Survival in the game world begins with Biochemical 2

Chapter 211 The Guardian of the Black Bridge

In the game Dead Cells, the protagonist Cellman is reborn from the prison of the prisoners every time, and then explores outside.

The map routes extend in all directions. There are more than thirty maps in total. Each big map can lead to different places. Between the big maps, there will be collector rooms for players to rest.

This is of course a gameplay setting, but this is also slightly explained in the plot.

As mentioned before, the Collector is the alchemist who cooperates with the king, and he has been looking for a way to create the antidote. Therefore, in the early days of the mutation, he traveled all over the island and set up laboratories everywhere to study the causes of the mutation and how to deal with it.

The lounges between these large maps can also be seen as collectors' former laboratories.

As for why the map changes every time you respawn...maybe this island is really alive?
  Li You spread his hands.

Together with the Cell Man he came to the High Road of the Sinful.

Although "The Avenue of the Sinful" can be called a cute and happy picture, it is nothing to Li You, and there are still people in the cell.

Different from the habits of the cell man in front of him, Li You is still used to clearing out all threatening enemies along the way, and then walking over openly.

The Avenue of Sinners is a little troublesome except for the speed demon, which is the kind of wooden doll that is blessed with magic and can provide protection to nearby companions. However, Li You did not hesitate and blew it up with one shot.

As for the speed demons, after facing them personally, Li You found with some relief that their "teleportation" ability was not that powerful.

According to his observations, Speed ​​Demon's teleportation should be some kind of relatively low-level space magic that can jump and move within the field of vision. However, the maximum distance it can move does not exceed ten meters, and it cannot be used continuously. There is also a forward swing when releasing.

Li You said that the evaluation was not as good as Wesker.

So in other words, if you want to parkour through levels, you can run faster to get rid of them.

Of course, there is no need for Li You to run.

Another speed demon activated transfer magic and appeared in front of Li You. But while he was still concentrating, a blue-silver samurai sword had already cut through the gap in the armor at his neck, decapitating him directly.

There were no other enemies around. Li You swung his sword and walked forward.

However, the cell man did not move. He seemed to sense something and squatted down next to Su Mo's body, and the flames on his head began to beat rapidly.

Then, a blue light point the size of a human head flew out of the speed demon's corpse and was sucked into the flames on Cell Man's head.

This was not the first time for Li You to see this scene, but he still found it interesting. It turns out that this is how Cell Man absorbs cells dropped by monsters...and are the "cells" really that big?

After the Cell Man was absorbed, they continued to move forward and soon came to a simple platform elevator.

Take the elevator all the way up and you will reach the high wall of the prison.

This is the top of the prison area, with a good view and you can also see the sea.

On the way to the top, they also passed a room that looked like a collector's laboratory, but they did not see the "only good man" here.

In the barrier map, a new enemy appeared. They are mages who wear white robes with a pair of huge red horn-like ornaments on their backs, named Judges.

After they accumulate magic power, they release lavender magic balls from the middle of the two corners to attack.

In the game, their magic can penetrate walls, but in this world, Li You discovered that most of their attacks will still be blocked by walls. It's just that these guys are slippery and can always find gaps for their magic to pass through the breaks in platforms and walls. mouth to launch an attack.

Fortunately, the intensity of the magic was not high. Li You tried using a shield to block it like in the game, and found that he could indeed deflect it.

Then there's nothing to worry about. Facing the two judges in front of him, Li You popped out the glazed umbrella in his left hand to block their magic. Then the moon shadow flashed and swung an air blade, cutting open the chest of the judge above him!

But even so, the guy just took a step back, roared and raised his hand, trying to activate magic again.

"It's not dead?"

This time, Li You suppressed the power of the air blade very low. He originally thought that it would be enough to cause fatal injuries to the judge, but he didn't expect that it would not be able to stop his attack at all.

Li You has a new understanding of the powerful vitality of the enemies in this world.

So he took out the prototype samurai blade with his backhand, fired three times, and took the guy away completely.

On the other side, the cell man held a pair of daggers and had already cut the other judge into pieces.

Seeing Li You looking over, he stretched out his hand and gave a thumbs up.

Li You nodded: "Let's go, continue."

There is nothing to get on this side of the barrier. In the game, if you obtain and activate three BOSS cells, or origin cells, you can also open a door here, go to the Gagging Cellar, and fight another BOSS.

Li You was not sure whether he could open the door without the Origin Cell, but anyway, just searching would take a lot of time, so it was better to go to the Black Bridge honestly.

He and the Cell Man jumped and climbed between the high walls of the fortress, looking for the elevator leading to the black bridge.

And in the process, they also discovered something else.

……

Li You stood in front of a gallows, his face not very pretty.

Not far in front of him were hanged on the gallows three dry and mutilated corpses.

Judging from their appearance, one could barely identify one of them as a man in his forties, the other as a woman whose age could not be discerned, and... a "dwarf".

They were hung on the gallows, their bodies mutilated and rotten, and crows pecked them beyond recognition.

Cell Man was leaning in front of them, carefully looking at the notes attached to them.

After reading it, he tore off a piece and handed it to Li You.

Li You actually knew what was written on it. That was the crime for which these three people were hanged. The notes on the three people were all "suspected infection."

In the later stages of the mutation outbreak, residents fell down due to infection, corpses rose from their graves, and soldiers fell into final madness.

A large number of "suspected infected" people were hanged, prisoners on death row were thrown from high walls to watch their desperate screams, and criminals were used as target practice...

Remnants of the brutality of the soldiers can be seen everywhere in the Avenue of Sinners and the Ramparts.

In the original 2D game, these looked like background panels, but in today's world, they were all so real. The indescribable horror of the mutilated corpses made Li You feel sick to his stomach after a long time.

But he knew that this was only a small part of it.

He subconsciously looked at the culprit of everything, and his fists unconsciously hardened.

The cell man was still rummaging through the corpses and the gallows, but found nothing of value, so he shook his head and turned around.

Then he saw Li You staring at him and couldn't help but be stunned.

He waved his hand vigorously at Li You, and Li You put away his dangerous eyes.

After exhaling a breath, he said: "It's okay... let's go and continue to find a way out."

The Cell Man looked at him, as if he had something to say, but he couldn't speak. In the end, he could only nod and continue walking forward.

Finally, they found an elevator leading to the bottom under a high wall. And this time, in the bottom laboratory, the two saw the Collector again.

Not surprisingly, even as a matter of course, the Cell Man walked up to the Collector, raised his hand, handed the cells he collected to the Collector, and exchanged something from him.

But Li You kept staring at the collector, and finally asked: "How did you run in front of us?"

The collector chuckled: "I have my secret way...you don't need to ask anymore. So, do you have any cells to give me?"

Li You had communicated with him before, and learned from him that he could convert cells into an increase in physical fitness, and he could also collect cells to provide weapons and equipment, as well as mutation abilities (ie, passive skills).

Li You briefly summarized it, that is, collectors in this world are basically equivalent to fire prevention women.

Strengthening scrolls and weapons and equipment can be found on the map, but the number is very, very small.

Correspondingly, Cell People can consume cells to improve attributes at the Collector, and it is said that the price is fair and affordable.

At the same time, collectors also work part-time as equipment dealers and mutant ability adjusters.

Anyway, all the cells collected by Cell Man can be spent with him.

However, Li You thought that every time Cell Man died, all previous upgrade items would be cleared, and he still had to say:
  Black, really black.

In this way, basically all the gains of the cell people have to be provided to the collectors. The more times he respawns, the more the Collector earns.

It smells like a capitalist.

Fortunately, it's not him who is facing this kind of hell now, but the protagonist. Li You feels very happy.

Especially when he saw Cell Man scratching his head at the list of goods listed by the collector...oh no, scratching at the will-o'-the-wisp, he couldn't help but want to laugh out loud.

As for him doing the same thing himself, then there's no need.

The Collector clearly told him that because his constitution was different from that of the Cell Man, the ability-enhancing alchemy was only effective for ten minutes, unlike the Cell Man, which could last as long as the body did not die.

As for his mutation ability, Li You couldn't use it at all.

The collector didn't say the specific reason, but Li You could guess that it was probably because the protagonist's cell-human body was actually an artificial human prepared by the collector in advance.

Alchemy has obvious effects on artificial humans of the same origin, so it makes sense for him to be a limited-time BUFF.

Although the weapons are usable, the Collector doesn't have any particularly outstanding equipment.

Therefore, Li You has no plans to be taken advantage of for the time being.

Cellman completed the upgrade of his abilities and also bought a shield from the collector. Then he turned around and gestured to Li You. Li You nodded and walked towards the exit of the laboratory.

Go down the stairs from the exit at the other end of the laboratory and you will come to the black bridge.

This is a wide stone bridge, much larger than in the game. Because the terrain is low and the sun cannot reach it, the area around the bridge is dim and unclear, which fits the name "Black Bridge" very well.

Fortunately, there is an oil lamp at regular intervals on both sides of the bridge. The lamp is burning with a faint light, barely illuminating the bridge deck.

Li You had already seen that at the other end of the bridge, a tall guard with sharply bulging arms, wearing deformed armor and a pointed helmet, was standing under the dim light of an oil lamp.

That's the bridge guard, the watcher.

The Warden, formerly known as Castan, is the warden of the prison. After the mutation broke out, the king ordered that all infected people be imprisoned and isolated from the outside world, and no civilians in the village were allowed to visit. Unfortunately, the warden was modest and kind-hearted and could not bear to see the villagers separated from their relatives by the bars, so after collecting some small condolences, he let the visiting villagers in.

Little did he know that his behavior further led to the spread of infection.

In the end, Castan himself was infected and mutated, turning into a monster guardian. Perhaps out of guilt or obsession, he came to the Black Bridge and served as a guard forever.

Li You looked at the watcher opposite and pondered for a moment.

With his eyesight, he could clearly see the appearance of the watcher. He is nearly three meters tall, and his arms are so thick that they can almost catch up with the tanks in Left [-] Survival. You can tell at a glance that he is very powerful.

Li You took out the anti-material sniper rifle from his backpack and said to the cell man: "I'll give him a shot first, and you'll find an opportunity to attack."

Cell Man nodded and pulled out the double daggers from his waist.

Li You aimed at the watcher's head from a distance and pulled the trigger!
  As the fire flashed, the bullet was directly embedded in the watcher's head!

However, the watcher did not fall down. His body swayed, then he stood firm, and then let out a roar!

"Roar--!!!"

He pressed his body down slightly, then suddenly jumped up and rushed towards Li You and Cell Man!
  When Li You saw that he was still alive and kicking after being shot, he had already put away his sniper rifle and took out Yueying again. He and the Cellman rolled outwards to the left and right, avoiding the heavy attacks of the watchers.

Cell Man quickly stood up and threw a dark round grenade.

The grenade exploded on the guard, but it didn't cause much damage. Instead, it angered him and let out another roar!

This time, along with his roar, wisps of blood mist rose up all over his body, shrouding his body, churning continuously, and it was obviously highly corrosive.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the cell man immediately retreated to avoid it, while the watcher pursued him with heavy steps.

But on the other side, Li You had already charged up his strength. He suddenly pulled out Yueying and slashed diagonally. As the light of the sword lit up, a sword energy quickly flew towards the watcher! And immediately after, there was a vacuum wave coming out from the ground and sweeping away!

The guard sensed the threat and turned around to look, but he was too late and was struck firmly on his left arm by Dragon Flash's sword energy. His armor was cut open by the sword energy, and blood immediately spattered everywhere.

Before he could roar, the vacuum wave flew in immediately, hit him, and dispersed the blood mist around him.

But this time, the watcher crossed his thick arms, blocking the subsequent attack at the cost of the armor of both arms being dented.

He was about to turn around and attack Li You when a figure suddenly flashed behind him. The Cell Man jumped on his back and stabbed his daggers fiercely along the gap in his neck!
  The guard screamed in pain again, and the blood mist around him rose again. He swung his hand back and knocked the Cellman away, falling into the water under the bridge.

Li You's eyes flashed, intending to save people, but the watcher immediately raised his arms and slammed them on the ground, and a flame swept down the ground and rushed towards Li You.

Li You flicked and pulled the grappling hook, hooked onto the edge railing of the bridge, and took himself over, avoiding the incoming flames.

At the same time, he quickly issued a call in his heart.

Seeing Li You dodge the attack, the watcher hit the ground with his hammer to vent his anger, and wanted to pursue him, but unexpectedly, two sharp lights came from behind!

The guard turned around, only to see the cell man who was supposed to be thrown down by him was stabbing him with two daggers. Behind him, there was a man in black who was not much shorter than him, holding a huge naginata in his hand and wearing an oni mask on his face, staring at him eagerly.

Even the caretaker who had lost his mind couldn't help but be shocked when he saw this scene:

"Roar--!?"

The cell man's double daggers scratched the exposed area of ​​his waist and abdomen, leaving two slender wounds. The guard didn't care about this. Facing the man in black who raised his naginata and slashed at him, he used all his strength to resist with both arms!
  "Chong--!"

With a harsh sound, Yuzu's naginata completely cut open the armor of both arms of the guardian, almost cutting off his left hand that was stacked on top!
  The watcher roared in pain, but Yuzu kicked him in the stomach without mercy, sending him flying backwards.

As the guard retreated, he stared at Yuzu and Cellman warily, but ignored what was behind him.

It wasn't until a thunder suddenly came from behind that the caretaker, who was in a state of confusion, realized that he had forgotten something!
  He turned his head instinctively, but only saw Li You leaping in mid-air, holding the katana high in his hand, and a golden thunder and lightning wrapped around the blade. As the katana fell, arcs of electricity were brought up in the air, turning into a lightning blade. Cut it off at him!
  The guard wanted to resist, but he only raised his hand halfway before Li You's Ba Zhilei fell on him.

"Crackling—!"

Golden electric arcs wrapped around his body, burning his body and trying to invade his body from everywhere.

Even if the guard's body mutated to become extremely strong, he could not withstand such damage and fell to his knees heavily.

Li You landed lightly and came to him. He put away the Thunder Moon Shadow, drew out the Black Immortal Slash, and opened the door.

In the game, even if it is a BOSS that has been defeated, the protagonist must fight it again after rebirth.

In this regard, it is not clear whether it is because of the gameplay or because these BOSS are not completely killed in the first place, so they can still be resurrected.

Li You prefers that this is just gameplay. Just like fighting a lion ape in Wolf, if you die in the second stage, you will find that the head of the lion ape is still growing on the neck after resurrection; and in the old head ring, you will be killed while wrestling with the muscular grandfather Godfrey, and he will come back. He will tear apart the Beast King Selosho again.

However, just in case, he decided to use Immortal Slash to send the watcher away to prevent resurrection.

Li You held the door open and slashed the guard's neck with a knife!

With a "swish" sound, the door opened cleanly, cutting off the head of the watcher, and his huge body collapsed.

Li You closed the door and looked at Yuzi and Cellman.

Yuzi said "ooh" as a greeting, while Cell Man... Cell Man was busy absorbing cells from the watcher's body and picking up the broken gold nuggets that fell from his body, without even looking at Li You.

Li You: "..."

Sure enough, we should kill this guy, right?

Fortunately, Cell Man stood up quickly. He came to Li You with a large piece of broken gold and silver that he had collected, and handed half of it to him.

Then, he pointed at his will-o'-the-wisp head.

Judging from what he means, it should be that the cells also share half of it.

Li You's face looked better now, but not much better.

Why should I be evenly divided with you? It was obviously my side that contributed much more just now, right?

Li You simply ignored this scumbag protagonist, otherwise he was afraid that he would really be unable to hold the door open and chop this guy down.

He clapped his hands instead, and the iron gate at this end of the bridge was pushed open again, and Aggie walked out.

Cell Man looked at Aiji and then at Yuzu. Although he couldn't speak, it was obvious that he was very curious.

Li You pointed at Ai Ji, then pointed at him, and said: "This is my companion. She has the ability to communicate with people's spirits. I asked her to try it to see if she can use this to talk to you."

Cell Man was also slightly startled, but he looked at the formation of Li You, Yuzi and Aiji that vaguely surrounded him, and understood that he might not be able to refuse, otherwise he might be sent back to his birth point, so he nodded. .

Ai Ji then closed his eyes slightly and used his spiritual link ability.

In the world of Sekiro, because she really didn't have much to do, she could only practice this special ability in her spare time. Before traveling through the world, she had been able to stably control insects, docile animals and other objects, but she had not yet tried to communicate with people's spirits.

Li You also just thought that Ai Ji was worried about hurting others, so wouldn't Cell Man be a perfect training target?
  But in the final analysis, can cell people be considered human beings?
  Li You didn't know either. He only knew that Aiji was face to face with the Cell Man. He tried for a long time, but to no avail. Instead, he was exhausted mentally.

However, just when Li You was about to ask her to give up temporarily, her face showed joy and she said to Li You:

"I successfully established a spiritual connection with him!"

Li You's eyes also lit up: "Very good, can you understand what he is saying?"

Aggie paused and then said: "Yeah...I understand. He is talking..."

"'Telepathy? Do you really have this ability? But then again, in my current state, do I really have such a thing as a mind? I don't even have a brain, and I don't even know where I came from. Say. Why on earth can I still live and think? Am I a ball of green algae, or a lonely ghost possessing the green algae...'"

"Stop, stop, stop—!" Li You stopped Ai Ji's simultaneous interpretation and pressed his forehead.

I almost forgot that Cell Man sometimes triggers his inexplicable chattering attribute and keeps chattering in his mind.

"You don't have to tell me all what he said, right?" Li You looked at Ai Ji.

Aiji said: "...Well, but I just recounted the beginning, and there is a long paragraph after it."

Li You: "..."

Sure enough, I'd better kill this guy.

In short, after having Aiji act as a translator, Li You briefly communicated with the Cell Man, and then discovered that he indeed had no memory of his past at all.

The memory in his mind began in the pipe that appeared on the top of the prison.

After Li You thought for a while, he didn't tell him the truth.

This may be a rare world where he knows the inside story, but actively chooses to be the Riddler.

After all, he still has his own plans.

So, Li You simply ended the conversation with the cell man, and then without further delay, he crossed the bridge and headed to the next location.

The Black Bridge is a demarcation point and a transportation hub. Once you leave here, you have left the prison area.

From here, you can also go to three different areas.

Fog-haunted harbors, slumbering sanctuaries, and crumbling temples.

And these three places can all lead to the area that the main process must pass through, the bell tower.

After looking at the sign at the fork in the road after coming down from the bridge, Li You's eyes flashed and he said to the cell man: "I have already helped you solve the problem of the caretaker, so let's go ahead and act separately. I want to be myself." It’s about that.”

At the same time, he also kindly reminded the cell people that Wuying Harbor is the relatively safest area.

The Cell Man nodded to him and said that he planned to go back and find the Collector to improve before moving on.

His statement made Li You stunned. After all, in the game, you can only move forward, not backward. But now that it’s a complete world, this operation seems reasonable?
  So he nodded and said: "Then I wish you good luck."

Cell Man waved his hand, then turned and left.

Li You greeted Yuzi and Ai Ji, and found an elevator at the end of a fork in the road. The three of them got on it and began to rise quickly.

His destination is to collapse the temple.

(End of this chapter)