Free Web NovelChapter 486: Chapter 103: Finally Meeting
The sights inside and outside Denglin City are completely different.
Despite being able to see the city’s outline from outside, the hustle and bustle within give the impression that this place is hardly a Dead City abandoned for seven hundred years.
When Bai Wu entered the city, what he saw was a very strange sight.
Steel skeletal structures rose throughout the city, leaving no trace of the seven centuries that had passed.
Although in many areas protected by rules, buildings outside the High Tower barely decay or collapse, one can still sense some—antiquity.
But Denglin City had none of it.
Denglin City was as bustling as Mechanical City, but its bustle felt more like that of a... biochemical city.
Wu Jiu was also exploring Denglin City with Bai Wu, yet the two had not met.
In the early morning, Wu Jiu, who had entered the city the previous night, had already been secretly observing it for a long time.
His first glance was captured by the city’s largest building, Denglin Technology Tower.
Unlike many buildings draped in neon lights with a cyberpunk vibe, Denglin Technology Tower was not so flamboyant.
What was most captivating were the huge tentacles entwined around the tower.
Such a massive creature, Wu Jiu had only seen twice before. Both times were in the refuge.
One was the stomach-transformed Dandelion, and the other was the Hydra, Gu Hailin.
But in fact, whether it was Gu Hailin or Dandelion, their size was only comparable to that of the tentacles wrapped around the technology tower.
What Wu Jiu did not know was that, compared to the owner of these tentacles—this tentacle was very small, just a part of his body.
By daylight, Wu Jiu discovered that the tentacles wrapped around Denglin Technology Tower... had mutated.
Last night, the tentacles were like the limbs of a giant octopus, but come daytime, countless crimson flowers grew on the octopus limbs.
At the center of each crimson flower, an eerie eye was wide open.
Throughout the night, Wu Jiu did not act rashly, and all the places he passed through were filled with Evil Fallen...
And these Evil Fallen were very strong.
Without Bai Wu, Wu Jiu could only rely on his own previous experiences learning from Bai Wu, as well as the state of sensory communion, to communicate with the cat.
Both the cat’s advice and Wu Jiu’s intuition told him to stealthily slip by, not to alert these Evil Fallen. Especially not to be noticed by the biggest monster of them all.
One night passed, and Wu Jiu gained two more negative attributes, but strangely enough...
Whether on the way to Denglin City or within it, these negative attributes that descended every four hours—seemed much weaker in effect.
"Could it be the rules of this region? No, before I entered here, I also had other negative attributes, but they too had their effects significantly reduced. Could it be that all negative attributes outside the tower have weakened?"
Wu Jiu voiced his confusion, and soon, a response echoed by his ear.
"Not necessarily. Outside the tower, although humans are innately inferior to the Evil Fallen, humans have stronger growth abilities than Evil Fallen. Negative attributes were once a fatal threat to you, but maybe not anymore," Li You replied to Wu Jiu.
Though separated by great distances, the two seemed as if they were right next to each other.
Li You was leading at the front, bringing those who were willing to follow her towards the location of the High Tower. Along the way, they encountered many Evil Fallen, which further bolstered the authority of Li You or rather Wu Jiu.
"Why?" Wu Jiu was puzzled.
"Because your body has endured so many negative attributes, you might have developed... a kind of resistance, or perhaps what can be termed as rule resistance."
"Don’t think it’s special, and don’t wonder why only you would have it and others not, because before you, no one has survived outside the tower for such an extended time."
Li You’s theory was just speculation, but it was indeed close to the truth.
How many types of negative attributes there are that descend every four hours, no one knows, nor whether they will continue to increase if all are present in one person. The maximum stack for the same negative attribute? That too, no one knows.
Because before Wu Jiu stepped beyond the fog, he had been in a near-death state for a very long time.
Under Wu Jiu’s own powerful will and the various supernatural powers of Li You, Wu Jiu stayed alive.
Now, restarting the accumulation of negative attributes, Wu Jiu could clearly feel that the impact of these attributes on him had decreased by a lot.
He continued to observe the city. Wu Jiu was currently in the bank street of Denglin City.
Various banks from seven hundred years ago nearly crowded this place, where people used to come to withdraw and deposit money, handling all sorts of transactions.
But now, these dark gray buildings were devoid of any signs of life, and the ATMs scattered with banknotes seemingly hadn’t been visited for a long time.
This was determined to be the safest place by Li You and Wu Jiu.
Because although this place was deserted, the city itself was not.
Wu Jiu could easily sense the presence of Evil Fallen. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this place a city of Evil Fallen.
Not only was the Denglin City technology building entangled, but many buildings seemed wrapped by tentacles of some giant twisted monster.
Apart from the countless Evil Fallen presences throughout the city, Wu Jiu could also hear a massive heartbeat.
This was definitely a super huge monster, but the problem was, Wu Jiu could not sense the presence of this monster.
Just its immense size alone made it impossible to be an ordinary monster. Yet, strangely, Wu Jiu could detect many Evil Fallen presences, but not this largest one.
Even when he activated the Sequence Heart Net.
However, Wu Jiu didn’t pay too much attention to this monster, as all the strangeness outside the tower couldn’t be ignored, but also shouldn’t trap his own thoughts.
Inside the bank street, Wu Jiu observed many places.
Many buildings were entangled by various bizarre plants or parts of the Evil Fallen.
It was as if the city was a breeding ground for Evil Fallen.
"I am reminded of an old acquaintance... once in another place, I saw Denglin City of the year 2128. Back then, Denglin City had many Evil Fallen, but the city was not like this."
"You seem very upset... I can feel your emotions. Are you upset about the changes in this city, or are you upset about the old acquaintance?"
Li You could say that she could sense everything about Wu Jiu when they were in a "linked" state, even the fluctuations in his mood.
"It’s nothing, let’s not talk about that. My knowledge of Denglin City is limited to that technology building. I need to figure out how to sneak in there."
Wu Jiu quickly adjusted his emotions, as to not alarm the Evil Fallen, he had to make himself supremely calm. This was something verified many times on Bai Wu.
After observing for a night, Wu Jiu’s gains were minimal.
For the time being, all he knew was that there were countless Evil Fallen here, and the levels of their mutations were not low, with even a number of top-level Evil Fallen present.
Wu Jiu remembered Bai Wu always liked to search in places like archives, which was also the most efficient method.
And inside the Denglin City technology building, there was such a place.
Wu Jiu sensed his surroundings, and the Heart Net quickly spread out, as his mind calculated the most efficient path.
Buildings of Denglin City stood tall, with bodies of Evil Fallen writhing outside each one, as if the city itself had become an Evil Fallen.
The sunlight was fierce, but this temperature had no effect on these Evil Fallen.
Wu Jiu still remembered, in the heart of Jing Si, the Evil Fallen of Denglin City, due to Professor Tao’s influence, were all afraid of light.
Those scientists had achieved results, and many weaknesses had appeared on the bodies of the Evil Fallen.
But now... it was hard to imagine such an enormous change had occurred here, and those weaknesses seemed to be non-existent.
Faced with such an unrecognizable scene, one would naturally feel sorrow, fortunately, Wu Jiu was indeed a person with a strong nature.
There were still many areas in Denglin City, all radiating strangeness, but he had a feeling—the technology building was either the beginning or the end.
Only by reaching the technological building could we find out what exactly had happened in this area.
...
...
Bai Wu’s gaze landed on the technological building of Denglin City.
[That is the starting point. If you enter from the Teleportation Stele, you will appear in one of the building’s floors and then learn the entirety of the story.
So why not enter the technological building first, since that’s what you were thinking anyway, right?]
It was indeed difficult not to notice this huge technological building entwined with eerie crimson flowers on its tentacles.
Stroking his chin, Bai Wu considered for a moment:
"Through my recent observations, I have learned that the Evil Fallen here are under some kind of enhanced rule, their mutation rate is much more terrifying than in other areas... and they continue to grow stronger."
"Some of the Evil Fallen’s strength... has even surpassed that of the top-tier Evil Fallen like the Judges."
Unlike Wu Jiu, who was not good at perceiving, Bai Wu wasn’t particularly skilled at it either, but he had the Talent Sequence.
Wu Jiu harvested very little overnight; with just a few glances, Bai Wu had already gained a certain understanding of this city.
The place was inhabited by countless Evil Fallen. frёeωebɳovel.com
These Evil Fallen were very weak seven hundred years ago, afraid of light and salt. Thanks to Professor Tao’s efforts, weaknesses had been implanted in all the Evil Fallen.
But now, all these Evil Fallen had mutated and grown extremely strong. Those weaknesses seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
Bai Wu still remembered the Evil Fallen from before, all of them in human form, but now they had twisted into indescribable entities.
This city... was permeated with an air that felt like the aftermath of an Old God’s descent at the end of the 18th century.
Even if a giant octopus, large enough to obscure the sun, suddenly appeared amidst the misty shadows, he wouldn’t be surprised.
Bai Wu speculated that this might be related to Jing Si’s madness from before.
"It’s normal for the Evil Fallen to mutate. Jing Si might have killed Professor Tao, but the problem is... I have a sensation that this place is very dangerous... By all logic, I should not feel this way."
Bai Wu was indeed very strong, at least his basic combat stats were no weaker than Jing Wu’s.
The immense vitality allowed him to better wield the Power of Twist. A force more formidable than life and death, reincarnation, spacetime, and causality, only Inverted Well of Jing Si could contend with it.
Thus, Bai Wu was very clear that if he felt danger, it meant the peril of this place was beyond imagination.
The creatures in the High Tower could create beings stronger than themselves, perhaps the twisted rules could also create twisted areas that surpassed previous thresholds.
"Guessing blindly is useless, I can only head to the technological building first... Jing Si might see me as an enemy, but I didn’t take on that mission purely for his sake."
Looking around, Bai Wu had already gathered more information than Wu Jiu had observed overnight.
"My other goal is to find the captain, and if I were the captain... Hmm, the captain would definitely think—If I were Bai Wu... So if I go by what I would think, then I can find the captain."
"Both the captain and I know about this place from the Denglin City technological building, now I just need to head to the technological building."
Bai Wu and Wu Jiu had come to the same conclusion.
The two of them started making their way towards the Denglin City technological building. Although Wu Jiu arrived a few hours before Bai Wu, Wu Jiu was not a rash man, and he chose to carefully observe the area.
Thanks to his powerful analytical ability and a Sequence like a cheat tool, Bai Wu skipped these analyses.
Thus, their progress was aligned, although they took different routes.
Using Prayle’s Eye and nearly immune to negative emotions, Bai Wu avoided all Evil Fallen along the way.
Wu Jiu was different, the closer he got to the technological building, the more Evil Fallen he could sense around him.
The memories of exploring this area with Bai Wu also filled Wu Jiu with a faint sadness.
Finally, two kilometers outside the technology building, in a commercial district, Wu Jiu encountered an attack from the Evil Fallen.
With three eyes and bodies like sludge, hundreds of them were densely packed together. They gathered around, encircling Wu Jiu.
"Humans... Are they the humans hiding inside the technology building?"
"Dumb, this is an intruder..."
"Ah... How strange, that there would be outsiders here."
"Hee hee hee, he looks so tasty."
The three-eyed creatures seemed scattered, but viewed from above, one would feel that these Evil Fallen were acting as one.
Wu Jiu drew his knife, originally thinking he had to fight these Evil Fallen, but what happened next took him by surprise—
"Let him go in... Let him go in..."
"Right, hey, human, go into that building, hee hee hee, you must go, or we’ll follow you and then eat you!"
"If you want to live, just roll into that building."
The three-eyed creatures took turns speaking, their aim very clear, to make Wu Jiu enter the building.
"You’re not scared to go, are you? There are your kind inside, hurry up and join them!"
My kind?
There are humans in the Ddnglin City technology building?
How is that possible?
In such an environment, how could humans possibly survive?
Although these three-eyed creatures didn’t seem strong, Wu Jiu could sense that these creatures had the aura of at least seventh-level Mutants or stronger.
They lived in the shopping area, seemingly the most basic life forms in this city.
Wu Jiu didn’t lower his guard and walked towards the technology building, the creatures following right behind him.
It felt as if the moment Wu Jiu tried to flee somewhere else, they would instantly charge at him and devour him completely.
Thus, Wu Jiu was like a leader, marching forward with a large mass of slime-like creatures behind him.
It wasn’t until he reached the perimeter of the Ddnglin City technology building that he noticed the creatures didn’t follow.
They were just eagerly expecting Wu Jiu to walk into the building.
Wu Jiu felt a great sense of crisis inside him. At this moment, he truly wished Bai Wu was by his side. If this kid were still alive... he would definitely have some advice to offer.
In the end, Wu Jiu still took the step forward.
To investigate his dear friend’s death, though he knew that the Evil Fallen were eager for him to enter and there must be something terrifying or a strange rule inside, he still wouldn’t back down.
It was also at this time that he suddenly heard strange words from the Evil Fallen.
"We’ve sensed it! We’ve sensed it! How come there’s another human? Hahaha... Today is truly a great harvest, a great harvest indeed! That person also entered this place, they’re together!"
"Not right... This human is dangerous, run!"
Another human? Wu Jiu became puzzled and looked around.
Soon, in the shadows not far outside the technology building, he saw a figure. This figure also saw him.
Wu Jiu froze completely, thinking he had seen wrong. The voice in the shadows became clearer, yet belonged to someone who, in his understanding, should not be here.
But the next second, an all-too-familiar voice reached him—
"Captain!"
