought that after being parasitized, Shao Qingge would become a "vegetative state" and fall into a deep sleep. They never expected that CEO Shao's consciousness could actually be awakened after being parasitized by the Zerg.
Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi and asked, "Was there anything wrong with his behavior after he regained consciousness last night?"
Ye Qi thought about it carefully and said, "It's nothing. He didn't seem to be in much pain. He even joked with me, just like the former CEO Shao. He told you to be careful. If a powerful human assimilates the Zerg and gains their abilities, and then tries to do bad things, that would be truly terrifying."
Currently, it seems that even the most intelligent Zerg cannot surpass humans, and their camouflage abilities are quite limited. But what if a powerful human were to assimilate the Zerg and then choose to join them as an enemy?
Yu Hanjiang frowned and remained silent for a moment before turning to Xiao Lou and saying, " If Challenger can become assimilated by the Zerg after being infected, wouldn't he be able to use cards again and gain Zerg abilities as well?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "According to CEO Shao, that should be correct."
Yu Hanjiang stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.
Seeing the man's serious expression, Xiao Lou hurriedly said, "You're not thinking of putting yourself in danger, are you? Please don't take that risk."
CEO Shao has already been infected. If you get infected too, that would be a real problem…
It was rare to see Professor Xiao so anxious, so Yu Hanjiang felt a warmth in his heart. He gently patted Professor Xiao's shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, I won't take any risks. If I get infected and can't control myself, and I infect all of you, we might all be wiped out."
Ye Qi hurriedly nodded, "That's right. With CEO Shao alone, it's already difficult for us to take care of him. We don't know how long the assimilation will take. Captain Yu, please don't try it... If you attack us after you're infected, we won't be able to defeat you!"
Qu Wanyue laughed and said, "We really can't beat Captain Yu."
Liu Qiao said seriously, " Captain Yu's physical fitness is already the best among us, and his fighting ability is also the strongest. After transforming into a Zerg, his attack power will be enhanced. He can take us down one by one with a claw. I estimate that we will all be taken down by him."
Long Sen agreed: "Yeah, when Captain Yu, the Zerg, gets up, it's like he's wearing double speed shoes!"
Old Mo chimed in earnestly, "That's right. CEO Shao loves to sleep in, and the Zerg parasites in his body have influenced him to become lazy too. Captain Yu is different. He's so powerful. The Zerg parasites in Captain Yu's body are like adding wings to a tiger. In order to level up quickly, they might eat us all."
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
Are his teammates praising him? It sounds a little strange...
Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang and said seriously, "We're not just joking around. You can't get hurt. After all, everyone in Spade Secret Room has been following you. You're our captain."
The Telepathic Connection channel could clearly sense Xiao Lou's worry, and Yu Hanjiang couldn't help but smile: "Don't be so nervous. I don't want to risk infecting a Zerg to try it out. We already have CEO Shao as a sample. What I mean is, we can observe whether CEO Shao can completely assimilate the Zerg and acquire their abilities."
Ye Qi's eyes lit up: "That's right! He temporarily suppressed the Zerg last night and spoke to me. Maybe he really can assimilate the Zerg. In that case, he will be a human-Zerg hybrid, which will greatly enhance his combat power. Moreover, the Zerg will consider him one of their own and will not attack him."
After thinking about it carefully, everyone suddenly felt that it might be a good thing if CEO Shao could assimilate the Zerg.
Liu Qiao reminded him, " Your card time is almost up."
Ye Qi turned back to the tent, took out the Mineral Water bottle, and released Little CEO Shao out of the bottle.
The instant Shao Qingge reverted to his original form, Ye Qi immediately took control of the instrument. Yu Hanjiang continued to bind him with white silk as he had done the day before, and stuffed a wad of cloth into his mouth to prevent the Zerg from controlling CEO Shao's body and spouting nonsense.
Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the group of people in front of him.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression looked somewhat ferocious. Ye Qi didn't dare to look at CEO Shao like this, so he took a step back and hid to the side. Although Shao Qingge's consciousness was that of the Zerg at this moment, his body was still CEO Shao's after all. His wrists and ankles were bound with deep red marks, and Ye Qi couldn't help but feel sorry for him. However, for the sake of the overall situation, he still had to let Captain Yu bind him.
The day passed quickly, and it was another peaceful day.
For the next three days, everything was calm, but this strange calm made everyone uneasy.
The Zerg were completely wiped out? That's impossible; the A-level Spade Secret Room wouldn't be that simple.
Therefore, it is very likely that the Zerg are plotting something big, or perhaps an even worse situation has arisen—the Zerg have been joined by powerful Terrans who possess human intelligence. Combined with the Zerg's abilities, they will lead the Zerg in an attack in a more skillful manner.
Currently, there is no better solution than to remain in the wasteland and wait for the opportune moment.
Spade 8 Secret Chamber Doomsday Escape, Day 10, 00:00 AM
[ Challenger remaining: 1580 people]
Ye Qi kept track of the numbers every day, and upon seeing this, he couldn't help but say, "In these three days, only a little over 20 people have died."
Based on CEO Shao's situation, we can infer that Challenger will not be directly removed from the contract book after being parasitized. In other words, being parasitized does not count as death. Only when someone like Xue Qing or Cheng Ziyang is burned to ashes and their consciousness ceases to exist will they be erased from the contract book and subtracted from the number of survivors in the floating box.
There are 150 people remaining, including Shao Qingge, who is still on the contract book.
So, are there other Infected players in other teams? Or have they even assimilated the Zerg and continued to lurk among their teammates?
Thinking of this, Ye Qi felt a chill run down his spine: "I have a feeling that it's not right that the Zerg haven't come looking for us for three days. Since the Zerg have already launched a large-scale attack on the East City District, how come only a little over 20 people have died in three whole days?"
Ye Qi's words made everyone feel uneasy.
A strange calm, like a storm about to break.
Yu Hanjiang said in a deep voice, "Everyone be careful and on guard. Take turns keeping watch at night. Keep your supply packs close to your body so you can evacuate at any time."
Ye Qi suggested, "I'll keep watch tonight, I'm not sleepy anyway. CEO Shao doesn't need to shrink, I can just keep an eye on him while he's tied up there. If we need to evacuate tomorrow and his transformation skill is on cooldown, it's inconvenient to take him with us since he's a big guy, and he's easy for the Zerg to spot. We can have Liu Qiao shrink him then."
The transformation skill only lasts for 8 hours. If it's used up tonight, it will be difficult to escape tomorrow. Ye Qi's idea of staying up all night to preserve the skill is not wrong, and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang agreed after a mental exchange.
Xiao Lou cautioned, "Don't believe anything he says unless you can connect to a Telepathic Connection."
"I understand." Ye Qi nodded solemnly.
******