Chapter 104 - Cola

Chapter 104: Chapter 101: ColaFacing the rebels, the villa’s mechanical arms immediately retracted the camera and microphone, transforming into various weapons.

Harley levitated off the ground, her hair wildly dancing without any wind, her fingertips flickering with lightning arcs. As she clenched her fists, intense lightning radiated around her, even the stray electric arcs were enough to scorch the wood beneath her feet into patterns like tree rings.

"Holy shit, Misaka Mikoto!"

The blinding electric light was piercing. Li Cheng, with his left hand grabbing Little Red Riding Hood, pulled out the Bat Hook Claw Gun in his right hand and fired it backward.

Bang!

The Hook Gun embedded in the wall, pulling them both quickly backward, away from the living room.

The thunderstorm lasted several seconds, and when the electric light faded, the entire living room was in shambles. The piano, coffee table, and chairs were shattered on the ground.

As the main culprit behind Harley’s elimination, Will was struck by lightning in retaliation, his chest clothes burst open, with dark lightning burn marks left on his skin, he was kneeling on the ground in agony.

In front of Annie hovered a pink Crystal Shield, which blocked most of the electricity directly in front of her, but outside the shield, her limbs were still struck by lightning. Especially her palms and fingers were nearly burnt to a crisp.

Out of the twelve mechanical arms in the living room, six were destroyed by the thunderstorm, and the remaining six pierced through the newly opened hole in the ceiling and stabbed straight into the sky. Specifically, they impaled Harley, who attempted to transform into a lightning being and flee.

Drip.

Blood trickled down the metallic grooves of the mechanical arms, eventually dropping to the ground.

Harley hovered ten meters above the villa, her body impaled by several mechanical spears, her head slowly drooping, her eyes gradually losing focus, and the images of her twin babies crying for food at home involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

In the real world, she was just an ordinary single mother. Impregnated at a young age, abandoned by a jerk, became a stripper, stabbed a night manager who had ill intentions with a knife, became a player, and was then recruited by the FBI... Her life was always a blur, pushed along by the people around her.

She couldn’t escape it after all...

With a light flick, the mechanical arm tossed Harley’s body into the darkness like discarding a rag doll.

While the others were still immersed in shock, Li Cheng was the first to recover, pulling out a Nuclear Energy Lighter from his Backpack, setting it to level four, and placing it in the groove of the Bat Hook Claw Gun.

The Nuclear Energy Lighter had five levels; level one was similar to an Ordinary lighter, level two was like a butane torch used for outdoor barbecues, level three was like an oxy-acetylene cutter capable of slicing through steel plates and coils.

Level four was akin to a military Flame Sprayer.

Li Cheng held the Bat Gun, aimed at the large hole in the ceiling, and pulled the trigger.

The Hook Claw shot out, carrying the Nuclear Energy Lighter out of the villa. The tiny lighter emitted a narrow flame column, illuminating the night.

Above the villa, there was no night sky but sections of LCD panels pieced together. These panels were welded under a steel frame, interspersed with sprinklers and speakers. It somewhat resembled a Hollywood studio set.

As the Hook Gun reached its zenith, its kinetic energy exhausted, it began to fall back down due to gravity, and dropped back into the villa through the large hole in the ceiling.

With quick reflexes, Li Cheng caught the lighter and closed the metal lid, turning off the fierce flame—whatever material was used for this lighter, the metal casing was still cold, not heated at all by the flame.

"Cough cough, damn it..."

Half-kneeling, Will struggled to stand up using the ground, not caring about the wound on his chest, drew a pistol and was about to shoot at Annie.

"Stop!" Leonardo forcefully twisted Will’s wrist upward, displacing the gun muzzle. The ricocheting bullet grazed over Annie’s head and hit the wall.

"What are you stopping me for?"

Will roared angrily: "This woman will sooner or later get us all killed. Or are you in cahoots with her?"

"The reality show still has several segments left. Killing her now would mean losing a slot for a ’scapegoat’."

Leonardo said calmly, "Besides, there’s also that thing."

He tilted his chin toward the ceiling. Unbeknownst to them, the mechanical arms had descended again, their sharp metallic spear tips pointing at everyone in the room, issuing a silent threat.

Buzzing—

The tracks installed elsewhere in the villa also emitted the sound of servo motors operating, transporting mechanical arms into the living room. Some were repairing damage, others refurbishing the house.

Will clenched his teeth, his expression extremely ugly, but eventually, he put down the handgun and glared fiercely at Annie, "Next round, she must die."

"Getting anxious now? I thought there was actual emotion between us. Breaking up right after dancing, what a scumbag."

Annie stood up straight, put away the crystal shield in front of her, seductively shook her head while pulling out an ointment from the Backpack, and wiped her scorched fingers.

Will ignored her and turned to leave, heading back to his room to tend to his wounds.

"Is that all it takes to be called a scumbag? At the very least, you should say something like ’If that’s what you think, then so be it. If you want to think that way, I can’t help it. Leaving the facts aside, she and I are just friends. I’ve already apologized, what more do you want? Those aren’t strawberry marks, they are mosquito bites...’ to be on point."

Li Cheng muttered casually, staring through the big hole in the ceiling at the dome that had once again plunged into darkness.

From the high LCD panels, sprinklers, and speakers, it was evident that this place was not an empty wilderness but rather a massive film studio resembling The Truman Show.

The studio covered the entire villa, and when necessary, could spray water using sprinklers to imitate rain, combined with sound systems and other devices to simulate external weather conditions.

The question was, why.

Why set up an enclosed space, preventing those inside the villa from seeing the outside world?

Could it be that this place was actually in outer space, on the surface of an alien planet, or that the weather system of a wasteland had been severely damaged, spewing only deadly acid rain from the clouds?

Moreover, what were those roars of mutated creatures outside the villa about?

These questions remained unanswered for now as the mechanical arms swiftly repaired and filled the hole in the ceiling.

A thought occurred to Li Cheng, and he quietly asked Little Red Riding Hood, "Did you bring..."

He deliberately lowered his voice so the other players could not hear clearly. Little Red Riding Hood looked surprised but nodded her head.

"Good, help me prepare some tables and chairs."

Li Cheng gave a few instructions and then strutted towards the kitchen, opening the fridge.

Perhaps for the sake of giving sponsors airtime, the fridge’s chill section was stocked with many empty bottles of Nuclear Cola in different flavors. Beyond the classic original, there were quantum flavor, cherry, lemon, and vanilla.

Generally, players rarely consume food or beverages from the world of the script. Partly due to concerns about not acclimating well and partly due to fears that the worldview of Otherworld might differ, infusing food and drinks with peculiar substances.

There had been incidents, like a Level 15 player who, driven by gluttony, ate recklessly in the world of the script, leading to severe diarrhea, and while squatting on the toilet had been struck down by a missile.

Therefore, players usually stored compressed biscuits, energy bars, and other emergency food in their Backpack.

Those who could, would also keep lovingly prepared packed meals by their wives/husbands/sons/daughters.

Li Cheng took out a cola, carefully scanned the ingredient list.

Water, fructose syrup, white sugar, food additives (carbon dioxide, caramel color, phosphoric acid, caffeine, sodium citrate, strontium isotopes, dimethyl sulfoxide...)

And there it was.