It's not that plays are bad, nor is it slandering Shakespeare.
If someone likes a bony figure, why can't others like a slightly plump one, or a tank... *cough*, stop!
In short, to each their own. You watch your high art, I'll binge my soap operas, no one bothers anyone, just enjoy yourselves.
Alright, that's not the point... The point is that there were people in the theater that should have been empty, a few actors on stage, and a sparse audience in the seats. Both actors and audience were frozen in place, unmoving.
Only a few lights were on in the large theater, shadows flickered all around, and with the unmoving people, the scene was incredibly eerie.
A strong stench of decay assailed Mike's nose.
When was the last time he smelled this kind of scent?
It was probably that commission when the cemetery graves were dug up, and he caught the necrophiliac.
Mike frowned, covered his nose, and instinctively took two steps back, while the unmoving people stiffly twisted their necks, their gaze constantly following Mike.
"Rest in peace… Are your coffin lids not holding up?" The lighting was dim, but Mike's eyesight was good. These people, or more accurately, dead people—some had just died, their bodies pale, blue, and purple; some had been dead for a while, white maggots crawling in their empty eye sockets… It felt like Resident Evil.
Another killer?
However, Observation Haki didn't sense any other living people.
But Mike didn't let his guard down, after all, Observation Haki isn't omnipotent; he had missed Reuben just now.
"Awooo!"
More than twenty zombies suddenly roared and lunged at Mike in extremely awkward poses. Scared, he pulled out two guns from his space and decisively fired, blowing off a skull with each shot.
"Damn it, didn't they say the zombies' weakness was their head?" Mike saw a zombie, the part above its upper jaw gone, still lunging forward.
"Motherf*cker!"
The magazines were empty, Mike directly threw away the pistols and pulled out two more from his space—one of the invisible benefits of the space was that as long as the stored guns had magazines, he didn't have to worry about the hassle of reloading.
The system space doesn't provide combat power, but it can enhance combat power, it just depends on how you develop it yourself. It's like in One Piece, there are no trash Devil Fruits, only trash users.
Mike fired while moving around, always maintaining distance. This time he didn't aim for the head, but for the knees.
"I don't care if you're immortal, if your legs are gone, let's see how you run!"
Soon, after Mike emptied four more magazines, the zombies lost their lower legs but still stubbornly used their hands and thighs to crawl towards Mike. Their speed, however, was like a snail compared to before!
So, facing an enemy, not panicking is very important. If you can't kill him, you can cut off his limbs, especially useful when you don't have silver weapons and encounter a Vampire.
Mike waited for a zombie to approach, then noticed something wriggling in its abdominal cavity, and a purplish-black vine suddenly shot towards Mike's face.
"Corpse Vine?"
Mike, maintaining his vigilance, dodged sideways and pulled out a small flame thrower for barbecues from his space—don't ask why precious system space always has barbecue tools, do you understand the World of a foodie?
The seemingly wet purplish-black vine was unexpectedly flammable. The vine thrashed wildly on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames, but it soon stopped moving, burning quietly until it turned to ash.
There was a smell of methane after burning in the air.
"More like an animal than a plant, its weakness is that it's extremely afraid of Fire." Mike looked at the other zombies.
After he took out the flame thrower, these zombies started turning around and crawling in the opposite direction.
"Hehehe, don't run, weren't you enjoying the chase just now? Keep going." Mike held the flame thrower, let out a villainous laugh, and chased after the zombies.
The empty theater was filled with a twisted aura.
One thing Mike didn't expect was that the enemy was very close to him, inside a large potted plant in the theater.
Potted plant?
The killer's alias was "Wizard." The information Winston provided only included the name Wizard and a blurry photo of his back, making him very mysterious. He was said to be proficient in witchcraft and black magic, and was one of the strongest candidates for the Continental Hotel's killers.
The Wizard, whose name was Disk Treepoca, called himself "God of Darkness."
Disk Treepoca was a descendant of the Mayans, living in modern society no different from ordinary people. During a trip, he came to Chichen Itza to pilgrimage to the Kukulkan Pyramid. At the top altar, Disk Treepoca accidentally triggered a mechanism and entered a sci-fi style secret room.
In the secret room, Disk Treepoca found a strange vine plant. This vine danced like a tentacle monster, was photophobic, carnivorous, and especially intelligent towards humans. Curious, Disk Treepoca was parasitized by the vine when he approached it, forming a parasitic relationship.
The vines inside the zombies were offshoots of the main body, and the main body could "resurrect" and control corpses through these offshoots.
Disk Treepoca became a killer, satisfying the vine's appetite while also satisfying his own material desires.
At this moment, Disk Treepoca was more like an active plant than a human, which is why Mike's Observation Haki failed to sense his presence.
The offshoots were constantly being burned to death by Mike, and with each one that died, the main vine became more agitated. The main body was like a queen ant, and the offshoots were like worker ants, responsible for finding food for the queen ant.
Disk Treepoca's body gradually became uncontrollable.
When ordinary people see zombies, regardless of whether they can fight them, they are first terrified, their strength and intelligence plummet, some even forgetting to run or resist, just screaming and waiting for death.
Someone as calm as Mike, then chasing after them, is truly... I strongly recommend seeing a Doctor.
According to Disk Treepoca's thoughts, since the target was difficult to deal with, he should continue to Voldemort and then look for another opportunity.
Apparently, the vine had different ideas. In this parasitic relationship, Disk Treepoca was in a subordinate position and had no choice but to obey.
Sighing, Disk Treepoca suddenly leaped out of the potted plant.
"Tentacle monster?!" Mike was startled; the vines writhing around Disk Treepoca looked terrifying at first glance.
And upon closer inspection… still very terrifying.
Disk Treepoca stared at Mike and sneered, "You wouldn't think I can only fight with these zombies, would you?"
"Who are you?"
"Disk Treepoca."
"???"
"You know the Wizard, right?"
"Oh." Mike suddenly realized. There was too little information about the Wizard, making it difficult to connect the tentacle monster in front of him with the Wizard.
As they spoke, vines coiled around Disk Treepoca, forming a vine armor.
"This vine armor is extremely tough, impervious to blades and bullets. Your guns can't even break its defense, let's see what you do!" Disk Treepoca held two long whips woven from vines, covered in countless sharp thorns. One lash would definitely tear skin and flesh.
Mike said inexplicably, "You're afraid of Fire, right? I have a flame thrower, why use a gun?"
Disk Treepoca: "…"
He brandished two long whips, attacking Mike.
While dodging, Mike used the flame thrower to attack the whips.
Boom!
The vine whips turned into Fire whips.
The main body, as expected, was also flammable.
However, Disk Treepoca did not immediately drop the flaming whips but continued to attack until the flames were about to spread to him.
Disk Treepoca dropped the whips, and the vines writhed, weaving two new ones.
"I can create as many whips as I want, but how much fuel does your flame thrower have left, hahaha!" Disk Treepoca laughed triumphantly, completely lacking the cool demeanor of a movie killer.
"None left." Mike shook the bottle and casually tossed the flame thrower aside.