Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!
Chapter 247 - 43 Still Say You’re Not a Slave? (First update, asking for monthly passes)_2

Chapter 247: Chapter 43 Still Say You’re Not a Slave? (First update, asking for monthly passes)_2

[Tip: "Chen Nian," "Hong Yan," "has again left the team tonight."]

[Your team has disbanded on its own.]

"..."

"I really didn’t."

Seeing the team instantly shrink from four members to just himself, and then to disband completely, Xu Shu couldn’t help but feel both amused and frustrated.

But things had come to this point; there was no point in explaining further.

By the time he returned to the safe zone, all misunderstandings would naturally be cleared up.

"However, none of these guys even reported me; I don’t know whether to call them loyal or just clueless."

Xu Shu shook his head.

Then he returned to the main menu to check out today’s news.

"Hmm? A new ruin has appeared near the Mist Sea, filled with marine life? That shouldn’t be related to me."

"A chasm erupted in the Dark Ruins, revealing an ancient temple with a fourth-order Demigod-level monster, Undying Body? Sounds a bit like my work, but the date is half a month ago; obviously, it wasn’t me."

"The collapse of ruins from the former Elden Kingdom has revealed a group of undead creatures called the Narnia Great Tomb, in large numbers, and very close to Area X5B1 on the border,

Currently, the Holy Court under the Astronomy Association is heading there to clean up, actively recruiting professions like Taoists, monks, Shepherds, and other Transcendents for what promises to be an epic battle... The undead creatures somewhat resemble yin ghosts, but the styles clearly don’t match..."

"Then there’s the call to arms against a new Minotaur aberration nest... Yikes, that widow from a humble background again? Does she have a grudge against Minotaurs?

"Hmm, none of these ruins seem to be the ones that appeared after I caused ’Capital City Night Boiling’; it seems the time is still too recent for them to be discovered.

"Or maybe they cannot be found; there are so many ruins in this world, it would be normal not to find mine."

"And these..."

Xu Shu scrolled for quite a while.

For the moment, he didn’t see any ruin creation of his own, so the idea of setting up a Dao Mark had to be put aside for now.

But he was in no hurry.

There’s a saying, "What is meant to be will eventually happen; there is no need to rush."

The main reason was still that he’d conducted too few legends.

"If I were to start three legends per day, using up one each time, then over ten or eight years, wouldn’t the whole world be full of my Dao Marks?"

Of course, Xu Shu wouldn’t do that either; aside from whether it would cause turmoil in this world, living only in legends every day, with no normal life, just wasn’t acceptable. Gaming should be in moderation, not something to become immersed in.

After browsing some more, Xu Shu prepared for bed.

Then he noticed something odd about the floor beneath him.

The room below was making quite a ruckus with non-stop outbursts.

In the Wasteland, this was a common scenario, Qixing Entertainment, after all.

But the problem was, could the soundproofing of this building be a bit too inadequate?

Xu Shu turned over, and upon closer inspection, he realized something was amiss.

There was an uneven area on the floor where a tile had risen and become loose.

Normally, a loose floor tile wouldn’t be a concern.

But the abnormal part was that the noises coming from this spot were extraordinarily loud.

Suspicious, he reached out and pushed aside the tile.

And what he found beneath was a small hole in the ceiling!

"Ah, this..."

Xu Shu was surprised for a moment – no wonder the soundproofing was so poor; it turned out to be a peeping hole.

He peered through the hole and saw, on the floor below, three men and a woman playing the card game Fight the Landlord.

It was likely something like this:

From =orz-7

No wonder there were sighs and groans.

Their clothing suggested they were Wasteland Wanderers who came here for trade.

Presumably, they hadn’t made much money and didn’t like being alone, so they decided to pitch in together.

"Damn, the world truly is going downhill; virtue is a thing of the past!"

Xu Shu, wiping his nose, angrily found a piece of cardboard, crumpled it into a ball, stuffed it into the gap, and managed to block out a good deal of noise.

Then he managed to fall into a reluctant sleep.

At night, a light rain began to drizzle down softly.

The air even carried a faint scent of blood.

The path was nothing but mud.

Yet, this sleep had been relatively peaceful.

As the first rays of the morning sun broke through the last vestiges of darkness before dawn, the remaining rainclouds rapidly dispersed.

Xu Shu opened his eyes, waking from his slumber, the sounds of the bustling crowd and hawkers below reaching his ears.

Every now and then, the warm ’Sir, please open the door for your breakfast and water,’ made the inn seem exceptionally serene and friendly.

In his mind came the information from the "Tai Chu Scroll":

["The sun rises in the east, bringing life to all. Welcome back to the Tai Chu Scroll, great master."]

["Remaining number of uses for today: 3/3"]

"Very good."

Seeing the full count of Tai Chu Scroll uses, Xu Shu felt a lot more confident.

But today, he wasn’t in a hurry to embark on his journey.

After simply rinsing his mouth and eating some of the canned food left over from last night, Xu Shu took off his clothes, lay on the ground, and stuffed an Erosion Crystal into his crotch.

After a night’s rest, the cooldown for "Sit-ups (Taboo)" had ended.

"After eating these, I’m not far from level 16!"

As the Curse Seal inside him devoured the crystal, the curse power erosion increased, and once more, blood slowly seeped from his pores.

He began doing sit-ups with a hint of anticipation in his heart, using his seemingly endless life recovery ability to resist the not-too-severe erosion.

Time and again...

About two hours later.

One blue, one green, and four white, a total of six Erosion Crystals had been completely absorbed.

Xu Shu stood up amidst the blood-stained floor, clenched his fist, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

As expected, he hadn’t reached level 16, but he was not far off.

Next, of course, was time to wash up.

There were no private bathrooms here, just one communal bathroom per floor.

Just as Xu Shu was about to step out, his ears twitched.

Not far from the door, from another room, came the sound of a "click-click" as someone picked a lock, followed by a brief exclamation before the door swiftly closed.

"Hmm, is there a situation?"

Xu Shu frowned and immediately stopped in his tracks.

Ordinary people, of course, could only risk their lives to open the door and see what was happening.

But he didn’t need to take the risk.

Without a second thought, Xu Shu poured his will into the Tai Chu Scroll before him.

"Expedition mode, activate!"

Familiar fog and changing scenes swiftly enveloped him:

[Checking current status...]

[Checking complete.]

[Your situation is quite dire. This is D8B3 area, eastern border (19.3) supply point inn. You’ve spent 80 yuan to stay in one of the worst rooms on the 12th floor. You heard a commotion next door and thought it was a home invasion. In fact, it was not.]

[That was a group of cultists. They wore Dawn Church robes and indeed worshiped the sun. They had sealed off the 10th, 11th, and 12th floors of this inn early on, planning to sacrifice everyone here.]

[You are staying in room 1205, and they are now capturing someone in 1204. Shortly they will bind the person and take them away, and then they will come for you. A woman will knock on your door saying, "Sir, your breakfast and water, please open the door." What will you do?]

On screen, a group of people appeared, clad in the Dawn Church’s cleric attire, but lined with black bodysuits underneath, headbands embroidered with a strange cross, and visibly large "Z" letters on the left chest of their clothes.

Especially the five people anchoring the back of the array, each exuded an eerie and powerful aura, not at all like ordinary people.

"?"

At the sight of this attire, Xu Shu was stunned.

The Salvation Army’s people!

The White Emperor’s son was S.

And this Z, he had a slight recollection, having seen it mentioned on forums.

The Black Emperor’s son?