Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!
Chapter 120 - 91 Star Tower: Don’t Come Over Here! ´д` ; (1/? 4k words, please subscribe)

Chapter 120: Chapter 91 Star Tower: Don’t Come Over Here! ´д` ; (1/? 4k words, please subscribe)

"Not me, why are you still killing me?"

"The Star Tower isn’t supposed to only attack monsters, right? Why is it attacking me too?"

"Surely, it can’t be just because my Curse Seal has some exotic term? I’m clearly displayed as a ’Warrior’, a human Transcendent! I’m Lie Zhenzi’s handpicked Qingyun 438, Iron Armor Barbarian Bull! I have Contribution Points!"

"Damn it, this cursed Star Tower, just a mere Gate God, isn’t it acting above its station, deliberately targeting me?"

Being struck dead again, Xu Shu was at a loss for words in his heart.

Could it be he had become personae non gratae?

What about his adoptive father then?

Otherwise, should he make a banner and hang it at the door, causing a scene? Writing on it: You can’t do this! I have served the Human Clan, I have spilled blood for Lie Zhenzi, I demand to see the Emperor, I want to see the Emperor!

— Wouldn’t he get arrested for that?

"Ugh, I need to think long term."

If all else fails, Xu Shu could only entrust Gu Pan to deliver the medical expenses to his adoptive father first.

The Tai Chu Scroll was right, this Star Tower indeed was an evil thing, turning its back on him, alienating him outside of the safe zone, truly hateful!

"No, I must find out what is going on, my home is right there in front of my eyes, yet I can’t return, leaving me restless."

Xu Shu protested inwardly for a moment, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down.

...

...

The sun was well up, around 11 or 12 o’clock, the warm sunlight on his back brought the only comforting feeling to people.

Outside the city gate, the crowd was busy, occasionally there were Patrol Soldiers or vendors entering or leaving the city, or groups of Scavengers creeping out like meek little beggars.

Many tents and tea stalls had been set up along the roadside, forming a small-scale market, where vendors called out to sell their wares.

Despite the apocalypse, the temporary camp outside the city gate actually seemed to be thriving.

Today, Xu Shu had used up all his chances for the Tai Chu Scroll, earning famous swords*3

— In his view, Self-cutting Meridians was not suicide but, combined with Sit-ups, an actively triggered "famous sword."

So, in fact, he had nothing to be annoyed about; he even felt he had discovered a new way to play with the Tai Chu Scroll’s journey mode.

That was to grind for "famous swords"!

But he definitely wouldn’t try to enter the city today.

Even the most pressing matters could wait until the Tai Chu Scroll refreshed in the morning.

"Given the circumstances, let’s eat first."

Xu Shu pointed to a tent not far away where a vendor was selling pancakes and roasted meat that looked rather tempting, with a constant stream of customers coming and going, whetting his appetite.

Gu Pan’s expression eased considerably, hearing his suggestion, she pursed her lips and nodded, "Alright."

Half an hour later.

"Hiyatiii~"

A group of guys driving heavy trucks passed by the gate, kicking up annoying dust.

Xu Shu sat at a roadside stall, facing Gu Pan, eating to replenish their strength.

After eating his fill, Xu Shu watched the incessant flow of traders in the market and felt like he had returned to a food festival in a past life.

An inescapable question arose.

"Teacher, may I ask you something?" Xu Shu knocked on the table.

"Um, go ahead." Hearing him cordially call her "teacher," Gu Pan’s posture changed inexplicably from sitting with her legs splayed, like a little Rascal, to demure and virtuous, taking petite bites of the characteristic pork-stuffed bun.

"You say, why around the safety zones there are these walls with a clearing of almost one to two kilometers, where the ruins were used as roadbeds to make everything flat, even few trees are spared... "

"Ah? What?"

"Why don’t the Wasteland Wanderers build shelters beneath the city walls? That way, they could receive the care of the city’s garrison at close range, which has got to be better than the hardship of being out in the wild, where supplies are so hard to come by."

This was Xu Shu’s puzzlement after seeing how lively it was at the gate upon his return.

That morning when he left the city, there wasn’t a single soul outside the gate, and he thought staying by the city gate was prohibited.

But now, it seemed there must be another reason.

"Ah? You don’t know?" Gu Pan was astonished upon hearing this.

Xu Shu was annoyed, "Tch, if I knew why would I ask you? Spill it already, quit playing games."

"On the Wasteland, the closer humans are to the safety zone, actually, the more dangerous it becomes. The closer you are to the safety zone, the more likely you are to encounter powerful monsters. Heh, you wouldn’t have guessed, right?" Gu Pan smiled, waiting for him to ask.

However, Xu Shu frowned and said, "Oh, I get it. A bigger outer circle, a smaller inner circle, so it seems like there are more monsters? And then formidable monsters are drawn to the safety zone from the outside, leading to the area right under the city gate, a step away from the safe zone, in fact, being the most dangerous place?"

Gu Pan’s smile froze: "..."

What kind of monster are you? Is that something humans can figure out?

After all, according to common sense, the closer to the safe area, the better.

It was only after she passed the qualification test that she knew many things in the world are the opposite of what people expect.

She never imagined that Xu Shu, having been killed three times in the simulation by the Star Tower today, had gained a secretive piece of knowledge: "The Star Tower doesn’t kill first-tier monsters outside the wall."

Even if monsters climb the wall, as long as they don’t violate the rule of "going through the wall", the Star Tower won’t react. This was the hard-earned experience from Xu Shu’s deaths—each time he died after crossing the wall. If the Star Tower was deeming him as a "non-human" monster, then that means not getting hit if one is stuck in the wall.

This is indeed very puzzling.

But thinking about the Tai Chu Scroll’s evaluation of it, Xu Shu felt relieved.

After all, the Tai Chu Scroll also evaluated it as a "bad thing."

"...That’s not right either, what about the garrison then? Just consuming military rations and not working? Can’t they set up some military camps outside the city?" Xu Shu wondered.