Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 592 Mission Begins, Return to the Matrix!
"Miss Purple Tree is really not a picky eater."

Zhan Zhouzhou's voice came from behind them. Li Zheng turned around and found that he didn't know when Miriel had gone out and called her over. When she saw him turn around, she made a face at him.

This little succubus...

Well done!

"I thought that people of other races would all be extremely ugly in your eyes, and that our aesthetics would be hard to agree on. I didn't expect that Miss Zishu would actually like this type." Zhan Zhouzhou's face was indifferent, and her tone was even colder.

Li Zheng pondered the words, feeling that they sounded extremely awkward.

Only after careful consideration could I truly appreciate its flavor.

Who the hell are you calling ugly?
He touched his shiny bald head and thought to himself: Apart from having a little less hair, I'm actually quite handsome, okay? Just as handsome as those readers who like to read online novels.

Zi Shu smiled generously and said, "Everyone has different aesthetic standards. Some people may look ordinary in your eyes, but others may see them as quite the opposite."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Before anyone else could object, Zi Yuan, as Zi Shu's older brother, retorted, "Ugly is ugly, and unattractive is unattractive. It's the same in everyone's eyes!"

As he spoke, he leaned closer to Zishu and whispered, "And little sister, have you considered the issue of reproductive isolation if you get together with him?"

Zi Shu rolled her eyes at him and ignored him.

Li Zheng, who was nearby, heard everything clearly, and his face darkened: "I said you guys have gone a bit too far. How can you keep saying someone is ugly in front of them? And it wasn't just one person, and it wasn't just once..."

"Why don't you three have a meeting? The topic of the meeting is: just how ugly am I?"

"Alright, I was just joking. Why are you so nervous?" Zi Shu pushed her brother away and gave Zhan Zhouzhou a very strange smile: "Look how anxious Ms. Zhan is."

"!!!" Li Zheng only realized what was happening after Zi Shu pointed it out, and looked at Zhan Zhouzhou with a surprised and uncertain look.

Damn it, could this girl actually have feelings for me?

Zhan Zhouzhou glared at him angrily: "What are you looking at? I just don't want you to be blinded by beauty and forget that we still have important business to attend to!"

"Beauty?" Li Zheng turned around and glanced cautiously at the purple tree, his lips twitching involuntarily.

As Zhan Zhouzhou just said, the appearance of the Purple Tree might be considered excellent by the Purple Diamond Clan, but in the eyes of Earthlings and Water Blue Star people, it's a bit... unappealing.

Zi Yuan shouted angrily, "What kind of look is that? My sister is a famous beauty of the Zi Ling clan! It's your good fortune that she's interested in a boy like you!"

Li Zheng covered his face and turned around: "What was the important matter you were talking about just now?"

"That was a really abrupt topic change."

The topic shift was so abrupt that even Miriel couldn't stand it anymore.

"I just received a notification from the terminal that the mission we accepted earlier is about to begin, and we need to go to the portal to wait." Zhan Zhouzhou took out the inscription card and said, "I'll share the mission slot with you first."

"Okay." Li Zheng straightened his expression. He hadn't expected that the mission, which he thought would start in three days at most, would finally begin today, exceeding his expectations.

And it just so happened that it was shortly after he found the blacksmith shop and entrusted the lamp holder to him; the timing was too coincidental.

[Would you accept shared tasks from others? (Note: Be wary of tasks shared by strangers, as you never know whether what awaits you is a reward or danger!)]

Looking at the helpful tips in parentheses, Li Zheng guessed that there might have been many scams and violent acts in the outer city in the past, using high-reward tasks as bait.

【accept! 】

Li Zheng confirmed the option, and the inscription card displayed the mission details, which were consistent with what Zhan Zhouzhou had said before. The mission requirements section showed "unknown," meaning they could only be viewed after the mission officially began.

Not only was the task requirement section blank, but the task reward was also vaguely described as "high." In the outer city, tasks like these that can only be completed by going to the matrix are highly sought after, even without any reward. Sometimes, people are willing to pay a high price just to buy a task slot from someone else.

When Li Zheng went to the mission hall before, there were so many residents queuing up in front of the mission distribution board. Among them were a lot of middlemen who were trying their luck to grab similar missions and then resell them to others to make a profit.

The terminal did not stop this behavior. There are too many residents in the outer city, so they have to find something to do on their own.

After confirming the mission, Li Zheng greeted Zi Shu and then followed Zhan Zhouzhou out of the blacksmith shop, heading towards the teleportation portal.

On the way, Li Zheng asked her, "Have you solved the problem with your gravity system equipment?"

Zhan Zhouzhou nodded: "I explained the general function and modification direction of the necklace to the cat. This time, his task for the test was to improve the gravity necklace based on my suggestions. According to him, the success rate is very high."

"Could you tell me about your proposed improvement plan?" Li Zheng asked. "I'd like to learn from it and broaden my thinking."

"There's not much to say. It's basically the same as the functions you were thinking of before," Zhan Zhouzhou replied. "Besides increasing the gravity multiplier as much as possible and expanding the gravity range, I only added one extra function."

"What is it?"

Zhan Zhouzhou parted her red lips slightly and uttered a physical phenomenon that Li Zheng had almost forgotten: "Gravity reversal."

"That's it, Pasmiao is very likely to fail this test because of you." Li Zheng pondered for a moment and then sighed.

"Are you questioning my creativity?" Zhan Zhouzhou raised her eyebrows.

"It's not so much questioning as looking down on them." Li Zheng shook his head silently.

"Tell me the reason?"

"Reason?" Li Zheng laughed. "It's very simple. I once obtained a blueprint called Gravity Boots. Its effect is to change the direction of gravity. It's not exactly similar to the gravity reversal you're thinking of, but it's practically the same."

According to your logic, isn't this equivalent to assembling a piece of equipment that already existed in the outer city onto the necklace's original abilities?

Moreover, once you have the ability to fly, the effect of reversing gravity becomes significantly less useful and not practical at all.

"Oh, you've misunderstood." Zhan Zhouzhou smiled smugly: "The gravity boots you mentioned only change the gravity within their own range, while my idea is to apply anti-gravity to other targets. Even if you have the ability to fly, in an environment with chaotic gravity around you, can you still be as adept as usual?"

“Ignoring other factors…” Li Zheng thought for a moment and gave his answer: “Yes, but it will take some time to adapt. However, in a battle setting… it would be enough to decide the outcome.”

"Adapt?" Zhan Zhouzhou laughed unrestrainedly: "You can't adapt! Just because you think you've adapted doesn't mean I can't change the direction of gravity."

If Zhan Zhouzhou has any shortcomings, it is that its flight ability is not good enough. It is still using the hover propulsion device that Li Zheng gave them.

The gold-quality levitation thrusters were no longer able to keep up with their pace of combat. If it weren't for Zhan Zhouzhou's outstanding abilities and excellent control over the agility of using the thrusters while levitating, this equipment would have been obsolete long ago.

But since she couldn't find a permanent solution right away, she took this opportunity to turn her attention to other areas.

Since we can't enhance our own flying ability, why not weaken the advantages of others?

This is the "Canyon Relativity"—applying a debuff to someone else equals giving yourself a buff.

Li Zheng thought about it carefully again and realized: "That's right, this ability is designed to catch others off guard. Once they are caught in the gravitational field, they basically lose the initiative."

They wouldn't be completely at the mercy of others, but if they can't overcome the limits of gravity, their strength will definitely decrease significantly.

Or rather, once the improved necklace is released, Zhan Zhouzhou will be able to take another step forward in combat against opponents of higher levels!
The two quickly arrived at the portal. By this time, the number of people queuing in front of the portal had decreased by more than half. After all, it was no longer the morning when everyone had just woken up, and most of those who wanted to leave had already left.

In the blink of an eye, it was Li Zheng and his companion's turn. After telling the receptionist their destination, Li Zheng looked at the deep teleportation portal and felt a little nervous.

(End of this chapter)