Chapter 609 - 599: Sound Source Pollution (Finale)

When Hugh Finch and Kai York returned from their discussion with the others, Moira Lynch told them about Shane Rhodes.

Learning that The Thunderer was in fact Shane Rhodes... well, let’s just say both of them had a feeling that it was to be expected.

Since The Thunderer was Shane Rhodes, the plan they had just discussed was obviously no longer viable.

"There are only a few days left anyway. Why don’t we use this as a chance to leave?" Moira Lynch suggested.

Before they had discovered the Crystal Stones, she probably wouldn’t have said this. After all, these people had guaranteed their safety to a certain extent.

But now, their presence was actually slowing down their Crystal Stone collection.

"Mm."

With almost no hesitation, both Hugh Finch and Kai York agreed.

Immediately after, Moira Lynch told Shane Rhodes, who was resting inside Mistral, about their plan.

"Before you do that, you guys need to figure out a way to get me out," Shane Rhodes said.

Moira Lynch asked, a little confused, "What do you mean?"

"I think I’ve been targeted," Shane Rhodes said with a frown, voicing his suspicion. "I may have lost control during this time, but that doesn’t mean I have no memory of it. The moment I step outside of Mistral’s limits, shells automatically lock onto my position."

Hearing this, Moira Lynch hacked into the missile system through her wrist-screen.

Although she was quickly detected as a virus, Moira Lynch managed to figure out what was going on.

"It’s not you they’ve locked onto, it’s all of Mistral," Moira Lynch said, her voice turning cold. "If our mission fails this time, they’re preparing to launch a devastating strike on the entire city."

Worse, their group was nothing more than cannon fodder, meant to keep The Thunderer occupied.

Because Mistral was too far away, transferring Shane Rhodes out directly would consume too much energy. Besides, the distance wouldn’t be great enough, and he would be easily discovered.

So Moira Lynch simply Blinked her item, the Beret, into Shane Rhodes’s hands.

After receiving the item, Shane Rhodes entered a dilapidated building and activated it.

In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot.

Sensing that Shane Rhodes had left Mistral, Moira Lynch breathed a sigh of relief. Now it was their turn.

Leaving the team without anyone noticing, to be honest, was quite difficult.

Their performance along the way had been far too impressive. With others spreading the word, Moira Lynch’s trio were now seen as the unofficial leaders of the group.

Under these circumstances, the quickest and cleanest method Moira Lynch could think of was to fake their deaths.

But how to die? That was a question that required careful consideration.

Fortunately, not everyone in the group was completely won over by them.

When Hugh Finch suggested that someone should scout ahead, the others chimed in one after another, pushing the three of them forward for the task.

Moira Lynch showed extreme dissatisfaction with their behavior, but in the end, she was helpless. Forced against her will, she began walking toward Mistral.

Not long after they entered Mistral, a massive tornado rose from within the city, with purple lightning crackling around it. The display was overwhelming and terrifying.

Half an hour later, the tornado dissipated, and silence returned to the surroundings.

Witnessing what had just happened, everyone wordlessly agreed not to mention the plan again.

As for recovering the bodies of Moira Lynch’s group, no one even brought it up. In their view, after that tornado and purple lightning, it was doubtful whether there were even any complete corpses left.

On the other side, Moira Lynch’s group, now "dead" in everyone else’s minds, left Mistral under the cover of Nightshade to rendezvous with Shane Rhodes.

"Boss!???"

When Kai York saw Shane Rhodes, his initial excitement went on a wild rollercoaster ride.

Even Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch were stunned by his current appearance.

’What in the world?’

’Is this person who looks like he was just struck by lightning really Shane Rhodes?’

"PFFT! HAHAHAHA!!"

After confirming that the person in front of them was indeed Shane Rhodes, the three of them burst out laughing.

Seeing this, Shane Rhodes remained completely expressionless.

After who knows how long, seeing that they had no intention of stopping, he couldn’t take it anymore and flew into a rage from embarrassment. "Enough! Are you done yet?!"

"Hahaha, Boss, sorry about that, we really couldn’t help it. How did you end up looking like this? You’re so dark right now, a Black person would look pale next to you."

Just then, Shane Rhodes expressionlessly peeled a piece of black skin off his face, revealing fair, rosy skin underneath.

This sudden action startled the group.

’Fine, don’t laugh, but why suddenly rip your own skin off? That’s terrifying.’

However, they also noticed that the exposed skin quickly began to turn yellow.

That’s when they realized something was wrong. This didn’t look like he’d been struck by lightning.

Seeing this, Moira Lynch stepped forward to check Shane Rhodes’s condition.

As her spiritual power roamed through Shane Rhodes’s body, Moira Lynch’s expression gradually grew strange.

Seeing her expression, the other three felt their hearts clench with anxiety.

"Moira, what’s wrong with me? Is it serious?"

A bad premonition welled up in Shane Rhodes’s heart. ’If I’d known this would happen,’ he thought with regret, ’I wouldn’t have been so greedy.’

Moira Lynch withdrew her spiritual power and said, "It’s nothing serious. Your metabolism is just too fast. This stuff on the surface of your body is just a product of your metabolic process."

As she spoke, Moira Lynch gave a firm tug on Shane Rhodes’s arm, pulling off the dead skin from his arm and his entire hand in one piece.

"Wait a minute, Moira," Hugh Finch suddenly said. "Wouldn’t a super-fast metabolism reduce his lifespan?"

If Shane Rhodes’s metabolic rate was three times that of a normal person, wouldn’t that mean his cells were also aging three times as fast? In that case, his lifespan...

"Don’t worry, that won’t happen." As she spoke, Moira Lynch glanced at Shane Rhodes. "His cells are currently regenerating at an extremely high speed as they metabolize. From what I can see now, aside from having a bit more dead skin, there are no other effects."

"However, if we want exact data, I’ll need to run a thorough check after we get back."

"That said, I’m really curious now about what on earth you ate."

...

「On the twenty-seventh day.」

With the game about to end, Moira Lynch’s group stopped wasting time and began to hunt the infected on a massive scale, collecting Crystal Stones.

As time ticked by, the number of Crystal Stones they collected grew larger and larger.

This continued until the thirtieth day of the game.

Then, the cold voice announcing the completion of the game level rang out.

[Time is up. Congratulations, you have completed the challenge of the first level.]

There were no other words, but Moira Lynch’s group felt a sense of relief, as if a great weight had finally been lifted from their shoulders.