I Have A Super USB Drive

by <unknown>

  It was at this moment when a bellowing howl came from somewhere in the jungle drowned under the dark sky. It was quickly accompanied by a blood-curdling scream. Everyone quickly turned to look at the mass of darkness in the jungle. A fear of the unknown surfaced in their eyes as they did so.

  There was no mistaking it, someone ran into the "Tyrant" monsters again…

  Chapter 345: Killer |

  It was a horrific cry full of pain and terror. Fisher immediately snapped toward the direction where it came from, his expression turning sour immediately.

  Unless he was mistaken, the voice should belong to a subordinate that had been with him for a long time before this. It was just the first night and he had already lost one of his members.

  After hearing the man's scream, the safe zone rose into a great clamor. Dozens of people who were gathering resources on the edges of the safe zone immediately retreated as fast as they could. Even after entering the safe zone, they continued pressing toward the middle.

  Both the howl of the monster and the scream of its victim sounded like it came from somewhere close by. This meant that the massacre everyone heard only took place several ten or twenty meters away from where they stood.

  "The monster has arrived here to hunt us down!"

  "Don't panic, this is the safe zone. According to the rules, the monster shouldn't be allowed to come inside!"

  "Are you sure about that?"

  The situation spiraled out of control quickly. Everyone rushed toward the direction of the spire in fear of the giant monster leaping out of the darkness to claim its victim.

  Fortunately, no monsters made their way into the vicinity of the safe zone in the end. The blood-curdling scream had passed and all that remained was the desolate silence in the nightmarish jungle.

  Regardless, nobody dared to approach the deeper parts of the jungle anymore. Due to the previous commotion, everyone was gathered together now. They silently looked on together as the scarlet-red hue of the sky dissolved into a solid patch of dark indigo.

  After some more time had passed, the island was plunged into a pit of darkness. Even after night had fallen, there was still the occasional survivor trudging their way through the jungle and into the safe zone.

  Most of the new arrivals were the environmentalists. After stepping foot into the safe zone, their legs gave up on them and they crumbled lifelessly onto the ground. Surely enough, they had exhausted every ounce of strength they had in them just to get here.

  "Help them."

  Fisher thought about it for a moment before giving the order to save their lives. Torches were prepared for them as well as a small portion of food to supplement them.

  However, their food reserve was exhausted quickly, so all they could do was treat their wounds as best as they could and prepare a place for them by the fire.

  Fisher and his crew continued laboring away until the following dawn. By then, there were more than four hundred survivors gathered in the safe zone, significantly more than there were just last evening.

  Amid their laborious effort, none of them had noticed the dozens of invisible drones patrolling above them all this time, recording and taking pictures of all their activities.

  "Impressive leadership qualities. His swift decision-making abilities allowed him to quickly reestablish himself as the core of this group."

  While everything was going on on the surface, there were several scientists huddled together just twenty meters below their feet. They observed the group of survivors from an array of hundreds of displays. One of the displays showed a close-up highlight of Fisher's face.

  Professor Erickson who was in charge of psychology studies reflected thoughtfully. "Exactly what you'd expect from an elite coming out of a family of a powerful financial group. No matter where he goes, it's only second nature for him to prime himself to excel as a leader."

  "That's true, but it's a shame that most people here would still hold a grudge for him since he's the one responsible for putting them into their current predicament."

  Adenauer nodded before turning to Yoru Kamidera next to him. "Mr. Consultant, is this the experiment that Mr. Chen Chen spoke of? A social experiment of survival on a deserted island?"

  "Of course not."

  Yoru Kamidera shook his head. A sheet of shadow met his eyes as he said this, "We're just getting started. The real show begins when people start sacrificing themselves to light up the signal tower.

  "That's when the nightmare truly begins…"

  …

  None of Fisher or any of the others knew that all of their activities were being closely monitored by a crew of scientists in a laboratory just roughly twenty meters below where they stood. As it was, they had no choice but to head into the deeper parts of the forest to alleviate their food and water shortage issue. The people who remained in the safe zone were in charge of cutting down the trees along the edges of the safe zone. The branches served them as firewood while the trunks were used to craft tools and make containers for water.

  Even the mercenaries who were glaring at Fisher with dark animosity had joined in as well. After all, humans were inherently social animals and many of them had accepted the fact that being a lone wolf was not going to cut it in this place.

  Perhaps a guardian angel was watching over them as for the entire day that followed, not a single person ran into the tyrant-like monstrosities. On top of that, they managed to rescue more than dozens of people who were stuck in the jungle, effectively bolstering their numbers to more than five hundred.

  As for the ones who were not found yet, everyone more or less knew what happened to them.

  The next day, before darkness had fallen, everyone quickly retreated to the ring of the safe zone. Piles of bonfires were set up as they started to cook the food they had gathered during the day. This included all sorts of fungus, berries, and the occasional game like squirrels and bird eggs.

  While Fisher was perched by the campfire and eating his food while plotting their way out in his mind, he overheard the conversation between two people nearby.

  "Hey, buddy, where did the 'butchers' go today?"

  "Butcher?"

  "I meant the monsters with giant pale hands like tyrants. Didn't you notice that everything we're doing now is extremely similar to the game Dead by Daylight?"

  Fisher suddenly perked up when he overheard their conversation. He immediately went toward them and asked in a whispered, urgent tone, "Please tell me the clear details of the rules of Dead by Daylight!"

  The two of them were startled when they saw Fisher suddenly arriving, one of the men still abided and started to explain it for Fisher.

  "Mr. Fisher, the players in Dead by Daylight are separated into two camps, which are the survivors and the butchers. Right now, we're the survivors while the monsters are the butchers hunting down the survivors. This makes the signal towers the generators inside the game. Inside the game, survivors can open the gate to their salvation if they manage to repair a certain number of generators. Then they get to escape from the place and the pursuit of the butchers.

  "Each survivor in the game has different skills, just like how there are many types of butchers as well. The butchers used to be human but had become corrupted and turned into evil spirits due to a multitude of factors. They keep the humans as hostages in the world they created so they can enjoy the excitement of the hunt and torture.

  "The most harrowing fact in all of this is that it doesn't matter whether the survivors successfully repair the generators and escape through the door or get hunted down by the butcher. One way or another, they'll end up in the same place, the bonfire on the title screen of the game. Everything that just happened becomes like a distant dream as they get hunted down again, get killed again and escape again. It never ends…"

  For some reason, he could not place a chilling bite of anger risen in his heart when he heard this. "It's an infinite loop?"

  "Yes, that's the dark premise of this game because accor
ding to the setting of the game, the evil spirits are doing this to collect the human's 'hope'…"

  Chapter 346: Unity and Illumination |

  "Death isn't an escape…"

  When he heard the tagline of the game from the other person's lips, Fisher felt an indescribable chill consuming him.

  According to him, this phrase is the central theme of the game. If Dead by Daylight was the hint Fisher had unraveled, could this mean that the central theme of the game was Chen Chen's underlying motivation?

  This meant that the plan never was to let them go…

  When Fisher thought of this prospect, he felt his entire body collapsing on him as an overwhelming sense of despair took over. He sat on the ground with a thousand-yard stare. He wanted nothing more than to directly escape this island.

  It was merely a momentary thought. He was well aware that his odds of successfully crossing the Atlantic Ocean without any proper equipment was abysmal at best. He was better off hoping that Blacklight Biotechnology found the goodness in their heart to let him go.

  "Mr. Fisher?"

  While Fisher was still petrified by this thought, he suddenly heard Jennifer's voice coming from beside him.

  Fisher turned around and saw Jennifer approaching with the other blonde lady as well as several members of the Environmental Protection Association. There was a steel-forged look of determination in their eyes.

  "You guys…"

  Before they even said anything, Fisher knew what they were thinking.

  It looked like they were planning to sacrifice themselves to light up the signal towers.

  Jennifer quickly announced solemnly, "Mr. Fisher, myself, Anthony, Walton, and the others would like to volunteer to become the first group to light up the signal towers."

  Fisher smiled bitterly when he heard this. He wanted to tell them about his speculation but stopped himself from saying it.

  Although he had an idea that Blacklight Biotechnology was probably not going to let him off the hook, the tiny strand of hope he had left forbade him from saying something potentially despondent.

  Besides, having the two women here made things a lot more difficult than they needed to be. They were the only two women here on the island and the mercenaries have had their eyes on them since the very beginning. Unless he could come up with a solution in time, they were going to be the spark to the confrontation between himself and the band of mercenaries.

  When he thought of this, Fisher suddenly shut his eyes, clearly dealing with his inner conflict. "Perhaps there's still some other solution…"

  "We don't have any other solution left."

  Jennifer shook her head, her expression was still calm. "This evil company wants to test our self-sacrificial spirit and mock us with it. In that case, we'll prove ourselves with actual actions."

  As she said this, she looked at the people around them who were either sitting or lying down. She announced at the top of her voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jennifer. I'm sure most of you know who I am when you joined White Embers. What I'm trying to say here is faith and honor, bravery and freedom… How much are you going to pay for these attributes that are essential to a human's character?"

  When they heard what Jennifer said, they turned to look with an ongoing numb expression on their faces at the hardy blonde-haired lady.

  "Life is an invaluable object. However, when we humans live in this world, certain things are more important than life itself such as belief and freedom!"

  Arriving at this mention, Jennifer started to look around into pairs of dark emotionless eyes staring back at her. "They want to toy with our resolution, challenge our belief. It's for this reason that we should be ever more united instead of guarding ourselves against one another and be viewed as a joke!"

  As Jennifer delivered her speech, more people started to approach and formed a ring with Jennifer at its center.

  "Today, we'll be the first batch of volunteers to light up the signal towers. I know there are not a lot of us but believe me, after we begin this venture, more people will join our cause and sacrifice themselves along with us so that the remaining three hundred can survive and make it out of here!

  "They'll carry with them our collective wrath and exact revenge on this vile corporation!"

  "Revenge!"

  "Revenge!"

  "Revenge!"

  They roared ceaselessly.

  …

  With Jennifer's impromptu speech, a torch was lit in many people's eyes. In just several minutes, more than thirty people stepped out from the crowd and motioned to join the group and sacrifice themself to light up the signal towers.

  Seeing this further inspired passion in the gathered flock. Fisher felt compelled to step forward and stand beside Jennifer to announce, "Everyone, we must be grateful for this group who volunteers to sacrifice themselves for us. But please don't forget that inside that harrowing jungle are five monsters trying to hunt us down. Therefore, I hope that everyone can begin forming small teams to cover for them while they light the signal towers and then escort them back to the safe zone, can we do that?"

  The crowd agreed with a collective grunt.

  Fisher heaved a silent sigh of relief when he saw the reception.

  It was certainly true that in times of trouble, the hearts of men were more prone to such shifts. Times like this were the ideal time to establish leadership as people were more likely to band together.

  Upon considering this, Fisher quickly pressed his advantage and used this opportunity to divide the volunteers into different groups and began drafting their plan for lighting the signal towers.

  They formulated their plan from early morning until late noon and during this period, more people joined their cause either by way of choice or peer pressure. After all, as the people who joined slowly began to increase, they would naturally begin to suspect what the others were up to. Under this mounting snowball effect, the lone wolf mercenaries saw how the situation was unraveling for them and had to join as well.

  Of course, there was the occasional stubborn mercenary who expressed the slightest bit of interest in being involved with Fisher's crew. They ended up getting beaten to death by the enraged mob.

  After the excited crowd got rid of two people who tried to step out of line, the rest were assigned to tasks like scouting, collecting resources or guard duty. All in all, everyone had joined the crusade started by Jennifer.

  At the end of the day, it was a tall task to convince people to sacrifice themselves. Most of them only gave their word to protect the volunteers who set out to light the signal towers and to safely escort them back to the safe zone.

  After all, they were all informed of the rules of the game — in the event that the person who lit a signal tower died, the tower would also be extinguished.

  In the end, thirty-three people in total volunteered to be the first group willing to sacrifice themselves.

  Each one of them was assigned to thirty-three separate groups. Apart from the volunteers, there were an additional five to six people in each group acting as their guard. If they ran into the wandering monsters inside the jungle, the sole duty of the guard was to ensure the volunteer made it back to the safe zone, whatever the cost.

  "This is the most ideal solution possible when facing such a crisis like this."

  The sociologist Adenauer commended, "Humans can be extremely motivated creatures, provided that a suitable leader is leading them. Undoubtedly, Fisher is an extremely qualified individual with great leadership qualities. Is Blacklight Biotechnology really not considering recruiting him at all?"

  Samuel frowned when he heard this comment. "These people are as cunning as they come. They even went as far as to kidnap my daughter and threaten me. Professor Adenauer, I'm well aware that you yearn for the upper-class life and want to fit yourself into the mold at all costs, but it's simply foolish behavior to plot little ideas like this on an experiment subject."

  "It's because we've already handed them thei
r death sentence from the very moment they arrived at this island!"

  Adenauer made a gesture and tried to counter his argument before Professor Erickson suddenly cut them off. "Alright, both of you, save your bickering for some other time. For now, let's just patiently observe how they progress from here on."

  With that, he directed his attention back to the giant display and suddenly stated loudly, "Look, they've divided themselves into smaller groups and are setting out now. Hold on, some of them are giving their communication devices to the volunteers?"

  This came off as a shock to them as everyone turned to the display. Sure enough, many people were giving their communication devices to the volunteers.

  "With this one maneuver, the people who don't have their communication device can stay in the safe zone without being hunted by the tyrants. Meanwhile, the volunteers won't be restricted to only lighting one signal tower but can light five or even ten instead…"

  Professor Erickson quickly turned to Yoru Kamidera who held his silence all this time. "Mr. Consultant, does this count as a loophole inside the game? Should we report this?"

  "No need."

  Yoru Kamidera held his still expression and shook his head. "The rules of the game were never something we needed to pay attention to. That's their game as far as we're concerned."

  After stating that, Yoru Kamidera looked at the first group approaching a signal tower as his expression became grave. "Our work has only just begun."

  Chapter 347: Rotten |

  After only traveling for twenty minutes, Fisher had led his team of five to the first point of their mission.

  As they slowly paved their way through the dense thicket of the jungle, a pylon that looked like a high-voltage tower standing about five meters tall immediately came into view.

  "We're here!"

  Fisher gasped heavily and made a signal to the group behind him before approaching the bottom of the tower right away.

  Looking up from the bottom of the signal tower, it was immediately apparent that the steel tower was a bit taller than the surrounding trees. There was a white spotlight on the top of the tower that appeared like a round pearl among the ancient jungle.