Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 22: There’s Something There

Zhu Yanchen once said that the Erosion Swamps could be likened to a pack of wolves, with a giant Erosion Swamp resembling the alpha. This “alpha” in its mouth was most likely another alpha-level Erosion Swamp.

The creature in front of them, which seemed to be an Erosion Swamp, didn’t seem much stronger than Monday, but its’ intelligence wasn’t in the same league. Shu Jun never feared battle, nor was he afraid of such a strange creature. But “recklessness” and “bravery” weren’t synonymous, and he would only suffer if he attacked rashly in the midst of being blinded.

It was better to take a step back and take a page out of the Thirty-Six Stratagems*, so Shu Jun reached out to pull Zhu Yanchen, but the latter seemed to be nailed to the ground and didn’t move.

*Proverb referring to the thirty-six stratagems of ancient Chinese military tactics. It implies that sometimes retreat or avoiding conflict can be the most advantageous course of action.

Zhu Yanchen was good at fighting ordinary mutant beasts, but the fact that he lacked front-line experience meant that he was inevitably scared. Shu Jun rubbed his hands and was about to directly carry him away, but Zhu Yanchen neatly pulled out his gun and turned on the flashlight with his other hand.

…He was wrong. Marshal Zhu probably grew ten times more courageous.

The beam of light pierced through the thin fog, illuminating the face of the creature in front of them.

Although Shu Jun had seen many monsters before, he still shuddered in place. At this moment, he truly understood the saying, “Anything could appear in the ruins of a city that humans haven’t set foot in for two hundred years.”

The creature’s skin had a texture similar to that of humans, with a deep gray-black color. Despite its bent and twisted limbs, he could still vaguely make out the structure of its arms and legs. He couldn’t distinguish the teardrop-shaped body of where its head and torso were, and its gray-black membranes covered rib-like structures, with human facial features scattered randomly on the skin, like a jumbled puzzle.

One of the human eyes faced the beam of light and squinted slightly.

Shu Jun swallowed loudly. Compared to this thing, the previous mutant beasts were quite pleasing to the eye. Even the Corpse Parasite, which everyone called for extermination, was as docile and cute as a kitten when compared to this thing.

Even Monday expressed its feelings at the right time. “Wow.”

Only Zhu Yanchen nodded calmly, observing very carefully, as if facing a newly born foal. He even opened his briefcase on the spot, taking out more and more things with the air of a zoologist discovering a new species. Shu Jun could feel the monster’s suspicion, and for a moment, he understood its feelings.

The monster hesitated for a while, then took a few steps closer, slightly lowering its body and swaying ominously. Zhu Yanchen glanced at it and held his gun in his hand. His movements became faster as he operated the machinery, but he didn’t intend to leave.

“Let’s retreat first,” Shu Jun called out.

Zhu Yanchen, who was always calm, shook his head. He stared at the monster, with a hint of strange fanaticism in his movements. “Wait a little longer. It’s okay, this is not an alpha-level Erosion Swamp.”

After a long while, as if he had remembered something, he added seriously, “I won’t die.”

The monster got closer—only about ten steps away from Zhu Yanchen. Its eyes, which resembled those of a human, were vertical and blinked as it focused on Marshal Zhu. Shu Jun recognized the emotional fluctuations; it was the concentration before the hunt.

Shu Jun took a deep breath and then smoothly exploded—

He had seen the handcuffs in the briefcase earlier. Now, Shu Jun pulled out the handcuffs and swiftly put them on Zhu Yanchen. Marshal Zhu was caught off guard and was lifted by Shu Jun in the next second and pressed onto the cargo rail.

“Three days have passed.” Zhu Yanchen shook off the handcuffs as he saw Shu Jun quickly hoist the sail.

“It’s calculated according to the hours we’re chained together.” Shu Jun’s face turned dark as he activated his skills—they really didn’t need Uncle Xiong’s dogs. With the blowing wind in their sails, their sled was fast enough to fly, and the monster was instantly left far behind. “What were you doing just now? Are you courting death?”

“An alpha-level Erosion Swamp couldn’t lead the charge alone. That was a low-level Erosion Swamp; it couldn’t hurt you, and I wouldn’t be killed either.” Marshal Zhu corrected seriously.

“Yes, it couldn’t hurt me, but who knows what abilities it has? I may not be able to protect you. Even if we can escape in time, you may still get injured—your last injury hasn’t healed properly yet. Will just saying ‘I won’t die’ solve the problem?”

Shu Jun harshly threw the briefcase at Zhu Yanchen.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking, Marshal Zhu. ‘This is just a low-level Erosion Swamp. It doesn’t matter if I get hurt. After all, my death is imminent, and there’s no need to worry about post-traumatic complications’. ” Shu Jun’s face became serious, and he lowered his voice as he imitated Zhu Yanchen’s tone. “… Hey, why are you turning your head? Look at me!”

Zhu Yanchen turned his head back, and his lips moved. In the end, he just sighed and stared at Shu Jun.

“If you still consider me a friend, don’t perform stunts in front of me where you can get hurt. Thanks to you, I have sent away many people in the past ten years without knowing it. I’ve seen enough.” Shu Jun’s tone was unusually cold. “I don’t know why you can’t tell me your reasons, but at least consider yourself a human, okay? Do you really think I’m just being polite when I say, ‘I want to help you stay alive’?”

Making sure they were far enough away, Shu Jun found a large rock as cover and stopped the sled.

“If you want to study, you can. I’ll go first and check it out. Worst case, I’ll capture one for you. If you keep getting too close to them, I’ll tie you up.”

“We are only in a cooperative relationship. Don’t forget your position.” Zhu Yanchen tightened the chain of the handcuffs.

Shu Jun didn’t hesitate. “Position? If you really played me from the beginning, and you died so easily, wouldn’t that be worse for me?”

Zhu Yanchen: “…I understand.” There was some truth in those words, but they were still a bit painful. He wanted to laugh again. The shell that had enveloped him for more than ten years had been pried open by the other person’s anger, and it hurt with bitterness.

Round and round they went, but in the end, it was still the same person.

He thought for a moment, reached out and grabbed Shu Jun’s wrist, and spoke in a solemn tone. “I’ll pay attention next time.”

“That’s more like it.”

Shu Jun patted the mud off his body, made a casual gesture, and the wind started blowing in the opposite direction. The mud sled was fast and stable, much more comfortable than when they were running away.

“Now let’s go back and talk about what’s going on in X City. Don’t try to fool me by saying ‘I don’t know the target’ again—walking deep into the erosion zone without care and seeing that thing just now without being surprised—this is not a death-defying adventure at all. You know the situation in X City.”

“I really don’t know the specific situation in the city. I just guessed that there was something there.” Zhu Yanchen pondered for a moment. “I didn’t expect the Erosion Swamp in X City to appear so early either.”

“Uh-huh.” Shu Jun propped his arm on the mud sled railing, holding half of his face with his palm.

“Two hundred years ago, Zhu Rong completed the player system in X City. As the capital at the time, X City was the first city in human history to use synthetic humans. However, the player system at that time wasn’t perfect, and it was not as mature as <Erosion>.”

“Oh, later there was a natural disaster, and the Erosion Swamps migrated from the east to X City. The residents fled to Y City. X City became one of the most severely eroded areas that even the players couldn’t go there.” Shu Jun took over the conversation. “I know these things too.”

“If it was a natural disaster, the giant Erosion Swamp wouldn’t stay in the city for a long time. X City is relatively dry and not suitable for them to inhabit.”

“But you guessed there was something in X City.” Shu Jun frowned.

“Yes, I suspect that the Erosion Swamp at the time is still there, and it wasn’t a natural disaster that destroyed X City, but a man-made disaster. However, there is too little information on Erosion Swamps at present, and my idea is ultimately just a guess without evidence.” Zhu Yanchen held the briefcase in his arms and struggled to get up from a pile of luggage. “As long as the situation in X City is confirmed, I can… Ngh.”

Just as Zhu Yanchen had just sat down, he leaned forward and curled up in pain. Shu Jun looked around. The surrounding darkness was empty, without any anomalies.

“The concentration of erosion substance is wrong,” Zhu Yanchen said with difficulty.

They were still on the outskirts of the erosion zone, and they hadn’t even returned to the river they had come from. How could the concentration of erosion substance suddenly increase? Unless…

Shu Jun’s back ran cold, and he instinctively raised the wind to blow the mud sled away from the boulder. In the next moment, the boulder moved.

Laughter rang out again, and the “boulder” slowly disintegrated. The monsters released their hands and feet, which they had been holding together, and chased after the mud sled. If Shu Jun’s reaction had been a second slower, they would have been caught by that group of monsters.

The appearance of those monsters was quite uniform, almost like they were all made from the same mold as the one by the riverbank.

Zhu Yanchen endured the pain, raised his gun, and stood back-to-back with Shu Jun, who was wielding his greatsword. Before he could adjust his posture, the strong wind blew up, splashing mud and water everywhere. Shu Jun hugged his waist again, and the two of them rushed into the sky together.

“Shh,” Shu Jun whispered in Zhu Yanchen’s ear.

Trying to ignore the warmth beside his ear, Zhu Yanchen looked down.

If it were someone else, they might scream directly. There was clearly no open land around them, with four-legged monsters everywhere, just leaving them with one way out. A group of monsters ran behind the sled, while a few others were secretly pulling it, as if they were guiding it in a specific direction.

“I controlled the water to form a mirage, using illusions to deceive them. If we stay on the sled, we won’t be discovered.” Shu Jun muttered softly. “Just a little trick. Luo Duan likes to use this move.”

“You made a substitute out of erosion substance?” Zhu Yanchen saw the two… what could be considered mud men on the mud sled, with blood-stained bandages wrapped around himself and Shun Jun.

“No one has seen these monsters before. They suddenly appeared, probably coming for me. Since they mistook me for their leader, they probably recognized me based on the characteristics of erosion substance. With limited time, I dumped these substitutes and left some real parts behind. I hope they don’t find out too quickly.”

“No—” Monday’s hoarse shout came from far below.

Zhu Yanchen: “…”

“I can follow them first and retrieve it if necessary. How about you? Are you feeling better?”

“Let’s observe for a few minutes first, and then go back to the sled later.” Zhu Yanchen didn’t immediately answer his question.

“What?!”

“The erosion concentration near X City has always been high. I just wasn’t prepared earlier—there’s medicine in the briefcase. I’ll be fine if I take it in time.” Zhu Yanchen carefully studied the monsters’ route. “They’re taking us in the direction of X City. The speed is good.”

…Don’t make this scary situation sound like taking a taxi. Shu Jun was a little dazed.

“They mistook you for their leader, which means they do have a leader. Based on the current situation, they won’t dispose of us without their leader’s decision… I suspect the illusion started a long time ago. As for the Corpse Parasite and that individual monster, they are just used to test you.”

Zhu Yanchen paused. “The other party has laid such a long line, so they won’t act carelessly. The mud men will be exposed sooner or later. We might as well pretend not to know and take this free ride. You can also take the opportunity to rest and recharge your energy.”

“A’Yan.”

“Hmm?”

“If it weren’t for me, would your original plan have been so thrilling?” As Shu Jun carefully descended, he grumbled. “How about I lead them away first and you follow your original plan…”

“No need.” Zhu Yanchen’s voice sounded amused. “I came for them in the first place. It’s perfect, I don’t have to go looking.”

As soon as they got back on the sled, the crowded group of monsters disappeared instantly. If he hadn’t just looked down from above, Shu Jun would almost believe that they had already escaped. He simply drummed up some wind and let the invisible monsters pull the sled in front, conscientiously disguising the surrounding environment. The sled quickly glided across the “uninhabited” land that looked seemingly peaceful.

Out of sight, out of mind. Shu Jun silently recited, throwing a piece of meat to Monday to shut up its grumbling mouth.

Zhu Yanchen took his medicine and sat up straight, calmly staring in the direction of X City.

Shu Jun always had the feeling that this person’s temperament had changed. Surrounded by invisible monsters, Zhu Yanchen’s satisfaction seemed greater than his fear. He exuded an inexplicable radiance, which didn’t make Shu Jun feel at ease.

It was like fireworks at their most brilliant moment, and then there was only one ending—extinguishment.

‘Hopefully, my intuition won’t come into play this time,’ Shu Jun thought to himself. There was still another month that this person could live.

The four-legged monsters were quite capable. They managed to pull the sled to their destination in less than three days, which should have taken five days. Shu Jun and Zhu Yanchen pretended to be ignorant the whole time, and eventually became numb to their surroundings—they couldn’t see the monsters around them, and occasionally forgetting wasn’t a big deal. Shu Jun occasionally flew high in secret to confirm their location. Other than that, their journey was relatively peaceful.

However, the concentration of the erosion substance around them was too high. Zhu Yanchen took medicine constantly, which made Shu Jun’s stomach hurt.

It had been three days since the four-legged monsters took over the sled before they reached their destination. The illusion melted away like snow and they could fully see the exposed ruins of X City.

‘No matter what Zhu Yanchen’s previous guesses were, he was right,’ Shu Jun thought. There was more than just “something” in X City—the scene in front of him almost made his heart stop.

“A’Yan, quickly take a sample and record it.” Shu Jun took a deep breath. “Then I’ll take you away.”

Kinky Thoughts:

This is the last of the free chapters on jjwxc. If you’ve been enjoying the novel so far and are able to, please consider supporting the author by buying the raws. I used Google Chrome with their auto translate and this guide on how to buy novels on jjwxc. Remember, only with your (financial) support can artists continue to produce more great works.

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 21: Another Alpha

This was the second time Luo Duan entered Y City. Just like the first time, Yi Ning’s assistant personally drove to pick him up and sent him all the way to Y City’s downtown headquarters. Through the car window, he could see silhouettes of people in the city, but that was all.

As the capital of this land, Y City was many times more prosperous than the stronghold. But compared with the “world” he lived in, it still looked a bit backward and poor. People would use sophisticated electrical appliances scavenged from erosion areas, as well as rough homemade crafts. There may be an oil lamp next to the ultra-thin computer that the boundaries of the times became blurred here.

Seeing the government’s car coming, the people would spontaneously give way and make room. Luo Duan originally thought it was preferential treatment for “players”, but now that he thought about it, the car passed by without stopping halfway meant there may be some deeper meaning in it.

The only place he could really set foot in was the courtyard of the Central Headquarters.

Luo Duan chuckled a few times, watched the assistant leave in a hurry, and waited in Yi Ning’s reception room.

Just like Zhu Yanchen was to Shu Jun, in terms of setting, Yi Ning was also regarded as his immediate superior. That was all for ordinary players. As the captain of the second-ranked team in the world , “Groundwater”, Luo Duan had the right to apply for a meeting with Yi Ning. Compared with Shu Jun, who treated his immediate boss like air, Luo Duan was softer and got along with Yi Ning quite amicably.

What used to be his usual behavior had now become an excellent cover.

The door of the reception room opened.

“Bitter Rain.” Yi Ning, with a perfect NPC image, called his game ID as usual. “There’s no task right now, but you came to see me especially. Do you have any other needs?”

“I want to apply for indoor practice.” Luo Duan smiled slightly.

Yi Ning frowned. “Indoor practice” was the nominal resident mission of <Erosion>. As the name suggested, the location was indoors, and the content was quite simple—players needed to fight mutant beasts of all levels and couldn’t bring backup. During the practice process, players still had the possibility of death and exit.

For the United Government, the “indoor practice” was a controlled, simulated battlefield, and researchers used it to collect combat data of synths. Ordinary indoor practice could be done at the border stronghold, but since Luo Duan specifically proposed…

“I’ve already played through the border strongholds.” Luo Duan continued, “I’ve read the information, and the high-level training ground is underground at headquarters. I want to apply for it.”

Yi Ning didn’t agree right away. “I hope you can think about it again. Your ability is partial to group support, not suitable for individual training. It’s really not worthwhile to hurt your body on impulse.”

To put it bluntly, Luo Duan was strong, but his physical condition was questionable—he was almost at the end of his synthetic lifespan, and it was difficult to say if he could still use his full abilities. Moreover, even if Luo Duan was already on the verge of being scrapped, it seemed like a waste to use such an important resource as cannon fodder in battles.

Luo Duan seemed to have anticipated his response and refused to budge. “My team is on vacation now, and I happen to have some free time. Sir, I am about to retire soon, and this may be my last visit here. I just want to… experience a little more.”

After he finished speaking, Luo Duan’s smile grew wider. His appearance matched well with his water-based ability—his facial features were soft, and he had a gentle and elegant temperament that made it hard for people to feel disgusted with him.

Luo Duan’s response was reasonable, and it would seem unnatural to push him away any further. Yi Ning had to follow the regulations. “Alright, I will arrange a room for you here. There will be someone to accompany you during your stay, and the mission can be interrupted at any time. If you are seriously injured, we will also forcefully interrupt the mission. Do you have any other questions?”

“What about normal injuries?”

“Treat them until you can fight again.”

“I understand, thank you.” Luo Duan politely extended his hand, which was covered with black gloves. “The application form has already been filled out. I appreciate your approval.”

Yi Ning reached out his hand and shook hands with him—Strange, did Luo Duan wear gloves before?

“See you tomorrow.” Luo Duan quickly withdrew his hand with a pure smile. “…I’m really looking forward to it.”

“If you are concerned about losing to the Blackbirds, I have to say that their captain hasn’t ever applied for this.” Before Luo Duan left, Yi Ning couldn’t help but add.

Luo Duan paused at the door for a few seconds but didn’t turn back.

“…That’s because he doesn’t like being indoors and prefers to charge in the wilderness. I don’t have such strong attacking power, so this training is just right for me.”

Meanwhile, Shu Jun was charging in the wilderness, but his mood wasn’t so good.

An hour ago, Uncle Pan had once again demonstrated his business acumen—when inquiring for information, Zhu Yanchen accidentally revealed their plan to buy a sled. As a result, just as they had packed their bags and were about to leave the inn, Uncle Pan had already found the sled merchant and guide for them.

“Here is their contact information. If you’re not satisfied, there are others. I only need a 10% fee for his introduction. He sells quality goods at reasonable prices and never cheats people. I can just add the total cost to your lodging, food, and sauce expenses, so you don’t have to worry.”

Zhu Yanchen was about to take out his wallet, and Shu Jun suspected that the Grand Marshal had never heard the phrase “shop around”.

He laughed it off, put down his luggage, and dragged Zhu Yanchen to the market for a round. As it turned out, Uncle Pan hadn’t lied—even including the introduction fee, the price he offered was still lower than the market rate.

In the end, they came back to the inn with two full bags of newly purchased supplies.

“Back already?” Uncle Pan greeted with a smile. “You two are new faces, so they won’t be polite to outsiders.”

Shu Jun: “…” They were wearing masks. How could they tell?

“Those who often go to the erosion zone outside have deformed bones. You two have straight spines, and you’re buying mud sleds and looking for a guide. It’s obvious you’re newcomers.” Uncle Pan seemed to have read his mind. “I’ll contact someone for you… Oh, it’s still the same guy. Come back next time, both of you!”

Zhu Yanchen paid quickly and then glanced at Shu Jun.

“What are you looking at?” Shu Jun raised his face. “Uncle Pan is an honest man. I have nothing to say… but I was just afraid you’ll be ripped off. Saving money isn’t wrong.”

He thought of the money he had saved for half his life in the so-called “real world”, now all worthless, and his heart felt tight.

Zhu Yanchen continued to stare.

“Save some money, so when we come back here, we can splurge and celebrate.” Shu Jun’s confidence wasn’t diminished.

Zhu Yanchen was stunned and his gaze softened—Shu Jun’s tone was quite certain, infectious as always. For a moment, he even had the illusion that he could survive.

But they didn’t need to waste energy on this. Marshal Zhu thought for a moment, canceled hiding the amount in his electronic wallet, and showed Shu Jun the string of numbers.

…Shu Jun’s eyes glossed over, and he didn’t speak to him for half an hour. When they had packed up their belongings again, Shu Jun muttered sadly, “If so much money is transferred out, won’t people think you were ‘kidnapped’?”

Zhu Yanchen’s tone was serious. “It will be fine. I usually carry this much.”

Shu Jun: “…”

An hour later, the two of them were racing through the mud in the erosion zone. The sky was a familiar leaden gray, with only a few scattered stones and dead trees on the gray-black ground mixed with mutated beast paw prints and sled tracks. It was unknown whether the recent events had affected them, but there were only them in sight, and the air had a touch of desolation.

The heavily eroded land was somewhat swampy and soft underfoot, with mud puddles everywhere, making it difficult for both walking and vehicles. Faced with this kind of road condition, the rich would take mud boats, and the poor would use mutant beasts to pull mud sleds. Over time, many people dedicated themselves to paddling mud boats and driving mud sleds and charged high prices as “erosion zone guides”.

The guide was also a bald, muscular man, similar in size to Uncle Pan. He had two lumps on his head, but they were brown. Shu Jun glanced at his appearance and wondered if Uncle Pan was really that honest—Did they really not get cheated?

“I heard from my brother that you two want to go east?” The guide had a gas mask on his face, but the laughter inside could be heard. “I can only send you two for two days but I won’t go any deeper.”

“Two days is enough,” said Zhu Yanchen.

“The south is also good. Someone dug up a jewelry store there not long ago. Why bother with the east? Actually, with the amount of luggage you have, you can take a small boat to the south. If you take the mud sled, you’ll have to add a cargo compartment, which would tire my dogs out, haa.” The guide obviously wanted to continue chatting.

The “dogs” he mentioned were pulling the mud sled. The pack of dogs was all black, with drool dripping from their split heads. They had six legs and were running on the mud like they were walking on flat ground. In front of their heads hung black and red meat, like a donkey being led by a carrot.

“Speaking of the road to the east, it’s not that I’m scared. I used to be able to send people on a three-day journey, but now it’s only two days at most. I don’t know if my brother told you. There has been trouble over there recently—it’s really evil. A group of people found a strange monster’s corpse…”

Now they knew where Uncle Pan’s endless information came from. Marshal Zhu slowly lay down and gave a look to Shu Jun, saying, “It’s up to you now”.

“What’s your name?” Shu Jun took over the burden and interrupted the chatter of the guide. “Mr. Pan…?”

“In fact, my brother and I are from the old Chen family. Our surname isn’t Pan. It’s just because of these two lumps on our heads.” The guide chuckled, “But in business, it’s best to have a name that’s easy to remember. You can just call me Uncle Xiong.”

Shu Jun: “…Uncle Xiong.”

The next two days were uneventful. Except for the unchanging physical examination given to Shu Jun by Zhu Yanchen, Zhu Yanchen seemed to have fallen in love with sleeping. Whenever he had time, he would take a nap. Shu Jun could understand his feelings—there was nothing to see in the heavily eroded area. Let alone the Erosion Swamp, the mutant beasts they encountered were only small cats and dogs. With an outsider by their side, they couldn’t speak freely.

Zhu Yanchen slept after work and worked after sleeping while Shu Jun could only go out to hunt a few mutant beasts to eat while Uncle Xiong was sleeping. After eating, he had to bring back some meat to feed Monday, so it wouldn’t be hungry and bark while Uncle Xiong was awake.

They thought they could endure for two days, but the problem arose on the second night.

On the second night, they encountered a river.

The water in the river was naturally not clear, but it was particularly conspicuous in the barrenness. When Uncle Xiong saw the river, he said, “This is the place. You have to sled by yourselves from here on.”

As he spoke, he took off the cargo compartment hanging behind the sled and helped them install it to the sled’s head. “Do you want to buy a few dogs? You’ll tire yourself out paddling. I can sell you a few dogs since I’m going back alone anyway.”

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Yanchen decisively pulled out his gun and shot the first mutant beast in front of him into two pieces.

“Hey, if you don’t want to buy, just say so. What are you doing—fuck me!!!” Uncle Xiong cursed halfway, and his voice changed tone—countless gray-black “straws” drilled out of the body and crawled towards the three of them.

A Corpse Parasite.

Shu Jun clicked his tongue, tore off the cloth that covered his greatsword, and drew it out. The sword was much more convenient than his claws—unlike Zhu Yanchen’s purification gun, its blade could cut through the fine limbs of the Corpse Parasite, which turned to powder and disappeared. With a few elegant slashes, Shu Jun severed a third of the Corpse Parasite’s limbs.

Monday: “Burp.”

Uncle Xiong’s expression changed when he saw the weapon.

“It’s high-tech, high-tech,” Shu Jun quickly explained. “My boss is rich, and we came out to do weapons testing. Right, boss?”

Zhu Yanchen, who was shooting at the Corpse Parasite, almost missed his target. Fortunately, Uncle Xiong was too flustered to inquire further. “Why don’t I take you back? There are Corpse Parasites here, which means there must be an Erosion Swamp nearby. No matter what you two are up to, your lives are more important.”

“It’s fine,” Shu Jun said, letting Monday happily turn the Corpse Parasite into powder. “You go ahead, we can handle it.”

Uncle Xiong didn’t hesitate and quickly pulled the reins, fleeing the scene.

Shu Jun wasn’t too nervous. This wasn’t their first encounter with a Corpse Parasite. It could only attack Zhu Yanchen, who wasn’t an easy target. As long as he kept guarding him, even if an Erosion Swamp came looking for them, Zhu Yanchen would be fine.

“A’Yan, follow me closely.” Shu Jun was much more relaxed without Uncle Xiong watching. This was just a routine battle, or so he thought.

However, at the moment the Corpse Parasite was completely disintegrated by the great sword, Shu Jun heard muffled laughter.

To be precise, it wasn’t a physical sound, but more like an emotion he sensed from the Erosion Swamp. Shu Jun shuddered and broke out in cold sweat.

The Erosion Swamps were like a swarm of bees or ants—a biological aggregate that followed instinct, with some simple emotions and thoughts at most.

Even if it was like Monday had stumbled upon valuable information by sheer luck and gained a brain, their emotions would still be relatively simple. But this laughter was different—it wasn’t the pure laughter of a child, but rather the light laughter of an adult who had been amused.

Suddenly, every nerve in Shu Jun’s body tensed up. He positioned himself in front of Zhu Yanchen, facing the direction where the laughter was coming from, and said, “We have to go.”

Unfortunately, it was too late for that.

A blurry figure appeared in the haze. It was about two meters tall and had the outline of some kind of insect. It had four limbs that were thin and long, with jointed structures that bent several times that lightly supported it on the muddy ground.

At the junction of its four limbs hung a droplet-shaped body. It stood less than a hundred meters away from them, moving slowly and resembled a dancing ghost spider.

Shu Jun was very sure that the laughter was coming from it.

[So it’s not the leader.] Its thoughts came through, without any exact language but with a clear meaning. [Well, of course the leader wouldn’t come to a place like this.]

[Where are your swamps?] It laughed again, throwing out one question after another. [Why do you look so strange?]

[Why aren’t you answering?]

It moved closer again. Cold sweat broke out on Shu Jun’s forehead. The thing’s thought process was too fast, and he had no idea how to respond—he had only had one successful exchange with an Erosion Swamp before, and it was a mindless expletive.

[We already have an alpha, and we only need one.] It said, [Since you’re not answering, you’re an invader.]

The author has something to say:

Shu Ge: Can we have some normal (?) monsters…

Monday: (Happy fangirling)

Marshal: (Calmly taking notes)

Shu Ge: .

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 20: Yi Ning

At eight in the morning, Zhu Yanchen woke up groggily.

He hadn’t slept so well in a long time. It wasn’t due to mental tranquility but rather a real physical change—in order to hide the lesions that had accumulated over the past decade, Ai Xiaoxiao had removed countless tumors and growths from Zhu Yanchen’s body.

She had kept them as research material, and according to Dr. Ai, there were enough of those things to make another adult.

Zhu Yanchen was well aware that, after countless surgeries, his body was like a patched-up puppet. It looked shiny and polished on the outside, but inside it was already in a state of disrepair.

Therefore, the pain had always been constant—not unbearable but endless, slowly crawling in every corner of his body. Because of this, Zhu Yanchen’s sleep quality had always been poor. He was more accustomed to fragmented sleep than to sleeping soundly. If he could sleep, he would continue sleeping, but if the pain woke him up, he would simply get up and work.

Zhu Yanchen had almost forgotten when he had last slept so long.

His diet hadn’t changed, and neither did the environment by much. It was possible that Shu Jun had done something, but if the other party had made any major moves, he wouldn’t have been completely unaware of it.

This was information worth recording.

Zhu Yanchen looked up at Shu Jun—Shu Jun hadn’t squeezed into his bed but was lying on the sofa next to the purifier. The sofa was a bit narrow, forcing Shu Jun to curl his body awkwardly, barely managing to lie himself down. He held the greatsword in his arms, his mouth half open, and his sharp canine teeth were visible from between his lips as he slept soundly.

The purifier was still running, making a buzzing noise, and there was a scent of pancakes in the air. Zhu Yanchen sat quietly for a while, then put on his coat and got off the bed.

The greatsword was fixed to the purifier by Shu Jun’s body, and it was extremely miserable. At this moment, it didn’t care whether Zhu Yanchen was a friend or foe, and it opened its mouth pitifully. “Help… Help…”

Zhu Yanchen: “……”

Zhu Yanchen ignored the sword’s plea and went to the briefcase on the table. With a light click, the metal buckle made a sound, and the next second, a cold wind blew over his skin, and the blade stopped close to Zhu Yanchen’s two fingers.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t move.

“It’s you.” Shu Jun yawned and put away the sword. “Sorry, I was half asleep. Are you feeling better?”

“Much better.” Zhu Yanchen took out a needle for collecting blood from the box. “Give me your arm. I need to take a blood sample.”

“Let’s have breakfast first. I bought pancakes and baked them on the purifier all night. They are still hot. The boss also gave me a bag of rock sugar, which I baked with them. I’ll mix it to make some sugar water later.” Shu Jun yawned again and released Monday, who was still shouting “Help!” in a rough voice.

Zhu Yanchen nodded politely while holding the blood-drawing needle still.

Shu Jun scratched his messy hair and sighed, extending his arm. After a few days, there was no sign of his physical mutation disappearing.

“Open your mouth,” Zhu Yanchen requested as he placed the blood sample into the testing machine.

But this time, he hesitated for a few seconds. “If you don’t like me wearing gloves, I can take them off.”

Having fabric put in his mouth wasn’t very comfortable, but Shu Jun firmly declined. “Wear them. I’m afraid that if I get hungry, I might bite your finger.”

Zhu Yanchen pulled off his gloves expressionlessly.

Five minutes later.

“…Everything is normal.” Zhu Yanchen looked into Shu Jun’s mouth and touched his mutated teeth for a while. The examination took much longer than last time, and Shu Jun’s jaw was a bit sore, but he could only endure it while looking at Zhu Yanchen’s focused examination.

“Your body has initially stabilized.” Zhu Yanchen took out his wet fingers. “If you feel uncomfortable, remember to tell me at any time.”

Shu Jun rubbed his chin and said sincerely, “The pancake is getting drier, and I’m feeling hungry. I had one last night, and it was really delicious. It also has sauce.”

He didn’t know if he was seeing things, but Zhu Yanchen’s gaze softened a bit. He packed up the briefcase and sat down obediently to eat breakfast. Ignoring the erosion marks, the room was still pretty well decorated. The two sat across from each other and ate breakfast, with a little bit of warmth.

There was a vague sense of déjà vu, and Shu Jun shook his head.

Zhu Yanchen knew nothing of Shu Jun’s psychological activities. “We’ll buy a large sled and go to X City in about ten days. With your physical condition, you don’t need protection to go to X City.”

Shu Jun stared at Zhu Yanchen’s eyes—his brow furrowed as he absentmindedly replied, “Mm.”

“I plan to survey X City for three weeks,” Zhu Yanchen continued. “Then we’ll continue east and walk all the way to the seaside. Finally, we’ll come back… as far as we can go.”

Shu Jun stirred his sugar water with a spoon. “Mm.”

“When I die, you don’t have to worry about the body. Just go back to Y City and find a female doctor named Ai Xiaoxiao. She’s my subordinate, and her research level is top-notch. Although she can’t treat you like me, she can still do a good job of wrapping up loose ends.” Zhu Yanchen spoke calmly, as if he weren’t talking about his own death.

Shu Jun stopped stirring his spoon.

Zhu Yanchen didn’t wait for that “Mm” and looked up. Shu Jun smiled at him and brought up a different topic. “The boss here just said yesterday that there were strange things happening near X City, telling us to stay away. You specifically want to go there, so what’s your goal?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“It’s because I don’t know what’s there that I want to confirm it in person. Anything could appear in the city ruins that humans haven’t set foot in for two hundred years.” Zhu Yanchen picked up his handkerchief and wiped his mouth elegantly. “What did the boss say to you? Please tell me.”

“He said my nails were too long and that young people shouldn’t follow this type of fashion.”

“……”

Shu Jun pushed the sugar water in front of Zhu Yanchen and said, “Just kidding. You can ask him yourself later. That uncle is quite talkative, but I can’t catch the main points. After all, I haven’t seen him for more than 200 minutes, so there could be new information that may appear.”

Zhu Yanchen nodded and hurriedly drank all the sugar water, planning to tidy up the cups and plates on the table. Shu Jun reached out his arm and directly grabbed his wrist.

“A’Yan.” Shu Jun’s tone was a bit unquestionable. “I would prefer it if you introduced Ai Xiaoxiao to me in person. To be honest, for the sake of your people, you’d better live longer.”

As he spoke, the smile on Shu Jun’s face disappeared. His vertical pupils shrank a bit, staring at Zhu Yanchen’s reaction.

“If my partner leaves too soon and there’s no more interest involved, I’m not sure what I will do.”

Zhu Yanchen stretched out his other hand and gently opened Shu Jun’s hand.

“I understand,” he said.

Only then did Shu Jun continue to nibble on his pancake, missing Zhu Yanchen’s silent whisper.

“…And I know what you will do,” Zhu Yanchen silently moved his lips.

In Y city.

Marshal Yi Ning’s mood wasn’t very good.

He just wanted to create a stumbling block for Zhu Yanchen at the stronghold, letting the mutant beasts invade from the outside to indirectly prove the necessity of “players” production—even the powerful Zhu Yanchen from a prominent family couldn’t protect himself, which demonstrated the shortage of troops.

If the plan went well, Zhu Yanchen wouldn’t have had any problems. At most, he would suffer some minor injuries and stay in the hospital for one or two months. Yi Ning had made adequate preparations and even reduced the defense of the stronghold, but something went wrong in the process.

They hadn’t released the mutant beasts from the outer circle yet, but one of them escaped from the inside and took Zhu Yanchen himself as hostage. It was like someone knew what they were planning and took the opportunity to act ahead of time.

After the incident, Yi Ning contacted the Tang family, who provided him with financial support. He only wanted ordinary the benefits of public opinion, not assassination.

However, the Tang family claimed they knew nothing about it.

Yi Ning sat back in his chair in annoyance and began to flip through the prepared speech. The rhetoric on it was impassioned, but it wouldn’t be used in the short term.

What is going on?

He came from a commoner background and his parents made a living by living on the edge of the erosion zone, where they licked blood from a knife’s edge every day. They died of chronic diseases caused by erosion when Yi Ning was only four years old. He survived alone, stumbling and suffering through countless difficulties, to climb to his current position. No one knew better than him what benefits the “players” production would bring to the people.

At present, “players”—synthetic humans—were only stationed at the strongholds and were under the jurisdiction of the United Government for purification and exploration outside. If his vision was realized, lower-performing synthetic humans could be stationed in the city as “life players”, contributing to labor. The less efficient ones could be sold in batches to wealthy people, and people wouldn’t need to venture into the erosion zone to mine for resources.

This way, people could completely get rid of jobs that have erosion risk, and the workload would be greatly reduced.

Truth management could be a hassle, but as long as the goals were established, the rest could be gradually resolved. Even if the synthetic people inside the city caused trouble, they could still be suppressed by the regular army.

The ordinary people quite liked this proposal. Not only did it reduce their workload, but no one wanted their loved ones to do risky work. On the other hand, Yi Ning, who came from a civilian background, was more likable than the young master of the Zhu family, thus his popularity among the people continued to rise.

However, Yi Ning didn’t relax his vigilance because of this.

Zhu Yanchen was able to hold on until now because of his deep and broad family connections, as well as his truly excellent tactical skills. Compared to those from big families who were all smooth talkers and focused on saving face, Yi Ning admired Zhu Yanchen as an opponent. In terms of ability, except for being too low-key, Zhu Yanchen had no other weaknesses to exploit.

Now that his opponent was gone, Yi Ning wasn’t happy.

On the one hand, he couldn’t understand—his plan was undoubtedly beneficial to the people’s livelihood. If Zhu Yanchen had a similar idea to him, he would even be willing to withdraw from the competition. Old Marshal Zhu had also expressed his appreciation for him in public, but Zhu Yanchen was like a stone that couldn’t be moved.

On the other hand, the loss of Zhu Yanchen was objectively a huge setback. Leaving aside the fact that they couldn’t find a replacement for him in terms of tactical planning, Yi Ning couldn’t find a suitable person to take over the management of the synthetic humans that Zhu Yanchen was responsible for.

Originally, he had planned to promote the production of synthetic humans as soon as possible, but now even cleaning up the mess had become a big problem.

Yi Ning pushed his speech aside and rubbed his forehead. As if things weren’t chaotic enough, the communicator began to beep and squeal.

“What is it?”

“Sir, it’s the synthesized human you’re directly in charge of, Captain Luo Duan of ‘Groundwater’… He wants to see you.”

Kinky Thoughts:

LMAO. So both marshals had similar plans?

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Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

Chapter 19: City of the Dead

Ever since Zhu Rong perfected the player system, the Zhu family’s status had completely stabilized. After nearly three hundred years of recuperation, there had been, conservatively, at least ten generations of people. By the time of the previous Marshal Zhu, the relationship between several major families had become incredibly complex, and the Zhu family’s influence had reached its peak.

Thanks to his family background, Zhu Yanchen had been exposed to all sorts of shrewd people since he was young.

Although Shu Jun was intelligent, he wasn’t particularly slick. Zhu Yanchen saw that the other party was busy trying to change the topic and knew that Shu Jun didn’t want to go into detail. Considering their respective positions, Zhu Yanchen was able to guess the content of the “ordinary threat” that Shu Jun had mentioned.

There was no need to delve into it further at the moment.

“Let’s go east.” Zhu Yanchen allowed the topic to be led astray. “Do you know about X City?”

Shu Jun thought for a moment. “The one that was destroyed 200 years ago, right?”

“Mm. There is a border settlement to the southeast. We’ll go there to replenish some supplies, then head to X City.”

Zhu Yanchen was feeling a bit tired. Since his body had reached its limits, he had become increasingly fatigued. Shu Jun was right; perhaps he really did need more rest.

“Let’s go back to the cave first,” he said. “I’ll take a nap, and you can practice your swordsmanship…”

Shu Jun didn’t hide his frown. “Your voice sounds weak, and you don’t look comfortable.”

“I’m just a bit tired.”

“What cave? I’ll fly you over there. Missing sword practice for half a day won’t kill me.”

Shu Jun circled around Zhu Yanchen, and since he knew that this person only had two months left to live, he didn’t have the heart to hurt him. “Forget it, I’ll carry you. How far is it? I’ll try to fly steadily… Wait, don’t fall down yet! Give me a mask first. I look a bit conspicuous like this.”

Carrying a person on his back was something Shu Jun wasn’t used to. At the same time, he could feel the cold and stiffness coming from his back—after all, carrying a person who was slightly taller than oneself on one’s back should have at least provided some warmth.

Zhu Yanchen was really not feeling well. Shu Jun didn’t say anything, and with his greatsword hanging in front of him, he flew up into the air.

They didn’t talk along the way.

Marshal Zhu was quite resilient. Despite the strong wind, he slept soundly on his back. Shu Jun didn’t want to disturb the sick man, so when he saw a light below his feet, he gently landed and carried Zhu Yanchen towards the center of the settlement.

The border settlements were much simpler than the urban areas and larger than military bases. The people who came and went were all desperadoes searching for gold in the erosion zone, so they didn’t want to show their faces and garner extra attention. Given the place and purification was expensive, the environmental quality here was quite mediocre, but the accommodation was good enough. The market was lively, and it provided a good resting place.

When he was still a “player”, Shu Jun rarely came into contact with the settlements and had only heard some information before. Now that he thought about it, the United Government was probably worried that these desperadoes would talk too much and spread the truth, causing unnecessary trouble.

This was his first time entering a settlement.

Since it was a spontaneously organized base for people, the structure was easy to guess, so the best ones had to be in the center. However, Shu Jun wanted to keep a low profile, so he didn’t choose the best hotel. He had walked halfway, slipped to the side, and specifically picked one that was neither good nor bad. The boss was a big man with a bald head and a mask on his face. He had two black tumors the size of fists on both sides of his head, which looked a bit like panda ears at first glance.

Shu Jun: “… “It was hard not to be attracted by his appearance.

The big man had obviously noticed his gaze. “You new here?”

“Just arrived, just arrived. Keep your voice down,” Shu Jun had hurriedly said. “My friend is tired and sleeping. We’re looking for a place to rest. And you…?”

“The place is mine. You can call me Uncle Pan.” The big man stood up and patted his greasy apron. “How many rooms?”

“One room.” In various senses, he and Zhu Yanchen needed to take care of each other.

“Oh, do you want a cheaper one with bunk beds that can sleep six people, or a more expensive one for fun?”

“What do you mean?”

“For saving money, take the bunk bed room. It can hold up to six people and is cheap. As for how many people are staying there, that depends on your luck.” Uncle Pan had smacked his lips. “For those who are looking for fun, the rooms are naturally the best, suitable for relaxation, but the price is a little bit more expensive—”

“Then we’ll take the fun one.” Shu Jun didn’t bother to care about the ambiguous meanings. This was a necessity.

Anyway, Marshal Zhu was well prepared and was unlikely to drop the ball when it came to money.

“Oh, alright.” Uncle Pan took out the keys from the drawer and placed them gently on the iron counter. “I don’t provide food here, but you can give me some money for errands, and I can buy it for you, or you can buy it yourself. Just go out and turn two blocks to get to the market. Anyway, we can’t tell day from night here. There are always people around all day, so don’t worry about not being able to buy anything.”

“Thanks. Don’t worry, we’ll discuss it when my friend wakes up.” This area was already an erosion zone, so the food may not necessarily be clean. He could handle it, but he didn’t know if Zhu Yanchen could eat it.

But the room was nice.

There was a small purifier making a buzzing noise in the room, so the air was still okay. The floor was cleaned very well, and there was no strange smell on the sheets. Shu Jun locked the door and carefully laid down Zhu Yanchen. Then he put Monday beside the purifier and let it shiver.

As soon as Shu Jun changed his position, Zhu Yanchen woke up immediately. He looked around the room and felt a little dazed for a moment.

“Go back to sleep. It’s not even three in the morning, and you’ve only slept for a little over an hour. If you’re not at ease, you can lock me up with the handcuffs.” Shu Jun took off his mask and breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Yanchen looked a bit confused as he looked at him. Shu Jun didn’t waste any time and swiftly removed Zhu Yanchen’s mask, loosened his collar, and took off his coat—these things would only make it difficult for him to breathe.

“Take off your shoes yourself,” Shu Jun muttered while taking off his clothes. “It’s good not to be awake. Go to bed early and finish things early*. Then, I’ll argue with Monday.”

*(早睡早完事) (AKA Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.)

Zhu Yanchen hummed in response, indicating that he had just slept soundly and was still a bit groggy. He raised his head and gave Shu Jun a smile.

It was an extremely awkward smile. It was obvious that Marshal Zhu hadn’t smiled in a long time, and even when he was half awake, his smile was somewhat stiff. But seeing a smile appear on Zhu Yanchen’s face, Shu Jun was so frightened that he almost dropped the coat in his hand.

Perhaps realizing what he had done, Zhu Yanchen collected his smile the next second. He muttered a thank you, climbed into the bed, and laid down, even making sure to arrange his shoes neatly.

…Compared to the guys in his own team, Marshal Zhu was not only not delicate, but he was quite easy to take care of. Shu Jun was used to taking care of people, and he felt a little emotional for a moment. But he was startled by that smile, and his emotions quickly dissipated.

In the end, Zhu Yanchen didn’t handcuff him. Now that it was convenient without the handcuffs, Shu Jun took a shower, picked up Monday, who was trembling by the purifier, and sat down at the other end of the room.

He had intended to train Monday, but with time now available, he no longer had the mood to do so. That smile of Zhu Yanchen’s kept playing in his mind—it was a very nice smile, but that wasn’t the point.

Shu Jun’s intuition began to dance on his nerves again. He always felt that something wasn’t right.

Marshal Zhu… A’Yan was clearly not someone who smiled for no reason, even if they had been friends for a few years. When it came to the aborigines of this world, those who knew A’Yan longer than him must have passed away. However, whether it was watching the propaganda video, listening to the discussions of those who worshiped Marshal Zhu in his team, or seeing it with his own eyes, this person was always expressionless, like he had a face covered with glue that had dried up.

That was a relaxed smile, as if they were really close friends who could talk about anything.

Zhu Yanchen had been in the position of Marshal for a long time, commanding countless battles. He couldn’t be naive enough to be close based on a few years of texting… Was A’Yan really only hiding the “truth” and the “death date” from him?

The more Shu Jun thought about it, the more confused he became, and he hummed a few times in annoyance. He decided to go out for a few minutes to catch his breath.

Fortunately, he could now control the erosion a little bit. Shu Jun dug out a small piece from Monday, twisted it into a rope, and hung the door from the inside. Just in case, he also hung a “Do not disturb” sign outside as well.

“Are you going out? What about your friend?” Uncle Pan was still sitting in front of the counter leisurely listening to the radio.

“He’s resting in the room. I’m going to buy some food. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Shu Jun greeted him. Although it looked safe here, he didn’t want to leave Zhu Yanchen alone for too long.

“Oh, I just bought some pancakes for another room. I bought too many, do you want some?” Uncle Pan didn’t miss this opportunity to promote his business. “Lao Zhang’s pancakes are really something. I saw the last batch, and I bought them all. They’re not expensive, just give me 10% for the errand fee.”

As he spoke, he took out a pancake, pushed aside his mask, and started chewing. The room was suddenly filled with the smell of pancakes.

Shu Jun yielded. “Is the pancake clean?”

“Very clean. If you’re really worried, take it back and heat it up on the purifier—though that’s a waste of the purifier in your room.” Uncle Pan quickly ate a piece and put back on his crooked mask.

Zhu Yanchen hadn’t eaten anything decent these past few days, so buying him a few pancakes wouldn’t hurt. Shu Jun took six and instinctively put them in his pocket to keep them warm.

Uncle Pan exclaimed, “You’re quite good at taking care of people. Actually, I also have some soybean sauce for the pancakes…”

Shu Jun didn’t listen to what Uncle Pan was saying next.

He was good at taking care of people—from his teammates’ children to his injured teammates that many people had mentioned to him before so he had grown accustomed to it, not taking it to heart.

But now, he thought that his accustomed life had been turned upside down and every detail was worth rethinking—he had lived alone since he was eight years old and continued to live alone until he started working. So when did he start getting used to “taking care of others”?

For a moment, Shu Jun had a ridiculous idea: perhaps he and Marshal Zhu had known each other for a long time, but his memory had been buried deep in his mind. But then he remembered that he had been working with the Blackbirds since he entered <Erosion>. If he had any private contact with Zhu Yanchen, the timing didn’t match up.

Moreover, he seemed to have been good at taking care of people before entering <Erosion>.

…Well, maybe it was just one of his talents.

“I’ll take some sauce too.” Shu Jun took out the pancakes, pushed up his mask a bit, and ate mechanically.

“Where are you guys going?” Uncle Pan tossed him a bag of sauce that was wrapped in thin plastic like a tiny heart.

“East,” said Shu Jun vaguely.

“But that’s a heavily eroded area, and you guys don’t seem to be short of money. Why bother?” Uncle Pan took a deep breath. “Didn’t something happen there recently? Fewer ships are going there now, and the road isn’t easy to walk.”

“Something happened recently?” Shu Jun listened with interest. The events in X City were all 200 years old.

“Don’t you know? The higher-ups organized a ‘competition’ there a while ago, with a large Erosion Swamp as the target, but the captain of the Blackbirds was defeated.”

The Blackbirds captain himself: “…”

“But the most bizarre thing is this.” Uncle Pan’s tone gradually became more like a storyteller. “I’ll tell you, such a large Erosion Swamp disappeared right in front of everyone’s eyes! You know, like unplugging a bathtub—it just seeped into the ground. Who has ever seen such a situation like that before? Everyone’s saying something was wrong with the Erosion Swamp in the east.”

“So did they find it?” Shu Jun asked nervously; said Erosion Swamp was inside his body.

“Who has time to look for it when Marshal Zhu was suddenly kidnapped by a mutant beast shortly after that. The higher-ups are in chaos, and I heard that the old Marshal Zhu is furious.”

…Said Marshal Zhu is staying at your inn. Shu Jun almost choked on his pancake. “Let’s talk about the Erosion Swamp. After all, my brother and I have to make a living, and practical problems are the most important.”

“Oh.” Uncle Pan rubbed the black lump on his head. “The next piece of information will cost you money, young man. What do you say?”

Shu Jun gradually got used to this man’s routine. “You… Go ahead and tell me.”

“Dealing with sensible people is refreshing.” Uncle Pan rubbed his hands and chuckled.

“So the two of you are heading east. Someone died on the outskirts of the City of the Dead a while ago.”

“The City of the Dead?”

“X City!” Uncle Pan said. “Of course they didn’t go inside. That group of people just wandered around outside looking for some rare things to bring back to sell. And then, guess what? They found a monster corpse that had never been discovered before, which reportedly looked about 75% human.”

Shu Jun stopped chewing. “And then?”

“And then they were cursed by that monster’s corpse.” Uncle Pan lowered his voice. “Everyone died, and it was a terrible death. People found out by reading their diaries.”

“Young man, you can head east, but stay away from the City of the Dead. That place is evil.”

The author has something to say:

Marsha Zhu was kidnapped by a mutant beast ×

Marsha Zhu was kidnapped by Shu Jun √

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