Fantasy Game: Infinite City

“Hostile units detected, quantity: 5”.

Unit type: Human.

Threat level: Extremely low.

Just as he was about to cross a narrow alley, the contractor's equipment suddenly issued a warning, alerting him to nearby enemies. Han Zu immediately stopped, his figure flashing as he hid behind an abandoned house, cautiously observing his surroundings. A moment later, he saw a squad of five soldiers slowly approaching along the alley. These soldiers were better equipped than those on the outer blockade, wielding heavy energy weapons and carrying energy detectors on their waists. They were clearly an elite squad from the Griffin Faction, responsible for patrolling the edge of the town and checking for any unusual activity. Their steps were synchronized, their expressions serious, and their vigilance far exceeded that of the soldiers he had encountered before, indicating they had experienced numerous dungeon missions and possessed a certain understanding of the dangers here.

Han Zu's eyes remained calm, without the slightest hint of panic. He knew he couldn't let this team discover his presence, otherwise it would attract more enemies and disrupt his exploration plans. At the same time, he could use this team to further strengthen the illusion of "the spread of dungeon power." He slowly concealed his aura, pressing his body against the wall as if becoming one with it, waiting for the team to approach. The team moved slowly along the alley, their energy detectors constantly emitting faint beeps, clearly detecting abnormal energy fluctuations in the surroundings. They moved very slowly, stopping every few steps to carefully observe their surroundings, afraid of missing any danger.

As the squad reached the front of the house, Han Zu suddenly launched an attack. He flashed out from behind the house, his speed leaving only a blur. The foremost soldier didn't even see what it was before everything went black; Han Zu's hand was already on his head. A powerful force surged into the soldier's body, shattering his skull. The soldier couldn't even utter a scream before collapsing to the ground. The second soldier reacted swiftly, immediately raising his heavy energy weapon to fire at Han Zu, but Han Zu was faster. He grabbed the soldier's wrist and twisted it gently. With a "crack," the soldier's wrist snapped, and the heavy energy weapon fell to the ground. Then, Han Zu kicked the soldier in the chest. The soldier's body flew like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the wall, spitting out blood, and losing all vital signs.

The remaining three soldiers immediately spread out, forming a tactical formation and firing towards Han Zu. Energy beams rained down on Han Zu, but his movements were exceptionally agile, weaving through the dense fire as if strolling through a garden, dodging every energy beam. His speed far exceeded the soldiers' reaction time; they couldn't pinpoint his location and could only fire wildly, hitting surrounding building debris and triggering a series of explosions. Han Zu seized this opportunity, flashing to the side of the third soldier and striking him in the abdomen with his elbow. The soldier doubled over, writhing in pain on the ground, trying to scream, but Han Zu covered his mouth with his hand and simultaneously delivered a knee strike to his lower back, instantly shattering the soldier's spine, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Seeing this, the fourth soldier was filled with fear and turned to flee. Han Zu pushed off with his feet, his figure like an arrow released from a bow, instantly catching up with the soldier. He grabbed the soldier by the back of his collar, yanked him back, and threw him to the ground. The soldier crawled on the ground, desperately crying for help, but Han Zu gave him no chance. He stomped on the back of the soldier's head, the force crushing the skull, blood and brains splattering everywhere. The last soldier was utterly desperate. He threw down his weapon, his legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground, his eyes filled with terror as he watched Han Zu walk towards him. Without hesitation, Han Zu raised his hand and struck the soldier on the head, ending his life.

Five elite soldiers were utterly defeated by Han Zu, completely overwhelmed and unable to inflict any harm on him, not even touching the hem of his clothes. Han Zu stood up, calmly surveying the corpses on the ground, and then began to rearrange the scene. He arranged the soldiers' bodies into bizarre poses, and used their blood to draw several irregular symbols on the walls. These symbols resembled the marks he had left in the factory earlier, allowing the soldiers who arrived later to associate them with the abnormal power of the instance. At the same time, he deliberately damaged the soldiers' energy detectors, leaving traces of being corrupted by an unknown force, further reinforcing the illusion that the "instance power was spreading outwards."

After completing all this, Han Zu continued deeper into the town along the alleyways. The closer he got to the town's center, the stronger the energy fluctuations in the air became, and the more pronounced the mental interference. Whispers echoed in his ears like a spell, making him want to fall asleep. But Han Zu's will was extremely firm. The energy within his body circulated rapidly, forcefully resisting the mental interference, and his consciousness remained clear. His perception was enhanced to its limit, allowing him to clearly detect any subtle movements around him, including the aura of soldiers hidden behind abandoned buildings and the constantly changing energy fluctuations in the air.

Along the way, he encountered several soldiers' corpses. These bodies died gruesome deaths, covered in grotesque wounds, the skin around which was an eerie black—clearly killed by the abnormal power within the instance. Han Zu crouched down and carefully examined the corpses, discovering that their personal terminals were damaged and unable to extract any information. He also noticed some black marks on the ground around the corpses, resembling the traces of some dried liquid, emitting faint energy fluctuations. These fluctuations were similar to the abnormal energy fluctuations in the air, but much more concentrated, clearly a direct manifestation of the abnormal power within the instance. Han Zu dipped his fingertip into a small amount of the black mark and smelled it. A pungent, fishy odor assaulted his nostrils, and he could also feel a weak corrosive force attempting to penetrate his skin. However, Han Zu's body had undergone multiple evolutions, possessing extremely strong defensive capabilities. This weak corrosive force could not cause him any harm and was instantly absorbed and disintegrated by the energy within his body.

He stood up and continued towards the town center. Along the way, he encountered several patrol squads, each consisting of three to five men, well-equipped and highly vigilant. But before Han Zu, they were like lambs to the slaughter, swiftly and decisively annihilated by his bare hands, leaving no survivors and revealing his whereabouts. After each squad's elimination, Han Zu deliberately staged the scene, leaving eerie traces to mislead arriving soldiers into believing it was caused by anomalies from the instance. As more and more patrol squads lost contact, the Griffin Faction soldiers grew increasingly panicked, hastily retreating to their defensive lines, afraid to act alone. More soldiers gathered in their camp, using their superior weaponry and numbers to defend against the unknown dangers.

Han Zu paid no heed to this, continuing to wander the streets of the small town, exploring every corner in an attempt to find clues. He entered several abandoned buildings, carefully searching everything inside, hoping to find traces left by the Infinite Corporation or clues from the Griffin Sect's exploration. However, most of these buildings were completely abandoned, filled with dust and rubble, leaving only some decaying furniture and discarded equipment, offering no valuable information. However, in an abandoned office building, he discovered some fragments of early Infinite Corporation documents. These documents were severely damaged, the handwriting blurred, only vaguely revealing words like "energy experiment," "regional stability," and "abnormal fluctuations." While these fragments couldn't provide complete information, they confirmed his suspicions—the Infinite Corporation had conducted some kind of energy experiment in this small town, and the construction of the "Silent Corridor" instance was likely related to this experiment; the instance's anomalies were most likely due to the experiment's failure.

Han Zu carefully collected the document fragments and continued his exploration. He discovered that the town's street layout was remarkably orderly, clearly meticulously planned. The energy fluctuations were strongest and the mental interference most pronounced in the town's central area, where whispers were almost audible. He deduced that what the Griffin Faction was searching for was likely hidden in the town's central area, and the anomaly core of the instance was also highly probable there. He quickened his pace, rushing towards the town's center, his figure darting swiftly through the abandoned streets, like a ghost, avoiding all surveillance equipment and scattered patrolling soldiers along the way.

About half an hour later, Han Zu arrived at the center of the small town. The scene here was completely different from the outside. Although equally dilapidated, it possessed a more eerie solemnity. A tall clock tower stood in the center of the square. The walls of the clock tower were covered with cracks, and the hands had long since stopped turning, clearly indicating that it had been abandoned for a long time. But strangely, Han Zu could hear faint chimes. These chimes did not seem to come from inside the clock tower, but rather from the void, carrying a bewitching power that intertwined with the whispers around him, making him feel disoriented. Scattered around the square were a large number of corpses, mostly soldiers of the Griffin Faction, and some corpses wearing the clothing of early Infinite City players—or perhaps skeletons would be more accurate, clearly players who had been trapped in the dungeon back then. The corpses died in the same way as those Han Zu had encountered before, their skeletons covered with gruesome wounds and broken marks, with gradually blurring black marks scattered around them, and a heavy smell of blood and decay permeating the air.

Han Zu's mind was highly focused, his internal energy circulating rapidly to resist the dual mental interference of the bell tolling and whispering. He could feel countless eerie gazes fixed on him, coming from all directions, hidden behind abandoned buildings and in dark alleys, making him extremely uneasy. But he didn't care. The owners of these gazes were clearly anomalies within the instance, perhaps creatures mutated by energy fluctuations, or some kind of invisible consciousness. But Han Zu's physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people; even these anomalies posed no threat to him. He could even clearly sense the aura of these anomalies; most of them hid in the shadows, not daring to approach easily, clearly wary of the energy aura emanating from Han Zu.

Han Zu ignored the anomalous entities, his gaze fixed on the clock tower in the center of the plaza. The tower's doors were tightly shut, covered in rust and black markings, radiating intense energy fluctuations. Clearly, this was one of the core areas of the dungeon's anomalous power, and likely a key target for the Griffin Sect's exploration. He slowly walked towards the clock tower, his steps light and silent. The anomalous entities along the way sensed his approach and retreated, not daring to easily obstruct him. Han Zu reached the clock tower's door and pushed it; the door remained unmoved, clearly locked or sealed by some force.

Instead of forcibly breaking down the door, he slowly walked around the clock tower, carefully observing its walls. The walls were tens of meters high, their surface covered with cracks and black marks; some sections had collapsed, exposing the steel reinforcement structure beneath. Han Zu discovered a narrow window on the side of the clock tower. The glass was shattered, revealing a pitch-black interior emanating an even stronger energy fluctuation. He judged this to be the best way to enter the clock tower. After surveying the surroundings several times and confirming there were no threats, he lightly leaped, easily grabbing the edge of the window, then flipped inside, landing on the first floor of the clock tower.

The interior of the clock tower was pitch black, filled with a thick, pungent stench of decay, even stronger than the outside. Han Zu used his night vision to carefully observe the interior. The first floor of the clock tower was empty, with scattered rubble and discarded mechanical parts on the floor. The walls were covered with black marks, like the trails of some kind of spreading vines, radiating intense energy fluctuations. These marks writhed and moved, as if alive, sending chills down one's spine. Han Zu's eyes were calm, without the slightest fear. He moved slowly, carefully searching the first floor, hoping to find any valuable clues.

In a corner on the first floor, he found some Griffin soldiers' equipment, including energy rifles, personal terminals, and tactical helmets. The equipment was severely damaged, covered in black marks, clearly caused by the abnormal power of the instance. He picked up a broken personal terminal and tried to power it on, but the terminal was completely unusable and could not be used to extract any information. However, he found a distinctive mark on the terminal's casing—the insignia of the Griffin core exploration team. Clearly, an elite Griffin team had entered the clock tower, but ultimately met their demise.