CHAPTER 354: CHAPTER 297 BLOODY BATTLEFIELD

No, no.

Or maybe it’s the complete opposite; Misaka Tsuchiemon is afraid that Yuanfei Yuluo might go to help, so he tricked her into using her once-every-30-days cross-channel opportunity.

And selling Yuanfei Yuluo’s Swordsmanship Specialization could also be to weaken her combat power, making her give up the idea of helping, right?

"Damn, these people’s thoughts are so damn strange!" Li Zheng was quite impressed by his own imagination. In the past, he wouldn’t have understood such convoluted ideas even if beaten to death.

"Whatever, unless I’m really bored, I won’t bother with it." Li Zheng shrugged, closed the private message page, and continued his last two explorations.

However, Li Zheng was a bit curious. He always felt that Misaka Tsuchiemon leaving Yuanfei Yuluo in channel 995 and asking Li Zheng to take care had a sense of entrusting one’s offspring.

Could it be that what Misaka Tsuchiemon is about to do is very dangerous, with a chance of death?

What exactly is so important that he would risk his life for it?

Surely, he doesn’t plan to single-handedly take on an entire organization like me, does he?

He’s probably gone mad.

Li Zheng shook his head, finding his own thoughts a bit amusing. Not everyone is as reckless as he is, daring to challenge an organization.

"Forget it, forget it, it’s none of my business, better not overthink it, just focus on exploring." Li Zheng swiped his card at the chosen door, entered, and directly let out Cherry Blossom, who hammered a Gold Level creature in the room that was getting a bit excited due to the nightfall.

Cherry Blossom has now learned to be more efficient, with a simpler combat style.

Start with an Earth Ridge Piercing to lift the enemy, making them lose balance.

Then leave it to Pink Poli to punch them to death, while she flies in the sky watching the show.

If occasionally encountering a thick-skinned one, just a few more Earth Ridge Piercings would do, simple and easy.

Poor Pink Poli, turning from an accessory to a fighter, yet it seems to enjoy it.

Like Ah Q being exploited by the landlord.

When Li Zheng finished today’s exploration without any surprises, ready to use the method taught by the doctor to train spiritual power, another private message alert popped out.

This time, it was Xiao Siyuan.

"Got time now? We have something coming up, bring a below hundred rank dungeon."

Instantly, Li Zheng’s previously tired spirit suddenly perked up, "People are still exploring in channel 879 this late?"

The channel management job transfer task was just short of the last dungeon; Li Zheng eagerly anticipated what the full administrator rights would look like after successfully transferring.

"I’m puzzled too." Xiao Siyuan replied, "This guy’s quite special, ranked at the bottom of the bottoms of channel 879. Seems like he’s been lying flat in his dwelling since the game started till today, and only moved because the terminal added a 48-hour limit, no more dragging, and happened to hit the dungeon."

"..." Li Zheng was a bit speechless: "Are you serious? The pocket watch I worked so hard with Phoenix Mountain to create, and he... well... he probably couldn’t even gather the cost for the pocket watch, could he?"

"Haha, wouldn’t you call that lying flat?" Xiao Siyuan replied in a private message as a Teleportation Gate opened nearby Li Zheng.

"Daring to lie flat in the Matrix, such a legend, I must see it for myself." Li Zheng eagerly took Cherry Blossom with him through the Teleportation Gate.

This was a very ordinary room, where another four players had already gathered.

Li Zheng looked at each one and found that their strengths varied. The strongest one had all four attributes at Black Iron 3+ maximum, but the lack of his left arm and right leg significantly lowered his combat rating, ranking only over two hundred in channel 879’s power list.

Two others had physiques only partly reaching Black Iron 2+ maximum, but their weapons were okay, each had a Silver Level firearm, ranking slightly over two hundred in power.

The last one was quite impressive; not only was his physique below Black Iron 1+, but he also didn’t have a weapon, a plain newcomer to the Matrix.

Li Zheng glanced at his name, Zhao Yu.

The other three players, initially conversing together, stood up when they saw Li Zheng even the disabled one did.

Only Zhao Yu lay not far from them; if it weren’t for the faint rise and fall of his chest and the occasional finger twitch, Li Zheng might have thought he was a corpse.

"This isn’t lying flat!" Li Zheng remarked, "It’s entirely giving up!"

Upon getting closer, Li Zheng didn’t need to see Zhao Yu’s face to sense a strong sense of desolate melancholy.

If not for Old Pu not giving strange hints, and Zhao Yu’s insufficient strength, Li Zheng might have thought he was infected by ancient technology too.

A type of infection with negative symptoms manifesting as desolation.

"Hey, get up, it’s time for the dungeon." Li Zheng went over and lightly kicked him twice.

This guy probably hadn’t showered for over ten days; getting close, you could smell a pungent odor from him, also known as heavy grease smell.

His hair, greasy, had clumped into messy clusters, his face’s dead skin turned into hardened black muddy patches, with cracked parts slightly reddened and swollen, possibly inflamed.

Most striking was the green bean-sized eye discharge at the corner of his eyes, and he somehow resisted the urge to wipe it off, truly unparalleled.

Li Zheng talked to him, but he just slightly flared his nostrils in response and then stayed motionless.

Suppressing his disgust, Li Zheng wanted to call him a couple more times when the other three players waiting nearby walked over: "Master, don’t bother with him; we all tried, and he hasn’t said a word till now."

"And he hasn’t turned over either; I really can’t understand how he endures being so dirty."

"I, a disabled person, live more respectably than him!"

"If Doctor Xiao hadn’t said you’d be leading this time, I might have left just now."

"Exactly."

"That’s right."

The three players chimed in, their tone unapologetically filled with disgust towards Zhao Yu.

It’s rare to make someone so disliked at first meeting.

"We can’t ignore him." Li Zheng said, "He’s the one who discovered the dungeon; if he doesn’t enter, the dungeon won’t start up."

More precisely, the dungeon requires a team of five; even one less, and it won’t start.

However, Zhao Yu is the initiator of the dungeon and must be the first to enter.

"Well, how about this, you two who are agile, drag him to the door and push him in; after that, you can disregard him." Li Zheng noted that the dungeon door had opened, meaning Zhao Yu had gotten up before but later lay down again.

"Uh..." The two players looked at each other, seeing aversion in each other’s eyes.

"Hehe." The disabled player suddenly laughed, "For the first time, I think being a cripple isn’t so bad; at least I won’t be the one dealing with this."

The comment hinted at finding solace in hardship, a mindset far superior to Zhao Yu’s.

Li Zheng asked him, "I remember the terminal had a campaign repairing a batch of disabled people? How come you..."

"Sigh!" That player sighed, "Unlucky, I got ambushed by a wandering monster in combat days ago. Since I became disabled in the Matrix, the terminal doesn’t cover it."

"No worries, Old Xiao can do body modifications. He’ll get you hooked up with bionic limbs." Li Zheng reassured him.

Li Zheng actually had a body modification station, but it wasn’t as efficient as Xiao Siyuan’s.

Plus, Old Xiao had expressed interest in researching body modification technology, so he didn’t want to spoil the existing samples.

"I know about that, Doctor Xiao told me." The player spread one hand, "That’s why I’m here to earn some materials."

"Let’s get going then." Li Zheng nodded slightly, turning to the other two players, "Why the standstill? Drag him over, just a few steps away."

"All... alright."

The two players never expected that although they came looking for an easy time, they were the first to start working.

They pulled Zhao Yu to the door with long faces, joining forces to push him through the light curtain, finally starting this dungeon trip.

Following in, Li Zheng smelt a dense gunpowder odor as soon as the light curtain disappeared.

[Bloody Battlefield, Exploration Status: 100%]