Chapter 22: The Value of Eight Thousand Rewinds
“You actually know of my existence?”
A hoarse voice echoed in Rast’s ear.
Accompanied by rippling waves in the water, a figure of the Iron Cross quietly emerged in the location that was previously empty in front of Rast.
This was a middle-aged man in military uniform, the iron cross on his forehead was far deeper than any Iron Cross Rast had ever seen.
The b*llet shot by a sniper was now embedded in the muscle of his left chest, and his skin had a diamond-like sheen.
This pointed b*llet, capable of penetrating steel plates and having exploded several Iron Cross hearts from a hundred meters away, could not even penetrate the flesh of this Iron Cross at near zero distance.
In the next moment, his muscles surged, and the pointed b*llet was squeezed out of his bluish-gray skin, distorted and formed into a lump of yellowish scrap metal that fell to the ground with a crisp sound, the wound healing quickly.
Rast was very familiar with the figure before him, both before and after he was infected by the Iron Cross.
While still human, he was the captain of the Royal Navy’s Marine Corps at Deep Blue Harbor, a significant portion of Rast’s journeys in Grand Theft Auto and Vice City were ended by the Marine Corps he led.
After being infected by the Iron Cross Plague, he became the leader of the Iron Cross in the harbor area, the strongest of the mutated species.
There are very rare mutated individuals in the Iron Cross that evolve to have special abilities, but before this, neither Rast nor Hiltina had encountered any mutated kinds… this was not due to their good luck, but because all the mutated beings in the harbor area had been consumed by the Iron Cross in front of them.
The Iron Cross leader’s mutation ability is to devour, allowing him to gain the special abilities of all the mutated kinds he devoured, whether it was the “invisibility” he used when he ambushed Rast, or the “hardened skin” capable of taking a hit from a pointed b*llet sniper, all were products of his consumption.
If Deep Blue Harbor were to be compared to a level in a video game, excluding the pure background of the Evil God that descended, the Iron Cross leader would be the final boss of Deep Blue Harbor.
In the past loops, Rast had reached this final stage over eight thousand times and had also failed over eight thousand times, nearly every d*ath was related to the Iron Cross leader before him.
“I smell the scent of kin from your bl**d, but you are obviously not an ordinary infected person.”
The figure of the Iron Cross leader flickered in and out of sight in the air around Rast, slowly circling him; he had actually been present for a long time but had been invisible, observing and lying in wait until the timing was right to reveal himself.
“Your strange shooting method from before, and how you could see through my invisibility, I think you should also be a special mutated kind.”
“And unlike other mutated kinds, your mutation and specialty manifest on a mental level, allowing you to suppress that desire and impulse, and not be dominated by the sadistic urge…”
“Additionally, you seem capable of some level of foresight into the future.”
It was hard to imagine that under the dual stimuli of Rast’s bl**d and the Evil God’s sculpture, this Iron Cross could maintain such a level of rational analysis. Given time, if the plague swept across the continent and the Iron Cross became a brand new race, he might become the king of the Iron Cross.
“The mental level mutation, the suppression of sadistic desire, is very important to us.”
“A group where desire and beastly instincts override reason cannot survive for long, nor can it establish a complete order and society.”
“If your abilities can resolve this flaw, then the Iron Cross would be the superior evolutionary form of humanity, and perhaps we can work together to establish a new civilization that transcends humanity, with you as the prophet of our race.”
The Iron Cross leader spoke sweet words, but was always looking for a moment when Rast would show a flaw; he didn’t need a prophet of the race, as long as he devoured Rast, he himself would be the prophet.
He had no doubt he could devour Rast, just as he had effortlessly consumed other mutated beings. The Iron Cross leader acquired a certain perceptive ability through devouring, allowing him to clearly see that Rast’s life was hanging by a thread.
The effect of the serum had already begun to wane, and with it came the side effects and backlash; Rast’s internal organs were emitting weak groans, signaling the onset of organ failure.
However, the Iron Cross leader was somewhat cautious of Rast’s earlier ability, which seemed to allow him to foresee and foresee the future, so he decided to wait until Rast showed signs of fatigue before taking action, since given Rast’s physical condition, he wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.
In fact, he soon got this chance; Rast’s legs weakened, and he could no longer maintain a defensive posture with the military dagger, leaning helplessly to the side.
At the same time, the Iron Cross leader moved, his blade stabbing towards Rast’s abdomen.
He could hardly wait to see the boy’s gut ripped open, his intestines mingled with bl**d splattered everywhere, a beautiful sight that was his inherent nature as an Iron Cross, suppressed for a long time, could no longer be tolerated.
The blade pierced Rast’s soft abdomen, and that bl**d, so enticing to him, splashed up. The Iron Cross leader stared at Rast’s face, wanting to see the terror and despair of his prey at the brink of d*ath.
But amidst the bl**d rain, Rast’s pale face distinctly formed a curve.
What was he smiling about?
As soon as this thought arose, the next moment, the Iron Cross leader heard a creaking sound of metal breaking from above.
It was the six bullets from the handgun that Rast had previously fired at rapid speed. At that time, the Iron Cross leader easily dodged them, but now it seemed those six full metal jacket bullets were never aimed at him.
Even the sniper using the pointed bullets merely momentarily obstructed the Iron Cross leader’s movement, causing him only minor injury… how could Rast waste his last handgun ammunition on such meaningless shooting.
Above them were metal platforms weighing dozens of tons, and Rast had been aiming at the weak connecting points of the metal structure from the beginning.
The plan to destroy the building structure had already begun the moment Rast fired the first shot in front of Hiltina; the platform was already on the verge of collapse, and those six bullets hit the last six weak points.
To execute this plan, Rast had taken into account the timing of the metal fractures and even the psychological state of the Iron Cross leader.
Rast had indeed failed thousands of times at this stage, but that was because in the previous loops he was always alone; he had to save enough stamina and status for subsequent bomb installation and withdrawal from the harbor area. Otherwise, even if he defeated the boss in front of him, it would be meaningless.
But this time, Rast no longer had those constraints and shackles because he had a teammate in Hiltina.
So, he could fully exchange injuries for injuries, lives for lives, using the reckless combat methods he couldn’t use before.
Boom—
With the last metal support rod breaking, the steel structure collapsed from above, along with it dozens of tons of steel bars and fuel tanks placed on the platform.
(End of chapter)
