Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 645: The Realm of Sin (Part 2)
"So, his mental strength is even stronger than the leader's?" the rat asked incredulously. "How did he do that?"

The cat, dog, and cow all shook their heads: "I don't know."

Then all four of them turned to look at the last person: "He, you're smarter than us. Guess how he did it."

"..." Crane said speechlessly, "That's called reasoning, not guessing! Guessing is baseless, wild, and arbitrary. Reasoning is based on factual clues, piecing together the truth step by step. The two are not comparable!"

The four of them said in unison, "Fine, then you can try to deduce it."

"I'm so angry..." Crane was speechless with rage.

So these four idiots didn't understand what I just said at all?

How could I possibly deduce anything if I knew nothing about that person?

Hard reasoning?
Isn't that still just guessing?

Seeing the four people looking at him expectantly, He lied and said, "It's probably because his mental strength has broken through its limit."

The four scoffed, "Isn't that just a guess? The mental strength limit that countless generations of people in the outer city haven't been able to break through, how could it be taken down by a newcomer who's only been in the matrix for less than two months?"

Crane was furious: "I've never even seen him, I know nothing about him, I don't even know what he looks like, how could I possibly deduce anything useful? Of course I can only guess! Besides, who said that someone who has only been in the Matrix for less than two months can't break through the limit of mental power? Maybe he has a special talent in this area and managed to do it?"

Old Niu laughed and said, "What you're doing isn't just guessing, it's down to nonsense. If someone really did break through the limit of mental power, the terminal couldn't possibly not know. It would definitely issue a mission to collect information on how to achieve that breakthrough..."

"Wait a minute!" The cat suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, "When I went back to the outer city on business, I overheard people talking about something that might be related to that person!"

"What is it now?" the dog complained. "Can't you just tell me everything at once?"

"I just remembered..." The cat's expression changed, and it suddenly turned its head to stare intently at the darkness not far away, saying solemnly, "Something's up, be on guard!"

Upon hearing the warning, everyone dropped their food, grabbed their weapons, and stood up, forming a battle formation back to back.

The next second, a shadow shot out from the darkness, heading straight for the crane's face.

A shield instantly appeared in the crane's hand, its surface branded with a black tortoise, which shimmered with a mysterious light under the shadows, emitting wave-like ripples.

"A twisted creature dares to come looking for death." Crane sneered inwardly, switched weapons, and his shield turned into two crescent-shaped hooks. Just as he was about to rush forward to deal with the attacking twisted creature, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Looking up, a large patch of shadows had appeared in the darkness, each one as huge as a small mountain, with twisted and bizarre limbs that were indescribable.

"So many!?" Crane gasped, then the group erupted in excitement: "How many magic crystals is that?!"

Old Niu shouted, "Be careful, don't be careless!"

Then he charged out like a chariot, crashing into the nearest twisted creature and flipping its mountain-like body to the ground.

"Steady?" the mouse muttered, crouching lower and disappearing from sight.

The next second, the limbs of the twisted creature closest to him broke off, spraying slime, and the negative emotions hidden in the environment fluctuated violently.

"We're going to strike it rich this time!" The cat excitedly tiptoed, nimbly weaving back and forth among the twisted creatures, and whenever he paused, a sound of flesh being torn apart could be heard.

One after another, the twisted creatures gradually disintegrated, turning into a pile of writhing minced meat.

"Calm down, it's nothing." The dog swung its bone club, smashing a large crater into the body of a twisted creature. The flesh, ravaged by the immense force, turned into a bloody pulp. "Just a mere hundred or so red magic crystals, is it really necessary to get so worked up?"

The hundreds of twisted creatures posed no threat whatsoever to the five of them; instead, they were all excited as if they had been injected with hormones.

No one noticed that their shadow, illuminated by the firelight, was twisting and struggling, trying to lift off the ground.

……

"There are far too few twisted creatures in the Sin Domain!"

Li Zheng walked slowly across the desolate land, turning his head to look around and examine the information provided by the Eye of Preys.

[Ahead in thirty minutes, you may encounter a cute little creature carrying a white, twisted magic crystal.]

"The White Magic Crystal... is too far away, I don't really want to go."

Shake your head and change direction.

[Thirty minutes ahead, you may encounter a cute creature carrying a white, twisted magic crystal.]

"What the heck is 'Zhong Ke'ai'?" Li Zheng scoffed. "Is it more powerful than 'Xiao Ke'ai'?"

Let's try a different direction.

There's nothing within the next thirty minutes; venturing further in might yield some results, or it might just be a wasted trip.

Well, it seems the only option is to go to where Zhong Ke'ai is.

Li Zheng unfurled lightning wings and flew high into the sky, heading in that direction.

He had already passed through Gathering Zone 4 without alerting the person in charge, and went directly to a deeper area.

Contrary to his expectations, even this place had been gradually cleared away by the residents of the outer city over the long years, and there wasn't a single twisted creature left near the settlement.

He didn't see any of the scenes he had imagined, where monsters roamed everywhere and battles were extremely difficult.

During the search, the Eye of Preys detected several small teams of outer city residents searching for twisted creatures throughout the Sinful Realm, but they were destined to waste their time.

Because Li Zheng had searched their vicinity, and it was completely empty... as clean as a face that had just been washed in the morning.

"There are so few twisted creatures, yet those five people still managed to encounter one and be wiped out. I really don't know whether to say they were lucky or unlucky."

Li Zhengfei was high in the sky, about a hundred meters above the ground. The area was shrouded in thick gray fog, making it difficult to see very far with the naked eye.

Starting from a height of thirty meters above the ground, fog slowly appeared. This fog was not formed by the condensation of water vapor, nor by smog-like particles, but by some other, more peculiar phenomenon.

It's as if the world went from 4K ultra-high definition to high definition, and then back to standard definition.

The higher you go, the less clear the image becomes, until it becomes completely dark.

“I heard from the terminal that the wilderness is actually located outside the matrix, which is equivalent to being in the universe.” Li Zheng maintained the flight altitude: “I originally wanted to go up and take a look at the scenery in the universe, but I didn’t expect that the Sin Domain is different from other places. It seems that something is blocking it up there, and I can’t fly out at all.”

When a certain emotion becomes extremely intense, you'll find your brain out of control, and you'll subconsciously reject all external information.

The airlock above was something like this; it wasn't fog, but rather an intensely concentrated wave of negative emotions.

You should be grateful you possess a spiritual power as vast as the stars and the sea; otherwise, flying that high would be suicidal!

Only after being reminded by Preys' Eye did Li Zheng belatedly realize that although Aida and the others had also been flying, their altitude had always remained below thirty meters.

He had initially thought it was a special rule of the settlement area that prohibited high-altitude flight in order to avoid touching the sensitive nerves of certain races.

It turns out that flying too high would have an impact.

“However…” Li Zheng carefully sensed it: “It seems that even the most intense negative emotions are hard to shake me.”

While enveloped in the fog, Li Zheng would occasionally miss Miriel, but the psychological and physiological urges would quickly be suppressed.

These are clearly benefits brought about by mental strength.

"Indeed, only magic can defeat magic." Li Zheng pondered, "Only a sufficiently strong mental force can completely resolve the emotional and mental storm."

Improving the lives of all citizens is an urgent matter.

Li Zheng thought the Eye of Preys indicated the route was on foot, but it took him a full half hour to fly before he finally saw the twisted creature that Old Preys had suggested.

Li Zheng lowered his altitude slightly and looked down.

On the desolate land, a monster with a completely black body and asymmetrical limbs lay prone on the ground, resembling a strangely shaped boulder.

The extra limbs resembled grotesque, twisted tentacles, each topped with an eyeball without an eyelid covering it, which would occasionally roll, emitting a naked gaze.

Just by looking at it, Li Zheng could feel an intense desire for intercourse emanating from this monster. Compared to it, the guys in the "NoFap" forum were practically innocent little rabbits before they quit pornography.

"It's really ugly," Li Zheng muttered disdainfully.

Below, the twisted creature seemed to have spotted Li Zheng, its pupils pointing upwards and focusing on him.

The twisted creature suddenly stood up, its tentacle-like limbs reaching wildly upwards, trying to touch and engulf Li Zheng, to knead him into its disgustingly twisted body.

"However, I must say, it's a bit weak." Li Zheng raised his hand and drew a glass longsword from behind his back. The capsule residence was left near the portal for Miriel to use, and this sword was something Li Zheng had retrieved before leaving and had been carrying on his back ever since.

Perhaps because the outer city portal is also connected to the matrix, it can do things that are beyond common sense.

For example, when residents pass through the portal, the weapons and equipment stored in the hosting area will enter the storage space as their destination changes.

This was the case when returning to the Matrix to participate in missions, and it was also the case when entering the Sin Domain. The entrusted weapon returned to Li Zheng's capsule the instant it passed through the portal, and could be used at any time.

But once he returns to the outer city, these weapons will be stored in the custody facility again.

If a resident acquires several extra weapons while away from the outer city, they need to register them again at the trusteeship office.

The new whip that was previously made for Miriel was placed in the caretaker's office after the mission ended.

As Li Zheng descended slightly, he smelled a strong, strange odor emanating from the vicinity of the twisted creature, like a mixture of the smell of photinia flowers and rotten salted fish.

After descending, Li Zheng saw that below the twisted creature, which was previously obscured, there were more than one type of sexual characteristic, including both males and females, and each had a different appearance.

Some male sexual characteristics combine with female sexual characteristics, producing white foam when rubbed together.

The strange smell permeating the air came from the white foam.

"gross."

Li Zheng suppressed the urge to vomit, gripped the glass longsword tightly, and did not rush to kill the twisted creature.

He wanted to collect some data on the twisted creatures so that players on Aquamarine could use it in the future.

Suppressing the urge to slay the twisted creature, Li Zheng focused his attention and waited.

When he was less than 20 meters from the ground, the twisted creature suddenly became agitated. Its tentacles and limbs twisted and writhed wildly toward Li Zheng, with a speed comparable to a full-force attack from a Star-level being.

"The speed is alright, around the mid-level of the Star Glory realm." Li Zheng dodged and weaved through the onslaught of tentacles, avoiding attack after attack.

Suddenly, he paused and gently patted his waist.

hum~
A faint ripple emanated from the air, and the shield belt's energy source lit up, displaying remaining energy: 89%.

Snapped!
A tentacle struck the shield, and the ion shield went from being invisible to being visible, flickering briefly.

The belt's energy level instantly dropped by 39%.

Li Zheng dodged the next attack and took a moment to check his energy consumption: "Fifty percent. The power is a little weak. I'm only at the initial Star Glory level."

After testing his attack power and speed, Li Zheng flapped his wings and quickly retreated more than a hundred meters.

Seeing its prey trying to escape, the twisted creature quickly moved its limbs to chase after it. Its arms and claws crisscrossed as it frantically dug at the ground, and it was surprisingly fast, soon catching up with Li Zheng.

"Yes, its movement speed is also at the Star Glory level for a short period of time." Li Zheng nodded, then suddenly changed direction and flew to the side.

The sudden turn caught the twisted creature off guard, and it charged dozens of meters before stopping, then turned and continued its charge towards Li Zheng.

"Their agility is average." Li Zheng's eyes lit up: "In the future, players on Earth can use this weakness to defeat these twisted creatures!"

Next comes the most crucial test.

Li Zheng raised the glass sword, hesitated for a moment, then put it away and re-inserted it behind his back, securing it with his mental power.

"This knife is too powerful. It's difficult for ordinary players to get a weapon of the same level, so the data obtained from testing it is not intuitive."

"tui!"

Li Zheng opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of saliva. The ice-type attachment activated instantly, condensing the saliva into an ice block. Then, with a thought, he twisted it into a fine needle.

"As long as you control the output of your mental energy, the power of the flying needles will not be too high, and the conclusion is closer to the lethality that an ordinary player can achieve."

Especially for players who are skilled with firearms, their improvement can only be achieved by working on their weapons. Li Zheng plans to have the Water Blue Star players try to change their fighting style after they enter the outer city.

After all, relying solely on weapon output is too restrictive. If a special situation arises and firearms become useless, each person is practically rendered incapable of combat.

What he's doing now, using mental power to control objects in combat, is very suitable for gun-wielding players. As long as they can acquire some Twisted Magic Crystals in the early stages to lay a good foundation, subsequent improvements will be very smooth.

"go with!"

Li Zheng flicked his finger, and the ice needle shot out, piercing the air and slamming into the surface of the twisted creature.

His black skin was as hard as rock, but in front of Li Zheng's condensed ice needles, it was like tofu dregs, piercing through them with unstoppable force. The low temperature carried by the ice needles quickly destroyed the surrounding organic tissue.

Snapped!
In less than ten seconds, the area hit by the ice needle froze and cracked, shattering into ice shards on the ground.

"Ugh~ Roar~"

The twisted creature made its first sound. Its head, with almost no visible facial features, split open to reveal a large, blood-red mouth filled with layers of tiny, sharp teeth—enough to send chills down the spine of anyone with trypophobia.

"So you feel pain too?" Li Zheng was taken aback. He had thought that twisted creatures should have abandoned all senses that corresponded to their emotions and would only instinctively pursue all desires driven by their emotions.

It turns out that being hit by an attack can cause excruciating pain.

"However, its defense is only average. Usually, a Star-level weapon can damage it. If you have a weapon of better quality and greater power, you can kill it faster."

Li Zheng quickly noted down the data in his mind. "But this is just a test target. The data is insufficient. We need more twisted creatures to provide data. As for this one... it's no longer of any use. Let's kill it."

With a thought, Li Zheng spat out a few more mouthfuls of saliva, twisted them into ice needles, and waved them at the twisted creature.

"From now on, I need to carry a small bottle of water with me. I can't keep spitting during battles; that's too damn low."

Roar!
Seemingly sensing the approaching danger, the twisted creature suddenly turned and fled, madly moving away from Li Zheng's direction.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast it ran, it couldn't outrun the ice needles Li Zheng fired. Those ice needles hit its limbs one by one, freezing and cracking pieces of flesh, which then fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

“Uh…” Li Zheng stared at the flesh and blood covered in ice crystals on the ground, lost in thought: “Isn’t this just ready-made moisture?”

The mental energy swept over in an instant, and the flesh and blood that had fallen and shattered on the ground trembled, slowly draining the moisture from them, and then floated into the air and came to Li Zheng's front.

The ice-based attachment activated, turning the small water ball into a small ice ball, which was then transformed into a slender ice needle through the shaping ability and activated again.

puff puff puff...

Using the same method, Li Zheng quickly manipulated hundreds of ice needles to completely shatter the twisted creature.

"Wouldn't you say this is the ultimate application of using war to sustain war?" Li Zheng walked closer, waved his hand, and countless ice crystals floated up, condensed together to become ice needles, and surrounded him.

The mental energy that Xu left him had another advantage: it allowed him to focus on controlling multiple targets and performing different tasks simultaneously.

Just as Xu Zeng demonstrated to Li Zheng, with each additional mental energy node, one can freely control a target to a meticulous degree.

Xu infused Li Zheng with a node strength of no less than six figures. At this moment, there were more than 10,000 ice needles floating around Li Zheng, densely packed and terrifying.

"That's quite interesting." Li Zheng controlled tens of thousands of ice needles, moving around him as nimbly as a fish swimming in water, without showing any signs of strain.

"Truly worthy of being a veteran forging master, the blacksmith has done a very thorough job of modifying the Lampholder. If it were before the Lampholder was modified, controlling so many targets would be suicide."

Even now, with tens of thousands of ice needles under control, Li Zheng has reached the limit his body can withstand.

If the target is increased further, it could very likely cause irreversible damage to the body.

After thinking it over, he simply dispersed the more than three thousand targets, leaving only seven thousand fine needles circling around him.

Although the number has been reduced by half, the danger has not decreased at all. On the contrary, because some space has been freed up, Li Zheng is now prepared for both offense and defense.

He separated a wisp of his spiritual power and probed into the shell left behind by the twisted creature, finally finding a fist-sized white magic crystal in the "head" position.

The magic crystal is filled with intense negative emotions. If someone with weaker mental strength or willpower looks directly at the magic crystal, they may even see some chaotic scenes inside it.

Li Zheng simply rubbed his fingers together, and the distorted magic crystal was completely purified, leaving only a rich magic crystal energy.

"Next... continue collecting data."

Li Zheng determined the direction and flew towards the "little cutie" that Lao Pu had previously indicated.

(End of this chapter)