Monster Synthesis Master

Chapter 15: Counting The Rewards

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Like a ghost, Lin Ke slowly climbed up the ladder. He reached out and opened an approximately ten-millimeter-wide crack in the manhole above him.

Treasure Hunter Rat, who was on his shoulder, darted out with a whoosh. With its body standing straight, it scanned its surroundings as its little nose sniffed about hard. Squeak, squeak.

Lin Ke now knew the precise location of the enemy at the front entrance.

The tunnel’s secret doors were concealed extremely well, and it was impossible to detect any differences from their outer appearances. Adding to this was the fact that Howling Ancient Castle had been abandoned for close to half a century. Its broken, crumbling walls and rampantly-growing weed provided even more cover for the secret doors.

Lin Ke quietly climbed out of the secret tunnel. As luck would have it, there just so happened to be a half-meter-tall expanse of weed right in front, providing cover for him.

His form perfectly blended into the weed. Through the rustling weed, he could see the assaulter standing guard at the wall beside the castle’s front entrance.

Little Treasure, time for you to get to work.

Treasure Hunter Rat stayed close to the wall and crawled forward—Lin Ke had decided to employ the age-old diversion tactic. It might be cliché, but it was also very effective.

Very soon, Treasure Hunter Rat came within range of the assaulter. After creating rustling noises in the weed, it quickly retreated.

The assaulter—who was currently very tense mentally—subconsciously fired when he heard the unusual sounds coming from the bushes.

The pump-action shotgun in his hand fired twice in quick succession. The shotgun shells flew about, shaving off the weed’s tips right away and cutting them down in the middle.

“I heard you firing over there. What’s the situation?” The captain’s urgent inquiry came from the earphones.

The assaulter opened the shotgun chamber, took out shells from the ammo belt at his waist, and loaded them into the shotgun. At this point, Treasure Hunter Rat slipped out of the bushes and ran all the way to the small, gray-tiled path in the central lane that led to the front door.

When the assaulter saw the rat, he let out a deep breath of air and replied, “Nothing, it’s just a rat.”

Treasure Hunter Rat was very skilled at pretending to be cute. It got up on its hind legs, and its black, shiny little eyes appeared bright and spirited under the stars.

Other rats would have been frightened into hiding when they caught sight of humans, but this particular rat was surprisingly bold; it actually dared to meet his eyes while being out in the open.

Treasure Hunter Rat stood where it was and ‘seduced’ the assaulter. When it saw its master silently show up behind the assaulter, it immediately knew that everything was about to end.

Just like an indifferent passerby, Treasure Hunter Rat got back down on four feet and crossed the gray-tiled path, vanishing into the weed.

The next second, a series of rapid pistol gunshots rang out and shook the surroundings.

As the saying went, a true rat never turns back to watch a gunfire exchange.

-54!

-58!

-38!

Three enormous Critical Hit damage indicators appeared above the assaulter. The last shot went directly into excess damage and depleted all of the assaulter’s HP.

[You’ve killed a Machinery Holy Cult fanatic and gained 500 EXP.]

He had taken out another one. Lin Ke was all smiles now. His EXP bar was so full that it overflowed.

Lin Ke picked up the shotgun on the floor. With its superb close-range destructive capability and ability to kill a human in almost a split second, this thing was practically a must-have when carrying out ambushes.

[You’ve obtained 1 Pump-Action Shotgun and 21 Shotgun Shells.]

Lin Ke didn’t loot anything else from the assaulter, mainly because he didn’t have anywhere to store them on his body. After he had killed all of the fanatics later, he would call Forbes over and conduct a thorough body search again.

“Both the assaulter and the medic are dead, while the scout is heavily injured and bleeding. I’m left with only the artilleryman and the logistics officer now. Which little cutie will be the lucky one next?” Lin Ke held the shotgun with both hands and entered the castle through the front entrance. Then, he went through a secret door again and began to move.

The remaining three men were as quiet as mice as their hearts sank to the bottom. They hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the enemy, yet there were already two dead and one injured.

The enemy was just like a ghost in the castle, able to appear beside them anytime, anywhere.

They had only just spoken with the assaulter over the walkie-talkie when they heard concentrated gunfire breaking out right after.

The front entrance wasn’t far from the castle. The crisp and clear gunshots constantly echoed inside the old and rundown castle. Every gunshot hammered against their chests, causing their hearts to sink a notch lower each time.

“Shaun, be careful. It’s highly likely that they are on their way to you now.”

Shaun, the logistics officer, hurriedly found a corner to hide in at a flower bed near the side entrance. He felt a lot safer after having something to lean against.

He squatted in the corner while gripping a pistol with both hands. The searchlight on his shoulder lit up his field of vision in front. Even the mere rustling of leaves could make his tightly-wound emotions snap.

While walking inside the secret tunnel, Lin Ke heard footsteps above him. “He’s actually gone to hide in a corner of the wall.” Lin Ke had originally intended to continue the trend of launching an ambush from the back, but that guy had actually escaped by himself in advance.

What was he to do? With his previous ‘disembarkation point’ declared invalid, Lin Ke looked for other nearby spots in the tunnel. Soon, he found the exit nearest to the logistics officer.

It was just that this exit’s location was…

Lin Ke’s brows drew together slightly. After a moment of contemplation, they smoothed out again. He shrugged and said, “It’s your turn to perform again, king of actors.”

On his shoulder, Treasure Hunter Rat let out a long sigh of resignation as if an incredibly heavy load was on its shoulders, pressing down on it and crushing its back.

Sigh… I have to sacrifice my looks again. To be honest, Treasure Hunter Rat really wanted to say something to Lin Ke…

“Being opportunistic and resorting to trickery is not the way to go. Fighting head-on is what makes one a real man instead!”

…

It seemed as if time had stopped. Apart from his own breathing, the logistics officer couldn’t hear any other sounds. This made him feel as if time passed extremely slowly; it was double torture for the body and the mind.

Thump, thump, thump.

The logistics officer scrambled to his feet as though he had stepped on a live wire.

He had actually heard knocking coming from the rock beneath his butt.

With the pistol raised, the logistics officer’s eyes bore into the rock. Question marks filled his mind—how could a rock possibly make any sound?

The logistics officer lowered his head, stretched his arm out, and pressed the rock. When he knocked against it with his knuckles, he discovered that the sound the rock made was different from the others—it seemed like the rock was hollow.

His head snapped back, and his eyes swept across the surroundings, but he didn’t discover anything out of the ordinary. It was only then that he reached out and attempted to dig the rock out to see what exactly was going on inside.

When he shifted the rock aside and shone the searchlight into the hole, he just so happened to see a tiny, innocent-looking rat. Their eyes met, and great puzzlement appeared in the rat’s tiny little eyes.

“Captain, I’ve discovered a tunnel!”

“A tunnel! How did you find it?” When the captain heard the word ‘tunnel,’ his mind immediately cleared up. He seemed to know how the enemy had managed to be this enigmatic now.

“It’s because of a rat. It was knocking the rock underneath me, so I shifted it away when I heard the knocks,” replied the logistics officer truthfully.

… A rat.

… A rat!!!

Before this, the assaulter had been killed precisely because he had seen a rat. A sense of foreboding shrouded the captain’s heart. With his eyes widened to the point of splitting, the captain shouted, “Run!!”

The logistics officer was stunned for a moment when he heard the bellow from the walkie-talkie. Why is he suddenly asking me to run?

Just as he was in a daze, a head—as well as a pump-action shotgun’s two pitch-black muzzles—emerged from the hole.

“Surprise, motherf*cker!”

Boom!

The flames coming out of the shotgun muzzles were like fireworks rising into the sky.

The next second, the logistics officer’s head was blown into pieces, becoming badly mangled. The scattered steel pellets also struck the walkie-talkie at his chest, which emitted an ear-piercing screech.

The captain in a stalemate on the second floor sank into silence when he heard the noise from the walkie-talkie after the connection was lost.

Another one had died.

When the five of them had decided to chase after the agents, they had initially thought that this was a piece of joyous news indicating a promotion and level up. Little did they think that all of them would meet their demise here one by one.

Mars, who was leaning against the wall, was deathly pale. His eyes were seemingly shut, and his breathing was almost indiscernible. Half of his body was lying in a pool of blood, and he looked as if he was on his last breath.

The aura of death, an oppressive atmosphere, tightly-wound nerves, and a creepy ancient castle.

The captain was on the brink of a mental breakdown.

“Argh, I can’t take it anymore!” The fanatics’ captain kicked the cavalry armor aside with one foot and charged out with his light machine gun raised.

Clack, clack, clack!

Fire spat out from the muzzles, and bullet shells clattered as they landed on the ground at the side of the gun, producing clinks and clanks.

The fanatics’ captain screamed and shouted as though he had gone mad. Through the spiral staircase, one could vaguely see sparks of fire. However, his berserk shouting didn’t last long. Two shotgun blasts rang out from downstairs.

The light machine gun’s spraying stopped.

The screams and shouts disappeared.

The almost indiscernible sparks of fire also disappeared.

Mars’s head was tilted to the side, and he felt incredibly despondent. Then, he started to cough violently.

His deathly pale cheeks flushed red, and a large amount of blood sprayed from his mouth and nose when he coughed. Toward the end, his throat let out a couple of grunts, and he lost all signs of life.

By this point, Lin Ke had exterminated all five Machinery Holy Cult fanatics. A total of 2,500 EXP was credited into his accounts.

What came next was calling Forbes to come down and search the corpses. After all, there were quite a lot of treasures on these five men.

When Lin Ke went through the secret tunnel and returned to the main hall on the fourth floor, he discovered Forbes cowering and hiding in the corner with both hands holding his head and his big butt stuck up in the air. He was shaking all over, which also caused the fat on his body to tremble erratically. He looked as springy to the touch as jelly.

“I’m back.”

Upon hearing Lin Ke’s simple and mild words, Forbes jumped straight up from where he was, which startled Lin Ke so much that he took a few steps back instead.

“Boss, you’re back!” Forbes was so agitated that he burst into tears! Before this, he had followed Lin Ke’s instructions and hid here the whole time. Then, he heard the gunshots in the castle.

The gunshots were sporadic, and tragic screams had even sounded as well. While he was concerned about his Boss’s safety, he was also afraid that the enemy would rush up here.

The smile on Lin Ke’s face froze, and he pointed to the outside. “They said that you’re fatter, so the electricity will last longer if they bring you back as a human battery.” Lin Ke lowered his head and patted the back of Forbes’s hand with a face full of regret. “Sorry!”

Blood drained from Forbes’s face. Never would he have thought that he would still be unable to avoid the fate of being captured as a human battery after running so far. Forbes sniveled and stretched out his tanned arm to wipe his tears. In a choked voice, he said, “This life of mine belongs to Boss anyway. Since I can save Boss now, I’m more than happy. Sob, sob…”

“Why are you crying, then?”

“These are tears of joy, tears of happiness.” Forbes sobbed the whole way as he followed Lin Ke out of the castle, his back looking bleak and helpless.

“Alright, we’re here.”

Forbes raised his head. Right away, he became so frightened that his legs turned into jelly, and he almost tripped.

On the ground was a Machinery Holy Cult fanatic’s headless corpse. There was even blood—which had yet to dry—on the ground, as well as a strong stench of blood in the air.

“Let’s get to work!”

“Get to work? W-what work?” Forbes’s mind hadn’t come around yet, and he was still stuck in his sorrow of having to become a human battery and the shock of seeing the corpse in front of him.

“Remove all the useful things on him.”

“So, I… don’t have to be a human battery anymore?”

With the searchlight in his hand, Lin Ke looked at Forbes’s tear-stained face and spoke extremely seriously. “I now declare that we have officially escaped the pursuit!”

Forbes was stunned for a moment. He then wiped his snot with his arm, turned around, and dove toward the headless corpse.

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Forbes’s ferocious expression and forceful movements were such that even Lin Ke couldn’t bear to watch him.

Judging from Forbes’s enthusiasm, one corpse probably won’t be enough. Lin Ke silently re-entered the castle and carried out the other corpses.

When he saw how Forbes was going at his job with great enthusiasm and great delight, to the extent that perspiration covered his forehead, Lin Ke wiped his brow and asked, “These should be enough, right?”

With a resigned expression, Treasure Hunter Rat rested its palms against its tiny little head.

It… was out of a job now!