Marvel's Death Merchant

"Has it begun? Mithril must be somewhat harmful to these creatures. Boss is indeed very powerful. I must obtain this special plane and complete my own mission," Tang Xing thought to himself. (To be continued...)

Chapter 261 Please Call Me Boss

Zhang Jie took out a pack of cigarettes, handed one to Zheng Zha, Ling Dian, and Tang Xing, and said, "My name is Zhang Jie, one of the team members, I would say I'm a semi-fireman."

Zhan Lan smiled and said, "I am Zhan Lan. I should be considered a logistics staff member. My combat ability is very poor, but I have learned some bandaging skills and can also help analyze some situations."

Tang Xing took the cigarette Zhang Jie offered and put it in his mouth, then lit it with a black flame. Looking at the expressions of the people in front of him, Tang Xing said expressionlessly, "Please call me Boss Tang or Brother Xing. The logistics and administrative staff in the team can provide new recruits with various high-tech weapons, but you'll need to buy them yourself."

Zero took the cigarette and said coldly, "Zero, the sniper..."

The three ordinary-looking young men exchanged glances, and one of them said, "Lu Renjia is still a college student."

Xiao Bingyi is currently unemployed.

"I'm currently in my final year of university, so I'm basically unemployed."

The person stretched and said, "Ming Yanwei, my profession is the public relations manager of a company. As for Japan, I've always wanted to travel to Japan. I never thought I would be able to fulfill this wish before I die."

“He’s worthless, not the kind of talent the boss needs,” Tang Xing thought to himself, shaking his head.

There were two people left. The young man who had inspected the house earlier laughed and said, "Qi Tengyi, from Shandong, you could call him a homebody...hehe, just kidding. My profession is the kind where you don't make any business for half a year, but when you do, you live off it for half a year. I'm an appraiser...a tomb raiding artifact appraiser. Of course, I can also appraise some real-world items. I hope to join your team."

Zheng Zha naturally greeted him, saying, "Welcome to the team, we need you." After saying that, Zheng Zha nodded to Qi Teng to show his satisfaction.

And his role as an appraiser is indeed a much-needed profession here, used in many horror movies. It's unexpected that he's actually found talent among the newcomers this time.

The remaining handsome young man put down his book, and only then did everyone get a clear look at her. This girl didn't have an Adam's apple; she was a somewhat androgynous, beautiful girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old. Her indifferent gaze was quite similar to Chu Xuan's.

"Zhao Yingkong, an assassin..."

The girl spoke very coldly. After she finished speaking, she looked down at her book again. Zheng Zha, Zhang Jie, and Zhan Lan all looked at Ling Dian and Tang Xing. There was another person with a poker face. In addition to Tang Xing, Chu Xuan, and Ling Dian, there was one more person this time.

Zero glanced at Zhao Yingkong a few times before saying calmly, "Zheng Zha, you're the captain, so why don't you explain the next steps? Whether you're an assassin or not... the team needs people of any profession."

Zheng Zha nodded and said, "I think what we need now is Japanese yen. We're going to be here for seven days, after all. Do you all want to sleep on the streets?"

Zheng Zha laughed, took out two gold bars, each about three fingers thick, from his storage ring, and handed them to Lingdian, saying, "Luckily, I exchanged two gold bars at the 'God' before, Lingdian. You used to be an assassin, so you should know more about those situations than we do. Take these two gold bars and exchange them for some Japanese yen. Exchange as much as you can; it should be enough for the ten of us for seven days, right? Also, it would be best to buy a few maps of the area, detailing the distribution of hotels, and also maps of the temples around this city... By the way, does anyone here understand Japanese?"

Among the six newcomers, Ming Yanwei and Qi Tengyi said at the same time, "I know a little..." Then the two of them looked at each other strangely.

Tang Xing would certainly do the same, but he didn't show it; sometimes it's better to be low-key. Tang Xing's current performance seems quite assertive, and that's something everyone else agrees on. Having someone like Tang Xing in the team is beneficial to their development.

At this moment, to everyone's surprise, Zhao Yingkong, who had been acting very coldly, suddenly said, "I also speak Japanese... Can I ask you why you need a map showing the location of the temple?"

Zheng Zha smiled at the cold little girl and said, "Because this horror movie world even has ghosts and curses, so why can't there be places like temples to break the curses? Since we can't think about things in real life, let's think about things in this horror movie world. That's what I think."

Zhao Yingkong put down her book and said, "You're quite an interesting person. At first glance, you seem like a strong but incompetent fool, but now you look more like a captain... Okay, I'll join this team."

Zheng Zha smiled kindly at his performance, but Zhan Lan, who was sitting next to him, suddenly said in a low voice, "You need to be careful about how you communicate. This is our new member."

"That's true, these newcomers are also helpful to us," Tang Xing said casually.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zha quickly nodded and said, "Then let's do it this way. By the way, Zero, try to buy some pistols. I still have a lot of spirit bullets. Try to equip everyone with a weapon. As for Tang Xing, your weapons are all very dangerous and cannot be taken out for the time being."

“That’s right, otherwise I wouldn’t know that place would have been destroyed again.” Zheng Zha said, cold sweat dripping down his forehead, clearly still vivid in his memory of the mushroom cloud.

At midnight, he put the gold bar in his pocket, waved, and walked out into the shade of the trees. The sun was shining brightly outside, and some elderly people and children were playing and resting in the park, creating a peaceful and serene atmosphere.

But who could have known? This world is a horror movie world, and the most inexplicable kind of supernatural horror movie at that, a world where ghosts and curses exist!

"Speaking of which, don't you guys think it's better to treat yourselves better by wielding weapons that control your own destiny?" Tang Xing casually pulled out a Gauss pistol, the magical patterns on his suit faintly visible, the mysterious runes combining to give off a comfortable feeling.

"Really? I haven't forgotten that in the Alien storyline, at the very end, you also dropped a nuclear bomb. It destroyed the spaceship. And the weapons you sell are good, but they can easily destroy a place." Zheng Zha looked at Tang Xing and said helplessly.

"I also have many weapons. I mainly use high technology, and my strength isn't particularly great—it's mostly magic and fire abilities. However, I believe that one day you'll need the weapons I create," Tang Xing said confidently, clearly pleased with himself.

Zheng Zha nodded, indicating that he understood. Thanks to Tang Xing's distraction, Zheng Zha's worries lessened slightly. After all, Tang Xing was someone he trusted quite a bit now, no less capable than Zhang Jie, and Zheng Zha was very satisfied with Tang Xing's ability to protect team members in dangerous situations.

"The boss hasn't used the power of magic yet. However, it's still very powerful, and it should be able to deal with these dark creatures." Tang Xing sensed the magical power within him and pondered something carefully. (To be continued...)

Chapter 262 The Development of the Plot

The group waited in the park, and at midnight they returned to the park. There were still one or two hours until dark. Apart from occasionally drinking some cola and eating some snacks, they spent most of their time nervously looking around. As dusk approached, everyone became increasingly tense.

Of course, apart from Tang Xing chatting with Zheng Zha, which made him feel a little relaxed, the others were still somewhat afraid.

Anyone who has seen Ju-on knows that the ghosts in this horror movie are not afraid of sunlight. They may come out to kill people at any time, day or night. However, people still hope to stand in the light. It is a strange mentality. Even if you know that ghosts are not afraid of sunlight, if you stand in the sunlight, you will feel much braver.

It is well known that creatures of the dark are afraid of sunlight; they will die as soon as they are exposed to it. Sunlight can easily neutralize and reduce the negative energy of things. However, if the creatures of the dark are too powerful, then this is the situation we are in now.

Seeing Lingdian return, Zhang Jie was the first to rush up to him. He laughed and punched Lingdian on the shoulder, saying, "Damn it, I thought you ran away with the gold, hahaha, how much did you sell it for?"

Zero smiled faintly and didn't speak. He simply took out ten cards from his pocket and handed one of them, a gold card, to Zheng Zha, saying, "It's pure gold. After selling it, I prepared a card for everyone. The password for all of them is 123456. This card contains..."

Zheng Zha took the card and laughed, "Why are you saying all this? Do you think I don't trust you to handle things? This money is enough for us for seven days. You can't take it with you when you die, so we can't exactly take this money back to the 'Main God' space, can we? Hahaha..."

After chatting and laughing, the eleven finally left the increasingly eerie park. They then hailed three taxis and headed towards the town's most luxurious five-star hotel. Although the cost of living in Japan was indeed high, the two gold bars, each about the thickness of a three-finger and of excellent purity, were enough to support the eleven of them for seven days of material comforts.

When taking transportation, the three girls took one taxi, while the three college students and Saito shared another. The four most capable individuals—Zheng Zha, Zhang Jie, Ling Dian, and Tang Xing—squeezed into a separate taxi.

After getting on the bus, Lingdian pulled out several maps and handed them to Zheng Zha, saying, "City map, hotel map, transportation map, tourist attraction map..."

Zheng Zha didn't stand on ceremony. After taking the map, he looked at it with Qi Huan and Zhang Jie. Ling Dian, sitting in the front seat, calmly said, "I chose the Sunshine Hotel. It's surrounded by highways, making transportation very convenient. We can escape smoothly from anywhere. Of course, if you don't like it..."

While looking at the map, Zheng Zha said, "No, this type of hotel is perfect for our current situation. What we fear most is places with complicated surroundings. If we are attacked, we may not even have a chance to escape... The traffic there is full of loops. It's also perfect for us to take a taxi away. By the way, is it okay to buy a handgun?"

Zero said, "No problem, but we need to pick up the goods tomorrow morning... Zheng Zha, can spirit bullets really hurt 'those things'? Have you hurt them before?"

Zheng Zha said with a wry smile, "I don't know. At the time, I just felt danger. Extreme danger, which is why I lost my mind. Actually, I had a premonition of death, as if I would be killed at any moment, haha. Actually, I was afraid of dying. The more afraid of death a person is, the more likely they are to go crazy when they sense death."

"Is that so? Even you will die..."

The four people in the car immediately fell silent, with only the faint sound of Zheng Zha flipping through the map being heard. Before they knew it, the three taxis had arrived at the entrance of the Sunshine Hotel.

It must be said that Lingdian's business is indeed very reliable. In the middle of the day, in addition to selling the gold, he also used ordinary means to make a fake ID card. Otherwise, even if people had money, they probably wouldn't have been able to check into the hotel.

In this horror movie world, it seems that the summer tourist season is approaching. Most of the hotel rooms are already occupied, and the remaining rooms are not on the same floor. Only the presidential suite can actually accommodate everyone.

Zhao Yingkong immediately said, "I don't want to live with anyone else. Get me a single room downstairs, the kind with my own computer."

Everyone looked at her in surprise, and Zheng Zha immediately said, "Wouldn't it be better if we all lived in one place? That way we could look after each other."

Zhao Yingkong put down her book and said coldly, "I don't want to live with a burden. I think what that person said before was right. I've also seen the three Ju-on horror movies. This kind of curse can't be resisted by having more people. Rather than being implicated when you are killed by Ju-on, it's better to live alone and escape more easily."

Zheng Zha sighed and didn't say anything more. He discussed it with the others and finally decided that most people hoped to live in groups of a few rather than all of them crammed into one large suite. This way, they could take care of each other and avoid being implicated too much by the arrival of the Curse Vengeance.

The three girls were naturally grouped together. Because Zhao Yingkong insisted on living alone, Zhan Lan had no choice but to live with the beautiful Ming Yanwei. The remaining seven people had to draw lots to form two groups. Zheng Zha, Qi Tengyi, and Lu Renjia were in one group, while Zhang Jie, Lingdian, Xiao Bingyi, and Jun Zhongding were in another.

Tang Xing was used to living alone, so he didn't stay with anyone, and he wasn't afraid. As a result, Lingdian could only book five suites, and four of the suites were located on different floors. Zhao Yingkong stayed on the eleventh floor, Zheng Zha, Qi Tengyi, and Lu Renjia stayed on the twelfth floor, Zhang Jie, Lingdian, Xiao Bingyi, and Jun Zhongding stayed on the fourteenth floor, Zhan Lan and Ming Yanwei stayed on the sixteenth floor, and Tang Xing stayed alone on the fifteenth floor.

The night passed peacefully. Around noon the next day, everyone, still half-asleep, gathered in Zheng Zha's suite. In fact, apart from Ling Dian, Zhao Yingkong, and Tang Xing, the rest of them hadn't fallen asleep until the early hours of the morning. In the dead of night, it was pitch black everywhere. Who, except for a hardened assassin, would dare to sleep in such an environment? Of course, Tang Xing was an exception. As an idealistic arms dealer, Tang Xing had never known fear, perhaps because there was no danger for him at the moment.

"How are you all feeling? You don't look like you slept well, but I believe we can get through this. That's our belief," Zheng Zha said, encouraging himself and the others.

“You’re right, I believe you,” Zhan Lan said to Zheng Zha.

"Well, that's good. It seems we're all alright. Today is the second day. If we can hold on until the seventh day, we'll all be able to return to the Main God Space alive," Zheng Zha said, turning around to face everyone.

"I don't think so. Maybe some people have already been killed," Tang Xing said, implying something else entirely. (To be continued...)

Chapter 263 Methods and Speculations

Zheng Zha rubbed his swollen dark circles and said while drinking a can of iced coffee, agreeing with what Tang Xing had just said.

“You’re right, Tang Xing, this world cannot be explained by science. Just like the mysterious supreme god, we have no way of understanding it.” Zheng Zha sighed and said helplessly to Tang Xing.

“That’s right. In terms of who’s here, none of us have been harmed. But if we’re all alright, then the newcomers who left might not be so lucky,” Tang Xing said to Zheng Zha with a serious expression.

"It seems you also know about yesterday's events. Judging from your expression, you probably don't want to hurt these people." Zhao Yingkong put down her book, turned her head, and looked at Tang Xing's expression with a deep meaning, but she obviously didn't notice anything.

Seeing that Tang Xing's face showed no other intention, she turned her head and said with a cold smile, "This morning I hacked into the city's police network, and there were two murder cases. Around midnight this morning, the police found two bodies in a park not far from us. One body's internal organs were all missing, and the face was extremely distorted. The other body had been impaled through the middle of a utility pole, but strangely, all the wires on the pole were intact. The town police have been fully mobilized, but they have found that these two people have no identification files. It is said that some nearby residents claimed to have seen seven other people with them before. After hearing this, are you surprised?"

"It was a surprise for me, though. In my eyes, supernatural creatures are aggregates of negative energy. There's a saying that when negative energy reaches a certain level, it can cause things we can't understand, like what's happening now." Tang Xing thought for a moment and decided to share what he knew so that others could understand some of the plot.

"So what's your plan? Or have you discovered something?" Zhao Yingkong asked, puzzled.

“Of course there is a way. However, it would be very dangerous for you, and you don’t want to conduct the experiment,” Tang Xing said to the group, his words carrying a deeper meaning.

"What method? If there are no problems, I think we can give it a try." Zero looked at Tang Xing, showing interest.

“Of course, this requires someone to sacrifice themselves. As I just said, what these dark creatures need most is negative energy, and the high-tech weapons I've prepared can even destroy all negative energy. Nuclear bombs, plasma bombs, or high-intensity electromagnetic bombs are all possible, and I happen to possess these weapons. I want someone to act as bait; I have a 5-ton nuclear bomb here.” Tang Xing knew that his method was indeed the best, and if he were the team leader, everyone else would agree, but Zheng Zha obviously wouldn't agree to this method.

Zheng Zha hesitated for a moment after hearing Tang Xing's words, then his expression returned to calm. He turned to Tang Xing and looked at him seriously: "Brother, I know this method, but I once said I wouldn't give up on any newcomer, so I can't sacrifice others to save my own life."

"Okay, forget I said anything, it doesn't really matter. Dark creatures are easy for me to take down with high-tech weapons," Tang Xing waved his hand dismissively, speaking to Zheng Zha indifferently.

"And let me share my conjecture," Tang Xing said, dropping another bombshell that surprised everyone.

The new extras breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Zheng Zha's words, because although these newcomers seemed foolish, they weren't idiots and none of them wanted to die.

"I hacked into the world's network system and discovered that the entire world is a gathering place for dark creatures. Besides the situation here, America has vampires and Catholicism, and they're real. It also has dark creatures like Sadako and Tomie. So everyone, don't go to those areas, or you might accidentally disappear." Tang Xing spoke casually, but the others' faces grew increasingly grim. Hearing Tang Xing's words, their fear became more and more uncontrollable.

After Zheng Zha and the others finished their fear, they took a deep breath and asked Zero, "Alright, Tang Xing, let's not talk about this anymore. And Zero, did you get your pistol?"

Tang Xing, of course, knew what Zheng Zha was thinking, so he didn't say anything more. Then, Zero silently took out six pistols from the briefcase behind him, while Zheng Zha took out six hundred spirit bullets from his storage ring. He said seriously, "Don't hurt people indiscriminately. I don't want to be chasing ordinary people while dodging ghosts. Although killing a team member will deduct a thousand reward points... I don't mind tying you up and hanging you upside down in the shadows. I think ghosts might like people who offer no resistance the most."

The three college students who had been excited at the sight of the pistol immediately fell silent. They sat there restlessly with the pistol in their hands, while Qi Teng took the spirit bullet and examined it carefully. After a long while, he suddenly said, "These are ordinary silver bullets, right? But the runes on them look like a combination of oracle bone script and cuneiform script. Uh... maybe so. They look very similar. Oh, right, I remember seeing similar runes on coffins in some tombs."

"You're right. Magic runes and cultivation runes are somewhat similar; they also require a combination of runes to be effective."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zha quickly grabbed his wrist and said, "I've seen similar runes on the coffin too? What does it mean? What's it used for? These are spirit bullets that I exchanged from the 'Main God.' Although they're the cheapest type, they can still attack ghosts and spirits!"

Qi Teng scratched his head and said, "I don't really know what those runes are for either. After all, I'm an appraiser, not a tomb raider. But I've heard some professionals mention that these runes seem to have the function of warding off evil spirits and preventing the owner's corpse from turning into a zombie. Of course, I always thought that was just ancient superstition."

Zheng Zha felt a pang of disappointment, but the words "ward off evil" gave him a sudden inspiration. He quickly took out a stack of talisman papers from his storage ring and said with delight, "I almost forgot about this. Here, one for everyone. This kind of talisman will automatically burn when ghosts or monsters approach. During the burning process, ghosts and monsters cannot attack you. This time is enough for you to escape or call for help. Here, one for everyone."

Zhang Jie and Zhan Lan exchanged a glance, and they both excitedly took out several talisman papers from their respective military backpacks. These were amulets they had redeemed after the first horror movie, but because so many things happened in the second horror movie, they had basically forgotten about them. Although they had put them in their military backpacks as well, if Zheng Zha hadn't reminded them, they probably would have forgotten about these amulets. Undoubtedly, these amulets that could provide early warning were most useful in situations where it was unknown when ghosts or monsters would attack.

Zheng Zha chuckled and patted Qi Teng on the shoulder, saying, "Thanks for reminding me. Since there are runes in the real world that can subdue ghosts, why can't there be runes in this horror movie world? Those temples can't just be for show, can they? Hahaha, maybe we can even learn some Taoist spells or incantations. Doesn't the 'Main God' offer these techniques for exchange?"

"Alright! This afternoon we'll go to those temples... to find hope of defeating Ju-on!" (To be continued...)

Chapter 264 Layout

After lunch, the group began to discuss their next move. In addition to going to the temple to find a way to eliminate the curse, it was also very important to continue monitoring the police network. At the same time, Zero suggested that he should find a sniper position nearby. Ming Yanwei wanted to go shopping in the afternoon, and the three college students wanted to protect her.

In short, after those people were removed, only Zheng Zha, Zhang Jie, Zhan Lan, and Qi Tengyi remained. This was completely different from what Zheng Zha had thought. It seemed that everyone had no hope for temples or anything like that, as if they were no longer afraid of any ghosts after having pistols and spirit bullets.

However, after discussing it, only Zheng Zha and the other three were left to search for Buddhist scriptures. The rest of the group had gone to search for hope, as there were no talents left who could help the plot.