Vol 6. The Mummy (2)
Chapter 1
The bullet struck a hole through the werewolf’s chest. The impact knocked him away
and also Zheng and Yinkong that he was holding on. The monk said immediately.
“Don’t go out! Shit, they have a sniper! Manavia, use the shield!” He waved his
hands at the werewolf, Zheng and Yinkong.
The serpent appeared above him again, its head had recovered. The monk’s eyes
went out of focus, signaling he entered the unlocked mode. Both of the serpent’s
heads (correction: it has 2 heads not 3) began moving this time, one head went for
the werewolf and the other went for Zheng and Yinkong.
As the serpent was about to reach Zheng, with another loud bang, a Gaus magical
bullet struck its head. A translucent force field appeared in between the bullet and
the head but only for an instant before it shattered. The bullet still hit the serpent in
the end.
Of the two women standing behind the monk, one was Shainaia who had her eyes
closed the whole time, and the other was wearing an Arabian face veil. Her body
shivered then said. “Leader, can’t block the bullet. It’s too powerful…”
The monk answered without turning around. “Yes, even I can’t see the bullet’s path…
It should be a sci-fi weapon. Didn’t expect team China to have people with sniping
talent. I was too careless… Luckily the shield still blocked half its power, that’s
enough.”
The other serpent head had brought the werewolf back into the museum by this time.
The one that was shot lost a third of its mass and was no longer able to bite Zheng.
About seven seconds later, another shot crushed the remaining head into dust, this
time there was no force field to block anymore.
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“Seven seconds… takes seven seconds to reload. Shainaia, enter my mind and share
vision with Lamu… Lamu, remember you only have seven seconds to aim and attack.
If you fail, then the sniper can wipe us all. Our lives are on your hand!” The monk
looked at the only other man behind him, a young man with slightly dark skin like a
typical Indian. He nodded then held a white needle on his hand, the same needle
that took Tengyi’s life.
“Go!”
The monk began to count time in his mind. He saw Zheng trying to get up from the
ground then ordered the serpent’s remaining head to attack again. Another bullet
struck it and crushed the head. As soon as he heard the bang, he charged out of the
museum and began looking around.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
“Four!”
“Five!”
“Six!”
“… Found him! Lamu!” He looked at a tall building on the east and yelled.
The young man kept his eyes closed the whole time. When he heard the words, he
threw the needle at once. The needle disappeared right as it left his hand but at
the same time, another shot came from that building to the east. A bullet struck the
monk’s left shoulder, just centimeters away from his heart. Even so, the bullet still
broke off his arm and knocked him several meters away. Zheng had disappeared
with Yinkong by this time.
Lamu waved his hand, the needle came back to him stained with blood. But he
frowned. “Didn’t hit a critical spot. When I was about to hit him, something interfered
with my mind, just like… being controlled by Shainaia.”
The monk picked up his arm and muttered. “The feeling of danger disappeared.
Even if he’s still alive, he should be critically injured. The sniper isn’t a threat for now…
Shainaia, stay here with Charcoal! Lamu, go chase that sniper, I need to see his body!
I will go chase the one that reached the second stage of the unlocked mode. That’s
their leader! Shainaia, track them then send their position to our minds!”
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At the same time, Zheng ran into a valley carrying Yinkong. Lan was waiting there
with tears on her face. As soon as she saw Zheng, she ran over and took Yinkong
from his hands. “Follow me, O’Connell knows the shortcuts to the center square…
Are, are you still ok?”
Zheng’s back was pierced with the scalpels and was soaked with blood. But he
smiled and said. “Not a big deal… wait a moment, let me stop Yinkong’s bleeding.”
He took out the hemostasis spray from his ring and sprayed Yinkong’s shoulder.
Lan carried Yinkong quietly and led Zheng through several civilian houses. Soon
afterward, they saw O’Connell and the other characters waiting at a small empty
area. They ran up to Zheng immediately and began asking questions but Zheng
yelled. “Don’t stop! O’Connell, lead the way! Hurry, we are still in danger! Right
behind us… they’re still following right behind us!”
There were too many shocks today for them to ask all the questions right now.
O’Connell ran deeper into the valley as soon as he heard Zheng. Evelyn, Jonathan
and the curator followed right after but they saw Zheng took out some mummy
pieces and sand from his pocket, then raised the Book of the Dead and chanted the
spell Tengyi told him before his death.
As the blood energy channeled into the book, the mixture grew in size and finally
became several mummy guards. Zheng waved his hand then the guards ran into the
valley.
Lan asked him. “What danger is behind us… they caught up to us?”
Zheng nodded. “I can’t be sure but I sensed danger from behind. Hope these
mummy guards can delay them a little more. Aye…”
Everyone followed behind O’Connell as they heard his words, crossing over houses
and valleys. After they jumped over two civilian houses, Evelyn asked. “O’Connell!
Is this what you mean by shortcut? Going through people’s houses? Are you really
a British gentleman? Don’t you know this is bad manners?”
“I am British…” He replied as he ran. “But not a gentleman. At least a gentleman won’t
kiss you. Haha.”
Evelyn’s face turned red. She cursed him inaudibly but still followed right behind him.
The other people laughed as they saw their banter. This was the only light hearted
event during their escape. Then a house not far away from them collapsed.
“They’re here…” Zheng muttered as he looked over it. He held onto his knife so tight
that his fingers looked pale.
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The serpent had recovered its heads, making the mummy guards unable to close up
on it. It bit two of the guards then knocked them against a wall, instantly crushing the
whole house. But the remaining two guards still jumped at the monk without fear.
Yet the serpent moved so fast, it caught both guards when they jumped at the monk,
then crushed them with a bite.
“Shainaia… Their location!” The monk said to the air.
As soon as he said these words, a map of this area appeared on his mind. Zheng’s
group was running in this map. They were getting farther away from the monk but it
seemed like they were slowing down.
“They reached their base? Good, we can wipe them all out at once!” The monk
laughed coldly. The serpent lowered one of its head and the monk jumped on top of
it. Then the serpent turned invisible, making it look like the monk was floating in air.
He was floating to Zheng at a straight line, crushing all the houses on his way.
Zheng’s group had totally stopped in place in his mind. They were waiting on an
empty area without buildings. Perhaps they were planning to go all out with team
India.
“Planning to go all out? Good, I’ll show you the hidden power of the serpent…”
Without stopping a bit, the monk charged into that empty area. Then a bolt of lightning
shot from right under him to where Zheng was standing, exploded a large rock
on that spot. But no one was here, this looked like just a normal empty spot!
However, the map on his mind still showed that Zheng was right under him. They
were just standing here without moving. He couldn’t find any traces of them even
after he came down from the serpent… They disappeared.
“Shainaia! What’s wrong? Where are they?” The monk shouted.
After a bit of delay, a voice entered his mind. “Leader, someone hacked into my
mental network. I can’t sense their location…”
He calmed down and said. “What about Lamu? And that sniper?”
“… He got away. One more thing, leader… Minima just stopped breathing. Arot also
returned to human form. Come back fast, I fear that he may not be able to make it
also.”
The monk took a deep breath and roared. His face looked distorted, just like an
Asura from hell. All that was left in his eyes were frenzy and anger…
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Zheng’s group actually wasn’t running too fast. Fortunately they had the acceleration
and stamina buffs from Lan. Otherwise a normal girl like Evelyn wouldn’t be able to
handle this much running. O’Connell knew this city inside out. They were getting
closer and closer to the center square. At the same time, Zheng let out a sigh of
relief.
Lan asked anxiously. “What’s wrong? They getting close?”
Zheng smiled. “No, the danger is over. I don’t know why but the sense of danger is
gone. It seemed like they aren’t following us anymore. Huu~. Everyone can finally
feel relieved.”
The clock tower entered their sight and in front of them, Jie was carrying Zero as he
sprinted toward the tower…
A blood soaked spot on his chest…
“The needle went in between his lungs. Didn’t damage his lungs and it was far
away from his heart… Just that there is some extravasated blood in his chest. I can’t
do open chest surgery here so he will feel some chest pain in the upcoming days.
Though it shouldn’t be much of a problem.” Yinkong checked Zero’s injury and said
calmly.
Zheng sighed. “Compared to his injury, I am more worried about you… How are you
right now?”
The newbies were shocked when Zheng and the others came back to the tower.
Tengyi died, and the rest were critically injured. This generated fear in the newbies.
This was their first movie after all.
Yinkong recovered extremely quickly. She recovered most of her mobility after
reached the tower but the arm that was bitten still couldn’t move. As the one most
knowledgeable on human anatomy, she naturally picked up the job to check Zero’s
injury. Of course, her injury seemed even worse.
Yinkong looked at the shoulder missing a large part of flesh. “I need hot water, needle,
threads, scissor, alcohol and gauze. I recall Egypt has a traditional medicine for
physical injuries. It would be best if you can get it.”
Zheng took a deep breath and said. “I am asking how is your injury, not telling you
to fix it all by yourself! We will help you with all the tools for the surgery. Don’t worry
about anything else. You and Zero’s mission right now is to rest until you regain the
ability to fight!”
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Yinkong was surprised. “The blood vessels and tendons on the shoulder were torn.
The bones are possibly fractured. There’s no way to recover this arm with the technology
of this world, at least not within the next several decades. This arm is useless
until we return.”
Everyone became silent. Especially when they looked at Tengyi’s body, they felt a
sense of despair. Zheng recovered immediately and shouted. “Team India isn’t much
better off. This is the world of horror movies. Everyone can die here. Maybe I will
also die on the hands of my enemy or a monster. The only thing we can do is try our
best to live!”
Although they were still feeling down, it was better than the despair from before.
Zheng said to O’Connell. “We are not familiar with Cairo. Please help us buy the
tools necessary for surgery. Heng and Liang, go with O’Connell. Remember to also
stock up on food and drinks.”
“Meat!” Yinkong suddenly said. “Meat gives energy. Buy more lean meat.”
O’Connell brought the two of them out the tower. Evelyn planned to go with them
but Zheng stopped her. She dismissed the idea when he mentioned Imhotep.
After everything was set, Honglu said. “Tell me what happened. I’ve been paying
attention to the watch. Ten minutes ago, I received notification that one person in
our team died, and we are down one point. Then two minutes after, one person on
the other team died. So our current score is zero… Don’t skim on any details.”
Zheng had the two newbies go with O’Connell intentionally. So even if they were
to get killed, the team’s powers were still there. Although they would be down two
points but this was the better choice. As the leader of this team, he had to made the
choice… This all seemed so similar to Xuan’s methods.
He immediately wanted to have a talk with Honglu. The boy’s analytical ability was
most needed in the current situation. After Honglu asked the question, he described
the fight in the museum. Especially every detail on the enemies, their possible abilities
and roles, and the werewolf’s destructive power.
Honglu kneeled on one knee and twirled his hair. “Based on your descriptions,
there’s a 70% chance that the muscular giant died, the other possibility is the werewolf
European doctor. Of course I prefer the doctor to be the one… The giant’s arm
completely recovered so this doctor possess medical abilities we don’t have.”
“Let’s analyze their fighting powers. Arot’s close combat ability is above Yinkong… If
you fight him one on one, how likely are you to win?” Honglu muttered.
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Zheng thought for a bit. “If I’m going all out, entering the unlocked mode and all other
conditions considered… I may win but the most likely outcome is we both get injured.
The werewolf’s power and speed is higher than the second stage of the unlocked
mode.”
“Is that so? Then about the Indian monk. He can summon a serpent but his power
level doesn’t look too strong. At least we can crush the serpent with magical bullets.
I think he’s definitely hiding some power. Probably a power that can’t be used too
frequently. So he probably won’t use it unless that is his only choice. This is the only
explanation on why he can become the leader and not the werewolf.”
“Aside from these two people, I am most concerned about that needle. It killed Tengyi
and injured Zero. The user possess long distance sniping ability. He will be a threat
when we fight team India… Then the biggest threat is…”
“One of the two women, one can use a defensive force field. This is a very strong
support ability. The other… is our biggest threat, mind control! As long as she’s alive,
we won’t be able to beat team India!”
Chapter 2
“This means we are not at a complete disadvantage?” Zheng massaged his temples
and said.
Honglu shook his head with a smile. “Not quite. Even though we are at a disadvantage,
but only slightly on the whole. In contrast, we have an advantage that they don’t
have, especially now that the giant is dead and the werewolf is heavily injured… We
exceed them in close combat powers. As long as we can fight them in a confined
space then you… will be our hope to victory!” Honglu pointed at Zheng.
Zheng pointed at himself with surprise. “Don’t kid me. I know how much I am capable
of. Maybe I am strong when I go all out but you can’t really expect me to do so every
time. Plus they won’t give me the chance. That monk’s summoned creature is strong.
If I fight it inside a valley, it can destroy the surrounding walls and houses with ease.
They also won’t put their support members in a place without safety. So your plan…”
Honglu continued. “There’s a place they will definitely go. A place that can’t be
destroyed, at least they won’t do it, that’s narrow, with many tunnels. Once you get
a chance to close in on them there… you will be unstoppable!”
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“The necropolis Hamunaptra! That’s the place where you can bring out all your powers!
It has numerous tunnels and mummy guards. Your Book of the Dead can control
these mummies. Even though they may not post as a huge threat to team India, but
they can give them some trouble. The only thing I am worried about is… that woman
with the mind control ability.”
Zheng was overjoyed when he heard this. He was confident even if he had to go
against the werewolf face to face in a confined space like the tomb. But he sighed
when Honglu mentioned the woman. “That mind control is too terrifying… Tengyi
was controlled by her before he died. Even I was controlled for a brief moment. That
feeling was like my consciousness separated from my body and I could only look as
my body moved on its own. It was a horrible feeling…”
“Not only this.” Lan interjected. “Zheng, do you still remember the chase? The sense
of danger kept following us. I suspect that the woman was following us with her mind.
Just like after we caught the cyborg they were still able to find his location. I think
that woman has a tracking ability.”
Honglu nodded. “Right, the reasoning is logical. It can also explain these two points
but I am curious as to… how could you have returned safely? Are they planning to
camp outside the clock tower?”
Zheng shook his head. “No, I am not sensing any danger nor being tracked. I believe
we are really outside her reach. Or perhaps someone helped us block the tracking…”
Zheng and Lan looked at each other then they both turned to Jie. He was sitting
there looking very tired and didn’t seem to pay any attention to their conversation.
Honglu noticed Zheng’s strangeness and said. “Then this is set. In order to beat
team India, our first step is to kill that woman. Otherwise, everything we do will be
useless…”
“The only plan I can think of is go to Hamunaptra before Imhotep and team India
teams up. We must get our hands on the Book of Amun-Ra before team India. Then
kill that woman in the plain desert. We have to rely on Zero for this. His sniping range
is over ten thousand meters. We have to kill her before she can react. Though I am
worried about the needle user. He may counter attack as soon as he finds Zero… But
we must kill that woman at all cost, even if it means trading one for one! Otherwise
we will lose the team fight and get wiped.”
Zheng listened carefully then sighed. “Then Zero…”
Honglu shook his head. “This is the only way, we can only see if he’s willing to or
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not. The chance for life or death is about half and half. Furthermore Zero must go
alone and snipe them on the way in order to not delay the rest of us. We will go to
Hamunaptra without stopping so even if he is to get injured, we can’t help him.”
A calm voice injected. “Assassins always go alone to begin with… The target is only
that woman right?” Everyone turned around and saw Zero sitting by the wall. He
touched the gauze on his chest and said.
Zheng looked at him deeply then asked Honglu. “Then? What should we do?”
“It’s simple afterward. We obtain the Book of Amun-Ra before they reach Hamunaptra
and take away Imhotep’s immortality. Then depending on the situation, we will fight
team India to death or return immediately after finishing our mission. We will have
the first hand no matter what.”
Zheng nodded and said with certainty. “Good! Then we will enact this plan. After
O’Connell comes back, we will…”
Before he finished the sentence, footsteps closed in from outside the door then bang!
O’Connell kicked open the door. Following behind him was the two newbies. The
three of them were each carrying a large bag. Everyone in the room raised their guns
in shock but after they saw that it was O’Connell, they let out a sigh of relief.
O’Connell said in a hurry. “Fuck. This world has gone mad! Several families that died
in Cairo, their bodies came back to life. And also some people who were still alive
suddenly died then came back to live. Cairo is filled with these living corpses right
now!”
This scene also happened in the movie. When Imhotep recovered the majority of
his power, he would raise the dead into walking corpses. Even some living humans
would get controlled by his power. When the plot advanced to this point in the movie,
the main characters were forced into a dead end while the curator got killed by the
walking corpses.
Heng and Liang also came into the room. Heng said. “This isn’t the only thing. This
mov… ahem, I had also seen it. Wasn’t it only raising the dead? Magical bullets should
be able to take them out but some of the corpses’s flesh peeled off then the sand
and soil formed armors and weapons for them. They look like… ”
O’Connell continued his sentence. “Yes, those skeletons look just like the mummy
guards you summoned. Three or four out of every ten corpse became like this. We
almost got found out when we came back. They seem to be searching for something.
I hope they haven’t found our hideout…”
9
Zheng sighed. “The plot changed. We are in a horrible situation…”
Honglu then pondered. “I am curious. What is team India’s mission? To revive Ancksu-Namun.
And what is our mission? To eliminate Imhotep… This doesn’t seem to
make sense. They are almost put into the place of Imhotep’s ally but we are put in
such disadvantaged position. This just isn’t reasonable… Perhaps we are forgetting
something.”
Suddenly they heard the tweets of a bird by the window. It was a white little eagle
standing on the window. The man in black waved his hand the the eagle landed on
his wrist.
He took off a piece of paper from its claw. After he read it, he took out a piece of
paper from his pocket and tied it on the claw. Then the eagle flew out the window.
“Powerful strangers. My tribe and I are the descendants of the Pharaoh’s bodyguards.
We’ve been guarding Hamunaptra for several thousand years to prevent Imhotep
from resurrection. We are willing to sacrifice anything to defeat him. Rest assured,
we have assembled our men on the way to Hamunaptra. Whether it is Imhotep’s
army of the dead, or the strangers attempting to revive Anck-su-Namun, our tribe…
vows with our swords and glory to stop and destroy them!” The man gave his solemn
words.
“The second movie!” Zheng and the others said.
On the second movie, the Medjai sent all their warriors, over ten thousand cavalry,
to fight the army of the dead in the desert. Their performance was astounding and
totally defeated the first wave of the army. So even if they were to fight the endless
numbers of walking corpses and mummy guards, they would still be able to put up a
fight.
“Yes! They have Imhotep and the mummy guards. We have our ally’s help… We won’t
lose! We won’!”
Even though this new force isn’t individually strong, but their large number was able
to affect the ending of this movie. Honglu then made adjustments to his plan for the
new ally.
Zero was assigned to a location not far off from the cavalries. When the cavalries
intercept team India on the way to Hamunaptra, he will snipe during the chaos. The
chances of them find out Zero’s location during such chaos would be slim. At the
same time, the rest of the team would have enough time to enter the tomb and obtain
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the Book of Amun-Ra. Once they took away Imhotep’s immortality, they would be in
a favorable position.
Since the plan was set, everyone decided they will take a small nap after eating.
Then they would go over to the port and seized a ship. They could definitely reach
Hamunaptra before team India does. Of course the safest way was intercepting them
with the cavalries. And it was best if the cavalries could kill them.
During the meal, Yinkong took a first aid kit and a bottle of alcohol out the door.
Zheng saw it and sighed then followed her out quietly. Yinkong climbed a few steps
up the stairs of the clock tower then opened the first aid it and took out a scalpel.
“The one that’s watching over there… come over and help.” Yinkong said calmly.
Zheng scratched his head and walked over a bit embarrassed just in time to see
Yinkong cut open her shirt and exposed the white skin underneath her neck and
that scary injury on her shoulder.
“There werewolf’s teeth contain some kind of virus. The injured area around my
shoulder has lost all senses. In the legend, people that are bitten by werewolves will
get infected become werewolves themselves. Even though the virus he has isn’t as
powerful but this half of my body is almost paralyzed… See this injury? The flesh that
became black is infected with virus. Help me cut them off…” Yinkong was still calm
as she said this. She lighted an alcohol burner and heated the scalpel over the flame.
When Zheng walked over to her, she handed him the scalpel without a word.
Zheng calmed down then looked at the scary injury. A large area of skin and flesh
had turned purplish black, it looked horrifying. The hand that was holding the scalpel
began trembling. Yinkong said light voice. “… The last person that helped me do
surgery… was my comrade. We were in the same team during training and in missions.
But he died under my own hands… Just like that werewolf Arot. As an assassin, many
people will gradually become insane due to the killings and the cruelty of the training.
When an assassin can’t handle their ordeals and changed… that’s when they should
disappear. Arot is probably the same…”
Zheng took a deep breath and when he breath out, his eyes went out of focus. He
began cutting out the black flesh little by little with speed and precision. The scalpel
danced over Yinkong’s shoulder…
A minute later, the floor was scattered with black flesh. Zheng’s precision was incredible
in the unlocked mode. The cuts didn’t even touch the uninfected flesh below.
After all the black flesh were gone, dark extravasated blood seeped out for quite a
while before the blood came out was red.
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“Bullet.” Yinkong held out her hand.
Zheng was confused for a bit then remembered what the army did in movies. In a
situation without disinfectants, they used gunpowder to burn the injury to prevent
any infections.
“But isn’t here alcohol? The hemostasis spray can disinfect also. You don’t need to
use such rough method.” Zheng said.
Yinkong’s hand remained there and shook her head. “The injury is bitten by a werewolf.
There’s definitely remains of the virus. Normal alcohol can’t completely wipe it
out… Bullet.”
Zheng felt that he couldn’t do anything against her will. She was so calm the whole
time as if she didn’t care about pain or death. She didn’t even blink when he was
cutting the black flesh off. This calmness had gained his respect.
Without any other choice, Zheng took out a few bullets from the ring. She lightly
flipped open the shells and poured the gunpowder on the injury. Then held the
Hellfire Fang close.
A flame instantly fared up as fire met gunpowder. But it went out just as fast as it
came. The shoulder that was bleeding became charred. Yinkong fell unconscious
from the pain and her face was covered in sweat, which made Zheng took pity on
her.
He sighed then poured alcohol on her shoulder. The cooling sensation of liquid woke
her up. She looked at Zheng calmly then let him continue.
By the time Zheng wrapped up Yinkong’s shoulder, she had fallen into a deep sleep.
This aloof little girl of an assassin looked so pure and innocent during her sleep, like
the girl next door.
Zheng carried her back to the room and saw that most of the others were sleeping,
aside from Zero, Jie and O’Connell staying alert. After the fight in the museum and
the chase, it was normal for anyone to feel exhausted. Resting was the best way to
recover.
“So… lets have a peaceful sleep, then we will run for our lives!”
It was night time when Zheng woke up. Though the first one awake wasn’t him. Heng
was fiddling around with a longbow, and the noise woke Zheng up.
He saw Zheng and apologized with a smile. “Sorry to wake up you… you want to
sleep a little longer?”
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Zheng looked around and asked. “Where is Zero and Jie?”
“Up at the roof. Zero said he wants to take a look at the distribution of the mummy
guards. Jie went along to protect him… You really don’t need more sleep?”
Zheng shook his head and looked around at the others who were still sleeping. Most
of them were in fact awake but were resting with their eyes closed, or perhaps they
didn’t want to get up too early and face reality. After all, they only had a little more
time before being chased by that monster or team India. There lives would no longer
be in their own hands.
“Bow? Did you make it yourself?” Zheng got interested at this young man. Back then
when Honglu asked for a gun, he also wanted a bow for Heng, while excluding the
two other newbies. This was enough to make Zheng notice him.
Heng smiled coyly and said. “This is a genuine English longbow made from a tough
wood. How could I make it with my bare hands? When I went with O’Connell to the
black market and saw a merchant selling this as a work of art, I had it bought it. The
merchant also gave us several arrows… This is actually the first time I am using this
kind of bow. I wonder how strong it is and the precision…”
Zero and Jie opened the door as he was talking. Zero was able to walk at will by now
but judging at the sweat on his forehead, the chest pain was difficult to bear. Jie’s
eyes were bloodshot. He kept massaging his temples as he walked.
As Zero began to describe the distribution of the mummy guards below, everyone
else opened their eyes and came over.
“… This is basically it. The square is surrounded by walking corpses. The majority of
the mummy guards are at the entrance to Cairo and the port. About several hundred
of them patrolling by the port. We will have to get through these several hundred
mummy guards and not to mention the endless numbers of walking corpses if we
are to get to the port…”
“Wait.” O’Connell suddenly said.
He drew a circle on the floor. “This is where we are. To the east is the port and here…
there shouldn’t be any guards to the west right? There’s a garage here… Haha, you
get what I mean? We will steal a few cars then drive to the port. The guards shouldn’t
be able to stop cars moving at high speed. The only thing to worry about is Imhotep,
if he’s as powerful as you said…”
Zheng muttered. “Imhotep should only have sucked two people dry by now. Then…
he’s not completely revived. Lan…”
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Lan pulled a cage from the corner. Inside it was a black cat. The cute little cat seemed
to have just woken up and looked at everyone with caution when Lan brought it out
from the cage.
“Let’s go! Mission escape from Cairo!”
Chapter 3
Zheng was grateful he exchanged the ring. Not only was it a powerful weapon
against spiritual beings but that he could store a lot of things in it, like… magical
bullets!
Normal magical bullets were inexpensive. The only issue was their difficulty to carry
in large quantities. But the Na ring eliminated this drawback. He easily took out a
large stack of magical bullets and not only did he restock the ammunition for Jie, Lan
and the others in the group but also swapped O’Connell and the other characters’
bullets with magical ones. Even though their weapons weren’t powerful but every
little bit helped in this circumstance. He wouldn’t skimp on just some bullets.
As they walked down the stairs of the clock tower, they get more and more anxious
the closer they were to the ground. It wasn’t limited to the normal people like the
characters and newbies, Zheng and the veterans also got nervous.
A thick wooden door blocked their way on the ground floor. Lan immediately casted
the acceleration and stamina buffs on everyone. Zheng took our mummy fragments
and sands and the Book of the Dead then chanted the spell to create four mummy
guards.
The newbies watched it in shock then Zheng kicked open the door, waking them up
with the loud sound. He charged out and sprayed with his gun, knocking at least ten
walking corpses near him to the ground. The magical bullets were indeed effective.
These corpses ignited and several seconds later became a pile of ash.
“O’Connell! Take the lead!” Zheng turned around and said in a hurry.
O’Connell nodded. He looked at Evelyn, and without a word pulled out his two guns
and walked in front of the group.
Everyone followed behind him without talking. But there was not even a single walking
corpse on the way to their surprise. It wasn’t until they made a turn through a
valley did they saw a wall of people blocking the way. It was a wide street, at least
14
several thousand walking corpses packed the whole area and ten mummy guards
were standing on the walls to the side.
“Pick up your guns! If you don’t want to die then give all you have!” Zheng held onto
the gun on his left hand and the knife on his right. He shouted and at the same time
fired at the mummies.
Everyone followed suit and opened fire at the corpses and mummies. Yet these
corpses looked just like normal humans. There were even some kids eleven or
twelve years old. O’Connell and some of them hesitated but Jie yelled them to move
away as he pulled out a heavy machine gun, the same one he used in the last movie.
As soon as the others moved to the side, he opened fire.
The sound of the heavy machine gun felt much more powerful than Zheng’s gun, and
of course its power too. The corpses were falling like flies, the mummies couldn’t
close in on them too. Jie gave off the feeling that he was on fire. He held onto the
machine gun with one arm and the bullets with the other. He kept shouting as he ran
forward.
“He’s feeling sad… The person that carried the bullets for him last time had died.”
Zheng sighed then looked at the man in black who was carrying Tengyi’s body. Everyone
knew the rational thing to do was leave his body in the clock tower but they
didn’t have the heart to just leave it there. So everyone decided to find a place to
bury him. According to the man in black, this was also how a warrior could obtain
peace.
Fortunately it seemed like Imhotep’s curse had no effect on them. Tengyi’s body
remained in eternal sleep… Yet Zheng couldn’t forget the scene of his death, and
those last words of his…
It didn’t take long for the heavy machine gun to consume all its bullets, but that was
enough to kill all the mummies. Only around a thousand corpses were still walking toward
them. Everyone fired their guns without holding back. For a while, the sound of
gunshots filled the air. They cleared a path through the corpses and moved through
the street to the garage.
Jonathan began running to the sports cars as soon as they entered the garage but
Zheng and O’Connell held out their arms simultaneously and carried him to a mini
bus. He yelled in resistance. “Hey, sports cars! Sports cars run faster and also more
expensive!”
Zheng replied. “I will give you five gold bars after we survive. Enough for you to buy
one!”
15
Jonathan paused for a moment then immediately said. “Five… six, six is a lucky number.”
Zheng and O’Connell looked at each other then threw Jonathan into the bus.
O’Connell began to look for the key after they all got on but Zheng punched the
keyhole, then pulled out the wires and twirled them together. The bus immediately
started up.
O’Connell laughed. “You’re too violent.”
Zheng shrugged. “You will be more violent when you drive… Lets go, our buddies
are here.”
The entrance to the garage was filled with corpses just as he said. Furthermore,
several dozen mummy guards were coming straight at them from the wall behind
them. O’Connell drove the bus right into the corpses, shattering blood and flesh all
over the place…
O’Connell shouted. “Fuck, so violent… What is this!? It wasn’t near this bloodiness
even when I was in Verdun… Evelyn! Get in the center of everyone, don’t look out
the window!”
Evelyn waved her hand in protest but still stood in the center of them. The bus slowed
down as it drove further and further into the zombies (sounds better than corpse).
These zombies were not retarded like the ones in Resident Evil. They kept trying to
jump on the car and some of them were hanging by the window.
“Zero, Jie, we will attack the mummies! Everyone else attack the zombies around us!
Hurry!” Zheng shouted then opened fired against the incoming mummies.
The sub machine gun wasn’t too effective. It needed over ten shots to destroy a
mummy. Before long, the mummies had closed in within ten meters of them. Fortunately
the additional firepower from Zero and Jie, especially with the accuracy from
Zero, helped them destroy all the mummies before they reached the bus.
The three of them let out a sigh of relief. They turned around to see Lan leading the
rest of the group firing at the zombies.
“Secure yourself!” O’Connell shouted when he saw the numbers around the bus
lessened. He pushed the gas pedal all the way down. The bus finally drove out of
the crowd into an open road.
Jonathan and the Americans celebrated for just a moment before the bus made a
turn and an endless sea of zombies were standing across them, at least ten thousand
16
zombies. Even worse was the number of mummies standing by the walls and roofs
were in the hundreds.
“Oh my god!” O’Connell was shocked and subconsciously let go of the gas pedal.
No one could find the courage to keep driving into them with this much.
Zheng clenched his teeth then said to O’Connell. “Trust me! Drive into them! Fuck,
go in at full speed!” He took out the Book of the Dead and started chanting.
O’Connell also clenched his teeth and stepped on the gas pedal. The bus drove
into the sea of zombies with resolute. When the mummies closed in on the bus, a
whirlwind sent them up the air. This wind grew stronger by the second until it became
a tornado. The bus is in the center of this tornado.
The zombies and mummies were sucked in by the tornado. Their weights were so
insignificant to this power. In contrast the bus’s weight helped kept them on the
ground. Zheng only created a small tornado, otherwise the bus and everyone inside
it would have become victims also.
O’Connell shouted in frenzy as he drove forward, crushing numerous zombies. With
the addition of Zero and Jie’s shooting, there were not that many zombies left in front
of them by the time they drove out from the tornado.
Zheng let out a sigh of relief then felt exhausted, as if the Book of the Dead drained
both his blood energy and stamina. This small version tornado still drained all of his
blood energy. It was a natural disaster after all.
“Let’s go! To the port!”
On the other end of Cairo, in the inn. Shainaia suddenly said. “Leader, found them…
They seized a mini bus and is now driving to the port. The Americans and main
characters are also in the bus.”
Shiva (monk) sat in the center of the team with his legs crossed and a golden Dharmachakra
(Buddhist symbolism) on his hand. “How did you suddenly find them? Weren’t
you unable to do so? Can this be a trap? Or did someone hack into your mental network
again and gave you an illusion?”
Shainaia blushed then pondered for a moment. “Leader, I don’t think it’s an illusion
this time. Imhotep also appeared… Should we get in contact with him?”
“Not now. We should meet him face to face as a sign of respect… But I am still worried
about the psyche force user in their team. If he can modify your detection then he
should have a higher mental capacity stat than you but why didn’t he use it to attack
17
us? And his psyche mask (on their location) just suddenly disappeared… He wouldn’t
be…”
Shiva showed a sign of surprise. “It shouldn’t be possible. He couldn’t be their Guide?
How can anyone reach the second stage of the unlocked mode all by himself? How
did that man, Zheng Zha, established himself as the leader? Just with the acceptance
of his teammates? Don’t kid me… Is the psyche force user the Guide? How is it
possible that someone reached the second stage and the Guide hasn’t disappeared?
That’s not possible…”
Shainaia asked. “Leader, what should we do now?”
Shiva paused for a moment. “Of course we have to follow them. Arot, how is your
condition?”
In a dark corner of the room, Arot said calmly. “Not that good. The people around
became zombies before I had the chance to hunt them. Recovery of my lungs are at
70%. If I have to transform, I can only retain 70% of my normal power but it should be
enough for close combat.”
“Then… lets go see them off. Aren’t they hoping to get to the port? Let this path
become the path to the Netherworld.”
Zheng’s group wasn’t feeling well. Although the zombies became ashes after getting
shot by magical bullets, but they still had normal bodies before then. The ground
was filled with blood and ground meat when the bus crushed them. In fact, crushed
flesh stuck all over the bottom of the bus. The bloody and rotten smell made Evelyn,
Zhuiyu and Liang vomited several times already.
Zheng had recovered some stamina and said to O’Connell. “Faster, drive faster. How
much longer till we reach the port?”
O’Connell was heavily stressed and yelled at him with irritation. “Fuck. Stop nagging
me! Only three to five more minutes following this road… I believe we can be faster
if there are no more zombies!”
Zheng smiled bitterly. He stored a lot of magical bullets in the ring but the ring was
only 1.5 cubic meters big after all. Their gun barrels were burning from all the shooting.
You could tell how many bullets were consumed. There were less than a half of
the bullets left. That was why he wanted to know how much longer they needed.
As he was planning to reload his gun, he felt something and looked toward a tall
building. At the same time Yinkong and Zero also looked over there. A half rotten
and bald mummy appeared on the top of the building, Imhotep.
18
“O’Connell! Don’t let the bus flip over!”
Zheng only had time to shout this before Imhotep transformed into a sandstorm. Everyone
fired at him without thinking but even the magical bullets looked ineffective
against this sandstorm. The bullets went straight through it but the sandstorm had
already surrounded the bus.
O’Connell began yelling and held onto the wheel tightly. He stared right at the road in
front of him with all his attention. Yet his vision was limited under the sandstorm. He
left his safety to everyone else. Though Evelyn’s screams made his shoulder shiver.
The sandstorm came and went fast. It soon gathered together and formed Imhotep
but this time with a person on his hand. He was holding one of the Americans. The
American was shocked and started screaming. Everyone else could do nothing but
look as Imhotep opened that rotten mouth and sucked him dry. Several seconds later,
the American became a dried corpse. At the same time Imhotep recovered more of
his flesh, and gradually became more human like.
“Cat! Lan, bring the cat out!”
Zheng shouted as he pulled the other American to his back. He fired at Imhotep
but the magical bullets were still ineffective. They went straight through his body
like normal bullets. Imhotep looked at the bullets holes that recovered instantly then
transformed into a sandstorm again, sweeping at them… and that last American behind
Zheng.
“Yinkong, your dagger!”
Seeing that Lan was too slow to take the cat out in time, Zheng threw his gun away
then signaled Yinkong as he jumped at the sandstorm. He channeled Qi to the Na
ring forming a translucent force field around his fist then struck the sandstorm with
his left hand.
With a boom, the sandstorm was knocked back as if it went into a wall. Zheng also got
knocked back and crashed into Jie and Zero. The sandstorm turned back to human
form behind the bus. Imhotep kneeled with one knee. His shoulder was burning
and corroding away. The Na ring was indeed very effective against spiritual beings,
being able to damage Imhotep when the magical bullets couldn’t.
Yinkong pulled out the dagger at once, a dagger enclosed in a flame. The mummies
summoned by Zheng immediately backed off as if they were scared of the dagger.
Even Imhotep frowned as he saw it.
19
“Secure yourself!” O’Connell yelled as he stepped at the gas pedal all the way. The
bus ran forward in full speed, knocking over a bunch of barrels and some zombies.
And left Imhotep behind as he slowly recovered his body.
Imhotep shouted then opened his mouth. An endless stream of flies came out of
his mouth then formed a seemingly dark cloud and flew toward the bus. Evelyn and
Zhuiyu screamed in fear immediately. Lan didn’t scream but her face still turned pale
white. Yinkong was the only girl who remained indifferent.
As the flies close in on them, Heng took off his shirt and swung at the flies. Zheng
and the others quickly followed suit, even the man in black also took off his robe to
help.
Although these flies couldn’t deal much damage but they looked disgusting and
blocked their vision. O’Connell had to slow down the bus and even so, he was still
driving into poles and street lights.
Suddenly they heard a chanting in ancient Egyptian. Evelyn immediately said. “He’s
summoning mummies, the Egyptian meant…” Before she could finish, a mummy
dropped on the front of the bus with a bang and slashed at O’Connell with its sword.
O’Connell quickly turned the driving wheel and flung the mummy off. Everyone in
the bus lost their stability at the same time. However, the flies were still sticking to
the bus.
“Fuck, if I can live, I will stock up in bug sprays and bug repellent incenses.”
Jie got back up from the floor and cursed.
“Bug sprays… repellent incenses? Right, repellent incense!” Lan yelled with excitement
as she took out two smoke grenades from her bag. She pulled the rings without
hesitation. A thick smoke came out from the grenades but since the bus was still driving,
the smoke floated to the back. The flies were falling in clusters and soon enough,
O’Connell gained back some vision.
They didn’t have a chance to celebrate. They could see the port but the path was
filled with countless zombies and mummies on the walls and roofs, at least over a
thousand mummies. Maybe it was due to Imhotep recovered more of his power or
he assembled all the mummies in Cairo. Anyway, the mummies in front of them could
form a mini army.
Everyone looked at Zheng but he could only force a smile. “I can’t summon anymore
tornados. I’ve only recovered a quarter of my blood energy. Even if I summon it, it
would have limited power, at least not enough to send so many mummies flying…”
20
“Then what should we do?” Everyone said. Then they realized they had made Zheng
their core.
Zheng took a deep breath and took out the remaining magical bullets from his ring.
“O’Connell, go! Don’t worry about anything. We will die if we stay here anyway so
just go and bet our lives on this… Shit, go for the port, it’s our only hope!”
O’Connell also took a deep breath and drove right into the sea of zombies.
Everyone fell into a silence as they got nearer and nearer to the zombies. Zheng
picked up his gun and sprayed at the street then everyone else also opened fire.
The mummies also began to jump at the bus. Despite the firepower from Zheng, Jie,
and Zero, there were too many mummies. When the first one got on the top of the
bus, many others followed. Then a sword stabbed into the bus from the top.
Zheng clenched his teeth. He held onto the gun with his mouth, opened the window
then jumped up to the top of the bus. His eyes went out of focus, signaling that he
entered the unlocked mode.
Over a dozen mummies stood on top of the bus. It was as though Zheng’s appearance
surprised them for a moment before the two mummies nearest to him attacked.
But his reaction speed was incredible. He took the gun from his mouth and fired
while he was still in the air and crushed those two mummies and several near them.
Zheng’s power increased by several folds even with just the first stage of the unlocked
mode. Ever since he reached the second stage, it was easy for him to enter
the first stage. He just had to believe he was in danger. Furthermore the after effect
had lessened by a lot. In other words, he could enter the first stage without any worry
now.
Zheng easily eliminated the mummies on top of the bus but many more were jumping
toward the bus every minute. He could only focus all his attention on these mummies.
Tatata. Bullet shells were falling from his submachine gun onto the bus like rain.
Before a minute had passed, he had emptied the magazine. Then he started to
attack with his left hand and the Na ring.
“O’Connell! Hurry! Hope is right there!”
Zheng yelled as he moved within the mummies. Every strike would hit one or two
mummies. A complete hit could kill a mummy and even a scratch could damage it
due to the effect of the Na ring. However it also consumed his Qi very fast at this
state. Even if a strike only takes a little bit of Qi, his Qi was almost empty after killing
over a hundred mummies.
21
The sandstorm was coming at the bus from behind again. This time seemingly more
powerful than before. They could make out a face in the center of it. The huge face
opened its mouth trying to swallow the bus but with a faint meow, the face flew to
the top of a building on the side as if it saw something horrifying. Then it transformed
into Imhotep’s human form.
Zheng let out a sigh of relief. A mummy slashed at his shoulder with a curved sword
with just one moment of letting his guard down. He dodged as soon as he felt the
pain so the sword only took away a part of his flesh and didn’t get the bones. Zheng
couldn’t dare to think about other things anymore. He crushed that mummy then
focused his attention back to the fight on hand.
The bus was getting closer and closer to the port. Just one more turn and it could
drive straight to the port.
“We came at the right moment.”
Team India stood on top of a building and looked at the bus below. Shiva then looked
at Imhotep who stopped moving forward. He laughed coldly and said. “Cat? Lamu,
kill the cat! Shainaia, connect to Lamu’s mind and show him the cat’s location!”
Shainaia nodded. The young man also closed his eyes and a needle floated on his
palm. Then the needle disappeared and when it reappeared several seconds later,
it was stained with blood.
Shainaia frowned and said. “The psyche mask appeared again once the cat died. I
can’t sense the minds of the people in the car anymore.”
Shiva looked as Imhotep transformed into a sandstorm again and smiled. “Doesn’t
matter. If Lamu had shown any intention of killing their members, the psyche mask
would had appeared instantly. It was better to just kill the cat… and let Imhotep kill
team China for us.”
Suddenly they heard a howl from the side. Arot who as quietly standing there the
whole time began howling. His hair started and body started to grow. Shiva immediately
said. “Shainaia! Control his mind. If we join the fight now, Imhotep may see us
as enemies. With so many mummies here… we will get in a rough battle.”
Shainaia frowned and her face was becoming pale white. She spit out blood when
Arot became a complete werewolf and ran away. “Leader, I can’t. His mind has fallen
into madness… I can’t control it.”
Shiva sighed. The mummies were coming at them from all sides just as he had expected.
It was too late now.
22
Zheng had his attention on the mummies when suddenly he felt an emotion of killing
coming at him. A large figure jumped at him before he had the time to complete turn
around. The figure took him off the bus and into the sea of zombies. When the two
of them stopped rolling, they were already ten meters away from the bus.
It wasn’t until now that Zheng recognized the figure as the blonde doctor Arot, or
rather the werewolf Arot. He was howling and slicing at all the zombies near him
with his scalpels. His fingers and hands were moving at such a speed barely visible
to human eyes. The zombies were sliced into pieces only several centimeters big.
Then the werewolf jumped at Zheng and slashed at him with the scalpels at an extreme
speed.
Zheng’s premonition of danger immediately reached a limit. The emotion of killing
felt like blades. He had no doubt he would become pieces of flesh the next second
just like the zombies. Zheng entered the second stage before the scalpels reached
him. He raised his left hand to block at the werewolf’s wrist while he punched the
werewolf on the stomach with his right hand. His muscles expanded suddenly when
he attacked. Boom. It was as though he had hit a tire. His left hand felt numb after
blocking like it was struck with metal.
After missing his attack, the werewolf jumped up and reached for Zheng’s head with
his legs. Zheng took our his knife and slashed at the werewolf’s head. Neither of
them backed off.
Both sides were in the unlocked mode and had put their lives on the line. They
couldn’t spare their attention to anything other than killing each other. Like Imhotep
got in the bus and seized the last American out of the bus. At the same time Yinkong
also followed him outside as she entered the unlocked mode.
She kicked at the window of the bus and used the force to jump at Imhotep. Then
stabbed her dagger into Imhotep’s heart before he could drain the American. A flame
burned from his chest. Imhotep dropped the American off as he screamed. Yinkong
immediately kicked the American back into the bus then ran toward Zheng and the
werewolf.
The werewolf’s scalpels had gotten a few hits on Zheng’s chest and stomach. Blood
was bleeding from him like water. The werewolf’s arm also got cut off.
Yinkong appeared all of a sudden. The werewolf was focused on Zheng that when
he finally felt the attack coming from behind, Yinkong’s dagger had already stabbed
into his chest. Then he punched her away and ran before Zheng could attack again.
Zheng had no choice but to go after Yinkong and save her from the sea of zombies.
23
Zheng carried Yinkong while slashing at the mummies with his knife. The bus was
getting further and further away from them. Zheng chased after the bus as fast as
he could. At the same time the bus had made its last turn. There was only one last
straight road to the port.
It was a roller coaster of emotions for them during the whole ride. Like now that there
was no ships by the port. Several ships were over a hundred meters deep into the
river. Even the nearest ship was still ten meters away from the port. Zheng stood
there in shock. A sense of despair overtook him and everyone on the bus as the
sea of zombies and several hundred mummies closed in from behind. They had no
where to go.
“O’Connell! Believe in me, go! Don’t think about anything and just step on the gas
pedal all the way!”
Zheng clenched his teeth then shouted. He ran at full speed toward the bus.
O’Connell began shouting and drove the bus toward the river. Everyone felt lost as
they looked at the ship that was sailing away.
Zheng took out the Book of the Dead as he ran. He chanted a spell Tengyi taught
him, a spell that could control rocks and soil. It could be used to bury corpses or —
change the terrain!
The road in front of the bus gradually elevated. Everyone noticed the abnormality
but no one said anything. They all stared at that ship on the river. O’Connell’s voice
became hoarse from the shouting. He kept his foot tight on the gas pedal and his
hands on the wheel. Then the bus drove onward on the elevated road.
The Book of the Dead drained Zheng’s stamina with the spell. He stumbled and was
about to fall when Yinkong jumped off him and carried him on her shoulder. The little
girl exerted amazing strength at this moment. She carried Zheng with one arm and
took out a hooked rope with her other hand and threw it at the bus. The hook caught
the window and pulled the two of them off the ground has the bus flew toward the
ship on the river… toward hope.
Chapter 4
The mini bus crossed ten meters over the river to the ship. The people on the ship
seemed like normal people. They stared in shock as the bus charged into the cargos
24
on the ship… a stack of cardboard boxes, this was the age before cargo containers.
The bus slid for some distance after it landed on the boxes. There was no explosion
after the bus came to a stop.
The people inside the bus and Zheng and Yinkong are all in terrible conditions. Several
of them were bleeding from the collision. The veterans quickly recovered consciousness.
Their bodies were much stronger than normal people’s after all. Zero
and Jie ran out from the bus with their weapons.
Jie picked up Zheng and Yinkong. The two of them struck the tail of the bus during
the collision. The damage they received were higher than those inside the bus. Fortunately
both of them were physically strong, especially Zheng. He shielded Yinkong
with his body during the collision and due to his enhancements, they were actually
at better shape despite receiving more damage.
Jie helped them sit down then ran straight toward the bridge. Zero put down his
handgun and set up his rifle by the gunwale. He put in a magical Gaus sniper rifle
bullet and pointed the gun at the port. The zombies were walking into the water
whereas the mummies stopped. They seemed to be scared of the water and thus
posed no threat in contrast to the zombies that were jumping in the river.
Zheng opened his eyes with difficulty. He tried to get up but the pain originating from
his spine when he moved scared him. They were going to Hamunaptra for the final
fight. If his spine broke right now, he would be useless until the end of the movie.
And as the most powerful of the team, losing him meant death for the whole team.
Sweat streamed down his face as he thought of this. He tried even harder to get up.
“Don’t move! Your spine is dislocated. Do you want to become paralyzed?” Yinkong
said with a faint voice but sharp words. She made great efforts to reach out her hand
to Zheng’s back. Then pah! The pain disappeared and he could move freely.
Zheng looked at her gratefully. That was when he noticed the wound on her shoulder
had tore open. She was carrying him on her wounded shoulder so she could use her
other hand to throw the hooked rope.
Lan and the others had came out of the bus by now. Jonathan and the American
were in terrible conditions, with a large wound on their heads. The others were all
wounded to various degrees. Then they heard a whistle and the ship began to speed
up. Seemed like Jie had succeeded.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly Zero yelled. “Be careful! Zheng, if the
rifle is not effective against him, then it’s all up to you!” Everyone looked toward the
25
port and aside from the sea of zombies and several thousand mummies, they saw a
sandstorm flying toward them. The sandstorm formed a face attempting to swallow
the ship.
Bang!
The recoil from the Gaus rifle bent the gunwale. No wonder Zero used the gunwale
for support. A large area of the face collapsed immediately then more and more of
the face collapsed. The face looked like it was in pain and finally it disappeared. A
humanoid figure engulfed in flame dropped into the river.
It wasn’t until the ship sailed far enough that they couldn’t see Cairo anymore before
they felt relieved. Everyone dropped to the floor, whether they were veterans or
newbies, players or characters. They all felt like they just danced on the edge of hell.
Zheng was exhausted both physically and mentally. His blood energy was drained
empty twice. His Qi was emptied when he was fighting the mummies. Then his
stamina was emptied after he got knocked off the bus by the werewolf. If it wasn’t
for Yinkong, he would have been killed in Cairo. Now that he let himself relax, he
couldn’t hold it anymore and felt into sleep.
Some time passed. Zheng tasted a slightly sweet liquid in his mouth and opened
his eyes. He saw Lan feeding him water tenderly. She was pleasantly surprised
when she saw Zheng opened his eyes. She opened her arms and seemed like she
wanted to embrace him but she controlled herself and sat in place. Lan smiled and
said. “Finally awake. How are you feeling? Do your wounds still hurt?”
Zheng nodded with a smile. He felt a little bit disappointed but that was quickly
replaced by feeling of relief. He looked around the surrounding. This was a small
room. Judging by the steel walls, this should be a cabin inside the ship. The bright
sunlight through the window meant that he had slept for a night.
“What time is it?” Zheng touched his chest. The injury on his chest and stomach had
been bandaged up and was giving him an itchy sensation. Lan smiled. “It’s morning
already. O’Connell said we will get to land by noon. Lets have breakfast first?”
Zheng nodded and got up. He suddenly saw a wooden bowl on the side and several
wet towels. “What happened to me last night? You took care of me the whole time?”
Lan had obvious dark circles under her eyes. “You had a fever. We didn’t have the
medicine for it so we took turns to wipe your body with a wet towel until 3am when
your body temperature returned normal. How is your body feeling?”
26
Zheng stared at her dark circles and sighed. “Thanks… I am feeling much better, just
a little itchy on my chest. Hoho, did you apply some ointment on me? I don’t feel a
bit of pain. It’s quite effective.”
Lan looked as he yawned. “Your self recovery is strong. You don’t even know it
yourself but the injury on your chest began to heal up by itself. Yinkong only did
some simple sewing. Judging by the rate you healed, your body should be fully
recovered by now.”
Zheng pushed the door open but turned around in shock when he heard this. Lan
nodded at him seriously. That was when he remembered the werewolf penetrated
his back with his scalpels during the fight in the museum also. He didn’t have the
time to think about it but that injury also healed by itself. Zheng reached for his back
and felt a scar. Then the scar layer fell off revealing fresh skin underneath. Such
recovery rate wasn’t what a normal human should have.
The only possibilities were either due to the vampire bloodline or reaching the second
stage of the unlocked mode. Vampires had naturally high recovery rate. He
never noticed it but he was also wounded all over the body during The Grudge.
Of course it might also be the second stage of the unlocked mode. If recovery rate
was also included from having absolute control the body at will.
Anyway, the extra recovery speed wasn’t bad. It was just that he felt he was becoming
less human like… In fact, after being in this world for so long, and getting numb to
killings, perhaps even his mentality wasn’t human like anymore…
“Shit, whatever. A higher recovery is a good thing after all.” Zheng cursed then looked
at Lan with a smile. “I am starving. You haven’t have breakfast either right? Lets go.”
Lan returned a smile to him and followed behind Zheng out to the deck.
The golden sun rose from afar. Sunlight and the reflections over water painted the
deck in gold. They followed this golden path and suddenly felt a sense of peacefulness.
Zero, Jie and the others were standing in this light in front of them. For a
moment, all that was left in their hearts was tranquility…
“Board here then we will go toward the marketplace in the desert. If everything goes
well, we can buy our supplies and camels there. We should reach Hamunaptra in a
few days.” O’Connell took out a sand tray and drew their path on the sand.
They were having breakfast in the cabin but due to the threats they made yesterday,
the crew rejected their invitation to eat together. Though none of them really cared.
27
“Where are our allies?” Honglu asked.
Ardeth Bay (The man in black) paused for a moment then drew a line in the sand.
“In between the marketplace and Hamunaptra. Since the desert is too large, we can
only wait in the center then send our men to search for our enemies. This is the most
we can do.”
Honglu nodded. Zheng studied the sand tray for a while and said. “So this is decided.
We still have a few days. Everyone take a good rest then we have to fight for our
lives… We are not running this time. Only one side can live. O’Connell, can we get
weapons and ammunitions in the marketplace? Normal bullets are fine.”
Ardeth answered. “We have men and a little warehouse in the marketplace. There
should be some weapons, even though they are not as powerful as the ones you
have, but there should be enough ammunitions.”
Zheng laughed. “That’s good enough. Normal bullets can kill the regular mummies…
Ok, any questions? After we meet with our allies, Zero will go on his own to assassinate
that Indian woman. Honglu, Liang, Heng, and Zhuiyu will join the big group.
It shouldn’t be too dangerous under the protection of so many people. As to Jie,
Lan, Yinkong, O’Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and me, the seven of us will continue to
Hamunaptra and obtain the Book of Amun-Ra before anyone else. Then we will take
away Imhotep’s immortality and kill the rest of team India!”
Ardeth immediately said. “What about me?”
“Of course stay with your people. The battle inside Hamunaptra doesn’t have much
to do with the two of you. We caused the problem so we will take responsibility for it.
It’s a big help already to block off Imhotep’s mummies and possibly assassinate one
or two people in team India.”
“How can I avoid the battle when I am the descendent of the Pharaoh’s bodyguard?
Eliminating Imhotep is originally our responsibility! Not even God will prevent us from
joining the battle! I should be in the Hamunaptra group.”
Zheng sighed. “Then let the eight of us go to Hamunaptra. The curator is not young
and should stay with the big group.”
The curator opened his mouth but in the end didn’t say anything. Zhuiyu though
suddenly asked O’Connell. “Where is the ship going if we keep sailing down the
river? To the ocean?”
O’Connell replied. “Yes, it should follow the river stream to the ocean. There will be
cross ocean cruises that will take over the cargos on this ship.”
28
Zhuiyu laughed. “How about this? We newbies will take the ship out to the ocean,
since we can’t help you anyway. If we die in the battle, it will just cause more burden
for you. I don’t believe team India can know we are leaving for the ocean and come
chase us… We will be in absolute safety and you won’t have to worry about us.”
Zheng asked Honglu. “What do you think? I think it’s not a bad idea. They can be
saved and they don’t offer much help. If we lose the fight, then it doesn’t matter
whether they are there or not…”
Honglu twirled his hair then smiled. “Let them choose themselves. You can sail out to
the ocean if you want. Though I hope you can stay with the big group. Heng, what’s
your choice?”
Heng paused for a moment then said. “I also want to stay with the group… Hoho, I’ve
always wanted to see how it looks like when thousands of horses charge in a battle.
Even though this isn’t the best time, I still don’t want to miss the opportunity.”
Zhuiyu quickly turned to Liang and looked at him with the eyes of a kitten. Liang only
looked at her for a second before giving in. “Th-then I choose to sail out. The two of
us will sail out to the ocean. This way we can also look after each other.”
Zheng nodded. “So it’s decided then. I will give you some normal bullets, two rifles,
hemostasis spray and some bandage. But I won’t give you the communication device.
Once we split up, you can only depend on yourselves. I don’t want to be suddenly
notified of losing two points. Ok?”
Honglu laughed and said. “Give them a communication device. The two of them can
use one and we can know their situation at any time, or let them know how we are
doing. We don’t have to worry about it getting into the hands of team India anyway
so it’s fine to give them one… Right, they also need some money for the expenses
on the way. Give them some gold bars.”
Zhuiyu and Liang nodded. They looked relieved but didn’t notice Honglu’s smile.
The group decided to board the shore after breakfast. Zhuiyu and Liang stayed on
the ship and sailed down the river.
After running for ten minutes, Honglu suddenly said as he looked at the communication
device. “Change of plan. The bait has been set.”
Everyone looked at him in confusion. Zheng asked. “What bait?”
Honglu handed the device to him. “Them… the two that’s sailing away. They should
be under mind control of the woman from team India right now.”
29
Zheng looked at the device. One of the dots was moving slowing whereas the rest
of them were grouped in the center of the screen. “Why do you say this? What’s
wrong?”
“They slowed down. To be precise, they came to a stop two minutes ago then began
moving slowly, much more slower than when we were on the ship… If my guess is
correct, the woman from team India can control people from afar, and she casted a
mark on them. Once they got out of range from the strange protection around us,
that woman can sense them and control them.”
Zheng thought for a moment. “But they are still alive.”
Honglu laughed. “That’s because she learned of our plan from their memories. If
they get killed immediately then we will be suspicious and change our plan. Since
these two people are powerless, they can leave them alive until we are dead.”
“Judging from the ship slowing down, there’s a limit to the range of the mind control.
She had the ship slowed down so she can go over and take the two of them to
Hamunaptra. Then they will wait there and ambush us… If they have to go so much
distance and still reach Hamunaptra before us… Then the only tool of transportation
is the plane in the original plot…”
At the same time, at the entrance to Cairo. “This is their plan, leader. What should
we do with these two people? Have the ship sail back here?”
Beside the India woman was Shiva and Imhotep. Shiva shook his head. “Continue
sailing at low speed… How much longer until they go out of range?”
“Six hours at this rate.”
Shiva nodded. “Then let the ship maintain this speed. Arot and Lamu had already
left to find the airport. Once we get the plane, we can quickly chase them down
even if they go out of range… High priest Imhotep, just like you see, we are enemies
to the team that’s trying to stop you. Enemies of your enemies are your allies. We
will help you revive Anck-su-Namun but we need your help to defeat that other team.
Can your army continue to Hamunaptra? After learning of the ten thousand cavalries,
your army is the only force that can stop them and earn us time to revive Anck-suNamun.”
Imhotep nodded and said something in old Egyptian. Then he turned around and
shouted. The sea of mummies on the street behind him also began shouting…
30
Chapter 5
Zheng’s group finally reached the marketplace. They split up into two groups according
to plan. One group went to stock up the supplies while the other went to
buy horses.
“Yes, we only want horses, not camels. If you don’t have enough horses, we will get
the rest from other merchants.” O’Connell pinched a gold nugget with his fingers and
said to the merchant.
One had to admit the plus side to greed was the ability to take every advantage
possible in bargaining. Despite the unwillingness when he handed away the gold
nugget, he actually had a whole gold bar in his pocket, the money Zheng gave him
for the task.
The two groups finished their tasks within an hour. All the merchants showed great
passion under the influence of gold and prepared everything they needed in such a
short period of time. Without many more words, they took their supplies and left for
a little warehouse on their horses.
Ardeth led them inside the warehouse, an empty warehouse. He pulled a chain on
the group and opened up an entrance to a tunnel. And at the same time, two guns
pointed at them from the entrance.
Ardeth yelled something then two men in black climbed out. They showed him respect
and Ardeth nodded to them, then said to Zheng. “Follow me. The weapons
are under here.”
The basement wasn’t too big, but contained a large quantity of weapons. Aside from
cannons, it basically had every weapon available in this era, including machine guns
taken off a fighter jet. Just like how it was in the movie, Ardeth picked the machine
gun and some explosives.
After everyone was ready, Honglu quickly said. “Have the two of them come with us.
After we lave the marketplace, one will take part of our communication devices to the
big group, the other will take the rest of the devices and head toward Hamunaptra
at half our speed. As to us, we will each rotate between three horses and get to
Hamunaptra as fast as possible. We will give them a surprise whether they arrive
before us or not.”
Just like this, the group left the marketplace again. To avoid getting mind controlled,
everyone including Honglu, who can’t actually fight, headed toward Hamunaptra.
31
“It’s the third time we cross this place. I hope there won’t be a fourth.” Zheng said as
he sat on the saddle looking over this desert.
Evelyn laughed. “That’s not worded right. If we can’t see this a fourth time, doesn’t
it mean that we died in Hamunaptra? It should be we must see it a fourth time.”
Zheng laughed at it. This was something only the players understood. They would
go back to God’s dimension if they finished the mission, so there’s no chance of
seeing this scenery again. Otherwise it would mean they failed and were chasing or
running away. Both of which could end in a wipe. “I am tired of running. Might as well
bet everything at once and settle it in Hamunaptra. All the issues started there and
will end there!” Zheng looked at the Na ring. It had several grenades that weren’t
there before. The team decided to bury Tengyi on a hill outside the marketplace and
found these grenades on his body. “Let everything end there!”
The hardship was unimaginable when they traveled nonstop and rotating between
three horses. They felt like their bodies were falling apart. Fortunately Lan’s stamina
buff kept them going. They reduced the travel time from several days to just one day
and night.
It was 4am, just one more hour before they reached Hamunaptra, right before sunrise.
Then they felt the ground shaking and the intensity was gradually increasing.
Everyone turned around but it was pitch black. They couldn’t see anything beyond
a hundred meters. Zero rode to the top of a little hill and looked out. “A large area
of the sand is rolling toward us. Doesn’t seem like a sandstorm, it’s only a meter or
two in height. It’s the mummies! So many of them and they are coming so fast!”
These mummies had no stamina bar, nor could they feel pain or death. Several thousand
mummies were running nonstop at a speed that could rival horses.
Right as Zero finished his words, another wave of rolling sand came into view
along with clopping sounds. Ten thousand cavalries were charging at the mummies.
Though both parties were at quite some distance that if it wasn’t for his Hawkeye,
he wouldn’t be able to see them. Zero immediately rode back to the group. “Really?
Everyone pick up your speed. We will give them a surprise!” Zheng yelled and led
the way to Hamunaptra.
The group finally reached Hamunaptra at sunrise. Hamunaptra looked magnificent
under the golden sunlight, as if it had went back in time to Egypt’s prosperous age.
But no one had the time to experience this scenery as a dozen planes flew into
Hamunaptra.
32
Everyone hid before several stone pillars for the plane to pass. Then Zheng said to
Zero. “Can you snipe the plane down?”
Zero sighed. “Won’t be able to get all of them. No problem if it’s only a few. The
Gauss rifle is powerful but it takes too long to reload. I can only shoot three times
before the planes land. I think this is the reason they brought so many planes, to
avoid getting sniped.”
Everyone sighed as this chance went to waste. Zheng breathed out and said. “Then
follow our original plan. Zero is responsible for sniping that Indian woman and Heng
will protect you. Remember to run after one shot whether it hit or not. Everyone else
come with me into the tomb. Then we will split up to search for the statue of Ra.
Whoever finds it signal with a gunshot.”
Zheng repeated their plan then walked to the entrance to the tomb. He turned
around and looked at Zero and Heng again before entering. Zero was searching
for a suitable spot whereas Heng was adjusting his bow. During this moment he
turned around, a hand grabbed his neck from behind and lifted him up.
By the entrance to the tomb, a hand formed by sand suddenly appeared. More sand
gathered around it and formed Imhotep’s figure. He threw Zheng into the tomb.
Zheng collided with a wall but because the wall was rather fragile, he went through
the wall and collided with something metallic.
Ardeth and Jie were nearest to the entrance. They both opened fire at Imhotep. Yet
it was shown that even magical bullets were ineffective against him in Cairo, so these
normal bullets they were now using were even more so. The bullets shot through
him then the hole instantly recovered. O’Connell fired with his rifle but to no avail.
Imhotep stood there unharmed then transformed into a sandstorm.
Yinkong reacted immediately but she only got to pull out her dagger before that
sandstorm went into the tomb and disappeared from their view.
At the same time, bang! The Gaus rifle made its shot at Zero’s target.
“Then… let our plan commences. Wipe their team!” Honglu smiled coldly.
All the others followed with a smile. Although it was unexpected that team India
arrived so early but that did not affect their plan. This plan would push team India
into despair.
Of the two Medjais that came with them, one went to the big group of cavalries and
the other was following behind at half their speed. If these two were to get mind
33
controlled, they would have to fight team India face to face but if they didn’t, then
Honglu’s plan would succeed.
The Medjai that went to big group carried a secret message from Ardeth to the leader
of the cavalries along with the communication devices. The message requested him
to send a thousand men over to Hamunaptra, also rotating between three horses in
order to arrive as fast as possible. And once these men heard the first gunshot, they
had to charge toward Hamunaptra, killing any group that was heading there!
Zero’s mission was to fire at the first person from team India he saw, didn’t matter how
far that person was, or if she was the psyche force user or not. He had to open fire
even if he couldn’t kill that person because the gunshot signaled the commencement
of the plan.
“Simple logic. They will get charged by the cavalries no matter which direction they
come from. After learning of our plan, their safest method of transportation was
through the plane. If they don’t see any cavalries around Hamunaptra, what will they
do? Of course they will want to land…”
“The only issue is if they also transported horses or camels along. But airplanes
during this age… don’t have the capacity to do so. Then they will have to run over
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