Alien Species Invasion? I Kill Them Back.

Chapter 95: Chapter 93: Card-Drawing Game

Feng Ling’s main purpose for entering the Maze was to find the Divine Statue.

She had been mentally prepared to live in the Maze for ten days to half a month for this, but unexpectedly, she found it on just the second day.

She arrived before the Divine Statue—

A simple stone bench, a square stone table, and attached to the table was a round, cartoon smiley-face head.

That was the entirety of the Divine Statue.

Its texture was ancient and weathered, yet its design was modern and avant-garde.

She set down her axe, sat on the stone bench, and noticed the table legs were covered in slippery green moss. A few thin mushrooms were even growing in a corner.

’What do I do now?’

’Is there some kind of mechanism I need to trigger?’

Feng Ling raised her hands and tried feeling around the tabletop, thinking she might find a hidden button or something similar.

When her fingertips touched the table, a layer of light suddenly appeared on its surface. Then, a virtual screen the same size as the tabletop slowly materialized.

The cartoon smiley face across the table came to life, winking and making faces at her.

Feng Ling watched the smiley face, her eyes wide with a hint of surprise.

The smiley face spoke. "Want to play a card-drawing game with me? I’m so happy, but I only draw once."

’What?’

Feng Ling froze for a moment. ’A card-drawing game? What’s that? Just hurry up and lower my Pollution Value!’

At that moment, a set of Cards appeared on the virtual screen:

[Nest → Mantis, Killing Bee, Ghost Jellyfish, Red Ghost Centipede, Red Ghost Centipede, Red Ghost Centipede, Red Ghost Centipede, Red Ghost Centipede, Red Ghost Centipede, Red Ghost Centipede, Bat, Mirror Salamander.]

There were so many Cards that they had to be displayed in two rows.

Above this set of Cards, two empty frames, identical in size and shape to the Cards, appeared. They blinked continuously, prompting her to place her own Cards into them.

The smiley face said again, "But I only draw once."

Feng Ling: "..."

She understood.

She had to choose two Cards from her deck and place them in the empty frames. Then, the smiley face would randomly draw one, and whichever Card it drew, it would take away that Card’s Pollution Value.

After figuring it out, Feng Ling didn’t move for a long time.

And she really wanted to curse someone out.

’This stupid game is deliberately designed to make people suffer! Making you play a card-drawing game just to lower your Pollution Value, betting on a 50% chance... no wonder Huangfu Miaomiao resents the game so much.’

’Now I’m filled with resentment, too!’

’A massive amount of it!’

Perhaps because she had been still for too long, Pei Xianjue couldn’t help but ask, "Hey, are you all right?"

Feng Ling took a deep breath, looked up at Pei Xianjue, and gave her a terrifying smile. "I’m fine..."

Pei Xianjue frowned suspiciously. "Then... did your Pollution Value go down?"

Pei Xianjue couldn’t see the virtual screen; she could only see Feng Ling sitting at the stone table in a daze.

"It’ll be a little while longer," Feng Ling replied.

She looked back at her deck of Cards, trying to calm herself...

’What’s the best move now?’

First, without a doubt, the Mirror Salamander had to go into one of the frames.

The key was which Card to choose for the second slot.

She had to pick the least valuable Card she could. That way, even if the smiley face drew that Card, her abilities wouldn’t be significantly weakened.

The Mantis gave her the Bone Blade, the Killing Bee gave her a marking ability, the Ghost Jellyfish was usually useless but its underwater transparency had saved her life once, the bat let her eyes adjust to the dark, and the Centipede gave her four extra appendages with Teeth and Claws, which were very convenient in a fight.

Feng Ling thought it over and over, and chose the Centipede.

She had seven Centipede Cards, so losing one probably wouldn’t have a big impact.

She slowly exhaled and placed a Centipede Card into a frame.

’I hope the Divine Statue knows what’s good for it—pick the Mirror Salamander!!!’

The smiley face said, "Wow, these are two very nice Cards. Are you sure you want to play the card-drawing game? Want to choose again?"

Two options appeared on the virtual screen:

[Confirm Draw]

[Choose Again]

Feng Ling tapped [Confirm Draw].

A flash of white light shot across the two frames holding the Cards.

After the white light vanished, only one Centipede Card remained in the frames. The Mirror Salamander was gone.

[Card deck slightly weakened. Pollution Value: 15%.]

Feng Ling let out a huge sigh of relief!

’This game really messes with your head. I was just starting to wonder what I’d do if it had drawn the Centipede Card!’

[You are the Origin of Life, you are the Mother of the World. You possess a powerful physique and an endless wellspring of strength. As long as a flicker of life remains, you are nearly impossible to kill.]

Feng Ling: "???"

’What’s going on? Why did my advanced Skill disappear?’

’I don’t think I can build a Nest anymore?’

Feng Ling immediately looked at the Cat Spider and Cat Owl beside her—

Thankfully, the two life forms hatched by the Nest were still there and unaffected, but when she focused on her own senses, she could feel that she had indeed lost the ability to build a Nest.

Feng Ling’s expression turned ugly.

’Just one missing Mirror Salamander Card, and my deck’s growth falls short by that tiny little bit... I can’t believe I can’t build a Nest anymore.’

Her face dark, she rose from the stone bench. As she looked up, she noticed Huangfu Miaomiao and Li Qing were both staring at the top of her head.

"What are you looking at?" she asked with a frown.

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

Li Qing: "..."

’How should we put this...’

They had just seen the red text above Feng Ling’s head change.

Before, it was: Hidden Boss (Sub-adult)

Now, it was: Hidden Boss (Juvenile)

Obviously, Feng Ling’s card deck had just been weakened.

It couldn’t be helped. When the Divine Statue drew a Card, it didn’t just take away the Pollution Value; it also removed the beneficial effects of that Card.

Even if the Mirror Salamander only provided a 0.1 boost to Feng Ling’s deck, perhaps that 0.1 was exactly what she was missing.

Feng Ling, completely unaware of Huangfu Miaomiao and Li Qing’s thoughts, asked them, "Do you guys want to give it a try?"

Li Qing refused. "I don’t need to. A Maze Administrator’s deck is fixed. It can’t be upgraded or assimilated, so there’s no issue with Pollution Value."

Huangfu Miaomiao and Pei Xianjue also shook their heads.

They had both only assimilated one Card each and weren’t troubled by Pollution Value.

"Alrighty then~" Feng Ling raised a hand and patted the smiley face on the stone table. "My purpose for entering the Maze is now complete. Next up is what you all want to do."

Pei Xianjue said immediately, "I need to find Hero."

Huangfu Miaomiao said, "I want to earn points."

Li Qing’s expression was stiff as he pulled at the corners of his mouth and said, "Stay alive."

Feng Ling looked around. "Let’s make a plan then... First, we’ll look around the village and try to find the injured Liang Haohan. There are quite a few foxes here, so we can pick off any stragglers for practice. At the same time, we’ll find an empty house for the Daoist to hide in."

The three of them listened without speaking, their expressions all subtly similar.

’That plan is so casual it’s barely a plan at all.’

Feng Ling then added thoughtfully, "It’s strange. The footprints clearly led to this village, but we haven’t seen him since we entered, nor have we found any bloodstains. It’d be great if we had a dog."

’Zhou Diao’s dog-like nose would be really useful right now.’

"Let’s go. We’ll scout the area first." Feng Ling picked up her axe and walked off in a random direction.

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