Player Reload
Chapter 284 - 261: Nature of the Mind

Chapter 284: Chapter 261: Nature of the Mind

"Sorry, I’m late."

Eugene, with deep circles under his eyes, amicably pushed the plastic box telekinetically, directly opening the box and taking out pieces of a corpse.

One of the heads looked strikingly familiar; it was the diseased toy that Li Cheng had seen in the apartment building earlier in the day—it seems his bad premonition had indeed come true.

Just as Eugene was about to step forward to place the corpse pieces into the deep blue coolant, he was suddenly pulled back by Naruto Uzumaki standing next to him.

Caught off guard, Eugene asked in astonishment, "What’s wrong?"

Naruto Uzumaki didn’t answer but closed his eyes instead, slightly pursing his lips, perceiving something.

The next second, he raised both hands, with the index and middle fingers of each hand touching and crossing in front of him, releasing the Shadow Clone Technique.

Bang!

A shadow clone, looking exactly the same, appeared in mid-air, hands hovering palm to palm, whirling energy spinning rapidly, brewing a blue sphere that set the air swirling violently around it.

A precisely formed Spiral Ball was hurled at the ventilation ducts, blasting through the lined steel plates and about one meter of the nuclear power station’s containment dome, exposing the night sky outside.

A mass of steam pipes burst, spraying an extremely hot mixture of steam and water. The entirety of the nuclear island blared with shrill, urgent alarm bells, with glaring, flashing red and yellow lights.

The nuclear power station workers, clad in hazmat suits, were scared half out of their wits.

Eugene, utterly baffled, watched as Naruto leaped up, kicking off the walls several times and then jumping through the forty-odd-meter high hole in the containment dome. That’s when it dawned on him—an enemy attack.

"Don’t panic. Lower the reactor power, seal the pipeline breach, reinforcements will arrive soon."

Eugene pulled out his slender twelve-inch wooden wand and waved it into the air; the scattered steam pipe fragments levitated and then reassembled to their original places.

Although high-temperature steam continued to spurt from the cracks in the pipes, the situation was far better than the initially hopeless scene.

"Follow me, emergency shutdown! Cut off the main water supply!"

The nuclear power station staff, being professionals, immediately sprang into action at a run.

As for Eugene, with a wave of his wand, his figure spun and shrank, disappearing on the spot and then instantly teleporting to the open ground outside the containment dome.

Under the night sky, the alarms from within the nuclear island echoed up to the heavens.

Li Cheng, with smoke emanating from his body, slowly straightened up, grabbing his left elbow with his right hand and with a crack relocated his dislocated joint, then retrieved a Spirit Ball to summon Gray Rain.

"Time for slaughter..."

Gray Rain, whose arms had turned into large blades, had just landed without completing his line when he saw Naruto Uzumaki standing thirty meters away in the middle of the road.

"Uh... I think laying down the butcher’s knife is also a good choice."

Gray Rain came to a sudden halt, turning to Li Cheng, "It’s time for a strategic retreat."

"We can only run if he lets us."

Li Cheng scratched his forehead, looking rather vexed.

As the male protagonist from the early 21st-century manga with the highest international reputation among the three big labor-themed comics, "Naruto," Naruto Uzumaki was quite the standard overpowered character.

At twelve, he became a Lower Ninja under Kakashi’s tutelage; at fourteen, he was Jiraiya’s apprentice; at sixteen, he defeated Pein; at the end of sixteen, he took part in the Ninja World War, fought alongside Sasuke against Uchiha Madara, and sealed Kaguya; by twenty, he already had a wife and child while other young manga protagonists hadn’t even properly debuted yet.

His rapid power progression and the expansion of his destructive capacity were like shooting up on a rocket.

’Is this karma for messing with Namikaze Minato’s gag?’

Li Cheng’s thoughts raced. The only good news was that the life-sized action figure version of Naruto Uzumaki in front of him didn’t look that old, maybe around fifteen, nowhere near the full-fledged form in the later part of the manga...

"Joker has been hiding early on, Gouchen and Frankenstein got into a fierce battle and were captured, and the notice also mentioned that Bartmos has been eliminated,"

Eugene looked Li Cheng up and down as he spoke, "So that would mean, are you that Ant who eliminated Bartmos?"

"Level 16 taking down Level 21, impressive."

Naruto Uzumaki is without a doubt the official enforcer for Toy City. Eugene, stating these facts in front of him, indirectly confirms the depth of his cooperation with Toy City.

"I’m rather curious, how did you manage to gain the trust of Toy City so quickly?"

Li Cheng calmly said, "Even if your Level 19 is weak, and no matter how much water it holds, it’s impossible to borrow such a strong force."

The balancing effect of deathmatch missions is only within a certain range,

Even if Eugene levels up to Lv19, without any high-level equipment or having learned any good skills, the system would never overtly give him such an obvious advantage.

"I can’t imagine how, after Joker orchestrated a terrorist attack, you could persuade the raging upper echelons of Toy City Hall to trust you, a crime suspect.

Spiritual Control? Unlikely, as I’ve seen the list of key officials on the City Hall’s official website. Many of them are immune to spiritual control, such as Megatron, Captain Dragonfly, Misaka Mikoto, Youmu Konpaku, and so on.

Confess everything and expose all the internal affairs?

Even less possible, no serious administrative system would immediately trust an outsider claiming to be friendly.

Especially since Misaka Mikoto (from ’Magic Metal Catalog’), who serves as the Prosecutor in court, herself possesses the powerful abilities to read minds, brainwash, and erase memories.

In her hands, it’s odd if she doesn’t drain your memories dry."

Li Cheng spoke confidently, seemingly unconcerned by the distant sound of fire truck sirens, "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

You entered this toy world long ago, didn’t you? Including your defection from the Bell Tower Guild and this deathmatch - it was all premeditated by you."

Eugene’s expression tensed, and through the Information Integration Glasses, one could clearly see the muscle twitch at the corner of his mouth. "Why do you say that?"

"The Bell Tower is a quite traditional mage guild whose members usually favor magic staffs as tall as a person or carry magic books, crystal balls. But here you are, using a magic wand from ’Harry Potter’."

Li Cheng’s gaze fell upon the exquisitely crafted wooden magic wand in Eugene’s hand. The Information Integration Glasses showed clearly that it was made of Apple Wood, with a Fire Dragon Heart Nerve core.

"Considering that the mayor of this Toy City is Dumbledore, also from ’Harry Potter’, all this seems quite suspicious.

Is there a possibility that you entered this toy world when your level was still very low and that you obtained the magic wand, the status of a legitimate citizen of Toy City, and enough intelligence?"

Li Cheng said, narrowing his eyes. There was more he hadn’t said yet.

He even suspected that Eugene was the first among all players to acquire the Toy Factory Key.

Back when he was a newbie of low level, Eugene obtained the key and knew from the description that it could unlock the Hidden Room.

On one hand, he couldn’t possibly hand it over willingly - the key couldn’t be transferred, only dropped upon death. To ensure the key’s retrieval, the high-rankers of the Bell Tower would not hesitate to eliminate him.

On the other hand, with the Bell Tower filled with powerful individuals, and Eugene staying there every day, those Great Mages who studied fate and astrology would sooner or later detect the causality ripples triggered by the key’s gathering attribute and lock onto him.

To save his own life, Eugene decisively stole the guild’s treasure and fled.

It was also because he possessed the Toy Factory Key that more keys were drawn into the killing field, ultimately triggering this mission.

Eugene remained silent, but it was clear that Naruto, still with the mentality of a young boy, couldn’t keep secrets; the surprise on his face confirmed Li Cheng’s speculation.

"Heh, I don’t quite believe the claim that Gouchen and Frankenstein have been fully captured. No matter what, they were the strongest in this deathmatch, and shouldn’t have been caught so easily."

Li Cheng smiled at Naruto: "I’m not on the same side as them or that Joker, and I could even help Toy City capture them.

No matter what Eugene promised you, I can offer the same terms.

I can also negotiate, I can also love Toy City.

To make Toy City great again."

With that, Li Cheng tore off the night-clothes he had been wearing to reveal a homemade Toy City-themed t-shirt underneath, printed with a text and picture,

"Grandfather Dumbledore Defeats Toy Monsters with a Pebble."

With Eugene and Naruto looking on in amazement, Li Cheng declared with righteous words, "Actually, I have been a Toy City person for a long time."

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