Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 542: Teamwork and Contribution Are Paramount at the Travel Agency
What crawled out of those "cocoons" were clearly the original Black Dot Group employees who worked on this space station—the "mutated" security team and the deranged researchers. Amidst the writhing, flowing, sticky shadows, one could faintly discern their original human silhouettes and attire. On some shadows, even the faint outline of a human face could be seen in the head region.
However, these "human" traits did not make them look any friendlier; instead, they appeared even more terrifying and bizarre.
A tall figure crawled out from the nearest "cocoon." It seemed to be the Commander of the former laboratory’s security team, who seemingly was still faithfully executing the mission of securing the lab, directing other shadows to attack Yu Sheng and company. Under his command, the nearby "Black Spot Soldiers" lifted the guns in their hands, twisted and covered by shadows, and without hesitation, aimed at their former master—Luo, pulling the trigger.
Their weapons appeared to be completely corroded, transmogrified by shadows into something other than guns. Yet, when the triggers were pulled, those misshapen weapons could indeed fire bullets and beams. The eerily crimson beams pierced the air, several of them nearly grazing Luo, making her hair stand on end.
But the next second, she saw a large silver-white tail blocking in front of her. The tail shielded her from the deadly barrage, and the Protective Spirit Qi around it flickered intensely a few times, then suddenly erupted with a blazing propulsion flame, whistling into the midst of the mutated "security team," triggering a violent explosion.
She looked up again and saw several other Fox Tails in the air, pouring barrages toward the opposite side.
The sounds of explosions, the whistling of the Foxfire Barrage, and the chaotic da-da-da sounds from who knows where filled the surroundings, leaving Luo in a complete daze.
"...Wait, what’s that demon fox shooting?!"
She finally snapped out of her shock, while concentrating to form a Spiritual Fireball to help fend off the shadows continuously crawling out of the cocoon, shouting to Yu Sheng.
"I haven’t heard that line in a long time!" Yu Sheng couldn’t help but laugh at the voice coming from behind. He then raised the War Stick in his hand and slammed it down hard on the nearest enemy, smashing it on the spot into zip format, with "mud" splattering and falling to the ground.
But then Yu Sheng felt something was off.
He felt... the opponent was "empty."
It wasn’t the feel. He indeed felt he struck a solid entity; the feedback was even more substantial than normal flesh and blood. The "emptiness" came from the blood feedback.
The Tetanus Wand soaked with Yu Sheng’s blood acted like some sort of enchantment effect. Typically, in battle, this "War Stick" could continuously corrode the enemies it touched, effectively turning them into "allies in three hits"—if it didn’t kill them outright. Even if the corrosion wasn’t complete, Yu Sheng could establish a blood link through such "contact," allowing him to perceive changes in the enemy’s status at any time, and even interfere with and predict their actions to some extent.
But just now, when he struck down, the blood feedback returned only an empty shriek, as if... he smashed an empty cardboard box.
The whistling wind sounded by his ears.
A graceful and charming figure swept through the battlefield like the wind, shielding Yu Sheng from a side attack. Luna kicked away the enemy emitting a hoarse whisper, then spun her body, leaped high, and with several sharp swipes of her Fingertip Blade, sliced the surging "shadow mud" into several pieces in mid-air.
The enemy’s remnants dropped to the ground with a sinister "hissing" sound, then like melting, turned into some fluid, merging into the shadows flowing down from the central platform.
The pitch-black void at the center of the laboratory trembled and bloated, as a phantom spider limb reached out from above the void, its long leg blindly sweeping across the air. The end of the limb constantly dripped sticky shadow substance, and new "cocoons" quickly swelled between the webs. Accompanied by reverent and grateful prayer chants, each cocoon shattered, and those vanquished enemies once again crawled out one by one, resuming their assault.
Luna’s steps abruptly halted, turning her head to look at Yu Sheng.
"Master, they are endless."
Yu Sheng found the words odd—so "misplaced breaks" are also part of the travel agency’s corporate culture?
At this moment, another large group of mass-produced Puppets transported from the valley, crowded near several destroyed pieces of equipment at the lab’s entrance. Using these "makeshift covers," they fired scorching rays at the continuous enemies crawling out of the cocoons. Erin, on the other hand, was hiding behind Luo, shouting to Yu Sheng, "Hey, why does it feel like there are more and more of them!"
Yu Sheng hadn’t had time to respond when Luo also shouted, "Having more and more isn’t the problem—why is more than half of them aiming at me?!"
Yu Sheng immediately glanced over with his peripheral vision, seeing Luo, in a sorry state, sidestep away. Dozens of faint red beams landed where she had just stood, burning the ground with various-sized pits, and several beams even struck her. They were blocked by a flashing Spiritual Shield—though it blocked the attack, the elf’s face still paled.
This Black Spot "scientist’s" face was filled with fear and anger.
Indeed, most of these continuously resurrecting shadows were rushing at her.
Amidst the conversation, another explosion echoed as Hu Li blasted away the enemies targeting Luo, but before the Fox Fire’s fireball had even dissipated, more bullets and beams passed through the hall’s smoke, showering towards Luo.
Luo let out a scream, her wheeled mechanical legs almost smoking as she angrily shouted, "You bastards! I’m your boss! I’m your boss!!"
"Long ears, stop shouting!" Erin cried out loudly upon hearing this, "Haven’t you ever worked a day in your life?! If one day you become this mess, holding a gun without worrying about the next day’s attendance and KPIs, and your former boss stands in front of you, if you don’t shoot, you’re this (flips the middle finger)!?"
Yu Sheng swung the War Stick, smacking away an enemy pouncing beside him, then turned to the unlucky elf darting around, "Honestly, did you piss off your subordinates usually?"
"Shut up! I’m a good boss!" Luo launched a Spiritual Fireball, blasting away an ex-lab researcher lunging at her, "I never withheld a cent of wages!"
In the next second, she ducked her head in a sorry state to avoid the barrage coming her way.
"I gave them bonuses equal to three times other project groups!"
A Black Spot Soldier was impaled by her mechanical limb, pinned to the ground.
"I even gave them additional paid vacations—twice the days off!"
She screamed in frustration, then got bombarded with gunfire from her former employees.
Now almost all the monsters in the hall started focusing their fire on her.
Even a few who were initially shooting at Yu Sheng and Hu Li changed their targets.
"To be fair, you’re being treated unfairly," Yu Sheng remarked sincerely, listening to Luo’s yelling, "I’m almost tempted to ask if you’re still hiring."
Luo gritted her teeth, "Well, thank you for your understanding but I’m about to be killed!"
Yu Sheng: "So I suddenly have an idea—"
Luo: "...Huh?"
The elf only had time to say "Huh?" before seeing a large group of red-eyed little figures suddenly jump out from behind nearby cover, rushing at her chaotically.
A strong sense of unease and the previous trauma of being kidnapped surged into her heart, and Luo felt her hair stand on end, instinctively letting out a sharp scream, "What are you doing..."
The next second she was surrounded by layers of mass-produced puppets, unable to resist as the red-eyed little figures clambered all over her—some grabbed her legs, others her arms, some gnawed on her mechanical limbs, and some pulled her hair, pinched her ears, bit her fingers, and tugged at her skirt, even finding spots to twist and hang onto her if space was lacking...
The familiar feeling hit, and the unlucky elf started to struggle frantically, "Let go..."
Erin threw herself onto her, stuffing an Omen Wandering Star into her mouth, almost knocking her teeth out.
Then the mass-produced puppets started racing around the hall, carrying an elf with a face that seemed to say, "What the hell did I do to offend this bunch of weirdos?"
Their short legs moved rapidly—even faster than Luo’s wheels.
And perhaps it was an illusion, but at that moment, Erin, who usually didn’t think much, could accurately assess the enemy’s attack frequency and shooting blind spots—she commanded the mass-produced puppets to carry Luo to provoke the frontlines, almost attracting all the gunfire in the hall, yet she endured less attacks than when she was dodging unpredictably by herself just now.
Yu Sheng shot a glance at Erin, about to say that he hadn’t even explained his plan yet, but then saw the little puppet standing in the open, giving him a thumbs up, a bright smile on her face as if carefree and shameless.
That smile was filled with complicity, knavery, and scheming...
In the background behind her, the Golden-haired Elf Sister was being carried frantically around the hall by a dozen mass-produced puppets.
Quietly thanking Luo for her great contribution to the team, musing that "even Black Dot has good-hearted people," Yu Sheng turned and rushed towards the dark void in the center of the hall.
As he was halfway there, some of the enemies initially firing at Luo suddenly reacted, as if provoked by a greater threat, starting to redirect their guns towards him.
Yu Sheng felt a thrust from behind.
Luna dashed from the side, fearlessly using her body to block the gunfire assaulting them from the side, then grabbed Yu Sheng’s waist and charged forward.
Bullets and rays hit the Holy Lady, scorching her nun robe, sparking pinpricks of light against the battleship armor alloy exterior of her body.
"Lu..."
Yu Sheng could barely get out a word before feeling the thrust from behind intensify dramatically—Luna stomped on the ground forcefully and launched Yu Sheng forward like a cannonball.
"Master, go!"
"My waist, my waist! I’ve cracked my waist—"
