157: A replica appeared again

Inside the small room, the teammates, who were 'full of trust' in each other, were all silent.

Just moments before, they had held hands and promised to trust each other, yet the next second, they were all secretly searching for evidence of an internal traitor.

The words of a strategist are the lies of a ghost.

Fortunately, they were all wearing masks; otherwise, the awkwardness on everyone's faces would have been fully exposed by now.

"Since everyone has the same goal, it seems there really isn't an internal traitor."

Rui Jun made an effort to smooth things over for everyone: "The NPC disappeared, but it did leave a clue after all."

"Indeed."

Adhering to the attitude of 'if I'm not awkward, then others will be,' Cheng Zhen stood up to examine the cenotaph left behind after the NPC's disappearance.

Fragments of medicine bottles were scattered on the floor, and the liquid inside emitted a strange odor.

After the NPC's body emitted a strange light, it deflated like a leaky balloon and vanished, leaving only a protective suit shell lying on the ground.

Cheng Zhen picked up the protective suit and compared it, feeling it was no different from the one he was wearing.

However, when that person entered, they could still see the NPC's protective suit was green. Now, the suit was gradually fading to gray, much like the Green Tuqi looked when it was being rescued earlier.

It could probably be determined that the color could be regarded as the power level of the protective suit; when the energy is depleted, it will gradually turn gray.

The Green Tuqi's protective suit also had damage, which might have been a reason for the energy depletion.

"Nothing can be seen on the surface. How about we take it apart and see if there are any clues inside?" Xiao Tong suggested.

So, everyone turned their attention to A Dong, who was holding a sword. The longsword in his hand had an ancient design, with a dragon coiled around its blade, shimmering with a faint golden glow, clearly not an ordinary item.

A Dong maintained his taciturn persona, silently extending his sword to pry open the protective suit.

The internal structure was pretty much as everyone expected; the material looked very thick.

"What is that?"

Cheng Zhen used a wooden stick to pry open the mask fragments and noticed some hair stuck to them.

The hair was gray and looked a bit strange, seemingly very different from ordinary human hair.

No other items were found on the protective suit, so everyone searched the room for other clues.

The matter of accusing each other had been laid bare, and the strategists could finally cooperate properly. They saw that some boxes and medicine bottles had signs of being opened, and water stains could be seen at the edges, suggesting someone had left them while pouring medicine.

The few people searched the room several times but found no other evidence.

"Even if we search a few more times, there probably won't be anything else. Let's just tell the Team Leader about this; maybe we can get some useful information in return," Cheng Zhen said.

The Team Leader had already left earlier, so this time, everyone could use the excuse of looking for the Team Leader to investigate the place again.

However, just a few steps after returning from the laboratory, they heard an alarm-like sound, and a group of NPCs scurried about in a panic.

Cheng Zhen and the others were unsure of the situation. They looked up and saw Da Shan walking out with the Team Leader.

"I was just about to look for you all. How did you all happen to be together?"

The only honest person who had offered trust looked at Cheng Zhen and the others, asking the question.

"That's not important; you tell us what's going on first, shall we?" Cheng Zhen chuckled, brushing him off.

"I was just trying to figure out the relationships between these NPCs, so I followed them all the way."

Da Shan, thinking about the current emergency, no longer cared about those details and revealed everything: "Afterwards, I saw a green NPC behaving strangely, looking out of place among the others. I thought he might have some clues on him, so I followed him, but then he inexplicably started attacking me."

"The commotion from my fight with that NPC attracted the Team Leader. The Team Leader was very strong and quickly subdued the opponent. But then, that green NPC suddenly threw a medicine bottle and a strange tool, forcing the Team Leader back, after which the NPC flashed with light and disappeared, and various alarms suddenly started sounding here."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zhen and the others immediately understood.

The one Da Shan encountered should be the same as the one they met before—an internal traitor among the NPCs.

It was just that they, the four of them, had schemed for a long time to ambush one, while Da Shan stumbled upon one after just a few steps. His luck was truly unparalleled.

"Hurry up, follow me to stop them!"

The orange-clad Team Leader finished shouting at the NPCs and then gave the group a mission.

Cheng Zhen and the others could only follow the Team Leader out of the other side of the door, just like the other NPCs.

The NPCs advanced in unison with an imposing aura, as if the boxes they carried contained not showerheads but RPG rocket launchers.

After walking through a long corridor, the decor on this side was still the same 'Ganges River style' as before.

The Team Leader led the NPCs forward. This time, they did not use medicinal sprays for disinfection.

Occasionally, weak, tattered humans, similar to those seen before, would emerge from the houses along the street, reaching out their hands and begging for help. But the Team Leader ignored them this time, hurrying along as if searching for something.

After rushing through a few streets, Cheng Zhen's gaze suddenly sharpened.

Across the street, he saw a group of people also wearing protective suits!

The same green soldiers and orange Team Leader, looking as if they were copy-pasted.

Although they all looked like identical NPCs, Cheng Zhen instinctively felt something was wrong.

"Be careful."

A Dong suddenly spoke, seemingly having also noticed something amiss.

The few immediately guessed that the other five strategists were very likely among that group!

"Don't pull out your weapons."

Cheng Zhen stopped the others' movements and said in a low voice: "With these suits as a disguise, we look no different from the other NPCs. We can hide ourselves first and see what the other side intends to do!"

These strategists were all accustomed to caution; if you told them to charge recklessly, they would definitely refuse. But if you told them to lie low and be sneaky, they would have no complaints.

The Team Leader on this side immediately adopted a defensive stance upon seeing the opposing group.

Whoosh!

But the opposing Team Leader (copy) saw his fraternal twin and showed no friendly brotherly affection, unhesitatingly pulling out a crossbow and firing an arrow.

The crossbow bolt did not look ordinary, glowing faintly, and the strange color on its tip almost screamed 'I am poisonous' on its face.

Cheng Zhen and their own Team Leader showed no fear, pulling out a crossbow pistol in return.

This response seemed unremarkable, but unexpectedly, the Team Leader's aim was as precise as if he had a cheat, locking onto the opponent's crossbow bolt. The two crossbow bolts collided, exploding like two grenades, emitting a huge roar.

With the two 'cloud-piercing' arrows, the atmosphere on both sides was already tense.

And Cheng Zhen vaguely felt a few gazes from the opposing group of green NPCs scrutinizing him, the chilling killing intent palpable!