Chapter 181: The Seniors’ Physical Bodies

Chapter 181: Chapter 181: The Seniors’ Physical Bodies

As she stepped past the third room, a man covered in blood ran out.

"Save me!" ℯℯ𝘭.

Shi Zhile understood the cry and replied, "Baka yarou. You die, die, die."

An axe materialized from nothing and swept forward. A head tumbled to the ground, rolling over and over.

Shi Zhile bent over to wipe her axe clean. The moment she looked up, she met the gazes of several people.

The man in the lead was none other than the predecessor using Wen Yuchu’s body. This time, there was no disdain in his eyes, only pure gratification.

"Not bad. Fast, accurate, and ruthless. You’re a promising talent!"

"Your decisiveness is praiseworthy. It doesn’t matter if it’s a group battle or a one-on-one duel; the slightest hesitation will cost you. You have to understand that the window for attack vanishes in an instant. It’s kill or be killed."

Shi Zhiyi checked Shi Zhile over, as always. Seeing that she wasn’t hurt, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Before Shi Zhile could say anything, Wen Changming cleared his throat and pointed at the mud hut. "Um... were you the one who took down the door?"

If not, he’d have to go back and keep interrogating those Japs, make them hand over the door. Otherwise, they would have to chop down trees and build a new one from scratch.

Shi Zhile replied, "I did. Didn’t I leave one door for you?"

’If the predecessors hadn’t woken up, leaving even one door would have been a waste. The rule for this instance is that only one side makes it out alive. Of course, a total party wipe is also an option. Since it’s a life-or-death situation, I figure it’s better to just go crazy.’

’We should have the kind of drive that says we’ll take the whole world down with us.’

Wasn’t that the very reason Jiang Yuxing had followed her in here—because he was afraid she’d go berserk?

At the thought of Jiang Yuxing getting beaten up, Shi Zhile couldn’t help but let out a few chuckles, which sounded particularly eerie in the silent village.

Ms. He, who had been silent until now, smiled. "I, for one, admire comrade Shi Zhile’s decisiveness. If it were me, I’d drag the enemy down with me as I die."

Seeing them chatting idly, the System grew anxious.

[Host, come on, tell them!]

Shi Zhile lowered her gaze. ’There are other people around. What if you get exposed? What happens if they try to kill me to steal you?’

[Are you looking down on me? It’s not like any Tom, Dick, or Harry can lay a claim on me. Besides, I’m very powerful. I can protect my own Host.]

Its voice was extraordinarily confident, without the slightest hint of insecurity.

Her goal achieved, Shi Zhile began to embellish the story, describing all the hardships the predecessors had supposedly endured to save the System.

The predecessor blinked, then clutched his chest right on cue and let out a few coughs.

If the predecessors themselves hadn’t known better, even they would have thought they’d suffered some terrible injury and injustice.

The System ran a scan and discovered that the predecessors’ energy levels were indeed extremely low—so low that they could barely support Wen Yuchu’s body to walk freely.

It sniffled, feeling deeply moved.

Of the several Hosts it had guided, all they ever did was make demands. No one had ever been this good to it.

[Host, you really weren’t lying. I scanned them, and their energy is about to be completely depleted. Ask them if they have any wishes. Or, I could just transfer some energy to them.]

Shi Zhile’s heart sank.

’Are the predecessors’ energy levels really about to run out?’

’Could it be from dealing with Jiang Yuxing?’

She quickly spoke up, "Predecessors, your energy is nearly depleted. The System is asking what wish you would like to make."

The predecessors replied, "A wish? We have quite a few."

"This old man wants every country other than Huaxia to be destroyed."

"World peace!"

"And destroy all the aliens!"

"..."

As the list went on and on, the System faltered. Its feeling of being moved vanished in an instant.

[Um... uh... Host, I don’t have enough energy to accomplish those right now. Tell them to wish for something for themselves.]

Shi Zhile relayed the message. One of the predecessors asked, "You can’t accomplish it now, which means you could if you had enough energy?"

[I can! I told you I’m very powerful! With enough energy, I can destroy all the foreigners and all the aliens!]

[Back in the day... sigh! Never mind. A true hero doesn’t boast of past glories! Host, just tell them all that I’m very powerful. That’s all.]

Shi Zhile’s mouth twitched, but she continued to relay the message.

The predecessors conferred for a moment before ultimately deciding against taking the energy.

"Give us physical bodies. Even if we can’t leave this realm, at least we can protect the descendants of Huaxia here."

[But you don’t have much energy left. Once it runs out, you’ll dissipate.]

Shi Zhile also tried to persuade them.

The predecessors felt a little awkward. How were they supposed to explain that, in reality, they had plenty of energy and were actually very powerful?

The reason their energy seemed low was because they lacked physical bodies and were affected by the Sacrificial Platform, which prevented them from coming out during the day. Night was their domain.

A series of light coughs could be heard. The System said anxiously, [Just take the energy. With energy, you won’t dissipate.]

"Sigh, it can’t be easy for you to store up energy. We want physical bodies."

"That’s right. Having a physical body would be great. At least we could walk on this land."

"We all want physical bodies."

Wen Changming and the others also tried to persuade them, afraid the predecessors would dissipate from a lack of energy. But no matter what they said, the predecessors wouldn’t budge.

The System relented. [Fine. But my power is limited. The bodies I can create for you will be artificial.]

[They won’t feel pain or hunger like a real body of flesh and blood. They’ll be more like... humanoid robots.]

"Robots?"

The predecessors didn’t know what those were, but the idea of not feeling pain or hunger certainly appealed to them.

Wen Changming gave a brief explanation, and the predecessors understood.

"That works. Go ahead and make them robots. Preferably the all-purpose kind that can fire guns and build cannons."

System: [...Fine!]

It immediately got to work.

A dazzling golden light radiated from Shi Zhile, so blinding that no one could open their eyes. When the light faded, nearly two hundred realistic androids stood before them.

The System’s voice was weak. [Host, I’m spent. This is as many as I could create. I need to go into dormancy.]

Shi Zhile remembered the two unused Energy Balls and quickly said, "There are two Energy Balls in my inventory. Eat them to recharge."

A moment later, the System’s voice was back at full strength. [Thanks, Host! I’m going dormant now. Call me if you need anything~]

Everyone sized up the androids. Whether it was due to a bug or a lack of energy, the androids were all faceless.

A wisp of black mist drifted out from Wen Yuchu’s body and bored into one of the androids. The next moment, the android’s face morphed into that of a middle-aged man.

He moved his new arms and legs, his face filled with unconcealable joy.

"It works pretty well. Feels just like my own body."

The predecessor in Wen Yuchu’s body said, "There are too many of us, so we can’t all have one. Tonight, we’ll play rock-paper-scissors. We’ll use them in the order of winners and losers, one person per day. No one is allowed to take more than their share."

"Excellent, excellent. That’s a great idea."

The body on the ground was disposed of, and the Japs from inside the hut were dragged to the beach.

Dusk fell. The waves surged, and the seawater, as black as ink, stained the entire beach.

Before long, a dense black fog rolled in from the sea, and a few agonized screams echoed from within it.