Otherworldly Desert Dust

"Leader Zhu is already dead, we will follow Leader Dai," finally a clever fellow in the Black Deacon Corps spoke up, representing the other twenty-plus members to declare their stance.

Wu Hen's gaze returned to Dai Jing, wanting to hear her response.

Dai Jing still didn't speak, but she suddenly stepped forward and lunged toward Wu Hen.

The moment she made her move, a bullet wrapped in Fiery Flames also flew toward her. Her seemingly slow attacking movements suddenly produced a ghostly afterimage just as it was about to meet the sniper bullet, perfectly dodging it.

She continued advancing forward without using any powerful moves, her attacks even appeared somewhat gentle and slow.

As Wu Hen was puzzled, the woman had already thrown herself into his arms, burrowing into his Thunder palms.

"What's going on?"

Wu Hen was full of question marks, but he still went with the flow and seized Dai Jing by the neck.

"I'll give you the item, but we cannot betray the Black Shirt," Dai Jing seemed to know Wu Hen had Super Sensitive Hearing, and lowered her voice to a very low whisper.

"Oh," Wu Hen quickly understood, "you want to make another deal with me, but you have deceived me before, how can I trust you?"

Before Wu Hen could finish speaking, Dai Jing pretended to struggle angrily, even shouting with embarrassed anger, "Let me go, these codes cannot be given to you!"

While verbally refusing, her arm forcefully stuffed something towards Wu Hen's chest, effectively handing over the remaining sample codes to Wu Hen.

Including the sample codes he had obtained from Leader Zhu and those held by Dai Jing, there were now a total of one hundred and one codes, enough to open the gate to Zone L.

Wu Hen did not quite understand, why this cunning woman would act like this, especially since Leader Zhu was clearly already dead. Even if it was for showing her subordinates, there was utterly no need, as those who had pointed guns at Dai Jing had already declared their allegiance to the deputy leader.

Or could it be that someone else was watching from the shadows?

Was Dai Jing worried all along not about Leader Zhu, but about the person secretly monitoring this place?

This just got interesting...

Who else could still be hidden in the shadows?

Could it be those three sent by Marquis Changqiu who were following him, and they were also senior members of the Black Shirt Organization?

If so, then it all made sense.

Dai Jing must have sensed the presence of those three, knew they wield significant power, and dared not commit any act of betrayal against the Black Shirt Organization, but she also did not want to be an enemy to him. Considering the situation here, if it came down to a fight, she might be able to escape, but her companions and subordinates would hardly survive.

Thus, the best way was to be held hostage.

Being held hostage meant her men had to follow Wu Hen's commands.

This indirectly allowed Wu Hen to take over this Black Deacon Corps, whether it was to get them to open Zone L or to clear obstacles, it wasn't her intentionally betraying the Black Shirt Organization, but rather her limited ability. After all, the true leader of this squad was already dead.

"As for the codes, I could have solved that without you; why bother going through all this?" Wu Hen roughly understood Dai Jing's thoughts but also began to demand some benefits within a manageable scope.

"Zone L contains creatures that you can't handle, you can choose to trust me once more, or we can fight it out here until both parties are destroyed, ultimately benefiting those few individuals," Dai Jing's voice was very low, as if giving Wu Hen a more sound suggestion.

Wu Hen recalled the moment she had dodged Guo Hong's bullet, almost confirming his earlier guess.

"Alright, I'll trust you one more time, but if you play any tricks again, I won't be polite!" said Wu Hen.

"How impolite can you be? You haven't seen all of me. If you're up for it, I'm willing to oblige," Dai Jing's eyes flashed with a teasing glint.

Wu Hen chuckled.

So it was about avenging her previous peeping, but who could have expected a real woman to be bathing in a place infested with aliens?

"We're even now, let's cooperate well from here on, no more tricks," Wu Hen said.

"You distribute the Life Pearls to them. You've seen my companions, their bodies have been eroded by living mechanical cells. They're like mechanical cells, continuously consuming our human life tissues, when more than half of their body is consumed, they completely become mechanical beings, and they must take Life Pearls to maintain their living state," Dai Jing earnestly explained.

"Mechanical erosion cells?" Wu Hen was a bit amazed, he had never heard of this substance before.

"Did you think we willingly disassembled our human parts for that pathetic power and replaced them with those cold metals? If we truly became a body without sensations, without feelings, made of metal, how different would we be from the walking dead roaming this land!" Dai Jing said.

Wu Hen opened his mouth, just about to inquire for more details, when suddenly a member of the Black Butler Corps let out a dull moan, then fell to the ground, his lower body beginning to convulse violently.

"What's going on?" Wu Hen asked.

"I'm your hostage, just go over there and see for yourself." Dai Jing said.

Wu Hen pushed Dai Jing aside and then walked over to the member who was writhing in pain on the ground.

He had already taken off his mask, as if he couldn't breathe through the thick mask.

Under the mask, was a fairly youthful face, probably only about fifteen or sixteen years old. The boy's entire face had turned into a terrifying black color, as if some kind of neurotoxin was crawling over his face.

These black neurotoxins were spreading up from his lower half's mechanical body. The connection between the flesh and the mechanical part was very rough, with even very horrifying welding marks visible. That welded area was the source of the neurotoxins, constantly secreting black cells, which were climbing towards the boy's abdomen like shade-loving plants.

Obviously, these black substances climbing the body were the mechanical cells Dai Jing spoke of; they were inanimate and resembled diseased tissue with strong invasiveness.

The boy's entire face had turned carbon black, and he stared at Wu Hen. He did not beg for the Life Pearl Wu Hen held, but merely stared at the gun Wu Hen had seized from Leader Zhu. It seemed he hoped Wu Hen would end his now worthless life with a shot.

"How old are you?" Wu Hen asked.

"Fifteen..." the Black Butler boy said.

"You have your whole life ahead of you, there's no need to wish for death." Wu Hen took out a Life Pearl and administered it to the boy who was being eroded by the mechanics.

Like some kind of antidote, the Life Pearl didn't bring him much Life Energy, but it suppressed the spread of the mechanical cells at the abdomen's welded area. The pain also slowly vanished.

After a while, the boy calmed down, wiped off the wet sweat from his cheeks, then picked up the mask from the ground and put it on.

The moment he put on the mask, he became a cold Combat Dead Soldier again. In front of these powerful mutated species, he was no different from other soldiers.

"One each, if you can help me clear out the riffraff in Zone L, I will reward you more," Wu Hen said as he opened a cartridge and instructed Lu Xian to distribute the Life Pearls to the remaining members of the Black Deacon Corps.

By taking Dai Jing hostage, Wu Hen effectively took control of this Black Deacon Corps. If what Dai Jin said was true and there was something in Zone L he couldn't handle, Wu Hen didn't mind having others clear the obstacles.

Moreover, these transformed individuals invaded by mechanical cells greatly intrigued Wu Hen.

"I've laced the Life Pearls with a special poison of mine. If anyone disobeys, I will turn him into a pool of blood immediately. From now on I am your Leader Wu, and my word is the highest order!" Wu Hen told the people of the Black Deacon Corps.

The members of the Black Deacon Corps lifted their faces one by one, staring at Wu Hen in shock through their masks.

Truth be told, they also didn't know what his origins were, and how he had suddenly taken over their Black Deacon Corps.

"I know you all have missions, I can ensure you can carry back what your superiors want, but only if you obediently listen," Wu Hen said.

"Do as he says," Dai Jing told his subordinates.

Wu Hen let go of Dai Jing, allowing her to reorganize the troops herself.

Wu Hen was still unsure what was behind that digital door. In the remaining forty-some members of this Black Deacon Corps, most were injured. Without stopping to rest, entering there would likely turn them into cannon fodder.

Guo Hong and Lu Xian returned to Wu Hen's side.

Lu Xian was somewhat upset, not understanding why Wu Hen would distribute the precious Life Pearls to these Black Deacon members.

Over forty people, so many Fifth-Rank Life Pearls distributed all at once.

"Here, this one's for you." Wu Hen also smiled, handing over the Sixth-Rank Life Pearl he had seized from Leader Zhu to Lu Xian.

Lu Xian was astonished, no longer babbling but gazing in surprise at the Sixth-Rank Life Pearl, and hesitantly pointing at her own face with her finger, "Really for me?"

"Don't argue with those soldiers, you're also a formidable fighter in my ranks now, worthy of a Sixth-Rank Life Pearl. Try this one first, if it's not enough to bring you to Sixth Rank, I'll feed you a few more. Once we enter Zone L, there will generally be plenty of Sixth-Rank Life Pearls, perhaps even Seventh-Rank," Wu Hen said generously.

"Thank you, thank you!" Lu Xian happily accepted it, yet didn't dare to swallow it right away, worried she might not evolve to Sixth Rank since she didn't have as much depth as Guo Hong.

Wu Hen also gave one to Guo Hong, but Guo Hong passed his to Lu Xian.

How Guo Hong distributed his, was his own business. Presumably, he also felt that if Lu Xian couldn't make it from Fifth Rank to Sixth Rank, her chances of survival would be very low.

"I'll reward you one as well," Wu Hen walked over to Dai Jing, who was sitting on the ground resting.

"Aren't you even interested in a Sixth-Rank Life Pearl?" Dai Jing asked with some surprise.

"Aren't you afraid of the invasion of the mechanical cells? I've seen your body; you and that boy are in similar situations," Wu Hen said.

"This thing won't buy my complete loyalty, but it will make me temporarily obey you," Dai Jing said.