CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 53: IF NOT ME, WHO?

"Enemies ahead!"

"How many..."

"A lot!"

In Su Qiangwei’s slightly urgent voice, a hint of despair could be heard: "I’ve grasped a yet-to-develop superpower called [Impression Label] through [Myriad Transformations]."

"It can visually distinguish the goodwill and malice of other life forms through the eyes."

"Now, there’s a vast swath of blood-red twisted human-like shadows in front of you!"

"This indicates... a lot of people want to kill you!"

Using three superpowers simultaneously: [Caged Gaze], [Unity], and [Impression Label], even a Chosen One like Su Qiangwei was struggling to cope.

The voice resonating in Ma Ran’s mind was not as smooth as before, starting to break up: "It’s... that kind of... relentless!"

"Hurry!"

"Escape!"

In the dark of the night, a group of blurry figures rushed forward and silently surrounded Ma Ran.

The seventy-four who were once reinforcements had all been parasitized by the Nightmare Spores, becoming enemies.

They were all fully armed, wearing bulletproof vests and holding guns loaded with ammunition.

The safeties were off, and as soon as the trigger was pulled, lethal bullets would shoot toward Ma Ran!

Ma Ran remained calm, holding his breath and concentrating intensely.

Instead of doing what Su Qiangwei suggested, he stood his ground, adopting a stance ready to fight.

Su Qiangwei meant well, but she didn’t fully understand Ma Ran’s combat power.

"I came here..."

Ma Ran took off his gas mask and exhaled slowly: "Just for them."

Those people in front had all cultivated Black Rock Martial Arts and refined some Inner Qi.

In the Nightmare Mother’s judgment, their life level was higher than ordinary people, and they were fully armed, qualified to become "cannon fodder."

Even if Ma Ran, Song Chu, and Su Qiangwei worked together to solve the Nightmare Mother successfully, the people parasitized by spores would not awaken like those in the A3 District who had fallen asleep due to the Nightmare Dust.

The moment the Mother died, those parasitized would die with it!

However...

Ma Ran noticed that the Nightmare Spores parasitizing these people were hastily cultivated by the Nightmare Mother and were still in the embryonic stage, still immature.

This meant there was a slim chance of survival.

"Surrender, no killing!"

"Surrender, no killing!"

"Surrender, no killing!"

The seventy-four controlled individuals echoed these words in unison.

Their voices were hollow and cold, devoid of any human emotion, drifting in the night wind, carrying a creepy aura, making one’s scalp tingle and goosebumps rise.

Ma Ran’s brow furrowed slightly.

Despite being desperately suppressed, the Nightmare Mother had managed to grasp a few Chinese words...

Its learning ability...

Really strong indeed!

This wasn’t the difficulty level of Chinese people learning English, Japanese, Chinese, German, or Russian.

For the Nightmare Mother, as a mysterious outer star life form, it didn’t understand any Earth language or written characters, nor did it have any textbooks for reference or comparison.

For each Chinese term, it had to guess and infer the meaning bit by bit.

Coming to the A3 Area in person was the right decision!

This crisis must be personally resolved for Ma Ran to find peace.

"According to the encrypted files before rebirth, there were only thirty-one reinforcements."

Ma Ran’s gaze shifted, thoughts sparked continuously: "Perhaps because of my presence, the number of reinforcements more than doubled."

"A bit of a hassle."

"But... still within my acceptable range."

Although the vast majority of them hadn’t filled even one acupoint, and only a few outstanding ones had filled one, with the support of Inner Qi, their life strength, power, speed, endurance, and reaction ability far exceeded ordinary people.

If all seventy-four were conscious, Ma Ran would be long gone.

Yet the parasitic spores obviously couldn’t fully utilize these people’s capabilities.

Their movements were stiff, eyes dull, faces pale, resembling marionettes.

Su Qiangwei’s somewhat worried voice echoed in Ma Ran’s heart: "Don’t get bitten or scratched! They look a lot like zombies in movies!"

After a lapse, she seemed to have regained vitality: "Seriously, maybe we should bail?"

"There seems to be an intelligent life controlling these zombies."

"The mastermind seems to care about you, wanting to recruit you as a collaborator."

"Before you give a reply, they probably won’t act immediately."

"Why not play along with their terms, then find a chance to escape amidst the chaos!"

"As long as you can safely withdraw from the A3 Area, we can plan for the next steps at leisure!"

"There are so many talents in the academies!"

"Even if the seniors are unreliable, aren’t there hidden experts in the military?"

"Earth will keep spinning without you, don’t overthink it!"

Retreat from the A3 District and plan at leisure?

Ma Ran sighed.

It sounded good and looked after his self-esteem.

But time waits for no one.

Hidden experts...

Ha!

Not just in the military, but even across the entire Earth, none can be found!

At this stage, China’s extraordinary talents, both in number and quality, are insufficient to handle the "A3 District Nightmare Event!"

Even fully prepared academic society members would likely end up the same as the seventy-four reinforcements faced here.

Without strong disruptors...

However many come, that’s how many die!

If it weren’t the case, Ma Ran wouldn’t have come to the A3 District personally.

Unlike Song Chu entirely!

Ma Ran doesn’t enjoy or like being in danger.

Yet...

Time waits for no one!

Ma Ran knew this better than anyone.

In times of war, human value can be quantified in numbers!

In his rebirth, carrying labels such as "National Guardian Superpower User" and "Black Rock Martial Arts Genius," in the eyes of President Huang and others, his value far exceeded that of these rescuers.

This is a cold and brutal fact!

If Ma Ran safely withdrew, the entire A3 District would be completely sealed off.

Then, to prevent the Nightmare harm from spreading, the area would face a scorched earth bombardment.

But...

In his previous life, Instructor Wu Di, during Ma Ran’s Civilization Guardian training, gave two words as his personal evaluation for Ma Ran.

[Hero]!

What is a hero?

When confronted in a narrow path, the hero wins!

Those who dare to take responsibility are heroes!

Those with no retreat, only advance, are heroes!

Facing life-threatening crises, bravely charging forward, fearlessly fighting, are heroes!

The [Pseudo-Wisdom] script, after all, was just Ma Ran creating a persona for himself, not his true self.

Wu Di’s previous life’s evaluation represented Ma Ran’s essence!

The over a thousand warriors in the entire A3 District...

The seventy-four reinforcements from Nanyang, Shiyan, Sui Province, Jingmen to the A3 District...

Fulan Academy’s Song Chu...

Su Qiangwei was right just now.

Before the ultimate disaster descends, Earth will keep spinning without Ma Ran.

However...

Who will save those trapped in the A3 District?

After long contemplation, Ma Ran’s mind was left with only four weighty red words — If Not Me, Then Who?!

——

Thanks to JeMeiTe for the 500-point reward!

Thanks to Dried Fish for the chicken drumstick for Su Qiangwei (100 points)!

Thanks to Kunlong in the Abyss for the chicken drumstick for Su Qiangwei (100 points)!

Thanks to Moyu Xingyuan for the 100-point reward!

Thank you! (๑▽๑)