Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 147 The Underground World (Part 1) [First Update Today]

After working together to pass through several rooms, the three mud-baked chicken players arrived at a standard metal-style room on their last exploration attempt.

As he was about to throw a few pieces of fresh meat out from the left side of the gate to test for traps, someone behind him stopped him: "There are no traps, no need to test."

This person was the "little brother" who had whispered in the left ear of the guard when they encountered Yan Guang and his group.

"Hi!"

Without asking how the person could tell they weren't trapped, the guard moved to the left of the gate and made room for them.

The other person quickly took a stool from the dwelling and placed it behind the "little brother," wiped it clean, and waited for him to sit down before letting him out of the dwelling to prepare food.

"Mr. Watanabe, why did you let those four players go? Murata-san's order is to kill anyone you encounter on channel 879." Gangmen stepped forward from the left, bowed his head and asked, his attitude unusually respectful.

"Kill them all?"

The man named Watanabe had a very ordinary appearance, so ordinary that he had no special features. If you threw him into a crowd, you would not be able to find him in the next second.

He chuckled softly: "Heh, you actually take what that idiot Murata said seriously?"
Leftist, you need to use your brain when you do things. There are nearly a thousand people in the whole channel. Even if all the Chinese are pigs, and you're kneeling in every room letting me kill you, with ten chances a day, how long are you going to kill them all?

Besides, haven't you noticed yet?

The guard on the left asked, puzzled, "What did you find?"

Watanabe Toshio said meaningfully, "The player survival rate in this channel is frighteningly high!"

"Survival rate?"

Curious, Gangmen opened the regional channel and was surprised to find that even after channel 879 was split up, there were still 993 players alive!
This means that, excluding the three outsiders, the original number of surviving players was as high as 990!

This is a much higher survival rate than their channel, number 24!
Although they hunt players, they do not hunt aimlessly. Instead, they target non-organized players who rank high on the combat power leaderboard, pick one out, kill it, and steal its items.

So strictly speaking, since Channel 24 was split up, the number of players who have died at their hands is no more than five!
Even so, Channel 24 had less than 800 people left before they left!

Despite these circumstances, there were still 990 survivors in channel 879!
What kind of survival rate is this?

"Could this channel be a rare gathering place for the Unionists?" Gangmen muttered to himself from the left.

Watanabe Toshio was obviously also watching the regional channel, and when he noticed a few names on the leaderboard, he was immediately moved.

"Chu Xiao, Ye Kai, Ye Yuan, Li Zheng!"

He read out the names of these people, as if suddenly realizing something: "So these people have actually gathered in one area?"
No wonder Lin Feng died in less than two days. With these experts joining forces, even if Murata and I teamed up, we might not be able to defeat them!

The guard on the left side of the gate also saw the combat power rankings at this moment, and was surprised and somewhat worried: "Mr. Watanabe, with these people here, our mission..."

Murder right under the noses of these experts?
It might not attract attention at first, but once the death toll rises, or if the attack fails to kill in one strike and the news leaks out.

They will subsequently become like stray dogs and rats on channel 879, constantly running around in a frenzy.

After thinking carefully for a while, Watanabe Toshio said, "The mission is suspended. Let's figure out why these people have a high survival rate first. If we can confirm that we can take them, then we can make further plans!"

"Hi!"

He nodded slightly to the left of the gatekeeper, then walked to the side, sat down, and started browsing the historical information in the regional channel.

……

Li Zheng had only been in the underground world for a few minutes when he suddenly received a message from Yan Guang, instructing him to remove the list of gene potion materials that had been displayed on the regional channel.

"Why cancel this thing when everything is fine?"

Although Li Zheng didn't know what was going on, he subconsciously took the things back.

It happened just before Watanabe Toshio and the others left Fengshan and his group.

……

"Huh? When I first looked at the information, wasn't there a certain item displayed next to Li Zheng's profile picture?"

While Watanabe Toshio was collecting intelligence in peace, he discovered that the things Li Zheng had shown him had disappeared sometime earlier.

"Was it intentional, or has the item already been sold and the transaction completed?" Watanabe only wondered for a moment before stopping.

It must have been some rare item that was priced too high, so they posted the information online, and now it's finally sold.

This kind of operation is common on Channel 24.

Some people have enough living space and are lucky enough to obtain a special item. If they offer a high price for it in the trading hall, given the trading environment, they might be in danger the next time, and before anyone even sees the transaction, they'll be dead.

Because the asking price is high and they can't sell in a short time, they will create a piece of information and post it next to their avatar on the regional channel.

Generally speaking, players who do this are those with relatively high rankings.

Only these individuals display information that is easily visible to others, and they also possess sufficient strength to acquire rare items. ①
Watanabe Toshio's organization occasionally selects targets to hunt based on the information posted by those players.

He scrolled through the chat history and found that there were originally many players showing off their loot.

But the strange thing is.

Judging from these players' wording, how come those who obtained some Iron-grade materials are happier than those who obtained high-grade materials?

Shortly after they entered channel 879, Chu Xiao made a message in the regional channel to welcome the three of them.

The original text reads: Welcome to channel 879, three players from Muddy Country. We wish you all a successful exploration.

After that, the number of players showing off their loot decreased instantly.

Later on, all that was left was idle chatter, with no useful information at all.

"There's something fishy."

Watanabe Toshio searched through historical records but found little useful information.

"Let's lie low for a while."

After closing the chat room, Watanabe Toshio rested his chin on his hands, a thoughtful look on his face: "And that woman, what's she doing here? What's her purpose?"
Did they sense our intentions and enter here in advance to intercept us?
Or perhaps... there's something Kunlun needs here?

Have the people from the Nine Heavens also infiltrated this place?

"It seems there are more secrets in this channel than I thought! Kato-kun, what did the BOSS say?" Gangmen sat to the left in the corner, his expression focused, his eyes darting left and right, as if searching for some information.

In reality, he was secretly chatting with someone else.

"The boss wants you to continue lying in wait. If you discover anything, report it immediately! We'll send someone to pick you up."

The other party replied quickly. After reading the message, the person on the left side of the gate calmly switched to the trading hall and began to check the trading information of the players on the power ranking list one by one.

……

"what happened?"

When Zhan Zhouzhou saw Li Zheng suddenly pause, she thought he had discovered something, so she asked him.

Li Zheng withdrew the materials list and shook his head: "It's nothing. Yan Guang just told me to withdraw the medicine materials list, so it was delayed for a while."

"Withdraw the material list?" Zhan Zhouzhou was also a little puzzled, but since they were currently exploring the dungeon, she didn't ask any further questions and simply gestured for Li Zheng to continue.

The Underground World, as its name suggests, is truly a world located underground.

Li Zheng and his group had been exploring the area for almost ten minutes, but had not found any signs of recent biological activity or encountered any hostile creatures.

There was absolutely no light here; it was pitch black. The entire team took out their usual lighting equipment.

Candles, lanterns, flashlights, oil lamps, and the like.

They are almost all of the black iron grade, with very limited lighting range and short lifespan.

Li Zheng never imagined that one day he would rely on a mysterious declaration to act like a little rascal.

When he took the mysterious declaration out of his residence, the blue and white "flame" lit up, like a small sun, instantly illuminating a radius of nearly ten meters around everyone.

Everyone gasped in amazement: "Damn, that's bright!"

After absorbing the Abyss Walker's abilities, the Mysterious Declaration finally came in handy in terms of lighting.

Whether it's the lighting range, the brightness, or the duration of illumination, it completely surpasses all the lighting equipment prepared by everyone present.

So, without hesitation, Li Zheng, carrying the mysterious declaration, became the vanguard of the team, walking at the very front.

Under the light, Li Zheng and his companions were able to see the environment inside the instance clearly.

This is another underground passageway, eight meters wide and two to two and a half meters high.

It's spacious, but not very tall.

On the ground, three railway tracks were laid side by side, stretching into the darkness into the distance, like a staircase leading to an abyss, with no end in sight.

This time, Li Chun didn't sit on Xiao Zhu's back. Instead, she followed closely behind Li Zheng, clutching his clothes with both hands: "Ugh, this place is so scary. Is it haunted?"

Zhan Zhouzhou looked at her and pulled her to his side: "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you."

"Ah."

Li Chun grabbed her clothes, cowering and timid. At the slightest disturbance, she would immediately bury her head behind Zhan Zhouzhou to hide.

The little spider followed closely behind its master, its eyes scanning the surroundings, wary of any potential danger.

Xiao Siyuan quickened his pace and walked alongside Li Zheng: "What kind of monsters do you think we'll be facing in this dungeon?"

Li Zheng looked at the railway tracks and said, "It's an intelligent creature that uses some simple tools and is rather short in stature."

After thinking for a moment, he added, "The degeneration of the limbs may be quite severe, and there is photophobia."

Xiao Siyuan nodded and offered his opinion: "It's very close to what I thought, but there's one difference."

Li Zheng, still looking ahead, asked, "Which point?"

"photophobia."

"photophobia?"

Xiao Siyuan nodded: "Judging from the external wear and tear on the rails, they haven't been used for a long time."

This suggests that this section of the railway track has likely been abandoned.

Would you provide a constant supply of lamp oil to keep a place you rarely visit lit?

"what do you mean……"

"Don't you think this environment is similar to the settlements of several races often mentioned in fantasy novels?" Xiao Siyuan didn't answer directly, but instead asked a different question.

“I know that!” Another player Li Zheng invited stepped forward and chimed in, “Cave dwellers, goblins, goblins, and dwarves are four kinds of creatures that are quite common in various fantasy novels. Except for goblins, the settlements of the other three races are basically fixed underground.”

Li Zheng turned to look at him: "You read novels sometimes?"

Lu Li laughed as if it were a matter of course: "Of course! Mentally ill people have broad minds. If I don't read some wildly imaginative things, how can I broaden my mind?"

"..." Li Zheng paused for a moment and asked him, "Do you think you have a mental illness?"

"Ha ha!"

Lu Li laughed and patted Li Zheng on the shoulder: "Be more confident. Take away the words 'I think' from me. I do have a mental illness."

Li Zheng: "???"

Bystanders: ???

Sakura: "Waaaaah!"

The little guy protested vehemently because when Lu Li patted Li Zheng on the shoulder, he hit its little paws.

Xiao Siyuan asked, "What kind of mental illness?"

He's a doctor, and when he encounters a patient, he instinctively asks about their general condition, even though he doesn't know much about mental illness.

“It seems to be called…” Lu Li thought hard for a moment, but couldn’t remember the scientific name: “Just think of it as intermittent nerve disease.”

"Acute transient psychotic disorder?"

"Yes, yes, that's the disease!"

Xiao Siyuan asked curiously, "This disease is quite serious, but it's not as terrifying as other mental illnesses, and it's not even as bad as some emotional disorders."

Most importantly, as long as the patient is willing to cooperate with active treatment, a cure is still possible.

"cure?"

Lu Li pointed to his head, his expression strange: "Why would I want to cure it? Ever since I got mental illness, I've become perfectly mentally sound!"

Crunch.

Suddenly, a piercing metallic scraping sound came from the passageway ahead.

……

Note: ① Veteran players have already saved the resource list that Li Zheng posted before the split.

After the split, new players arrived. Li Zheng was too lazy to explain much, so he used this method to put the list next to the avatar and let the old players tell the newcomers.

Over time, he forgot to take it off.

② The chat history of a regional channel is only counted from the moment you enter the channel; information from one second before that is not visible.

Thank you to "Say It's Nothing" for the 1500 coins reward.

Thank you to "Baiji" for the 782 book coins reward.

Thank you to "吉鸡子卡密达" for the 100-point reward.

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(End of this chapter)