CHAPTER 144: CHAPTER 139: THE END! THE NIGHTINGALE CAPTURED

[The fierce battle raged on late into the night. As her companions fell one by one, Captain Nightingale was thoroughly enraged. Braving a hail of bullets and ignoring her ever-increasing wounds, she unleashed her strongest technique—the Twisted Black Ball—before collapsing to the ground, completely spent.]

[The bloody clash reaching this point was a thrill for you, the mastermind behind the scenes. Nightingale’s final, desperate struggle dealt a devastating blow to the cyborgs; any part of their bodies touched by the Twisted Black Ball completely disintegrated.]

[The battle ended with both sides suffering devastating losses. All six members of your squad were captured. In the Nightingale Squad, everyone was killed except for Captain Nightingale and a few familiar faces, including Big Beard.]

[The reason Big Beard and the others survived was that they had eaten a poisoned breakfast, which kept them out of the fight and thus saved their lives.]

[The battlefield cleanup took the entire night. Of course, you weren’t idle, either. You infected every single survivor, friend and foe, with your Seeds of Parasitism.]

[The next morning, Li Laoqi brought all six members of your squad, along with Captain Nightingale and her few surviving members, to the small building in front of the mine. In the entrance hall, the guards had set up some tables and chairs to create a makeshift courtroom.]

[Your life is about to take a pivotal turn. Please make your decision carefully.]

[Option A: Choose to enter the Spring City High-Yield White Crystal Mine instance with your true body. An unknown terror is about to descend. You can experience a thrilling and tense tower defense game, and you can step out from behind the scenes to shock everyone with a grand reveal.]

[Option B: Deeply aware of your own intellectual shortcomings, you choose the safer path and let your divine self continue its rampage. This choice seems reasonable, but you might miss the optimal window for escape.]

...

He was talking.

"Unknown terror?"

"Tower defense game?"

Based on these two clues, the mine is about to be attacked by monsters. And the monsters most likely to appear here are the Black Demons. But why would a group of Black Demons come to the Crystal Stone Mine? Surely they aren’t here to hunt me, right?

Chen Pingchuan’s hands froze as a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

Without simulating, he had no idea what the future held.

But simulating brought countless new variables, forcing his already exhausted mind to struggle onward to face what’s coming.

This is impossible!

Resigned, Chen Pingchuan could only accept his fate. This further solidified his conviction that finding an ideal, safe place to live had become an urgent priority.

"Option A. Enter the real-life simulation."

*[Ding! Entering the real-life simulation instance. Instance Name: Escape from the Spring City High-Yield White Crystal Mine. Simulation Value Cost: 100 points.]*

「His vision went black, then bright again.」

Chen Pingchuan slowly materialized in the opulent foyer of the small building. His hands were bound tightly behind his back with coarse hemp rope, but as he tested them, he felt the restraints were on the verge of snapping.

Chen Pingchuan stopped moving and glanced at the people around him.

To his left were his classmates. Feng Jiaqi and Ye Luo looked haggard, their eyes filled with fear and anxiety. Li Qiang and Zhang Lei kept their heads bowed, not daring to look at their surroundings.

Liu Haofeng, strangely, was the most composed of them all. He stared blankly into space as if his soul had left his body, lost in thought.

To his right stood the surviving members of the Nightingale Squad. They still held themselves tall, but their expressions were grim.

Behind a table at the front of the hall sat two figures: the mine’s boss, the scar-faced Li Laoqi, and a mysterious cyborg leader, half of whose body was encased in metal.

The cyborg leader, however, was not in good shape. There was a ten-centimeter-wide hole near his right ribs. Instead of blood and gore, the opening revealed sparking energy circuits.

The next second, an angry man’s shout echoed from the front of the hall.

"Miss Nightingale, I bet you didn’t expect this, did you? I, Li Laoqi, am no pushover. I had my own preparations. Trying to pull a fast one and cut me loose? You’ve still got a lot to learn."

Li Laoqi’s eyes were wide as he glared at Nightingale’s beautiful face. His already terrifying, scarred face grew even darker, and the ferocity in his eyes looked ready to burn.

His teeth clenched involuntarily, making a grinding sound. GRIND... GRIND... His entire expression screamed of his rage and discontent.

Nightingale couldn’t be bothered to respond to Li Laoqi’s triumphant tone or the question hidden in his words. What was she supposed to say? That their only mission was to transport Energy Crystals and escort these high school students for an internship?

Even though that was the truth, after the bizarre events of the past two days, she knew he would never believe her.

She decided to remain silent.

Nightingale closed her eyes, ignoring Li Laoqi’s yelling. Only her slightly trembling eyelashes betrayed her inner turmoil.

"Fine, fine, fine. Still acting tough when you’re about to die, huh? Speak! What were your orders from the City of No Night? Are there rumors about me in the city? And who was it that killed so many of my men before?"

"If I’m not mistaken, such a terrifying power must come with a severe drawback. Otherwise, why didn’t he show up in yesterday’s battle?"

"Speak up, Miss Nightingale. Tell me, and you can spare yourself a lot of pain."

As he spoke, the cold smirk vanished from Li Laoqi’s face, replaced by a vicious, sinister expression.

"Otherwise, I’ll have to throw you to the miners for their entertainment. You wouldn’t want to suffer that kind of disgusting humiliation before you die, would you? For old times’ sake, I’m giving you one last chance to speak calmly."

"Of course, if they can’t satisfy you, I wouldn’t be against it myself."

"You’re despicable!"

Captain Nightingale could no longer feign composure. She deeply regretted not ordering her men to kill her at the end. Now she faced the very real possibility of being violated by Li Laoqi’s disgusting cronies.

Nightingale’s face turned deathly pale. The thought of those filthy, grimy hands touching her body filled her with a despair that threatened to shatter her strong facade. She recalled her father’s dying words.

"Nightingale, you’re wonderful in every way but one. You’re just too headstrong. It isn’t safe for a young woman to be out on her own all the time. What if one day..."

"That won’t happen, Father. I’m already a Level Five Genetic Warrior. In another year, I’ll reach Level Six. Give me ten years, and I might even be able to touch that unknown realm. I’m sure of it..."

Back then, her face was full of cheerful smiles, completely oblivious to her father’s worries. Now, Nightingale suddenly realized her father had understood her perfectly. She was just a weak woman. Even though she had told herself that her body was just a shell, meaningless in the face of death, she was still terrified by this disgusting, scarred man.

Nightingale opened her eyes again, the rims red as she stared daggers at Li Laoqi. Her expression was that of a vengeful ghost, determined to burn the image of her enemy into her very soul.

Whatever Nightingale was thinking remained a mystery, but Big Beard Wang Yujie could no longer stand by and watch his captain be humiliated.

Heedless of his own predicament, he started cursing.

"Li Laoqi, take a look at that goddamn ugly face of yours! You think you’ve earned the right to bark orders? If your mouth’s so bored, go lick a toilet instead of running your gums!"

"What’s wrong, did I hit a nerve? Getting red in the face? Are you mad? Go on, then! If you’ve got the balls, kill me right here! See if I even fucking flinch!"

"And you!" he snarled, turning to the cyborg. "Yeah, you, the pile of scrap metal. Look at that dead-inside expression on your face. You had the choice to be a man, but you chose to be an animal instead, you motherf..."

Listening to Wang Yujie’s vile tirade, Li Laoqi was so infuriated he actually laughed. How could someone have a mouth filthier than his own? He shot a cautious glance at the cyborg next to him.

"Guards! Break his legs and gouge out his eyes! Hang him on the main gate for the crows to feed on!"