Perhaps its only use is to raise a few mutated Plaga parasite giants, similar to the Lake Master Drago. There are also a few giants in the Quarry, true giants, not two or three meters tall like Tyrants, but rather like small hills. Their skin is as hard as rock, thick and tough, and their bodies are incredibly robust. They can easily lift huge rocks to throw as attacks, and can also smash caves into collapse.
These are mutated species created when the Plaga parasite infects humans, a relatively rare type. Only a few were born from hundreds of Plaga Parasite Villagers. Moreover, they possess immense strength, lack intelligence, and are very difficult to control. If released, they could easily trample the village, so they can only be imprisoned in the Quarry.
And that was Javier's last obstacle to getting the church key—
Their only weakness is the Plaga parasite itself on their backs.
To safely deal with this boss,
besides overwhelming firepower, a swift decoy is also needed. Thinking of this… Javier turned his gaze to the White Wolf beside him, who was busy enjoying its reward of dried meat.
White Wolf: "Woof woof woof...???"
It seemed to sense an extremely sinister gaze fixed upon it, accompanied by some evil scheme and idea that sent shivers down its spine, making its legs tremble and its fur stand on end. This feeling was truly too strange!
However, there was nothing that could be done about it.
In any case, Javier could only pray that the White Wolf's legs would heal quickly. When the time came to quickly clear the Quarry Giant instance, he would still have to rely heavily on the White Wolf's help.
If possible,
Javier also wanted to bring the White Wolf back to America. Once his initial animal testing research for the T-Virus and G Virus was complete, he would inject a trace amount of the virus into the White Wolf to complete its transformation, evolving it into a wolf species even larger than Canadian grey wolves. Then, Javier could ride this mount around, how cool would that be?
What?
You say riding a dog is bad for your crotch?
Just kidding, this is a wolf, not a husky. The literal meaning is completely different, how could it be bad for his crotch? He's overthinking it. At worst, he'll just wear iron briefs. By the way, what nickname should he give himself then? White Wolf Knight?
Alright,
those are just fantasies.
It's better to deal with the current instance first—
With that,
Javier, Ada, and the White Wolf arrived on the opposite bank of the lake. After organizing their equipment, they headed towards the depths of the Quarry. Due to its abandoned state, there weren't as many Plaga Parasite Villagers here as in the game, aside from the dozens responsible for raising and feeding the giants. After all, this was reality.
If it were according to the game's expert difficulty, each chapter would have around fifty to one hundred Plaga Parasite Villagers. Adding them all up, the entire Wolf's Valley would have nearly five to six thousand inhabitants, which is a bit unrealistic. It would be impossible for the Spanish government not to notice. Therefore, the game is purely nonsense.
In reality, the entire Wolf's Valley Village only has a little over a hundred people, the castle also only has a hundred people, and even the Island only has a hundred people. All together, it's less than a thousand people. This is a more reasonable explanation, so it's very normal for the Quarry to have fewer people…
…
Meanwhile, on the other side—
The Cathedral,
In the gloomy cemetery forest, Leon and Luis were tormented by the surrounding mosquitoes, especially Luis, whose face was covered in several big red welts. He really couldn't understand why he would be so idle or why he would hide in the dark forest at night like a paparazzi.
Was it to secretly photograph the Plaga Parasite Villagers whose heads had been gnawed off by the Plaga parasite?
Of course not.
This was, of course, because the two small fries simply couldn't break into the Cathedral. That was the main reason.
When the tasks were assigned earlier, Luis thought this task would be easy, as dealing with a few Plaga Parasite Villagers would be much simpler and easier than finding the church key. But now Luis stated that he was wrong, and terribly so…
Because,
he also hadn't expected why so many Plaga Parasite Villagers would still be lingering around the Cathedral even though it was already bedtime.
Luis roughly counted with his eyes, not counting the worshippers inside the church, but just the Plaga Parasite Villagers outside, holding torches, muttering to themselves, and wandering around. There were easily thirty to forty of them, densely packed. How were he and Leon, two small fries, supposed to get in?
To seek death—?
What's even more absurd is that,
he only had a wooden stick in his hand now. Even if he wanted to imitate Don Quixote and play a knight, he wouldn't be so naive. He wasn't Javier, who would be foolish enough to charge at Mendez, the Village Chief, who was two or three meters tall, with a knight's sword. He wanted firearms, the kind that go bang-bang!
Medieval knights were a thing of the past.
Modern knights should be cowboys, the kind who ride white horses, wear cowboy hats, and have two revolvers holstered at their waists. Luis felt that outfit suited him better. Greatswords were too stupid.
However,
as soon as he thought about Leon only having a few bullets for his USP9 agent pistol and an old-fashioned shotgun, Luis immediately gave up. What was there to play? There weren't enough bullets. It was better to just sit here and wait for Javier and Ada to return!
And so,
the scene from earlier unfolded.
Luis and Leon hid in the cemetery forest, constantly scratching their butts and playing landlord, watching the Plaga Parasite Villagers wandering back and forth outside the church without any temper, just like eunuchs visiting a brothel, completely lacking any desire to act.
"Hey! Leon, how long do you think we have to wait here?"
"An hour? Please… by then, I'll really be carried away by the mosquitoes, damn it… I hate bugs the most!"
After swatting another swarm of mosquitoes, he couldn't take it anymore. Luis scratched his butt, then his head, and couldn't help but complain to Leon. As an intelligent and responsible researcher, he really couldn't handle this hard work.
"…"
"While I'd love to trade all my possessions for a machine gun, unfortunately, Luis… this is the wilderness, and I don't have many bullets. If we run out and fight them to the death, I guarantee we'll both be impaled and torn apart by their foul pitchforks in less than a minute."
Facing Luis's complaints, Leon sighed deeply, helpless. His situation wasn't good either; his handsome face had a large red bite mark, right on his eyebrow, and now it was swollen, making him look abnormally strange, like a squinting Sherlock. These damned Spain mosquitoes were even more terrifying than bees.
Fortunately, years of devilish training had instilled in him a calm demeanor, otherwise, Leon would probably be just like Luis, rushing out to fight the Plaga Parasite Villagers outside to the death.
However,
just as the two of them were complaining,
they didn't notice that behind them, a mysterious black figure, with his face obscured and carrying a huge hiking backpack, was silently approaching Leon and Luis, holding an oil lamp with a purplish-blue flame. He moved like a ghost, without any footsteps.
"Hehehehe…"
"Friend, are you really willing to trade all your possessions for a machine gun? Come and see what I have here, I have a lot of good stuff!"
A sudden, strange laugh came from behind them.
It was like the strange cry of a weasel imitating a human. Leon and Luis's expressions immediately changed to surprise, and they quickly turned their heads to see the black figure standing behind them, holding a lantern with a ghostly blue flame and looking at them with a strange smile.
This made Leon and Luis both think they had encountered a ghost.
At the very least, it was a parasitic villager!
Thinking of this,
Leon quickly drew his tactical dagger, while Luis raised his wooden stick, ready to smash it fiercely onto the black figure in front of them.
Seeing this,
the black figure's expression instantly panicked,
and he quickly retreated a few steps.
"Hey! Friends,"
"Even if you two don't want to buy my goods, there's no need to resort to violence, is there? I wasn't really trying to force you into a purchase."
Leon and Luis's attacks missed. The black figure dodged the blow and his tone changed, questioning the two in front of him very unpleasantly. Without a doubt, the black figure was a little unhappy.
"What a joke…"
"Are you a normal person?! Not a ghost? And not a parasitic villager?!"
At this moment,
Luis and Leon finally realized, looking at the black figure in front of them who could speak normally, and spoke in surprise. The black figure, hearing this, brought the ghostly blue flame lantern closer to his face, rolled his eyes a little speechlessly, and said word for word:
"Of course,"
"Do you two think ghosts can talk?"
The black figure wanted to say something more,
but soon,
a commotion broke out near the Cathedral. Countless torch-wielding Plaga Parasite Villagers were heading towards Leon and Luis's direction. Without a doubt… the previous commotion was too loud, and Leon and Luis's hiding spot had been discovered again!
"There's a foreigner here! (Hay un forastero aquí.)"
"He's there! (I know him. Ahí está.)"
It was the familiar Spanish trilled R sound again.
Seeing this, Leon and Luis's faces changed. This was trouble. They had to escape again, otherwise, they would really be dragged to a cross and punished by these unruly Plaga Parasite Villagers.
"Follow me…!"
And at this moment,
the black figure holding the ghostly blue flame lantern spoke to Leon and Luis, in authentic British English. This surprised Leon and Luis, but seeing the black figure quickly run away in front of them, and then looking at the fierce Plaga Parasite Villagers behind them, Leon and Luis could only exchange glances and follow the black figure's footsteps.
"Thump-thump-thump…"
"Thump-thump-thump…"
After an unknown amount of time,
the three slowly stopped when they saw an abandoned cave. With slight hesitation, Leon and Luis still followed the black figure into the cave. The ghostly blue flame lantern was hung on a corner of the cave wall, and the previously dim cave finally became somewhat brighter.
And at this moment,
Leon and Luis finally saw the black figure's appearance clearly.
He wore a tattered black trench coat, and his head was covered by a hood, making him exceptionally mysterious. Especially his face, which was also wrapped in a purple and white patterned scarf, leaving only his eyes visible. But those eyes were strange, incredibly murky, even with faint yellowish-red bloodshot veins, as if he had some kind of eye disease. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were clearly visible, and combined with his previously weathered voice, it could be roughly judged that the black figure in front of them was a middle-aged man around forty years old.
He also carried a huge hiking backpack on his back, stuffed full, presumably with many items. There was even a rolled-up sleeping bag and tent outside, making him look like a wandering hiker.
Of course…
The most mysterious thing was how this middle-aged man could easily traverse such a dangerous Wolf's Valley Village.
That was the most crucial question—!
However,
facing Leon and Luis's curiosity,
the black figure in front of them did not intend to answer immediately. Instead, he mysteriously and confidently unbuttoned his trench coat, revealing the items he carried inside. At this sight… Leon and Luis were stunned. Inside were actually full of firearms, ammunition, and supplies?!
All kinds of pistols and ammunition belts,
as well as various daggers, were all crammed in.
It was like a portable mini-arsenal, astonishing…
Chapter 23: Old Relic
Inside a tattered black trench coat, so many weapons and bullets were hidden. Even Leon and Luis were startled. At this moment, when they turned their gaze to the black-clad Merchant's fully packed hiking backpack, they guessed it was probably full of weapons too!
This was no vagrant,
he was practically a weapons Merchant—!
"Hehehehe…"
"As you can see, I am just an ordinary weapons Merchant. If you have money, you can buy enough weapons for yourselves, including some heavy firepower weapons, of course. And if you can complete my commission, I might be able to help you with all my strength."
It was the familiar, strange laugh again.
The Merchant, whose face was covered by a purple and white striped scarf, said this to Leon and Luis, then wantonly displayed his arsenal. Both sides of his trench coat were fully opened, revealing not only weapons but also various dry rations, canned goods, and biscuits for energy.
The heavy hiking backpack behind him was placed on the ground, and when opened, it revealed some big items. There was indeed a machine gun.
Even faintly, Leon and Luis glimpsed a rocket launcher and shells, including High-explosive grenades and other high-firepower weapons.
This made Leon and Luis pause in surprise,
unable to understand how this black-clad Merchant managed to acquire so many weapons, and even carried them without caring about the weight.
Even Leon himself… if he carried so many weapons wandering around Wolf's Valley, he would probably be exhausted to death after just a few steps.
"Money…?"
"This cave is extremely remote and deserted. No… in fact, there are only Plaga parasite villagers. I feel… I don't need money, it seems I can still get these weapons. Friend, if I kill you, I can also get these things."
Realizing the black-clad Merchant's mysterious nature,
Leon feigned a fierce posture to probe, while also drawing his USP9 agent pistol with limited bullets. At such a close distance, Leon was confident he could blow the black-clad Merchant's head off with one shot.