The last person to disappear

"Clark!" Arnold anxiously raised his head and locked eyes with Clark, only to discover that Clark's eyes were filled with a murderous intent. The words Clark had just spoken had stirred up a storm of fear in his own heart. Could it be that Clark was considering this? Trying to artificially create mutants? A chill ran down his spine as Arnold urgently tried to dissuade him.

"Clark, you can't do this! How is this any different from the monsters? Please, Clark, think clearly!"

"If you want to do this, then you'll have to kill me first!"

Tension hung heavy in the air, and Arnold nervously swallowed his saliva, prepared to stand his ground even if it meant sacrificing himself. Although he had no chance of stopping Clark if he decided to act, he was determined to try.

"Oh? You want to stop me?"

"Power surge!" A pale golden aura surged again, but this time it carried an eerie blood-red tint. Clark's voice turned ice-cold as he suddenly appeared behind Arnold.

Ignoring Arnold's terrified expression, Clark delivered a powerful side kick to his back.

"Step and charge forward!"

"Clark!"

The force was tremendous, and Arnold felt the impact from the distance. He couldn't control his body and crashed into the blood cocoon in the corner, a sense of despair washing over him.

Arnold turned his head in disbelief to look at Clark, filled with anger and sorrow. He couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Bear transformation!"

Clark, I didn't want to fight you, but I won't let you do this, even if it costs me my life!"

In his bear form, Arnold, without regard for the consequences, rushed toward Clark.

"Fool! I want you to kill it!" Clark suddenly chuckled, and in an instant, he blurred away and placed one hand on Arnold's palm.

A bone spike pierced through the two-faced head on the blood cocoon. Crimson blood gushed out, and the two-faced head suddenly opened its eyes, emitting a piercing scream filled with deathly pallor and malevolence.

"Downward slash!" Clark's gaze turned icy as he delivered the final blow to Arnold. The bone spike slashed down like lightning onto the blood cocoon and was instantly split in two. The cocoon split open, revealing a frail and child-like body inside.

The creature, still wearing the two-faced head that didn't match its body, swiftly attempted to escape from the side.

"Thinking of running?" Clark turned and kicked Arnold, sending him flying toward the monster without causing him harm.

"Quick, kill him!"

"Boom!" Without thinking, Arnold followed Clark's command. His bear paws struck down heavily upon the creature. Blood spilled from under his paws, and when he lifted them, only a pile of debris remained.

"Ding, player Arnold has killed a mutant and gained one point of psychic energy. Level up!"

"Current player level: 1, current Awakener rank: 1st tier."

"All attributes +3!"

"Ding, player Clark has killed a mutant and gained one point of psychic energy."

"Ding, detected that player Clark is the primary killer. Obtained a special item: Bloodstone (White)."

"Item Name: Bloodstone (White)"

"Item Effect: A mutant crystal infused with life psychic energy. When used, it can restore half of your health, stamina, and mental power (Usage remaining: 3/3)."

As the system notifications ended, a dark red gemstone appeared in Clark's palm. The gemstone seemed to be filled with liquid, and it emitted a faint, eerie scream when slightly agitated.

Clark felt delighted and satisfied as he looked at the bloodstone. It was a very good item. He hadn't expected that the last mutant he killed would drop a low-probability special item. With this kind of luck, he could try buying a lottery ticket.

Restoring health, stamina, and mental power, wasn't this the equivalent of health and mana potions in the game? Restoring half of these attributes was undeniably powerful, even though it had level restrictions and could only be used three times. For Clark at this stage, it could serve as a trump card.

"Clark, what just happened? Are you, by any chance, planning to harm everyone?" Arnold hesitated for a moment before asking, his face a mix of joy, confusion, and a hint of suspicion. The incident had been too sudden, and even though he had gained more powerful abilities through leveling up, he was still concerned about Clark. Given Clark's personality, experiencing these different emotions at the same time was quite rare.

Clark put away the gemstone and replied, "Are you asking if I'm planning to torture everyone into mutants and then kill them?"

Arnold hesitated but nodded. His biggest concern was indeed that. After all, he had also considered that doing so could quickly level up and gain power.

Clark sighed softly and shook his head, "Don't worry, I won't do that."

"Then, Clark, what about what you just..."

"Just now?" Clark approached the cracked blood cocoon, his back turned to Arnold, as if he were explaining to Arnold but also talking to himself.

"I made a wrong inference just now, and I was influenced by that creature."

"It was trying to deceive me into killing you all. Although I don't know its intentions, it was probably either to buy time or to absorb something from you during your mutation."

"A wrong inference?" Arnold was puzzled and didn't understand. Even though he didn't agree with Clark using that method to gain power, it should have been correct.

Clark patiently explained, "First, the first point is that the creature interfered with my thoughts, making me believe that mutants like The Bloody Witch could be mass-produced artificially. And it should be able to access some of my memories."

"Indeed, The Bloody Witch is formed when a human, infected by the zombie virus after being betrayed, congeals their resentment and becomes a mutant."

"But the crucial point is the resentment! The Bloody Witch has this level of resentment because of the betrayal by the person she loved the most."

"In the case of two strangers, one torturing and killing the other, it is impossible to generate this level of resentment, at most, it can be called hatred."

"So, to manufacture The Bloody Witch, you must find couples, or even blood relatives! Where one party betrays the other!"

"It's too difficult. It's likely that even Craig used deceptive means to make The Bloody Witch believe that the other party loved her."

"So, mass-producing [The Bloody Witch] is not that simple."

Arnold immediately understood this point after hearing it. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"What else?"

"The problem lies in the number of people." Clark's gaze was profound as he looked straight at him.

That monster must have read some of my memories to be able to state the exact number of people in the hotel. Or perhaps it wasn't reading memories but rather observing us in secret. However, in my memory, there were 26 people alive in the hotel.