Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 510 concludes; awards ceremony follows.

"Hmm, it really is a void with nothing at all."

Li Zheng stepped out of the portal, looked around, and nodded: "It's not like I'm completely destitute. At least there's light of unknown origin and fresh, unpolluted air here."

only……

Can you really fish here?
The area where the Eye of Preys displayed text prompts was completely blank, a stark contrast to the area around the thunderclouds, which was filled with text.

The blank space is empty. Old Pu doesn't know how to catch fish here either. If you're interested, you can take out your fishing gear and try it yourself.

P.S. Be careful! Although we haven't found anything unusual, danger lurks everywhere here!

As if sensing what Li Zheng was thinking, Lao Pu gave a hint that was almost useless.

After reading it, Li Zheng frowned deeply. Even Lao Pu couldn't pinpoint the location of the boss in this area.
This is trouble!
With nine minutes left before the event ends, if this boss is determined to hide, the hidden arrow I exchanged for the six limited-edition fishing gear pieces might go to waste.

After flying aimlessly around the entrance twice, Li Zheng tried to lure the Boss out.

The result was disappointing; there was still no sound from the surroundings.

"Could it be that they know the event is almost over, so they're avoiding us?"

Li Zheng wandered around again, looking at the only remaining figure in the area besides the light and air.

Fishing gear merchant.

The fishing tackle merchant in this area is a much shorter creature, completely covered in black cloth, and his appearance is very similar to that of a legendary ninja.

Upon approaching, a pair of pale yellow eyes, peeking out from the center of a black veil, looked at Li Zheng with a hint of doubt in their gaze.

"you know me?"

Li Zheng found it strange and asked a question, while also taking a look at the only thing he could observe: a pair of eyes.

His eyes were pale yellow, but his pupils were jet black and sharp vertical irises.

"Cat's eye?"

The word floated through Li Zheng's mind. These eyes were exactly the same as the eyes of a cat on Earth, making it hard not to make the connection.

"Meow doesn't recognize you, Pas, but you have my scent on you, Pas. Even though it's very faint, Meow can still smell it~"

Her peculiar verbal tic and soft, sweet voice actually made her seem rather cute and adorable.

Meow? Pas?
and many more!

I think I've seen similar information somewhere before. Let me think about it carefully.

Dangdang~
I got it!
and many more……

Did you think that it would take Pu Ye a while to come up with an answer?
I fooled you!

Hiahia!

Well, you're really losing your sense of humor. I was just making a harmless little joke, and you're getting angry.

Just so you know, this guy in front of you might actually be a cat-person. He used to have a weapon he was very proud of, but he eventually got rid of it and gave it away.

Think about it carefully?

cat?
arms?

Still no answer?

Perhaps because it had no use in the Void region, the Eye of Preys tried to make its presence known to Lee by doing something funny, with each message scrolling by like subtitles in a TV series.

"Are you Meowpass?" Li was rummaging through the capsule residence, but couldn't find anything after a long time.

“That’s my great-grandfather, Pas. My name is Pas-meow Pas-meow~” Pas-meow corrected. “What are you looking for, Pas?”

"Salted fish, I'm looking for salted fish." Li Zheng was puzzled when he couldn't find it. He searched through all the supplies in the capsule residence again, but still couldn't find the target. "Strange, where did it go?"

"Salted fish?" Pasmiao raised a chubby little paw and scratched it a few times through the headscarf, looking a bit troubled. "Although I'm a cat, my hobbies aren't limited to salted fish, Pasmiao~"
If you want to bribe a cat, anything of value will be more effective than a salted fish, pas~

Why would I bribe you?

Li Zheng blurted out something out of the blue, then a thought flashed through his mind. He opened the legion's warehouse and immediately spotted the two strangest-looking weapons. He was overjoyed: "Great, they haven't been exchanged yet."

Using his authority as legion commander, Li Zheng took the items out of the warehouse and placed them in front of Pasmiao. He asked, "Take a look, do these two things look familiar?"

These two weapons were the salted fish gun and ribbon gun that Li Zheng had put into the legion's warehouse as a benefit for the members and to clear out inventory.

The moment Pasmiao saw the salted fish gun, he couldn't take his eyes off it. His nose twitched twice under the mask, and his eyes even showed signs of getting wet.

"Meow~ This is the weapon I used to use, Pasu~"

With a disdainful slap, Pascat rubbed the speargun up and down, left and right, back and forth, and the mask on its face was somehow tied so well that it didn't fall off.

Li Zheng: "..."

That's a bit too much. They're both guns, both made by the cat people, both made by the same family, and they even copied and made the gun because they admired you.

Isn't it a bit hurtful of you to be so dismissive?
Silently flew over and retrieved the fallen ribbon gun. It was a gold-level weapon after all, so it was good to keep it for the brothers in the legion to use.

"Why is it here with you, Pas?" Pas asked, rubbing against the salted fish while giving Li Zheng a serious once-over.

The guy in front of me looks really strange. He's tall and long, with a bald body, and he's not good-looking at all.

Why do I even feel like I want to be his master?

"You should ask the terminal about that."

Li Zheng said speechlessly, "I got it from a lottery..."

Is the terminal supposed to be a junk collector?

If a salted fish gun can elicit such a strong reaction from its original owner, then if we were to find the original owner of the fish gun, the original owner of the hamstick...

and many more!

Where's my ham stick?

Li Zheng opened the legion's warehouse and looked around, but couldn't find it.

Got~
That was a silver-grade weapon. I think I set the price a bit too low, and someone else traded it for it.

"Just as I thought, Pas!"

Pas seemed to have thought of something, and stopped dwelling on Li Zheng taking out the salted fish gun. Reluctantly, he handed the item back: "Now it's yours, Pas."

"??? Aren't you going to take it back?" Li Zheng tilted his head. He had thought that Pasmiao was like the blacksmith, taking the items back as a collection and giving him a reward.

"Why did you take back Pas, meow?" Pas the meow was confused by the question: "It's no longer suitable for meow's combat use, Pas. Taking it back is worthless, Pas~"

This……

You have a point.

But what's with this resentment at not getting any benefits?

All that emotional fuss and all that excitement for nothing, huh?
"But since you made me reminisce about the past, I can give you a little reward, Pas!" Pas Cat raised its chubby paw, wanting to pat Li Zheng's shoulder, but found that he was too tall, so it had to fly up a little higher and then solemnly patted him a few times.

"What kind of reward?" Li Zheng's eyes lit up. It turned out that he had been thinking too much. Pasmiao just wouldn't take back the salted fish gun; there would still be a reward.

"Meow, judging from your appearance, you've come here for that challenge monster, right, Pas?" Pas Meow pointed in a direction and said, "Go that way, about thirty kilometers away. You'll see a transparent thread in the sky. Try to cut it, and you'll get what you want, Pas~"

"Thank you!"

Li Zheng came to find fishing gear merchants with the intention of trying to get some information from them. Judging from the result, he has achieved his goal, and it seems that he has also gained the friendship of a special merchant.

Moreover, based on my understanding over this period of time, anyone who can become a special merchant is either a person with outstanding individual strength in the outer city or a big shot with some industrial influence in the outer city. Gaining the friendship of these people would be entirely beneficial to me.

"You're welcome, meow. This is what you deserve, Pas." Pas waved his little paws, signaling Li Zheng to put the salted fish gun away.

"I'll be going now. Keep in touch when you have time."

Li Zheng put away the salted fish gun, turned around and flew in the direction Pasmiao pointed out, casually tossing out a polite remark that left Pasmiao speechless.

Keep in touch?
Why should we stay in touch?
And you said you'd keep in touch, but you didn't ask for Miao's contact information!

Pas~
Watching Li Zheng's departing figure, Pasmiao rubbed its forehead with its paws, its cat eyes full of confusion.

The behavior of this generation of players is truly incomprehensible.

Pas~
Thirty kilometers is just a distance that Li Zheng, who possesses the Thunder Wings, can cover in a few minutes.

After he swallowed more than thirty fish that had restored his genetic abilities, he finally saw the transparent thin line that Pasmiao had mentioned.

This line is only slightly thicker than a hair and less than ten meters long, lying horizontally in the air without swaying or shaking.

If it weren't for the specks of light shining down from somewhere overhead, it would have been difficult to spot even if it were right in front of me.

"Hmm? Strange, I can see it with my naked eye, so why can't Old Pu provide any information?" Li Zheng stopped flying, cautiously took out the Bloodthirsty Demon Blade, and slowly approached.

After thinking for a moment, he took out his hidden dart and put it in, ready to fire it at any time.

[Caution! Its true form is not in this space, and its specific information cannot be analyzed. Rashly attacking it may cause unpredictable dangers. Please act with caution.]

Or... why don't you dig out Old Putin first, so he doesn't get implicated?

When you get within ten meters, a text prompt appears in front of you.

"Not in this space?" Li Zheng frowned as he looked at this crucial clue.

Does this mean the Boss is in another dimension?
Which space is it?
Is it a literal sense of multiple spaces, or... a mental space?
Li Zheng gathered his spiritual power and slowly released it, extending it forward.

The moment his mental energy came into contact with the transparent thread, Li Zheng seemed to hear an angry roar that was deafening and made him dizzy.

The extended mental energy immediately became unstable and was forcibly withdrawn, causing a nauseous urge to vomit as the world spun around him.

"啕~"

Li Zheng finally couldn't hold it in any longer and gagged, his eyes wide with shock: "What was that? An octopus?"

In the instant his mental energy was severed, he 'saw' a colossal creature existing in some strange space through the transparent threads.

Those thick tentacles had no physical form and looked very much like an octopus.

However, apart from those tentacle-like things, he did not find any parts resembling an octopus head, so he could not be 100% certain about the other party's specific appearance.

However, during that brief encounter, Li Zheng successfully ascertained the other party's location and current condition.

This information was displayed on the Eye of Preys's information interface.

The Invisible Demon
7 level

Special 'catch'

Description: It travels through spaces that can only be perceived by the mind. It is usually in a dormant state, and will only be awakened when the number of living things around it reaches a certain level. Then it will carry out a brutal massacre of the surrounding creatures, leaving none alive.

After successfully catching it, you can exchange it for 700 points with the fishing gear merchant.

A helpful tip from Old Pu: If you want to take him down, now is the best time.

Li Zheng was slightly surprised after reading the message.

This might be the only one of the six challenge creatures that cannot be defeated by overwhelming numbers.

He also realized why the invisible demon hadn't attacked him even when he was so close—it turned out to be a species that had been dormant for a long time.

That mental contact just now startled the other party, forcing them to emit a mental shriek and force me back.

But that was merely an instinct for the invisible demon to protect itself; it did not actually awaken it.

The transparent threads are actually a kind of 'detection' organ that extends from the mental space, mainly used for functions such as early warning.

If the silk threads detect a certain number of living creatures in the vicinity, the invisible demon will awaken.

Even if the silk thread is deliberately cut, it will be automatically awakened and enter the challenge stage designed by the terminal.

so……

"Isn't this a boss who's practically free?"

Li Zheng glanced at the time; there were still three minutes left before the event ended, more than enough time for him to prepare for the battle.

With his left hand, he took out bottles of blood and poured them all onto the blood-thirsty blade of the demon sword, beginning the necessary pre-battle sword-nurturing procedure.

At this moment, Li Zheng suddenly missed the mutants from Radiation Island. Thanks to them, Li Zheng didn't have to supply his own blood to nourish his sword; all the nutrients were generated during the war.

As each bottle of blood was poured over it, the Bloodthirsty Demon Blade, nourished by the blood, slowly glowed with an eerie red light, its crimson color alluring.

"Master, this blood tastes awful! Do you have any of that kind left? Give Dao Dao another bottle!"

The blood Li Zheng took out was all low-grade blood, ranging from black iron to gold, which had been left over from the past. The Demon Blade drank it with resentment, having tasted Xiao Ying's top-grade blood before, and now looked down on this garbage.

'Shut up! '

Li Zheng slammed the empty bottle against the knife, yelling, "You're lucky you even have one! Why are you being so picky?"

The Bloodthirsty Demon Blade complained bitterly, "Master, after eating such exquisite delicacies, can you still swallow simple fare?"

From frugality to luxury is easy, from luxury to frugality.

This principle applies not only to people but also to equipment.

"What's wrong with simple food?" Li Zheng glanced at it sideways and said coldly, "Haven't you heard the saying? No matter how fishy or foul it is, it's still meat in my mouth. Let's get to it!"

"..."

The Demon Blade Thirst remained silent for a long while, then transmitted a thought back: 'You're still a dog.'

If you really don't mind, why do you keep staring at that stove all day?
Bang!
'Stop talking nonsense!' Li Zheng tapped it again: 'Are you full? If you're full, get to work!'

'Burp~ That's about it.'

'Alright, let's get started!'

Li Zheng threw away the last empty bottle in his hand, raised his hand, and with a simple, unadorned slash, severed the transparent thread.

Boom~
Like a string being plucked, a sound like a string breaking echoed in the quiet space.

The next second, the air rippled, and the silent mental shriek reappeared!

Accompanied by a dizzying shriek, countless tangled transparent tentacles appeared where the horizontal threads had been, with a faintly glowing stone wrapped around the very center of the tentacles.

"Finally out!"

Suppressing the confusion arising from the mental screams in his mind, Li Zheng acted decisively, raising his left hand to activate the hidden arrow.

call out!
The short, concealed arrow was so fast that even with Li Zheng's dynamic vision, he couldn't detect a trace of it before it struck the invisible demon.

The next instant, the invisible demon seemed to suffer immense pain; its tangled and churning tentacles trembled, and even its mental shrieks ceased.

【cut! 】

"cut!"

A large character flashed before his eyes, and Li Zheng subconsciously raised his long sword.

Then, a massive crimson blade of light illuminated the void!

……

[Event ended, Legion Fishing Points are being tallied...]

[Statistics complete, results as follows (click to expand ↓)]

Almost all players ignored this announcement, because it was obvious to everyone that the Kunlun Legion would be number one.

It was supposed to be the starting point, but after acquiring the Endless Ocean, Li Zheng did not continue to sell tickets. Instead, he exclusively booked the entire venue, resulting in a significant loss of ticket points.

However, Li Zheng didn't care. The prize was just some materials, and he could easily spend two days exploring and find more valuable items.

It's optional.

However, the announcement from the terminal did not end there; another one popped up instead.

[In addition to the fishing rewards, let's now review the various prizes in the hidden challenge event.]

At this moment, countless "???" and "!!!" messages flashed across the world channel, because the terminal had not mentioned these reward measures in the rules that started the event.

[Challenge Activity Main Award: Li Zheng]

He participated in five challenge events, inflicting the most damage on the challenge creatures, making him a key player in the challenge activities and truly deserving the title!

Prize: One random Star-level item!

[Challenge Activity Leader Award: Zhang Yanbing]
He led his troops with skillful command, knowing when to advance and retreat, displaying the demeanor of a great general!
Prize: One random extraordinary-level item!

The announcement of this award sparked widespread lamentation on the world channel, because Zhang Yanbing was the commander who led Kunlun and Jiutian in their attacks on the Endless Ocean and the Desert Oasis Boss.

Most of the Legion members were kicking themselves. If they had known earlier that the hidden event had these rewards, even if the death process was a bit painful, it would have been worth the effort!

Damn it, I was careless!

Before the announcement was even finished, another award was announced.

[Best Legion Award in Challenge Event: Kunlun/Jiutian]
To do what is known to be impossible—a model for us all!

Prize: All Legion Points generated by all Legion members will be doubled within three days!

This dealt another heavy blow to those legions, and some legion commanders were green with envy.

The biggest headache for all legions right now is that legion points are too hard to obtain; the only way to upgrade a legion is to work at full attendance.

That's great! Kunlun and Jiutian have doubled their points. It's estimated that in three days, these two will be the two largest legions.

They also issued a number of strange and unusual awards afterward.

For example, the "Best Fishing Award in the Challenge Event" was awarded to Deng Tianyuan because while everyone else was preoccupied with the Bosses, he focused on fishing and ultimately succeeded in catching far more fish than others.

The prize is the opportunity to choose a spot to fish for 30 minutes each day, and at the end of the fishing trip, you can choose to take one fish with you.

Similarly, the "Best Slacking Off Award" in the challenge event was awarded to Yan Guang because she was the player who obtained the most fish through unconventional means.

The prizes for these awards are not very valuable; they're better than nothing.

The funniest thing was the "Best Participation Award for the Challenge Event," which almost every legion except Kunlun and Jiutian received, except that the prize was just one level-one ordinary fish per person... The irony was palpable.

(End of this chapter)