It was a bald man.
After stepping onto the stage, he didn’t attack immediately. Instead, he stared fixedly at Shen Mo, completely motionless.
Just as everyone was puzzled, the bald man reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill. He tipped his head back and swallowed it.
Shen Mo couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
The spectators below whispered among themselves.
“What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know… looks like he took some kind of medicine?”
“Where did he get medicine at a time like this? Must be an item…”
Suddenly, the bald man’s veins bulged violently. As though bearing unbearable agony, he began shrieking on the stage!
Everyone watched the stage in shock.
The initial screams of anguish gradually turned into bestial roars!
“AWOOOO AWOOOO!!!” Dense black fur sprouted across the bald man’s spine, face, and neck. Fangs bared — he had transformed into a werewolf!
The werewolf let out a howl and lunged at Shen Mo on its hind legs — both in speed and raw power, it was terrifying!
Shen Mo couldn’t take it head-on. He could only dodge and retreat.
Su Man was both stunned and furious. She demanded of the Inspector: “This doesn’t count as an offensive item?!”
“It doesn’t~” The Jester smiled pleasantly. “This is a transformation item, outside the scope of offensive items.”
Su Man was completely at a loss for words.
The man had turned into a werewolf, and it still didn’t count?!
“If this doesn’t count, then what would?” she asked, unable to suppress her outrage.
“Items whose descriptions explicitly mention an attack, or items that contain functions maliciously targeting other players, are considered offensive items,” the Jester said. “However, the item he’s using right now only unilaterally enhances the user’s physical strength and speed, accompanied by a period of frenzied aggression. That doesn’t qualify as an offensive item.”
On the stage, Shen Mo nimbly dodged one of the werewolf’s clawed swipes and asked: “How long does the frenzy state last?”
The Jester smiled pleasantly: “No comment.”
The werewolf lunged and missed. The stage floor was left in shreds!
Shen Mo barely escaped in time. Before he could draw a breath, the werewolf snarled behind him and charged again!
Shen Mo sprinted a few steps and flung a card backward!
“Question!”
Shen Mo called out in a low voice. The werewolf’s form lurched to a sudden halt!
The card hovered in the air before the werewolf’s eyes —
No matter how it raged, how out of control it was, it had to yield to the question card, fix its eyes on the problem, and seriously articulate an answer!
Shen Mo stopped running and turned to face the werewolf. “Please answer: what is 973,723 multiplied by 150, then add 589,612,333?”
Werewolf: “AWOOOO AWOOOO!!!”
Everyone: “……”
Jester: “……”
Tan Xiao burst out laughing from below: “Almost forgot we had that item! Now it’s over for this guy — after turning into a werewolf he can’t even speak human language!”
Su Man also smiled: “Not only can’t he speak, his thinking is compromised too. Right now he’s lost all rational thought. How could he possibly answer a math problem? Even if you asked him what 1+1 equals, he probably couldn’t answer.”
The two of them were rejoicing for Shen Mo, when they saw him calmly, unhurriedly… lie down.
Tan Xiao: “????”
Su Man: “????”
A countdown appeared above Shen Mo.
“Mo-ge?” Tan Xiao said, bewildered. “Finish him off while you can! If you lose now you’ll drop 10 points!”
Shen Mo lay flat on the stage and said serenely: “If the answer to a Lucky Question Card is wrong, there are three penalty rounds totaling 6 minutes. But the werewolf’s constitution is exceptionally robust with extremely fast self-healing. I can’t guarantee I can finish him off within 6 minutes.”
Tan Xiao’s expression turned a little complicated. His voice dropped: “Chief… keep it down, will you? Other people will hear — that’s embarrassing.”
Shen Mo heard that and gave a small laugh.
The countdown ended. He lost 10 points to the werewolf, rose with composed expression, dusted himself off, and jumped down from the stage.
—