Chapter 14 A Desperate Gamble

Survival value at 14%, bleeding from a gunshot wound, stamina depleted, spirit energy system blocked… this was Feng Bujue’s current state, and excellent proof that the script was nearing its end.

And Billy’s situation was even worse than Brother Jue’s… Although he wasn’t suffering any physical pain, he now had to exert all his strength to stabilize his own crumbling Sequence of Truth. If he couldn’t think of something within fifteen minutes… he really might “die” along with this puppet body, disappearing forever from this universe…

It could be said… from the moment Feng Bujue and Billy encountered ***-055 together, only two paths lay before them.

First, Brother Jue would fail to clear the game and leave the script; Billy’s puppet body would be destroyed, and he would lie dormant, parasitizing other substances, waiting for the next opportunity to leave this universe.

Second, they would find and use that one item that could turn the tables in a short period of time…

…………

【Item Number: ***-914】

【Item Class: safe】

【Special Containment Procedures: Only personnel who have submitted a formal request and received approval from the base commander are permitted to operate ***-914. ***-914 is to be kept within research unit [DATA EXPUNGED]-B and guarded by at least two security personnel at all times.

Any researchers entering containment must be accompanied by at least one security staff member for the duration of testing. A full list of tests to be performed must be submitted to all guarding personnel prior to experimentation; should any test occur that does not match the information on the list, the experiment is to be halted immediately, and the experimental personnel are to be forcibly extracted from [DATA EXPUNGED]-B and subject to formal reprimand by the base commander.】

【Warning: No experimentation involving biological matter is permitted at this time. “Coarse” setting is not advised for explosive materials.】

【Description: ***-914 is a large clockwork mechanism weighing several tons and covering 18 square meters. It is composed of screw propellers, belts, weights, gears, springs and other clockwork components. It has an extremely complex structure – including over eight million moving parts, mostly composed of copper and zinc, though wooden and cloth components have also been observed.

Observation and probing has shown that the “selection control panel” contains no electronic components or other forms of non-clockwork power. Two large compartments (3 meters * 2.1 meters * 2.1 meters) are connected to the main body of ***-914 by a copper pipe and are labeled “Input” and “Output”. Between them is a copper dial and a large knob with a small arrow; the words “Coarse”, “Rough”, “1:1”, “Fine”, and “Very Fine” are distributed around the knob. Below the knob is a huge “key” used to wind the “mainspring”.

When an object is placed in the input compartment, the door on the side of the compartment will close, and a small bell will ring. At this point, if the knob is turned to any position and the mainspring is wound, ***-914 will begin to “refine” the object in the compartment. There is no loss of energy during this process, and ***-914 appears to be stopped until the door of the output compartment is opened. Observation and testing have not determined how ***-914 does this, and no objects have been observed within ***-914 during the “refining” process. Depending on the size of the object being refined, the entire process lasts approximately 5 to 10 minutes.】

…………

“Hah… Is it the blood loss… Feeling a bit dizzy…” As Feng Bujue arrived at the corridor near the 914 containment room, his gait was already somewhat unsteady, but his tone remained lazy and casual.

“Around the corner ahead, ten meters away is the 914 containment room, the security personnel should be standing at the door.” At this moment, Billy lowered his voice and said, “With your physical condition… do you want to consider putting me down from your shoulder, and then launch a surprise attack?”

“Heh… I was just thinking that.” Brother Jue suddenly revealed a strange smile, and then… grabbed Billy’s left leg with one hand.

“What are you going to do?” In that instant, Billy felt a strong, ominous premonition.

And Feng Bujue… immediately answered Billy’s question with action.

Whoosh—

Accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, Billy was thrown out by Brother Jue with a flick of his hand, flying into that corner, and landing on the ground with a “thud”.

The two security guards standing in front of the 914 door were startled by this sudden scene, and nervously raised the guns in their hands, looking at the unidentified object on the ground.

“What’s that?”

“Looks like… a puppet?”

“Hey! Who’s there? Who threw that thing over here? Come out!”

After they saw what was on the ground, they quickly shifted their focus to the corner in front of them, and cautiously advanced with their guns raised.

“Damn guy…” But two seconds later, Billy rolled over, sat up on his own, and spoke in his terrifyingly deep voice.

At this moment, the two security guards happened to pass by him, and their hair stood on end when they heard this voice.

“What the hell?”

“He’s… alive?”

“Is it an escaped item…”

“Who knows… but we’d better be careful.”

While talking, they had each retreated to the side of the wall, lowering their guns and pointing them at Billy.

It was at this moment that Feng Bujue suddenly flashed out from the corner of the corridor, raising his gun and shooting…

At this moment, although Brother Jue really wanted to be like the male protagonists in the nineties Hong Kong movies… flying out horizontally in a state of multiple gunshot wounds, firing with two guns in mid-air, and finally completing the whole set of actions with a beautiful roll.

But he understood… the current situation did not allow him to play like that.

In reality, if an ordinary person who isn’t wearing a bulletproof vest gets shot, they will most likely lose their ability to act immediately. Not to mention jumping horizontally into the air to shoot, being able to stand up and take two steps would be pretty good… and that’s on the premise that the bullet doesn’t hit a vital spot.

And in the game world, players, protected by the system limitations, cannot feel 100% of the real pain, and coupled with the fact that the physical damage is processed digitally, allows them to do some things that exceed the limits of ordinary people’s endurance when injured…

However… that’s all. In a role-playing script, the system would not allow Brother Jue to make actions that far exceeded the basic abilities of the character. If he really went to jump and strafe, not only would he not hit anyone, but he might also use up all his survival value during the fall… and “fall to his death”.

Bang bang bang bang—

Here, Brother Jue chose the posture of kneeling on one knee and raising his gun with both hands, pursuing accuracy and stability in his shooting method.

This reasonable choice also brought him gratifying results… one security guard was killed on the spot, and the other was seriously injured and fell to the ground. Just as the injured man attempted to call for reinforcements, Billy had already walked up to him and decisively tore open the other’s throat with his small hands.

“Ho~ so you can still kill people with your bare hands in the puppet body?” Seeing that the guard was dead, Feng Bujue stepped forward and re-carried Billy on his shoulder.

“Don’t underestimate people too much…” Billy replied, “Even if I can’t reach Chucky’s (Chucky, the main character of the *Child’s Play* series) level, my strength is at least a little higher than that of human teenagers.”

“Is that so?” Feng Bujue chatted with the other party while opening the door to the containment room, “I always thought Chucky’s strength was only about the same as that of an adult human.”

“He was probably like that when he first entered the doll’s body…” Billy replied casually, “Later, it became more and more outrageous.” Speaking of this, he paused for two seconds and added thoughtfully, “I remember once… I saw Chucky getting into an argument with a Dead End Predator in a bar, and then the two of them went to the bathroom for some intimate slashing… I heard that they later became friends and would go to play Texas Hold’em with Freddy twice a month.”

“Hey hey… are those weird things all in your main universe too?” Feng Bujue realized that he seemed to have inadvertently elicited very shocking intelligence, and immediately raised his voice.

“Most of the time they’re not…” Billy replied, “But the main universe is like the game center in *Wreck-It Ralph*, they can still come if they want.”

The two, one human and one puppet, chatted as they walked into the room containing 914.

“Okay, let’s not delay.” After seeing the [Universal Conversion Machine] in front of him, Billy said, “Let’s get down to business first.”

“Ah… that’s right.” Feng Bujue really couldn’t delay any longer, if this continued, he would bleed to death, “Then let’s begin.”

With that said, Brother Jue took Billy down from his shoulder and placed him in the “input compartment” of ***-914.

“Hope this works…” Billy said this before the side door of the input compartment closed.

Feng Bujue didn’t respond to him, but silently walked to the control panel of 914, turned the knob to the “Very Fine” setting, and grabbed the key to wind up the mainspring…

In order to illustrate the specific effects of ***-914, let’s cite a few examples here.

Take steel as an example, according to the experimental report, the output results of inputting one kilogram of steel into this machine are as follows…

【Coarse setting: A pile of steel blocks of different sizes, looking like they were cut by laser.】

【1:1 setting: One kilogram of steel screws.】

【Fine setting: One kilogram of steel tacks.】

【Very Fine setting: Some gas that dissipates quickly in the air, and one gram of unknown metal, which can resist a temperature of 50,000 degrees Celsius, will not be bent or damaged by any force, and has almost perfect conductivity.】

The above data has more specifically reflected the “reshaping and transforming” ability of 914 that surpasses the laws of physics.

Take beef as an example… Inputting one pound of ground raw beef, the experimental results obtained are as follows…

【Coarse: One pound of beef paste.】

【Fine: One pound of medium-rare steak.】

【Second Fine: One pound of beef jerky.】

【Very Fine: Two exquisite rib-eye steaks, half a pound each, covered in gravy.】

From this set of data, we can also learn… even if the same items are processed with the same settings, the items converted may not be the same.

Then, let’s look at some weapon experiment records, only listing the “Very Fine” situation here…

Input: A Colt Python revolver.

Output: [Data Expunged], can completely crush all matter in its line of fire. This item contains high-density gamma rays.

…………

Input: A 1999-produced m1911 pistol.

Output: Looks like a 1911 pistol plated with pure silver, with a great sense of pressure. What is fired is no longer a bullet but compressed high-temperature material, which will explode after hitting the target and produce a high temperature of thousands of degrees. The kill range produced by one shot is about 120 square meters, and almost all the matter in the area is vaporized (this gun is currently privately owned by [DATA EXPUNGED] agents).

…………

Input: Two concussion grenades.

Output: A large aerodynamic sphere, white, with a volume and mass that is 99.9% similar to the original processed material – the sum of two concussion grenades; a pair of interlocking hoops is attached to the top of the sphere, Dr. Iceberg named the product the “Holy Hand Grenade” and took it as his own for research.

To be honest… if conditions allowed, Feng Bujue would definitely put all the items in his knapsack in one by one to play with. After he finished playing, he might even lie in it himself to play…

Unfortunately, this is a role-playing script, and the knapsack column is completely sealed… which made him quite depressed.

Then finally, let’s look at a set of 914’s biological experiment records…

Input: A white mouse (1:1 setting)

Output: A brown mouse.

…………

Input: A chimpanzee (coarse setting).

Output: Severely damaged corpse with signs of being squeezed and cut with high heat.

…………

Input: D-Class personnel number 186, Caucasian male, 42 years old, 108 kg, 185 cm tall (1:1 setting).

Output: Hispanic male, 42 years old, 100 kg, 188 cm tall. Target is very confused and agitated, target attacks security personnel… target is terminated.

…………

Input: D-Class personnel number 187, Caucasian male, 28 years old, 63 kg, 173 cm tall (very fine setting).

Output: [Data Expunged], the target escaped from the testing room, killing Dr. [DATA EXPUNGED] and Dr. [DATA EXPUNGED] and eight guards. After the level one containment lockdown was activated, the target caused the control of three *** areas to fail in the continuous attempt to escape. After the Special Response Team made contact with the target, the target suffered severe damage and the Special Response Team suffered partial memory damage. The target eventually died several hours later, decomposing into blue powder and blinding the nearby research team.

After this experiment, the application for biological experiments on ***-914 was prohibited…

In summary, it is not difficult to see that this [Universal Conversion Machine] has a high degree of randomness in refining objects, but its effectiveness is generally not disappointing.

If it wasn’t so, Feng Bujue wouldn’t regard this as the only life-saving straw in this script.

…………

Ten minutes passed without realizing it.

But Billy’s reshaping process… was still not over.

At this time, Feng Bujue was weakly leaning against the side of 914, watching his survival value drop to 2%, but all he could do… was wait.

However… what he waited for was…

Buzzing—

Accompanied by a burst of noise, the room’s electronic door was opened from the outside. Steven, Gore, and dozens of fully armed security personnel appeared outside the door.

“Heh… came faster than I expected…” Seeing this, Feng Bujue gave a bitter smile.

He understood that the base’s monitoring and command system had ended its chaos, and ***-096 must have been put back in the bag (in fact, containing 096 is not difficult, after it has killed all the people it wants to kill, it will return to calm on its own, at this time just put a bag on its head and cover its face) and re-contained. As a result… the attention of this group of NPCs returned to him and Billy.

“It’s over… Austin.” Steven looked at the dying Brother Jue and said in a cold tone, “Pay the price for everything you’ve done…”

Before he could finish speaking, a “chi—” sound was heard.

In the same second, the output compartment of ***-914… opened.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Billy’s voice immediately came from behind Brother Jue.

But Feng Bujue didn’t even have the strength to turn his head to look at him, he just smiled and replied, “I hope you bring me good news.”

The reason why he said this was because he couldn’t be sure what “refining” would do to Billy.

“Hmph… that’s for sure.” Billy replied with a smile.

In the next second, Rudy Austin stopped breathing, and the puppet sitting in the output compartment disappeared without a trace in an instant…