parentshiftbook Chapter 89 Bronze Statue
Chapter 89 Bronze Statue
Despite being just a corner of the city of 0002, this place is unusually free of any trace of monsters.
Weak monsters dare not approach, and powerful demon kings are unwilling to get involved. This place is like a desolate land that everyone avoids, with only wild and overgrown ivy eroding this low wall.
On the other side of the low wall was a vast, desolate desert, bathed in a hazy, yellowish light—dreamy and utterly unreal.
Chu Wen took a deep breath and, led by Luo Ping, stepped into the twilight zone called "091 Pseudo".
The original dirt road has turned into gravel, and although there is only one wall separating them, it is strangely unusual.
"It's normal to feel a little nervous when you first enter the Twilight Zone. Don't overthink it; this Twilight Zone is friendly to humans."
Luo Ping reiterated that they should look for landmark dunes by following the markings on a paper map.
Chu Wen paid attention to the details of the Hunyuan Pearl on the panel. According to Suo Da, the Hunyuan Pearl would react as long as it came into contact with the contents of the Twilight Zone.
Hunyuan Pearl (7%)
Perhaps because he hadn't started exploring yet, the progress of collecting the Hunyuan Pearl hadn't increased. He bent down and pinched the sand at his feet; it was wet and sticky, as if it had just rained heavily.
"Found it. The sand dune is at five o'clock from the light source, and it has three small sharp corners."
Luo Ping shouted to Chu Wen, and the two stood up in unison and moved forward together.
"What you encounter in the Twilight Zone is basically random, but the output is similar, which means that each Twilight Zone has a certain resource limit. Can you smell the blood of the monsters?"
As the two began their run, Luo Ping's expression also became cautious.
Chu Wen responded, "I smelled it a long time ago, that sour, filthy stench."
The sour, foul smell carried by the wind irritated my nasal mucosa; the damp gravel from before must have contained a lot of other things blown in by the wind.
The two figures only moved for a quarter of an hour before the scene before them changed instantly, as if sliced.
A withered old tree stood there all alone, with the remains of monsters scattered on the ground beneath it. Even though I held my breath, the stench of decay still assaulted my sense of smell.
The sound of "+1" energy points began to ring out, indicating that countless monsters had died here. The two carefully crouched down, keeping their bodies low to the ground.
At one moment, Chu Wen felt as if the gravel beneath his feet had hardened. Just like in the twilight zone of the Hunyuan Pearl, the texture of the swamp had turned into rock.
"Jump!~!"
Chu Wen roared angrily.
Without much thought, Luo Ping and the other man leaped up suddenly, and red vines burst forth from the sand, strangling at them.
Luo Ping's expression turned cold, and four throwing knives appeared in front of him. In the blink of an eye, the throwing knives swiftly cut through the vines surrounding them.
Red sap from the vines splashed onto the sand, adding an eerie, alluring red hue.
On the other side, Chu Wen did not use his battle sword. With just the invisible blade that shot out from his right hand, he stopped the vines that were right in front of him, preventing them from advancing an inch.
A few breaths later, only a pile of blood-red vines remained, rolling on the sand dunes, occasionally twitching and bouncing up, dead but not stiff.
"There are fruits on the tree, what kind of fruits are they?"
Chu Wen immediately spotted a blue fruit on the withered branch. The pattern on it didn't look natural; it resembled a symbol.
"I can't identify all the rare plants; I'll probably have to go back to the fortress to confirm."
The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other's thoughts.
The purpose of entering the Pseudo-Twilight Zone is to harvest resources! Only these resources, which cannot be produced outside, can be exchanged for other important resources!
It's okay if you don't recognize it, just put it in the bag.
Bang!
Two loud thuds sounded as the hind legs touched the ground.
Along with them, numerous vines buried deep in the gravel also took flight, rising and soaring into the air along with countless pieces of flesh buried under the yellow sand.
The four throwing knives flew from different directions at tricky angles, creating an opening that just provided enough space for Chu Wen and Luo Ping to stand.
Chu Wen drew his sword and leaped forward, unleashing a fiery sword strike that once again shattered the vines trying to fill the hole.
Unable to defend themselves in time, the vines could only desperately chase after the two of them, while swirling sand and gravel drifted in the wind, obscuring the sky and the sun.
Chu Wen unleashed his back-to-basics movement technique in an instant, flicking away the fruit hanging on the branch.
The once-fierce vines suddenly seemed to lose their way, wandering aimlessly in mid-air. After a while, they finally drooped weakly to the ground and disappeared back into the gravel.
Luo Ping and Chu Wen quickly moved away from the dead tree, both with smiles on their faces; they were lucky.
"This is yours. If you hadn't reminded me, I might have gotten hurt and had to go back. Besides, this is your first trophy in the Twilight District, so it's quite a souvenir."
Luo Ping was very perceptive and knew that Chu Wen might refuse, so he used "commemorative significance" as an excuse.
But what's more surprising is that Chu Wen is not only incredibly strong, but also has such keen insight that even a novice War God like myself almost suffered a setback.
Giving others a little something is also for the sake of better cooperation.
"Then this junior will not stand on ceremony." Chu Wen politely cupped his hands and stuffed the fruit into his bag. In reality, he touched his palm from inside the bag and directly put it into the Hunyuan Pearl.
"We've already made some gains even on the outskirts; we've had pretty good luck this time."
Luo Ping nodded with a smile, but in his heart he was even more looking forward to the treasure inside. He came with Chu Wen this time just to see the splendor of the deepest part.
The pseudo-twilight zone will change according to the strength of the intruder. Chu Wen's realm is a beginner battle king, so the pseudo-twilight zone will only set up dangers according to the requirements of a beginner battle king.
Most importantly: by slightly adjusting the difficulty, the rewards will only increase exponentially!
Luo Ping is a beginner-level War God, and Chu Wen is a beginner-level War King. Although the difficulty is increased when the two explore together, the total benefit is definitely greater than the sum of its parts!
The pseudo-twilight zone is much more humane than the regular twilight zone, but unfortunately each person can only enter once, and the second time they will be blocked by an inescapable barrier.
As the sandstorm subsided, the sun, forever hanging in the west, never set, its hazy light casting a somber veil over the desolate wasteland.
Chu Wen finally understood what 'twilight' meant. Even compared to the desolation of the northern desert, it lacked a trace of tranquility and peace. All that remained was deathly silence.
"Won't the people and monsters entering this place just run into each other?"
Chu Wen finally voiced his doubts: along the way, he only saw the remains of monsters, but not a single living monster.
"The War Gods and War Kings who have time to enter here have basically all tried it. The others either don't like it or are too busy. This time, only we entered," Luo Ping explained casually. "But under normal circumstances, we really won't run into each other. It seems to be a special mechanism in the Twilight Zone that is designed to prevent everyone from helping each other. Unless we enter together, it's very difficult to run into each other, even if we enter a minute apart, unless some accident happens."
"Accident?"
"For example, the twilight zone may split apart, just like continental displacement."
As soon as Luo Ping finished speaking, the scenery before him began to change, and the barren land in front of him began to grow lush vegetation.
The sound of the river lapping against the bank brushed past his ears. He gasped and looked around; Chu Wen was no longer beside him.
"Tch, it has to be the Twilight District. They won't even let me take a shortcut. How stingy."
On the other side, Chu Wen witnessed Luo Ping disappear into thin air and suddenly became alert.
Blood-red carrier pigeons scattered from afar, and the ancient bells rang once more.
The end of that wasteland was no longer indistinct.
An ancient bronze statue gazes at itself, and even more so at its homeland, the homeland that lies dormant in the sea of data.