Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 653 That's alright

Why didn't you kill him?

Nato walked side by side with Eagle Chen of the Eagle Clan: "If you had made your move from the beginning, he definitely wouldn't have survived!"

When the Seven Eagles attacked Li Zheng, Eagle Chen stood by and watched the whole thing, only taking action after the Seven Eagles were defeated. This is inconsistent with Nato's impression of Eagle Chen.

“He’s still useful.” Ying Chen glanced at Na Tuo with a half-smile. “Don’t tell me you didn’t recognize him. If I really killed him, the boss would make us wish we were dead.”

"Hmph." Nato said with displeasure, "Even if we don't kill him, the boss won't let us off the hook. The profits from this plan will be reduced by half. How are you going to explain this to the boss?"

They sent people to lure the purple magic crystals together and attack the golden light zone, allowing the fighting spirit left behind by the Heavenly Dragon Clan to strike and kill them. They waited behind to pick up the scraps. With nine people working together, they could take at least 80% of the twisted magic crystals.

The current harvest is far from what was expected, and the boss will definitely hold them accountable for not receiving the full amount of Twisted Magic Crystals.

Ying Chen wasn't worried about this: "There's no need to explain. Just tell the boss the truth, and he'll understand."

"But you'll definitely get away with being accused of incompetence, so be prepared to suffer some physical pain."

“I was implicated because of you!” Nato thought of something, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes: “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have needed to be punished at all.”

“There’s no question of being implicated or not,” Ying Chen said calmly. “No one expected that someone with such limited strength would dare to come to the Golden Light Land. Otherwise, the plan could have been adjusted.”

Nato rejected this reason: "The plan you were in charge of didn't have an emergency plan, that's your problem, and you should bear most of the responsibility."

Eagle paused, staring intently at Nato.

Nato also stopped and calmly looked at him.

After a moment, Ying Chen nodded: "Okay, I'll take more punishment, and you'll take less."

Nato's eyes flickered, but he didn't reply and continued on his way.

……

"Luckily you two made it in time." Li Zheng reattached his broken leg, applied medicine to the wound, and waited for the limb to reconnect. "Otherwise, I would have been in real trouble this time."

"I'm surprised. It seems you knew they would come to ambush you, so you deliberately slowed down?" Sang Biao looked at the pile of corpses and asked, "I warned you to be careful before because I was worried they would retaliate against you in the future. I didn't expect them to come today, and you even predicted it accurately."

“I thought they only had me as their target, so I deliberately kept my distance from others and let them go first,” Li Zheng said bitterly. “I just didn’t expect that they would be the first to be harmed.”

"Huh?" Feng Yue was taken aback, then pointed at himself and asked, "What about me? If they come directly to you, won't I be implicated because of you?"

Li Zheng looked away: "Aren't you fast? You're perfect for both escaping and calling for help. Besides, didn't you offer to be the transporter and help bring the Purple Magic Crystal back?"

Feng Yue fell silent. He had only wanted to take this opportunity to show off in front of the guide, but he never expected to almost lose his life.

Uh……

No, I should say I was lucky to have followed the guide, otherwise I would be a corpse like those people over there.

For a moment, Feng Yue was unsure whether he should be happy or sad.

"It's just a pity about these comrades." Sang Biao suddenly sighed, went over and blasted a large crater in the ground, solemnly placing the bodies of those killed by the American forces into it.

After the earth was piled up, Sang Biao stood in front of the desolate grave and paid his respects. It took him a long time before he turned away in sorrow.

Not long ago they were fighting side by side against the enemy, but in the blink of an eye they were killed. The seeds of resistance that had just awakened were once again mostly withered.

Sang Biao returned to Li Zheng and asked, "Do you need me to take you back to the teleportation portal? With me with you, unless you're one of the top 100 experts in the wilderness, no one can touch you."

For safety reasons, Li Zheng didn't pretend to refuse, but nodded in agreement: "Consider it as hiring you to escort me. The fee... how about ten purple magic crystals?"

“No need.” Sang Biao waved his hand at Feng Yue, indicating that he should carry Li Zheng on his back, and walked ahead alone: ​​“It is my honor to travel with you.”

Li Zheng lay on Feng Yue's back and felt several hard bulges on Feng Yue's back under the camouflage clothing, which was not very comfortable.

He shifted a few places to avoid the uncomfortable spot, then told Feng Yue to hurry up and catch up with Sang Biao, asking, "You said before that you had contact with Na Tuo, so do you know who he works for?"

“This…” Sang Biao shook his head after recalling, “I don’t know. I’m not close to him and I haven’t paid attention to it.”

"Oh." Li Zheng nodded. "Then forget it."

Sang Biao seemed to turn his head and glance at him: "What? You want to find the boss behind that guy and get revenge for the grievances you suffered today?"

Li Zheng: "No, it's just that I thought of some things and felt something was amiss."

Sang Biao: "What is it?"

"When the Twisted Beast Tide attacked before, I vaguely saw a few figures running ahead of it, but they were crushed by the Twisted Beast Tide in the blink of an eye. At the time, I just thought I was seeing things." Li Zheng recalled the events of not long ago and slowly recounted, "Later... do you remember who was the first person to sing the war song and awaken the spirit of the Heavenly Dragon Clan ahead of time?"

Feng Yue thought for a moment and shook his head: "I didn't notice. In the past, when the Golden Light Zone was attacked, some people would lead the singing of war songs. I'm used to it and don't pay special attention to it."

"And you?" Li Zheng asked Sang Biao, "Did you notice it at the time?"

"I didn't notice who it was, but I remember the voice came from your direction." Sang Biao was clearly more attentive to details than Feng Yue, but his attention to detail was still a bit lacking.

“It’s that American who was with Nato.” Li Zheng stared at the churning black mist above his head. He didn’t know what time it was in the universe, as he couldn’t see any starry sky. It was all obscured by the completely materialized negative emotions.

“It’s him?” Sang Biao’s expression shifted. “In the wilderness, the Eagles’ belligerence is almost on par with the Biao tribe, but they have a bad reputation. They will stop at nothing to win, and their schemes and tricks are endless.”

Furthermore, they lack certain qualities in their character and are easily influenced by the negative emotions of the Wrathful Sin Domain, which is why their voices are almost never heard within it.

He scratched his face a few times, pondering, "Luring... the beast tide... the first to sing the war song but not participating in the subsequent battle, and Nato even tried to seize the spoils afterward... was this twisted beast tide actually lured here by them?"

Sang Biao quickly figured out the key point.

Feng Yue was confused: "Even we were only able to enter the rear of the Golden Light Zone for a short time to fight with the help of the Guides and the Heavenly Dragon Clan, to lure the beast tide together? Who can operate in such an environment for a long time? Ordinary people would have their mental defenses breached in no time after leaving the Golden Light Zone, right?"

Feng Yue was right. At that time, those who could resonate with the Tianlong Clan had varying levels of spiritual attainment, but most of them were quite accomplished.

Even they almost fell into chaos after the battle and couldn't break free, so how could anyone else possibly move for an extended period of time in such an environment?

“Unless those people have a much higher level of mental strength than us,” Feng Yue thought to himself. “No, if their mental strength is strong, their external strength won’t be weak either, and they wouldn’t have been twisted, dampened, and crushed into mincemeat, so…”

"So the people they sent out weren't ordinary people," Li Zheng said, squinting. "They were infected!"

An infected body?!

Sang Biao and his companion were startled: "You mean, Tuo and the others are in cahoots with the organization that cultivates infected individuals and advocates integration into emotional storms?"

Li Zheng didn't speak, but shook his head and said, "Not necessarily, maybe I guessed wrong?"

After all, he didn't find that strange shadow at the scene.

Even so, Sang Biao and his companion still felt that what Li Zheng said was very likely the truth of the matter.

"The Twisted Beast Tide was actually created by humans, really..." Sang Biao turned his head and asked, "If this Twisted Beast Tide was man-made, then... what about the previous ones? Were they also man-made?"

"I don't know about that," Li Zheng said. "I haven't experienced previous beast tides, so I dare not make any judgments. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Who knows?"

Sang Biao lowered his head in thought: "Next time I meet Nato, I can try to capture him and get the truth out of him!"

If we cannot capture him, we should kill him; it would be doing the people a favor.

Since he's a wilderness dweller, he doesn't need a reason to kill. He can kill a few people weaker than himself whenever he feels like it, and no one will think it's unreasonable.

At this moment, Feng Yue suddenly asked curiously, "Sang Biao... sir, how many moves can Nato and that eagle tribesman last in your hands?"

Sang Biao said proudly, "If my old wounds heal, killing them will be as easy as slaughtering dogs. But I am injured, so the outcome is uncertain, especially since they should already know this news. My chances of losing to them are even higher."

Although the Biao people are arrogant, they are quite disciplined in battle. If they can't win, they can't win; they never show off.

Feng Yue then asked, "What if the Guide Master were to fight you?"

“This…” Sang Biao glanced at Li Zheng but did not answer.

Li Zheng laughed and answered for him: "After one punch, I'll make him kneel on the ground."

Sang Biao and Feng Yue paused, thinking that the guide was truly humorous.

However, Li Zheng then uttered the second half of his sentence: "He begged me not to die."

Sang Biao and Feng Yue: "..." This guide is indeed too humorous.

Feng Yue asked in confusion, "If that's the case, then it should have been easy for the two of them to kill the Guide Master together. Why didn't they succeed? Instead, the Guide Master waited for us to come and help him."

Compared to his life, Li Zheng's leg being cut off by Ying Chen's sneak attack at the last moment was nothing more than a superficial injury.

Given the difference in combat strength between the two sides, this is nothing short of a miracle.

"Perhaps it's because my being alive is of use to them?" Li Zheng guessed.

Feng Yue was even more puzzled: "Excuse me for speaking frankly, but with your current strength, Master Guide, you shouldn't be of any use to anyone, right?"

“…” Sang Biao suddenly took out a teapot and handed it to Feng Yue: “Here, hold it and feel if the water is boiling.”

Feng Yue touched the teapot twice; it was cold. "It's not brewed."

Sang Biao snatched the teapot back and put it away: "It's not open? Then don't mention it."

Feng Yue then wisely shut up.

Even if the guide's external strength is indeed weak, how low is your emotional intelligence to say it to their face?

Besides, do we acknowledge him and call him the Guide because of his great strength?
No, it's because the guide awakened their dormant rebellious spirit and gave them a renewed sense of purpose in life.

"Living" is a very simple concept; anyone with life can understand and live it.

But “living a meaningful life” is an extremely difficult thing, and very few people can do it.

Sang Biao could tell that Li Zheng must have lofty ideals, otherwise he wouldn't have fought so hard, joining the Tianlong Clan's battlefield with such weak strength to fight alongside them.

He genuinely respected Li Zheng, respecting his courage and determination to confront the strong as the "weak."

The three of them then walked and stopped frequently, exchanging a few words occasionally.

Five hours later, Li Zheng's leg was fully healed, and he was able to walk on his own.

With Sang Biao escorting them, there was absolutely no need to worry about safety along the way. Li Zheng even took a two-hour nap on Feng Yue's back.

After getting off the ground, Li Zheng deliberately strayed from the path several times, leading the two of them to the vicinity of the low-level twisted creatures detected by Lao Pu, and obtained two more red magic crystals.

Finally, the buildings in the gathering area came into view of the three.

Reaching this point basically meant they were safe, and there was no need to worry about Nato and the others returning.

Killing someone deep in the heart of a crime scene is completely different from killing someone in a populated area.

In the golden zone, people fight each other to seize resources; the capable get what they want—it's a kind of unspoken rule.

To commit murder in a residential area means offending all the prominent people in that area.

Don't be fooled by their seemingly weak appearance and the fact that they stayed in the settlement area.

But even a multitude of ants can kill an elephant, let alone some of these people whose backgrounds might be even more powerful than Nato's. Once they are angered, they won't be so easy to deal with.

"I'll see you off here. From now on, I will be stationed in the golden zone of the Fourth Sin Domain for a long time to block those naturally generated twisted creatures or man-made twisted beast tides. If you two want to find me, go there." Sang Biao stood at the edge of the gathering area and bid farewell to Li Zheng and the other person.

"Wait a minute." Li Zheng called out to him, "Aren't you going back to heal your injuries and find the Optimus Clan to eradicate the evil thoughts inside the Twisted Magic Crystal?"

Sang Biao stopped in his tracks: "My injuries are not so easy to heal. As for the evil thoughts inside the Twisted Magic Crystal, I will find a way."

Li Zheng took out a purple demon crystal from behind him, released his spiritual power and circulated it in the crystal, completely erasing the evil aura inside. He looked at Sang Biao and said, "I'll take care of it for you. Consider it payment for escorting me back this time."

Sang Biao and Feng Yue's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, utterly dumbfounded: "You... how did you do that?"

Feng Yue exclaimed incredulously, "You're from the Optimist Clan? But it's impossible for the Optimist Clan to raise their strength to your level, let alone fight a Purple Demon Crystal-level twisted creature head-on. Even with the protection of the Heavenly Dragon Clan, it's still impossible!"

Sang Biao looked thoughtful: "Could the Guide be a half-human, half-human hybrid of the Optimist Clan? I've heard that the Heavenly Will Organization has a secret research project on half-human, half-human Optimist Clan members, and the Guide is one of the results?"

"Alright, stop guessing." Li Zheng chuckled and waved his inscription card in front of the two of them, saying, "I already told you I'm an outer city resident and I have an inscription card."

Feng Yue saw that it was indeed an inscription card used in the outer city, but he wasn't entirely convinced. He thought to himself, "If a wild man kills a resident of the outer city, he can also obtain their inscription card. Who knows if he stole this card sometime ago?"

Sang Biao, however, believed it completely, thinking to himself, "The Guide would never do anything to bully the weak. Even if this inscription card was stolen from a resident of the outer city, it must have been a powerful resident of the outer city!"

Seeing that the two of them remained silent, Li Zheng knew that they must be thinking wildly in their minds, so he shook his head and said, "Since you don't need it, then forget it. I'll be going now; my attendants might be getting impatient."

Sang Biao repeatedly said, "Yes! Yes! Please help me, Guide!"

He took out all the twisted magic crystals on his body, some white, some red, and some purple-red. He clearly wanted to take this opportunity to wash away some of the twisted magic crystals he had accumulated before.

Li Zheng didn't care about this trivial matter. He activated his mental energy, and in just a few minutes, the distorted magic crystals that were emanating evil energy became pure magic crystals, leaving no trace of evil energy behind.

"Too...too powerful!" Sang Biao's eyes showed even greater shock: "The Optimists in the wilderness can only destroy one Twisted Magic Crystal at a time, but the Guide can cleanse dozens at the same time!"

Only now did he realize what was going on. He looked at Li Zheng with a complicated expression and thought to himself, "I know why Nato and the others didn't kill the Guide. For someone like that, whether friend or foe, regardless of whether our positions are opposed, keeping him alive is definitely more valuable than letting him die!"

Then he thought, "But... how do the guides know that the guides are special when they are wearing disguised clothing?"

This is something that not only he couldn't understand, but even Li Zheng himself hadn't noticed.

Li Zheng still believes that Ying Chen and Na Tuo failed to kill him because they were overconfident and underestimated their opponents...

This situation is not impossible, and the greater the gap in strength between the two sides, the more likely it is that the stronger side will underestimate the enemy.

However, he overlooked one point: Nato and the others were not residents of the outer city, but rather wilderness dwellers.

In the wilderness, one of the survival rules is that even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit! If you want to be proud, arrogant, or boastful, say it to a corpse.

He hasn't been to the wilderness yet and doesn't have a deep understanding of the survival rules there. If he had been there, he might have realized many details.

Feng Yue hadn't thought that far ahead. He also took out his share of the Twisted Magic Crystal and shamelessly pleaded, "Master Guide, could you help me too...?"

“No problem!” Li Zheng casually washed the twisted magic crystal that he had taken out.

The magic crystals, cleansed of their evil intentions, were all clear and bright, showing no trace of their previous wickedness.

"Hehe... This time I've saved at least three thousand red crystals in fees!" Feng Yue was overjoyed and put away the magic crystal.

Sang Biao glanced at him with disdain, thinking to himself, "This guy is too ignorant. He didn't even see the special qualities of the guide. He's really... adorably stupid."

He remained tight-lipped, neither asking nor saying much. After putting away his belongings, he turned and headed back towards the golden light. On the way, he couldn't wait to take out a magic crystal and slowly absorb its energy to strengthen and refine his spiritual power.

Sang Biao raced against time, knowing that if he continued absorbing this energy, his mental strength would allow him to remain in the depths of the Sin Domain for an even longer period once he returned to the Golden Light Zone.

At that time, he will be able to take the initiative to seek out twisted creatures and obtain more magic crystals.

After Sang Biao left, Li Zheng led Feng Yue through Gathering Area No. 4 and quickly returned to Gathering Area No. 3 in front.

Before even entering Gathering Area No. 3, Li Zheng saw a figure standing there waiting in the distance.

"Miriel."

Li Zheng recognized her at a glance, ran over and hugged her: "How did you know I was coming back today?"

Miriel pressed herself tightly against Li Zheng, resting her chin on his shoulder, feeling his heartbeat: "I didn't know you were coming back today. I just got used to the environment here and have been waiting for you here ever since."

She broke free from Li Zheng's embrace, her hands searching all over his body, and asked worriedly, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Li Zheng felt her genuine concern and his heart warmed. He hugged her again and said, "I'm fine. I just broke a leg, but it's been set."

"What?" Miriel exclaimed. "Which one?"

"Left leg."

"Oh, that's fine."

Li Zheng: "???"

(End of this chapter)