Numerous members of the National Reconnaissance Office Delta Force (NRO Delta) stormed in while Carmen summoned his Shadow Familiar once more. He sighed deeply and muttered to himself, "Each time I use the Shadow Familiar, it costs 120 survival points, and it can only stay for thirty minutes before additional points are deducted. The dark realm is really a rip-off..."

This ability wasn't easy to use; otherwise, Carmen would not have kept it hidden. The high cost alone deterred many, but the power of the Shadow Familiar was undeniable. For instance, Carmen's "stag" had triple his strength.

Most familiars had a strength roughly three times that of the summoner's, making their combat power nearly surpass human limits.

The stag leapt out of the shadows on the ground, crashing into two assault team members who tried to approach, sending them flying.

The stag's antlers were strong and sharp, capable of piercing through concrete with ease. Alexander saw one of the assault team members get impaled through the chest.

"Take the back door..."

Xu Lin wielded the Sacrificial Blade, spinning the chain ball in his hand, with a blue flame erupting from the eye sockets of the skull.

This was the enchantment effect of Xu Lin's Sacrificial Blade—Blue Flame!

The intense blue flame could melt anything and had greater thermal radiation than normal fire, making it highly flammable and quick-burning.

He swung the chain ball, striking the corridor walls, sending blue sparks flying everywhere.

After doing all this, the group moved downstairs under his cover. They traversed a long hallway and finally reached the club's back door, while terrifying howls echoed from within the club.

As Mrs. Sun was walking, a gunshot rang out; her head exploded. It was a subsonic bullet from a Barrett rifle. In fact, her head had been shot before anyone heard the sound.

This was the nature of the script world in the dark realm—death came so swiftly and cruelly, leaving no choice, resistance, or preparation. Lives were as fragile as grass...

"Take cover, quickly take cover..."

Alexander suddenly remembered that the sniper was still nearby. He had thought the sniper might not have a chance to target them, but he hadn't expected the sniper to be aiming at their group.

He hid under a van while Carmen, beside him, punched through a car window, reached in to unlock the door, and jumped into the driver's seat.

"Bang!"

A bullet shattered the window, and Carmen quickly drove off, summoning the stag to shield the car.

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"Hurry, get in..."

Carmen swung the car around to pick everyone up, then drove away with the black stag providing cover.

However, gunfire continued along the way, and Roland suddenly cried out, having been shot in the shoulder, blood pouring out.

"No good, Roland's hurt—we need to get to a hospital."

"We can't go to the hospital. Old Li, give him a painkiller candy and something to bandage him."

"Understood!" Carmen was well-versed in such situations. He quickly pulled out a roll of bandages and gave Roland a painkiller candy.

These items were likely miraculous artifacts from the dark realm. After Roland took the candy, the pain quickly subsided, and Carmen managed to bandage him up.

"Who exactly are you people? Those were clearly military—why did they attack us?" Linda, having calmed down, voiced her and the others' questions.

"And why is Janet missing?" the young black man was still puzzled by this.

"Let us out, let us out..." Roland, having regained some strength, shouted.

"Enough!" Alexander suddenly roared. The car came to a screeching halt.

He addressed the three: "Now is not the time for us to argue. Janet's disappearance and the military's appearance suggest Innsmouth may be in a very peculiar situation..."

"We've told you everything. We are part of a special agency connected to the government, but things have changed, and we don't know exactly what's happening. If you don't trust us, you're free to leave here. Just remember that those soldiers will fire indiscriminately. The implications of who's backing them should be clear!"

"They're likely from the NRO Delta Force, probably MJ-12 members..." Xu Lin bit his finger, his excellent memory recalling some related details about Cthulhu.

"'MJ-12' was established on September 24, 1947, officially known as Majestic-12, composed of key figures from the military, intelligence, and academia. It reports directly to the National Security Council, though that's just a formality. Presidents after Johnson weren't even aware it existed. 'MJ-12' maintains extreme secrecy, even assassinating former member Secretary of Defense James Forrestal on May 22, 1949, to keep its existence hidden. It's a terrifying organization, and in terms of influence, we might not be able to match them..."

"If this organization is here, there must be something to gain. If it were just about wiping out the Dagon cult, we'd see their subordinate 'Blue Butterfly' unit, not the NRO Delta Force filled with killers..."

At this crucial moment, the script for Act 3 surfaced in their minds, accompanied by a horribly bad piece of news.

"Plot point triggered... New main storyline initiated... Overwriting original project... System change commencing—"

"Directive A, new main storyline successfully overwriting project, initiating Nightmare Mode!"

Everyone's expressions changed—death was beckoning, and the main storyline had shifted...

"Damn it!" Even Xu Lin couldn't help cursing, punching the seat, causing Alexander to glance at him.

"It looks like we've entered Nightmare difficulty."

"You're surprisingly calm!" Xu Lin commented, glancing at him. "I see you've passed the first checkpoint."

His counterpart was indeed sharp; it seemed his earlier actions hadn't gone unnoticed.

"I suppose so. I guess in a normal difficulty script, each player's death flag initially happens once. The flags multiply only when the script difficulty changes..." Alexander didn't bother hiding it from him.

Xu Lin looked at the few remaining newcomers and then said, "Even without a death flag, you could still die, but without a death flag, at least you won't need to take on dangerous tasks specifically!"

"What are you planning to do? How will we rescue Janet..." Linda grabbed Alexander, making a snide remark, "You haven't forgotten about this, have you?"

"Sorry, but we can't go back to town now," Alexander said, having skimmed through the script.

"Head to Mash Refinery. It’s likely safer there," Xu Lin suggested, touching his chin as he thought about the layout of the Mash Gold Refinery, feeling it might be a good place.