Chapter 83: Jonathan’s invitation

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Inside a tiny room, Morie sat in her wheelchair, staring at two old lamps. A green flame burned within them, casting an eerie light.

She saw that each lamp had a name engraved on it: Nanoe and Rover. On top of that, she could read the information displayed for the two lamps.

[Life Lamp]

[Type: Item]

[Description: As long as the Life Lamp is burning, the person whose name is engraved on it is still alive. If the lamp goes out, kekekeke…]

Morie frowned and muttered, “If this is real, then it means Nanoe and Rover have been taken somewhere else. Maybe they’re doing a different mission, or maybe they’re in danger.”

She clenched her hands, frowning as her gaze fixed on the doorway, where sounds kept ringing out, like something was being fired at high speed, slamming into things that were… almost like people.

Morie said firmly, “Nanoe, Rover, don’t worry. I’ll protect these two lamps until the very end.”

“Even if abilities are locked here, I didn’t survive because of my ability, but because of my Class.”

That’s right. Morie had survived the first game round not because of her ability, but because of her Class, which let her upgrade and modify defensive towers.

Now, she was once again trapped in a room, once again forced to defend it with defensive towers. To others, this might be extremely difficult, but to Morie, it was simple.

[Ding! You have successfully eliminated 25 low-tier monsters, gaining 250 points and 250 silver.]

Morie immediately operated the system and muttered, “Build two more Marble Shooter Towers and one Mini Silver Mine.”

[Ding! Construction successful.]

Even though her legs were paralyzed, her hands kept dancing across the electronic interface. Her eyes locked onto the tower modification blueprint, her fingers moving like they were performing, dragging and dropping parts onto the defensive tower over and over.

“Modify the defensive tower according to the blueprint!” Morie said with a frown.

[Ding! Please pay 170 points to modify one defensive tower.]

“Confirm payment!”

[Ding! Payment successful.]

Outside, the silence was terrifying, but on Morie’s door, three gun barrels had now appeared. One of them looked larger than the other two, and it even had two smaller barrels mounted on it. Golden patterns on the metal gave off a faint glow, like LED lights.

Ga…wa…

A wail suddenly rang out, tearing through the silence. Monsters in filthy, ragged white coats, as if they’d been buried underground for decades, staggered toward Morie’s door. Their bodies were gaunt, and black tentacles poured from their mouths as they lurched forward.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

From the special barrel, a burst of pellets fired out. The golden pellets glittered as they shot straight into the monster swarm.

BAM!

The lead monster was instantly blown apart by the burst, its body turning into a bizarre, foul-smelling puddle of black sludge on the floor.

But… mixed within that sludge were golden pellets. They suddenly flared brighter, and then…

BOOM!

The pellets exploded, splitting into countless smaller pellets that sprayed outward.

The monsters didn’t even get close to Morie’s door before the golden pellets tore them apart. Still, there were too many, far more than before.

The barrels seemed to run at full capacity, gunfire roaring nonstop.

…

“Are you okay?” Laura frowned as she asked.

Inside a fairly large room like a living room, sofa chairs were scattered all over the floor.

Laura and Nanoe both looked at Jonathan. With only the weak light from the filament bulb on the ceiling, they could see a deep wound on his arm.

It was on his upper arm, about 10 centimeters long, so deep they could see bone inside. Fresh blood kept flowing, soaking his sleeve and part of his shirt.

Jonathan gritted his teeth, pulled a small vial from his backpack, and drank it down in one go.

In the next moment, in some miraculous way, the wound stopped bleeding. However, it still gaped open, because the cut was deep and long.

“Leave it to me.” Nanoe said. “Watch the surroundings.”

Laura nodded, then stood up, her eyes scanning warily, especially toward the doorway.

Nanoe took out a roll of medical gauze from her backpack and began wrapping Jonathan’s wound tightly.

When Jonathan saw how skillfully Nanoe handled the wound, he chuckled. “Rover really is lucky, having a [Tenant] like you.”

Nanoe only flicked Jonathan a glance before focusing on treating his injury again, replying indifferently, “I’m lucky to have met him too. Besides, you should consider yourself lucky to have your own [Tenant]s.”

Jonathan shrugged and laughed. “They’re not as beautiful and gentle as you. Want to join my room? Of course, I’ll respect your wishes. I won’t take your body.”

“Sorry.” Nanoe tightened the gauze hard.

“Agh!” Jonathan’s face twisted as pain shot through him.

Nanoe snickered. “I’m only loyal to him. Even without the System’s restrictions, I’d still stay by his side.”

Jonathan let out a long sigh. “What a waste. I really want you.”

He looked at Nanoe with eyes full of possessiveness, as if he wanted to keep her at his side.

Nanoe stood up, not afraid or embarrassed in the slightest, meeting his gaze head-on as she smiled. “I think that girl with cat ears is pretty cute too. Don’t you like her?”

“Ack!” Jonathan shook his head. “I don’t like cold women like her. I only like mature, gentle, and strong women like you, Nanoe.”

“Then you’re really unlucky, because I don’t like you.” Nanoe replied with a smile.

Jonathan sighed again and said, “If you ever change your mind, just contact me. No matter what price Rover names, I can accept it.”

Nanoe asked suspiciously, “For a woman like me, is it really worth it? You do know I’m already Rover’s woman.”

Jonathan laughed. “Hahahaha… even so, I still want you. Whether it’s your looks or your personality, you’re far beyond any woman I’ve ever met.”

“Not just you, but that blonde girl with you too. Both of you are exactly my type. If you came with me, I’d…”

“No need.” Nanoe cut him off, smiling. “If he’s gone, then I’d have no reason to live anymore.”

Jonathan gave a bitter laugh. “He… really is lucky.”

Laura stood nearby, listening to Nanoe and Jonathan’s exchange, and a faint jealousy stirred in her chest.

She was a woman too, so she understood exactly what Jonathan’s words meant.

But even if she felt jealous, there was nothing she could do, because Jonathan was right. Laura was a woman, yet she also found herself liking Nanoe a little.

Gentle personality, attentive to others, able to understand people’s thoughts and emotions, smart, strong…

It was as if every good quality a woman could have was gathered in Nanoe, pushed to its absolute limit.

Jealous? Laura felt she didn’t have the right to be jealous. It wasn’t jealousy, really, just admiration.

Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop!

Laura, Nanoe, Jonathan: “??!!!”

“Did you hear that?” Laura didn’t dare speak loudly, only whispering.

Nanoe and Jonathan nodded. Nanoe spoke, forcing her voice as low as possible. “That’s… footsteps.”

Jonathan hurriedly said, “Hide!”

Laura frowned, confused. “Why?”

“Are you stupid?” Jonathan was irritated, but he still tried to keep his voice as low as possible.

Laura was so angry she wanted to shout, but Nanoe spoke first. “Laura, we should hide. In this area, even if we meet someone, we don’t know whether they’re an enemy or an ally.”

“Besides, those footsteps are slow, relaxed, like someone taking a stroll. Who do you think could walk that casually in this place?”

Laura immediately understood what Nanoe meant. Whatever was walking out there definitely wasn’t human. And even if it was human, there was no guarantee they were an ally.

Jonathan shook his head with a sigh, feeling that Laura’s stupidity only made Nanoe’s intelligence and perfection stand out even more. But Nanoe didn’t want him, so he could only pray that Rover suddenly turned stupid and tossed Nanoe to him, or else… he’d offer a high enough price for Rover to let her go.

Clop! Clop! Clop!

The footsteps drew closer and closer, unmistakably calm and casual, as if the owner was simply out for a leisurely walk.

Along with them came a fairly strong beam of light, spilling into the living room through the gaps in the old, rotten door.

Laura, Nanoe, and Jonathan hid behind the sofa chairs. They didn’t dare breathe too loudly, only staring at the door in silence.

Clop! Clop!

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped right in front of the door, and everyone’s unease spiked. The strong light swept around, as if searching for something.

Crack!

In the next moment, the living room’s latch suddenly turned, releasing a harsh sound, like a stone dropping into still water.

Krit!

The door was pushed open. None of the three dared keep looking, and they could only stay hidden behind the sofa. Luckily, the sofa was big enough to conceal all of them.

But that beam of light was incredibly strong, stretching farther and farther toward Nanoe’s group.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep