Chapter Eighteen: The Offensive (Part One)

After a night of observation, Guo Lang and Alice sensitively noticed that there were four strongholds which the walking corpses instinctively avoided. In the latter half of the night, they finally saw corpses approaching those four areas. Since their surveillance operated on thermal sensing, they could only discern shapes, not any distinguishing features.

Yet the way this particular corpse walked was different from the others. It mostly maintained human gait, and most importantly, the other corpses instinctively avoided its path, as if they were frightened.

Only now did Guo Lang truly believe that among their rivals, someone had indeed switched professions to a necromancer and had even created a broodmother corpse. The good news was that no other corpses followed behind this broodmother; it had not yet matured. This gave at least a sliver of hope to their rescue operation!

Broodmother corpses were not considered high-level in the early stages of the Factory of Terror, but they were extremely useful. Once cultivated, the broodmother could control walking corpses within a certain range, and as time passed and the body evolved to level three, combined with the mage’s mental fortitude, it could potentially control millions of corpses. This was one of the fundamental reasons why the undead were the strongest race in the early game.

Players of all other races could only obtain one or two hundred bottles of inferior bloodline potions from the Main God at the beginning. This meant that even if you unlocked the technology tree early on, your initial troop count would be limited to a hundred or two. While their individual combat prowess was certainly stronger than the walking corpses, could they compete? The undead only needed some time to control millions of corpses—enough to drown you in their saliva. Unless other professionals could successfully decapitate the necromancer, even a hundred professionals could only cower in a corner!

If he could kill the broodmother, the Main God should reward him generously. There was a chance with a sniper rifle now, but that would alert the enemy and leave little hope of rescuing Alice's mother.

“Daddy, where do you think Mom is?” Alice tugged at Guo Lang’s sleeve and asked.

Guo Lang watched for a while, then analyzed, “We’ve found four strongholds, meaning the enemy has four areas to observe. But human heat signatures are very faint, and their hiding spots are quite concealed. The analyzer can’t show the exact numbers, so we have to guess.”

“Hmm, which place has a higher chance?” Alice tilted her head.

“There are four strongholds, spread across three buildings, but only two are on upper floors. Your mother is a CEO. According to international practice, the higher one’s status, the higher their office. Two strongholds are on lower floors, which I suspect are occupied by elite security guards who survived the first wave due to their skills and vigilance. The other two are concentrated in a high-rise, one on the top floor and one just below it. I think those two offer better chances!”

“Which floor should we go to first?”

“To the top floor. Your mother is a CEO—generally, chairmen don’t work in office towers, but CEOs usually do, and they tend to be on the highest floor. But this time, you’ll go alone. I can’t go with you.”

“Huh?” Alice looked at him, a bit nervous. “Daddy, aren’t you coming?”

Guo Lang stroked her hair. “Listen, there are people in that building just like us, maybe even stronger. I don’t know their details, but I’m sure at least one is a mage.”

“A mage?” Alice's attention shifted. She asked curiously, “Is it the kind who wears robes and throws fireballs?”

Guo Lang rolled his eyes. Another child poisoned by video games—why must mages wear robes and throw fireballs? True pyromancers manipulate flame energy and shape with exquisite control. Their methods are astonishing, not just dumbly hurling a straight fireball. Never mind the power—could that even hit anyone?

“No robes, no fireballs!” Guo Lang said with a dark face. “Do you think this is an online game? Necromancers are alchemists, production types. From yesterday’s observations, the mage seems to have only recently advanced and isn’t ready with many tricks. He’s only made one broodmother corpse, and it hasn’t fully evolved. So far, there’s no sign it can control other corpses. The threat level isn’t high. As for combat ability, I’m not sure, but generally, a devotee whose main attribute is mental strength doesn’t fight personally.”

“There’s advancement, too!” Alice’s eyes sparkled. “What about me? Daddy, what can I advance to?” Excited, she looked at Guo Lang, only to see him glaring at her. Alice realized she might be out of line and stuck out her tongue. “Oh, carry on...”

She was just a child. Guo Lang shook his head and continued, “That mage only just made the broodmother, and probably borrowed the base materials, so he’ll treasure it and won’t risk it in battle. If he’s alone, the threat is low. What I worry about are his teammates.”

“Other teammates? Warriors? Druids?” Alice asked curiously.

Guo Lang was exasperated. “How should I know? And could you have some common sense? Have you ever played online games? Since when do the undead have druids?”

Alice meekly tugged at her sleeve. “I only saw some videos. I’m not old enough to play games!”

Ha, look at the education standards in her country. If the elementary kids in my world had this discipline, I’d be a master already. It takes four years just to hit diamond rank?

“What do you want me to do, Daddy?”

“To draw the enemy’s attention!” Guo Lang said seriously. “When we approached the building and were detected, I think the mage was training his mental powers, hence such long-range sensing. But that’s draining and can’t be maintained. You sneak in first, and he’ll focus on you, relaying your real location to his teammates. Your job is to lure their combat-oriented teammates to you!”

“And then?” Alice tilted her head, not worried about the dangerous bait task, still gazing at Guo Lang with trust.

Guo Lang felt a rush of warmth and smiled. “I can’t go in. Their combat capability is unknown and probably much higher than ours, so I have to rely on sniper tactics—ambushing and taking out the attackers when they come for you.”

“Oh, I get it!” Alice nodded.

Guo Lang couldn’t help but pinch her cheek, warning, “You have to be extremely careful. I don’t know if they have sniper gear, so your infiltration route must avoid sniper points and also avoid being noticed by other corpses inside. They likely have high-sensitivity personnel with stealth abilities like yours, so be extra alert! Also, my vantage point isn’t great—my building is twenty floors lower than theirs, so shooting upward increases error. I’ll only fire if I have a good chance, so you’ll have to rely on yourself most of the time.”

“Understood!” Alice nodded solemnly.

Guo Lang sighed. Sending a five-year-old girl in as bait while he snipes from behind—he had to admit, the plan was... downright despicable!

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On the top floor of the building, Ian, who was meditating to hone his mental power, suddenly paused and slowly opened his eyes. His pale green pupils glinted coldly. “So yesterday wasn’t just my imagination after all.”

“Oh?” Jones, who had been brooding in the corner, showed a hint of interest. “Who is it?”

“Very fast!” Ian closed his eyes to sense again. “The intruder moving from the plaza into the third building is more than twice as fast as any corpse!”

“A person like us?” The burly man nearby grew excited, then puzzled. “Why would he come here? That building has nearly a thousand corpses—he just went in?”

“He’s already on the third floor,” Ian said coldly.

“What?” Jones finally showed emotion. “So quickly? There are more than two hundred corpses lurking on those first three floors...”

“They seem not to have noticed him!” Ian squinted. “He’s probably your type. Tell me, Jones, could you do it?”

“Never tried!” Jones shook his head. “Maybe, but not that fast. This guy’s stealth is exceptional and he’s very confident—his speed proves it. If it were me, I’d be much more cautious!” Then, with some doubt, “Could he be a professional?”

“Impossible!” Ian shook his head. “The AI told me we were the first batch of players here. Western Europe Zone Three and North America Eastern Eight were the first to start testing. Even if they were from our batch, it’s impossible to finish the professional quest so quickly. I only succeeded because the undead have natural advantages. We created the apocalypse, released the virus, and used up all the Main God’s rewards to barely exchange for the broodmother virus source. That’s how I finished the professional task. No one else has our conditions. If he got so many energy points in so short a time, it would’ve caused a huge commotion. There’s no way we wouldn’t have noticed.”

“So he’s just a regular devotee?” Jones’s face showed excitement. “Then he’s strong. Let me go, Ian. He must be up to no good sneaking in like this! And killing other devotees comes with generous rewards!”

“Agreed!” Ian nodded, his eyes icy. He never intended to reconcile. Since the intruder dared to barge in brazenly, he wouldn’t waste the reward.

“Go with Rayne,” Ian said, referring to the burly man.

Rayne yawned. “I’m not going. I’m strength-type, no stealth talent. You want me to die? So many corpses!”

Ian nodded to Fiona, the broodmother. She struggled for a moment, then cupped her hands, her body contracting, and spat out a puddle of black liquid, stepping slowly toward Rayne.

“What are you doing?” Rayne recoiled in disgust.

“Put some on. The corpses won’t attack you.”

“What?” Rayne jumped, shouting, “No way! So gross—why don’t you put it on? Tell her to stay back, or I’ll twist her precious head off!”

Ian sighed helplessly. “There’s no choice. The enemy’s combat strength is unknown. I’ll only feel safe if you both go.” Then, with a negotiating tone, “Killing him brings rich rewards. I just asked the AI—it’s at least equal to three months’ energy tower collection, plus our reserves. I’ll let you complete your professional task first. How about that?”

“Me first? What about Jones?” Rayne asked skeptically.

“I don’t mind. Waiting a bit longer is nothing,” Jones said coolly.

“Well...” Rayne wavered, struggled for a while, but finally gave in, grudgingly smeared some of the disgusting liquid on himself and glared at the opposing building. “I’ll grind his bones, skin him, and hang it on my wall!”

“Go quickly—he’s already on the tenth floor. His goal is probably the living person on the top floor. Whatever his purpose, we can’t let him succeed!” As Ian finished speaking, for some reason a bad premonition flashed through him so quickly his brow furrowed. He considered, but ultimately didn’t abandon his plan. “Be careful!”