Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 829 Food for Answers

With the influence of the shadows gone, many thoughts raced through Li Zheng's mind.

He pondered for a moment, then took out a piece of frozen meat from the capsule and walked towards the madmen who had been bothering Xiahou Fei.

"Meat! I smell meat!"

"Where? Where? I want meat!"

"I am so hungry……"

"over there!"

The madmen turned around following the aroma of the meat. Li Zheng could feel greedy eyes fixed on the piece of meat in his hand. However, his swift action in killing some of the madmen had caused their survival instincts to regain control, even though their minds were no longer under his control.

"I'll ask you a question, and whoever answers it correctly will get a piece of meat," Li Zheng said, tossing the piece of meat in his hand twice. "One piece of meat for each question. Whoever answers first and gives the most complete answer will get it."

"A word is settled!"

"Ask me anything, as long as I have meat, I'll tell you anything!"

More than thirty lunatics chattered amongst themselves, waiting for Li Zheng to ask his questions.

"The first question is, when did the Sloth Sin Domain become like this?" Li Zheng was very concerned about the differences between the Sloth Sin Domain and other sin domains.

Logically, the Sin Domain should follow a similar pattern. If the Lazy Sin Domain suddenly changed at some point in time, then some of his conjectures would undoubtedly be confirmed.

"The Sloth Domain has never changed! It has been the same from ancient times to the present. We enter this place not only to target the Twisted Magic Crystal, but also to target some people who cannot see the future and come here to end their lives." One of the guys answered impatiently. Li Zheng threw the meat to him, and the man held it in his withered hands and wolfed it down, finishing the whole piece of frozen meat in two seconds.

"Someone came here to commit suicide?" Li Zheng was puzzled at first, then realized: "Yes, dying in the Sloth Domain is undoubtedly the easiest way to die. You can even relax and have fun before you die. Compared to slitting your throat or shooting yourself, it's a much more comfortable way to die."

Moreover, they are all people who want to die, so they don't care that their death in the Sin Domain will strengthen the power of the twisted creatures. In other words, "After I die, who cares about the flood?"
The reason I hadn't heard about the differences in the Sloth Sin Domain was probably because I had preconceived notions and assumed that all sin domains were similar, so I didn't bother to inquire further.

In particular, since he always takes out a large number of fully charged twisted magic crystals, others will not think that he is unaware of the Sin Domain. Therefore, they assume that Li Zheng knows that the Lazy Sin Domain is different from others, and no one specifically reminds him.

"Besides you, where are the others here?" Li Zheng took out another piece of frozen meat: "I'm asking about the normal people who haven't been corrupted."

“They don’t want to stay in the Golden Light Zone…” someone replied, “Everyone who can normally pass through that area will go directly into the depths of the Sin Domain after arriving in the Golden Light Zone, explore briefly, and then leave quickly.”

“Because there are no twisted creatures deep in the Sloth Sin Domain, there is no way to obtain twisted magic crystals. Over time, apart from those of us who are driven mad by the torment of wanting to die but also afraid of death, few people come here anymore.” Another person added, “Don’t be fooled by the many people lying there. Most of them have been lying there for many years. Some of them have been lying there since my ancestors’ time and have not been taken away.”

"You haven't starved to death after lying here for so long?" Li Zheng pressed.

"That's another issue!" The two madmen pointed at the frozen meat in Li Zheng's hand: "Give us the meat!"

Li Zheng cut the meat into two pieces and threw them to the two men. These madmen were strange; even though they were starving and dared to eat people, once someone got the meat, the others didn't scramble for it and remained orderly.

“Now, I’ll answer your question.” Seeing them eating with relish, someone couldn’t help but swallow hard and said, “The reason those people are immortal for so long is because there’s a strange energy in the Sin Domain that sustains their life.”

Some researchers have studied when these people will be swept away, and concluded that when all the fluctuations in their minds disappear and only despair remains, the tentacles will descend from the sky and sweep them away.

At the same time, some tentacles are left for others to eat. These tentacles don't satisfy hunger; instead, they become a deeper form of corruption, continuing to pollute their minds. "As for us, we suddenly realized this during a struggle for tentacles, barely managing to squeeze into the golden light zone to survive and stay alive until now."

"We can only survive by relying on the isolation provided by the Golden Light Zone. Once we leave this area, the erosion will return. We must return here before we get lost."

Seemingly afraid that others would take away the food, the man talked a lot in one breath. Li Zheng listened and nodded in satisfaction, then threw him two pieces of frozen meat.

Watching the man wolf down his food, Li Zheng suddenly realized that he was like an employee in a farm responsible for feeding the animals, and these madmen were the animals in the farm, surrounding him and begging for food as soon as they saw him arrive.

They may have once been feared masters or flattered by others, but now they've fallen to this state.

"Last two questions."

Li Zheng took out more than a dozen pieces of meat and piled them at his feet: "First question, given the long history of the Fallen Sin Domain, has anyone tried to track the tentacles of the Scroll Man? Second question, have no twisted creatures ever been discovered deep within the Fallen Sin Domain before?"

These two problems are essentially the same, but Li Zheng is, after all, a man of flesh and blood. Looking at these madmen who had been tortured to the point of being neither human nor ghost, he felt a little pity.

"The answer to the first question is yes, but those who went to track down the tentacle's true form are still missing. Perhaps they were corrupted somewhere deep within the realm of sin, like those lying outside, or perhaps they have all died long ago."

"The answer to the second question is no. If there were, it would be tentacles that appeared in the sky!"

"Do you have any more questions?"

"Ask a few more!"

"I'm hungry!!"

The madmen rushed forward, so anxious they could barely speak. Li Zheng divided the meat pieces among the two guys who had heard the answer clearly.

"Please, ask me a few more questions!"

"I'm so hungry!!"

"I beg you!"

Seeing Li Zheng turn to leave, the madmen who hadn't gotten any meat kept begging.

Li Zheng originally didn't want to pay any more attention to them, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly remembered a question and took out a few more pieces of frozen meat: "Alright, I'll ask one last question. If anyone bothers me again after this, I'll kill them."

"You ask...you ask..."

The madmen cowered. They had been here for too long, and many of their strength had been worn down by the erosion process. Even Li Zheng from half a month ago could have easily killed them all.

Li Zheng asked, "Every now and then, do you become unwilling to think?"

This question is crucial, so crucial that Li Zheng can analyze the answer to determine whether the situation applies to everyone or only to him.

(End of this chapter)