Chapter 212 Entering the Eighth Zone

Chapter 212 Entering the Eighth Zone

"Why are these orcas gathering here? Are they mating?"

"Did we just stumble into an orca hangout?"

On the rescue boat, two crew members were deep in discussion when the captain smacked one of them on the back of the head. "You two got nothing better to do?"

The crew member rubbed his head, which didn't really hurt, and grinned sheepishly. "Well, there's nothing else to do. Those orcas are surrounding Paradise Island, and every time we get close, they chase us off. Captain, what do the bosses say?"

He was referring to Roderick's father, Octavian, and Lawrence's older brother, Florian. Those two had been smoking even more than usual over the past few days. With their loved ones so close yet unreachable, a dark cloud hung over them, making everyone else wary of approaching.

The captain was about to respond when Octavian called him over. The captain walked to the bow, leaving the two crew members exchanging helpless glances.

"Captain, are we just going to sit here and wait?" Octavian asked.

"Yes..."

"You've been sailing for years, seen all kinds of storms. Is there really no way to drive these orcas away?" Octavian squinted, exhaling a puff of smoke.

The captain felt the pressure mounting and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Gentlemen, it's not that I'm wasting time on purpose. We're talking about twenty or thirty orcas here! In all my years at sea, I've never seen such a large group. And they seem agitated. If they attack our boat, we're done for."

"Why are these orcas gathered here?" Song Zhi frowned. "Captain, do you have any idea?"

"I've heard that orcas are very protective of their young, like how elephants mourn their dead calves. But there are no young orcas in this group, which is very strange." The captain rubbed his hands together. In fact, they had detected the orca pod halfway to Paradise Island and decided to stop and wait. Who could have guessed the orcas were heading to the same place?

"Captain," the lookout suddenly shouted, pointing ahead. "Mr. Gomez, Mr. Marshall, look! The orcas are going crazy!"

In the churning waves, orca after orca was ramming into the high walls of Paradise Island. Their cries were heart-wrenching, and only the dark shapes of their bodies could be seen on the surface. Below, the orcas seemed to be throwing themselves at the walls relentlessly, even if it meant injuring themselves.

"They..." The captain was stunned.

They had thought the orcas were protecting Paradise Island, but...

Octavian and Song Zhi exchanged a glance. "Captain, let's help them."

"What? You mean..."

"Attack. Blow the wall open!" Song Zhi said coldly.

"But the experts said the hostages are on the island. We shouldn't provoke Paradise Island. A stealth rescue is the best plan!" The captain smiled wryly. The experts were right, but these two clearly couldn't wait any longer.

"Has the stealth plan worked? The rescue team hasn't been able to get into Paradise Island. We've discussed a thousand plans, but what good are they?" Song Zhi thought of the rescue experts sent by that organization and couldn't fully trust them. "Listen to me. The longer we wait, the worse it gets. Act now!"

If anyone tried to stop him again, he wouldn't be so polite.

When the wall was breached, Alberta was tending to the injured Lawrence.

"Do you want some water? Are you hungry? Need to use the bathroom?" Lawrence had just tried to sit up when Alberta bombarded him with questions.

"..." Lawrence was a bit exasperated. "I'm fully healed."

Lawrence had a special constitution with incredible self-healing abilities. In just one day, his gruesome wounds had scabbed over.

Alberta was a bit disappointed. She had finally gotten the chance to experience Lawrence completely relying on her, but the joy was all too brief.

Parker, lying nearby, was quite envious.

He was the most severely injured of the four, with significant blood loss and multiple fractures. He wished he could have the ability to bounce back overnight, but he was just an ordinary person.

Parker joked, "Give me a shot of the enhancement serum. Otherwise, I'll be a burden on the road ahead."

Alberta pointed to a few wheelchairs nearby. "Forget the serum. You can pick any wheelchair you like."

Parker wasn't serious about the serum, so he wasn't disappointed. He waved Roderick over. Even though he was bedridden, Parker didn't want to be useless. He could still help look after the kid.

At that moment, all the players' wristbands chimed with a task completion notification.

"Did we succeed?" Parker was puzzled and looked to Alberta and Lawrence for answers.

Was the Ocean Princess really that young orca? They had gone through so much, with injuries and deaths. Was it all worth it?

He soon got his answer.

"Hey, I got 200 points!" The reward for rescuing the Ocean Princess was 200 points. Parker was thrilled because he noticed Roderick hadn't received any points.

"I didn't get any," Alberta said, looking at Lawrence. Lawrence nodded. "I got them too."

"Hahaha, so it wasn't for nothing." Parker grinned. After freeing the orca calf, their wristbands had been silent. Many people had doubted the task's relevance to the orca, and Parker had heard plenty of snide remarks. Now he felt vindicated.

Before they could discuss further, everyone had 50 points deducted: [50 points used to redeem access code]

[Code valid for: 30 minutes]

Someone immediately ran to verify the code. The door opened, and players quickly gathered their things. Within minutes, the fastest had already left Zone 9. However, many others planned to follow Alberta's group.

"Only the door to Zone 8 opens?" Kirstie asked, hands in her pockets, looking serious. "Not to Zone 10?"

"Yes, I tried it myself. It doesn't work." Alberta fiddled with her wristband, pondering the task designer's intentions.

"Tch." Kirstie clicked her tongue. She wasn't interested in Zone 10, only in the Mechanical Zone and Isle Heart Authority. But this forced progression felt strange, like they were trains on a set track, with even the delayed task success seeming deliberate.

"Alberta, what's in Zone 8?" Kurt asked.

"Zone 8 is the Energy Research Zone, focusing on bioenergy, toxic waste conversion, and new energy development. The chief is a bald guy. Nothing special about him." Alberta replied. Of all the experimental zones, Zone 8 had the fewest test subjects, almost none.

Of course, that didn't mean Zone 8 was any less dangerous.

The entire Zone 8 was now shrouded in an eerie gray mist, unnaturally silent. Deep within the fog, tiny red lights flickered, pulsing slowly from dim to bright, like breathing.

As they stepped through the gate into Zone 8, everyone instinctively fell silent. Their instincts told them to stay quiet.

But then the game wristbands chimed.

Someone had tried to mute the notifications before, but the wristbands had no silent mode. One wristband wasn't loud, but dozens together instantly woke the crimson lights.

The sound of wings flapping filled the air as the red dots swarmed. Up close, they saw the creatures were palm-sized, gray moths.

Someone screamed, "These bugs bite!"

Alberta, nearby, saw clearly as a moth bit into the person's face, tearing off a chunk of flesh!