A Psychiatrist's Bizarre Game Journey / Dream of the Mist

"I'm saying... with just a few of us, can we really defeat these infected people?"

Undeterred, Zhou Ke'er turned to the others and asked.

This is strange. Weren't all the other players supposed to have already been deployed to the game? Why is there not a single one at their spawn point? If Zhou Ke'er could gather a few hundred... no, a few dozen cannon fodder, she would dare to directly confront these infected.

However, on the other hand, if they could eliminate this large force, they could complete a tenth, or even a fifth, of the main quest progress in one go, right? There are at least ten or twenty thousand ordinary infected...

"This...I think...maybe it won't work?"

Long Aotian swallowed hard and gave an awkward laugh—he was confident in his strength, but that didn't mean he was stupid. This kind of situation had little to do with individual combat ability.

"I suggest we just run away!"

Dior immediately raised his hand and answered earnestly.

Even Loyer couldn't help but say, "Memoride, wherever you go, I will always follow you!"

The implication was clear: run away quickly.

Although Honghe didn't say anything, Zhou Ke'er, who knew her so well that she could understand what Honghe's expressionless face meant, could also tell that she meant to run away quickly.

Elon and Chris looked conflicted, as if they felt they couldn't abandon the people still alive in the city and run away, but they also felt that dealing with the monsters in front of them was hopeless—the kind of people who would run away if Zhou Ke'er shouted to run away, but would feel extremely guilty and remorseful in the end.

Just then, Zhou Ke'er's eyes suddenly narrowed, and she abruptly looked up at the distant sky: "What is that?"

Before the words were even finished, and before the others could react, a huge black shadow suddenly plummeted from the sky towards the city's outskirts, crashing heavily to the ground and turning a large number of infected people into a bloody pulp.

While the others were still in shock and uncertainty, Zhou Ke'er and Chris couldn't help but exclaim, "This is... Green Dragon?!"

At the same time, another figure leaped down from the sky, landing heavily on the back of the green dragon, holding aloft a longsword that was corroded and pitted, radiating a dark light.

"Death cannot sever glory! I have returned from hell!"

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621. Falling into evil ways

The others didn't immediately recognize it, but Chris stared at the tattered black sword for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "That's... the artificial holy sword [Grammer]? How did it get like this? No, wait... could it be..."

Zhou Ke'er looked closely and saw that the newcomer's body was covered with rotten marks left by some kind of toxin. The light armor he was wearing had long been corroded away and there was hardly any left. The broken parts of the light armor were filled with black mist, making the whole person look like he was surrounded by black mist.

Half of the man's face was completely corroded, revealing stark white bones. Eerie soul flames flickered in the skull's eye sockets. The other half of his face, which was still relatively intact, had eyes that were completely black, but it was barely possible to make out that... this was the hero Sion, who had sacrificed himself in the Duchy of Dragon!

That makes it quite obvious. Just by looking at Theon's appearance, you can tell that he definitely couldn't have survived that battle. He must have died once and was probably resurrected because of some evil reason. And the thing he's standing on now is undoubtedly the Green Dragon that killed him before.

It's just unknown whether Sion, who was tainted by evil and resurrected because of it, is an enemy or a friend.

Sion's gaze swept over the crowd on the city wall. Seeing that Zhou Ke'er and Chris were still unharmed, the worry that had been hidden deep in his eyes disappeared, and his aura became even more imposing. He immediately swung his holy sword backhand.

Immediately, a jet-black, arc-shaped sword beam shot out, gradually expanding along its path, and slammed into the infected horde, reaping them with frenzied slaughter.

At the same time, the Green Dragoon beneath Theon's feet roared in unison, spewing out evil, pitch-black mist.

Zhou Ke'er's eyes lit up—the return of Theon alone wasn't of much use, but the Green Dragoon he brought back was a huge help! You see, in a siege war like this, having such a powerful weapon would be more than just indiscriminate slaughter; it would be utter carnage.

Stomping on the ground kills a lot of people, spraying poison mist kills a lot of people, even rolling on the ground kills a lot of people. Isn't this just killing however you want?

Zhou Ke'er immediately made a decision and shouted, "Counterattack! Ranged spell support! Drive those enemies back! Those who can survive, come with me. Take advantage of the chaos to infiltrate the enemy's base. I want to see... what kind of bastards insist on attacking the city at this time!"

Upon hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, everyone immediately reacted. Although no one except him and Chris had recognized Xi'ang or knew what was going on with him, they saw that he was helping them, so they hurriedly followed his orders and began to counterattack.

Long Aotian and Honghe followed Zhou Ke'er.

Zhou Ke'er instantly unfurled her jet-black wings and swiftly approached the enemy's rear. Long Aotian also transformed into a bat and followed. Hong He swung her Death Scythe fiercely, and the blade instantly transformed into a shower of hard, jet-black feathers, gathering behind her to form sharp wings.

Theon, standing on Green Dragoon's back, glanced at Zhou Ke'er and the others and instantly understood their intentions. He laughed loudly and jumped off Green Dragoon's back, crashing heavily into the infected horde. He continued to wield his holy sword, cutting down the grass behind him without stopping, as if unleashing a devastating attack.

With Green Dragon greatly slowing down the infected's advance, and with the people on the city walls able to patch up any gaps, Zhou Ke'er and the others didn't have to worry about what was happening behind them for the time being, and they charged into the enemy's rear in one go.

But when they arrived at what could be called the enemy's main camp, they found no trace of any commander or general.

But this shouldn't be happening, right? Such a large-scale, organized attack, with even each small formation having a captain, clearly indicates that the stronger infected are organized and planned. It's impossible that they weren't commanded, and this commander should still possess a high degree of intelligence, definitely not some trashy special individual like that bishop who only knows how to babble.

"etc...."

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Zhou Ke'er's mind, and he instinctively turned around.

Long Aotian and Honghe were still wondering why there was no commander here. They were startled when Zhou Ke'er suddenly turned around, thinking that some monster had attacked them from behind.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Xi Ang, who had fought his way up from the ground. Long Aotian assumed that the guy was also there to help, so he didn't pay much attention to him. He just looked at Zhou Ke'er with a questioning gaze.

The flamingo seemed to have sensed something, and frowned almost imperceptibly.

Zhou Ke'er looked at Xi Ang who had just arrived and showed an expression of "I knew it." After considering for a moment, seeing that Xi Ang seemed to want to say something, she interrupted him, "These infected people... you brought them here, right? And you commanded the siege, didn't you?"

Long Aotian looked surprised upon hearing this—good heavens, if what Zhou Ke'er said is true, then wouldn't this guy be leading his troops to attack the city and then defending it himself? Directing and acting out a scene of fighting himself? Isn't that ridiculous?

The smile that had been on Xi'ang's lips faded. He pursed his lips, and the ghostly fire in his eyes flickered faintly. "Miss Memoride, you're still so astute. How did you figure it out?"

Zhou Ke'er got the answer she expected, and couldn't help but laugh: "It's just a stroke of luck. But you don't need to worry, doing such a thing is completely unnecessary."

It's quite simple. After bluffing Xi Ang, Zhou Ke'er roughly understood what Xi Ang was planning: Don't be fooled by Xi Ang's continued rationality; in his current state, anyone would undoubtedly see him as a monster. If he wanted to return to the capital like this, it would be absolutely impossible, and he might even be assassinated outside. Therefore, he had to do something to downplay his identity and gain the acceptance of the people in the capital.

And this is the plan he came up with—to gather these infected along the way, make it look like he's attacking a city, and when the defending army is about to give up, he will lead Greendragon to rush over and help defend the capital, becoming a great hero. That way, even if his appearance changes, everyone will still believe that he is still the same hero he was before.

That's how it should have been, but when he came today, he found that there were no patrolling soldiers guarding the city. He waited and waited, but no one came. After casting a spell on the city wall from a distance, only a few people came after hearing the commotion, including Chris and Zhou Ke'er. Although he didn't know what was going on, he knew that it was impossible to defend the city with just a few people. If they were going to run away, that would be fine, but if they got carried away and decided to fight to the death with the city, it would be bad. He had no choice but to change his plan and make his appearance earlier.

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622. Taking a risky tactic

"..."

Sion remained silent for a moment, but ultimately didn't try to explain anything. He simply clenched his fist, then helplessly released it: "Alright, then... Miss Memoride, what do you intend to do with a monster like me? If you plan to kill me..."

Zhou Ke'er interrupted, "Why do you plan to do this? You seem to have a big misunderstanding about the current situation."

Logically speaking, Zhou Ke'er could use rhetoric to portray herself as someone who made Xi Ang's survival after returning to the capital entirely thanks to him, and then pull off some opportunistic maneuvering... but there's no need. That kind of short-sighted, villainous approach is practically no different from Li.

So Zhou Ke'er just wanted to explain the current situation, and Xi Ang would understand on his own that he didn't actually need to do that.

"Wh...what do you mean?"

Xi Ang was taken aback by his words, and looked surprised, seemingly quite puzzled: "I... have a misunderstanding about the current situation?"

"It's obvious that the situation in the capital is a mess right now. His Majesty the old king is long dead, and we killed him. We even made an alliance with the demons, so no one will care about your identity. Rather, the only ones in the capital who still have consciousness and can plan the overall situation are the few of us you just saw on the city wall."

Zhou Ke'er explained very briefly, shrugging her hands: "And we obviously don't care what you look like right now. Besides, even if it weren't for this situation, when everything was normal... do you really think Chris... and I would reject you or want to kill you just because you look like this? You're being far too distrustful and looking down on us."

Xi Ang's eyes widened—oh, he couldn't widen both eyes anymore. The soul fire in his other eye socket jumped violently and then trembled, clearly shocked by the series of information Zhou Ke'er had just revealed.

Shocked as he was, Sion was ultimately relieved. Although many things were still unclear, at least one thing was certain: he should not have to die.

Zhou Ke'er continued casually, "But speaking of which, how did you get all these infected people to follow your orders? That's not an easy thing."

If Sion can control this large group of infected, and with Greendragon stationed outside the city... as long as there isn't a massive army pressing in or a demon king or something similar coming right up to our door, then this capital city can practically be considered impregnable. It's like a pillow being delivered to someone who's been sleeping.

Unfortunately, Sion shook his head, looking puzzled, and said, "I don't know either. It's just that most of the monsters I've encountered along the way seem to obey my commands. I don't understand the principle behind it."

Zhou Ke'er stroked her chin. It seemed that Xi'ang was also a special individual with special abilities. But she wondered if every special individual possessed some kind of ability.

But let's leave that aside for now.

"Okay, let's go back now and say that the leader here has been killed by our joint efforts. After killing him, for some reason, all these infected people are now under your command."

Zhou Ke'er casually said, "Although this excuse isn't perfect, everyone just needs an excuse right now, and no one will jump out to dig deeper. As for whether or not to explain the situation to Chris later, that's up to you."

Xi Ang pursed his lips and immediately nodded in agreement.

After discussing it, the group immediately set off back to the city wall.

Along the way, under Theon's command, the infected all stopped moving, and Green Dragon also started to drift along.

When everyone returned to the city wall and was about to explain the situation to the remaining people, they suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the church in the city.

It's unbelievable! One thing after another, things just got better and worse. We just finished dealing with the church incident, and now the city walls have been bombed and the city is under attack. And now that this is over, something else has happened at the church. It's just ridiculous.

Zhou Ke'er felt like she was being targeted.

But there's no other way. If something happens in the city now, it won't be something that can be easily resolved, not to mention that there's a large group of people infected by the evil spirits but not yet fully infected gathered at the church. If a riot breaks out, it will be really difficult to handle.

Thinking of this, Zhou Ke'er immediately made a decision. Xi Ang would stay on the city wall, explain the excuse he had just come up with to everyone, and then make proper arrangements for the infected people outside the city. Meanwhile, he would take Hong He and Long Aotian to the church to check the situation.

After all, it wouldn't be of much use to bring other people along. If there were any real danger, we'd have to be distracted protecting them, which wouldn't be worth it. It's better to let them stay here.

Although Loyer was unwilling and insisted on going with Zhou Ke'er, she reluctantly agreed after Zhou Ke'er used the excuse that she had commanded a demon army and was very experienced to ask her to help Sion reorganize the infected.

Meanwhile, as soon as Zhou Ke'er and her two companions returned to the church, they saw that on the road not far from the church, the few people who had stayed behind to watch over the crowd were confronting several strangers. The atmosphere was tense, and it seemed that they were about to fight.

Zhou Ke'er immediately flapped her wings and flew forward, intending to ask what was going on, when she saw one of the strangers point at her and angrily shout at Edwards and the others, "Look for yourselves! You still want to deceive us with sweet words? These black wings have even appeared, aren't you demons! You're mingling with demons, and you still have the nerve to say you're not bad people? I knew it! According to the usual pattern, the people of the church are all villains. Just look at those people you've brainwashed and controlled. You really are colluding with demons, working together in the same boat!"

The person speaking looked indignant.

Zhou Ke'er was completely dumbfounded upon hearing this. Oh no, I've become the big bad guy!

But then, another woman among the group suddenly tugged at the sleeve of the person who had just spoken and said abruptly, "Hey, wait! Don't be so impatient... Don't you think she looks a little familiar?"

Upon hearing this, the remaining people also began to chime in with their own opinions:

"Indeed, now that you mention it, it's true..."

"Where did I see it coming from? Let me think."

"Oh right! You guys forgot? There were a few game replays posted on the forum before, right? That female player in them... looks a lot like this guy!"

The other party didn't lower their voices at all; they were plotting loudly, and even Zhou Ke'er could hear them clearly.

Honghe muttered from behind Zhou Ke'er, "Wow? You seem to be recognized by every player I run into. You're quite the celebrity!"

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623. Absolutely insane.

"Well, isn't it only natural that I'm famous? What's there to praise? It's nothing to mention, nothing to mention."

Zhou Ke'er raised her head and waved her hand in a very humble manner.

As he spoke, he breathed a sigh of relief—it was just a few players, nothing serious. He had thought that some powerful evil force had invaded the place again.

Edwards and the others looked at the whispering players and seemed to realize something. They turned to Zhou Ke'er and the other two and asked in a low voice, "Are these people... people you know?"

Long Aotian coughed twice and replied in a low voice, "They're people I know. You can leave them here for now; they might have some misunderstandings about the current situation. Go and clear out a place that can accommodate these people."

To be honest, there's no need to clear out another place; these people can stay here as well. Long Aotian's purpose in saying this was mainly to get Edwards and his group out of the way.

Letting players overhear conversations could cause unnecessary trouble, so it's best to nip it in the bud.

Although Edwards and his companions still had some doubts, they obeyed Long Aotian's command and turned to leave.