Chapter 626-649
In the face of such desperate straits, Sheyan took in a deep breath; “it seems……this is the best time to employ that . ”
Regardless of how fearsomely suppressing a difficult could be, one mustn’t underestimate a dark-gold grade equipment as well!
Indeed, the powerful Growth-hunter, Reef, didn’t disappoint him . Bearing the agony of over 4 mutated Arachnidacrabs injecting toxins, Reef released a muffled roar .
All of a sudden, a dazzling brilliance drizzled out from his shield, a shine that tore the atmosphere asunder!
The laser intensity of this beaming brilliance… . . was strong enough to burn a human’s eyeballs .
Within a fleeting instant, an indescribably dazzling aurora beamed out into all corners of this wooden hut . Although this display of lights couldn’t encompass all earth like the sunlight, its majestic grandiose presence persevered through time, cauterizing the retinas of all nearby; thrusting out in a deadly formation like arrows, spikes and javelins .
The heat of those beams was so scorching that even the wooden hut was ignited, as scarlet flames roared into existence and engulfed the entire hut in a flash .
The aurora left as fast as it came, utterly disappearing after a measly 2-3 seconds .
After exhibiting this ability, Reef’s shield shrunk into the circular size of its sun embellishment; the mere size of a washbasin… . before degrading to an ugly pitch-black .
Actually, describing it as ugly would be rather excessive . Merely, its earlier design was simply too splendorous, casting a hair-splitting contrast against its current state .
Within this instant, every single mutated Arachnidacrab surrounding Reef was burnt into oblivion!
Orange flames continued to lick and emit crackling sounds against their charred shells, while their 8 claws twitched and curled weakly on the ground . A pungent burnt odour permeated out from their carcasses . If one scattered cumin and Sichuan pepper on them, they could practically be converted into rather dry ribs on a barbeque pit .
Still, there were 2-3 lucky survivors who were incessantly convulsing, a mobility indicating fright and dispirited aguish . Then, they hastily drilled into the ground and escaped .
This was the most formidable explosive ability of Reef’s dark-gold grade shield – ‘Scorching Radiance’ .
In a flash, it would unleash a dense mass of scorching crystal beams; dealing astonishing AOE fire damages around a 10-metre radius . The damage dealt would be equivalent to 10 times the physique of the wielder . However, the wielder will be blinded for 10 seconds, where this effect will fade if the wielder is attacked . Moreover, since this ability was cast in a narrow and sealed space (rooms etc), half of the scorching crystal beams had refracted back against the opponents and dealt a second round of damage .
However, in the next moment, Reef collapsed face down . Though he was an incredibly formidable Growth-hunter and also an indomitable innate MT, it was absolutely impossible to shoulder the besieging assaults of 4 outrageous creatures of an ‘A’ difficulty world .
Horrifying toxins coursed through Reef’s body in a flash, dying his skin a purplish black shade . Facing such obnoxiously lethal persisting damages and the numbing anaesthetic, Reef’s teeth clattered clamorously . His ten fingers scraped hard against the wooden floorboards as his body shivered repeatedly .
Eventually, his mind could no longer endure the nerve wrecking agony . As protective mechanisms of near-death state kicked in, he plunged into semi-consciousness; reduced to a vegetable state similar to Mogensha previously .
Strictly speaking, Reef’s various abilities were absolutely not inferior to Sheyan’s . Except, the greatest flaw was they were mostly lacking in effect precedence! Regardless of the precedence of his individual abilities or his innate ability, they would all be suppressed by other forms of higher effect precedence .
Therefore, if it was Sheyan who suffered the ravenous chomps of 4 mutated Arachnidacrabs, he may not have sunk into the awkward aspect of losing total control over his body .
After just entering the inner reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, the already casualty riddled Party Ace once again suffered another blow . This was a situation that Sheyan could never have expected .
After stoning vacantly for a while, he finally proceeded to search around; discovering that those mutated Arachnidacrabs hadn’t dropped a single key . It seems like they merely played a trifling role in this inner core reaches of the Ndipaya tribe .
Before entering this world, they had already been warned – risks taken may not be in direct proportion to rewards .
Indeed, that warning had been fulfilled, causing Sheyan to become bitterly speechless!
“There’s simply no other way to this, what else can I do? Let’s first safely deliver Reef back to the nightmare realm before proceeding . ”
This estimated ‘A+’ difficulty was truly a level that Sheyan had no strength to contend against . As he pondered pensively over this painful experience, he reckoned that a hidden world should’ve probably been prepared only for a party comprising of only official Growth-hunters .
Furthermore, Reef’s dead servant had also vanished amongst the chaos, where he most likely was taken away after being spun into a cocoon . Right now, he was left with two mobile servants, another that had fainted after being bitten, and a perfectly uninjured Mbenga .
At present, blazing up by Reef’s ‘Scorching Radiance’ ability, the combusting wooden hut was already spreading to other huts, where the fire was turning increasingly stronger .
Perceiving that if he didn’t leave now, then once those Ndipaya barbarians of the inner reaches become alarmed, trying to leave then would be futile . When that happens, the party leader and vice leader of Party Ace would meet with a fatal end; their names erased from the realm for all eternity . Even if Mogensha managed to recuperate, he would become a lonely soul once again .
Understanding he couldn’t delay any longer, Sheyan carried Reef while the other two servants carried the fainted servant as they departed .
Yet when Sheyan marched out of the blazing wooden hut, he was momentarily stumped .
A wave of unfathomable chilling intent swept in from the bottom of his feet and enveloped him entirely .
Right at a spacious, empty spot ahead of this deserted village, a spot once used to sun-dry herbs and hunted prey, a spot where Sheyan had recently passed through to enter the village…… . . strangely, an individual had arrived .
Based on his current perceptive sense, even Sheyan couldn’t tell when this individual had surfaced . Moreover, it even felt as though this person had been stationed here for a long time . Merely, they hadn’t discovered the person’s existence at all .
This individual was hunchbacked . Sheyan couldn’t get a clear view of the person’s face . He could observe the person’s dishevelled hair that appeared like a bird’s nest .
Looking at the chest, this person should be a female . However, her breasts resembled two shrivelled leather sacks that hung over her defined ribs, while her bottom half was covered with a straw skirt .
Not only that, clutching onto a wooden staff, her right arm was all skin and bones that resembled dried up bamboo .
At present, she was gloriously seated on a flatly collapsed and piled up bunch of wooden stakes . The impression she emanated was special; like an unbeatable menacing beast that was taking a breather in her own lair .
Although she wasn’t gazing at Sheyan, he still felt as though he was being anatomized; seemingly able to sense the thirst and voraciousness of this mysterious person . She didn’t seem like a human at all, but rather, like a mummy whose organs had already been dissected out and processed; carrying five millennia worth of dryness as she frenetically thirsted for flesh and blood .
Sheyan suddenly remembered . “This is the very first female I’m encountering ever since entering the Kijuju Marshland!”
Using his helmet’s ability to scan, he unexpectedly retrieved a single name – [ Plaga Type A Host ]
However, the rest of her attributes were all – [ ? ? ? ? ] !
Taking a deep breath, Sheyan drew out his ‘+7 West’ .
At present, he still had a ray of hope – forsaking his comrades by venturing deeper . Therefore, instead of retreating, he would break into a mad dash into the deeper regions of the Kijuju Marshland . Yet how long could he continue struggling at death’s door?
After just entering the inner core reaches, they had already met with numerous treacheries . Don’t even mention venturing deeper, solely another 7-8 mutated Arachnidacrabs would suffice to devour Sheyan completely .
But since he couldn’t retreat, he had to advance!
Long ago, Sheyan had held onto this phrase deeply – Living with great joy, dying with no regrets!
Leaving behind a brother who had shared life and death with him wasn’t something that Sheyan was capable of . If he really couldn’t think of any other alternative, he could only choose to rely on the ‘Unmodeled Amnio-tank’ .
Time was tight . Seeing the inferno of wooden huts dying the sky red behind him, Sheyan knew he couldn’t tarry any longer .
Thus, he directly activated ‘Horn-Rage’ as he stampeded straight towards that seemingly inhuman female .
Yet as he was about to rush in, Sheyan suddenly caught the scent of an indescribable smell . It was a little fishy and carried a hint of rot .
The next second, Sheyan collided straight into the female, as crisp sounds of bone fracturing pierced into the air . Within a flash, it seemed as though her shrivelled and dried skin had been mercilessly torn asunder like paper .
Without exception, borrowing the stun duration of ‘Horn-Rage’s’ collision, Sheyan lifted his glittering oceanic-blue long saber and hacked down ferociously .
He was viciously aiming for the other party’s legs, intending to shave away her movement speed . This wasn’t a pre-empt tactic to prevent one from escaping, but rather, his goal was solely to flee for his life .
But at this moment, a queer darkness covered his eyes as he lost total control of his body!
In the next second, an acute ache gripped his chest as he felt as though his internal organs were being flipped around; with thousands of tiny daggers lacerating haphazardly around . Golden stars of confusion clouded his vision, and if not for his resolute willpower, he would’ve lost consciousness long ago .
Soon after, Sheyan could only feel his chest tightening, before he was lifted up like a sandbag . As waves of perspiration odour and blood assailed his nostrils, he forced open his eyes, only to witness that dried up demonic freak stretching her other dried up bamboo-hand across . The hand pressed down onto his mouth, before attempting to forcefully stretch his mouth open!
Author’s note: This volume is based on the official files of the Resident Evil 5 game, with the related mechanisms involved . Please feel free to read up if you don’t understand certain things .
TL: There’s a difference between Plaga Type A and Plaga Type 1 to clarify things . The numbered series are engineered, while the alphabet series are evolved from mutations . You can look up wiki on more stuff if you’re interested . Otherwise, just enjoy the read ?
At present, Sheyan’s strength of 49 points was already touching the apex of the realms beneath Reserve-duty Growth-hunter . Yet when facing against this perverted monster, he actually found himself powerless to resist!!
He practically felt like an infant, thoroughly suppressed in all aspects; resigned to her wanton toying .
“What is she going to do?”
This notion welled up in Sheyan’s sea of consciousness .
In his alarming horror, he observed this shrivelled corpse executing a deep breathing motion . Closely following, at the cleavage of her bony bosom, a goose-sized lump slowly swelled up before it started to swiftly wrestle upwards .
Finally, she stretched open her mouth fiercely, and from within the darkness of her oesophagus, an ashen coloured object was being squeezed out by her contracting throat muscles .
As tiny as an egg, that object was coated with blood and mucus, and cyan bulging veins extended out beneath its white mucous membrane . Upon closer inspection, it seemed as though that egg was filled with densely packed grains of fish roe; ushering a sensation that would cause goose bumps to form .
Yet more astounding were the several brandishing tentacles by its side . The tip of those tentacles held a sharpness similar to a human’s fingernails, causing one to shudder in fear .
Sheyan frantically struggled, but in the face of a monstrous hand that felt like iron pincers, it was utterly futile .
Uahh! Within mere seconds, that shrivelled corpse had regurgitated the slimy object into Sheyan’s mouth!
The tentacles of that ovum shape organism waved with ecstasy, as it prepared to pounce into Sheyan’s throat .
However, at this instant, a rock soared in abruptly .
Pa! It smacked against the top of that ashen coloured ovum organism . Right before it could infiltrate Sheyan’s mouth, that vile obnoxious ball of mucus roe was smacked flying .
After that ovum organism was struck, that shrivelled corpse had seemingly been gravely wounded as well . As she released a shrilling screech, her arm loosened and allowed Sheyan to wrestle out of her bondage .
After executing a backwards roll, he rubbed the scars of her firm pinching while gasping largely for breath . Upon looking behind, he immediately realized that rock had been thrown by the guide, Mbenga .
Wild blazing fury seemed to be seething out of that valiant black male, as he shouted commandingly .
“Go die, you abominable freak!”
After that ashen ovum organism was smacked flying, it landed on the nearby mud and started peristalsing powerlessly .
Consecutively, Reef’s other servant charged forward and hatefully stabbed the ovum organism into the ground with his pike . Repulsive sap oozed out from it, as the ovum organism disintegrated .
Triggered by that, the shrivelled female host body once again released a shrilling miserable screech . Within an instant, she strangely dashed to the front of that servant, before picking him up .
Undoubtedly, that servant’s strength naturally couldn’t be compared to Sheyan! Utterly treated like an infant, that shrivelled corpse was free to do as she pleased .
Kacha! Both his arms were snapped apart . As the shrivelled female host issued an unbroken series of hisses, she grabbed the wooden pike, which had impaled that bizarre ashen ovum organism . Following that, she bluntly stuffed the organism into the mouth of Reef’s unfortunate servant .
Splatter! Pi! Pa! Within a split second, popping sounds of capillaries rupturing in the servant’s widened eyes pierced into the air .
Instantly, his eyes turned crimson, as blood devoured his despairing pupils . His jaw was extended to its limit, and to everyone’s clear view, right at the back of his throat, that originally dying organism was once again brandishing its tentacles about . Then, it drilled a hole through the throat, before boring into the servant’s spinal cord .
Witnessing such a scene, even Sheyan with his impressive mental fortitude, couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingling . He couldn’t help but imagine the outcome if Mbenga hadn’t thrown that stone… . which only further caused his heart to shudder . Death would truly be better than having that organism invade one’s body .
Seizing the opportunity of that shrivelled corpse having her back turned towards him, Sheyan roared furiously and charged forward .
Wrapping his arms around this freak, he speared her as they crashed back into the blazing ruins of the village .
Within the incinerating inferno, Sheyan started brawling with this shrivelled freak . However, his strength evidently couldn’t match up with his opponent . Fortunately, she had already secreted out an ovum organism, and probably was lacking the MP to propagate another host .
Still, Sheyan couldn’t contest against this shrivelled freak even in this heated environment, as he was badly battered all over his face . Meanwhile, Mbenga had once again decided to share in this tribulation .
Hoisting up his wooden pike, he callously thrust it into the throat of Reef’s plaga infected native servant!
Resembling a struggling prawn on dry ground, that servant gripped Mbenga’s pike tightly as he wrestled with berserking violence .
Peculiarly, a person’s neck should be flourishing with blood, yet with Mbenga’s thrusting stab, not a single droplet of blood had streamed out . Instead, a dull yellowish fluid like Jinlong fish oil trickled out . When that oily fluid touched the ground, it emitted sizzling sounds as white froth bubbled out .
Nevertheless, Mbenga’s prowess was evidently a tier higher than these aboriginal servants . Throughout their journey, he had similarly participated in the gruelling campaigns .
Although the struggling servant had exploded with mind-blowing strength, Mbenga continued to grip his pike relentlessly; stabbing it deeper into his neck, as the tip impaled deeper into the ground .
Sensing such a scene, the shrivelled host that Sheyan was tying down crescendoed in frenzy . Screeching vehemently, she desired to charge out from this fiery environment . Yet, why would Sheyan allow her to do as she pleased?
Sheyan did whatever it took to prevent her from prevailing and when he could no longer obstruct her, he immediately pulled out ‘+7 West’ as he ferociously chopped while pursuing from behind!
However, when his saber slashed against the surface of this shrivelled host body, it merely issued dried cracking sounds as though he was chopping a tree . Possibly, his attacks weren’t very effective .
On the contrary, Mbenga played it astutely . Upon realizing that monstrosity had barreled out from the inferno, he immediately turned to flee . Moreover, Sheyan’s perpetual assaults still affected the shrivelled corpse slightly, causing her movement speed to decline .
Sheyan continued his wild hacking from the rear, as the plaga host persevered in pursuing Mbenga .
Just when Sheyan started gloating secretly, probably enraged by the whirlwind of hackings behind, that plaga host abruptly swung around and grabbed Sheyan by the neck . Once again, her mouth widened excessively .
At the instance of getting caught, Sheyan immediately recalled that incomparably malignant ovum organism . Getting one’s throat victimized would be a fate worse than death . As such, a chilling shiver instantly swept up his tailbone all the way till his scalp .
Burning anxiously from the panic, his eyes turned bloodshot . As the shrivelled corpse drew Sheyan closer, he could no longer employ his ‘+7 West’ long saber . Hence, throughout his wrestling resistance, Sheyan urgently desired to shut her damnable and horrifying huge mouth .
He immediately pulled out ‘Ambition’ . The long-range weapon that was contradictory mostly used for close combat . Stashing its black muzzle deep into the shrivelled corpse’s throat, Sheyan pressed the trigger .
Boom! A muffled sound resounded . Next, the most unthinkable thing happened .
Analogous to a baseball bat smashing a watermelon into smithereens, her head recoiled backwards from the impact abruptly, before large clumps of blended white and red fluids came explosively splashing out behind .
Following her head explosion, the shrivelled corpse’s mobility immediately turned sluggish; akin to a robot whose power source was switched off . Gradually, she turned rigidly motionless .
Head explosion!! He actually directly blasted off her head!
Such an astounding scene completely left Sheyan flabbergasted . Originally, he believed that even if he could survive, it would be barely by the skin of his teeth . Unexpectedly, he actually managed to blast off her head .
“I actually defeated her so easily?”
“Could it be this so-called plaga type host also belongs to a model of high offense but horrendous survivability?”
Sheyan couldn’t help thinking in this manner . Instead, he immediately pushed aside his judgement .
“Maybe, those 7-8 slashes during my pursuit had critically wounded her . Or perhaps, she is especially weak against fire?”
Many notions jolted through his mind in a flurry . Yet within the next second, an unprecedented surge of crisis soared into his heart once again .
This sense of crisis was so intense, Sheyan felt as though he had been dumped into an icehouse . He was completely incapable of making a single step .
Sheyan was beholding everything with great clarity . At the neck area of this shrivelled corpse with an exploded head, was a layer of chartreuse coloured mucus and muscle tissue; even her spinal bone was lime yellow .
Yet all of a sudden, a churning erupted at the snapped area of her neck, as lime fluids spurted out . Soon her neck bone pierced through her flesh and propelled out .
Shua! A massive head as long as half a metre suddenly poked out!
This head could bluntly be described as an enormous mouth . Its tip was separated into 5-6 clovers, that resembled the shape of flower petals . Its surface was fleshy red, with a dense set of sharp white teeth internally . These white teeth looked exactly like sawtooths of an electric saw and were actually gyrating .
Even without personally testing it, one could tell that should this abominably massive mouth touch them, a tremendous chunk of flesh would most assuredly be forgone; perhaps, even life would be lost .
Breathing heavily, Sheyan employed the probing ability of his helmet once again .
Instantly, he received a notification – [ Name: Plaga Type B Host ]
As for the other attributes, everything was – [ ? ? ? ? ] !
Just that single piece of information was sufficient to throw Sheyan into helpless desperation!
“No wonder I blasted its head with one shot, no, how is that even a head explosion? That was just me triggering its evolution from a Type A to a Type B . And to think I was gloating over defeating this Plaga freak!!!”
While he was lost in thought, that Plaga freak buried its head down towards him; casting a shadow that covered his face . Sprouting from its fleshy jaws, those ghastly sharp teeth continued revolving speedily, as Sheyan reflexively used his right arm to block…but in vain .
Like a blender, those jaws could grind through all sorts of material . Without a doubt, his arm was ground through in the blink of an eye and subsequently swallowed .
Sheyan didn’t even feel a shred of pain, as his blocking right arm was fractured like a puny tree branch into three, before being consumed by that Plaga freak .
Everything happened like an irresistible thunderbolt . Don’t speak about others coming to his aid, he hadn’t even thought of evading himself . Only after that massive mouth was grinding and chewing with great satisfaction, did Sheyan start to feel a pain that could cover the skies and the earth kicking in .
“Ahhhhhhh! Shit! I have to do something, otherwise, a year from now this day will be the anniversary of my death!!!”
Under the torment of excruciating agony, Sheyan could sorely feel the crisis of life or death . Nevertheless, his mind remained unprecedentedly clear and composed .
Observing the insatiable chewing of this fanatical biochemical abomination, Sheyan clutched his wounded shoulder as he staggered in retreat .
Fortunately, this Plaga freak was engrossed in feeding and seemingly ignored Sheyan’s escaping behaviour .
“Right! This Plaga freak’s conduct evidently displays its lack of human intellect . Ever since I began clashing with it, it has only accomplished two things . Firstly, spitting out that ovum organism for propagation . Secondly, feasting . Those are instinctive conducts of all creatures . Moreover, from the way it flew into a frenzied pursuit when Mbenga attacked its spawn…it doesn’t possess a single hint of combat wisdom . ”
“Therefore, why was it waiting by the village entrance? That position wasn’t even concealed nor did it hold any strategic advantage… . . thus, the possibility of a feint can be eliminated! This leaves me with only one explanation… . this… . . should be my ray of hope . At least, it is worth a gamble!”
While deliberating, Sheyan staggered back towards the deserted village, before breaking into a dash for the village center .
Meanwhile, that exploded head Plaga freak had finished the meal of a sumptuous arm and was presently tottering in pursuit of Sheyan .
Even though it appeared to be hobbling unstably with a heavy head but weak legs, its movement speed was bewilderingly fast .
When the scrambling Sheyan had just reached the village center, that abomination was already hauling along an afterimage under the irradiation of the torching blaze . Such was its astonishing pace!
Seemingly within a short instant, that horrifying, deadly exploded mouth-head was already enveloping down on Sheyan’s back . Likely if Sheyan was caught, he would undoubtedly be ground into a paste of mincemeat .
But at this moment, Sheyan dove forward as he forcibly curled his body around midair . Casting an exceedingly queer expression, his remaining hand swept forth; hurling a trembling object straight into the enlarged mouth of that abominable Plaga freak .
The shell of that object had been split with many cracks, where chartreuse coloured sap was still oozing out .
Indeed, it was a mutated Arachnidacrab!
One that had been cleaved into a half-dead state by Sheyan previously, who was still struggling at death’s door . After being swallowed by that plaga host, it was instantly ground into a fleshy paste and consumed .
However, within a split second, that plaga freak abruptly unleashed an incredibly tormented howl; as though it was acting up from eating a poisonous thing .
Witnessing such a spectacle, Sheyan’s eyes flickered and widened; seemingly ignited with blazing fire .
“This fella… . . as expected, it fears those mutated Arachnidacrabs! The reason it waited by the village entrance, was due to the restraining fear from sensing the aura of those mutated Arachnidacrabs . A fear that can suppress its appetite and reproductive instincts! Therefore, there’s inevitably a tremendous deterrence contained in the body of an Arachnidacrab . Right now, apart from those immobile ones, the other Arachnidacrabs have all scurried away . No wonder you dared to enter, but… . bloody hell! I can facilitate their movement . ”
Roaring with fury, Sheyan strained himself to dart towards the side . There was still another half dead mutated Arachnidacrab convulsing there .
After picking up the Arachnidacrab, he pinched its head to expose a pair of immeasurably incisive poison fangs .
Then, Sheyan charged towards that plaga infected host who was still howling with unbearable anguish, before thrusting those poison fangs deep into its body!!
Instantly, that plaga host emitted an earth-shuddering holler, as it swung its arm; smacking Sheyan far away . Then, it slapped that half dead mutated Aracnidacrab into a mushy pulp .
Except, before it perished, that Arachnidacrab had spared no efforts to pour all contents, its digestive enzymes and toxins, into the flesh it was biting on .
Proceeding that, the plaga host suddenly turned stiff where it was . Soon after, egg-sized black boils started swelling up across its entire body, before fissuring into black bitumen-like substance . Finally, akin to a melting candle, the body degenerated into a puddle of black liquid, before ultimately dissolving into the ground .
As he spectated this scene, even Mbenga was totally stupefied . Both he and Reef’s remaining servant stared foolishly with jaws dropped for a good long while . Only after that, did they remember to rush over in aid .
After having slapped by that plaga infected host, half of Sheyan’s cheek had already collapsed in . Needless to say, he was left with only 2-3 teeth, and even cerebrospinal fluids mixed with blood were streaming out . Unconscious, he had sunk into a near-death state .
Mbenga immediately carried Sheyan, while the last remaining servant carried Reef and his other comrade, who was on the verge of dying after being bitten by a mutated Arachnidacrab previously .
Backtracking from whence they came, the two native aborigines hastily departed from this place, and finally arrived at the jungle outskirts at the outer reaches of the Kijuju Marshland .
Only back in their familiar hunting territory, did they finally feel secure .
When Sheyan finally awoke, 5-6 hours had already elapsed .
After several deep breaths and affirming he wasn’t dead yet, he opened his eyes . Seeing that Sheyan had woken up, Mbenga chortled sheepishly and handed him a rattan stem to chew .
This was a local speciality . A water-rich rattan vegetation, that would effuse a sweet smelling liquid upon gentle sucking; satiating one’s thirst .
However, the moment he sucked, Sheyan instantly felt a tremendous pain pricking the side of his face . Stroking lightly with his fingers, he realized his left cheek had swelled to a huge bump . He forced himself to sit up, as he spoke with fuzziness due to his bruised tongue .
“Where’s my brother?”
Reef’s servant then frantically pointed towards a direction . Atop a straw nest, Reef and the other dying servant laid with their eyes shut .
Shaking his head, Sheyan strolled over for an inspection, where he realized their conditions weren’t looking optimistic . The bones and flesh of Reef’s 4 limbs were on the verge of dissolving completely, and once this plague spreads to his organs and brain, this would undoubtedly become his death day .
In contrast, Reef’s other servant looked like he was better off than a corpse by only half a breath . If one were to pick him up and shake, one would hear his innards sloshing with gurgles like a half empty water pot… .
Under such circumstances, apart from sending them back to the nightmare realm, Sheyan was left with no other options . This signified that he, with a severed right arm, would have to face this arduously frightening world alone!!!
At present, this was the very first time Sheyan felt totally powerless . Without any external colony of powers he could borrow, this was also the first time he harboured the thought of giving up . Besides, only by surviving, would everything else be possible in the realm .
The very first skirmish within the inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland had already left his fate dangling by a thread . Honestly speaking, the repercussions of an ‘A+’ difficulty would truly cause one to flinch in desperation; it wasn’t an expedition suitable for them as of now .
Fortunately at present, if they factored in the warning and weakening of Prince Stalo in addition to their loots, it could still be counted as having earned back the 350,000 utility points they invested into this . For Party Ace, this wouldn’t be a case of losing all their life savings .
Right before Sheyan was about to escort Reef and return, he suddenly remembered one matter – there was a chance a key was dropped after he utilized the mutated Arachnidacrab to slay that Plaga infected host .
Non-contestants wouldn’t be able to see dropped keys, therefore, even if Ndipaya barbarians within the inner core reaches had scoured through the battle scene, if a key had dropped previously, it would still be there .
Although the courage of venturing deeper into the Ndipaya tribe inner core reaches had whittled away to practically nothing, Sheyan still possessed the guts to retrace the path he trod .
Pondering over that, Sheyan hastily bandaged his wounds before tossing two bottles of rum to Mbenga, and requesting that Mbenga accompany him to retrieve something he dropped .
To that, Mbenga very straightforwardly displayed why he was worthy of being hailed as a warrior . Without a single word, he frankly agreed .
Sheyan didn’t encounter any mishaps during his journey back, as he once again arrived within that deserted Ndipaya village .
It seemed as though a downpour had recently descended . The village conflagration had been extinguished leaving behind fumes spiralling out from the ruins . As if the firestorm hadn’t alarmed a single soul, not a single fresh footprint was left on the muddy ground .
With one sweep of his gaze through the area of the Type B Plaga host’s demise, Sheyan instantly caught glimpse of a shocking silvery glimmer .
Beaming with delight, he grabbed the key and fled!
His fleeing sprint could be described as a dashing hog or a rushing wolf, it was horrendously pathetic .
Back in safe territory, Sheyan could no longer resist the urge to summon out the chest loots . At this point, he really needed some exciting stimulants to wipe away his decadent mood .
[ You received 10,000 utility points ]
[ You received a Ndipaya prescription: Ancient Gjesi – You grasp a concoction method to blend a stalk of the herbs, ‘Scarlet Salvia’ and ‘Greenspot’ . The ‘Ancient Gjesi’ paste can restore 100% HP within 12 seconds and dispel the virus effects on your body . This herb medicine does not share a cooldown period with other medicines ]
Yet the next notification instantly roused Sheyan’s spirit completely, because, he finally managed to acquire his first equipment of this hidden world!
Moreover, it was actually that massive wooden mask that those Ndipaya elders wore .
[ Massive Ndipaya Augustmask ]
[ Origin: Resident Evil, Origins (Hidden World) ]
[ Equipment rarity: Dark-Green (Set: 1/3) ]
[ Material: Striped Ebony + Peat layering + Flagellum Cyanobacteria + Human blood + Modified dust ]
[ Addons: Gems (2 slots) ]
[ Equipment position: Head ]
[ Equipment type: Head ornament ]
[ Warning: To display the full power of this equipment, the wielder’s DNA must be analyzed . Soul binding will occur upon equipping, causing this equipment to be untradable ]
[ Weight: 19 . 3 kg ]
[ Equipment usage requirements: Strength 30 points, intelligence 40 points, Spirit 40 points, ‘Basic Meditation’ lvl 8 ]
[ Durability: 191 / 200 ]
[ Property: This cumbersome and massive mask will become your burden in battle, causing movement speed to plunge by 15 points (equivalent to 15 points of agility movement speed) . If your movement speed has not reached 15 points, movement speed reduction will be based on your current speed ]
[ Property: Due to this cumbersome and massive mask possessing weird powers, it will substantially enhance your front defence, but all back defences will be weakened to 0; where all damage dealt would not be reduced . This effect takes precedence ]
[ Property: Enhances front defence by 100% . 60% chance of directly reducing all damage received by half ]
[ Property: 33% increase in duration of all your persisting damage (damage over time) type abilities . MP required for casting those abilities increases by 33% ]
[ Property: Intelligence +3, Spirit +3, Physique +10 ]
[ Property: Agility -8 ]
[ Characteristics: Crude – The crude craftsmanship of the Ndipaya natives has determined its vulnerability . Upon receiving a direct blow from the enemy, 50% chance of loss of durability doubling ]
[ Characteristics: Rare – This mask is extremely rare and also originates from a hidden world . Repairing it would require exceedingly precious materials . Therefore, to repair it in the realm, apart from paying an excess of 500% of normal repairing fee, one still has to fork up some achievement points! ]
[ Ability: Intercession – Throughout the centuries, this mask has been treated as a consecration by the Ndipaya tribe . After expending a fixed amount of MP, your intercession will be answered ]
[ Details: Activating ‘Intercession’ will forcibly lower the maximum cap of one’s MP by 25% . One chosen ability will then be granted 2 . 5 – 5 seconds of interceding chants . After that session of interceding chants concludes, damage dealt on enemies will be raised by 25 – 50% depending on the duration of your interceding chant ]
[ Details: The maximum MP cap will be restored after 60 minutes . Each activation of ‘Intercession’ can only enhance a single ability . After that chosen ability is used, the enhancing effects will fade ]
[ Set property: ? ? ? ? (Obtain another Ndipaya August set equipment to initiate this property) ]
[ Set property: ? ? ? ? (Obtain the full Ndipaya August set piece to initiate this property) ]
[ Description: This is a mask consecrated by the Ndipaya tribe for centuries . An emblem of status, you must be wary of any foe who adorns this mask . The dreadfulness of these foes is unimaginable . If its original owner hadn’t consumed the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, thereby metamorphosing into a terrifying Plaga infected creature and had completely lost its memories, this mask wouldn’t have been recklessly shelved aside and be so easily obtainable! ]
A set equipment! It was actually a set equipment!
This was the first time within the realm, that Sheyan had acquired an equipment of this grade . Prior to this, he ever came across a set of two green grade pistols, whose attributes could only be considered slightly better than a black grade equipment if separated . Yet when they were joined together, their set attributes scaled to immensely outrageous heights – a 5% chance of dealing 2 seconds of stun to opponents during every assault!
Bear this in mind, that bonus was uniformly bestowed onto both pistols of the set . When employing both pistols together, that stun rate would scale to 10% . Furthermore, one must factor in the relatively quick firing speed of a pistol, one’s agility, one’s ‘Basic long-range combat’ ability, one’s firearm mastery as well as various bolstering factors . If everything skewed towards boosting firing speed, releasing 2-3 bullets every second wouldn’t be a problem .
When the seller had revealed his combat statistics, a rough estimate of triggering that 2 seconds stun in every 10 seconds, such a perverted effect had completely shocked the interested contestants . Hence, it was sold for a supremely high price .
That indicated that under normal circumstances, the initiated properties of set equipment were incredibly formidable .
According to Sheyan’s analysis of this set equipment’s attributes, it could already surpass peak silver storyline grade equipment and be hailed as a dark-gold grade equipment .
Because to mage type contestants, the greatest threat they face normally weren’t close combatants . Instead, it was long-range marksmen or other long-range mage type contestants . Therefore, with the sheltering protection of party allies, circling round to their backs would be a tremendously tough feat .
This equipment could already be considered a remarkable grade based on that defence property, what more that ‘Intercession’ ability?
That wasn’t an ability very suited for PvP amongst contestants, but an exceptional ability to have during storyline missions . With merely a price of lowering one’s maximum MP by 25% temporarily and a short interceding chant period, one could raise the might of any ability by a maximum of 50%!!
How great an advantage was that? One must understand, perhaps it the difference wasn’t very clear now, but upon promoting to a Growth-hunter, an ability to increase the might of one’s magic ability by 50%, may require one to minimally raise one’s spirit or intelligence by 30 points .
Furthermore, this was purely the mask alone, there was still the set bonus to be accounted for . This equipment was truly in the same realms as certain weak dark-gold grade equipments he came across before . The capability to bolster survivability and supplement additional might was something every mage type contestant lacked .
One could fundamentally say that after acquiring such an equipment, their visit to this world was not in vain .
After acquiring this equipment, Sheyan very naturally… . analogous to males instinctively tracing their gaze up a pair of slender legs in black stockings… . . ignited an insatiable desire to pursue the other two equipment in the set .
Although Sheyan was aware the chances of accomplishing such a feat was far-fetched, fantasizing about it couldn’t be considered wrong right?
“According to the description of this equipment, this ‘Massive Ndipaya Augustmask’ isn’t a mere protective armour . It’s also an emblem of prestige and status . Thus, if they aren’t fighting or the owner isn’t infected by the plaga virus, these emblems would be stored in the residence of those elders; definitely in a distinctive treasury of those Ndipaya barbarians . If only I could turn invisible, I’d be able to sneak in…wait!!!!”
“Wait, wait wait wait!”
“Invisibility! Right, invisibility!!!”
That single word was like a shocking thunderbolt zapping down from dense black clouds, utterly destroying his clogged thoughts within a flash!
“I’m f not the first guy to reach here . There are others who have infiltrated deep into the core inner reaches of the Ndipaya tribe, and even managed to steal the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ . First and foremost, there was Bernard Fokke . Following that, was his descendant, Little Lord Fokke . They are both examples who had drifted thousands of miles here and succeeded . Possibly, their prowess when first arriving here, wouldn’t be comparable to my three men party . His witchcraft is primarily centered on curses and murder… . without a top-notch supporting magic concealment ability, this implies they couldn’t have turned invisible and sneaked in stealthily… . . ”
“Since they couldn’t turn invisible……”
“Therefore, how did those two damned brats succeed in stealing the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, and even made a full retreat??”
As he pondered about that, Sheyan immediately retrieved and flipped open the ‘Journal log of Bernard Fokke’ .
The coordinates xxx xxx of Port Qom, was still written over the cover of this journal log .
“This journal, several pages behind had already been torn off . This demonstrates one thing . ”
“Evidently, those torn pages should’ve recorded the tale of how an ordinary man (Bernard Fokke was merely an ordinary man when he arrived here) had ventured into the inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, and how he avoided getting captured by those viciously savage aborigines . ”
Regrettably, Sheyan had reckoned that this journal log had gone through the ravages of time, and those torn pages had been inadvertently lost .
Yet in hindsight, those crucial pages must’ve been ripped off by Little Lord Fokke . By using some sort of extreme measure, he managed to preserve this mystery of the Fokke family!!!!
Sheyan’s eyes contained not a single hint of regret as he eyed this badly damaged, and incomplete journal log . Instead, his lips curled into a confident slight smile as he muttered to himself .
“Do you really think you can mask the truth by doing that????”
“Truly… . . naive!!!”
Sheyan continued studying the contents of the diary .
「 The legends… . are real . 」
「 Momore actually crawled out from the grave after being shot by that damned aborigine!! 」
" . . . …"“… . . ”
Sheyan finally understood that he had chosen the wrong approach ever since he arrived . That was attempting to openly storm his way towards his objectives in this ‘A’ difficulty world .
All along, he felt as though his path was exceedingly straightforward and clear . Strictly speaking, if his party could continue advancing, they may still inevitably reach their goal . Sadly, just when the conceited Party Ace entered the inner reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, they suffered a colossal setback that compelled them to give up .
Yet it was because of this straightforward and clear path, it led to Sheyan neglect an astronomically crucial object . Something he couldn’t seem to put his grip around, because all his energy had been channelled towards trodding this straightforward path .
Thus, the present Sheyan, whose hands were finally freed to focus on this new crux of direction, naturally made an all-out effort; discovering loads of information from the journal . (you can refer back to the earlier chapter on Bernard Fokke’s journal)
Firstly, one can fathom from Momore’s existence, that Bernard Fokke’s method was exceptionally unique . He could even escort a horse into the deep inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, where even this ordinary little horse, managed to feast on the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ . This basically eliminates the theory of employing alchemy or dark magic, because the target usage of such abilities wouldn’t include such livestock, and probably wouldn’t be effective on them either .
Evidently, they had only been discovered while escaping the place . Prior to that, they even managed to safely arrive by the side of the Ndipaya tribe’s altar .
Sheyan also took note of a symbolic landmark that was mentioned – the large bonfire . He then swiftly committed this vital point to memory .
Apart from that, the journal log also detailed that Travice, should’ve degenerated into that similar Plaga infected host Sheyan encountered earlier; thereby obtaining eternity but yielding all humanity and losing himself .
Furthermore, the death of the two years old Momore, was probably due to being struck by an aborigine’s javelin… . which coincidentally aligns with Sheyan’s earlier conjecture, that those Ndipaya barbarians had foes that possessed terrifying long-range capabilities . Hence, the reason they were adept at evading and dealing with far range assaults .
This discovery was exceedingly crucial . The enemy of an enemy may not necessarily be a friend, but Sheyan could confirm that at least, within the inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, there existed a fierce conflict!
Moreover, this conflict had been long-established with such deep-rooted hatred, that mediation was inconceivable . This indicated that at least, Sheyan could toy with the idea of stirring up the muddy waters .
At present, Sheyan had thoroughly abandoned his plans of returning . To him who had discovered a golden glittering pathway amidst the hurdles of despair… . such a sensation was truly a glimmer of hope at one’s darkest hour, the light at the end of a tunnel!
Even though Little Lord Fokke had wrecked the utmostly pivotal portion of ‘Bernard Fokke’s Journal Log’, but to Sheyan, it wasn’t an insurmountable chasm . It wasn’t a case without any leads .
Though the sequence of progression into the inner core reaches of the Ndipaya tribe was shrouded in a mysterious fog, Sheyan was still aware of Bernard Fokke’s travel beginning and conclusion
This was akin to a ball of tangled yarn, where its head and tail were still presented to him . Therefore, what Sheyan needed to do now, was to trace from the head of the yarn thread all the way to its tail; unravelling the tangledness through painstaking investigations .
Naturally, he had the utmost confidence in himself to uncover everything .
Nightfall . Within the stifling humidity of the primitive jungle, a half-flayed monkey and python were presently being roasted above a fiery bonfire . An alluring fragrance pervaded the air .
Mbenga cautiously surveyed the roasting monkey, while occasionally adding salt and spices with a focused countenance . Indeed, in this harsh primitive environment, the two major elements were undoubtedly food and propagation .
Seated beside the bonfire, Sheyan remained unmoving . His brows were tightly knitted as beads of perspiration rolled down his forehead; soaking wet his hair, leaving a dripping feeling of discomfort .
The rich odour of perspiration attracted multitudes of bugs, little nips, sandflies and fleas, where they congregated into a buzzing cloud above Sheyan’s head . Fortunately, the herbal repellant of the natives was impressively unyielding . Thus, though the hordes of insects were famished and rapacious, they could only spiral about helplessly; not daring to descend onto their prey .
“I got it!”
Sheyan abruptly straightened his posture as he clenched his fist and exclaimed . His brows instantly soothed as well . But because of this, his head instantly collided into the cloud of blood-sucking pests above his head . Within a split second, Sheyan plunged into a horrendously wretched predicament, as he repeatedly swiped his face flustering .
Witnessing this scene, Mbenga hastily fished a combusting wood branch as he waved it around the air incessantly . In a flash, those blood-suckers fell to the ground in successions, emitting cauterizing sizzles and an awful charred stench .
After escaping the large regiments of blood-sucking pests, Sheyan tossed a bottle of rum to Mbenga as he sat back down .
After sweeping aside dried twigs and leaves, he picked up a splintered twig and begun swiftly drawing on the flat ground .
“Firstly, contemplating this question by putting myself in his shoes . If I was dying from a terminal illness… . . without any special powers, along with an assistant, swindlers, and pirates to sail across the sea to this godforsaken land, in search of a miraculous cure of the legends……then, the first thing I will consider would be…”
“Right, a base camp!! A stable base camp that can provide reliable protection and a peace of mind to sleep . Even the most specified maps of explorers would detail a base camp before venturing out; where unnecessary loads can be removed, arms can be prepared, and prevent the situation of a food shortage during the return trip . Besides, this place is still several dozens of miles away from the nearest Port Qom . Perhaps to ordinary folk like them, it would take a few days to trek through the jungle…”
“Let me think . This base camp absolutely isn’t located too near the Kijuju Marshland, otherwise, the awful stench and pollution of pestilences would’ve crumbled his expedition team . Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be too far from Kijuju Marshland as well, for a team desiring to explore the treacherous marshland, they wouldn’t want to be wasting too much energy in this sultry jungle . Therefore, a 2-3 kilometres radius wouldn’t be a bad choice . ”
Sheyan continued drawing on the sandy surface, traversing centuries of time as he outlined clearly, what may have occurred during that epoch .
“Oh! Right, they voyaged nearly half the globe to reach here, they definitely couldn’t have prepared adequate fresh water . As for the Kijuju Marshland, one must have sufficient guts and vitality to sample their abundance of ‘freshwater’ . Therefore, there should be a freshwater source near their base camp, one that can minimally support close to ten individuals and a horse . In consideration of the lack of a large river nearby this tropical rainforest region, the chances of a landslide, mudslide or massive flooding, which could change the topography of the place, would be rather minuscule . Hence, a freshwater source should be still around!”
“Thus, what am I waiting for? Every second of tarrying in this world, amounts to an exorbitant cost of wastage!” Sheyan made his resolve .
“Alright Mbenga, have you eaten your fill? Oh, not yet eh, I don’t mind you bringing along our roast meat as we journey . You ought to be aware of small streams near the Kijuju Marshland right? Of course, spring water counts as well . ”
“Oh, You know of three places? Don’t worry, let’s first head for the places you know . ”
Four hours later, Mbenga was breathing heavily like an ox; exhausting himself greatly .
Regardless of who, trekking through this sultry primitive jungle that spanned hundreds of kilometres, during the night where the temperature climbed to over 35 degrees, nobody’s reaction would be better off than his . During this short duration, he had already accompanied Sheyan to visit three streams and two springs .
Presently, a lowland tapir was limping in escape ahead of them . Not only was this pitiful animal bleeding, its wound had even been rubbed with salt, and was currently dying of thirst .
Indeed, perhaps Mbenga wasn’t aware of all freshwater sources in the vicinity, but these animals were! Because if they didn’t, it would be impossible for them to live till now .
Relying on such cruel tactics, Sheyan was presently heading towards an unknown water source .
His current demeanor was brimming with patience, where the stifling hot weather failed to infuriate him .
On the contrary, he became additionally calmer, feeling as though he was relatively enjoying the process . A process without the need for brawns and bloodshed . A process that solely relied on one’s brain, to slowly peel off the dust and shade one at a time, and ultimately, laying bare the truths of history before his very eyes .
A tiny river stream resided ahead .
That lowland tapir had utterly ignored its predators behind, as the thirst of its parched mouth drove it into a state of ignorant ludicrosity!
As it eyed the chill seeping stream, that lowland Tapir chose to directly dive into that tiny stream, ignoring the possibility of drowning just to quench its thirst .
After reaching his destination, Sheyan allowed it to flee for its life, as he started strolling beside the tiny river bank while carefully searching around .
The flow of the river stream wasn’t large or small, looking like it led towards the Kijuju Marshland . This implied that one could borrow the momentum of the river to advance . The majority of wild animals could partake of the river water, which signified that after boiling the water, even ordinary humans could consume this fresh water .
More importantly, after trailing along the river bank briefly and determining it was approximately three kilometres from the Kijuju Marshland, he could see an uncommon landmark of a hill cliff .
The size of this hill cliff could scarcely resemble an artificial mountain range made by humans in parks . Evidently, if one desired to select a base camp, one would surely be assured with an insurmountable cliff behind one’s back . At least, they could save some effort when conducting surveillance .
Soon after, Sheyan located an easily found cavern along the cliff hill, a group of green anacondas had made it their home . Very quickly, Sheyan assisted these over-8-metre long, slippery brats to move out of their home .
To everyone’s knowledge, snakes weren’t creatures that loved moving . Apart from their lightning-quick darts when hunting prey or escaping, they wouldn’t normally possess an admirable lackadaisical elegance . A snake who ate its full could even stay in its nest without moving for a whole month! Therefore, fortunately, under normal circumstances, a snake would only deal minimal damage to the original environment . If it had been pigs, bears or other animals, perhaps just 2-3 days later, this entire place would only be described as a sty .
When Sheyan marched into this cavern, the first thing he noticed was the shocking huge pile of snakes . These unlucky green anacondas had seemingly already lived here for a long long time .
Following that with a sweep of his gaze, Sheyan immediately noticed clear burnt marks near the cavern walls .
Indeed, although it had been centuries since Bernard Fokke departed from this place, Little Lord Fokke was merely 40 years old when he died . He should have been roughly 20 plus years old when he first arrived here, after he perceived his family to be on the verge of collapse, according to the full copy of the journal log .
Under such circumstances, all traces of Bernard Fokke had long since withered away by the winds and rain .
Nevertheless, within the special ambient of this cave, the traces left behind by Little Lord Fokke would still be of relative assistance .
Sheyan even rejected guide Mbenga’s desire to help, due to his misgivings that with Mbenga’s crude and brutish personality, he may ruin any tinge of surviving clues .
Within the depths of this cave, Sheyan swiftly discovered many objects of great value… . two wooden planks with the distinct Fokke family emblem, two skeletons, several decaying ropes, and a half used candle made with dugong fats .
Moreover, he also noticed extremely distinct short carving marks along the cavern wall . Finally, Sheyan discovered several linen garments that reeked of an awfully moulded stench .
Honestly speaking, Sheyan had expended a relatively large amount of energy to locate these items . Furthermore, differentiating these objects wasn’t a straightforward task . All in all, he took a total of 4-5 hours over here . Nevertheless, after located these objects, Sheyan abruptly erupted with maniacal laughter, as tears rolled down his eyes .
This was because he had found what he desired!!
Indeed, he could already sense himself encroaching nearer to the greatest mystery, the mystery of how an ordinary individual like Bernard Fokke then, could venture into the inner reaches of the Kijuju Marshland .
Just from this pile of junk, this insignificant pile of junk .
Firstly, the wooden planks could verify that Sheyan had indeed located Little Lord Fokke’s base camp .
Furthermore, although westerners didn’t have the custom of burying the deceased at rest, they definitely didn’t allow the dead to be profaned, and would frequently bring the corpses of their comrades back rather than leaving it recklessly behind . Therefore, the appearance of the two corpses undoubtedly indicated, that Little Lord Fokke’s escape wasn’t a calm process at all . Instead, it was extremely rushed, where he abandoned his subordinates’ corpses instead of bringing them back to their homeland .
Judging the length of the ropes, they minimally surpassed 50 metres . Moreover, Sheyan could barely differentiate that these ropes, belonged to the category of life-saving ropes with exceptional sturdiness . Like the present day hawsers used to tie down essential objects on board the ship, to prevent them from falling overboard during tempestuous rainstorms .
These ropes hinted that Little Lord Fokke was aware he would be advancing into an exceedingly strategic but treacherous location, one that required the use of ropes; obviously, to descend and to climb back up . Hence, every individual had brought along their life saving ropes, leaving two remaining clusters of ropes that most likely belonged to the two fallen souls .
As for the candle made with dugong fats, it was clearly used for illumination . Firstly, it could remain burning for a long period, and secondly, it wasn’t easily extinguished; almost analogous to the baton torches of present times .
Finally, those few tattered and foul-smelling garments . From their thick appearance, one could immediately tell those garments were used for battling against the cold, something that each individual most certainly had . The ones discarded here were probably used to cover the two fallen souls……
“Damned, this is a bloody hot jungle with year-round temperatures exceeding 28 degrees! This place is stifling hot and humid . ”
One could only imagine why Little Lord Fokke and his gang were wearing cotton-padded winter clothes… .
The carvings on the wall varied in lengths but were worth pondering over . On average, with every 30 short ones, there would be one long one . Naturally, such a scene suggested a calendar of time . If a short one meant a single day, then the long one represented a month . Calculating the carvings in this manner, these bunch of individuals had stayed for precisely 5 months and 16 days!
“Thus, by piecing the undying essence beneath these crucial points together… . . a flustered escape, life-saving ropes, a torchlight equivalent, winter clothing amidst a humid rainforest…… . with these factors linking together, Little Lord Fokke’s destination is naturally very simple . Undoubtedly, it must be a dark, bitingly cold, and treacherous place with a complex terrain . Where exactly can such a place surface in this sultry rainforest… . ”
“The only feasibility is… . . ah! An underground passage!”
Indeed, this was conclusion was in accordance to Sheyan’s earlier analysis of the inner reaches of the Kijuju Marshland . Forcibly intruding was impossible and the only two possibilities would be by air or underground .
Since the Ndipaya tribe could leverage on a dried underground river, as the foundation for their passageway to the outer reaches, why couldn’t there exist another secret underground passageway?
Of course, many unsolved riddles still remained .
Why didn’t the Ndipaya villagers of the past discover this passageway and block it? Or how did Bernard Fokke execute a full retreat after committing those misdeeds, and even managed to guarantee his descendants could replicate his act, by leveraging this passageway centuries later . Such enigmatic mysteries could only be uncovered by venturing deeper… . .
“Excellent, this fact verifies that my earlier conjecture was correct . ” Sheyan strolled out of this dark cave and took a deep inhalation .
“Therefore, the next step is to locate that theoretically existing passageway . Oh right, 5 months 16 days! If it was Bernard Fokke, who ascended onto this continent of Africa for the first time, staying for 5 months and 16 days would be pardonable… . . but why did Little Lord Fokke, who merely needed to follow his ancestor’s journal conventionally, need to stay here for so long? Was he merely playing a game with guided instructions? Could it be, the truth is…… . … . they were waiting!”
“Yes, they must be waiting for an appointed period! Only during that appointed time, would that damnable secret passageway be genuinely revealed . ”
Thinking of that, Sheyan immediately seized the intoxicated Mbenga .
“Hey, big black brother! Does your tribe experience any special events yearly? Or perhaps, you’ve heard of any bizarre legends that speak about something occurring once after long periods of time?”
Upon hearing him, Mbenga yelped loudly in high spirits .
“It is rumoured that killing 10 male lions, and eating their playthings, can cause one’s capabilities to become bolder and fiercer than lions!”
Sheyan replied .
“…what else?”
Mbenga shrugged his shoulders and answered .
“I heard that if one acquires a Magnate Flower that only blooms once a decade, one will obtain the affection of the tannest girl in the village . ”
“Brother… . . can we not talk about female related stuff?” Sheyan truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry .
Following that, Mbenga proceeded to divulge on few other legends . However, Sheyan heard nothing that pertained to matters concerning the Kijuju Marshland . But if he continued probing, Mbenga would possibly experience splitting headaches and start groaning loudly .
Actually, in the real world, this term was called ‘Anterograde Amnesia’ . In order to protect oneself, one’s body may choose to forget fragments of horrifying traumatic memories, ones that could deal vast psychological devastation to the victim . To recover from it, one must journey with the victim, allowing the victim to slowly recollect those related fragments of memory .
That was also the reason why Mbenga knew where to look for certain hidden treasures .
Furthermore, during repeated crucial moments, like when his life was threatened, he would always instinctively react with utmost rationality and reasonable judgement .
That was why, no matter what, Sheyan wanted Mbenga to remain by his side; because once he encounters danger, Mbenga’s old experiences may very possibly morph into a ray of hope .
Apart from those aforementioned merits, Sheyan could also faintly sense that Mbenga had yet to reveal his fullest potential . By reflecting a little, even within such a treacherous environment where Mogensha and the Growth-hunter Reef had met with bitter defeat, Mbenga had instead fought against the overflowing vast sea and exhibited great heroism . From this, Sheyan could fathom Mbenga’s untapped potential, or perhaps, his amazing strokes of fortune .
“Oh, right . ” Right when Mbenga was helplessly running out of fables, he sudden cast an earnest countenance and declared . “I just recalled another legend, one that at this point in time, only a handful know . One that came true roughly… about a dozen years ago . ”
When Sheyan heard ‘about a dozen years’, his heart instantly thumped with vigour . Strictly determining, didn’t that coincide with the period Little Lord Fokke visited this continent of Africa, to plunder the ‘Stairway of the Sun’?
Sheyan immediately hastened Mbenga .
“Quick, tell me the contents of this legend . ”
Mbenga scratched his head as he begun .
“When the season of dryness and rain alternates a full round for eight individual’s worth of fingers, then shall a tremendous broom appear in the sky . The grasslands and jungles will wither, and the flow of the river shall cease . Scorched dry crevices will appear throughout the earth, and the great wetlands shall shrink . ”
Sheyan understood that the changes in the four seasons and temperature weren’t distinct in this region, where winters wouldn’t be excessively cold . Therefore, these aborigines had straightforwardly segregated to seasons of the year into two phases – the season of dryness and the season of rain . Therefore, every time the season alternates a full round, it represents a year .
An average person only has 10 fingers . Thus, eight individuals would add up to 80 fingers . This indicated the legend referred to something that occurred approximately once every 80 years .
“A tremendous broom shall appear in the sky… . ” The first thing Sheyan thought of was – Halley’s Comet .
Halley’s Comet was a phenomenon that would surface in the sky roughly every 76 years . Moreover, it was so incredibly distinct that every human on Earth can see it . Surprisingly, the period of time of Mbenga’s fable roughly coincided with it, of course, one cannot expect the astronomy knowledge of a calendar of these natives to be on par with the Greenwich Observatory .
As for the other contents of the fable, it basically details the signs of a widespread drought approaching……therefore, Mbenga’s legend was undoubtedly indicating a foreshadowing; that once Halley’s Comet appears, an unprecedentedly devastating drought would occur .
Hence, Sheyan could immediately make an audacious deduction – “Could it be, the reason Little Lord Fokke and his gang had painstakingly awaited her for over 5 months……was in anticipating for this widespread drought?? Dare I say this represents that, the secret underground passageway into the inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, will only surface when the drought arrives? Inferring a step further, the most valuable resource during a drought would be a water source…”
“Hence! During normal times, this secret passageway is actually just an underground river! Only when the flow of the river ceases during the drought, would it tacitly covert into a secret infiltrating channel! As for the Ndipaya barbarians, regardless of how vigilant they may be, they would only be guarding all dry passageways into their tribe . They would never take notice of a seemingly impossible and untraversable channel of access . The channel of an absolutely safe underground river!”
“Moreover, under normal circumstances, even the bravest of Ndipaya barbarians wouldn’t dare to jump recklessly, into an incomparably dark and abstruse underground river . An exploration into that river may very possibly be a journey of no return!”
“This is sufficient to explain why Bernard Fokke, an ordinary man, could successfully steal a ‘Stairway of the Sun’, and how his descendants could follow accordingly; repeating the feat and acquiring that strange yet invincible ‘Stairway of the Sun’ flower! That is because……an exploitable flaw like this, is seemingly unguarded . ”
When Bernard Fokke had plundered their ‘Stairway of the Sun’ by taking advantage of the secret underground passageway centuries ago, the Ndipaya tribe elders would definitely have exhorted the next generation; be on guard of infiltration from the entrance of that underground river… . but, the average longevity of these Ndipaya tribesmen was at most forty plus years . Whatever cultural traditions of inheritance, would be passed down through primitive recording methods or orally transmitted . Therefore, one can simply imagine the preservation date of the elders’ warnings .
Yet at this moment, though Little Lord Fokke’s infiltration enjoyed full preparations, favourable time and geographical conditions, the current Sheyan didn’t possess even a single one of those three elements .
Firstly, it had been merely over a decade since that devastating drought had appeared, Halley’s Comet was still years from entering the Earth’s orbit! The advantage of time was still present, but this time, skewed towards the Ndipaya’s side .
Without the occurrence of that devastating drought, the underground passage should probably be experiencing turbulent surges of torrential currents; definitely not a favourable advantage .
As for manpower and preparations… . alright, Party Ace originally had three formidable members invading this brutal world of carnage, but right now, it was left with a single member .
Furthermore, this member was left with a single arm… . . therefore, suitable manpower was obviously out of the question .
On the contrary, having been taught a bitter lesson by Little Lord Fokke a decade plus ago, the Ndipaya barbarians who personally experienced that fiasco wouldn’t be a minority… . .
Thus, this was exceptionally disadvantageous to Sheyan, because the Ndipaya tribe would definitely scale up their vigilance and protective measures against that secret passageway .
Time, geography and people weren’t to Sheyan’s advantage . It could be said, they were the biggest obstructions to Sheyan’s plans . Nevertheless, Sheyan was exceedingly clear that if he could overcome this hurdle, everything else would be like a flat land he could simply gallop across .
He was utmostly confident that the current him, was much stronger than the refined and gentle Little Lord Fokke of that year . What Little Lord Fokke could accomplish, he naturally could as well and even better at that!
At this moment, Sheyan also realized he had missed another pivotal character – demon horse, Momore . If he was able to recruit its assistance, it would be equivalent to a job half done . However, to settle Momore, mind you, settle but not kill it, Sheyan reckoned he would’ve at least have to waste 1-2 worlds worth of time . This was definitely not an investment worth partaking in .
“Hmm, I guess let’s find the entrance of that secret passageway first before deciding . ” Sheyan then made his resolve .
As the saying goes, unresigned until reaching the yellow river, unceasing until meeting one’s objective . With nearly 100 hours left for his free stopover in this world, since idling was pointless, why not put in some effort?
Although even till now, Sheyan hadn’t obtained any direct information regarding the secret passageway entrance, but sometimes, only with patient analysis, can one uncover the hidden scenes beneath the multitudes of information .
Just like when the iPhone 4s first made their way into China’s market . On the eve of release, countless apple fans had queued up at those Apple stores in anticipation for this grand occasion . People would always harbour an urgent mentality towards things they loved or thirst for . Regardless if they failed to obtain it temporarily, they would still hope to inch closer towards it .
Little Lord Fokke was similarly a human . At least, he was one capable of waiting patiently for the inauguration of that secret underground passageway . Therefore, when choosing a base camp, he would most likely abide with the customs of mankind; deliberately selecting a location nearest to the underground passageway as the base camp… . . not only will it satisfy his anxiousness, it also saved them the energy from pointless trekking through the jungle . More critically, he had 5 months and 16 days to choose!
Therefore, Sheyan could define his exploration scope – with Little Lord Fokke’s campsite as the nexus, he would search the area within a 2 kilometres radius .
Furthermore, there was a huge chance that the secret passageway entrance was located at the tiny river stream, just beside Little Lord Fokke’s base camp . Moreover, the entrance of the secret passageway will be comparatively wider, allowing even the yet to be demonized horse, Momore, to pass through .
In the end, the process of searching was extremely arduous . Sheyan was no god and had committed a grave error during his starting deduction .
This was the most dreaded aspect of all deductions, causing one to tread a path that leads to defeat . Eventually, the more hope one harboured, the greater one’s disappointment .
The truth of the matter was this – That year, before the unprecedented drought arrived, the water source of that underground passageway would slowly dry up as well . But before it did, due to that particular secret underground river being similarly connected to the core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, the water would also be polluted with toxins and harmful substances .
During the drying process, the river would gradually evaporate with poisonous miasma, and to ordinary humans, such poisonous miasma would lead to deadly diseases if not death!
The two unlucky brats who perished in this base camp, had in fact, been repeatedly dispatched by the impatient Little Lord Fokke to explore the possibility of entering the entrance . As a result, they became ill after excessive inhalation of the poisonous miasma and died bitterly in that hill cavern .
As such, right from the start, Sheyan’s deduction of 2 kilometres radius from the base camp was wrong .
This error meant that no matter how hard working one is, it would ultimately be futile . Hence, after squandering a total of 80 hours on this, Sheyan eventually obtained disappointment .
However, at this instant, Sheyan’s keen and meticulous perception once again aided him .
Right before he was about to kickstart his ‘nth’ attempt at searching, he suddenly noticed a scar on a tree, approximately 10 metres from Little Lord Fokke’s base camp .
To everyone’s knowledge, humans feared to pull a tendon while trees feared to have their barks peeled . Once a tree’s bark got peeled off and its inner wood essence gets exposed, it would be tough to grow out that portion of bark again . Hence, Sheyan was now eyeing this large, striking, and old scar .
Prior to this, Sheyan had also noticed this circular scar . Yet as he was brimming with fervour to locate the passageway entrance then, he simply overlooked it as part of nature . However, after failing to acquire any fruits after the excruciatingly long search, Sheyan inevitably started to doubt the authenticity of his deduction .
Hence, right now, he suddenly realized that this large striking scar appeared like a ‘丁’ character . His heart instantly stirred, as he reflexively headed in large strides towards the direction of the ‘丁’ scar .
After trudging for 20 metres or so, Sheyan immediately inhaled deeply as he felt his heart throbbing intensely; pumping blood into his brain .
“Once is chance, twice is a coincidence . ” Thus, Sheyan continued following the guided direction of the ‘丁’ carved scar . “Oh!” He then discovered the third tree with an identical ‘丁’ scar .
“Third time’s a pattern!”
Sheyan immediately beckoned to Mbenga .
“Do your tribesmen practice the habit of carving marks on trees, to prevent yourself from getting lost? Or perhaps, other similarly habits you’ve heard of before?”
To that, Mbenga replied with utmost arrogance .
“The village folk in this jungle are like hybrids of hyenas and leopards…losing our way???? HAHAHAHA!”
Without hesitation, Sheyan followed the directions of these ‘road signs’ to advance . These markings were relatively concealed, with some hidden within the tree canopy . Nonetheless, there was definitely one within every interval of ten or so metres .
After a short half-hour elapsed, an additionally enormous tree greeted Sheyan’s sight . Its tree trunk was exceptionally massive, where its board-shaped roots alone was 2-3 metres in width . The crown of the tree roughly spanned over 200-300 square metres, but its height was scarcely 10 metres; giving a look of short and stout, resembling a wine barrel that was smashed down by a hammer .
If one observed from a bird’s eye view, one’s vision would be totally obstructed by the incomparably dense jungle . Not a sliver of the branch could even be seen .
Sheyan then snapped off a branch, where dense and creamy sap immediately oozed out; alongside an indescribable odour . When the sap touched his skin, it induced a slight numbing sensation .
As he circled two rounds around this eccentric looking massive tree, Sheyan discovered a cluster of vegetation that was particularly luscious .
Presently, it was during the dry season, where the tropical rainforest had been thirsting for rain for over two weeks already . The surrounding flora was distinctively withered and dispirited, but only that particular patch of vegetation remained exuberant; completely incompatible with its drying environment .
As Sheyan and Mbenga inched closer to that cluster of vegetation, a wave of moisty vapour surged into their faces; instantly rousing their spirits . Mbenga marched forward and swept aside the thicket with his wooden pike . All of a sudden, a deep black hole was revealed .
The size of this hole was roughly the size of a human . For Sheyan to pass through, he had to bend his head . Gigantic cobwebs stretched across the entrance of this hole . Upon witnessing their webs being ripped asunder, a few long-legged spiders hastily exercised their plump and striking yellow striped legs, as they took off speedily .
Burying his head forward, Sheyan leapt into the cavern hole . Expecting a spongy moist suppleness to feedback from beneath his feet, the sensation he received, was instead the opposite . As he reached his hand down to feel, Sheyan could immediately feel the edges of stone slabs; a glaring indication of artificial construction .
“It’s here . ” Sheyan lighted a candle torch, as it brightly illuminated the passageway ahead . Ripples of water vapour rushed against his face .
As they continued advancing 10 metres down this flight of stairs, Sheyan observed there was no longer any commonplace vegetation growing here . Instead, the place was filled with vegetation that adhered to the ground, analogous to strawberries .
Their purplish-black leaves were roughly the size of copper coins, and pasted on the ground to grow; cyan-coloured fruits sprouted out from these vegetation .
A queer aroma hovered in the air here, it was neither pungent or fragrant .
The growth of this vegetation completely disallowed other types of vegetation to grow! They impressed an unexplainable dominance, that even the roots of massive trees were daunted to deviate away from them .
When Mbenga noticed this type of vegetation, his expression changed drastically . Ignoring the filth, he knelt to the ground and bowed to this strange plant . Then, he immediately exclaimed .
“Chaliba!”
That was merely a statement of expression of the native aborigines . It was analogous to the phrase ‘what crap is this?’ of Sichuan people or easterners . To explain it in words, it was just an expression of disgust .
Sheyan proceeded to ask Mbenga why he knelt and kowtowed, where Mbenga only responded with an extremely vacant look . Seemingly about to salivate, he couldn’t come up with a reasoning . Evidently, it was just his instinctive reaction .
Since Sheyan couldn’t fathom the deal with this, he bluntly ignored it . It would be fine as long as it wasn’t poisonous .
After winding and turning several rounds, Sheyan reckoned they were now close to a hundred metres beneath the ground . In view that his free staying time was left with 10 plus hours, he subconsciously hastened his footsteps .
But after making a sharp bend, Sheyan abruptly discovered a person sprawled flatly atop the descending flight of stairs!
Alarmed, Sheyan immediately executed an alert stance . Yet after a long while, that person remained motionless sprawled on the ground . Soon after, Sheyan realized that this person was just a corpse .
Swiftly trudging forward, Sheyan discovered this individual was dressed in a familiar fashion . Skintight cotton socks wrapped around his calves, while he wore loose trousers above; this allowed one to move about conveniently on a ship . After unbuttoning two buttons of his sleeveless suit, Sheyan noticed a filthy, beige coloured shirt without a single necktie .
In the Caribbean sea world, Sheyan had seen a similar style aboard many ships . In most cases, such individuals held the positions of vice or third mates/ officials on ships . Due to them specializing in a particular trade like calculations, their statuses were higher than ordinary sailors but lower than the first mate .
Probably, this person had suffered some strange ambush previously . Though it was just a corpse, Sheyan still started searching his limbs for clues to decipher his identity .
Very quickly, with his plentiful maritime experiences, Sheyan determined this should be a sailor that had accompanied Little Lord Fokke to this continent .
His death was caused by a gunshot to the back, and to Sheyan’s astoundment, the lead bullet that killed him was crafted in the exact fashion as ‘Ambition’… . . very evidently, this evil was committed by ‘Ambition’s’ twin brother, ‘Penitence’, that Little Lord Fokke had carried previously .
Perhaps due to the special environment of this place, the corpse was constantly maintained and didn’t decompose fully .
Actually, this phenomenon wasn’t very rare, even in the real world, there would be rare cases where preserved ancient corpses were found . Thus, Sheyan didn’t pay particular attention to that .
After continuing a few dozens of step, an approximately 20 square metres platform greeted his sight . If ordinary folk were to reach this point, they would definitely be feeling rather fatigued and would utilize this place for a short breather .
Over here, Sheyan also discovered an extremely tattered canvas that was bundled up on the ground . As such, he could fundamentally reconstruct the sequence of events after Little Lord Fokke and his team had arrived at this platform .
Little Lord Fokke definitely would’ve had straightforwardly informed his subordinates, they were here to search for an elixir of immortality . Most likely, he would’ve baited their loyalty with the prospects of diamonds, gold and other riches . Perhaps, that unlucky brat had discovered this place was obviously not a diamond or gold mine, or perhaps, he suddenly missed his family . Maybe, the sinister atmosphere of this place had stolen his fighting spirit, prompting him to abandon the canvas bag he was carrying to escape… . .
Obviously, Little Lord Fokke wouldn’t permit such a conduct . Thus, he drew his musket and fired; plundering the life of his comrade . By killing the chicken, he also warned the spectating monkeys around .
Sheyan then proceeded to examine that discarded canvas bag . He realized the bag was already opened and was unusually heavy . After rummaging through the thick clothing, he discovered everything else was withered vegetation . That same ‘Chaliba’ vegetation that Mbenga had kowtowed to sample! Those vegetation made up the bulk volume of this unusually heavy canvas bag .
Sheyan was slightly bewildered by this scene, but a notion immediately welled up in his mind .
“This person definitely wouldn’t store such an abundance of these ‘Chaliba’ plants for no reason . He was definitely ordered by Little Lord Fokke to do so . ”
“However, after murdering him, Little Lord Fokke still allowed this bag of ‘Chaliba’ plants to be carelessly discarded here… . does this mean that Little Lord Fokke had ordered each individual to carry that many ‘Chaliba’ fruits? Therefore, I can take a step further and deduce, this plant that only grows here, that Mbenga prostrated to, will be extremely useful in the future!”
Thinking of that, Sheyan instantly backtracked without hesitation, before audaciously plucking these plants . Indeed, he then received a notification from his nightmare imprint .
[ You obtained an unknown plant! This plant cannot be brought out of this world ]
As time was tight, Sheyan could only continue advancing . After descending for nearly 10 minutes, he suddenly felt a peculiar sensation; a weightlessness that only happens when a plane takes off . Furthermore, a buzzing sound was resonating within his eardrums!
After standing still for a brief while, everything became clear . That was the sonorous swooshing of water! The thunderous clamour of the underground river smashing against cavern walls!!
After winding past another bend, finally, an amazing 7-8 metres broad underground river welcomed his sight! Sheyan reflexively took a deep breath .
He finally found it!! The mystery concealed by the torn pages .
The river’s flow stemmed from the Kijuju Marshland, but due to the current dry season, the water level wasn’t plentiful at all .
Nevertheless, due to topographical reasons, the flow of the river was overwhelming rapid . The underground river inclined downwards and poured down from elevated precipices, where the rocks demonstrated a valour that could grind one’s bones to dust . Massive fogs of mist emitted out from the churning billows, issuing a faint piercing sensation in one’s nose . Evidently, the mist contained toxic essences .
Naturally to ordinary folk, a steep upsloping precipice was akin to a heavenly moat . Even a special expedition team in the real world inevitably required the assistance of various tools to be capable of scaling the current . Moreover, it would definitely take a great deal of time .
On the contrary, in Sheyan’s perspective, someone who possesses superhuman strength multiplied manifold that of ordinary humans, who also possesses the unrivalled title of ‘Pirate Captain’, it was absolutely impossible for the torrential currents and the treacherous upslope terrain to impede his advance .
With his current extent of powers, a heavenly moat was simply a casual joke .
At present, though he was only left with 10 plus hours of the free deadline, Sheyan’s fighting spirit was instead burning vigorously . His was confidence attributed to Little Lord Fokke’s success, that if Little Lord Fokke was capable of acquiring the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, he too would be capable of that .
Following that, the arduous process of scaling against the current naturally didn’t require further explanation . To Sheyan’s surprise, for some unknown reason, Mbenga was bent on following him .
One must understand, Sheyan could effortlessly breathe underwater for over half an hour, but Mbenga couldn’t . This implied an extremely high risk of dying if he continued advancing .
They first swam through a river course that was utterly submerged, and because they also needed to climb up a 5-metre tall waterfall, Sheyan could only tie Mbenga to his back with a rope before proceeding .
Even though Sheyan did his utmost to crash through that river course in the shortest time possible, Mbenga had still fainted from suffocation . Yet after resuscitating him, Mbenga persisted unyieldingly in accompanying Sheyan .
“I hear whispers from my soul, the only way to find myself is by venturing deeper . For this, I am willing to pay all it takes!”
Mbenga declared this with exceptional sincerity, thus, Sheyan could only respect his aspiration .
5 hours of scaling later, at the distant head of this underground river, Sheyan could finally behold a ray of light right ahead!
After swimming through, at times underwater, and at times climbing up vast stretches of craggy subterranean ground, Sheyan could finally behold the breathtaking sunlight .
Without a doubt, that was their destination, the core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland .
To arrive here through ordinary means, god knows how many crazy untold dangers and difficulties one would have to face; numerous outrageous trials and challenges, covered with countless corpses and souls . Yet through this rapid underground river, though the journey was filled with hardships and perils, it only required a few hours .
Before arriving at the exit, Sheyan once again discovered another stone platform of roughly 10 plus square metres, with strange oddities placed atop it .
Hurrying his footsteps over for a look, Sheyan immediately noticed a large pile of utterly mouldy clothes . A gentle pinch would suffice to grind those mouldy linens to dust .
Evidently, upon reaching this spot a decade plus ago, Little Lord Fokke had ordered his subordinates to strip off their clothes .
This was undoubtedly a rather suspicious move . As Sheyan swept his incisive gaze in surveillance, he caught glimpse of several disorderly placed and rotting wooden planks . Those wooden planks had rotted to a stage where a trifling finger could splinter it into dregs .
Relying on his perception and experience, Sheyan successfully squeezed out the knowledge he needed above these wooden planks from his mind . He deciphered, their shapes revealed they were part of commonplace wooden casks on board ships . Such wooden casks could be used for seemingly anything; storing water, food or miscellaneous things, washing face or legs, urine potty, or protection during battles . Furthermore, when a ship capsizes, adding lids to it and attaching two to the waist would transform it into a life buoy…
Sheyan strolled over before stroking his finger along one of the cask planks . After wiping away the layer of dust and rotten splints of wood, a peculiar sensation feedbacked up his finger; resembling that of solidified candle wax . Sheyan then scooped water and rinsed it over .
Instantaneously, a think layer of light yellow substance was revealed . The substance adhered tightly to the rock, and Sheyan had to scrape some off before carefully twirling the substance around his fingers . Then, he swiftly tasted with his tongue, allowing him to immediately identify it .
This substance was a necessity for ships of this era . With an illustrious reputation, it was called the devil’s oil .
Actually, it was simply blubber boiled with wood and lime . It was a common essential for all ships, including pirates, merchants or the navy .
During naval wars, it could be utilized as flammable substances, and could also be used to mend leaking cracks on the ship . Furthermore, by adding unique spices from Madagascar, it could be used as a preservation from decomposing . In any ship, one could frequently see casks of this blubber wax .
Sheyan squatted for a good long while to observe . He could differentiate out withered vines trapped within the solidified blubber . If not for being coated in the blubber, through the years of flushing water and moisty erosion, it would’ve been reduced to dust long ago .
The bifurcation characteristics of these vines were relatively distinct, after comparing with those fresh ‘Chaliba’ vegetation he pulled from the party storage, Sheyan could tell they were the same variation .
Sheyan shut his eyes and pondered……
“Over a decade ago, gasping for breath and air, Little Lord Fokke’s group had ascended to this precipice platform . Following that, they stripped off their clothes, exposing their skinny, bony and filthy bodies . Producing a wooden cask of blubber, they smeared the ‘Chaliba’ vegetations with devil’s oil…”
“The crux of this is obviously……why did they have to strip?”
Sheyan couldn’t fathom this even after racking his brains . This group of males couldn’t possibly have traversed thousands of miles, just to bring lubricant to this remote and gloomy cave of Africa for homosexual activities…
Unable to contemplate, Sheyan, fortunately, had another way of resolving this issue . That was, to sample this personally for himself .
Although the devil’s oil and solidified onto the rock’s surface, it hadn’t expired . Sheyan then casually scraped off a chunk the size of a fist, which could be used after heating it slightly .
Soon after, Sheyan retrieved the recently harvested ‘Chaliba’ plant and rubbed it against the boiling warm devil’s oil .
Very quickly, he received a notification that left him utterly dumbstruck .
[ You attempt to blend the unique Chaliba plant of this world ]
[ Blending… . . ]
[ Blending failed… ]
[ Blending… . . ]
[ Blending failed… ]
[ Blending… . . ]
[ Blending failed… ]
After receiving this list of notifications, Sheyan abruptly remembered that Ndipaya prescription, ‘Ancient Gjesi’, he acquired from slaying that Plaga Type B host . That prescription allowed him to concoct a herb medicine known as the ‘Ancient Gjesi’ .
Moreover, that prescription had detailed to him the type of herbs he needed to gather .
Faced with this situation, even a fool would understand what happened . What more to Sheyan who also possessed a concoction ability?
It was very clear!
That year, Bernard Fokke must’ve obtained an excellent Ndipaya prescription, where the raw materials involved was the blubber of animals and this ‘Chaliba’ herb .
Anyone else who faced this issue now would experience a terrible headache . However, who was Sheyan? A concoction expert!
He had directly inherited Saruman’s alchemy arts, and after countless concocting experiences and research, his skills had been brought to the point of perfection . As for his concoction apparatus, he naturally brought out with him, where he could use it to profit at any time .
Therefore, without expending much effort, Sheyan required only 10 minutes to experiment with this secret concoction method that Little Lord Fokke acquired .
The pitiful Little Lord Fokke had spared no efforts to destroy his ancestor’s remnants, just to preserve all these profound mysteries . Instead, through Sheyan’s painstaking investigations, the fog of mysteries were all beginning to disperse; uncovering the truths behind… .
“Bunch of morons, not knowing even a simple distillation and purification method . Yes, just rub those Chaliba herbs with the blubber, how long would you want to rub for?”
As he muttered to himself, Sheyan’s nimble hands had started conducting the entire process of distillation and purification of the harvested Chaliba herbs . Eventually, he ended up with a tiny bowl of sparkling, translucent, pure and limpid liquid; resembling that of an amethyst crystal .
Proceeding from there, he employed a pipette and started dripping the liquid, one droplet at a time, onto the blubber .
Ultimately, he obtained the most reasonable prescription .
[ Attempting to improve a herb prescription… . improving the Ndipaya Ancient Herb Concoction: Tigfog… ]
[ Usage method: smearing ]
[ Herb blending dosage: 0 . 731 blubber and 1 Chaliba herb distilled liquid (90% purity) ]
[ Property: Upon smearing on a human’s skin, it will transform all secreted perspiration and bodily fluid into exotic volatile substances . These substances affect all life forms resident to the thick fog of the Kijuju Marshland . Lowers the chance of being discovered beyond 3 metres away by 99% ]
[ Property: If smeared on a weapon, once this herb concoction contacts flesh and blood of life forms resident to the thick fog of the Kijuju Marshland, it will induce a negative buff . Reduction of capabilities by 25% – 30%, duration lasts for 24 hours ]
[ Duration of this improved herb medicine increased to 240 minutes . Herb medicine properties will fade upon expiry ]
Without a doubt, to reach this very spot, Sheyan had relied on personal hard work, painstaking powers of deduction, and some stroke of luck . He had eventually managed to salvage the bits of contents that Little Lord Fokke had ripped out of the journal log .
Unable to contain his joy, he gazed up and chuckled . With this very herb medicine, Sheyan was a hundred percent sure, that whatever Little Lord Fokke had accomplished that year, he would surely be able to as well and even improve it further .
Proceeding from here, there was naturally only a single word left – Strip!
His following actions thoroughly baffled Mbenga . This burly black chap watched on as Sheyan stripped naked, and even proceeded to pull down his straw skirt . In his panic, Mbenga clutched his nether regions and yelled bitterly .
After finally resolving this misunderstanding, the two humans started smearing the Tigfog herb balm onto their backs .
Upon glancing at the time after properly settling everything, Sheyan couldn’t help but turn restless with anxiety as he hastily rushed out . Yet after sauntering out from this cavern, he was instantly dazzled . It was no wonder the Ndipaya barbarians of the inner reaches couldn’t place much significance on this secret passageway . With their current standards of science and technology, it was truly impossible to do so .
As it turns out, this underground river did, in fact, see the light of day here and was connected to the inner reaches . However, away from the main water source ahead, both banks up to the inner reaches, were knife-shaved precipitous cliffs . Moreover, describing their altitude as 30-40 storeys would be an understatement .
To hop down from atop the cliffs, don’t even mention mutated creatures, even Plaga Type host bosses or Plaga Type host monarchs would be reduced to meat paste without a pair of wings!
Sheyan perceived that Bernard Fokke had definitely left behind a cheat for his descendants to deal with this . Instead, much of his brain cells had already been fried, and he wasn’t geared to figure out another method .
To Sheyan, this heavenly moat of a rocky cliff could be scaled with the most barbaric of means – to directly employ his ‘+7 West’ to cleave out rock climbing grooves, allowing him to forcibly climb up this cliff . What more, there seemed to be numerous amounts of hanging vines where he could leverage for his ascension? To contestants, this heavenly moat was merely a trifling thoroughfare avenue .
A horrendously thick misty fog encompassed the inner reaches, making it difficult to differentiate day from night .
A bizarre creature strutted out from the darkness of a thicket .
Five metres away to its rear, Sheyan hid behind a large rock while maintaining his gaze onto that freakish looking creature .
This freakish creature walked on four limbs, but its body would occasionally experience unusually queer twists . Its maroon shaded tongue was longer than an ordinary human and doubled the thickness of one . Its tongue extended out of the lips alongside a pair of deathly-white canine tooths where its tip was bifurcated . Having just came from a dark environment, its eyes were squinted into slits while its crimson blood pupils shrunk minutely .
The most striking aspect of this creature was its unique head .
Both its right and left brains were fully exposed to the air, where its skull had seemingly been carved off . A layer of membrane covered the periphery of its brains . Its thumb was widely separated from its other 4 fingers, where its ossified fingernails grew to lengths of 10 cm . The mutation of its other characteristics wasn’t obvious, except a tailbone that protruded out of its flesh, which could jet out bone spurs or venomous pus .
Earlier on, Sheyan had already probed out its name .
[ Licker Prototype Host ]
Sadly, all other information on it was unclear .
Evidently, it was a creature of unparalleled terror . When Sheyan caught glimpse of it, he immediately felt his scalp tingling . Even his willpower and determination was reduced to matchless panic, filled with a misconception of fleeing at once!
For Sheyan who had experienced a hundred battles, this was definitely not ordinary . Evidently, it surely possessed a sphere of effect ability similar to Prince Stalo; a permanent halo that once any foe steps into its sphere, that foe will be inflicted with persistent disturbance .
Therefore, this indicated that the might of creatures in the inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, may possibly exceed even that of official Growth-hunters!!
According to certain intelligence that Sheyan understood, most individuals that possess a halo ability were those who transcended the realm of Growth-hunter; a distinct symbol of an Awakener! One who possess a halo ability may not be an Awakener, but an Awakener definitely possesses a halo ability!
Attempting to sneak around this place, was truly akin to playing with fire .
Under such circumstances, Sheyan couldn’t help but ponder . “If I myself am experiencing psychological turmoil just from being shaken by these creatures, how the hell did Little Lord Fokke and his gang get a grip on themselves when facing these terrifying creatures?”
All of a sudden, the Licker’s nose flaps sniffled .
Clearly, it was seeking out the scent of foes, or perhaps tracking down prey . It then abruptly shot out its tongue! Gradually rummaging ahead, its tongue was like a slender maroon fork . Identical to a serpent’s tongue, it even possessed the capabilities to detect heat .
At this moment, Sheyan was secretly rejoicing that his body was smeared with that invincible herb medicine, masking away his human odour . Otherwise, it would be impossible to escape the pursuit of this Licker, with its exceptionally keen sense of smell!
Suddenly, this Licker pounced ferociously towards a nearby pile of rocks . Within a flash, it was as though that pile of rocks had been bombarded by a cannon, as it exploded with incomparable intensity .
From within, a black shadow scurried out and released a chain of ‘chi chi chi chi’ sounds!
Yet it was in vain, as that black shadow was pressed down by the Licker within an instant . The skinny Licker bared its pair of eerily white and long canine fangs, before sinking it harshly into that enormous mutated rat . Furthermore, it strived to prevent the struggling gigantic mutated rat’s bone spurs from hurting itself .
The Licker could feel the warm and plume-grey blood of the gigantic rat sliding down its throat . Having been famished for too long, its shrivelled and dried stomach was finally stimulated as blood poured in . The Licker spasmed as its stomach secreted out digestive acids, in preparation to welcome the incoming solid flesh . The Licker’s callous eyes turned increasingly avaricious and hungry .
At this instant, Sheyan finally noticed 17-18 deep black hairs scattered about where the Licker was standing previously . Those hairs revealed a metallic luster, and was actually the frantic retaliation unleashed by that gigantic rat while struggling before death’s door .
The threat of a single rat was already this ridiculous!!
A chilling sensation welled up in his heart; because in his dull stupefaction, he realized that if he were to go up against that gigantic rat under normal circumstances, he would be the one fleeing in panic . It hadn’t even been a long while since he entered this ghost land, but Sheyan was already feeling a pathetic sensation of being rock bottom on the food chain .
Sheyan did his utmost to hold his breath . Besides, the herb medicine smeared over his body could only perfectly mask him from a distance of more than 3 metres . Sheyan believed that even if he bluntly released a blade towards the Licker, it definitely wouldn’t remain idle .
The primary function of the herb medicine resided in disguise and not invisibility . The herb medicine merely disguises one’s existence to be like the rocks, trees or others in the eyes of creatures of the Kijuju marshland inner core reaches . It absolutely wouldn’t cause one to just vanish into thin air .
Although time was tight, Sheyan could only wait patiently for the Licker to conclude its meal, before scrambling away with Mbenga .
At present, he had sunken into a rather awkward aspect – the inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland were expansively vast, and finding the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ was like finding a needle in the vast sea .
Even though he brought along guide Mbenga, firstly, his memory fragments were still dormant . Secondly, in view of this horrifying place, Sheyan didn’t reckon Mbenga and his group of ‘warriors’ had rashly explored this region as well .
Under the surveillance of these terrifying creatures, Sheyan could only cautiously proceed and probe along a rather deserted and tiny pathway . The weeds and grass here grew as tall as his calves, and this tiny pathway stretched far into the foggy distance . As Sheyan led Mbenga forward, he constantly felt an unexplainable furtive sensation from the surrounding atmosphere .
The silhouettes of buildings appeared ahead . Sheyan immediately lowered himself as he slowly encroached in .
Following the increasing clarity of his vision, the amazement and shock written on his face became increasingly thick .
The buildings before him modelled the exact style of the Ndipaya tribe huts, but this cluster was particularly dilapidated and ruined; as though beaten by the rain and winds for years without mending .
Sheyan brought Mbenga into this village . After a brief search, they discovered that the previous Ndipaya inhabitants had fled in panic when they departed from this place .
In many of the huts, Sheyan found commodities like beast hides, pikes and rotting food . Only those consecrated and massive white potteries had been shifted away . Furthermore, two pottery jars had been shattered during the migration process . According to Mbenga, these jars to the Ndipaya barbarians were equivalent to an ancestor’s memorial tablet!
One could tell how abruptly urgent they were .
“If that’s the case… . . ” Sheyan contemplated pensively . His eyes reflexively flickered with a glint as he took a deep breath .
Finally, he earnestly inquired .
“Mbenga, you should remember when you infiltrated this place with the old tribe chief right?”
Mbenga stood blankly for a brief while, prompting Sheyan to think he had once again triggered the tardy illness of this guide . Yet suddenly, Mbenga tossed aside his wooden pike, before seriously counting with his fingers . When his fingers weren’t enough, he began using his toes… . . incapable of counting mentally, he could only exhibit the ‘organ memory technique’ of the legends . Eventually, he stammered inarticulately .
“Seven fingers of the dry season, six toes of the wet season…”
Fortunately, Sheyan was more learned than him . Immediately, he calculated those ‘6 seasons of winter and 7 seasons of summer’ to be roughly 6 and a half years . It was extremely close to Sheyan’s earlier conjecture .
Sheyan nodded . He also discovered traces of farming around the village outskirts, which would explain how the Ndipaya tribe could survive and continue reproducing in this isolated inner reaches .
After leading Mbenga as they travelled deeper amidst the foggy path, they passed by two other abandoned villages along the way . Without an exception, not a single soul remained in those chaos wrecked villages . Even worse, eerie white bones surfaced in those villages, hinting of the immeasurable torture they went through before perishing .
At this point, Sheyan realized the path ahead had broadened a little . Wooden totemic stakes were impaled glaringly by both sides of the path, resembling lampposts . Though the wooden stakes were decayed and archaic, they donned a revering and imposing incivility from afar . The surfaces of each stake revealed a dried and deep brown luster, indicating a possible sacrificial cleansing by blood .
When they arrived here, Mbenga’s breathing turned heavier . Sheyan glanced round in alarmed as he noticed Mbenga’s peculiar mood . Sheyan’s heart instantly flickered with delight as he hastily asked .
“What’s with you?”
Instead, Mbenga remained silent as he advanced ahead with large strides, but the flustered Sheyan hastily pulled him back .
Bear this in mind, various kinds of innumerable monsters littered the region, and if Mbenga were to advance with such overbearing audacity, even the disguise of herb medicine would be useless . It was just like a human wouldn’t be suspicious with a piece of rock, but if one noticed that rock aggressively trudging ahead and hopping imposingly about, it would be tough to repress one’s suspicions .
Fortunately, Mbenga quickly calmed down from his agitated emotions, as he took in heavy breaths . Sheyan hurriedly pulled him into a nearby concealed cover, before feeding him with water and allowing him to rest .
Sheyan was about to speak, but within an instant, his body started shivering with chills involuntarily, as his teeth issued out chattering sounds .
Lifting his head for a peep, Sheyan beheld an extraordinarily huge, blood red Licker emerging from the thick foggy pathway ahead . Standing a hundred metres away, it surveyed around with its tongue .
Sheyan immediately shut his eyes, as he tugged Mbenga tightly and prone to the ground; even slowing down his breathing exponentially .
All of a sudden, that blood red Licker pranced towards the spot that Mbenga had stood previously, before dipping its head for a whiff .
Sheyan secretly cursed inwardly . “Mbenga must’ve been too excited, and perspired a little too excessively . That freak was actually able to detect an abnormality . If Mbenga starts to vomit like before, we will be in deep shit . ”
Fortunately, Mbenga maintained his pristine hygiene . In addition to the incredible effects of the Tigfog herb medicine, the Licker lurked for a good long while before departing resentfully .
Sheyan and Mbenga no longer dared to be too careless . Just 20-30 metres away from that blood red Licker, its terrifying aura had been sufficient to induce a horror that could scare them out of their wits! One could fathom the reputation of this stronger than ordinary tier Licker was not just in name but in reality .
Sheyan reckoned that with his current strength, he still didn’t possess the guts to attack even if he could sneak right up to it .
Such immeasurable pressure was simply too dreadful . Sheyan estimated that the savage might of this boss tier Licker could very possibly be on par with Kraken Paul, or even the Great Leonopteryx of the Avatar world!
Evidently, Mbenga’s heated emotions had been thoroughly shaken by this menacing boss, as he rapidly composed himself .
A good news was that Mbenga seemed to have retrieved a fragment of his memory from this familiar environment, and begun leading the way .
They both then set foot on a tiny deserted lane, that appeared to have been created by an alarmed stray dog that dashed wildly within this foggy land .
Their journey was unexpectedly filled with many ambushing Arachnidacrabs and various Ndiapaya tribe snares… . luckily, the humans’ odour was masked by the herb medicine . Those Arachnidacrabs simply lazed around dormant . As for the Ndipaya tribe snares, Mbenga seemed to have them within his palms, allowing them to advance rapidly .
After roughly venturing further for half an hour, they both discovered a distinctly man-made sacrificial altar and climbed up consecutively . The fog ahead seemed to be thinning away, and their eyes spectated a vast spacious and empty plaza .
This plaza was estimated to be the size of a football field, and though it appeared rather crude, it was extremely levelled with a wide bedding of stone . Some distinct decorative designs had been engraved onto its surface, where they appeared coiled resembling that of serpents .
At the center of this plaza, was a monumental but strange stone statue . It was indeed an extremely queer statue – an enormous serpent coiling a full round, with its mouth swallowing its own tail! The eyes of this enormous serpent were shining luminously amidst the fog, appearing to be crafted with exceptionally rare gems; brimming with a bewitching ambience of mystic, serenity and dignity .
Due to the unsophisticated craftsmanship, the plaza was crude and gruff, but a single stone statue transformed the entire architecture into one of the highest quality . Anyone residing here would develop a desire to worship in reverence . One could imagine the Ndipaya tribesmen offering series of tributes during grand occasions of the past .
Surrounding the plaza were many wooden Ndipaya tribe huts . However, these huts were a tier larger than the ones in the other villages, and their pillars and roofs were even laced with ornamental architecture . Apart from malevolent looking serpent heads, they were other totems that exhibited abstract significance . Just any random hut here was equivalent to the grand halls of other villages . Evidently, this had been the core assembly for the Ndipaya tribe .
Without a doubt, this place had already been abandoned . Not a single trace of existence was left . When Mbenga witnessed the plaza, his throat emitted choking sounds as his body trembled violently . He started clutching his own head, as the scar across his forehead reddened brightly .
In response, Sheyan immediately offered him several words of consolation and poured him a few mouthfuls of rum . Instead, Mbenga continued in his bizarre state, seemingly being incapable of escape within a short span of time .
At present, Sheyan could only seize the time and first flung Mbenga aside . After a hasty search across the plaza, he realized that an incredibly tragic and catastrophic massacre had befallen this place .
Multitudes of ghastly white bones were scattered in every hut, bones that appeared distorted and fractured; implying of the cruel fighting before these inhabitants had perished . Large puddles of purplish-black stains, as well as streams like rivers, extended out incessantly .
Apart from that, Sheyan discovered a handful of weird and grotesque bones . The size of the structure of these bones exceeded that of average humans . Moreover, these weird, grotesque bones were scarred with javelins, pikes and arrowheads; indicated the resistance of those Ndipaya tribesmen of past were not totally in vain .
To his pleasant surprise, Sheyan managed to harvest numerous benefits from the largest hut, that grand hall hut directly behind the plaza’s stone statue . He found scattered gold fragments, a single ‘Silver Beetle’, a grain of diamond, and even a golden egg he hadn’t come across yet .
That golden egg was the size of a fist; utterly flawless and of the highest quality . Its periphery radiated with a pattern of scorching brilliance . Nobody could tell if this was the work of an expert artisan or laid by a genuine creature . After appraising it, his nightmare imprint feedbacked that similar state .
[ Pandora’s Egg . All other attributes: ? ? ? ? ]
Undoubtedly, this item was vastly superior to those archaic beetles, and could even be described as something Sheyan with his current capabilities could never acquire . That was why only its name was reflected, while other detailed information was omitted . Furthermore, Sheyan had found this golden egg in a corner, where the dust seemingly covered almost half of it . This was sufficient to indicate a state of utmost crisis and fleeing they were in, that even such a valuable item had been accidentally neglected .
After a series of hasty searches, Sheyan stood at the edge of the altar once again; squinting his eyes as he silently surveyed the foggy plaza . Without a doubt, this was a core territory of the Ndipaya tribe, a place analogous to the Mosake temple . However, even this place had been razed and laid waste . This very fact hinted at a cruel reality… . . the inhabitants of the core inner reaches of the Kijuju Marshland, the Ndipaya barbarians, had very possibly been exterminated .
As he spectated this scene, Sheyan took deep breaths as he seemingly reflected on the tragic events of old, where massive hordes of Lickers, Plaga hosts, and even freakish creatures like the mutated Arachnidacrabs had flooded in . Under the leadership of that gigantic blood-red Licker, they pressed in and swept the elite warriors of the Ndipaya tribe into deadly ruins .
Though they fought hard in resistance, it was impossible to impede the raid of these freaks of nature; each successively perishing in their homes . Knowing the helplessness of the situation, a remnant of elite warriors and elders had hastily gathered the wealth of the tribe and made their escape .
Amidst the chaos, a portion of wealth had been left behind, a single golden egg tumbling down from a bundle of cloth, as it rolled silently to a corner; only seeing the light of the day when Sheyan finally picked it up…
“Therefore, for what reason did the Ndipaya people, who painstakingly established their kingdom for centuries, suffer such a horrifying calamity… . . ?”
This doubt arose in Sheyan’s heart . Very quickly, he squinted his eyes; the exact reaction of Sheyan whenever he found his answer .
“Ah, the greatest possibility is most likely that…”
All of a sudden, a muffled groan drifted into Sheyan’s ears; knocking him from pensive contemplation to reality .
Sheyan spun around quickly and immediately realized not a single soul remained where Mbenga had been . It had merely been a few seconds since he heard a groan, yet Mbenga had utterly vanished from his sight .
To his astonishment, Sheyan instantly rushed towards the source of that groaning . Repeated swaying could be seen within the shrubs, as a clear trace of forceful treading could be seen . Sheyan hastily pursued in fear that he would lose track of his opponent if he was just half a step slower .
After leaping over a dishevelled heap of rocks, Sheyan immediately sighted a Licker who was pinning Mbenga to the floor .
With his wooden pike horizontally raised above him, he attempted to defy the Licker’s assault in incomparably pathetic fashion .
“Slither slither”! Instead, the Licker’s tongue slithered out of its mouth as it viciously whipped down like a scorpion sting!
A thousand considerations of a wise man begets a single careless mistake . Indeed, Sheyan didn’t expect that after feeding Mbenga mouthfuls of rum to raise his mentally unwell spirit, the unprecedented aroma of intense alcohol had transpired into bright directional lights; foiling the masking scent of the Tigfog herb medicine, and attracting the attention of a Licker .
By now, Sheyan no longer cared much as he heavily bent his waist, and abruptly executed a soaring leap into the air . Raising his ‘+7 West’, he unleashed a malicious slash downwards .
Yet as the blade approached the Licker’s body, although Sheyan had clearly mounted an exceedingly advantageous sneak attack, he could feel a surge of savagely unrivalled aura rushing against his face . An individual with weak mental fortitude would never be able to land this hit . One could fathom how daunting this Licker might be .
Clenching his teeth tightly without loosening his grip, Sheyan hacked his ‘+7 West’ down ferociously . Instead, he felt as though he had hacked against an extremely slippery and solid object, merely leaving a deep wound strip along the Licker’s neck .
Taking advantage of this momentum, Sheyan hooked his ‘+7 West’ back up as he carved out a long chunk of flesh; causing turbid blood to spew out everywhere!
After unleashing this slash, the other property of the Tigfog herb medicine instantly took effect; burning and provoking its wound as sizzling sounds were emitted . A property that forcibly lowered the might of the Licker by 25% – 50% . Within a flash, Sheyan could sense the domineering aura surging out of the Licker weakening substantially .
After receiving such a slash, the Licker rolled 5-6 metres backwards with its claws dug into the ground .
Hu! Hu! Hu! It released threatening deep cries, as its tiny bloodshot eyes flickered with an ominous intent . Straightening its tail, the incisive spinule tip of the tail could be faintly seen .
Concurrently, large clumps of a foul black surfaced from the Licker’s neck wound, which swiftly extended to the rest of its body through its veins; appearing exceedingly strange, as though many black vein lines had surfaced across its body . Even its four limbs were trembling violently .
Meanwhile, Mbenga climbed back up after making a backwards roll, as his chest undulated like rapidly blowing bellows . His pupils had shrunk to the size of needle tips, as his forehead scar exhibiting a blinding fresh red . His muscles were taut like swollen rounds, as Mbenga appeared with robust ruthlessness .
Suddenly, the Licker lifted its head and unleashed a drawn-out hiss; beckoning for its comrades .
This creature was still extremely foreign to Sheyan, as he only awaited in strict formation . On the contrary, Mbenga reacted at first notice . He understood that they couldn’t drag this out .
With a muffled roar, Mbenga pounced forth head on towards the hissing Licker!
Mbenga’s prowess was truly improving at an impressively shocking pace, after going through numerous extremes of life and death . His pounce was seemingly not the least bit inferior to Sheyan’s previous assault .
However, the Licker was still lying on the ground, as it propelled a bone spur from its tail . Once Mbenga lands, he would inevitably be impaled by the Licker’s tail .
Instead, few metres before reaching the Licker, Mbenga abruptly hurled his pike through the air . The pike carried a sliding shadow as its acute tip pierced deep into the Licker’s back, mercilessly puncturing its organs .
Instead, after hurling his pike, Mbenga curled up in midair as he substantially reduced his area susceptible to attacks; like a diver jumping off a ten-metre high springboard, he rolled towards a shrub in a flash .
Nailed by this wooden pike, the Licker released a shrilling bitter hiss! Piercing into the ears of everyone and leaving a constant buzzing sound .
Fiercely turning around, this wild beast brandished its razor-sharp claws as it bluntly cleaved the wooden pike into two . Then, it proceeded to chase Mbenga’s fleeing direction .
Instead, would Sheyan allow it to? Sheyan was one exceptionally adept at grasping opportunities . Without an opportunity, he wouldn’t rashly execute . But if there was one, nobody could stall him from seizing it!
He buried his head and charged up at once . Raising his saber singlehandedly, he lunged forward while the Licker was still cleaving away the wooden pike lodged in its body .
When the Licker finally felt a threat behind and spun around, all it could see was a peerless sharp tip thrusting in with breakneck speed . Its eyes widened instantaneously .
Puchi! Sheyan’s ‘+7 West’ long saber thrust down between the exposed brains of this Licker, and deep into it .
Mentioned previously, a Licker had no skull where its vital and weak brains were fully exposed to the atmosphere, where only a membrane film covered it . Moreover, Sheyan had deliberately accumulated and poured all his strength into this one thrust!
After thrusting his long saber in, Sheyan even did his utmost to twist the saber; forcibly twisting it by 60 degrees, as it ravaged the innards of the Licker’s brains .
Subsequently, he spared no delay to evade the incoming venomous sting of the Licker’s propelled bone spur . Darting to the side, Sheyan rolled away with the same speed as he came, leaving the opponent he severely wounded far behind .
However, although his actions were sublime and couldn’t have been done better, the venomous sting still managed to scrape a sliver of skin off his chest; leaving just a trifling streak of superficial red flesh .
Instead, after carelessly overlooking it for several dozens of seconds, Sheyan realized that the red scar was blackened with rot, as it emanated an awfully thick assailing stench . Then, the wound festered inwardly, as the rotting destructiveness spread towards his ribs and turned his ribs incomparably weak!!
How vilely potent this highly toxic disease it carried!
Presently, Sheyan’s physique was 49 points and he even possessed his indomitable ‘Stronghold’ innate as his second layer of defence . Yet, with just a casual retaliation strike by the Licker, all his defences were seemingly reduced to tofu like existences .
Within a split second, Sheyan broke into an indescribable kind of hysterical panic . If he didn’t do anything, he would inevitably perish .
All the cells within his body were unanimously feedbacking a deadly threat to his brain .
Sheyan observed as his HP plummeted downwards a descending elevator . Without hesitation, he consumed the ‘Ancient Gjesi’ herb medicine . In a flash, his vitality was a 100% restored and the single disease plaguing his body was instantly expelled .
When the ‘Ancient Gjesi’ herb medicine took effect, that immeasurably rich sensation of death simultaneously vanished from his heart .
One could tell, though this unbeatable abomination had been weakened by the ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine, the pestilence virus it carried was equally horrifying; its killing potency equally lethal, but couldn’t be weakened by the herb medicine . It was something the current Sheyan was completely incapable of defying .
When Sheyan attempted to view his combat log, all he could see was blank . Even his perceptive sense had been utterly suppressed by the difficulty of this world .
One could fathom how vast the disparity of difficulty had widened, the moment Sheyan entered this inner core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland . Just a single ordinary predator could reduce him to such a sorry state .
Thinking of that, Sheyan raised his vigilance to a maximum, as he fixated his gaze on the Licker, who was rolling and hissing in agony several tens of metres away .
Even though Sheyan had virtually no experience in dealing with abominable creatures of this sort, he still understood the logic – an injured beast is the scariest .
Although the Licker appeared relatively weakened in this state, Sheyan believed that if he recklessly charged in boldly now, he would certainly have to pay for such contempt . Paying with his limbs, or perhaps his life .
Only after retreating away and pulling apart the distance, did Sheyan fished out his improved ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine and smeared it across the wound on his chest . In this manner, he obviously masqueraded the scent emitting out from his wound .
Then, he hastily leapt up; intending to chase up to Mbenga .
In his plans, Sheyan hadn’t factored in slaying or hunting any freakish creature at all . Hence, he harboured no intentions to finish off the Licker while the iron was still hot . More critically, he didn’t have the luxury of time to slay this beast, and its wretched hissing would definitely attract the attention of its comrades .
Sheyan crept cautiously and unhurriedly, as he gestured towards the direction that Mbenga had fled . Then, he gently flicked off the greyish white cerebral tissue substances that were smeared across the surface of his ‘+7 West’ long saber .
Yet at this very moment, a shrilling long pike catapulted through the air, speeding with unbelievable velocity, as it stabbed in and utterly bore through the Licker’s body!
Regardless of humans or beasts, being impaled by such a thick wooden pike would be detrimentally fatal .
Yet immediately after the pike punctured through the Licker’s lungs, and despite having its brain mutilated earlier on, the Licker bolted abruptly towards the direction where the pike had flown in . Counter-attacking with such terrifying pace, could it even be described as gravely wounded?
This crafty beast was seemingly immune to pain, or only feigning being incapacitated, determining the location of its foe by exploiting the moment they attacked . Only when its opponent was most relaxed, did it retaliate wildly with thunderbolt impetus; sacrificing its body to attack!
Seeing that his attack had landed, Mbenga immediately broke into frantic fleeing . Yet how could his speed be compared to that terrifying monstrosity?
After brief moments, Mbenga had already sprinted 50-60 metres away . Instead, the gap between both parties continued to shrink rapidly .
Yet of all moments, Mbenga actually slipped as he tumbled pathetically forward .
Moments later, the maroon fork tongue of this obnoxious beast could already lick Mbenga’s forehead, as a pungent nauseating stench surged into Mbenga’s nostrils!!!
Within the next second, just a single second, the massive claws of this Licker would drill holes in Mbenga’s body, before ripping it asunder into fleshy shreds .
Yet in this instant, the distantly spectating Sheyan was instead heaving a sigh of relief . Because he had noticed, that where Mbenga had tripped, was simply a plot of levelled ground . It was actually impossible for him to trip .
This goes to say, Mbenga had purposely reduced his speed……
It also indicated that unless Mbenga was truly courting death, he must have a solid reason to be confident that the Licker would be incapable of assaulting him .
All of a sudden, a large cloud of dust puffed up, as a fence of 5-6 thick pikes drilled out from the ground . Differing from other pikes, these pikes shockingly shone with a metallic brilliance . Though forged with an ordinary material, one could tell this fence had been crafted with utmost care; possessing both the lightweight tenacity of wooden pikes and the hardness of the metal .
The fence thrust towards the Licker with full force, appearing as though it had moronically clashed into a pike fence itself .
Within a flurry, its body was penetrated by the ‘forest’ of pikes!
Following that, the Licker did it utmost to scramble forward but had evidently lost its fanatical and frightening demeanour . Instead, it impressed a miserable and comical sensation, like that of a skinned frog being hung in a wet market .
Pools of turbid blood trickled down the pike fence, as acrid white fumes spiralled up as though the fence was being corroded .
Mbenga then stamped down forcefully, seemingly triggering yet another mechanism . Within an instant, that pike fence that was still puncturing the Licker’s body, forcibly ripped towards another direction . Turbid blood and chartreuse-coloured bodily fluids splattered in all directions, as the Licker’s body was torn into mangled chunks!
By this point, Mbenga was already frenetically spearing forward . Right before the Licker could lower its head, another pike drilled in and punctured through . Following that, Mbenga lifted his hand up high, as he faced the altar and released a terrifying roar!
It was as though even the dreadful encompassing thick fog was being dispersed by his roar .
In this instance, Sheyan suddenly felt like this unfamiliar, honest, straightforward and loyal black guy, Mbenga, had seemingly transformed into a whole new person .
However, Sheyan’s attention was instantly entranced by something else… . indeed! An item all contestants dreamt of and pursued . A key, a silver glittering key!!!
But when Sheyan picked up that key, he suddenly felt something was amiss .
It was a mystifying sensation, as though an incorporeal pair of humongous eyes were staring down at him from the blue dome of heaven; callously and ruthlessly eyeing their souls . A complete sense of helplessness floated up the depths of his heart, as though the entire world was now his enemy; crazily attempting to banish his existence .
At this instance, Mbenga stood rigidly where he was with jaws dropped, seemingly suffering from a much harsher backlash .
Sheyan frantically rushed to his side and delivered a vicious slap to Mbenga’s face; smacking his face till blood streamed out his nostrils . Then, Sheyan howled feverishly .
“Run!!!”
Mbenga immediately recovered his senses upon being slapped . His pupils returned to its original shape, and his reddened scar similarly soothed .
Sheyan hauled him along as they fled in panic, but after sprinting for a couple dozen of metres, Mbenga abruptly lost his senses again; yelling aloud ‘waliwala’ gibberish as he clutched his head . Somehow, he then grabbed Sheyan and dashed towards the direction of that elevated altar .
Knowing that Mbenga must’ve recovered a certain portion of his memories, Sheyan followed him as they sprinted frantically .
A ripple stirred within the thick concentrated fog behind them, as it was pregnant with an astronomical danger . Instantly after, a crimson blood forelimb emerged and heavily stomped onto the ground, sending debris scattering wildly . The creature, alarmed by Sheyan’s previous battle, was shockingly a boss Licker!!!
It was as if this creature was utilizing a spirit based mystical link to lock onto Sheyan and Mbenga, as such at this moment, their bodily camouflage was rendered completely useless .
Fortunately, Mbenga had once again managed to recover certain fragments of memory, as he led Sheyan with utmost clarity; making lefts and rights, while repeatedly triggering the mechanisms of the remnants of the traps the Ndipaya tribe had left behind .
The rumblings of mechanism snares thundered incessantly . Although they ended up like dried and rotten twigs in the face of that boss Licker, the snares had sufficed to cause slight inconvenience to the Licker; thereby hampering its movement speed .
At present, Sheyan once again realized Mbenga’s capabilities had improved substantially . Or perhaps, from another perspective, he was gradually recovering his original capabilities?
Throughout their journey here, it had been Sheyan leading Mbenga . Yet their roles had reversed, and Mbenga was now dashing forward while dragging Sheyan behind .
In a flash, Mbenga hauled Sheyan back into the plaza . This place remained a scene of mournful ghostly eeriness .
Instead, Mbenga charged straight for that monumental serpent statue, before hurling out two javelins he picked up earlier at statue’s eyes of gem . Not only did those eyes not shatter, they were instead pushed inwards . Within a second, two congealed beams shot out and converged on the floor right ahead of the statue .
Mbenga dashed towards the incandescent spotlight of the statue’s beaming eyes . Unexpectedly, he reached out his hand and lifted the stone covering that area . Then, he grasped a ring handle beneath and tugged it .
Boom! A sonorous rumbling resounded, as the entire plaza tremored . Mbenga then led Sheyan as they charged towards the largest grand hall hut .
Not far from where Sheyan picked up that golden egg, was shockingly a black and narrow hole; one that could roughly squeeze two individuals in .
The duo darted in frantically, as thunderous smashing sounds reverberated above; as though the heavens were falling, and the earth rumbling . That boss Licker was nearing them indefinitely, its tremendous claws cleaving around in all directions .
Within an instant, the solidly unbreakable grand hall hut was being flattened like a matchstick box, as massive shockwaves from the collapsing swept through that secret tunnel, and into Sheyan from behind . Its intensity was seemingly not one bit inferior to the shockwave of an airstrike . Sheyan felt as though a humongous invisible pillar had pounded his back, as he was sent flying with limbs dancing about, before crashing heavily against a wall of this secret tunnel .
Upon impact, Sheyan momentarily saw swivelling golden stars as blood streamed from his face . Even worst, he could smell an unbearably fishy stench . It seemed like that boss Licker had activated a toxic halo ability… .
Cursing ‘shit’ silently in his heart, mere seconds past since smelling that fishy stench, before his body disastrously numb . Thinking about the rapid effects of this toxin, his eyes soon saw darkness as Sheyan passed out .
[ Warning! Warning! Contestant no . 1018’s duration of stay in this world has expired ]
[ Warning! Warning! Contestant no . 1018 has entered the core inner reaches of the Kijuju Marshland in this hidden world . A fee of 5,000 utility points will be deducted for every hour ]
[ Warning! If you have insufficient utility points, your equipments will be forcibly used as mortgage . If still insufficient, you will be forcibly transported out of this hidden world ]
Startled away by this list of notifications, Sheyan slowly opened his eyes . Amidst the indescribable peace and serenity all around, Sheyan could only feel sores throughout his weak body .
Scanning around, he noticed distinct traces of artificial constructions .
The round ceiling was around 7-8 metres high and curved with an astonishing radian . The stone boulders that made up the walls had evident vestiges of chiselling and hacking with hatchets . Evidently, this engineering project had been broad and powerfully done .
The ground was exceedingly dry and coated with white fine soil, and an awful fishy stench pervaded the air here .
At present, Sheyan could feel a slight stickiness at the corner of his lips . Touching it a little, he noticed light cyan traces on his fingertips . Upon careful inspection, it was probably herb medicines that were force fed to him; possibly an act by Mbenga .
Within this magnificent space, was a broad stone table, and atop that table……was surprisingly something bewildering .
It was actually a sandbox .
An enormous sandbox!
This sandbox was probably constructed with a material analogous to cement; a material with excellent plasticity when moulding, but solid as a rock upon drying .
Materials that resemble cement weren’t actually rare . In ancient China, there was even a method of constructing city walls that involved blending chicken blood, glutinous rice and clay . Although that method wasn’t feasible for large-scale projects due to its high costs, the city walls it held weren’t inferior to present era cement . Hence, such a material being employed by these Ndipaya aborigines wasn’t an exceptionally peculiar scene .
Instead, Sheyan wasn’t amazed by the material of that sandbox, but its contents .
The outer perimeter of the sandbox exhibited a dried purplish-brown colour, of which 7-8 sporadically separated and slightly elevated regions were demarcated out .
With one look, Sheyan could tell that dry purplish brown regions represented the outer reaches of the Kijuju Marshland .
Amongst those 7-8 slightly elevated regions, miniature huts crafted with straw and wood could be seen . Evidently, those represented the villages of the exiled Ndipaya barbarians .
Recalling his memories, Sheyan could figure out the few villages where he swept through . However, remaining few villages were all located towards the other side, and right now, Sheyan could vividly observe that those villages were far beyond his reach .
A partitioned region laid between the inner and outer reaches of the Kijuju Marshland and looked approximately to be 20 kilometres wide . A dull red shade of sand was used to indicate that partitioned region, which could also indicate extreme danger . Moreover, the sandbox also revealed 2-3 secret passageways .
Causing him to be speechless with shock, the Ndipaya inner reaches was actually a tremendous highland . Looking from afar, it was as though a massive platform was floating on the Kijuju Marshland!
Except, the miasma of mist and fog enshrouding this highland was outrageously saturated and malicious . It would never disperse, and thus, it was impossible to observe this highland from afar .
The recent dangers Sheyan encountered in the inner core reaches all happened atop this highland, distinctively indicated by this sandbox .
Sheyan could see a total of 11 villages on this highland, and the largest one amongst them was the exact place where Sheyan and Mbenga had been pursued by that boss Licker .
Furthermore, a clear pocket-sized serpent sculpture could be seen as well .
However, the immense shocker was… . their current location wasn’t the uttermost core of this Kijuju Marshland!!
It could at most be considered as the inner core reaches .
According to this sandbox, this wasn’t the ultimate nucleus zone yet . The true hinterland, the genuine innermost core reaches, was actually at the highland’s…… . .
All of a sudden, a clear ‘ding~ling~ling ding~ling~ling’ jingling drifted it from outside .
Sheyan was jolted out from his thoughts as he spun around, and immediately snatched a blazingly lighted torch from the wall beside . Instead, he noticed a stone door ahead .
Pulling open the door, under the irradiation of the torch, Sheyan could observe a flickering gold radiance within the dark passageway ahead . Bending his back, Sheyan picked up a thumb-sized golden bell .
The pendulum of this golden bell appeared extremely dainty and delicate . It was forged with thin gold, where a grimacing devil face had been carved at the front; its teeth, nose and ears were exceptionally distinct . Even the vein lines across its face were imitated to perfection, and its neck swelled slightly . Upon closer inspection, seven golden pearls were imbued and swaying within, as the bell emitted sweet-sounding jingles .
In spite of all these, the golden bell’s top was smeared with fresh blood . When Sheyan picked it up, the blood had been dripping, droplet by droplet, from the golden bell’s surface . As Sheyan examined this bell, he marvelled at the wonderful craftsmanship, that would surely cause present era artisans to gasp in amazement; an illusion of an artwork dropped from heaven .
Logically speaking, within the primitive and barbaric Ndipaya tribe, it was absolutely impossible for them to possess such incredibly splendid craftsmanship . However, if linked with everything that Sheyan witnessed so far, then it could be roughly accepted .
As he continued advancing for a dozen plus metres, Sheyan noticed a severed limb lying on the floor . It was a human’s right arm, with a tattoo inscribed on its sturdy muscles .
At present, the arm was still reflexively twitching, where the hand remained tightly gripping onto a strange saber .
Only after exerting some strength, did Sheyan manage to free the saber shaft from that hand . One could tell how tight the hand was gripping before it got severed .
Sheyan continued along this passageway and discovered many corpses littered along the way . These corpses adorned the attire of the Ndipaya tribe, where their faces had been tattooed with clear serpent patterns . Although they had perished, their ferocious and vicious auras remained vividly portrayed, causing one to be intimidated at first glance . They either died from a spear to their heart or a saber slash across their neck . Yet strangely, these corpses unexpectedly didn’t display signs of struggling .
Suddenly, a silhouette filtered through the passageway ahead, that appeared rather identical to Mbenga . Sheyan immediately gave chase with large strides .
Yet after a short span of seconds, Sheyan arrived at a split road ahead . His pupils instantly contracted as he realized that silhouette had vanished!
After pausing for a long while at this split road, Sheyan attempted to identify the direction . Pondering a little, he then knelt and inspected the orientation of the ground, before heading off into one of the passageways .
After trudging 20-30 metres into this passageway, he noticed a series of collaborations and crushed rocks . Another stretch of distance later, numerous deep sinkholes and a random pile of rubble appeared .
All these weren’t caused by fights but clearly worn out crumbling after years of non-repair .
Soon after, Sheyan was trekking through puddle clumps, which diffused out a rotting yet frosty stench . Each step into the puddles resulted in bone piercing chills, whereas the depth of these puddles varied . Some places were knee deep, while some were waist deep .
Abruptly, without warning, Sheyan halted his footsteps to listen .
He could hear incomparably distinct waddling sounds approaching . Evidently, a group of individuals were waddling towards here .
As he listened, he realized they didn’t seem to be pursuing but rather, searching for something .
Sheyan dared not to make a single move . Mbenga wasn’t travelling in a group, therefore what remains, should inevitably be the guards of this place . If Sheyan didn’t guess wrong, the strength of those guards ought to be above the foes he faced earlier .
Having reapplied the herb medicine previously, Sheyan still didn’t dare to be too careless . He retreated several steps before locating one of the puddles . Then, he crouched within the waist deep water .
Soon after, those few enemies surfaced before Sheyan’s sight . Through the rippling and muddy waters, Sheyan attempted to probe them . After two consecutive probing tries, he finally obtained their name .
[ Ndipaya Kingdom Guardians ]
The other information was all question marks .
Those Ndipaya guardians suddenly appeared to have noticed something vital, as they hurriedly marched towards this passageway, that was filled with accumulated stagnant water .
Upon reaching a crossroad, they glanced around as though seeking out something, but not being able to find it .
Yet all of a sudden, those 3 Ndipaya Kingdom Guardians abruptly lost their footing and crashed into the waist-deep muddy waters . They were obviously extremely elite trained warriors . Not panicking or scrambling, a ruthlessness flashed on their faces as they pulled out their weapons and slashed away within the puddle sump .
Clank! Clank! They seemed to have struck against something solid .
Shua la! A black figure suddenly lunged out of the water with his arms outstretched . The figure’s back looked exactly like Mbenga, where his muscles swelled sturdily; appearing as hard as steel, dawning terror on all! His vigour was at its maximum, and within a flurry, he surprisingly forced the 3 Ndipaya Kingdom Guardians deep into another channel .
Not too long later, decapitated limbs, heads and blood spilling intestines were spewed everywhere . Living beings a moment ago, they were reduced to a dismembered mess of grievances within an instant . Such an oppressive sight truly left an immense shadow over the hearts of all who witnessed it .
Presently, Sheyan’s facial muscles were trembling .
“What the hell happened to Mbenga?”
As he uttered his sentence, the veins were bulging on his forehead and his hands were tightly clutching onto a saber shaft . His voice seemed to have been squeezed through the gaps of his teeth!
Suddenly, Mbenga pranced out from that channel . Entirely soaked in fresh blood, a long chain-like item was strapped across his waist . It was dripping with blood .
Upon close inspection, Sheyan realized it was astoundingly a long string of human ears! It appeared extraordinarily brutal and malevolent .
As Mbenga gazed at Sheyan, his blood-thirsty eyes flickered before turning into utter perplexment . He then charged towards Sheyan and caught his hand while exclaiming .
“Hurry, go!”
Very quickly, Sheyan could hear the clamorous swooshing sounds of trampling in the water . His scalp instantly tingled!
Just from hearing the swooshing sounds, he could guess a minimum amount of 7-8 guardians were fiercely charging over . If he didn’t run, would he just stay here and wait for death?
Although the effects of Sheyan’s herb medicine was out of the ordinary, bear this in mind, it could only be effective more than 3 metres away . Everything would be revealed within a 3 metres radius . Moreover, this channel passageway was merely 4-5 metres broad… . . which meant, once those guardians could catch up to them in this passageway, the chances of being discovered would be hundred percent .
Therefore, under the leadership of Mbenga, Sheyan sprinted speedily through this maze-like passage channels . While sprinting crazily, Mbenga constantly whacked his weapon against the walls; causing cave-ins and rumbles wherever he passed, leaving his enraged pursuers furiously hollering .
Mbenga seemed to be extremely familiar with the routes here, as he shuttled through lefts and rights . Occasionally, he even triggered hidden mechanisms, transforming dead ends into paths of life .
Eventually, a twinkling light greeted their sight ahead, a glaring ray of light!
They both squinted their eyes as they charged out from this tunnel exit . Even though Sheyan had already speculated this from the sandbox earlier, he couldn’t help gasping for a chilling breath!!
As it turns out, the tunnel exit was astoundingly atop a 60-metres towering cliff!
Beneath them, was a shockingly enormous valley . The horizons of this valley were vast and clear, untainted by the ever-present fog . Instead, plains of peerless magnificent buildings were erected within!!
These buildings were simply breathtaking, but on closer inspection, were tarnished by the wreckage and destruction of time .
These buildings exhibited similar flair to the large Ndipaya huts outside but infused with an added solemn profundity . Underlying beneath the ravaged ruins of time, was a blatant grievance and helplessness of a thousand years!
The afternoon was concluding, as the gradually west inclining sun shone down from the sky; plating a melted golden shade over these tremendous and glorious ruins .
The city of ruins emanated with doubled splendour and doubled melancholy .
At this moment, Sheyan could finally deduce the true identities of these Ndipaya aborigines . They were actually adherents; citizens of a once majestic and glorious kingdom .
When the kingdom crumbled under bloodshed and insanity, these loyal citizens of the kingdom fled to their sacred ground as they struggled at death’s door . In the end, this unique, natural stronghold of the Kijuju Marshland managed to preserve a remnant of the kingdom .
However, due to a deficiency in written inheritance records, and after countless generations of loyal citizens departed, they had forgotten their glorious culture and advanced skillsets .
They silently existed here, where the only inheritance left was religion . Because only by brainwashing one’s mind with religion and belief, could the most devoted and fearless warriors be created . That was the most crucial factor in maintaining their rule .
At present, with the guardians encroaching in, Sheyan couldn’t care much about sentiments as he followed Mbenga to swiftly climb down the edge of this cliff . This cliff wasn’t very steep . Merely, its rocks had been relatively weakened by wind erosion .
As such, they occasionally lost their footing, were rock fragments would crumble down like a mini-landslide . If not for his ‘+7 West’ saber stabbing deep into the rocks with every step, Sheyan would’ve tumbled down long ago .
When those pursuing guardians arrived and witnessed their targets unexpectedly climbing down, they furiously cursed and snarled . Nevertheless, they had no intentions of pursuing, but successively raise their weapons as they hurled them with matchless ferocity towards the mountain climbers .
Fortunately, Sheyan had already anticipated their move beforehand . He directly loosened his single grip, and allowed himself to freefall for 5-6 metres . Upon noticing a large protruding rock, he instantly jammed the ‘+7 West’ saber viciously into the rocky cliff, right before that rock .
Rock fragments instantly sprayed out and crumbled down, as his ‘+7 West’ saber etched out a long streak of sparks along the rocky cliff . Dust and smoke fumigated out, as this incisive long saber finally caught onto something .
The hostile javelins and pikes soared through the air, but were blocked off by that protruding rock . Clink! Clank! Clink! Clank! Clamorous clashing ensued .
Sheyan no longer tarried . When his body cushioned the impact, he kicked off from the rocky cliff and borrowed the momentum to pull out his saber . Once again, he stabbed his saber deep into the rocky cliff after descending for 5-6 metres .
Although this method dealt severe damages to the weapon’s durability, it was the only last resort Sheyan could take . Besides, he was striving on with merely a single arm, which was really an inconvenient state to be in .
Finally, he landed safely while his pursuers were expectedly unable to give chase . Sheyan then received a notification from his nightmare imprint, when both his feet touched the land of the city of ruins .
[ Warning! Warning! Contestant no . 1018 has expired his duration of stay in this world ]
[ Warning! Warning! Contestant no . 1018 has entered the innermost core reaches of the Kijuju Marshland in this hidden world . A fee of 10,000 utility points will be deducted for every hour ]
[ Warning! If you have insufficient utility points, your equipment will be forcibly used as mortgage . If still insufficient, you will be forcibly transported out of this hidden world ]
Sheyan inhaled a chilling breath of air .
10,000 utility points every hour! This could no longer be described as burning money, but only a single term – wastage!
As Sheyan surveyed around, he realized that Mbenga had once again disappeared amidst the intense battling .
Right now, upon beholding the ruins up close, did he discover that the stone material employed to construct the unrivalled walls of this magnificent city, was extremely peculiar . The rocks were ashen colored, resembling that of a corpse’s rigid skin after being dead for a full day and night .
Looking once was fine, yet to carefully inspect fully, the awe-inspiring walls extended endlessly; spreading towards distant lands before vanishing gradually within the crumbling fences, overgrown shrubs and vines, and other dilapidated ruins .
Furthermore, Sheyan also noticed that right at the bottom of this cliff, where he presently stood, were clusters of white bones . A minority of these were human skeletons, while the majority appeared like humongous fish; as though individuals would normally throw residues of food down here .
As he spectated the scenery, Sheyan could deduce all the sequence of events, the sporadic fragments hidden in history .
In the recent few decades, a misfortune should have befallen the entire inner reaches of the Kijuju Marshland . Probably, a certain equilibrium of ecology that existed for millenniums had been broken or even lost control .
Over time, the Ndipaya inhabitants of the inner reaches could no longer withstand abominable creatures like the Lickers and mutated Arachnidacrabs…
Villages were abandoned one after another, and ultimately, even their greatest consecrated core village was pathetically abandoned… .
Under such circumstances, the remaining few individuals, nobles with the qualifications to enter the grand temple hall, could only sorrowfully retreat back to their last line of defence – taking refuge within the maze of tunnels .
Most likely, the tunnel was designed in that manner as a final line of defence to preserve remnants of their temple . By relying on this favourable topography to resist those mutated abominations, both sides plunged into a state of stalemate .
Furthermore, those Ndipaya Guardians still had to eat and drink . Thus, Sheyan reckoned the architects of the ancient Ndipaya kingdom had factored in that point as well .
Amidst the spider network of tunnels, there should be one or a few that would lead deep underground; a place directly in contact with underground rivers . As such, the unceasing flows of the river would supply them with adequate food and drink… .
Of course, Sheyan’s conjecture had lots of misgivings . For example, how did the ecological equilibrium of thousands of years get broken? What sort of mysterious role did Mbenga have to play in this act?
Nevertheless, Sheyan believed that though the details were somewhat inconsistent, his own deduction should still roughly exhibit the general state of affairs . Sheyan definitely wouldn’t frequently commit errors of going in a terribly wrong direction right from the start .
Following that, Sheyan fixated his attention on the city’s center .
There was an astonishingly massive altar there . Atop the altar, he could vaguely observe traces of heaped things .
Sheyan’s eyes flickered . “If I’m not wrong, that must be where they ignited a bonfire, a radiance that can envelop the entire city . Therefore, that should be the massive bonfire Bernard Fokke detailed in his journal log . ”
Thus, Sheyan was exceedingly near to his destination .
However, as the saying goes, in a 100 li journey, only at the 90 li mark can the journey be considered half complete .
Sheyan understood this logic clearly – the closer he gets to his destination, likewise the nearer he gets to the truth, that would be the most treacherous part . Bracing his mental state, he advanced forward……
Remnants of the sun gradually hid behind dark clouds, casting a combusting golden periphery around the dark clouds . A gentle afterglow remained to cascade onto the scenic city of ruins .
The chilliness of night had started emerging, as though the sun was retreating helplessly in defeat to the darkness .
A lofty sarcophagus stood before Sheyan, where the thousand years erosion of time and wind had foiled its intended shape .
Clear vestiges of cracks could be seen, yet strangely, its surroundings were totally barren . The lid of this sarcophagus had already been lifted into a tiny slit, where the visible queer black aura within was emitting gentle ‘chi-chi’ whispers; pervading into the atmosphere, nobody could fathom if it was a deadly poison, a trap of the bodily fumigation of a thousand years of decomposing sour stench .
Borrowing this free time, Sheyan lowered his head to observe; a purplish shade polluted a trivial abrasion at his waist and was spreading deeper into his skin .
This was a superficial wound inflicted by a random trap earlier . Even though the mechanism’s arrows had gone through a thousand years of sunlight, wind and rain, it still carried an effective toxin . At present, Sheyan could feel that side of his waist turning numb .
With a flick of his wrist, Sheyan retrieved a random knife from his storage . He then quietly sliced out a ‘十’ on his wound, allowing the blood to rapidly drain out . His wound throbbed painfully, alongside a sliver of numbing itch . Sheyan had found out the arrow tips were smeared with metallic toxins, such as lead, phosphorus and others . It wasn’t those neurotoxins that certain creatures secrete, or the rotting flesh kind of botulinum .
Therefore, though this injury wasn’t fatal to his life, it was increasingly tough to expel . It wasn’t similar to venom from creatures, that could be alleviated with instant effects from the appropriate antidote .
After injected a medicine dosage, Sheyan shut his eyes for a brief rest . After observing the miasma dispersing from that sarcophagus, he sauntered towards it . Then, he strenuously pushed off the lid of the sarcophagus . After ignoring the decomposed skeletal remains, he retrieved a diamond, a block of gold, and half a bag of golden sand; of which Sheyan immediately sold off for utility points .
After all, he was in desperate need of utility points!
Indeed, ever since he ventured into this city of ruins, Sheyan had started paying a fee of 10,000 utility points per hour . Truly an act of burning money not just in name, but also in reality .
It was mainly because Sheyan had a lapse in memory . Back in the inner reaches, he was unfortunately affected by the venomous halo of that crimson red boss Licker and had fainted .
When he awoke, he was already residing within the core tunnels into the innermost reaches . Prior to that, he was definite rescued and treated by Mbenga, sadly, there was no way of him salvaging the loss time .
During that entire period, Sheyan was squandering his utility points at a rate of 5,000 per hour . But right now, the rate had skyrocketed into an outrageous amount .
His only reprisal was, this was, after all, a world where riches and treacheries coexisted .
While fumbling around the city of ruins, Sheyan accidentally triggered a certain mechanism . Fortunately, most of its threat had corroded with time, and only a single danger was unleashed . Though that was so, it seemingly claimed almost half of Sheyan’s life . In the end, Sheyan managed to discover this place, and solely from the harvest he acquired here, it was sufficient for him to carry on probing around the city of ruins for 7-8 hours .
At this point, the setting sun once again peeped out from behind the dark clouds; casting a scorching radiance onto his body . A passionate and spicy warmth . The remnants of buildings were also constructed with special materials . Under the boiling golden rays, they exuberated an indescribable gold and jade in glorious splendour .
Prior to infiltrating the historical ruins, Sheyan very prudently investigated the entire composition and routes . Yet never did he expect, once he entered this labyrinth of crumbling fences and dilapidated walls, finding a straightforward route to his objective was excruciatingly arduous .
The route he planned beforehand had dissolved into a joke!
Don’t mention those unfathomably deep, and insurmountable ravines, the whole city was polluted with snares and pitfalls . It was simply impossible to tread along a straight route .
Of course, Sheyan considered employing other methods . Utilizing the superhuman strength of contestants to leap through the towering ruins, and operate high above the ground . In the end, the consequences were worse off; where he triggered terrifying mechanisms, forcing the helpless him to obediently traverse along the ground .
All of a sudden, Sheyan glanced backwards because he had vividly heard clear ‘shua la shua la’ sounds of repetitive dragging footsteps .
“Mbenga?”
“Not possible! Those footsteps sound much nimbler than his!”
“Then, it must be an enemy!”
Sheyan immediately rushed ahead, leaving behind that right corner . Yet after a short span of seconds, he glanced back and noticed someone . Someone that had left a deep, profound impression!
A dried corpse of bag and bones . Mystifying unparalleled movement speed with completely deformed steps .
Indeed, this was someone who had etched a profound impression on Sheyan .
With one sweep of his gaze, he could perceive it was in the same category as they Plaga Type Host that welcomed them in a village previously! Perhaps, this was even a stronger version .
Against this opponent, it was possible to resist and not surrender; except, where would Sheyan find a mutated Arachnidacrab to suppress it now? More crucially, Sheyan’s concocted herb medicine didn’t seem to be effective in this fogless innermost core reaches . It could probably at most disrupt and cause some confusion to it, detecting Sheyan was still possible .
Observing such a state, Sheyan very bluntly produced ‘Ambition’ and shot it .
Beforehand, Sheyan had also smeared the ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine onto ‘Ambition’ . Therefore, even though his shot dealt meagre damages to that Plaga Host, the negative effect of the ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine surprisingly still affected it slightly .
The Plaga Host’s movement speed became noticeably slower, but of course, it remained faster than Sheyan .
They toured through several routes, with the Plaga Host chasing ravenously behind while Sheyan sprinting desperately ahead .
Suddenly, Sheyan executed a bizarre action . Although the route ahead was perfectly intact without obstructions, Sheyan bent his legs and leapt forward like a fish . Soaring through the air for a distance that would put an olympic long jump champion to shame, he cushioned his fall with his single hand and rolled forward .
If his pursuer was a highly intelligent creature, it would surely whiff an incomparably intense scent of conspiracy from Sheyan’s actions . However, this Plaga Type host had utterly degraded to animalistic instincts . It only desired to accomplish two tasks .
Feasting and propagating, both of which were intimately related to the prey it was hunting ahead . Propelled by those drivers, its pitiful mind could only think of a single notion – to dash in the shortest route available, with the fastest speed . As such, all ominous premonitions of danger would be neglected!
Without any second thoughts, the Plaga host stomped down onto the region where Sheyan had leapt across . Under its bodily weight, a sonorous rumble abruptly reverberated from the stone wall beside . Instantly after, that stone wall shifted aside with a bang, while a grounded stone slab slid away speedily . From within the ruinous heap, a sculpture thrust out!
This sculpture resembled a serpent-headed warrior . Its muscles were fashioned with excellent clarity, but the most defined part was its man part beneath; truly exaggerated and distinct .
This wasn’t some obscene pornographic scene, but worshipping fertility was commonly seen amongst primitive tribes . The main deity these Ndipaya people worshipped should be that gigantic coiled serpent, and probably the second was the goddess of fertility; analogous to the daoists of China who worship the Jade Emperor and then Taishang Laojun .
A whistle-like object was equipped with the gigantic serpent-headed sculpture, and as the sculpture thrust forward, that object would cut through the air while releasing a piercing hissing sound .
The sculpture was installed to be kneeling, as it carved out a long streak of sparks along the ground, before thrusting in fanatically towards that Plaga Type host .
The hissing of that gigantic serpent-headed sculpture was truly cutting; like a file scraping against one’s eardrum, shuddering one’s head giddy . From afar, Sheyan frowned as his eardrums had also suffered injuries .
Caught totally unprepared, that sculpture collided against the Plaga Host from behind; driving it forward and pinning it to the solid wall ahead .
Kacha! Kacha! Cracking sounds of bone fracturing echoed out . Yet at this moment, the four limbs of the Plaga host strangely wrapped backwards!
This was an action normal humans were incapable of . Under normal circumstances, the only consequence would be having all limbs dislocated . Yet when the Plaga host exerted strength, it actually managed to wrap its limbs around that gigantic serpent-headed sculpture .
Boom! It squeezed and crumbled off the waist of this incomparably solid stone sculpture . Once again, it recovered its freedom .
As the stone sculpture crumbled into a puff of dust and debris, the Plaga Host shifted its target to Sheyan once again .
Nevertheless, the Ndipaya kingdom was a flourishing era of splendorous craftsmanship and arts, as were their pristine interlocked stratagems of snares they established; a perfect countermeasure for brats who ignorantly wreak havoc within the city!
Right at the instance, the stone sculpture crumbled, an incredibly hoarse crunching sound transmitted out from a nearby wall! It sounded like gears and chains were rotating and instantly after, a short spear whizzed out from an insignificant looking hole .
That short spear twisted and meandered through the air like a swimming serpent . Though that Plaga Host attempted to dodge, the short spear pierced in with lightning speed and penetrated through its back . Its unstoppable momentum then carried the Plaga Host and nailed it onto the opposite stone wall!
Such degree of injuries would be fatal to a human, but to this Plaga Type Host, it only served to infuriate it .
Barking raspily, the Plaga Host pushed against the wall with both hands; forcibly pushing its body out from the end of the serpent-shaped short spear . Its human body was merely a tool, as long as its nucleus wasn’t harmed, all forms of assaults would only compound its ludicrosity .
Yet right before Plaga Host forced its body out from the spear, a clang resounded from it!
Like an umbrella, 7-8 incisive slender blades fanned out from the spear’s body .
Within a second, a massive cavity was ripped out from the Plaga Host’s chest, exposing its yellowish ribs where even the stone wall behind could be seen . Despite so, the Plaga Host remained nonchalant to such injuries, as it wrestled out from the front and continued charging forth .
Who knew, when it stomped forward with a single step, another ‘Ka ka’ mechanism resounded .
Two intersecting murderous beams shot out from tiny holes on both lateral walls . Once again, it was that exact serpent-shaped short spear, yet this time, iron chains were linked to its rear .
Shua la! Shua la! The chains tightened in an instant!
Two serpent spears, one left one right, punctured into the body of that Plaga Host . Following that, the iron chains attached to their backs tightened, forming an ‘x’ across the Plaga Host’s body! Its mobility was momentarily shut down .
Quickly after, an enormous serpent-headed stone sculpture crashed out from the wall behind with a loud bang!
As for this sculpture, its hands were moulded with a gigantic stone sledgehammer .
The stone sculpture revolved with matchless fury, as a stone sledgehammer, that exceeded the weight of half a ton, smashed the upper body of the Plaga Type host into mangled smithereens!
The damage delivered by this trap could be described as an assembly of stabs, or integral pounding blunt weapons . The area of damage was truly deadly, and regardless of how strong it was, the Plaga Type Host suffered grave injuries . Mild yellowish fluids gushed from its body, causing the rocks to sizzle with corrosion as fumes spiralled up .
Nevertheless, the Plaga Host remained inexhaustible . It lashed its shrivelled arms viciously against the stone wall behind . This stone wall had already been decimated by the stone sledgehammer’s onslaught previously, and instantly collapsed .
Seizing the opportunity, the Plaga Host scrambled out of this district of snares .
Instead, Sheyan who had experienced battling a similar type creature before, was already awaiting sternly in formation . The black barrel of ‘Ambition’ aimed straight for its head .
Boom! The thunderous sound of gunfire resounded . Gunpowder fumes dispersed into the ruinous atmosphere and assailed his nostrils .
Sheyan’s shot had exploded that freak’s head! It was truly a grotesque sight, like a club smashing ruthlessly onto a watermelon .
Within a flash, decayed skull fragments, light yellowish pus and frizzy hair scattered in all directions! A horrendously vile stench pervaded into the air .
In spite of that, this freak didn’t die . Instead, it stood rigidly where it was, where a constant peristalsis was occurring at the snapped area of its neck . Large volumes of yellowish froth bubbled out before its neck quickly inflated up . Looking from above, it seemed like something was about to poke out in any second .
“Right now!”
Sheyan was waiting for this very opportunity all along .
Previously, after suffering terribly from the excessively menacing aggressiveness of that Plaga Host, he had reflected through numerous methods of dealing it within his sea of thoughts .
According to Sheyan’s analysis, the Plaga Host was completely employing its host body as armour, puppet and nutrition . Only by wounding the thing itself would be greatly effective against it . However, it constantly resided deep within its host . With Sheyan’s current might, which was minimally an entire realm beneath it, inflicting a direct blow on its true body would be extremely hard .
Yet right now, a very obvious flaw surfaced when the Plaga host underwent its evolution from Type A to Type B . At least, it was incapable of concealing its true body at this moment .
Patiently waiting for so long, Sheyan slashed down with full might . A deep-blue blade ray chopped down onto the parasitic worm, who was attempting to squeeze out the apex of the neck! This conduct was akin to mercilessly killing the tree by destroying its shoots .
Murky yellowish fluids sprayed out as this Plaga Host unleashed an incomparably sorrowful screech .
This screech wasn’t merely emotions, but instead, was a malicious sonic wave attack . Instantaneously, Sheyan’s complexion turned pale from the ear-splitting screech, as he staggered backwards with blood streaming down his ears . All his attacking momentum was momentarily ceased .
All of a sudden, a pointy shaped blackish-brown object bore out through the neck . Its revealed body was approximately half a metre large . In the next second, it unfolded a pair of fleshy wings, alongside two feelers that dangled like tails . Following that, it actually started flapping its fleshy blood wings, attempting to fly up . Its entire frame appeared identical to a fleshy massive moth, leaving one overwhelmed with terror!
This scene left Sheyan utterly stunned . He didn’t expect the mutation evolution would differ between different Plaga Type Hosts .
Nonetheless, he immediately perceived one fact – if he allowed that gigantic flesh moth to soar freely into the sky, all the mechanism snares he planned to leverage in his mind would be rendered obsolete . Without a plan to deal with an aerial opponent, he would naturally be dead meat .
Treading between the line of life and death, he could no longer care less . Roaring furiously, Sheyan pounced forward unbridled, as he swung his saber for a raging chop!
When attempting to drill out of the neck previously, this gigantic flesh moth had already been ruthlessly hacked once; a strike received during its weakest moment and most vital spot .
This time, it surprisingly failed to dodge Sheyan’s pouncing slash and forcibly endured it . The overwhelming strength of the saber’s blade sent it flying for 5-6 metres, before crashing into another district ladened with mechanism snares .
Despite so, that gigantic flesh moth wasn’t aware of its perilous surroundings, as its wings fluttered with a desire to soar into the sky . The flapping strength of its fleshy wings was immense, not at all inferior to a human’s footstep . As a result, its wings smashed against the floor as rock fragments scattered sporadically . Naturally, it triggered the trap .
Two intercrossing serpent spears jolted out once again; one missing its mark, but the other mercilessly piercing into the plump abdomen of this gigantic flesh moth . Vomit coloured pus gushed out haphazardly, as the serpent spear pinned the flesh moth onto the wall .
According to the conventional trend of the realm, most creatures with aerial capabilities would be lacking in terms of defence and life points, but made up for that deficiency with their outstanding aerial mobility . One could imagine how gravely wounded this gigantic flesh moth was from this impalation .
Sheyan was no fair sporting individual, he knew this was a nasty ‘either you die or I die’ situation . Moreover, his death would result in a bitter fate of being converted into a nest to host that fleshy parasite bug!
Thus, without any words, he lunged forward and chopped vehemently with his long saber .
His invincible ‘+7 West’ showered down a series of reckless hacks, ripping out a concentrated mass of lacerations on this incessantly struggling gigantic flesh moth . Yellowish-green pus splashed everywhere as mutilated chunks of flesh splattered outwardly!
Indeed, in accordance to Sheyan’s conjecture, every creature in this hidden world truly followed an obvious orientation – possessing deadly offensive might but when compared to other creatures of a similar tier, their HP and defence were truly lacking .
Sheyan would be dead for sure if that gigantic flesh moth obtained free reign in the skies . Sadly, it unable to escape the fetters of this snare mechanism, while Sheyan was freely slashing away .
Hence, it ultimately got hacked to death on the ground, failing to soar above even in death .
His nightmare imprint then transmitted a notification .
[ You slew a Plaga Type Host ]
Only upon receiving it did Sheyan released a long sigh of relief . He finally felt his arm had turned numbed and ceased his onslaught, as he panted heavily .
This was because he couldn’t determine if this Type B gigantic flesh moth would mutate and evolve again to a Type C before retaliating with a vengeance . As such, he could only relax when he received a clear notification .
In this place, Sheyan felt as though he was truly insignificant and not worthy of mention . Every step he took was consolidated and done with utmost prudence to stay alive . Moreover, the treacheries of this ghost land made it very likely for an awkward situation of failing to activate his final safety net, the ‘Unmodeled Amnio-tank’, in time .
At present, Sheyan was cautiously scanning around his travelling path, while rejoicing over his luck to himself .
“The ravages of time has ultimately dealt significant damages to these innumerable successions of snares . ”
Even though the artisans of the ancient Ndipaya Kingdom did their utmost to ensure these traps would last for a long time, so much so that the majority of snares hadn’t been activated, they had neglected one thing – traps require someone to trigger them! To cause one to inadvertently trigger a trap, a certain degree of concealment must be prepared… .
Instead, while those artisans were racking their brains to prolong the expiry of the snare mechanisms, they didn’t contemplate much over the concealment aspects . Thus, for Sheyan, it wasn’t difficult to pinpoint the triggering factors after cautious examinations . This also signified that Sheyan could utilize the snares of this city of ruins, to deal with diabolical and dreadful opponents .
In addition to the key to slaying that Licker with Mbenga, this Plaga Host similarly produced a key for Sheyan . However, the glow of this key was extremely peculiar . It merely emanated a mild colourless glow .
Right now, it was hard to tell how long he could carry on staying here . A rate of 10,000 utility points per hour was truly too heart aching . If he could acquire utility points from these keys, that would be the best . Hence, seizing this period of rest, Sheyan activated the two keys .
From that Licker’s chest, Sheyan first acquired nearly 10,000 utility points . Apart from that, there was another equipment and a socketing gem .
[ You obtained a precious object unique to this world: Lionheart ]
[ Lionheart ]
[ Rarity: Silver Storyline grade ]
[ Type: Precious and unique socket gem – only appears in the hidden world ‘Resident Evil, Origins’ ]
[ Description: Passed down from ancient times, ‘Lionheart’ is a powerful gem . After being buried for millennia, it has formed into an exceptionally valuable amber crystal . After being swallowed into a Licker’s body, it received nourishment from blood energy . One utilized properly, ‘Lionheart’ can demonstrate a terrifying strength ]
[ Value: You can sell it as a precious object, in exchange for 20,000 utility points . Alternatively, it can be embedded into an equipment socket . It grants +1 strength and intelligence, and enhances your offensive abilities with a persisting damages effect . Duration of 10 seconds, the damages dealt is 25% of ability damage ]
[ Ndipaya Curing Leech (special object) ]
[ Origin: All Ndipaya tribe village with shamans ]
[ Rarity: Dark-blue ]
[ Usage effects: Absorbs 200 points of blood from a unit on your side . During anytime necessary, allows a target to restore blood at a rate of 25% per second . Duration: 4 seconds . Restoring effects may result in an explosive strike . Explosive strike rate is based on the target receiving the healing treatment ]
[ Description: When absorbing blood, if unit possesses virus or curse negative effects, the same negative effects will be transmitted to the target of health restoration . The duration of negative effects lasts fully when transmitted ]
[ Warning: Leeches contain micro-toxins, resulting in a numbing effect on target – evasion drop by 3%, duration of 60 minutes ]
[ Usage requirement: Absorbing blood is a physical activity . Under normal circumstances, please allow this poor leech to rest for 30 minutes after a blood transfusion ]
[ Description: This is a natural blood enriching pouch, although it is gross when adhering to one’s body ]
Next up, Sheyan retrieved that colorless glowing key of the Plaga Host and summoned out its chest . Instead, nothing happened . Sheyan himself was rather expectant of this unprecedented colorless key, but after standing motionlessly for half a minute, the chest he was anticipating had not surfaced……
“Strange… . . ” Sheyan pondered briefly . He then proceeded to survey his surroundings, and suddenly discovered something flickering in a distant . Creeping up for a look, he realized it came from a corpse . Indeed, it was that heavily damaged, scattered and smashed headless corpse that was radiating light .
During the intense battling previously, Sheyan could already sense something was amiss . Currently, upon closer inspection after calming himself down, he noticed several doubtful points .
After this corpse had been infected, its appearance had vastly distorted beyond recognition . However, basic features like hair color or simply its attire could still be easily distinguishable .
Merely 10 seconds into his investigation, Sheyan could basically infer that this unlucky parasite-host wasn’t a native aborigine .
Deducing from the ragged cloth linings and its golden hair, this person should be one of Little Lord Fokke’s retinue who had traveled to this desolated land a decade plus ago . It was unclear how he had been infected by such a potent parasite, where he met his fate by having his corpse transformed into a bug’s nest .
“The glow should be hinting at something . ” Sheyan could very assuredly determine this point .
Deliberating briefly, Sheyan held the colorless glowing key in a posture of preparing to activate, and proceeded to walk towards the direction where the Plaga Host first showed up .
Although the sunset remained brilliantly passionate, he could still notice an identical colorless glow emitting from a dead end . It was as though a searchlight had targeted it .
Sheyan swiftly marched towards it . When he reached the crumbled ruins of this dead end, he noticed several rock fragments positioned in a ‘人’ shape, which provided a tiny space sheltered from the wind and rain . That space revealed traces of human livelihood, where a few tattered and moldy clothes had been stuffed disorderly within . In addition, a canvas bag, which was commonly seen on ships, could be seen as well .
The canvas bags of present times and the canvas bags of old are completely different concepts . The canvas bag of old was bundled up sailcloth, which winds and storms could not tear apart . These authentic canvas bags were incredibly thick and could protect the valuable items stored even when flung into vile environments .
This was Sheyan’s deduction – year in and year out, that Plaga Host must’ve curled up and nested underneath the asylum of these rocks; constantly in a state of hibernation, or a maybe a feigned death .
Nevertheless, its sensory organs allowed it to feel the tremors of the ground, hence, making it possible to sneakily hunt passing by preys . This explained why the majority of snare mechanisms in this city of ruins hadn’t been triggered by them yet .
In fact, those Ndipaya Kingdom Guardians similarly treated these freaks as a wonderful defense line . To them, apart from the concentrated siege of snare mechanisms upon entering the city of ruins, one had to square off with these dreadful and formidable shriveled corpses . Thus, any trespasser was equivalent to a dead person .
Sheyan unperturbedly surveyed around, before creeping forward . A rich stench assailed his nostrils as he picked up that canvas bag .
After the erosion of countless decades, this canvas bag had turned rigidly hard . When Sheyan tried to unfurl the sailcloth, he realized that the cloth was completely moldy and stuff, so much so that it emitted a cracking sound akin to a snapping wooden plank .
Sheyan did his utmost to cautiously open this ‘long-lasting and durable’ canvas bag . Finally, he heaved a sigh of relief, because, with the protection of the canvas bag, its contents were perfectly preserved; without a single blemish nor dust .
Right at the top, was a piece of parchment paper, scribbled with messy handwriting . Sheyan frowned as he attempted to decipher it . Gradually, he became immersed in the descriptions of one detailed as Dias……
「 Yes, one thing I can confirm, I’m about to die . 」
「 Ah, what a bitter fate… . I feel as though the devil was gazing upon us throughout this whole journey . We lost at least half our members, oh…wrong, could it be, my brain is finally starting to rot? To make such a huge miscalculation regarding simple counting . Right, only four managed to reach this place . Oh, and that horse, that demonic horse known as Momore . 」
「 What a shitty feeling, a shitty feeling indeed . I can finally understand why he was willing to generously share the secrets of the Stairway of the Sun with us . Because this secret is not one that ordinary humans can partake in . I thought it was real, that surging sensation of possessing limitless life . A pity, true pity……us foreigners are different from these aborigines . Our bodies, and this power they seek!! 」
A dull brownish speckle stained this written portion of the parchment paper . It seemed like when Dias had scribbled till here, he coughed another mouth of blood .
「 I can no longer feel pain . But, my fingers are constantly being beckoned… I can feel, they will soon take control of my body . I must seize the time I have left . 」
「 Julie, I love you . Father, I love you . Beloved Lucy, my lil angel, I promised to return with a pearl that suits you . Every second and minute of my life, I have always remembered . It is now in my bag, but a pity… . I fear I cannot personally hand it to you . Nevertheless, my soul and my promise shall reside forever in that pearl, until the day it reaches whom it should reach . 」
「 I thank……you 」
「 Final words of Bartolomeu Dias 」
After reading this testimony, Sheyan was firstly astonished . Because if he hadn’t remembered wrongly, there was also someone named Bartolomeu Dias in the real world!
Perhaps that name sounds foreign, however, if one raised the topic of Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, many would be aware of that term . Indeed, the Cape of Good Hope was first discovered by Dias . Moreover, he first named it the ‘Cape of Storms’, but was later renamed to the Cape of Good Hope by King John II of Portugal!
According to the official documentation, Dias was hired for a second expedition and perished near the Cape of Good Hope… . . instead, according to Sheyan’s current risky adventure, he had perished here .
Nevertheless, Sheyan speculated that perhaps this was actually the true history . Because the official records had clearly written – all four ships had encountered a huge storm off the cape, and none survived the calamity… . even the bodies weren’t recovered . Without finding a single surviving witnesses or corpses, it was evident the official records merely speculated as well .
Following that, Sheyan plunged into deep thoughts . Many riddles were floating up his mind like air bubbles .
“What exactly were Dias’ last words referring to, of the difference between foreigners and these aborigines? Besides, the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ is absolutely not a snack one can simply acquire and consume, otherwise, it would possibly be a fatal poison… . . ”
Only after a while, did Sheyan continue rummaging through the contents of that canvas bag . Indeed, a case was stashed in the middle, and within that case, was a pearl .
A golden pearl with majestic reflective splendor!
When Sheyan retrieved that pearl, he instantly received a notification .
[ You activated a soul mission: Final Wish of Dias ]
[ Mission summary: Return this golden pearl to Dias’ daughter or future descendants ]
[ Mission note: The history of the world you live in similarly exists a person named Bartolomeu Dias . Therefore, you can try attempting to accomplish this mission in the real world as well ]
[ Mission note: As the mission reward is a soul equipment, it can be brought out of the nightmare realm and be utilized in the real world ]
[ Mission note: As the mission reward is a soul equipment, it is a vessel for one’s soul and his last wishes . Thus, it shall remain undegradable forever, and is incapable of being strengthened ]
Due to Sheyan previously acquiring a soul equipment, he was already familiar with the sequence of proceedings . Sheyan thus accepted the mission . Even if there wasn’t a reward, a father’s final aspiration and promise cannot be simply neglected .
Following a scanning from his nightmare imprint, the properties of this soul equipment were exhibited .
[ Goldpearl of the Caribbean Sea ]
[ Origin: Latitude 17 . 32, longitude 149 . 34 . South Pacific Ocean, Tahiti, French Polynesia (magic) ]
[ Equipment rarity: Silver Storyline ]
[ Equipment position: Not activated yet, to be placed in one’s nightmare realm room, personal storage or party storage first ]
[ Equipment property: Increase 15 points of phantom charm when interacting with female individuals or creatures . Negative 10 points of phantom charm when interacting with male individuals or creatures ]
(TL: Phantom charm refers to added or minus points of charm that isn’t really counted as real added attribute point, but applies only to particular specified scenarios . )
[ Equipment usage requirements: nil ]
[ Material: Calcium carbonate, aragonite kernel ]
[ Weight: 8 g ]
[ Equipment special ability: Pearliate – Upon activating this equipment, the radiance of the ‘Goldpearl of the Caribbean Sea’ will be imbued onto you . Your perceptive sense will be doubled, but all relevant triggers of perceptive sense will still be calculated according to your actual perceptive sense . Duration: 60 minutes ]
[ Details: When ‘Pearliate’ is imbued, chances of you being discovered will increase ]
[ Details: The eyes of certain intelligent people will not be captivated by the radiance of this golden pearl . As such, the effects of ‘Pearliate’ will not be effective against them ]
[ Description: A pearl is forever . The gold diamond ore used to craft this pearl exceeds over a meter . Beneath the beauty hides a cruel price tag . To obtain it, three native divers had been crushed to death ]
[ Note: You must first complete the mission to receive the rights of utilizing this equipment ]
Sheyan continued advancing after storing the golden pearl . At present, he roughly understood the hunting patterns of the Plaga Hosts . They didn’t rely on sight, smell or hearing, but instead were attuned to the vibrations of the ground .
Therefore, his ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine was obviously useless . He reckoned that as long as he took gentle steps forward, the troubles encountered would decrease relatively .
After winding through a stone wall, a vast emptiness appeared before Sheyan . Right ahead, was a terrifyingly deep abyss . An elongated rocky bridge spanned across this abyss, and could only be described as the work of God . This rocky bridge was exceptionally narrow, allowing at most one person to pass through at any one time .
There wasn’t any protective railing on either side of the bridge, to protect from the fall that led straight into the thousand fathoms deep abyss . Just from gazing down, one would get a sense of eerie apprehension . It would be impossible to stay alive if one slipped . Apparently, this long bridge was the only way across to the other side .
Back when Sheyan was scouting from an elevated place, probably due to an awkward angle, he didn’t reckon this unfathomable abyss to be that impressive . Yet upon standing before it now, an intense sensation of abstruse vastness surged against him .
A peculiar luster could be seen lingering across the lateral rocks of this bridge . It replicated the glossy radiance of candle wax .
Without a doubt, the only way to advance was by traversing this long bridge . Without saying much, one could tell this bridge definitely held untold treacherous snares .
Sheyan attempted to encroach the bridgehead . As he stepped down, he abruptly felt a softness . An alarming shock overwhelmed him as he immediately rolled backward . However, nothing abnormal happened .
After sampling a few more times, Sheyan realized that regardless of how much he tried to avoid it, he would inevitably trigger a certain snare mechanism along the course of this long bridge . This indicated that as long as someone attempts to pass through, the snare mechanisms activating was a given .
Thus, he could also make a further deduction – there was definitely a method of surviving the deadliness of these snare mechanisms . There should be a concealed but surefire way of walking, that would only be fatal if one takes a misstep .
The remnant of the glowing sun was like blood, radiating splendidly over the horizon while dark clouds loomed around it . A sinister crimson blood splendor irradiated the entire city of ruins .
Beneath the glorious scenery, Sheyan took a deep breath as he begun inching up the long bridge .
His cautiousness and prudence had reached a max . Under the extent of his full concentration, Sheyan suddenly realized a stone platform lay at a remote distance from the bridgehead .
That stone platform was roughly 1-2 kilometers away .
Nevertheless, he could distinctly observe . Right atop that stone platform, an identical tall and sturdy, serpent-headed statue abruptly slithered up from the ground .
This statue had both arms raised up high, holding onto a gigantic mirror, spanning over 3 meters wide, that was reflecting towards here .
Within a flash, Sheyan’s eyes were pierced by the incredibly dazzling reflection; the blazing afterglow of the retreating sun . It seemingly converged at the center of that mirror, transforming into a dreadfully piercing beam . Like an arrow or a spear, it cascaded through the arc of this long bridge, reaching all the way to Sheyan!
Its awe-inspiring brilliance wasn’t confined by distance, as it domineeringly revealed the drifting smoke and dust wherever it passed .
Sheyan instantly felt an incomparably intense threat . Though the mirror upheld by that serpent-headed statue was crafted with polished crystal, it was probably enhanced with insurmountably lethal dark magic . The beam failed to disperse, as it converged the afterglow of the setting sun onto a single dot!
When the beam arrived before Sheyan, it had already expanded to the size of a flashlight . The glare of the beam remained dazzling and incisive, like a culmination of the scorching sun, causing one to refrain from staring intently .
Wherever it passed, it seemed a passage of vacuum was combusted out . Furthermore, its burning temperature even cauterized out a distinct charred mark across the long and narrow bridge . Even the rocks showed signs of melting .
Fortunately, the focused sunlight had been carved over from far to near . Although it displayed matchless speed, Sheyan was still presented with a sliver of buffer . From his position of almost officially stepping on the bridgehead, he managed to hastily dive behind a rock . Still, he could feel the scorching dazzling beam jolting through, as a warmness rushed against his skin before a scalding heat wave ensued!
Sheyan was 5-6 metres away from the convergence spot of the sun’s afterglow . Nevertheless, he could already sense the tyrannical heat it emanated . Without a doubt, if he had directly dashed through that snare mechanism, that laser beam would undoubtedly slice him into two; leaving him ignited by a tragic fate . An inescapable fate of instant death!
This mechanism was truly too domineering . Sheyan lifted his head to observe the sky . At most, the sun would fully set within half an hour . Even during this period, a regiment of dark clouds could simply engulf the sun in darkness . Without its blazing afterglow, this snare would be utterly crippled . Although time was tight, Sheyan could still afford to wait for half an hour .
But just as he was about to sit down and wait, an ominous notion welled up in his heart .
“Very evidently, the designer of this devastating sun snare was no fool . He would definitely be aware that though this snare was undefiable and fatal, it was restricted by the conditions of the sky . Every day, it can at most uphold its fearsome deadliness for no more than 6 hours… . moreover, downcasted skies or rainy days would utterly cripple it . ”
“Therefore, why would that Ndipaya artisan design such a low-efficiency snare? Those designers couldn’t have staked their blood, sweat, and riches just to commit such folly!”
Pondering over that, beads of cold sweat trickled down Sheyan’s back . He had suddenly realized the most vital aspect……what was the most sacred core of the Ndipaya Kingdom??
Without a doubt, it was the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ rumored to offer eternal life!
Thus, inferring from a logical point of view, one would definitely have to pass through the trails of a sun god, in order to obtain the powers of the miraculous ‘Stairway of the Sun’!
This indicated one point – the sole path that leads to ‘Stairway of the Sun’ garden, was very likely to only open when the sun was up . Once the sun sets and this deadly sun converging snare inevitably loses its effect, that also signified that the road would be blocked . Since the path to the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ was cut off, one had to wait till the sun rises again before entry would be possible .
Contemplating all these, Sheyan’s heart palpitated with anxiety! Who knows when the sun would rise again, and he would probably have to wait for 12 hours later . That was a total of 120,000 utility points . Moreover, if the next few days was forecasted to be gloomy……oh no!!
Realizing that, Sheyan could only sample a step onto the bridgehead, and once again trigger the snare . The blazing beam bolted in once again, seemingly cauterizing its surrounding air .
This time, Sheyan was already eyeing the location he would dodge to . With a fierce leap, he lurched towards the fringe leading into the abyss . Right before he was about to fall off, he drilled his saber into the lateral right of this rocky bridge; allowing his entire body to be suspended in mid-air .
Once again, that beam blazed through, but only along the course of the bridge . Though that was so, Sheyan’s hair curled up from the roasting temperature . Nonetheless, he managed to evade this fatal beam .
Leaping, stabbing and dodging high above emptiness was the pinnacle of danger . Yet, Sheyan gambled!
As the focused sunlight beam whizzed past, Sheyan immediately exploded with strength, as he pulled his entire body upwards with his arm strength . After 2-3 seconds of dashing along the stone bridge, he executed the same action and dodged towards the side of the bridge .
After consecutively repeating this method, he very quickly arrived at the middle of this bridge . At this point, it could no longer be described as a narrow bridge . Instead, it resembled a wide district seemingly like an observation deck . Clearly, this was devised artificially, which allowed brave challenging warriors to rest a little .
Even with Sheyan’s current indomitable might, this method of forcibly drilling rocks for rock climbing, left him drenched in perspiration by the time he reached here . He panted violently as his single arm felt an immeasurable ache, feeling as though it had also been severed . Though that was so, Sheyan’s breathing time here could only be calculated with a trifling few seconds . After catching his breath, he reignited his advance .
Observing the seemingly flaming sky that was covered densely with red clouds, it seemed like in any second now, a dark cloud would shield off the sun; allowing darkness to descend upon the earth – the moment where Sheyan’s expediting dreams would be utterly dashed .
At this moment, as Sheyan took several steps forward again, he instantly felt a slight softness beneath his feet . Once again, that snare was inevitably triggered . Instantaneously, a sonorous rumble echoed from the distant stone platform . Next, another exact serpent headed stone statue of utmost malevolence slithered up rapidly . Yet this time, it was a model with a gigantic mirror hung atop its shoulder, which volleyed out another ray of matchless burning ferocity!
In this manner, it was now two converging sun beams that followed each other and lasered in . It was incredibly tyrannical, streaking in with matchless sorrow .
Prior to this, Sheyan could still borrow the time where the first beam whizzed through, to leap up to the bridge before sprinting and subsequently, drilling his long saber into the lateral edge of the bridge again . Yet with the appearance of the second statue, that gap had shortened extensively .
Just when Sheyan was racking his brain juice in search of a plan to proceed, he suddenly realized something fishy to his rear .
As he spun around for a glance, he witnessed Mbenga charging towards here with a pace as fast as lightning . He was insanely frantic as though something was thrusting his buttocks .
When Mbenga reached the bridge, he executed an abrupt roll . Unbeknownst how, he actually pressed a mechanism while executing the roll .
Suddenly, a nearby sliding rock wall rumbled open, revealing its shocking content filled with Ndipaya pikes!
Mbenga eyed these excellently crafted pikes for a brief while, before casually scooping two of them; one within each hand . Then, he barreled straight for the long bridge .
At this moment, Sheyan caught glimpse of two Plaga Hosts wildly pursuing him from behind .
The Plaga Hosts charged in with abnormal breakneck speed, dragging along an afterimage of dried, shriveled skin behind them, as they insatiably chased after Mbenga with no regard for all else .
From afar, Sheyan keenly took notice that those two Plaga Hosts pursuing Mbenga, had seemingly differing characteristics as compared to the African natives . Their hair color and attire evidently exposed their identity as European sailors .
Mbenga fixated his attention on the long bridge . Then, he indeed blatantly bolted straight for the bridgehead . Once again, two glaring focused sun beans lasered in with unbelievable speed .
Without hesitation, Mbenga darted towards the deep abyss, but instead, mimicking Sheyan exactly, he thrust his pike into the bridge’s rocky body .
Nevertheless, wasn’t that too excessive a joke? Sheyan’s ‘+7 West’ was like a valiant divine artifact, in addition to his brutish force, he could naturally drill into the cliff rocks like it was dofu . On the contrary, no matter how sharp those wooden pike heads were, one could simply imagine how solid rock debris was as well .
However, an event that left Sheyan flabbergasted occurred .
Mbenga’s pike actually drilled in effortlessly into the lateral rock body, and even manage to stab 2-3 inches deep .
“What the… . . perhaps Mbenga is a cultivator with fighting qi that can conquer all obstacles? Cultivating his spear mastery to such an extent? Is this movie secretly a Xuanhuan wuxia novel?”
While Sheyan was lost in shock, Mbenga was borrowing the momentum of his thrusting impetus, consecutively executing gymnastic somersaults as he barreled fiercely in advance . Every time his body was about to drop off, he would drill his other pike with lightning pace into the rocky lateral of this bridge .
Meanwhile, those Plaga Hosts were fearless as well . Naturally, they wouldn’t stupidly dash into the unfathomable abyss, but instead, directly stampeded onto the ‘magnanimously spacious’ long bridge . Yet just when they dashed 5-6 meters onto the bridge, two peerlessly dazzling sunlight beams blasted in sonorously .
In the blink of an eye, the two Plaga Hosts were diced into cauterized pieces by the first beam, and reduced to dust by the second beam . The winds blew across, as their existences dissipated from this world .
By now, Sheyan had already realized Mbenga’s secret… . there wasn’t a single cent of relation between his effortless impalation of the rocky bridge, and his strength or ‘fighting qi’!
Everything became worthless once the secret was laid bare .
This was because, when the artisans constructed this long bridge, they had actually manufactured teacup sized deep holes within two-meter intervals, on both lateral sides of this bridge . Moreover, those holes had been concealed, and an outsider could never see through this farce . It was no wonder Mbenga could impale the rocky bridge as though it was tofu .
Very quickly, Mbenga arrived at the middle section of this bridge, where he straightforwardly charged towards Sheyan’s side . Following that, he offered his stooped back towards Sheyan, as he gesticulated incessantly with his arms; a look of frightened anxiety filled his eyes . Evidently, the duration left to cross this bridge would soon expire, and he intended to carry Sheyan across .
Sheyan hesitated for a while . Frankly speaking, for Sheyan to replicate Mbenga’s method of crossing would be truly beyond his reach .
Firstly, he wasn’t familiar with the holes along the lateral side of this bridge and also wasn’t adept at using pikes . Most critically, Sheyan only had one arm, and the risk would be too immense .
Thus, Sheyan first sampled and pinched Mbenga’s wooden pike . He reckoned that the material used for crafting was extraordinary and incredibly tough, as such, supporting the weight of two humans should be fine . Hence, he bluntly climbed onto Mbenga’s back, and the two subsequently headed off .
This time, Mbenga was inevitably not as smooth as before . His arm muscles shivered and throbbed repetitively . Fortunately, right before the sun fully set, he arrived onto the core zone of the opposite bank .
Upon stepping foot onto safe ground, Mbenga immediately slumped to the ground and panted heavily, before drinking several mouthfuls of rum . His current state was as though his toes couldn’t force out the slightest movement as well .
At this moment, Sheyan became exceedingly fearful that he would receive a merciless notification – you have arrived at the ultimate innermost reaches of this hidden world, every 1 hour requires a fee of 50,000 utility points… .
Fortunately, the nightmare realm didn’t play it excessively overboard . His worry was totally unnecessary, and the realm maintained a rate of 10,000 utility points per hour . Though that was so, Sheyan still felt unbearable heartache .
Mbenga soon recovered, still huffing as he climbed back up . Yet just when he was about to speak, a sudden thunderous rumble boomed in from the rear .
Spinning their heads around for a glimpse, they realized the blood remnants of the combusting sun had already degraded into a red goose egg; with its half already plunged into a regiment of clouds . Dark clouds churned and occupied the entire sky, erasing all notions of the sun appearing again . From afar, unknown when, the two statues with their convex mirror lenses had slithered back down into the stone platform .
Most importantly, after the statues retracted, a hollow column instantly spiraled up the section of the bridge they had just crossed . Immediately following that, a mystifying surge of mist and fog filled that column and gathered densely, to the point where even winds could not bypass it .
Not too long later, the entire long bridge was drowned in the fumigation of rolling mist; appearing like famous mountains and great rivers in a sea of clouds . The only difference was, a sea of clouds exhibited multitudes of cotton wadding puffs, but the fumigation of mist here replicated the muddiness of the Kijuju Marsh; adorning a thrilling ocher shade resembling that of coagulated dried blood!
At this moment, Sheyan was finally enlightened . The reason the rocky bridge was preserved with a glossy, sleek luster, was probably due to this misty intervention preventing all forms of erosion .
Sheyan proceeded cautiously towards the edge of this bank of the bridge . Picking up a craggy and dull rock, he hurled it into the swirl of rummaging mist, following that……there was no following that!!
According to theory, the weight of that rock should still fall to the ground after touching the mist, however, in Sheyan’s sight, that bowl sized rock actually disappeared without a trace . It was as though countless famished mouths were hidden within the mist, where they would inevitably devour all intruding objects!
Even that rock had been eroded away so quickly, what more flesh and blood?
Sheyan was exceptionally clear . Regardless of how monstrous his physique became, or how overpowered his innate could evolve to be, it couldn’t be discussed in the same league as the solidness of granite . Death would not come any quicker if he dove into that regiment of swirling mist . Even wishing for an intact corpse would be futile .
Indeed, it appears this reality coincides with his earlier thinking . Attempting to enter by completing the trial of the sunlight was possible, but trying to bypass the trial would only lead to a disastrous vanity .
Presently, Sheyan once again batted a glance at Mbenga . He realized that his striking crimson blood scar had become strangely diluted . Originally two fingers thick and 3-4 inches long, it had shrunk to a finger thick and 2 inches long . Still, Mbenga’s eyes brimmed with straightforward honesty, not any different from his usual state .
In spite of that, Sheyan could scent waves of reeking blood stench from Mbenga . He couldn’t help but ask .
“Where are the ears of the foes you slew?”
Upon raising that topic, Mbenga’s body abruptly stiffened . He drooped his head and offered a raspy voice only after a good long while .
“Kill, kill, kill kill kill!!! Vengeance, I seek vengeance, vengeance!!”
While exclaiming, his arms trembled with unparalleled intensity as he brandished his wooden pike .
In response, Sheyan hastily hugged Mbenga; who knew if that wooden pike was smeared with toxins, and would mistakenly injure him?
Instead, he listened as Mbenga muttered a term incessantly alongside his heavy panting .
“Guarba! Guarba!!!”
After painstakingly getting Mbenga to calm down, Sheyan didn’t dare to offer him any more rum . In any case, their bodies were still smeared with the ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine, which could still provide minimal feasibility . If the aroma of rum allured a big boss to surface, there would be nowhere left to escape!
Sheyan stood beside the massive bonfire dyke .
Indeed, that same bonfire he surveyed from his previous bird’s eye view . The same massive bonfire that Bernard Fokke detailed in his voyage log .
Without a doubt, this signified Sheyan was nearing the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ .
The night darkened with swift ferocity . In the twinkling of an eye, darkness descended . Very evidently, this was a forbidden ground of the Ndipaya Kingdom . Except for ceremonially important days, not a single soul would be permitted entry .
That must be why Bernard Fokke and his group could peacefully rest by the massive bonfire that year .
How they reached this spot, Sheyan didn’t wish to exhaust his energy to decipher .
Nevertheless, Sheyan could confirm that regardless whether it was Bernard Fokke or Little Lord Fokke, the dangers and risks they took were much lesser than him .
At least during then, this kingdom of ruins was still firmly grasped by the former Ndipaya monarchy, where long periods of peace and stability had undoubtedly caused a complacency in guarding the place .
Sheyan examined this massive bonfire dyke that spanned at least 30-40 square meters .
He could imagine the spectacular sight once it gets set ablaze . He reckoned that such a dazzling incandescence could even tear through the enshrouding fog of the Kijuju Marshland, prompting all within several thousands of kilometers to worship in veneration .
After a series of inspections, Sheyan found traces of the fire dyke having been set aflame recently! This indicated that the remnants of Ndipaya aborigines remained devout until today, wishing their sun deity would bless them with a final ray of hope .
However……a faint speculation was currently brewing in Sheyan’s heart . If his conjecture wasn’t wrong, this could likely be a dead loop . The more of such ceremonial rites were conducted, the more perilous the situation of the Ndipaya tribe would become .
Even though Sheyan was burning with impatience and constantly urged Mbenga to search for the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, Mbenga instead shook his head relentlessly . He gazed into skies above, as though signaling that the time wasn’t ripe yet . Moreover, it seemed like they still had to wait for a very long time .
Since there was nothing he could do, Sheyan explored the environment before huddling into a corner to take shelter from the wind, before falling into deep sleep .
Sheyan slept rather soundly, but during the middle of the night, he was abruptly startled awake by a peculiar sound . Quietly, he climbed up and glanced over .
Unbeknownst when, Mbenga didn’t sleep at all but had actually triggered a hidden mechanism . Sheyan beheld a concealed stone room that was heaped with bulks of firewood .
Right now, Mbenga was continuously transporting bulks of firewood towards that massive bonfire dyke . Placing them above the stone mainstay of the dyke, he was preparing to ignite them .
Astounded by what he was seeing, Sheyan was about to stop him! Instead, Mbenga’s movement was mysteriously rapid .
Instantly after, a raging inferno blazed up from the firewood . The massive bonfire dyke had probably already been infused with flammable substances like grease, thereby presently fuelling this tremendously grand bonfire of unrivaled brilliance!
Mbenga turned towards Sheyan with a countenance of righteous vehemence, along with a hint of rampant zealotry . Stammering, he proclaimed .
“Fl…flames of th . . the holy altar… . m-m . . messenger of f-f-fire! Dawn of the… . Stair of the Sun…harvest…ta . . talent . Guarba appears… . thereafter… . mi…mine, revenge!”
Mbenga’s speech was inarticulate and disjointed, but its undying meaning was unquestionable; chopping straight to the nail and slicing the iron! An incisive fieriness radiated from both his eyes, as steam spiraled from his face like the tongue of a feral beast .
At this moment, Sheyan’s heart subconsciously flushed with an acute boiling sensation . Observing the time now, it was already 5 plus in the wee hours of the morning . In at most another hour, the sky would brighten . Right now, Sheyan no longer spoke much but merely released a long sigh, before passing over all his remaining rum to Mbenga .
Laughing heartily while drinking the delicious rum, Mbenga continued recalling fragments of memories in his drunken reverie . Concurrently, he briefed Sheyan on various matters that he should pay attention to .
Gradually, the blazing inferno extinguished . The marble white color of the dawn sky surfaced from the east, heralding a contamination of red clouds along the horizon .
Sheyan spied with his keen eyesight, the numerously packed cavern exits of the opposite mountain range; appearing like a discarded beehive . From those exits, he noticed an unceasing stream of humans climbing down, descending into the city of ruins beneath . Clearly, those were the remaining Ndipaya Kingdom Guardians . Possibly, once the ‘holy flames’ were ignited, they had to make their way here .
When the rays of the sun once again beamed down onto the earth, Mbenga escorted Sheyan towards a rear stage of the massive bonfire dyke .
Following that, he knelt and worshipped piously, before an enormous coiled serpent statue at the center of the stage . Sheyan didn’t dare to be too careless and followed Mbenga by crawling over .
Finally, when they both stepped onto the stage, Sheyan abruptly felt his feet sinking slightly; evidently, he had triggered a certain mechanism .
All of a sudden, simultaneously from the right and left of the stage, two ginormous statues slithered up . These two statues were additionally magnificent and lofty, and though they were similarly serpent-headed with a human’s body, they grew two heads instead of one!
Amongst them, a large eyeball sprouted out from the left shoulder of one of the statue . That eyeball claimed the same effects of focusing the sunlight, unleashing an incomparably domineering cauterizing beam; blasting rocks aside as it blazed in from afar . A charred stench assailed their nostrils, as Sheyan sprawled devoutly on the ground and observed the beam carving towards them .
Frighteningly appalled by this scene, Sheyan attempted to scramble and evade . Instead, Mbenga forcibly pulled him back and pressed him to the ground . Naturally, it wouldn’t be difficult for Sheyan to wrestle himself free . Yet a notion flashed past his mind as he discarded any attempt .
“Since Mbenga hasn’t eliminated his nemesis, the one called ‘Guarba’, he definitely isn’t suicidal!”
As such, Sheyan held his breath and remained motionless .
That focused sunlight of unmatched fieriness whizzed in, instantly scalding an unexplainable heat across Sheyan’s naked skin . Painful abrasions formed by scattering fragments of crushed rocks .
Yet right before that sunlight beam could devastate them, it arched and halted onto that coiled serpent statue before them . The place where the sunlight converged, was shockingly the left pupil of this coiled serpent statue! If Sheyan had darted towards the statue, he would’ve been lacerated by the sunlight beam!
Soon after, the other statue followed the same recipe . Its mirror-like eyeball focused a sunlight beam over . However, while Sheyan naively believed he would be unharmed in his kneeling spot, Mbenga suddenly pulled him and left with large strides… . . understanding that this mechanism had truly grasped the state of a human’s heart, tears of cold sweat trickled down Sheyan’s back .
That coiled serpent statue remained unscathed even when two sunlight beams were converging onto it .
All of a sudden, Sheyan felt the ground faintly tremoring .
Within a split second, the entire stage was submerging downwards!
The same sensation as riding an elevator .
Upon reaching its bottommost destination, Mbenga pushed Sheyan off but remained on the stone stage . Widening his thick lips at Sheyan, he bade his farewells with a straightforward and honest smile . Then, the stage once again ascended .
As it turns out, Mbenga had already briefed Sheyan earlier . He would remain behind for his deathmatch with Guarba, and win some time for Sheyan at the same time . Of course, he also explained the specifics of harvesting the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ to Sheyan, and naturally calmly departed at this moment .
As he observed Mbenga’s departing figure, emotions welled up in Sheyan’s heart . It could very well be the last time seeing this simple, guileless, honest, tall and sturdy African chap .
After all, humans aren’t like the trees and grass, who can remain heartlessly emotionless? What more, they had both trodden on this path of life and death, and Sheyan couldn’t repress the intensified pangs of melancholy in his heart .
Nevertheless, he shrugged his head and immediately tossed this notion of out his mind . In a hundred li journey, ninety li was merely the halfway point . The closer he got to the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, the more dangerous it would be! If Sheyan allowed himself to be distracted, he would meet with an inevitable tragic fate where even his bones would not be spared .
Sheyan scanned his surroundings first . The place appeared like a naturally formed cavern . Even so, it wasn’t very dusky and the cavern ceiling was exceedingly towering, at least 7-8 meters in height .
Speckles of basin sized cavities could be seen above, where slivers of sunlight infiltrated these cavities . Still, the winds outside could not pervade through . Hence, the temperature was minimally 7-8 degrees hotter than outside .
The clammy cavern walls exuded droplets of water beads, bringing about a rather moist and humid environment . Vegetation sprouted alongside all corners of the cave, possessing emerald shade flat leaves alongside tiny white flowers .
Following Mbenga’s guidance, Sheyan trudged forward and after making a left turn along the cavern walls, he instantly beheld that place .
The place hailed by the Ndipaya Tribe, no, the former ancient Ndipaya Kingdom as a sacred ground!!
The place of the legends that hides the secret of immortality!
The Sun Altar!
At this moment, Sheyan didn’t advance forward . Instead, he looked around first . As expected, he discovered a faint layer of copper-green powder sprinkled at a corner of this cave . The sprinkled powder looked awfully unremarkable but stretched over a vast area .
With a flick of his wrist, an IMCO cigarette lighter appeared in his hand . After igniting it, Sheyan flung it onto the layer of powder . Instantly, the powder erupted with sparks; rather analogous to the sparks of gunpowder . Nonetheless, after igniting, the powder didn’t emit any queer or unusual smell . Only, it seemed that the combustion of powder radiated out mysteriously high temperature, tarnishing Sheyan’s metallic lighter with melted traces .
The Sun Altar didn’t occupy an exceptionally vast area . At most, it was equivalent to a conference room of 60 – 70 square meters . For some unknown reason, the cave was particularly clean . An approximate table sized hole had been drilled through the top of this cavern ceiling, allowing the sunlight to effortlessly illuminate through .
This place obviously suited the growth of vegetation . Large quantities of unknown green plants crept around the place, alongside tiny blooming red flowers . In the middle of the altar, a circular flower terrace had been established .
The flowers growing on that flower terrace was clearly Sheyan’s ultimate goal – the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ .
Those flowers resembled vine vegetation lie honeysuckles and grapes, branching out thousands upon thousands . In spite of that, only a primary stem supported them .
The leaf blades of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ were broad and thin, even revealing a distinct translucency under the cascading sunlight . The leaves were brightly multicolored like flowers, but its flower bloomed between the nodes of the plant; between the leaves and the stalk . Just like osmanthus flowers, they were minute, dull and unappealing to the eyes . Nevertheless, an unparalleled exuberance of vitality flowed within them .
This circular flower terrace was 7-8 square meters in size . To his horror, the principal laying bricks of this flower terrace were astoundingly ash-gray human skulls!
They all appeared with widened mouths, impressing a sensation of fanatically wailing in distress . Occasionally, liquid condensation from the flower terrace would flow into the mouths of the arranged human skulls, before dripping down .
Such a wicked portrait appearing in this clean, tranquil, warm and comforting cave, indeed released a ghastly contradiction to anyone’s senses .
Amidst the bright, beautiful and fragrant scenery, Sheyan felt an indescribable sensation of evil .
A ring-shaped canal encircled this flower terrace . This canal exhibited a rich flare of manmade artifice; forged fully with gold, it emanated an exceptionally vivid golden luster of gems .
One could observe tiny ripples throughout the teurbid liquid coursing through this canal . The liquid was rather special, possessing a bright texture similar to that of mercury . A dim shimmer coated the liquid surface that wasn’t reflected light from its exterior, but a glow originating from within . That glow was starkly different to sunlight, it was gentle, viscous, faint and carried a tinge of violet .
Noteworthily, the source of the canal liquid was the mouths of those closely arranged skulls that enclosed the flower terrace . To explain it further, it could be described as the discharged excrement of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, or saliva, perspiration in another context .
A tiny walkway similarly constructed with deathly white skulls laid before the flower terrace . It was utterly barren within half a meter radius of those skulls, and clearly segregated away from the various green vines and vegetation of the place .
Upon stepping onto that walkway, unbeknownst if it was the designer’s intention, but the mouths of those skulls would eerily be faced upwards; giving rise to a misconception of being devoured by the deceased at any time . Spineless cowards would shiver uncontrollably at this scene .
Bear this in mind, 99% of humans that entered previously were probably shoeless aborigines……just setting foot on such a diabolical walkway, would impress a feeling of dread; inducing trembling fear and utmost devotion .
Sheyan stood before the start of a tiny skull walkway, which could be considered the direct periphery of this Sun Altar, and also signified he was mere inches from the ultimate objective of this world; precisely speaking, approximately 33 . 52 meters .
To a contestant like Sheyan, a maximum speed sprint would eclipse that distance in mere seconds .
Still, he refused to budge but peacefully stood still . His eyes brimmed with prudence and cautiousness . It was as though this walkway of skulls didn’t lead to his ultimate goal, but instead, was leading him to the yellow springs of the netherworld! As though half a step would bring everlasting sorrow .
The sunlight gradually intensified . Sheyan remained unmoving, as though an insurmountable invisible wall was obstructing his path, as though he had morphed into a statue .
At present, the cavern compartment he stood, right before the cavern compartment of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, was roughly the size of a classroom, and not a single hole could be found at its ceiling .
Although most of this cave was enclosed, where the only exit was that ‘elevator’ stone platform and the winds found it hard to infiltrate, it didn’t release a claustrophobic sensation .
Though the air was moist and humid, it wasn’t polluted with any rotting odor commonly present in moisty caverns . The entire place boasted of a mystical and strangely clean atmosphere .
The peculiarity resided in the complete absence of vegetation, even though this walkway was akin to half a step to reaching the Sun Altar . On the contrary, the vegetation within the Sun Altar was flourishing with vitality; exuberating an unmatched thriving vigor .
Still, Sheyan quietly waited . Gradually, following the increasing temperature of this cave, a unique and unexplainable fragrance wafted into the air .
Upon close inspection, the green plants winding around the Sun Altar had started budding, swiftly producing ravishingly gorgeous flowers . The initial scent they released was sweet, but several breaths later, it would cause dizziness and even one to feel nauseous .
The fragrance was clearly thickening . Sheyan retreated a few steps as he nodded . Then, he hurriedly withdrew from this cavern compartment, distancing away from that walkway of skulls, all the way till his back touched the descending location of that stone platform .
Generally speaking, this entire cave didn’t occupy a very large space . Counting in the Sun Altar, it didn’t have more than five cavern compartments . Except, the atmosphere was truly queer and abnormal . Sometimes warm but not dry, cool but not cold, moist but not flooded, ventilated in the absence of wind, amply illuminated but refusing the scorching entry of the sun . It was truly a supernaturally fine craft of nature . Only with such a mystical environment, could this place give birth to a miraculous plant like the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ .
Suddenly, Sheyan raised his thick black brows . An ant had crawled through a crack in the wall and appeared in his vision .
This was a gigantic ant the size that of a human’s thumb . This ant was probably the ant equivalent to a Tibetan Mastiff of the dog species .
The ant crawled randomly around, seemingly attempting to scout out something . Its antennas wriggled, and eventually, it started crawling towards the direction of the Sun Altar . Moreover, it was crawling with exceptional determination .
Sheyan’s attention was fixated onto this ant, alongside his stern and solemn expression . It was as if he wasn’t staring at a trifling ant, but instead brooding over the plans he had devised ever since entering this world; his gains and losses and even… . success or failure!
Stretching fully its 6 long limbs, that ginormous black ant swiftly scurried towards the cavern compartment that housed the Sun Altar . Then, without a trace of hesitation, he climbed onto that walkway of skulls, bypassing the boundary where the hesitant Sheyan had been . With a rude and impetuous nature, it intruded into the area where the sun shone the brightest; the area of thriving vitality, and also the area of strange malevolence .
Serenity ensued as Sheyan fixated himself onto that ant . Even the sound of his breathing could be distinctly heard .
At present, the sun had risen substantially, yet the sunlight unchangingly occupied that single spot . The current air of aromas has since transformed into an assortment of assailing fragrances, an unspeakable richness that could completely rob one of his senses; because the fragrance released heavily sweet scents that would utterly please the soul .
The grey feelers of the ant twitched incessantly . After affirming its target, it corrected its direction . Looking at the frequency of its swaying feelers… . suddenly, the keen compound eyes of the ant could behold, a greyish object rising in spirals into the air before falling down!
That was indeed the feelers on its head!
Following that, its legs and head were corroded away… . until an utterly dissected and disintegrated body laid atop the moisty walkway . At this moment, even if the ant wished to obstinately struggle and continue advancing, it no longer had a body to do so .
Sheyan vividly observed as its coelom inflated into the size of an irrigated balloon .
Pu! The balloon ruptured, spewing out insipid blue mist rapidly into the air . The entire process resembled a human exhaling out cigarette fumes from his lungs, as the fumes slowly dissipated .
No wonder Sheyan didn’t dare to enter that cavern compartment of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ .
That entire compartment actually permeated with rich corrosive toxins that were seemingly undetectable .
To everyone’s knowledge, a plant normally has a usual process of photosynthesis – absorbing in carbon dioxide and then releasing oxygen . Likewise, the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ was a plant . However, it was a unique plant . It absorbed both oxygen and carbon dioxide, but in turn, discharged that incomparably horrifying toxin! Those toxins had a density heavier than air and were colorless . As a result, it settled within that cavern compartment . For anyone unclear of such inside information, an impulsive infiltration would result in a consequence not worse off than that ant .
Furthermore, it was as though the death of that big black ant then heralded a call to assault .
Out from a crack in the wall, another long queue of big black ants started blatantly streaming towards the direction of the Sun Altar . Those ants were incredibly resolute; as though viewing death as a return home, they charged towards the Sun Altar!
Next, naturally a string of ‘Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!’ cracklings proceeded, akin to the frying sounds of popping oily fats in an iron cooking pot . Obviously, those ants had perished from the deadly toxins . Nevertheless, when they died, the formic acid in their bodies would burst forth; thereby catalyzing a bizarrely astonishing chemical reaction, emitting strands of insipid blue fumes into the air .
Slowly, Sheyan noticed a key matter – the following big black ants were unexpectedly crawling deeper and deeper!
In the beginning, that sole big black ant had exploded after reaching mere centimeters into the Sun Altar . Yet after hundreds of ants had perished, the present foremost ant managed to infiltrate a meter deep into the Sun Altar, before experiencing a tormenting struggle and having its body exploding and disintegrating .
This sufficed to explain one fact – the toxins that had settled inside that cavern section was gradually diluting .
Only now, did Sheyan understand that whatever exhortations Mbenga had naggingly repeated, was not to make things unnecessarily complicated . Earlier on, the powder he set ablaze with his lighter, was a special herb medicine the Ndipaya High Priest had placed, to prevent those big black ants from invading .
After removing that herb medicine, the bodily fumes from those big black ants would neutralize the acute toxins fumigated from the Sun Altar . This was the only way to safely intrude into the cavern section of the Sun Altar, and subsequently, acquire the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ .
Actually, this procedure assured by Mbenga was something he knew it was so but not why it was so . In addition to him speaking in a drunken stupor, his exhortations were tremendously baffling and sounded just like drunk talk .
Fortunately, Sheyan could perceive this logic – sometimes, great intelligence may appear stupid, while massive opportunities may appear clumsy . Though he harbored doubts in his heart, Sheyan followed Mbenga’s warning completely . Sure enough, it was effective!
Sheyan silently observed those big black ants . Those little bugs truly demonstrated overbearing courage, charging forth inexhaustibly as they drilled into the interior of the Sun Altar .
5-6 meters later, they reached the end of that walkway of skulls .
Evidently, it wouldn’t take long for all the toxins to be neutralized . When that time comes, Sheyan would seize the chance and have his wish fulfilled . However, his countenance abruptly turned sullen .
TL note: For those who see a bugged content for the previous chapter, it should only happen for app users . Just remove the novel from the reading list and re-add it . It should be fine after that .
Chapter begins:
As this scene unfolded before his very eyes, Sheyan released a deep sigh .
“Ah indeed, it’s true……Mbenga, you even know the supreme secret of the Ndipaya Tribe!! Then, could it be your true identity is… . I really hope I’m wrong, otherwise, will the ultimate standoff be between us?”
Within this short span of time, those big black ants ultimately fulfilled their use; the toxins of the Sun Altar had been finally neutralized . Like a black tide, they flooded in; their goal wasn’t the Flower Terrace in the middle, but the blooming vegetation that coiled around the Sun Altar .
Those ants swiftly crawled up the stems of plants, before sinking their incisive mandibles into the flowers . After chomping what they needed, they transported it back into their ant nest .
Only with these flowers, would the ant tribe be able to propagate a new assembly of fledgling ants . Actually, the flowers aren’t a cure for ants fertility, instead, it was the only method to breed herculean ants . It was no wonder these ants abandoned their lives to pillage the Sun Altar .
Sheyan soon discovered that it wasn’t that the ants weren’t interested in the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ within the Flower Terrace . Instead, to them, the canal encircling it was like a heavenly moat . Any ant that plunges in would be instantly corroded by the mysterious liquid .
Since the toxins had been neutralized, Sheyan took a deep breath . He could no longer wait and didn’t dare to tarry any longer because time was mercilessly elapsing . After all, he couldn’t be too sure how much time Mbenga could win for him outside . To prevent this reverie from metamorphosing into a nightmare, risks ought to be taken .
Sheyan directly stepped onto the tiny walkway of skulls . Immediately, a tinge of elasticity feedbacked against the bottom of his feet . It was unclear what sort of method had been used to preserve a fresh moisty state, resembling flesh and blood, onto these skulls that had been exposed for countless hundreds of years .
Once he acted, Sheyan raced towards the Sun Altar without a sliver of hesitation . Bright sunlight cascaded onto his head; clear and radiantly, he could seemingly observe the dust hovering in the air .
The rich and diverse leaves of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ swayed as they revealed a slight translucency . One could observe plants’ distinct venation, that was as comparably clear as that of human veins . The plants were seemingly brimming with nutrients as fluids coursed through their xylem .
Sheyan took a deep breath . In his mind, the intoxicated warnings from Mbenga still flowed with great clarity .
“When harvesting the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, you must only pluck the dried leaves . Your action must be swift but you mustn’t touch other branches of leaves, otherwise, you will meet with unforeseeable consequences . ”
However, at this moment, Sheyan noticed that amidst the soil of this Flower Terrace, the craggy edge of an azure colored stone had been exposed .
The grain and luster of this ‘stone’ was exceedingly mystifying, not resembling at all something that belonged on earth .
Stirred emotionally, Sheyan carefully examined around . Eventually, he noticed similar edges of those azure ‘stone’ protruding out from the surrounding cavern walls .
Instantaneously, a thought flashed through Sheyan’s eyes .
Several thousands, or perhaps, several million years ago, a meteor streaked past the sky of the African continent . Nearly destroyed by the friction from the atmosphere, it smashed into the ground and crumbled into pieces; with fragments scattering sporadically around . Still, it had successfully crashed through a hidden underground karst cave, thereby forging an averagely sized skylight over this enclosed cave . This was probably the reason for the bizarre cavern ceiling hole .
After the meteor settled, the largest fragment had landed onto the middle region, now known as the ‘Sun Altar’ . Perhaps due to this meteorite carrying an unprecedented wave brand of radiation, it ‘alien-ized’ the existing vegetation here . Either that, or seeds of life had already been concealed inside the core of this meteorite previously .
With such unique environmental conditions supplying suitable warmth, moisture content and light, a prodigious plant, never seen by the likes of earth, was born…… . . … . nevertheless, it remained incapable of propagating extensively, due to its harsh growing demands .
Eons of years later, a tiny group known as the ‘Ndipaya Tribe’ coincidentally discovered this place .
After years of exploring, they uncovered methods to tap on the energy source of this mystical plant, and flourished into a magnificent kingdom… . They believed, buried within this plant, were powers bestowed by the sun god . Only by obtaining such powers, would one be conferred the way leading to the sun god .
As such, it was given the name – ‘Stairway of the Sun’ .
At this moment, Sheyan also noticed that beside the main stem of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, there were unexpectedly several independent seedlings . Moreover, right above it, the vines and leaves of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ were mysteriously shaped to look like a womb . It seemed as though even the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ needed to breed out younger generation, and unexpectedly in the form of viviparity .
However, to his matchless dismay, Sheyan realized the majority of the seedlings had withered! Furthermore, they withered due to the tight constrictions of several tentacle-like roots of their own mother .
How ruthless and intelligent was this plant!!
It could definitely sense that the nutrients and water content of the atmosphere, were only sufficient for its own growth . If it allowed these fledglings to mature, they would assuredly vie for the limited existential resources present . The mother plant would ultimately perish . Therefore, even though this plant had adorned the primitive instincts of propagation, it wisely eliminated its descendants to ensure its very own survival . How callous and heartless this was!
Although Sheyan was moved by this scene, his gaze was fixated on the largest, most vigorous seedling . This seedling was similarly coiled tightly by its mother’s roots .
Yet even though its brothers and sisters had all withered into oblivion, it persistently resisted death as its tiny branch maintained a ray of hope .
Observing such obstinate tenacity, Sheyan was stirred as he lashed out without hesitation .
A contestant’s superhuman strength was naturally incomparably to an ordinary person . With a flick, Sheyan attempted to directly snap the coiling root around that seedling . Yet when he tugged, he realized that root wouldn’t budge; it was essentially like pulling a steel wire .
Nevertheless, Sheyan exerted his full might and finally snapped off that root . Mild yellowish sap spewed out from the snapped ends of the root, a scene analogous to that of ripping a human’s arm apart .
After snapping the root, Sheyan stabbed his hand into the soft moist soil . Gently excavating out that live seedling without harming it, he tossed it into the party storage . Following that, Sheyan grabbed that fist-sized azure stone fragment and turned to flee .
It may seem like this sequence of actions was complicated, but it was as smooth as the moving clouds and flowing water! It only took a mere two seconds .
After feeling its roots being ripped apart, the mother ‘Stairway of the Sun’ became wildly infuriated . Its thick vines trembled violently, as soil and sediments instantly scattered . Then, it unexpectedly whipped towards Sheyan ferociously like a man-eating flower!
On the contrary, after committing this evil deed, Sheyan hadn’t the slightest guts to block the assaulting plant . With a hasty roll forward, he scrambled to escape .
At this moment, a single notion jolted through his mind with lightning pace .
“Do I go ahead and consume the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ now? No! Absolutely not! I have no interests in metamorphosing into a Licker or a Plaga Host . ”
Yet just as Sheyan was joyously making his getaway from this Sun Garden section, his pupils shrank . The berserking mother ‘Stairway of the Sun’ had actually triggered a mechanism .
Towards the left of Sheyan, a stone door coated with dust suddenly shuddered and swung forth .
Inside, a crooked, bony, dark, moist and shriveled figure trembled slightly, before leisurely standing up! Centuries of accumulated dust repeatedly roiled around his body .
Sheyan inhaled deeply .
He knew, this was the ultimate test for doing as he pleased and not listening to Mbenga’s advice .
That shriveled figure marched unhurriedly towards him like a robot . One could scarcely notice its grizzled hair, shabby attire and stooped posture . Under the sunlight, even its gum could be seen beneath its yellowish and blackened teeth . Nevertheless, dry muscles remained forcibly anchoring its teeth; maintaining a chewing motion .
Evidently, this was similarly a Plaga Host that Sheyan had encountered before . Yet unknown why and unexpectedly, the Ndipaya natives bestowed it the responsibility of being the last line of defense!
“AH~~~~~!”
This shriveled figure abruptly released a drawn-out sigh . In response, Sheyan’s facial muscles twitched reflexively . This was his first time encountering a Plaga Host that could talk . Undoubtedly, that implied it possesses a definite level of intelligence… .
As such, it also implied this would be an incomparably bitter fight; a grueling battle bordered by life or death!!
“How many years has it been since I last saw sunshine? A century, or two centuries? Dwelling within that endless darkness, how I thirst for the warmth of sunshine . ”
That Plaga Host raised its arms and cried out . Yet while executing its actions, tattered cloth rags rustled off it and slumped to the ground; revealing its crackling bony vertebra .
At this instant, it suddenly shifted its gaze towards Sheyan, before unleashing a frenetic roar filled with rapacious thirst .
“BUT! I thirst more for the sweetness of flesh . Ah, the juiciness of steaming intestines and a beating heart . Oh, how wonderful the satisfying chew of splashing blood!”
Right after that Plaga Host turned to Sheyan, Sheyan reacted preemptively without hesitation . Pulling out ‘Ambition’, he fired!
A scorching lead bullet smeared with the ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine swerved rapidly towards his foe .
Yet simultaneously, this evidently higher tier Plaga Host widened its mouth . Unexpectedly, a bloodied fist of flesh whirled out . Decaying with blackness, that fist of flesh constricted but raced in with unbelievable acceleration; so much so, that the air was suppressed by its pressurizing velocity, releasing chains of mini explosions .
That bloodied flesh shrunk tinier than a fist, yet two meters before it reached Sheyan, it finally unfurled a pair of mangled and rotten wings that was riddled with holes . A fishy red viscous membrane, excessively wrinkled, back and creasing, coated it . Its wings suggested a hybrid between a bat and moth, while its body diffused out a piercing foul stench .
On first glance, it seemed as though this shriveled corpse had regurgitated out half of his lungs or his heart!
This fleshy parasitic lump whistled in with utmost ferocity and speed . Yet in all honesty, even if Sheyan could predict this exact attack from the shriveled corpse, with his present speed and reaction, it was probably still impossible to evade a parasitic organism traveling with thunderbolt deadliness!
Instead, this was what Sheyan felt . It was as though the instance that Plaga Host widened its mouth to regurgitate out that parasitic organism, seven totally unsymmetrical miniature fleshy limbs had latched onto his neck . Following that, its wings fluttered like a hummingbird before sinking its venomous fangs into him . Concurrently, a tiny scarlet slender tongue proceeded to swiftly suck his flesh and blood .
Instantaneously, an intensive orgasmic sensation rippled around his neck . Indeed, it came from the bitten area of his main artery .
At this instance, the unique nightmare imprint of contestants resounded a clear indication –
[ A parasitic organism is absorbing your blood at a terrifyingly rapid rate! ]
Meanwhile, Sheyan also observed that his own bullet didn’t inflict substantial damage to that Plaga Host, it merely drilled a bullet hole in its neck . Of course, that also meant the ‘Tigfog’ herb medicine had taken effect .
However, Sheyan also noticed that at the corner of the Plaga Host’s mouth, a tiny genuine human piece of skin was abruptly and mysteriously expanding out .
As it turns out, while it was controlling that parasitic organism to deal damages to Sheyan, it was similarly regenerating its shriveled body!
Within a short duration, the negative effects of losing excessive blood combined with the venomous toxins of the parasitic organism surfaced . Struck with dizziness, a headache, tinnitus, and breathing difficulties, Sheyan immediately faltered as he crashed to the ground . It was as though he was immersed in comforting warm water, as he lazily shut his eyes .
His nightmare imprint was repeatedly transmitting this – [ You are suffering from an unknown attack ]
Despite that, Sheyan was clear in his heart . He was poisoned with the most terrifying of toxins, an effect that directly influenced his mental state . His limbs were paralyzed to the extent he couldn’t move a single finger, still, Sheyan roared crazily in his heart .
“Wake up, hurry and wake up! Get up!”
“It’s no use . ” The opposing shriveled corpse haughtily sneered .
By now, two plump fleshy parasites were crawling up from his tattered trouser legs . They were at least 2 meters long and boasted two large mandibles . Mimicking snakes, they leisurely slithered towards Sheyan .
“Shut your eyes and renounce all resistance . My breakfast, or is it high tea… . even gods will be paralyzed for 10 seconds by my precious!”
“10 seconds… . eh? Even gods will be paralyzed for 10 seconds eh?” Upon hearing that sentence, Sheyan’s eyes flickered as he abandoned all resistance .
As a matter of fact, the assaults of the Plaga Host was really strategically interrelated . First, was that surprising parasitic organism that could whizz in like a thunderbolt . After paralyzing the opponent and drawing out vitality to feed the main body, it seized the opportunity of paralysis, to release those slithering parasitic organisms to constrict its prey……
Even in such dire straits, Sheyan managed to astutely perceive the weak point of this Plaga Host .
After being imprisoned for centuries and in a dormant state of feigned death, its bodily capabilities had weakened to the minimum . This goes to say, it could only leech vitality to fuel its bodily functions through attacks like before . Moreover, it would supply the vitality to reanimate any remaining parasitic organism to do its bidding .
“This signifies……all these correlated exploitations only serve as confirmation, it is currently at its weakest! As long as it can no longer absorb my vitality, its attacking methods would be forcibly cut off!”
All of a sudden, his nightmare imprint transmitted notifications .
[ Unknown creature’s ‘Paralytic Chew’ has inflicted a 10 seconds paralysis onto you . Under this state, you are incapable of casting abilities, moving or attacking . This effect takes Domain Authority precedence! ]
[ Your innate ability ‘Stronghold’ property of ‘all duration of negative buffs on your body reduced by 25%’ conflicts with the ability ‘Paralytic Chew’ ]
[ Calculating… . data disorder… . data error… . data amendment… . . ]
[ ‘Paralytic Chew’ will only sustain for 7 . 5 seconds! ]
…… . .
[ You have now regained mobility! ]
In this battle of life and death, a tiny mistake or miscalculation could swerve the entire course of battle . What more an entire 2 . 5 seconds? After regaining mobility, Sheyan howled frantically as he reached out and tightly gripped that bat like parasitic organism!!!
This lung cancer abominable parasitic organism of unparalleled vileness truly possessed miraculously fast speed . Moreover, its secreted venom had reached an outrageously perverted stage where it could inflict 10 seconds of paralysis . It even possessed domain authority precedence!
Even a 100 defense, 10,000 HP freak would die . Furthermore, according to Sheyan’s earlier experiences, the proud defense of these parasitic organisms was its host body that they treated like a bulletproof vest . Without a doubt, its bare body would be extremely frail .
Therefore, it definitely couldn’t endure a beating .
Indeed, Sheyan’s conjecture was accurate . Exerting his strength, he savagely squashed this weird bat-moth hybrid parasite in a block . Mournful squeals choked out of its mandibles, as blood oozed in all directions .
Instantly after, Sheyan forcibly withstood nauseating dizziness as he nimbly leaped backward, at the same time slamming this creature onto the ground .
PA! He then followed up by cleaving down onto this semi-dead abomination with his ‘+7 West’ .
This bat parasite was immediately cleaved into two, even a deep crevice formed on the rocky ground beneath . Not only that, Sheyan then ruthlessly kicked it flying towards the Sun Altar .
Coincidentally, it landed into the canal encircling the flower terrace . The liquid stagnating within that canal was truly no joke, as it instantly corroded that parasite into a ball of fumes .
In this precise moment, that shriveled Plaga Host seemed to be affected as well as it released a shrilling shriek .
Sheyan took in a deep breath, as the oxygen swiftly restored clarity in his hazy vision due to excessive blood loss . To his horror, he realized the two snake-like parasites had already meandered towards him, leaving behind a trail of repulsive white froth . Fortunately, their slithering speed couldn’t be considered fast and allowed Sheyan adequate buffer time .
Staring down at these two obnoxious brutes, Sheyan slashed away with his saber without offering a single word . Never did he expect, when the incomparably incisive ‘+7 West’ hacked against the bodies of these vile snakes, it caused his hands to shudder with numbness! The back of his blade recoiled and nearly knocked his forehead .
Instead, that parasite continued slithering forth as though nothing had happened . The strength it carried was truly formidable, so much so that its towering defense had totally eclipsed his expectations!
Fortunately, its movement speed was its fatal flaw, and could only work in interrelated unison with the ‘Paralytic Chew’ of that bat parasite . After all, 10 seconds would be sufficient for the two snakes to constrict around its prey .
Sadly, Sheyan’s indomitable innate ability revealed its utmost potency at the nick of time . The 2 . 5 seconds it shaved off allowed him to abruptly burst forth, and sneakily kill off that speedy parasite! After cutting off the most vital aspect of this interlocked stratagem, a domino effect was created, causing the foolproof killing plan of the Plaga Host to go up in flames .
As he witnessed the two incredibly valiant fleshy parasite snakes persistently meandering towards him, a malicious glint flickered in the eyes of the repeatedly retreating Sheyan . After retreating several steps, he finally noticed an opening and heftily slashed down once again .
That parasite snake immediately braced its muscles and arched its long body . Yet right before the slashing blade carved in, the blade abruptly shifted into a scooping up movement; instantly flinging the wriggling parasitic snake into the air .
Nevertheless, its wrestling strength remained impressive even without possessing a thick body . As a result, Sheyan’s intention to fling it into the corrosive canal fell short . Unable to gauge his strength, he blasted off and it directly landed on the mystifying plant, the ‘Stairway of the Sun’!
The liquid flowing within the canal came from the skull mouths of ornamenting around the flower terrace . It didn’t even spare a residue of that flying bat parasite .
The parasite snake that Sheyan had flung into the flower terrace, possessed a monstrous strength that could contest Sheyan’s 49 points of strength or conversely stifle him!
Instead, when it landed into the embrace of the thick vines of the ‘Stairway of the Sun’, the parasite instantly turned rigid . Following that, as though soaked in sulfuric acid, it bluntly dissolved .
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