The original subordinate Plaga parasite would take about a week, while an anomaly like the Merchant might take nearly a month.
Undoubtedly, he was the lucky one—
But even if he was lucky, it didn't change his fate as an infected person.
The Merchant originally intended to carry a large number of weapons and clear out the Plaga parasite from the Island Institute, dead or alive, but he didn't expect to meet Luis and Leon here.
As a mercenary guard on the Island, he knew Luis, the famous Father of the Plaga parasite, and understood that Luis possessed a device that could clear the Plaga parasite.
This was also the real reason why the Merchant showed kindness to the two and offered weapons, because he also needed help.
As for how he managed to acquire so many weapons, it was mainly due to the semi-infected Plaga parasite within him, which caused other Plaga Parasite Villagers and Plaga parasite soldiers to treat him as one of their own.
Before being fully parasitized or encountering Sadler, the leader of The Illuminados, he could roam freely in any corner of Wolf's Valley, including the Isolated Island, and could also steal a large number of weapons from the Island.
However, even with such powerful abilities, the Merchant still wasn't confident enough to enter the Institute on the Island.
After all, besides the Plaga Parasite Villagers with the Plaga parasite, there were many other monsters.
These were more intelligent than the mentally deficient Plaga Parasite Villagers; they sometimes killed based on instinct and interest, so even with the camouflage of a semi-infected Plaga parasite, the Merchant could very likely be slaughtered.
Therefore, he needed support and help.
Thus, he set his sights on Leon and Luis; as outsiders, they shared a common goal—
…Meanwhile—
In the Quarry Canyon,
"…"
"What a great harvest, what a great harvest…"
Strolling through the Quarry valley, Javier said gleefully, weighing his money pouch, which was filled with gold coins he had just plundered from the dilapidated wooden houses of the villager miners nearby.
They say you can laugh at the ugliness of civil engineers, but you can never laugh at their poverty, let alone these miners from the Quarry; they definitely hid a lot of private money.
However, he couldn't be too smug yet.
There was still the sacrificial cave ahead; he hoped The Illuminados cultists would leave more antique jewels for him inside.
Of course… it didn't matter if there weren't any.
The real highlight was Salazar Castle later; he believed the unspent wealth inside would be enough to fill Javier's pockets.
Ada, however, looked a bit speechless when she saw Javier's medieval noble suit with several money pouches tied to his belt; his fine noble attire had turned into that of a dirt-poor debt collector.
However, looking at the small money pouch in her own hand, even Ada couldn't help but sigh, realizing she seemed to have been led astray.
Being an "adventurer" and finding treasure seemed quite nice.
Opening the money pouch, inside were gleaming gold coins, though slightly dusty, their color did not diminish their value.
Most importantly, the patterns on the gold coins were products from before the Industrial Revolution, around the 17th century, when it had not yet opened.
At that time, there were no so-called paper bills; currency was still cast from real gold, silver, and copper.
They were ancient, valuable, and truly antiques.
Combined with their large quantity and excellent preservation, with hardly any significant rust, and having been polished to a patina by the villagers, their value was further increased.
It was estimated that this small bag of coins alone would be enough for Javier to repay his two hundred thousand dollar debt, and selling them at an auction might even fetch a higher price.
This made Ada sigh.
Why was she still a virus hunter?
Wouldn't it be better to be an adventurer exploring ancient ruins and castles? How appealing was the Indiana Jones script? Finding any treasure would bring in money much faster than her exhausting work of acquiring viruses.
Honestly… was it still too late to change professions now?
Cough, cough… Just kidding.
What Indiana Jones? I just like adventure and living on the edge of danger, and my interest in viruses is why I do this job.
It's definitely not just for money! (｀Δ´)!——!
As for that, Javier couldn't be bothered.
Who knew what that crazy woman wanted? Rather than dealing with women, it was better to spend more time training White Wolf.
Saying that, Javier took out some dried meat to feed White Wolf, who was following behind him.
This White Wolf only reached his knees, not his thighs or waist, indicating it was still in its juvenile stage.
It was probably only about a year and a half old, as normal wolf cubs are considered truly adult only after two or three years.
And a White Wolf in its developmental stage naturally had strong recovery abilities.
Its originally limping leg was almost back to normal with Javier's feeding and medicinal bandaging.
Although it still hurt a bit, forced running was definitely not a problem.
"Awoo—!!!"
With a soft yelp, White Wolf intimately licked the back of Javier's hand before starting to eat the dried meat on the ground.
Undoubtedly, this little fellow must have been very well-tamed; even its low-slung white tail began to wag, just short of the excited, happy standard of being held high.
"Can you two stop flirting, please?"
"We've reached the end of the road.
What do we do… Do we go straight in or bypass it? But it's hard to bypass given the height; it should be a large valley inside."
Rubbing her forehead, Ada extended her long leg and kicked the White Wolf's fawning, ingratiating backside, then turned to Javier and asked.
White Wolf, having been kicked, yelped "awoo" but dared not bare its teeth, knowing that this mistress was even scarier.
It could only curl its tail and hide behind Javier, whimpering.
This made Ada roll her eyes even more.
In this day and age… wolves are even more cunning than foxes!
And with Ada's reminder, Javier also noticed the valley entrance blocked by a wooden stake gate.
If he wasn't mistaken, inside should be where the Plaga parasite giants were kept.
It was a large valley with a cave, perfect for housing these enormous giants.
However, the only unfortunate thing was that it was also the only passage to the next stop, the sacrificial cave.
This unavoidable roadblock meant there was no way around it; they could only force their way through.
"There's no way around it… Let's just force our way through.
Oh, I forgot to tell you, there might be a big guy inside, so the main attack will still be up to you.
White Wolf and I will continue to be bait."
Shaking his head, Javier gave up the idea of bypassing and, looking at the wooden stake gate in front of him, pushed it open without hesitation.
Ada, seeing this, said nothing, merely gently unslung the crossbow from her back, loaded an explosive arrow, ready to fire at any moment.
At the same time, her full, rosy lips softly uttered a terrifying statement:
"…"
"It's still a two hundred thousand dollar fee.
Remember, don't forget it…!"
Although adventure was fun, the bill had to be paid in full.
Ada would never give a free pass because of any friendship.
Discounts were fine, but free passes were absolutely not; this was her creed as a bounty hunter.
"Screech…"
"Clang——————!"
The wooden stake gate slowly opened, falling to both sides, revealing a vast open space comparable to an ancient Roman Colosseum.
All around were steep, vertical rock walls that were impossible to climb.
A few wooden huts were built around, and at the very front was a huge, pitch-black cave, inside which were several Plaga Parasite Villagers holding torches and axes.
The moment Javier and Ada broke in, these Plaga Parasite Villagers immediately started to riot.
Noisy Spanish voices continued, and several Plaga Parasite Villagers hesitated for a moment.
They quickly threw their torches into the pitch-black cave and grabbed ropes held down by iron nails on the ground, beginning to pull them outwards with force.
Gradually, more and more villagers joined this strange tug-of-war.
Dozens of villagers pulled hard on the ropes, as if trying to drag out whatever was dwelling in the cave.
And finally… with their unremitting efforts, the monster dwelling in the pitch-black cave, unable to bear the smell of the burning torches, finally let out a roar and gradually walked out.
"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
"Thump, thump, thump…"
The ground trembled slightly, proving that the monster inside was extremely large and heavy.
And that roar was as terrifying as an abyssal beast, causing a stinging pain in the eardrums.
And very quickly, a giant, six or seven meters tall, the height of a two-story building, appeared before everyone.
Its muscles were abnormally developed and strong, and it had a human-like shape all over, but its head was bald, its teeth were yellowed, blackened, and very twisted and misaligned.
A pungent stench rushed forth, like the foul odor of large amounts of live flesh and blood eaten without brushing, allowing trapped meat fibers to mold and rot between the teeth.
Its eyes were rolled back, pupil-less; undoubtedly, this was another massive monster without intelligence or a cerebellum.
Several thick hemp ropes were tightly wrapped around its neck; those must have been the ropes the villagers had been desperately pulling.
The only surprising thing was that this giant was actually wearing pants; how these villagers managed to get such large pants was a mystery, they were practically untearable like the Hulk's.
Its entire body's skin was rough and grayish-white, just like the lime from the Quarry; from a distance, it even vaguely resembled a Golem.
And this colossal creature was the Plaga parasite giant, a deformed variant that emerged after villagers were implanted with the Plaga parasite.
It was a very rare species that could grow by consuming large amounts of flesh and blood, and it was one of the few species that could not be mass-produced through experimentation.
After all, the mutation of the Plaga parasite giant was irregular, and it was unknown how it could be produced, so naturally, the species was rare.
The total number of giants across the three dungeons—Village, Castle, and Island—was no more than a handful.
At the same time, the Plaga parasite giant, in terms of both its massive body and its speed and strength, was much more powerful than the T-103 Tyrant produced by the Umbrella Corporation.
Although it lacked the same oppressive presence, even a Tyrant with its limiters removed could not compare to the Plaga parasite giant in terms of raw strength.
The two facing off were somewhat like a fully equipped berserker who could never overwhelm a lower-level ogre that was many levels higher than himself—
Chapter Twenty-Five: Beast Titan
The giant in front of them had an incredibly massive body, looking like a small hill from afar.
And judging by its rock-ash-like skin, it could be determined that the giant's defense was definitely not weak; ordinary small-caliber pistols would probably feel like mere tickles.
However, the one thing worth celebrating was that although the giant's stats were significantly stronger than the T-103 Tyrant in all aspects, it also had a very obvious drawback compared to the T-103 Tyrant.
This drawback was naturally the overly exposed Plaga Parasite core.
After the giant's health bar was reduced to a certain extent, the Plaga Parasite core on its back would burst out uncontrollably.
And the exposed Plaga Parasite core was its only weakness; as long as it was killed, such a massive giant would instantly collapse to the ground and die as if its brain had crashed.
Therefore, the giant was very difficult to deal with, yet also very easy to deal with.
The key was the method of dealing with it.
Even if a group of fully armed soldiers came in, if they didn't discover the Plaga Parasite core on its back, they would all be eaten by the giant.
After all, its hill-like body could shatter mountains and rocks with just one sweep, making it difficult to resist and easily eliminating most targets.
"…"
"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
And the giant, having emerged from the cave, roared and bellowed at everything around it without hesitation.
A foul stench continuously spewed from its mouth.
With just a twist of its neck, the ropes bound around its neck instantly snapped, and the Plaga Parasite Villagers holding the ropes stumbled and fell to the ground.
Its huge hand suddenly opened, and the giant grabbed the bodies of two Plaga Parasite Villagers, completely disregarding their wails.
It immediately stuffed the prey that had disturbed its sleep into its mouth and began to gnaw frantically.
"Ah, ah, ah…!!!"
"Crunch, crunch…"
Very human-like screams came, and the sound of bones being crushed and flowing blood was shocking.
Facing its own kind… the unintelligent giant showed no mercy.
In its rolled-back, lifeless eyes, all living beings were merely its food.
In a short while… the two Plaga Parasite Villagers were completely gnawed away.