Marvel's Death Merchant

"Midnight? What happened?"

"it's me……"

Zheng Zha was shocked. The voice was... Chu Xuan's voice!

"I've seen everything, and I can roughly guess how you're feeling right now. So, would you like to talk to me?"

Zheng Zha sighed and asked, "How do you know what happened? Also, where have you been hiding these past few days? We want to come find you now."

"Where I'm hiding isn't important. The Curse of Vengeance doesn't spare anyone based on distance, and you won't find me for now... But let's not talk about that. I've also been to the temple you visited during the day. Unfortunately, the gate doesn't function at night like it does during the day. In fact, the Buddhist scriptures you have might be an important 'prop' for completing this horror movie..."

"...Is it because the communicator can be eavesdropped on?"

“That’s right, the ‘main unit’ is in my hands. I can hear what your secondary units are saying, even if they’re not turned on.”

Zheng Zha glanced at the communicator and said with a bitter smile, "Are you here to mock me? Yes. I admit I failed, I admit I made a mistake. I foolishly endorsed my partner, only to be stabbed in the back by the very partner I endorsed... Chu Xuan, did you foresee from the very beginning that I would make a mistake, which is why you left this unsafe team?"

"No, I just wanted to find a quiet place to look at the stars..."

At this moment, atop a tall building not far from the Sunshine Hotel, Chu Xuan sat on the edge, silently gazing at the sky. He continued calmly, "Nothing is truly right or wrong. You're overthinking it... Companions are important, but as a leader, you can't place yourself on an equal footing with them. With greater ability comes greater responsibility. You bear the burden of the safety of all team members. What to abandon, what to uphold—perhaps you're still lacking in this aspect. Compared to you, Tang Xing has done a much better job. His coldness and decisiveness allow him to make reasonable arrangements for the team members. You should have noticed that, right? Tang Xing's personality hasn't made others dislike him."

"And the only thing you did wrong was treating everyone the same... This horror movie cycle requires choices. Whether it's the path we choose, the newcomers the 'God' selects who might evolve, or the survival-of-the-fittest choice in the horror movie, you must see clearly who can become your partner. It's not those who are completely unsuitable for this horror movie cycle. If you choose them, then when they are eliminated by this world, they will drag you down with them..."

"A person grows up gradually throughout their life, and I envy you all... Knowing you're wrong and correcting it isn't about knowing everything beforehand. Zheng Zha, grow up slowly. Remember, you need to put yourself in the position of a leader, not stand in the position of a team member and complain with them. And choosing your partners is especially important. You can't save those who lack talent, those who might betray you, or those with evil hearts. Remember, you are not a savior. You don't live to save them; you need their strength to survive. Don't get that order backwards..."

Zheng Zha listened quietly to every word Chu Xuan said, and the turmoil in his mind gradually subsided. He calmly said, "Why are you telling me this? This isn't like you. Doing favors for others without any benefit to yourself... Chu Xuan, are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, I'm listening." Chu Xuan suddenly laughed and said, "It's not unrelated. I owe you a favor. Do you remember the information I asked you to take back? Thank you... Hehe, it turns out that thanking someone isn't as difficult as I thought."

Zheng Zha paused for a moment and then said, "You really love him that much..."

"I think you might have misunderstood something. In fact, those who enter this cycle of reincarnation are no longer people from the original world. If I were to say that, it would sound a bit untrue... It's because I can finally really rest. I'm so tired..."

Chu Xuan suddenly stiffened, then smiled and said, "It seems the time has come... If we can meet again, I hope you can become a true captain. Remember, nothing in this world is truly right or wrong. What you want is simply to live, isn't it? So crush any obstacles that prevent you from living!"

"By the way, here's a hint: since the 'main god' can be thought of as a program, then besides 'tools' like Buddhist scriptures, the numbers it publishes might also be a kind of hint, seven..."

This was the last thing Zheng Zha heard. Then, a gurgling sound came from the communicator. This eerie and terrifying sound sent chills down his spine.

"...Seven days...maybe this seven is a veiled reference to the number needed to kill the main body of the curse...has it been cut off?"

Chu Xuan silently turned his head. Not far behind him, a deathly pale woman hung upside down on the wall, making continuous gurgling sounds. The final battle of the strongest strategist was about to begin. (To be continued...)

Chapter 268 The Final Speculation

Tang Xing and Zheng Zha easily arrived at the team's gathering place. The other members were not too afraid, which showed that they had been able to overcome the Ju-on somewhat.

Zero asked casually, "Is everything alright?"

Zheng Zha replied with a smile, "Well, I spent the whole night in the dark. Luckily, I wasn't killed by any ghosts..."

The atmosphere among the seven people immediately relaxed. Zheng Zha and the other two sat together and had breakfast. Then Zheng Zha asked everyone to sit on the sofa, and he stood quietly in front of everyone.

"I'm sorry." Zheng Zha bowed slightly, then straightened up and said, "It was my fault. I forgot the most basic thing a team leader should do... I should be responsible for my team, not like a savior responsible for everyone. They want to live, and we all just want to live. I'm sorry... From now on, I will only be responsible for our team. I can help newcomers, but I will never use the safety of the team as a price to help them. Also, any newcomer who wants to join our team must have the consent of half of the team members, in addition to their strength and character... I'm sorry! Let's work together to survive!"

The other six people stared at him blankly. Zhang Jie was the first to jump up and say, "Zheng Zha, you don't need to blame yourself at all. We were all just as careless back then. We also bear responsibility for losing that Buddhist scripture..."

"No, Zheng Zha, you did the right thing. You didn't disappoint me," Tang Xing said to Zheng Zha with satisfaction.

“No, I think he’s absolutely right.” Zhao Ying tightened her coat. She was still wearing Zheng Zha’s overcoat. The man said calmly, “As a team leader, you may not need great strength or a brilliant mind. What you need is accurate judgment and the ability to utilize everyone’s strength. In fact, you have the potential to unite the hearts of those around you, but you don’t seem to have fully realized it. And everyone who is not on my team… you must treat them as enemies before they become team members.”

Zheng Zha smiled faintly at the little girl. He then turned to Zhan Lan, who was staring at him in a daze, and said, "Alright, let's leave the self-blame aside for now. Zhan Lan, you have the strongest reasoning ability besides Chu Xuan. I want to ask you, what do you think the 'Main God' is trying to achieve by throwing us into all sorts of horror movies?"

Zhan Lan said seriously, "Is it to let us experience terror? Or to make us face death? No... If we add Chu Xuan's previous reasoning, I think the 'God' wants us to evolve, to break through our own limits on the edge of life and death. To evolve and unlock our genetic locks, if Chu Xuan's deduction is correct, this is the only answer I can think of."

Zheng Zha nodded and said, "That's right, that's what I think too. The 'God' wouldn't throw us into a horror movie just to kill us. Every horror movie has a way to solve it or an enemy to defeat. In other words, the 'God' wouldn't put us in a desperate situation."

Zhang Jie suddenly realized, "You mean... obtaining the Buddhist scriptures was the clue left to us by the 'main god'? Damn it, those two bastards have already gotten hold of the scriptures..."

"No, what I mean is... well, how should I put it, Buddhist scriptures might be one way to counteract curses, but why are we so afraid of curses?"

Zheng Zha's words stunned everyone around him. Only Zhan Lan seemed to have a sudden realization, her eyes lighting up. Zheng Zha continued with a smile, "Yes, why are we so afraid of Ju-on? Because we can't understand it, and most importantly, we've put ourselves in the shoes of movie characters! But we've forgotten one thing: we're not characters in a movie. We know we're facing a ghost, and although we don't understand the ghost's attack methods, that's enough..."

"We don't actually need to be afraid of Ju-on. Just imagine it as an alien that can become invisible at any time! It might ambush us when we're not paying attention, but it's not completely invincible, as long as we dare to fight it head-on! With spirit bullets, we are not incapable of killing Ju-on!"

Zheng Zha's words resonated with everyone. In fact, none of them had ever directly encountered the Ju-on ghost from the beginning. Only Zheng Zha himself realized that the reason he was so afraid from the start was because he had been trapped in a misconception: he had put himself into the role of a movie character in the Ju-on movie where everyone died. On the contrary, people who knew nothing about the movie might actually be more willing to confront the Ju-on if they had guns and spirit bullets, because they would only see the Ju-on ghost as a monster, not as an inescapable and unavoidable curse from the gods!

Yes, as long as you treat Ju-on as a monster that you can hit and kill, that's fine!

"Now we only need to verify one thing: whether spirit bullets can actually harm the cursed ghost!"

After Zheng Zha finished speaking, he was about to assign the next tasks to everyone when suddenly, the communicator on his waist vibrated. He quickly turned on the communicator, and a familiar voice came from it.

"I am Chu Xuan..."

Zheng Zha quickly asked, "Is that Chu Xuan? Where are you? What was that giggling sound yesterday? Hello?"

"...If you hear this, it means I am already dead. This message will be released twelve hours after my death as my final message...Thank you for meeting you all."

"Let me confirm my final guess..."

"Physical damage is useless? An illusion? Or... Arnold, attack!"

"As expected... there are no reward points, and it takes a large number of spirit bullets to accumulate damage in order to destroy a soul..."

Chu Xuan's voice came through the communicator, along with the sound of numerous gunshots. Zheng Zha quickly placed the communicator on the coffee table in front of everyone.

"Arno, watch out behind you. The spirit might attack the person who hurt it first."

"...I can't touch it, or I'll lose control of my body?"

"Every part of the body must be attacked..."

Then a series of gunshots rang out, along with the dull thud of something falling to the ground.

"Still no reward points, could the hint of 'seven' mean..."

"Each wave that's killed becomes stronger than the next wave of ghosts... We've already killed three waves, so does this represent the fourth wave?"

"The fourth wave!"

"No! No reward points, no notification, it will continue..."

After a long silence on the communicator, everyone vaguely seemed to hear an argument, followed by the sound of a cleaver chopping meat.

"A hallucination? Or perhaps..."

"How did the attacked part disappear and then enter my intestines? It wasn't a physical attack or a mental attack... It must be some kind of ghostly attack that can't be explained by science."

"It's impossible for it to not exist. In other words, attacks are ineffective under normal circumstances; they only become effective the instant you launch the attack..."

"Ugh... I feel so bloated. I still prefer foods that look pretty..."

"The fifth wave... is over!"

As soon as Chu Xuan finished speaking, a clattering sound suddenly came from the communicator, sounding like a ghost sticking to the communicator, eerie and terrifying.

"Is it invisible? Or... is it inside my body?"

"Is this the sixth wave? Attacking internal organs from within..."

After several gunshots, the communicator picked up the sound of something heavy falling, indicating that Chu Xuan had been completely rendered incapable of attacking.

"He's already done enough; he truly is a supreme strategist," Tang Xing sighed, clearly feeling some regret for Chu Xuan. Tang Xing was still very interested in such a talent. (To be continued...)

P.S.: Don't think that special dimensions are unimportant; they are needed later on, and the protagonist will use all the weapons he researches.

Chapter 269 Pre-war Preparations

Upon hearing Tang Xing's words, Zheng Zha's expression changed, and he asked, "Tang Xing, if you say that, does that mean Chu Xuan has already...?"

Zhan Lan sighed, "Yes, Chu Xuan may already be..."

Zheng Zha sighed deeply. He suddenly felt a pang of melancholy, as if a friend who had been his adversary had suddenly departed. It was a feeling of deep regret. Ah, the calm and wise Chu Xuan…

After more than ten seconds, Zheng Zha came back to his senses and said, "Let's summarize this information. Chu Xuan kept mentioning the number seven. He said that the 'main god' wouldn't just assign us a number randomly. This seven is very likely a hint to defeat Ju-on. I have some ideas about this. Zhan Lan, you thought of what I was thinking too, right?"

Zhan Lan nodded, and smiled sweetly, "You guessed what I was thinking... cough, anyway, judging from the information Chu Xuan left behind, the Ju-on ghost's body becomes stronger each time it's broken, especially the sixth time, which is almost an inescapable death... So, that seven must refer to the Ju-on recurring seven times, the seventh time..."

Zheng Zha picked up the conversation and said fiercely, "The ghost that appeared for the seventh time is very likely the main body of Ju-on. As long as we eliminate the last ghost, we will definitely be able to defeat Ju-on!"

“That’s right, that’s how we should do it. We need to be well prepared and can’t waste our time,” Tang Xing said very seriously.

Regardless of Chu Xuan's purpose, this message was as valuable to everyone as Buddhist scriptures. It not only proved that the cursed ghost could be defeated, but also gave everyone hope… The cursed ghost wasn't something to be desperately avoided. Sometimes terror itself isn't scary; what's scary is not even having the will to fight back. Perhaps when you raise your weapon to resist terror, it's just a slightly stronger monster. You too can defeat it!

All afternoon, everyone discussed how to deal with the Ju-on. Of the six types of Ju-on attacks they had guessed, the first wave involved a ghost appearing in the distance and moving towards them. At this point, they could simply attack it with spirit bullets. This kind of ghost might be terrifying to ordinary people, but for those of them who possessed spirit bullets, as long as they could damage it, they could easily defeat it.

The second and third waves should involve ghosts suddenly appearing from behind. At this point, you can only attack the person along with the ghosts, otherwise the person is basically doomed.

"Tang Xing, we need a lot of bulletproof vests and helmets, do you have any here?" Zheng Zha suddenly asked Tang Xing after thinking for a moment.

Tang Xing thought for a moment and said seriously, "Okay, I need to bring it over by this time tomorrow. Because I added mithril and magic to these things, making them a bit better than the pre-spirit bullets."

Zheng Zha nodded and said, "Alright, I'll leave this to you two. Please make sure you arrive here before noon tomorrow. Then comes the fourth wave of the Cursed Oni attack. If a large number of ghosts attack us together, I think we might need a more spacious place. Being surrounded by a large number of ghosts in a room or corridor would be quite disadvantageous for us. I suggest that we start sleeping in a nearby square from today, preferably a square where you can see more than a hundred meters ahead. Does anyone have any opinions?"

Except for Zhan Lan, whose face showed distress, the others nodded in agreement. Then Zhang Jie suddenly asked, "What about the fifth wave of Ju-on attacks? How should we deal with those ghosts that aren't afraid of spirit bullets? We can only counterattack the instant it attacks, and the parts it hits will go into our intestines. Something like that..."

"So," Zheng Zha suddenly smiled faintly, "I'll be the bait for the fifth wave of attacks! When I unlock my gene lock, I have an extremely strong sense of danger and will dodge and counterattack the instant it attacks. And it seems you've all forgotten that I have a powerful weapon against ghosts. The storage ring! It's perfect for attacking in close combat."

"Zero, give me your weapon for now! I'll reinforce your sniper rifle with magic and technology, adding mithril to the Gauss bullets. That will give us a better chance against dark creatures," Tang Xing said, turning to Zero.

"No problem?" Zero asked seriously.

After reaching an agreement, everyone packed their belongings and left the room without hesitation. Then, they headed towards the square.

As darkness fell, the crowd in the square gradually thinned out after initially increasing in number. When the crowd around them began to thin out, Lingdian and Zhao Yingkong finally emerged from the darkness, while Tang Xing, of course, had already left to continue his preparations.

Zheng Zha smiled and said, "You've worked hard. Have you scouted out the surrounding area? Have you encountered any attacks?"

Zero nodded silently, and Zhao Yingkong said calmly, "The protective talisman paper is normal, and we've explored the surrounding environment quite a bit. To the west of here are several shopping mall buildings, which are good for sniping. The other three directions are open highways. If we eliminate the main body of the Ju-on and attract the police because of our gunfire, the direction to escape is east, where there is a sewer entrance... We don't know the rest yet. If we want to fully explore the surrounding area, it will probably take another day or two."

“I’ve placed two amulets between us. Each time, two people will take the night watch. If they see an amulet burning, they’ll wake the others. If no one objects, I’ll assign the watch pairs.”

Around midnight, everyone seemed to be getting sleepy. After all, they had been living in fear these past few days. Apart from the night they obtained the Buddhist scriptures, who dared to sleep soundly? Even if Zheng Zha hadn't made the suggestion, they would have discussed it and decided on it after a while.

"Then Lingdian and Zhao Yingkong will be in one group, Zhang Jie and Qi Tengyi will be in another group, and Zhan Lan and I will be in the third group. Zhang Jie and Qi Tengyi, you two will take the first post, and Zhan Lan and I will take the second post. As for the third post, I'll leave it to Lingdian and the other two. Each group will take three hours. Is that okay for everyone?"

Time flew by, and the night passed uneventfully. The next day, everyone mostly stayed together, found a restaurant to eat at, and then checked into a nearby hotel to freshen up. Afterward, they returned to the square to continue their solitary vigil, and when night fell, they were divided into groups to guard the area.

Time still flies... In the blink of an eye, it was already the seventh day of dusk. If they could hold on for another seven or eight hours, they would return to the 'God' space from this terrifying world of Ju-on. Although it was a bit of a pity that they hadn't killed the main body of Ju-on, compared to that, it was a stroke of luck that they had survived safely.

The square was crowded with pedestrians at dusk. After several days of confinement and staying up all night, everyone was exhausted. So even though it was dusk, they had already divided into groups and started to rest.

"The mithril dagger feels really good, like a ray of hope in the darkness," Zhao Yingkong thought with satisfaction, looking at the dagger in her hand. (To be continued...)