Chapter 298: The Farmer and the Electricity Thief (Part 5)
On the other side of the farmland, at the slaughterhouse cabin.
Three figures quietly sneaked up to the edge of the outer wall.
"I heard right after all, two Sweepers have appeared here," a limping man said.
"How could this happen! We really won't be able to get out this time," another man wearing glasses spoke tremblingly.
"Let's hurry up and leave! No matter who is being chased over there, they're dead for sure," the last person, a woman dressed as a nun, said.
At this moment, sharp shrieks occasionally came from the distance. Their locations were erratic, making it impossible to determine the Sweepers' exact positions.
The limping man clenched his fists: "We have to go over."
"Are you crazy!"
The other two both widened their eyes.
"Today is already the third day since we came in, but still not a single generator has been lit. If this continues, everyone will die," the limping man said.
"And there is very likely a turning point ahead."
The bespectacled man looked confused: "Being chased by two Sweepers, how is that a turning point..."
But the limping man shook his head: "I've seen a scene like this in another area before."
The two companions looked at each other, both having their curiosity piqued.
The limping man continued: "At the time, we were following an Archbishop. That Excellency had already lit two generators and was preparing to head to the last one when two Sweepers appeared..."
He looked at his companions: "Although the process was somewhat tortuous, we ultimately escaped."
"At that time, that Archbishop deduced that when these Sweepers are at a disadvantage, a situation like this is very likely to occur."
"But..." the bespectacled man was still a bit hesitant, "We've all already been on the iron hook twice. Once we're caught..."
"As long as we're careful. Besides, there are others attracting their attention right now." The limping man didn't intend to give up.
Ultimately, the two companions were persuaded by him, so the three continued to sneak forward.
Thump-thump... Thump-thump...
With every bit of distance they moved forward, the heartbeat in their ears would speed up.
The dim moonlight could only illuminate the dirt path under their feet, and the dense patches of cornstalks confused people's sense of direction.
But the most oppressive thing was still that erratic shrieking, which seemed like it could appear right beside them at any moment.
"As long as we find those people and cooperate with them, we might be able to get out..." The limping man tried hard to calm his breathing.
After another shriek, the heartbeat in the three's ears abruptly became urgent.
At the same time, a glaring red light spilled onto the ground.
The three slowly raised their heads, only to see a sharp blade stained with blood and filth.
"Ahhhhh—"
William suddenly raised his head, judging the direction of the voice.
"It's quite a distance away. Is it Austin and the others...?"
After confirming the Butcher wasn't nearby, he stood up again.
Just now, taking advantage of Ruen luring the monsters away, William immediately went to the iron hook and dragged Vera away.
At this moment, this nun's clothes were torn, she had multiple wounds on her body, and she was in an extremely weak state.
"Save... save Ruen, I beg... you." She gripped William's arm tightly.
"Don't worry, he got hooked on purpose. He won't die in the short term," William said.
Cough, cough...
The nun immediately spat out a mouthful of fresh blood; obviously, this kind of comfort had the opposite effect.
"Father William?"
At this time, two people emerged from the cornstalks; it was Austin and his companion.
The conditions of the two weren't great either. The former had a very deep wound on his shoulder, and the latter was injured in the leg.
"Was it really you who found the holy artifact?" Austin's tone was surprised.
He had also witnessed Vera being hacked down just now.
William immediately told the two about the effects of [Fellow Traveler].
"It's actually a Tier 3 ability!" Austin opened his mouth wide.
William looked puzzled: "Tier 3 means..."
Only then did Austin begin to explain.
It turned out the abilities obtained after inserting holy artifacts also varied in quality. Generally, for holy artifacts below twenty-year quality, the stone seal would display a yellow pattern.
These were all Tier 1 abilities.
Although they all had unique effects, either their duration wasn't long, or their effects were limited. It was very difficult to gain an advantage in confronting the Sweepers with them.
Twenty to fifty-year vintages corresponded to green. Compared to the former, these abilities were much more practical and could be called excellent.
If a holy artifact over fifty years vintage was inserted, one would obtain a Tier 3 ability, which was the purple stone seal William had acquired.
Only this category of abilities could truly cause trouble for the Sweepers, and they were also what many trapped people relied on to survive.
But the last type was equally difficult to find, and the holy artifacts over fifty years vintage existing in each area were extremely limited.
William nodded: "Regardless, these abilities are ultimately to let us escape."
"Father William is right. Right now, Father Ruen can still hold on for a while. We have to rescue Dylan first," Austin agreed.
"But your injuries..." William looked at the two of them.
"You don't need to worry about that." Austin took a medkit out of his pocket as he spoke and used the gauze inside to bandage his wound.
Then, under William's surprised gaze, the injuries of the two actually recovered just like that.
"This is also a rule of this space," Austin explained.
"Aside from specific healing abilities, if you find these medical supplies in wooden chests, you can also treat wounds, and the speed is extremely fast."
Wooden chests existed in every area, containing items helpful to survivors.
"This place is really..." William was indeed a bit surprised.
The rules of this space were simply too deliberate, as if specifically designed for this slaughter.
But now that both had recovered, the success rate of the rescue operation naturally increased a lot.
During this time, a few more survivors returned, Lynn being one of them. This nun had only suffered a minor injury and had now recovered.
"Everyone, if we want to rescue Dylan and Ruen, someone must go and attract the attention of the two Sweepers..." Austin looked around.
The air fell quiet for a while.
The danger of this job was unquestionable.
Furthermore, after saving them, one still had to buy time for them to get away, as well as maximize the use of the [Fellow Traveler] effect...
In short, the bait had to stall for a sufficiently long time, and there was no room for any mistakes halfway through.
Austin looked at the silent crowd. After a moment, he planned to volunteer himself.
"I'll go," William suddenly spoke up.
"Currently, I'm the only one who hasn't been on the iron hook, and I also have experience stalling Sweepers. Letting me go is the most logical choice."
"Father William, you..." Austin's gaze was somewhat moved.
That was true, but once on the hook, it meant being passive, only able to place all hope on one's companions, and saving people meant risking one's life...
Austin had already seen too many lessons of human nature.
"Have you... really thought it through?"
"Let's start the operation. They won't be able to hold on for much longer," William nodded.
As soon as his voice fell, the others present secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, no one was truly willing to proactively court death.
After agreeing on the specific plan, William slipped out of the place where the few were hiding.
Before leaving, Austin also gave him a flashlight, which was said to be able to make the Sweeper lose its vision for a short time.
William looked around. That Nurse Butcher didn't seem to be nearby, so he decided to head to Dylan's location first.
On the other side.
Huff... Hah...
Ruen panted heavily, fresh blood dripping from beneath his feet.
"One is wandering aimlessly, two are watching from the side. These guys... can they, hiss... can they do something useful..."
He complained inwardly, using this method to lessen his focus on the pain.
"William is still the most reliable..."
At this time, Ruen's vision suddenly blurred.
He was instantly startled, thinking he had reached the verge of death.
But he quickly realized that his perspective had changed.
"This handsome face... seems to be me... Why has my consciousness left my body again!"
Ruen hurriedly looked down and sure enough, he found himself in a spirit body form.
This situation had already occurred many times at the Miso Cathedral, but every time it would attract quite a few evil spirits.
He originally thought that with the restrictions of this space, this situation would be somewhat alleviated, but right now it had relapsed again.
Just as Ruen was at a loss, he suddenly heard a voice in his ear. "Come to me."
At the same time, beside a harvester.
"Ugh ah—"
Dylan's face was ferocious, using his hands to desperately resist the sharp object in front of his chest.
This thing was pitch black, like a spider's joint, and derived exactly from the vortex of evil aura above his head.
He knew very well that once he let go, this thing would pierce through his body.
At that time, his soul would also be sent into the vortex through this thing, becoming a permanent slave of the evil spirit.
And Bubba the Butcher still stood straight in front of him without making any moves. "Is it... truly inescapable this time."
Despair flashed in Dylan's eyes, and a woman with a beautiful face appeared before his eyes.
"Winnie."
In a corner he hadn't noticed, William had already sneaked close.
"According to what Austin said, this harvester is also a special terrain, and there's a campsite not far away..."
He quickly thought out an evacuation route in his mind.
Subsequently, William waited no longer, quietly creeping out from the tall grass.
One step.
Two steps.
The heartbeat in his ears was already nearing madness, but he still maintained his composure.
Finally, William arrived behind Bubba the Butcher.
He glanced at the other party's waist area, then took the flashlight out of his pocket.
Dylan also spotted his figure, his eyes instantly lighting up.
But this action was exactly caught by Bubba, and the latter discovered the anomaly beside him.
Just at this moment, a strong beam of light shone into its eyes.
Bubba the Butcher let out a muffled grunt, forced to use his arm to block his eyes.
Seeing that this thing worked, William didn't leave immediately, but reached out to feel around the Butcher's waist.
Sticky, slippery, cold...
After experiencing a terrible tactile sensation, William felt an object.
"Just as I thought!"
An amulet appeared in his hand.
This holy relic emitted a golden light, and its interior also contained over a hundred years' vintage of Holy Power.
Previously, when lighting up the generator for the first time, William had briefly activated [Missionary].
Relying on the ability's effect, he had discovered the anomaly on the Sweeper at that time.
Dazzling golden spirit threads; this was a characteristic unique to hundred-year vintage holy relics.
"Hiding in plain sight, huh... truly a sick sense of humor." William narrowed his eyes.
Who would have thought that the very thing capable of letting survivors leave this area was placed right on the monsters threatening their lives.
"Since I actually got it, then the plan can indeed undergo some changes..."
Thinking of this, William shone the flashlight at Bubba the Butcher again, while also jabbing his finger fiercely at the other party.
After doing all this, he immediately took a wide loop and ran back the way he came.
Vrrrr—
The roaring sound of the chainsaw quickly resounded behind him.
Before long, William passed by a haystack, just happening to bump into the Nurse strangling a man's neck.
The other party's eyes were rolled back, and his glasses had dropped to the ground; obviously, he had been dead for some time.
There were two other corpses beside him, both having lost their breath.
William frowned.
He had heard Austin say that if a person had already been on the iron hook twice, then when this person was downed again, the Sweeper could directly execute them.
During this process, there was no room for rescue, and the deceased's soul would also be directly devoured.
"It seems these three were all in this situation..."
William's gaze was complex as he casually flashed the flashlight at that monster.
Crack!
The Nurse Butcher instantly twisted its head around, its scarlet gaze staring dead at him.
William didn't waste this opportunity, immediately jabbing his index finger at the other party.
A moment later, a sharp shriek echoed in the night sky.
Hearing this sound, William immediately changed direction.
Immediately after, sure enough, a black shadow flashed past his eyes.
Next, he changed direction three times in a row—Winnie's lesson was always kept in mind.
And that black shadow also dashed through three times consecutively.
Finally, a blood-stained sharp blade hacked into a rock, and the Nurse Butcher also exhibited a noticeable pause.
"It seems this is the rule of its ability." William merely glanced back and continued moving forward.
When he first encountered this monster earlier, the other party dashed right past him, and he had discovered the anomaly back then.
"This teleportation-like ability seems to only go in a straight line. If it wants to change direction midway, it has to charge up again, but this ability can only be used three times consecutively..."
William summarized the pattern.
Not long after, the sharp shriek sounded again, and at the same time, the chainsaw sound also appeared in the rear.
Two heartbeats overlapped together; even William was slightly nervous.
But the destination was not far away.
He looked around; besides the generator sparking with electricity, the eye-catching yellow figures had already disappeared.
It seemed Austin and the others had rescued Ruen.
Thump-thump... Thump-thump...
In just this brief moment, the glaring red light reflected off the cornstalks again.
William didn't dare to delay, immediately arriving beside the generator.
In the time it took to put the holy artifact into the groove, he had already seen Bubba the Butcher's human skin mask, and at the same time, the Nurse monster also turned into a mass of black shadow and pounced over.
Click-clack—
Accompanied by a crisp sound of gears and latches, the four light bulbs at the top instantly lit up.
And the sharp blade and chainsaw also successively hacked into the spot where William was standing.
But before that, he had already retreated and left, long having dived into the cornfield during this brief window.
He didn't wait for a new stone seal to drop.
Because Austin had said—when the generator stays constantly lit, no more "abilities" will appear, replaced by another kind of reward.
William looked around.
At this moment, in his perspective, the surrounding environment was entirely composed of spirit threads, and the two black shadows behind him were filled with evil aura.
Further away, there were some human figures composed of spirit threads moving; even through obstacles, they could be seen clearly.
These were exactly the abilities of [Missionary].
"When a hundred-year vintage holy artifact is inserted, you can permanently restore your power before leaving this area." William's eyes flickered.
Although for other Holy Clergy Members, restoring power meant everything.
But William had mastered too many Holy Arts, and the hundred-year vintage holy artifact could only allow him to choose one type of power among them.
Under the rushed decision, he could only choose the more comprehensive [Missionary].
But even so, the function of this ability far exceeded other Holy Arts.
William looked into the distance.
At this time, this area no longer held any secrets for him; the lost holy artifacts buried in the ground were as dazzling as starlight.
But most of their qualities were very low.
And there were only four that reached the hundred-year vintage. Two of them were still in very distant locations, another was buried in the ground nearby, and the closest one was on the Nurse Butcher.
In addition, William also saw the locations of the other generators; one of them was right next to the gate.
He glanced behind him and quickly had an idea.
When the shriek sounded once again, William proactively charged towards that black shadow.
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