Abnormal Doomsday Records

Chapter 155 5. Mask Master Training Plan
It was already evening when D-4 finished the operation on Polina. Afu arranged for her "close friend" to leave, but when she came back after she was done, she found that Zhou Ke and D-4 had already left without even leaving a note.

However, considering the strength of the two, as long as they don't go too deep into the dangerous areas of the occupied areas, there shouldn't be any problems, so Afu didn't cause any more trouble.

She returned to the Beta base in a low profile. When she came back, she saw Miss Rhine practicing in the meditation room. She didn't want to disturb the lady, but when she turned around, she heard the usual voice behind her:
"Make me some midnight snack, Afu. Just make it your usual."

"Okay, Miss."

Afu turned around with a start, and after agreeing, she asked tentatively:

"Would you like to add some freshly picked ghost peppers? It would taste better."

"It's up to you. I trust your cooking skills."

Rhine didn't even open his eyes, and the conversation between the two was no different from the past, which made Afu really sure that her mistakes had been forgiven. She was suddenly extremely happy, and her steps became much lighter when she turned around and left.

Although Zhou Ke had just been complaining that the eldest lady lacked humanity, Afu confirmed that Miss Rhine was very nice to the people around her.

At least be nice to her.

Although it has been many years since the two of them came to the Bad Land from the Garden of Eden, in her heart, the image of the eldest lady has not changed much. Instead, she has changed a lot because of her experience in the Bad Land.

I'm glad that the young lady didn't hate herself for this.

While Afu was happily preparing a midnight snack for Miss Rhine, Zhou Ke also had his own midnight snack in the dense forest of the occupied area not far from the Staffin Industrial Zone.

He sat on a dead tree stump, looking suspiciously at the "meat" that D-4 was cleaning.

It was fresh food obtained from hunting just now. Although it was a little unsettling that it came from a rabbit with fangs and could spit poison, Wuneng patted his chest and assured him that he would definitely not get sick if he ate it.

"That's the conclusion we reached after analyzing a series of intelligence data obtained by Jiubang's years of investigation in the occupied areas. You may not trust your stomach's digestive ability, but you must trust our professionalism!"

While D-4Cos Stephen Chow was heating the meat with his palm cannon and sprinkling seasonings on it, Wu Neng kept chattering:

"The Eagle Nation has compiled statistics on all the monsters they encountered in the occupied areas over the years, and now their database is open to us. Although the meat of this rabbit is slightly toxic and may cause hallucinations, this danger is only for ordinary people. You are an ascender now.

Your digestive ability and energy extraction are several times that of ordinary people, and your immune system has been strengthened by Weng Mingyue before sublimation.

This little bit of poison won't kill you at all. Instead, it will become a rare "secret ingredient" that brings you a unique taste and flavor.

In fact, theoretically speaking, you won't be poisoned even if you eat this thing raw. If you can bear the nausea, this machine can recommend you a popular "food supplement" recipe in Jiubang. Those psychopathic psychics will mix the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of various monsters in a special ratio. It is said that different formulas can bring different stimulations to psychics.

Hey, there are also some that are aphrodisiac."

"That's enough! I'm eating, isn't it disgusting to say that?"

Zhou Ke took the "dinner" with a stern face that D-4 handed over. It smelled like barbecue. He looked at the meat that was baked to be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. After hesitating for a few seconds, he made up his mind and started to chew it with his eyes closed.

Well, it tastes surprisingly good.
My gums and tongue are a little numb, which should be the effect of the toxin.

His current physical fitness as an Ascendant is quite exaggerated. If necessary, he can survive ten days without food as long as he has a small amount of water. After all, the life composition of an Ascendant is not just a simple flesh and blood body. The constantly purified biological energy is also an important part of their life form.

In other words, if you just want to pursue more efficient strength and health, the right way is to directly draw energy from the environment to strengthen your body like Wu Qinhu.

It is said that the Tiger King has not had a proper meal for many years, and there are even rumors that Wu Qinhu's sense of taste has long been lost.

Of course, correct does not mean comfortable!
Especially compared to the behavior of "self-abuse" for a little bit of strength improvement, Zhou Ke still likes the feeling of being an individual.

"what about the taste?"

D-4 asked in a gentle tone, and Zhou Ke nodded and gave a thumbs up to praise the domestic robot girl's increasingly good cooking skills. However, considering that the two of them came to the dangerous occupied area not for the camping experience, after eating a few pieces of meat and feeling full, Zhou Ke quickly turned to the main topic.

"Where are the things you were asked to sort out?"

He asked while wiping his mouth. Wu Neng immediately projected a list that had obviously been carefully screened onto the top of the screen. It explained:
"While you were assisting Miss Rhine with the 'family trust crisis,' this machine had already been throughout the Eagle Nation's data center at the Beta base. The monster types and special abilities they've recorded in the occupied areas over the years have been extracted and sorted, and summarized using this machine's current understanding of psychic classification.

The table you see is the result of this machine. By following this table and following the instructions, we will most likely be able to replenish a batch of 'functional masks' for you in a short period of time."

"Ah."

Zhou Ke nodded and looked at the table carefully.

Wu Neng did a perfect job of preparing these texts. The monsters on this table covered all the activity types in all areas they could reach within a few days, and also summarized their numbers, characteristics, and hunting methods.

For example, shadow monsters, phantom monsters and fog monsters are all classified as "illusion type", which means that Zhou Ke has a high probability of obtaining illusion masks by hunting these creatures.

Such summaries allowed Zhou Ke to see in this table that there were a total of thirteen functional masks, seven of which were easy to obtain, four were difficult to obtain, and two were marked as "extremely rare" and "dangerous".

It is simply like a "treasure map of masks". In the route specially planned by Wuneng, Zhou Ke only needs to follow the map and go around. If he doesn't slack off, three or four days will be enough for him to get all the masks.

"But I want to remind you that according to the biological energy required for the 'permanent mask' that we calculated earlier, unless you exterminate all these monsters in this area, it will be difficult for you to have a second permanent mask in a short period of time.

The amount of bioenergy required for that thing is insane."

Wu Neng reminded:
"Therefore, my advice is to just use it for now. First solve the problem of whether it exists or not, then consider whether it is easy to use or not."

"And extracting masks from these monsters is also a risky behavior."

D-4 shook his head and said:

"The monsters' abilities are all granted by psychic energy, which is too complex and primitive. They don't understand targeted training. In terms of quality alone, they are actually far less 'specialized' than the Ascended in the Badlands. If efficiency is a concern, I think if the boss wants to obtain a usable high-quality mask as soon as possible, he should start with the humans.

If you have concerns, I don’t mind.”

"Alright, alright, if I keep going on, I feel like we're going to get into the 'killing for treasure' and 'killing on demand' phases."

Zhou Ke quickly stretched out his hand to signal D-4 to stop.

他 说:

"The mask is my weapon, and the skill of using a weapon is more about quality than quantity. Even if I carry a hundred masks with me, I can only use four or five at most in a battle. For example, when I only had those few masks in my hand before, the ones I used most often were the assassin's concealment, the time mask with resurrection armor, and the hunter's long-range attack.

Ajie's madman mask was rarely used in the later period, obviously because that fighting style was not suitable for me.

The same is true now.

The goal is not to collect everything.
Of course, it would be great if I could do that, I do have a bit of a collecting habit, but the key is to get the mask that suits me best at the moment."

"Ah, you are the one who can see clearly on such important matters concerning yourself."

Wu Neng flattered him and said:

"Finally, you haven't let your increased strength go to your head. I'm glad to see you've maintained your sanity. Becoming an Ascendant doesn't mean you're invincible; you're far from it.

Your biological energy at this stage is indeed purified and huge, but it always has its limits!

Just like the 'mana pool' in the game concept, when using masks such as the Time Mask and the Wind and Fire Mask obtained earlier, it is necessary to consume biological energy to release the ability. Therefore, the result of having multiple masks is that you cannot perfectly allocate combat resources, which ultimately leads to a decline in your absolute strength.

My suggestion is that you should continue with your previous style.

We don't have the conditions to "collect everything" at this stage, so just focus on a few masks that are most suitable for you, such as the "Hide" marked in the seventh column!
There is a group of giant sickle monsters in the depression in the southeast of this occupied area. According to the records of Jiubang, those mantis-like creatures are very good at "walking between two realms" and can hunt in both the material plane and the spiritual world. This thing is obviously perfectly compatible with your assassin mask, and their combat effectiveness is only below average in the occupied area, which is very suitable for you and D-4 to practice.

After you've dealt with this, head to the southwest mountains and catch a few Fire Kites. This isn't to help you grow wings, but to use the Fire Kites' outrageous dynamic vision and lightning reactions to strengthen your hunter mask.

Since the Madman's Mask has been ruled out for the time being, there is no need to go to the Violent Silver Rhino and the Red-Eyed Gorilla.

Think about it yourself, what kind of abilities do you want to acquire? This machine and D-4 can help you with some advice."

"Um"

Zhou Ke rubbed his chin and looked at the list in front of him. After a few seconds, he shook his head and said:
"Actually, I still can't forget the red and blue mask I got from Denard. The feeling of being a 'pyromaniac' was fantastic, giving me the illusion of becoming the 'Arsonist'. But unfortunately, this place is still on the outskirts of the occupied area, and there aren't many monsters that rely on spellcasting abilities.

Haven't you searched for any records of Jiubang in this regard?"

"Of course there is. The question is, do you dare to go?"

Wu Neng sneered, projected a few blurry pictures and some records, and said:
"There is a fire lizard that is suspected to be living in the rift valley about 450 kilometers south of Beta Base. In fact, the people of Jiubang call it a 'fire dragon'. According to an exploration record four years ago, a psychic master saw with his own eyes that the fire lizard sprayed biological flames that could cover a town, burning to death a group of stone spirits that harassed its territory.

That is a flame that can burn even boulders. As long as you kill it, I'm sure you can get a rare SSR-level mask that will make you the 'Evil Land Fire God', or even a permanent mask in one go.

How about we set out now and become dragon slayers?"

"Uh."

Zhou Ke looked at the photo and could tell with his eyes that the thing was at least 4 meters long, covered with heavy black scales, and covered with crystal-like bone spurs on its back. He coughed a few times, and as if he didn't hear Wu Neng's words, he turned his head smoothly and kissed D- on the cheek, then patted her waist and said:
"Let's go! Honey, let's go and trouble those giant sickle mantises."

"Hey, you wimp! You think you're invincible, so why don't you dare to mess with the fire dragon?"

Wu Neng continued to challenge, but Zhou Ke turned a deaf ear to him.

Nonsense! If he had Wu Qinhu's strength, or had ten D-4s around him, he would definitely not let go of this thing that looked like a "mobile treasure house".

His "hunt" tonight went quite smoothly. With the help of D-4, the giant sickle monster in the depression was quickly tracked down and killed in its lair, but the spoils collected were far less optimistic than Wuneng had expected.

"We killed at least thirty giant sickle monsters, so how come the assassin's mask only grew a little bit?"

Near midnight, Zhou Ke sat on a rock beside the depression with a sad face. He looked so melancholy with a cigarette in his mouth. He looked at the crow mask in his hand that only he could see. The busyness of half the night had only made the thickness of this thing grow a little bit.

It was far from what he had achieved by hunting down Operator Acholi.

It seems that D-4's previous guess was correct. The monster's abilities were not pure and specialized enough. It seemed that relying on absorbing this overly complex "primitive power" to quickly strengthen the mask was not feasible.

"How about we go back to the Bad Land and kill on demand?"

D-4 is still considerate.

Like a little devil, she proposed a plan that made Zhou Ke somewhat excited, but his only insignificant sense of morality was still exerting its power, and ultimately prevented Zhou Ke from further sliding into the tragedy of a "cannibal" after becoming a madman.

He shook his head, played with the assassin's mask in his hand, and said:
"It hasn't come to that yet. If you really want to 'kill people and steal treasures', you don't have to go to the Badlands. There are so many psychopathic psychic addicts in Beta Base. As long as the Evil Eagle doesn't care, I am absolutely willing to help her clean up the mess.

And I think that if we stay with Jiubang, we will have such an opportunity sooner or later."

"But this machine actually has a better way."

When Zhou Ke's "enhanced training" was in crisis, Wu Neng jumped out again and said to Zhou Ke in a very subtle tone:

"Actually, this machine wanted to tell you about this plan at the beginning, but this thing is much more dangerous than hunting monsters in the occupied area."

"tell me the story!"

Zhou Ke slapped his thigh and said:
"I am a man who aspires to become the 'Mask King'. It's just a little dangerous. As long as the return rate is high enough, I won't consider it."

"Hey, then listen carefully."

Wuneng immediately began to sell his "bad idea", saying:

"Do you still remember the truth you accidentally discovered when you were trying to kill yourself? Every psychic storm in the Bad Land is actually the moment when the spirit world wants to open a crack in the material world, and through the increase of psychic energy concentration, more spirit world creatures can enter the material world.

But this principle can also be understood in reverse, Joker.

The monsters that can enter the material world are either weak enough to cross the fragile cracks, or they are lucky enough to catch the good time of the reproduction month. But no matter what, the monsters that have been staying in the spiritual world are obviously much stronger on average than the monsters that can be seen in the material world.

After all, that is their base camp.

It is completely composed of psychic energy, which means that the creatures there have been living in a high psychic energy environment. The biological energy they possess is a "gluttonous feast" for you.

Unlike other psionicists who can only see the spirit world through 'clairvoyance', you can achieve phase shift when wearing the Raven Assassin Mask, which means that as long as you can make up your mind, you can enter the spirit world to hunt down 'high net worth' targets.

This machine guesses that the mask enhancement driven by hunting and extraction there is definitely much faster than you can in the material world."

"No! I don't agree!"

D-4 immediately objected:
"Boss entering the spirit world means he has to deal with all those monsters and demons alone! I can't protect him, which means he will have one less chance to escape when he encounters danger."

"NONONO!"

Wu Neng immediately rejected it:
"The mask is on Joker's face. He can take it off at any time and return to the material world. The initiative is in his hands. Unless he really piss off those spirit creatures, they will most likely not 'chase him out'.

This plan of mine must be feasible, otherwise I wouldn't have proposed it. D-4, you have mixed too many personal feelings in your attitude towards Joker, but you forgot that protecting and assisting Joker is also my first principle. "

"But I still disagree."

D-4 said firmly:

"I would rather my boss's strength improve slowly than for him to take life-threatening risks."

"I know you care about me, but I thought we could give it a try."

Zhou Ke reached out to interrupt the argument between D-4 and Wu Neng. He glanced at the assassin mask in his hand and said:

"The initiative is indeed in my hands. If I encounter danger, I will return immediately. Let's try it here."

"You better be careful!"

Wuneng emphasized his tone and said:
"In the material world, you can change masks at will, but after putting on the Crow Assassin mask, you can only rely on your armed backpack and your own combat ability over there. This machine cannot confirm whether the Shadow Warrior can also be used, but if it can, then your safety is at least guaranteed."

"Give it a try!"

Zhou Ke had a strong execution ability. He stood up and secured the armed backpack under the worried gaze of D-4. Then he reached out and pinched D-4's face, put on the Crow Assassin mask, and disappeared into the material plane with a whoosh.

Zhou Ke, who entered the spiritual world in the sublimated state, was no longer as susceptible to the huge mental stimulation as he was in the thin dog state. Of course, the stimulation was still there, but his tolerance had increased. The doubled limit of the San value prevented him from easily suffering a major failure and causing a mental breakdown.

"Try Shadow Warrior first!"

In the depression of the spiritual world, Zhou Ke saw several giant sickle monsters that were obviously stronger and more ferocious patrolling not far away.

He licked his lips, opened the armed backpack, let the two retained mechanical arms pop out, and then popped out the weapons stored in them, then summoned the shadow warriors, Uncle Ohm, Old Merck and Ajie jumped out.

They took the weapons they were good at using from Zhou Ke's armed backpack, and formed a triangle with Zhou Ke, who was holding the psychic firearm, in the center.

Just now, when he was alone, he did not alarm the elite giant sickle monster in the distance. Obviously, he was outside the opponent's "alert range". But as soon as the three shadow warriors came out, the patrolling giant sickle monsters immediately turned their spider-like heads and stared at Zhou Ke as if they had smelled some "evil stuff", and then pounced on him with a howl.

He even activated "Frenzy" while jumping and pouncing like a praying mantis.

It's not just the giant sickle monster, it's like a bomb was dropped in the depression of the spiritual world.

All kinds of spiritual creatures that Zhou Ke had seen and had not seen before showed up, regardless of their species or strength, even ignoring the conflicts between natural enemies at the top and bottom of the food chain. They all had an extreme disgust and desire to attack Zhou Ke and the shadow warriors.

This scene, which was like a "beast tide", made Zhou Ke numb.

His first instinct was to take off his Crow Assassin mask and return to the material world to hide, but then he realized that this was actually a good opportunity.

Although he didn't understand what was wrong with these spiritual creatures, the current "monster spawner" mechanism was really suitable for Zhou Ke who was in urgent need of energy to shape a functional mask. Although he and the three shadow warriors could not slaughter all the "elite" monsters in front of them, one kill would make a big profit, and killing two would not be a loss!
What comes is good energy that comes to your doorstep, so why should we push it away?
"Are you ready, brothers?"

Zhou Ke loaded his rifle with a click, and said to the three shadow warriors around him who already had some intelligence but could not speak:

"We're about to go!"

------

D-4 stayed in the giant sickle monster's nest in the depression. She was waiting anxiously for Zhou Ke to return to the material plane. At this moment, D-4's already quite perfect mimicry personality understood the complex meaning of the idiom "days pass like years".

She sadly discovered that the more perfect her mimetic personality became, the stronger her "dependence" on Zhou Ke became.

It was as if an invisible rope that could not be understood by robots had trapped the two of them, making it difficult and unwilling for her to recall her "robot life" before she met Zhou Ke.

Her thinking circuit even judged that her "life" as a tool was meaningless.
Even worse, D-4 couldn't tell whether this overly harsh judgment came from a rational decision or an emotional understanding. As she had complained before, life is too difficult and too complicated.

She didn't know if her current state was "normal", but what was certain was that she definitely didn't hate spending time with Zhou Ke. Even if her thinking circuits considered wandering around as a "waste of time", her mimetic personality would continue to emit an emotional data stream of "satisfaction and enjoyment".

"Snapped"

Just when D-4's built-in timestamp counted to 1753, a black thing suddenly fell from the depression in front of her, scaring the already irritated D-4, but she soon realized that it was Zhou Ke who fell.

The latter's condition was a bit bad. When he was pulled out of the mud by D-4, he could see that his skin outside the armor was covered with some disgusting sticky liquid, which looked like blood but exuded the smell of psychic energy.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not hurt."

Zhou Ke panted and said:
"Wuneng's suggestion is correct. I have gained a lot over there. They hate shadow warriors, so this symbol of the end has become the best bait. I don't even need to wander around looking for prey. The prey will come to me on its own initiative."

"Don't be too happy! You've been in the spirit world for too long, and your intracranial pressure has risen again. Although it's still within a safe range, this machine recommends that you take some measures. Also, find a place to clean the blood of the spirit world creatures on you.

That stuff is corrosive!"

Wu Neng screamed, Zhou Ke rubbed his swollen head, and suddenly seemed to remember something, turned his head and whispered to D-4:
"I won the race earlier, didn't I?"

"Ok?"

At this moment, D-4 really couldn't understand the strange thinking mode of human men. He had just fought a battle with a group of dangerous monsters, so why was he thinking about sex right after returning to the safe zone?

Hey!
What the hell is going on with your brain? Is this the legendary connection between the thinking organ and the genitals?

but.
As long as we come back safely, forget it, outdoor companionship mode, activated!

(End of this chapter)