Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 44: Long Time No See

Hu Yan was shocked on the spot. “Is this within the rules?”

Despite the danger, he still had a game mindset—NPC never participated in battles before, and someone like “One Eye” who was willing to assist deeply was also rare. Moreover, the task needed to be scored, so this might be considered cheating.

Yu Jin was even more terrified. “Yeah, is this within the rules? When can players become NPCs?”

After their duet, they looked at each other sympathetically.

With a burst of energy, Shu Jun looked like he was about to weaken. “…Just consider me a special guest. I’ll clear the way first, okay?”

His response was clever, and each of them interpreted it according to their own understanding. With the situation critical, Hu Yan didn’t say much. The rocks opened like petals and gave way to the upward path.

It was still dark overhead, with no light in the sky. The passage leading out was like an upside-down dry well.

Shu Jun raised a wind beside him, but he didn’t immediately fly away. He nodded at Zhu Yanchen and then tilted his head in the direction where the Blackbirds was.

After years of tactical communication, Zhu Yanchen immediately understood Shu Jun’s meaning—he wanted to lure the attention of the Mirror Erosion Swamp away as a “player”. If the situation changed, the Erosion Swamp might still attack other members of the Blackbirds. Shu Jun wanted him to help protect the team.

Zhu Yanchen nodded calmly. After receiving the other’s feedback, Shu Jun was lifted up by the wind, and his feet left the ground. “Do you want me to help you get another brain?”

When facing Sweet Edge, Zhu Yanchen almost died, and he definitely wouldn’t consider researching. Now another opportunity had presented itself, and it had to be said that it was a perfect opportunity.

“No need,” Zhu Yanchen said softly. “Stay safe.”

“If it’s a safety issue…”

“No, if you dig out its brain, it will soon turn back into an ordinary Erosion Swamp.” Zhu Yanchen explained helplessly. “Just be careful…”

“I know, I know.” Previously, Grand Marshal Zhu had a cold and hard demeanor, but now that he knew his own life was out of danger, he developed a subtle tendency to be overprotective. “Don’t worry. I’m good at running away.”

Although he said that, Shu Jun knew in his heart that they had no other choice.

He couldn’t just leave the missing Blackbirds members alone, nor could he upgrade the battle into a conflict between two Alpha Erosion Swamps—not to mention how to explain it to the Blackbirds vanguard team. Once it was determined that he was a troublemaking humanoid Erosion Swamp, this incident would be classified as an Erosion Swamp conflict. The Mirror Erosion Swamp might clear the field first, and the vanguard team would inevitably be the first to bear the brunt.

To put it another way, even if they could ruthlessly run away, the Mirror Erosion Swamp wouldn’t let the vanguard team go, so conflict was inevitable.

He could only first confront the Erosion Swamp as a powerful player, take advantage of its carelessness, and play dirty.

“Go to the cave entrance.” After Shu Jun flew away, Zhu Yanchen naturally took over the command. “Paprika*… Hu Yan, the three of us will go to the top of the mountain. The view is better there, and it’s also convenient for you to use your ability.”

*Clarity: Zhu Yanchen almost called Hu Yan by his game ID, which literally translates to ground pepper.

This person with the same ID as his sister-in-law had a very pleasant voice, like ice water flowing through his throat on a scorching hot day. It made Hu Yan take a moment to realize that his own ID was indeed harsh to the ears and didn’t match this voice at all.

This voice was more suitable for calling out to someone with an elegant ID like Luo Duan’s. But when he thought of the original name of Shu Jun, [See You Tomorrow], Hu Yan regained his mental balance. “Visibility? It’s pitch black outside…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Hu Yan realized that, even though he was the captain of the Blackbirds, he had been swept away by the other person’s imposing manner.

“I have a way.” Zhu Yanchen spoke concisely, turning to Yu Jin. “Are you coming? If not, you can wait in with the Blackbirds.”

“I’m already here,” Yu Jin responded absentmindedly. “It’s just a few steps more.”

“Let’s go.” Zhu Yanchen took out his gun.

The stones under their feet rose up and slid smoothly and quickly towards the cave entrance. The journey wasn’t short or long, just long enough for Hu Yan to ask a question. “What’s the relationship between you and Shu… uh, Gray Claw?”

Hearing the key words, Yu Jin turned his gaze slightly, obviously also curious about the answer.

Naturally, Zhu Yanchen wasn’t stumped by this situation. He fiddled with the gun in his hand, not even bothering to look up. “Family.”

The simple and powerful word was accompanied by a cold feeling of “if you ask again, I won’t answer”.

Hu Yan: “…” It really was his sister-in-law’s relative.

Yu Jin: “…” He knew that the two were a couple. Now that he thought about it, was Smoke also a player?

In a moment of silence, the stones emerged from the cave entrance and were surrounded by the rest of the rocks, pushing towards the mountaintop.

“Captain Hu, get ready.” Zhu Yanchen took out a ball the size of a billiard ball from his backpack, threw it into the air, and instead of falling to the ground, it slowly rose, emitting a bright light as if a flash had been paused.

For a moment, the Blackbirds below could be vaguely seen. The entire small rocky hill was illuminated, and a sticky light emanated from the central liquid column.

The visibility was indeed clear enough, but unfortunately, Shu Jun had long since disappeared.

Shu Jun was propelled upwards by the wind but suddenly stopped in the middle of his ascent—countless men and women with the same appearance hugged the liquid column, covering the surface of the Erosion Swamp like aphids. As soon as Shu Jun appeared, all those human skin balloons turned their heads and looked at him together.

Shu Jun’s body trembled all over from being stared at, and he held onto Monday tightly.

For convenience in battle, the cloth strips that bound Monday’s mouth and brain had long since floated away. Monday didn’t have any complicated thoughts. It felt quite comfortable using its mouth to catch the refreshing wind and was panting happily. Now that Shu Jun had stopped and the comfortable wind was gone, Monday began to grumble and yelp.

As soon as Monday made a sound, the human skin balloons were awakened and began to scream together. The voices were so densely intertwined that it made his hair stand on end. Monday probably didn’t expect so many “accompaniment” voices, so it choked and obediently shut its mouth.

If they were still wandering around below, the Mirror Erosion Swamp could have given the four of them a really hard time in the cave. Shifting his gaze over the densely packed human skin balloons, Shu Jun tried to search for living people inside them with his wind manipulation.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t suggest retreating and given the earlier explanation about the Erosion Swamp needing a prototype, his team members should still be alive. However, he had no clue where the two large human figures were hidden and where the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s brain was concealed.

The Mirror Erosion Swamp wasn’t stupid and knew it wouldn’t be able to trick Shu Jun a second time. The human skin balloons were firmly stuck to the liquid erosion column, and the wind couldn’t blow them away again. Shu Jun was also afraid of blowing the real people away, so he continued to fly upward. The liquid column seemed to pierce the sky, and Shu Jun could feel the temperature dropping significantly. The light from below couldn’t reach here, so he took a deep breath, letting the airflow revolve gently around him.

He relied on the subtle resistance to roughly sketch out the appearance of the top of this thing. The Mirror Erosion Swamp didn’t really have a head like a garden eel. Its top was more like a hydra*, with six or seven tentacles swaying in the air.

*Genus of small freshwater organism of the phylum Cnidaria and class Hydrozoa, not to be confused with the hydra of Greek mythology.

Compared to this, Sweet Edge was a much more friendly opponent.

Shu Jun licked his dry lips. This thing had stretched him too thin, spanning the heavens and the earth. Its brain could be anywhere. Even if he used his power to suppress it, he couldn’t cover such a large area. He needed to chop it up like an onion, but that was only possible if the thing didn’t resist and let him cut it up.

After considering it for a while, he smiled and rushed to the top of the column.

Sure enough, the Erosion Swamp, like a hungry hydra, wrapped several tentacles around him at once. Shu Jun put on a look of effort, struggling to chop off those tentacles.

The tentacles quickly took control of him, and the erosion substance invaded his protective suit, pushing him into an empty space inside the column. Shu Jun patiently suppressed his and Monday’s auras, allowing the tentacles to bind him tightly.

To deceive the people below, he was the perfect example of a human skin balloon. The Mirror Erosion Swamp had to constantly produce human skin balloons while keeping the samples alive. Its structure wasn’t very stable, so it shouldn’t spend much effort separating the samples. Even if he guessed wrong, there was still a way to escape.

Luckily, Shu Jun wasn’t wrong.

There was a thin erosion net in the empty space, like a ghost lantern, trapping two Blackbirds members inside. The net was so dense with the erosion substance that they could barely support themselves. The thin erosion silk penetrated the protective suits and covered their bodies, probably copying information.

Shu Jun took a deep breath and released the pressure on Monday’s aura.

Monday was originally happily looking around, wondering if it could rub off some erosion substance. When the pressure was released, it completely exposed its aura, and the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s attention almost instantly focused on it.

Monday: “…Help.” The oppressive feeling squeezed in from all around, and it didn’t even dare to shout out loudly.

Shu Jun remained silent, while Monday’s rough voice made the two Blackbirds members think it was him speaking. Despite being in a critical condition, the female member of the team managed to speak up. “Screaming for help is useless. Hurry… Hurry up and turn on your purifier… Every second counts.”

After discovering Monday, the wall of the Mirror Erosion Swamp began to gather and fluctuate in a regular pattern towards the center.

In order to appear like a good player, Shu Jun had indeed brought a purifier with him. He skillfully activated it, dispersing the erosion filaments on the two team members’ bodies, and then grabbed their emergency hooks, hooking them onto himself.

“It’s dinner time,” he whispered to Monday.

Compared to the battle with Sweet Edge, Monday had made some progress. This time, it didn’t remain motionless like a log but stiffened into a board throughout the process. The sword edge sliced through the erosion net that enveloped the three people, and it hesitantly absorbed the heavily erosion substance, allowing the three of them to break free from their restraints.

Subsequently, Shu Jun didn’t use his trump card of suppression. He concentrated, adjusting the distribution of air—with a whoosh, the thick wall of the liquid column was torn open by a wind blade, and Shu Jun rushed out like a drill while controlling the surrounding air.

“You…” This wind manipulation ability looked exceptionally familiar, but the man was so tightly wrapped up that it left the Blackbirds members completely puzzled.

The captain retired, and everyone on the vanguard team was a familiar face. Except for NPCs without any special abilities. Where did this person come from?

Shu Jun, of course, didn’t wait for them to finish their questions. He waved his hand and unceremoniously scraped off the human skin balloons stuck to the erosion filaments on the liquid column. After confirming that the erosion filaments instinctively wrapped tightly around the two people, he loosened the hooks—

“Ahhhhh—!” The two team members were unprepared. With a large group of human skin balloons hanging behind them. They were about to fall from a high altitude.

Naturally, Shu Jun wouldn’t let his teammates fall to their deaths. With his wind manipulation ability, he borrowed the resistance of the human skin balloons, and the two people fell at a not-too-fast speed, even though the visual effect was quite exaggerated.

The Mirror Erosion Swamp bent the liquid column down, wanting to pull the two people back with its top tentacle, but Shu Jun blocked it with his sword.

The two people quickly descended to the illumination range at the bottom of the liquid column.

The Blackbirds members who saw that scene swallowed their saliva to a greater or lesser extent. Seeing their comrades—or rather, a large group of comrades—screaming and falling, the scene was quite mentally traumatic.

Unlike the shocked Hu Yan, Zhu Yanchen remained quite calm. “Build up stone pillars as a buffer and raise two purifiers to their highest power. First, remove the erosion filaments on the surface of their bodies.”

Hu Yan simply handed over the broadcasting authority to Zhu Yanchen. Apart from the two large human skin balloons connected to people, there was occasionally falling debris from the sky. The whole scene was like a nightmare, and his brain couldn’t accept it for a moment.

Zhu Yanchen readily accepted and gave instructions directly. “Stay away from falling objects and check the wounds on those two people. If there are no penetrating wounds, there is still time for deep cleaning.”

“Captain Hu, change the stone pillars into shields.” After giving orders to the Blackbirds members, Marshal Zhu turned to Hu Yan. “There will be attacks from above, and I will calculate the position. I will control the light source for guidance, and you need to ensure that the shield is above the light source.”

“Oh, okay… Got it.”

“One Eye, keep an eye on Captain Hu’s feet, and don’t let him fall.”

“Okay.”

Zhu Yanchen summoned a light screen and stared fixedly at the sky full of human skin balloons and the swaying liquid column without blinking. He controlled the light source, while Hu Yan controlled the shield, and many hard-to-dodge human skin balloons were blocked, leaving a relatively peaceful location for the Blackbirds to rescue the falling people.

After the emergency treatment was completed, they could consider retreating. In the best-case scenario, they could temporarily disable the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s ability to move, as long as Shu Jun didn’t reveal his identity as an Erosion Swamp.

It all depended on what Shu Jun planned to do.

Shu Jun counted the seconds himself. He saw that there were more light sources and a shield blocking below, indicating that the two team members had probably landed. The emergency treatment would take about fifteen minutes, and after enduring these fifteen minutes, the Blackbirds vanguard team would be able to return to a convenient state of action.

Now it was time for a one-on-one battle again.

The Mirror Erosion Swamp was clearly unhappy about Shu Jun taking away the human skin balloon sample. It slammed its tentacles, trying to sweep up a few more from the ground, but even if it could break through Shu Jun’s defense with its volume advantage, its attacks were always blocked by the shield below. Shu Jun’s ally, Monday, became its primary target of attention. Monday whimpered in fear and had to dodge each attack while wailing.

After five minutes of back and forth, the Erosion Swamp realized the problem. Since it couldn’t easily retrieve the hostages, it might as well focus on shooting the head bird in front of it.

The liquid column no longer thrashed about and attacked Shu Jun again in unison.

The Mirror Erosion Marsh was too large, and the airflow it stirred up was quite chaotic. Shu Jun couldn’t control all of its movements, let alone infer the location of its brain. He could only defend passively.

This couldn’t go on.

Despite Shen Jun’s agility, he suffered several bruises. Monday had been whipped hundreds of times to the point of putting it in a stupor. It became more and more sluggish and was unable to even groan.

He needed a solution, but it wasn’t yet time to give up. Revealing his identity and forcing a path was a last resort…

[What should we do here? It’s too troublesome.] A vague voice appeared in Shu Jun’s ear, sounding like a child’s complaint. [The team of monsters is so long. Who knows where the captain is hiding. Or just defend until the end, as long as we reserve our strength?]

[…You can send a small team to launch a surprise attack on the head, middle, and tail of the team.]

Another child’s voice was even quieter, sounding a bit shy.

[Uh, what do you mean?]

[Once attacked, the team will be disrupted. The captain must react and adjust in time. This map… um, doesn’t it not support long-distance communication? Then…]

[I got it, I got it! Simultaneous attack, and watch the team’s reaction speed, right?]

[Mm… yeah.]

[Wow, this angle is so amazing! I was just thinking about how to operate on defense, thank you—] The complaining child’s mood took a turn, becoming excited again. [Oh, by the way, we got chocolates today… I think these types are pretty good. You should try them all.]

[Okay.]

[Also, if we send another team to divide the team in the middle, wouldn’t that be more effective? …A’Yan, look over here, look over here.]

As the memory faded, Shu Jun awoke from his trance. He didn’t have time to ponder the details of that memory. He immediately took action—Shu Jun raised his greatsword and enveloped himself in a thick wind shield, cutting the liquid column from the middle. At the same time, he focused on sensing the airflow.

Separated by the thick wind shield, the bottom half of the Mirror Erosion Swamp became stiff for a short moment while the top half continued to twist madly. Soon, the upper and lower parts quickly fused back together, but Shu Jun’s attack didn’t stop.

This thing had stretched itself too thin, and there was indeed a delay in its reaction.

Without giving it time to transfer its brain, Shu Jun lifted his hand, and three huge wind blades shot out, hitting the upper half of the Mirror Erosion Swamp head-on. Without the help of Monday to clear the way, the wind blades couldn’t cut through the swamp’s body, and the wound would heal within seconds.

However, seconds were already enough time.

The healing of the wound and the rearrangement of the liquid column’s shape had a subtle time difference. After several waves of attacks, the positions of the wind blades became increasingly concentrated, and the Mirror Erosion Swamp finally realized the danger.

It quickly changed its shape and shrank towards the ground while attacking the people on the ground without any regard for its own safety.

Unfortunately, it had missed the best opportunity—the fifteen minutes were already up.

Using the fragments of the rocky mountain, Hu Yan stuck together a thin-hulled ship. The Blackbirds vanguard team evacuated onto the ship, and Hu Yan even reused some waterproof fabric as sails, pulling them up in front of the team members’ eyes full of confusion.

Zhu Yanchen, Hu Yan, and Yu Jin were the only ones who hadn’t boarded the ship yet.

On the other side, Shu Jun quickly descended. He didn’t stop sensing the airflow around him—this Mirror Erosion Swamp messed with its body structure, playing the guessing game of which cup the ball was hidden under. The Mirror Erosion Swamp was much larger than Sweet Edge and hadn’t received any substantial damage. If he lost its brain now, the next battle would be several times more difficult.

“You guys go first!” Shu Jun opened the amplification device inside his protective suit. “Everyone get on board the ship. I’ll send you away!”

If he concentrated his attack on the brain of the Erosion Swamp, it wouldn’t dare fully attack the vanguard team. As a first-tier player, Hu Yan wasn’t just sitting around. If he could buy enough time, others would have a higher chance of escape.

The rest was a head-to-head with him and the Mirror Erosion Swamp.

After all, it came to test humanity and was stronger than Sweet Edge. To be honest, Shu Jun wasn’t sure if he could win. But on the other hand, there was no such thing as a battle that was a sure win.

As long as Zhu Yanchen and the Blackbirds vanguard team could escape successfully, the plan could continue. He was already the one with the highest hope of survival in this group of people, and it was a stable gain.

Hu Yan didn’t know the truth, so he had less psychological pressure and was more decisive at the moment. “Then we’ll go first!”

Seeing the Erosion Swamp collapsing with the momentum of an avalanche in front of him, Yu Jun didn’t dare dawdle. The two of them boarded the ship in a flash. Shu Jun was about to raise his hand, but he found that one person hadn’t moved yet.

Zhu Yanchen had no intention of boarding the ship. He held a fully opened purifier in his left hand and a gun in his right with an unreal sense of calm.

“Aren’t you going to board the ship?” Shu Jun almost hit the ship’s sail with a wind blast, barely retracting it.

But Marshal Zhu immediately took action—he threw two small bombs at the sail, and they exploded into a huge blast of wind, almost pushing the ship out of their sight. Seeing that Zhu Yanchen had no hope of boarding, Shu Jun gritted his teeth and had to push the sail again. The thin-hulled ship disappeared into the horizon in an instant, flying at a high speed.

“Zhu Yanchen, you’re fucking back to your old ways again?!” Just as Shu Jun felt this guy had a positive sign of living actively, Grand Marshal Zhu had started spinning around Death again.

“You need lighting to determine the change in the Erosion Swamp’s location.” Zhu Yanchen saw through Shu Jun’s tactics at a glance. “The concentration of erosion here can’t break my immunity. With me here, your chances of winning will be higher. Besides, once the news of this leaks, the threat of ‘two people cooperating’ sounds much lower than ‘single-handedly’.”

“I understand the principle, but the problem is we don’t know anything about this thing! I can’t guarantee that I can—”

Before he could finish, Shu Jun was interrupted by Zhu Yanchen’s calm voice.

“I know you won’t lose,” he said.

A familiar feeling suddenly hit, and Shu Jun was stunned for half a second. “What if…”

“We might die, and if we do, the Erosion Swamp behind it may relax its guard. I’ve already arranged plans for what to do afterwards… My survival was already an accident, so everything will just return to the original track. Plus, with the recent intelligence, Dong Lao and the Fourth Squadron can act more effectively.”

Staying behind to increase their chances of winning? Compared to Marshal Zhu’s previous behavior, this was really not conservative.

But it had to be said, with the lighting operation and Marshal Zhu’s instructions made the delay tactics much easier—Zhu Yanchen was extremely skilled in calculating the flow of the Erosion Swamp, so Shu Jun didn’t need to distract himself by sensing the air currents. Once the Erosion Swamp attempted to engulf them, Shu Jun would take Marshal Zhu and fly into the air, continuously attacking the brain.

“It’s about time.” Zhu Yanchen fired several shots at the Mirror Erosion Swamp, interrupting one of its tentacles. “The vanguard should have already escaped.”

“But we can’t leave.” Shu Jun’s sweat was dripping down his neck, and his clothes inside the protective suit were already soaked.

Seeing that there was no hope in chasing after the vanguard, the Mirror Erosion Swamp repeated its previous tactic and spread “petals” around the liquid column. However, this time the petals were particularly thick, tightly wrapping the two of them in the middle. Although Shu Jun kept using wind attacks, the gaps kept getting smaller and smaller.

Without even having to use erosion, it wanted to suffocate them with physical means.

The battle had reached the point of revealing his trump card. Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen were flying in an increasingly narrow space. His suppression was a sneak attack, and it was the most effective for the first time in the face of this kind of deformed, experienced Erosion Swamp.

Shu Jun was a bit nervous.

He had faced uncertain situations before, but he was always carefree then. One reason was the optimism brought by his blessings since childhood. As for the second… life was just like that. Regardless of whether the world was real or not, he didn’t have any relatives.

Compared to Zhu Yanchen’s eighty-year-old man scheme, Shu Jun felt that he was at least honest with himself, and his friends knew the risks of battle. In a corner of his heart, Shu Jun always had this thought—he was a soldier after all, and if the time came, it wouldn’t be so bad to die calmly.

But now he was sweating all over, looking disheveled, and full of anxiety.

…If he died, Zhu Yanchen would inevitably be buried with him.

Seeing that the closed space had stabilized again, the Mirror Erosion Swamp once again used its ability. Countless faceless skin balloons appeared along the inner wall of the Erosion Swamp and gradually filled the space. Numerous soft hands reached towards Shu Jun, frantically hindering his movements.

Piercing screams rose and fell one after another. They didn’t know where the sound was coming from, as these things had no mouths.

“I’m going up.” Shu Jun’s hoarse voice sounded like it had been torn apart. “It’s an old tactic. I can’t take you with me.”

“I know.”

Zhu Yanchen swung his purifier behind him, forcing the surrounding erosion back and created a standing space for himself. The purifier was so incredibly powerful that the skin balloons couldn’t get close to him for a while.

Shu Jun charged towards the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s brain.

The process was much more painful than the fight with Sweet Edge. Countless thin threads instantly squeezed into his protective suit, drilling into Shu Jun’s mouth and nose, trying to strangle him in place. Shu Jun used all his strength and desperately used his suppression ability, slowly moving towards the brain of the Mirror Erosion Swamp.

His attention had never been so focused, and for the first time, he truly hoped that the blessing really came from God. Even if his posture was extremely ugly, he still wanted to win this battle.

The thin erosion threads were tearing his flesh, suppressing one layer after another. To protect itself, the Mirror Erosion Swamp wrapped layers of erosion like human skin around its brain, making it extremely difficult to crack.

But he couldn’t give up. Zhu Yanchen was still struggling behind him.

Shu Jun gritted his teeth and almost squeezed out all his strength. He didn’t know how long he had stopped breathing, and his vision started to darken. Amidst the screaming of the human skin balloon, blurred colors and shadows gradually appeared.

[You will never lose.]

Yes, I will never lose.

With his greatsword, he cut through layer after layer of protection and forced himself towards the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s brain. The pain scorched between his bones, and he almost thought he was being burned alive.

This was his only chance.

Suppress. Suppress. Continue to suppress.

‘…Go fuck yourself,’ Shu Jun thought. He must survive.

He reached out his hand, and gray-white erosion flowed from his claws. Shu Jun didn’t stop for even a moment—in the previous battle, his suppression was relatively calm and had a soothing nature. This time, he wished he could turn into a human blender and wreak havoc in the Mirror Erosion Swamp’s brain.

In the end, his own consciousness became blurry, and the destruction and suppression in his hands became crazier. More erosion substance emerged from his spine, forming a huge blade that resembled wings in the darkness.

Unfortunately, Shu Jun almost lost consciousness.

While the sharp blade was churning, the device on his wrist was still working quietly.

[Fusion Degree: 45%]

[Fusion Degree: 57%]

[Fusion Degree: 73%]

……

He suddenly felt his breathing loosen. Shu Jun knelt down with a “plop” and the greatsword pierced into the ground. The Mirror Erosion Swamp lost its shape, and the erosion flowed quietly around it. Many human-skin balloons that hadn’t yet disintegrated floated on the Mirror Erosion Swamp, dissolving slowly.

Zhu Yanchen’s moving light source floated tremblingly, like a firefly with its wings injured.

Torn and thrown around by the human skin balloons, Marshal Zhu himself was a bit disheveled, but he was indeed still standing. With the confirmation that the enemy had been defeated, Shu Jun weakly smiled.

His protective suit had long since decayed and fallen apart during the fierce battle, leaving him almost naked. Monday was scared out of its wits again, but it quickly regained its composure and started howling on the spot.

“We were separated for nine minutes.” Zhu Yanchen approached and took off his tattered coat, gently draping it over Shu Jun’s back. “It didn’t have time to transmit information about the ‘Humanoid Erosion Swamp’, so don’t worry.”

“…Really…?”

Zhu Yanchen calmly opened his waist pack and tested the erosion substance around them for a moment.

“I’m pretty sure. They were suppressed quite obediently and wouldn’t have retained too much information. We really kept our trump card.”

“Nine minutes… I thought it was nine years…”

Shu Jun looked at Zhu Yanchen dazedly. He had so much to say, but now he couldn’t say a word. In the midst of tremendous pain, he did recall some memories. However, unlike when he faced Sweet Edge, the Mirror Erosion Swamp was pure erosion, and no one else’s memories surged into his mind.

He remembered his own memories. Even if they were just fragments, they were enough to piece together many things.

“A’Yan…”

Shu Jun stretched out a hand and placed it on the spot where Zhu Yanchen’s heart was. The strong pulsation passed through the muscles and knocked on his nerves along his palms.

“…Long time no see.”

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Kinky Thoughts:

I have to say, this chapter was truly exciting to read.

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