Chapter 442: On the Chessboard
"Enter."
Lin Ye calmly set down the crystal in his hand. He still needed some time to figure out how to use the crystal, but there was no time for that now.
The thing outside the door did not continue knocking, nor did it try to open the door. Lin Ye wasn't sure if it had left or not.
But that wasn't important, because Lin Ye knew what had triggered this phenomenon.
The three major anomalous creatures had already begun to move.
Lin Ye continued controlling the Masked Figure to kill the anomalous phenomena outside. The things inside the base would naturally be dealt with by someone.
Since the Parasitic Mask was under Lin Ye's control, those young people were not controlled by the mask. Instead, they could communicate through the mental network formed by the masks.
Little Ke: An anomalous phenomenon is approaching the Restaurant. Wendy, can you handle it?
Wendy: No problem.
Bessie Pro: Mental perception is currently being affected by the anomalous creatures. Black Dog, take some people to set up defenses at the back door. Maggie, you go to the front door. Contact us through the mask if needed. Maggie: Yes.
Black Dog: Already there.
Lin Ye: Let the Masked Figures take the front line. If injured, they can be handled by the Masked Figures.
Bessie: What should I do?
Lin Ye: Get me some midnight snacks.
Bessie: ...
As the perception dislocation phenomenon appeared, the other two anomalous creatures also began to affect the Free City.
Those citizens who had not been implanted with Sample Zero gradually began to beastify, and tumor-like structures started growing inside their bodies.
Even if these citizens didn't die, they could no longer fight. Beastification would gradually cause them to lose the ability to think.
Lin Ye began injecting the gathered citizens with Sample Zero to suppress the beastification process.
Some of the spiritual energy users who had been injected with Sample Number One turned into tumor mass creatures and completely lost control. The rest were still resisting the influence of the three major anomalous creatures.
And this wasn't even the most troublesome part.
A complete, giant, phantom-like black Chessboard appeared directly above the Free City. The Chessboard descended, covering the entire Free City. Grid lines, intersecting vertically and horizontally, appeared on the ground. The clubhouse base happened to be located at one of the grid intersection points.
Another clubhouse appeared in front of the original clubhouse. Inside the opposite clubhouse were everyone except Lin Ye.
Also duplicated were the Armored Giant, the Flesh-and-blood Creatures covered in corpses, and the various factions and citizens within the city.
Even that group from the Salvation Cult had duplicates appear, and the duplicates were also performing salvation rituals.
Of course, duplicates of those anomalous phenomena and tumor-like creatures also appeared, instantly making the city much livelier.
Lin Ye's eyes lit up. He immediately left the clubhouse base and charged into the opposite clubhouse base.
Since there was no duplicate of Lin Ye inside the opposite base, he quickly took control of the duplicate base. Those duplicated young people and several Bessies were dealt with by him.
Not being able to die wasn't a big problem. He could alienate them into power sources for the base. On the mutation organ exhibition floor, he had seen many similar structures.
No need to consider free will; the flesh would carry out orders for them.
Lin Ye manipulated Clubhouse Base Number Two to rise from the ground. A large number of bloated Masked Figures gathered towards him, transporting the tumor-like creatures they had eaten into the interior of the base.
Tumor-like structures began to fill the entire base. Various mutation organs with different functions grew inside the base, gradually transforming it into a living organism.
After transporting the tumor-like structures, the Masked Figures left the base to continue cleaning up the nearby anomalous creatures and help Lin Ye collect tumor mass tissues.
Lin Ye prepared to manipulate Clubhouse Base Number Two to approach the duplicate of the giant Flesh-and-blood Creature. The area near the Armored Giant was somewhat dangerous; going over there might get the clubhouse smashed to pieces by a single punch.
At that moment, Lin Ye suddenly discovered he couldn't move the clubhouse quickly. Each move could only go to the next grid intersection point, and the movement direction was limited to only four choices: forward, backward, left, and right.
Lin Ye could only move one grid towards the direction of the giant Flesh-and-blood Creature.
That position had nothing, but when Clubhouse Base Number Two entered the grid intersection point, a duplicate of an adventurer suddenly appeared ahead.
The duplicate seemed to lack human emotions, which was obvious at a glance.
At least, that was the case before they merged with their original bodies.
Lin Ye tried to move to the next intersection point, but some kind of rule power prevented him from leaving this point. It seemed he could only leave here after dealing with the duplicate.
The duplicate charged at the base. Lin Ye controlled a tentacle to pierce through the duplicate's chest and alienated it into part of the base.
After dealing with the duplicate, Lin Ye discovered he had occupied this grid intersection point. He could continue to reveal the base on the Chessboard, or he could hide the base's location.
'Hiding the base might run into allies... Forget it, worst case, I can just deal with them and bring them back later.'
Lin Ye hid the base and sent the information about the Chessboard to Bessie Pro through the mental network. It would control Clubhouse Base Number One to follow behind Lin Ye.
The surrounding Masked Figures and citizens also occupied some grid intersection points. At this point, Lin Ye discovered that as long as they were willing to cooperate, different individuals could occupy the same intersection point.
Lin Ye controlled the base to move to the next intersection point. Just as he entered the point, a spatial fluctuation occurred below the point, and the base was teleported to another intersection point.
'It's that spatial anomalous phenomenon!'
Lin Ye hurriedly observed his surroundings. He had been teleported to an ink-green area, with ink-green mist drifting around.
After coming into contact with the mist, a corrosive reaction occurred on the surface of the base. The ink-green mist penetrated the spiritual energy shield and drifted into the interior of the base.
"Damn it!"
Lin Ye controlled the base to move at full speed through the mist. This area was like a maze, filled with complex, irregular ink-green structures everywhere.
Fortunately, Lin Ye was very sensitive to terrain. Just by seeing the surrounding terrain structures, he deduced the various possible terrain trends within this space.
Lin Ye controlled the base to run towards the exit, but by now the ink-green mist had eroded most of the base. These eroded parts were completely out of control.
During this process, Lin Ye tried various methods to block the ink-green mist, but none worked at all.
Lin Ye could only abandon most of the base, controlling the remaining part to quickly escape this area.
Before the mist reached the center of the base, Lin Ye successfully found the passageway to leave this area and entered the next intersection point.
Lin Ye: Don't move arbitrarily. There are dangerous areas within these intersection points.
Casually dealing with the citizen duplicate that charged over, Lin Ye sent the information about the spatial movement area and the ink-green area to Bessie Pro through the mental network.
Bessie Pro: Received. Do you need me to control the Masked Figures to scout the way and rendezvous with you as soon as possible?
Lin Ye: No need. Stay where you are. Pay attention to the situation at nearby intersection points. Those anomalous phenomena might also attack other points.
Bessie Pro: Okay.
Lin Ye ran out of the base with the base's power sources that hadn't yet come into contact with the ink-green mist. The base was gradually eroded by the ink-green mist and began releasing ink-green mist into the surroundings.