231: Chapter 231 Survival Rules

"This is an elimination game where only a few strong individuals are qualified to survive."

"You will be divided into two sides: one side as Humans, and the other as Werewolves..."

"There are three ways for Humans to survive:"

"First, by personally killing ten Werewolves, you can become unaffected by the Domain and leave this city on your own."

"Second, if the total number of Werewolves killed reaches half their population, everyone wins. I will disperse the Domain and let you live."

"Third, come to the Central Plaza and kill me to save everyone!"

As the hoarse, eerie voice echoed, resounding like thunder in the ears of everyone in Haicheng, all the noisy clamor vanished.

Regardless of whether they were willing or if these words exceeded their previous understanding, such a bizarre and strange thing was happening to them. Not many dared to ignore it; everyone was subconsciously listening to this voice.

"There is only one way for Werewolves to survive: by cumulatively assimilating ten Humans during the night, they can become unaffected by the Domain and leave this city on your own."

"Of course, if you have the ability to kill me, you can likewise save everyone and restore everything to how it was."

As it spoke these final words, the hoarse voice suddenly erupted into a strange laughter: "I welcome the challenge of every hero!"

The crazed, trembling laughter echoed continuously, only stopping after a long while.

"Day and night will cycle every 20 minutes."

"During the night, Humans lose their vision, while Werewolves are unaffected. They will grow fangs and claws, and their physical attributes will be significantly enhanced. They can also use the Assimilation skill once per night to turn a Human into a Werewolf."

"During the day, the Werewolves' fangs and claws will disappear, and they will return to an ordinary human state. However, when attacked, they can transform into a Werewolf at any time to counterattack."

The crazed voice continued: "Next, I will give you a few hints."

"Hint 1: Whether it is day or night, both Humans and Werewolves can move freely, but the Werewolves' Assimilation ability can only be used at night."

"Hint 2: If a Werewolf fails to assimilate a Human for two consecutive nights, they will explode into flesh and blood when the next day arrives. Note: self-destructing Werewolves do not count toward the kill count."

"Hint 3: When the number of Werewolves exceeds the number of Humans, the remaining Humans who have failed to leave the city will completely lose themselves and truly become my Clones. The same applies to Werewolves who fail to meet the requirements."

"Hint 4: The use of Firearms is prohibited here. Only primitive slaughter can bring the purest joy."

"Hint 5: There is Rank Suppression here. Except when challenging me, no one's physical attributes can exceed Rank 1."

"Finally, my one hundred Werewolf Clones have been scattered throughout the city and are taking action even as I speak. They only need to maintain physical contact with a Human for ten seconds, or stay within a three-meter range for five minutes, to turn that Human into a Werewolf."

"And now..."

"The game begins!"

As the Night Demon's voice fell, a strange feeling lingered in people's hearts. A hoarse voice rang in many people's ears simultaneously.

"Your identity is Human. Please be careful..."

For a small number of people, the voice in their ears said: "Congratulations, you have been assimilated into a Werewolf. Please hunt to your heart's content..."

Inside the detention room, Chu Xuan immediately realized the sinister nature of these rules after hearing them.

On the surface, it provided a way to escape, but in reality, it was playing with people's hearts, inciting suspicion and mutual slaughter among humans.

Zhang Qiang, Zhao Hongchan, and the others still in the corridor clearly noticed this as well. In particular, the point about Rank Suppression cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

"Fortunately, we issued an alarm in advance. Most people have taken cover nearby or hidden in their homes. The situation shouldn't be too bad in the initial stage." Someone suggested: "We can use the ghost-hunting compass to search for Werewolves and prevent the situation from escalating as much as possible..."

"It's useless!"

Someone else said with a suppressed tremble: "The Night Demon's hundred Werewolf Clones can fully utilize their Assimilation skill on the first night, creating a hundred new Werewolves."

"And these hundred new Werewolves don't need to wait for the next night; they can find Humans to use the Assimilation skill right then. Multiplying like this, I'm afraid it won't take many day-night cycles before these 100 Werewolves turn into tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions, until every human in the city loses themselves and becomes a Night Demon Clone..."

The crowd fell into silence instantly. Then someone asked: "You're joking, right? Even for an S-rank Specter, how could it be this terrifying..."

"This is the power of rules! Before reaching S-Rank, killing rules are a form of restraint for a Specter; but after promoting to S-Rank, these rules become a means to strengthen one's own abilities..."

As Zhang Qiang said this, he suddenly paused: "The System mission has appeared."

"Survival Mission: Escape from Haicheng!"

"It even recorded the relevant rules, consistent with what the Night Demon just said. Since it's been verified by the System, there's no mistake..."

As everyone spoke, their voices trembled.

Suddenly, the darkness dispersed, and light reappeared.

It was dawn.

At the same time, the Night Demon's hoarse voice rang out again, echoing in everyone's ears.

"The first night has ended. Total Werewolves: 322. Currently, no Werewolves have been killed... Hehe! There are still many people with clear heads; the speed of their identity transformation is very fast. I think very highly of you..."

As soon as the Night Demon said this, everyone immediately understood what had happened.

This night, not only had the Night Demon's original Clones each assimilated a human, but the newly added Werewolves had also taken action. Among those assimilated by the new Werewolves, quite a few had clearly started moving as well.

When faced with a life-or-death crisis, the morals and ethics of peaceful times were more fragile than paper.

And this was even after the air-raid siren had been sounded and everyone was already on guard. If it were normal times, with Haicheng's foot traffic, such a sudden event would likely have caused this number to multiply several times over.

"We have to take action no matter what!"

He Jun's voice rang out: "If we just wait here, I'm afraid the outside will be full of Werewolves before long. Our Ranks are suppressed now, and we can't use Firearms. If we stall until the end, there will only be a dead end!"

"Let's go!" He Jun waved his hand and took the lead, leaving with Xu Shuya and Tan Ziming.

The others looked toward Zhang Qiang and Zhao Hongchan.

"A natural confrontation between camps has formed. To survive, we can only slaughter each other to meet the conditions and leave Haicheng as quickly as possible. I'm afraid many people will have this thought soon... Haicheng will likely fall into chaos before long!"

Zhao Hongchan said with a grim face: "Hiding is not an option. Otherwise, if the number of Werewolves exceeds the number of Humans, everything will still collapse... And according to the Night Demon, killing half of the Werewolves is actually unrealistic because of the existence of the night..."

"But we must give it our best shot!"

Zhang Qiang's expression hardened: "Cut the Gordian knot; we must try at least once. If it's truly impossible, we can only look out for ourselves!"

In their brief exchange, the two had made a decision. They then left with all the Night Watcher members, including Qin Qing, whose injuries had not yet healed, leaving the underground space.

Just as they were about to head out, Zhang Qiang suddenly turned his head and glanced at Tang Zheng. The others also looked back, but in the end, Zhang Qiang's mouth moved slightly, and without saying anything, he turned and led the group away.

Only Tang Zheng remained, keeping a lonely watch in front of the metal door.

With a complicated gaze, he looked back through the specialized glass into the metal door.

At this moment, the black flames around Chu Xuan were surging like boiling oil and raging fire, burning more intensely with tongues of fire flickering wildly.

Under the tempering of these black flames, Chu Xuan was gradually approaching the edge of blurred consciousness. In his daze, he looked at the System panel; his four attributes had somehow already increased to 58 points.

The Phantom Demon's screams and wails had disappeared. The frequency of the "spirituality value +1" prompt had increased slightly, and accompanying it, the duration of the Fire of Nirvana's baptism was rapidly shortening.

[10:30:50]

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