Chapter One Hundred Eleven: Turning Defense into Offense

Yamato, the captain of "Chrysanthemum and Blade," was struck head-on by the high-speed rolling impact. It felt as if he had been slammed by a giant hammer; his metal armor collapsed inward, and he tasted blood as his stomach churned. He retaliated with a sword strike against Cassaro, but the spherical form Cassaro had curled into proved to be completely impervious to the force of the blow, and the katana was deflected away.

Having absorbed the impact, Yamato realized Cassaro was desperate and had no intention of trading blows, so he retreated to dodge. Regardless, Dave had been successfully snatched away, and the Dreamers on the zombie side held a complete advantage; killing these people was only a matter of time.

As Yamato retreated, the high-speed roll did not stop, instead continuing forward and scattering several zombies. It turned out that Cassaro’s goal was to use this skill to carve a path to facilitate his escape.

Noticing his intent, Yamato shouted, "Stop him!" He swung his katana, and Matsuda followed close behind, brandishing an iron spear. As for the other Dreamers, aside from Ogawa who had fled after seizing Dave, and Singh who was engaged in a fierce battle with Wang Ling’s side, the remaining four launched a surprise attack from the backyard of the base to prevent anyone else from coming to the rescue.

At this moment, the sound of AK gunfire from the distance grew rapidly closer, accompanied by the whistle of thrown blades. Seeing Hassan and Suna charging out of the house and clearing the zombies as they approached, Yamato hesitated for a moment before retreating with Matsuda.

Faced with a firearm, Yamato felt he lacked the confidence to eliminate all three of them. His armor could barely withstand ordinary handgun bullets, but it offered little protection against the penetration of AK rounds. Furthermore, given Cassaro’s not-insignificant strength, chasing him down didn't guarantee a kill and carried the risk of injury.

Seeing the two from "Chrysanthemum and Blade" retreat, Hassan and Suna did not return to the house; instead, they reached out and intercepted Cassaro as he tried to flee back.

"What are you doing!" Cassaro shouted furiously.

"Save Wang Ling. If he dies, we all die!" Hassan’s aged face remained perfectly calm.

"Damn it!" Thinking of facing the terrifying Singh, Cassaro’s expression shifted rapidly. After consuming a health recovery potion, he gritted his teeth and followed them.

Suna’s throwing knives were at level 7, allowing her to hurl seven blades at once. Hassan no longer conserved ammunition, using controlled bursts to blow apart the heads of the zombies blocking their way, while Cassaro brandished his axe and steel fork. The trio quickly closed in on the battlefield between Wang Ling and Singh.

"Rat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat..."

Muzzle flashes erupted as Hassan fired 15 rounds in an instant. The old man’s marksmanship was superb; the bullets wove through the gaps between the combatants, all heading straight for Singh’s body.

Hearing the gunfire, Singh immediately dodged, but no matter how fast his speed, he could not outpace the bullets—he was, after all, only a novice Dreamer. Hemmed in by the others, he was struck by several bullets. However, a transparent light shield instantly manifested on his body, blocking every single round.

"A bullet-protection item? Those are extremely rare!"

Cassaro exclaimed. "Bullet-protection items" were special artifacts; the energy layer they emitted worked only against projectiles. Depending on the quality of the item and the power of the bullets, they could withstand varying numbers of shots. Even a protection item that could only stop 100 handgun bullets sold for tens of thousands of currency points on the open market—and even then, they were rarely available!

Amidst the glow emitted by the item, Singh charged toward Hassan. The protection item had limited uses; if it were shattered, it would not only be a massive loss, but the bullets would also pose a significant threat to him.

Old man Hassan took a deep breath, and his AK vanished from his hands. An Arabian scimitar appeared in its place. His calm gaze was replaced by a sense of fanaticism, and even his clouded eyes grew bloodshot.

"Long live the Holy War!"

With a hoarse shout in Arabic, the old man swung his blade at the oncoming Singh.

Singh stopped dead in his tracks, as if all momentum had vanished. He parried the long sword with his obsidian dagger held in reverse, then struck lightning-fast toward Hassan’s heart.

Hassan raised his left arm to block the dagger. Seeing this, Singh smiled; with the sharp obsidian blade and the blade-aura it carried, this foolish old man would surely have his arm severed!

However, the reality defied his expectations. The dagger struck a leather object, encountering immense resistance. He then saw that wrapped around the side of Hassan’s left arm was a piece of rough, palm-sized hide from an unknown creature. It was this piece of leather that had blocked the obsidian dagger, which could slice through bone without the slightest resistance!

With a flash of movement, Singh dodged a slash from the scimitar and lunged upward, aiming for Hassan’s exposed face. But Hassan knocked the blade-aura aside with the hilt of his scimitar.

"Damn, this old man can actually keep up with my speed!"

In the real world, Singh was an assassin, and after entering the Dream Space, he felt right at home. He was a master of the dagger with exceptional combat talent. Buffed by basic footwork and passive skills, his strength was terrifying; he could usually kill or even dismember an opponent within seconds.

He hadn't expected to be frustrated now. With his expertise, he could see that the old man’s blade speed and neural reflexes were incredibly high. He likely had not only trained in the Space but had received professional training in the real world as well.

It wasn't just the old man; Wang Ling’s summoned characters also possessed strong combat adaptability! For an assassin, opponents with powerful skills and decent stats but weak combat intuition were mere prey, provided there wasn't an insurmountable gap in strength. They could even kill enemies of a higher rank. But opponents with rich combat experience and abilities similar to "combat intuition" were tough nuts to crack.

After the obsidian dagger and the Arabian scimitar clashed several times, Singh used a blade-aura to open a 2-centimeter-deep wound on Hassan’s ribs. At that moment, the four Kung Fu masters surrounded him, and realizing he could not kill Hassan, he suddenly lunged toward Wang Ling!

He stabbed viciously, but was blocked by a suddenly manifesting pink barrier. Singh laughed loudly and vanished into the darkness. Since Dave had already been rescued and Dr. Edgar’s terrifying army of high-level zombies was on the move, he would let these people live a few more days. When the time came, finishing off these exhausted combatants would be effortless!

Seeing the terrifying Singh retreat, Hassan let out a long breath. The blade of the scimitar in his hand was severely cracked; another few collisions would likely shatter it entirely.

The group immediately returned to the house base. The zombies at this level could no longer stop them. Without the interference of Dreamers, they soon entered the base.

Among the summoned characters, Wang Long had a deep gash at his waist, and Chen Heng’s right arm, used to throw his meteor chains, was injured. Among the Dreamers, Cassaro had been struck by an arrow and sustained two other wounds, while Singh had a bleeding gash on his ribs.

Upon entering the base, Wang Ling saw that Cai Qing and Yamada were also injured, and there was the corpse of a fat white man. According to Suna’s explanation, the four enemy Dreamers had launched a surprise attack from the backyard. Two of their own were injured in the fierce battle, but one of the enemy Dreamers had been killed by Hassan’s AK, and the remaining three had fled in panic, which was why Hassan and Suna were free to go and provide reinforcements.

Looking at all this, a question arose in Wang Ling’s heart: "Why didn't the Dreamer Badge give a warning when the enemy Dreamers approached? In an E-rank difficulty world, to protect the Dreamers, shouldn't there be a notification when other Dreamers approach within a 1000-meter radius?"

Addressing this question, Cassaro explained, "Clearly, our main mission and that of the enemy Dreamers in this plot world are completely opposed. In a 'rivalry mission,' there are no notifications when enemy Dreamers approach."

"A rivalry mission?"

Wang Ling had never heard this term. Suna, Yamada, and Cai Qing all looked at Cassaro, and from their expressions, it was clear that they didn't know it either.

"Our final mission is to defend the house base, and their final mission is definitely to conquer it! This means one side’s main mission is destined to fail, leading to their 'erasure'—hence the term 'rivalry mission.' To survive, both sides must fight with everything they have. It seems that to increase the cruelty of these missions, the badge does not provide proximity warnings for enemy Dreamers."

"Additionally, a rivalry mission is essentially a small-scale promotion test. It’s quite clear that our next main mission will take us to a D-rank difficulty world."

The muscles in Cassaro’s face twitched, and he had completely lost his previous composure. He said angrily, "This is damnation! We were already the passive, disadvantaged side. The powerful Cyclone Team is dead, the person who just attacked me is clearly part of a squad, and we have to deal with a freakish monster like Singh! Plus, Dave, who could exchange plant seeds, has been captured! I fear none of us will escape death! Damn it!"

"Complaining now is useless," Wang Ling said calmly. Since the others already knew his identity, there was no need to hide. He put on the Gold-Red Mask—which increased his attributes—and stopped the others from using their medical supplies, bringing out the mini Miku.

After a day of recovery, Miku’s mental power had reached its maximum of 5 points. He had all the injured sit in a circle, and then Miku began to sing the "Leek Spinning Song."

Amidst the singing, Wang Ling pondered for a moment and then said, "We aren't without a chance at survival."

"Do you have some trump card that can defend the house base? That Blood-Patterned Dragon probably won't cut it; Singh the Ghoul is strong enough to handle it. Not to mention that high-level zombies are bound to attack in the end. If a Gargantuar shows up, and Singh and the others launch a coordinated assault, the low-level plants in the yard won't hold!" Cassaro shook his head, his face a mask of despair.

Wang Ling brought out the Zombie Newspaper, opened it, and pointed to the weather forecast. "We don't have to wait until the final day; tomorrow will be difficult enough to survive. Look, there’s heavy fog tomorrow. If the enemy attacks under cover of the fog—even if they target the defensive plants rather than us—combined with the Dreamers, they could easily wipe out most of the plants. And the night after tomorrow, there will be thunderstorms; the environment will be even more hostile!"

These words caused the expressions of the already grim-faced group to darken further.

Wang Ling smiled, then pointed to the map. "Look at the map. We are here in Plant Town. About 70 kilometers away is Zombie City, where Dr. Edgar is located. Why must we defend passively? You know, main missions change based on the Dreamers' actions. As long as we head to Zombie City and kill Dr. Edgar, the enemy commander will be dead. Wouldn't that ensure our victory? Remember, it’s only the second day. Even if Dr. Edgar plans to come, he wouldn't come this early; he should still be in Zombie City."

Turning the newspaper over to a notice, Wang Ling continued, "According to this announcement, Dr. Edgar has forbidden any zombies from entering Zombie Valley without permission; violators will be turned into plant-zombies. Therefore, there shouldn't be many enemies left in Zombie City."

"Dr. Edgar..." Suna thought of the game and shuddered, saying coldly, "His giant zombie mech is definitely far more terrifying than a Gargantuar!"

"No matter how terrifying the zombie mech is, we have no choice! With the three members of the Cyclone Team dead, we are at an absolute disadvantage. We won't be able to hold out for five days of defense. Since this is a rivalry mission, the enemy Dreamers will definitely fight to the death at the end. Add the Gargantuars, the Disco Zombies, the Bungee Zombies, and other high-level threats... it’s even possible the zombie mech will arrive at the very end. Therefore, heading proactively to Zombie City to kill Dr. Edgar is likely our only chance to complete the mission!"

Yamada suddenly interjected, "How are we supposed to cover this distance? 70 kilometers—even if the enemy Dreamers don't move, the zombie army will exhaust us to death!"

"Ground travel is out, but... why must we travel by ground?" A smile appeared on Wang Ling’s face, and an item appeared in his hand.

It was a one-time-use item he had obtained in the *Double Dragon* world: a Helicopter Blueprint!

"The only problem now is whether anyone among us knows how to fly a helicopter."

After checking the data of the shared item, Cassaro’s eyes lit up, but he then shook his head. "I can drive a car, but not a helicopter."

Cai Qing, Suna, and Yamada also shook their heads. After all, helicopters were not common modes of transport, and people who knew how to fly them were extremely rare.

At this moment, a voice suddenly spoke up: "I do."

Seeing everyone looking at him in surprise, Hassan spoke calmly, "When I was in my organization, I received training on armed helicopters."

"Are you a soldier?"

A wave of relief and joy washed over Wang Ling. If no one knew how to fly the helicopter, they would have to stay and fight to the death against high-level zombies and the enemy Dreamers, and even with his full strength, there would be no guarantee of victory.

"No, I am not a soldier," Hassan shook his head. "I am a member of the great Holy War organization."

"The Holy War organization—what is that?" Suna asked, confused.

Hassan’s wrinkled old face remained calm, but a hint of fanaticism flared in his eyes: "Al-Qaeda!"