I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 421 - 421 420. Eye_1

Chapter 421: 420. Eye_1 Chapter 421: 420. Eye_1 The hospital scenery was gloomy in black and white, and Lu Ban felt everything around him warping and constricting.

He seemed to see figures in the hallway, the starving poor in the slums farther away, the upper-class reveling in drunken revelry, and at the center of the Abandoned Capital, within the high tower, a woman in a tight-fitting black cheongsam concealed her face with a fan, only revealing her bright, compelling eyes. She seemed to be staring right at Lu Ban.

The next moment, countless eyes appeared on Lu Ban’s body.

From his fingertips to his arms, his limbs, and his chest, a dense array of eyes opened on his skin. The pupils differed from one another, as if they belonged to different people or different creatures.

All the eyes were devoid of any emotion, simply staring woodenly at Lu Ban.

Even Lu Ban’s own eyes stared back at him.

His brain buzzed as if he’d been thrown inside a bell and violently struck hundreds of times; Lu Ban was overcome with a splitting headache. Then the eyes began looking around haphazardly, and quickly as the surrounding scenery started to converge toward Lu Ban’s room, they all closed again, and his skin looked as though nothing ever happened.

But when Lu Ban looked away, in the corner of his eye, it seemed as if another nameless eye slowly opened within a corner of his skin, peering at everything.

Was this illusion or reality? Lu Ban couldn’t be certain.

In the blink of an eye, he was back in his room.

The shadows that were like eyes flowed, forming the cold and indifferent text of the System.

[Congratulations on completing the task.]

[The settlement shall now commence.]

[Task Exploration Rate: 80%.]

[Task Completion Status: Excellent.]

[Beneath the most magnificent attire there is the ugliest sludge, and in the dirtiest sewers bloom the most dazzling flowers. You’ve solved the mysteries lingering around the Abandoned Capital, exposing the distortions and sins beneath this city’s glamorous exterior. The dead have passed, and the living will still struggle. The nights in the Abandoned Capital go on, as always.]

[Silence Points gained: 63,000.]

[Professional Reward: Item: Glass Flower.]

[Settlement completed.]

[The forms of art are manifold; expression is the eternal pursuit. Break the conventions, take the path less traveled, and overturn established perceptions.]

[You have chosen to complete the job development task and received a professional reward.]

[Welcome back to the Silent Lands.]

“An 80% exploration rate… so low.”

Lu Ban let out a somewhat extravagant sigh.

Although for many Chosen by Gods, reaching an 80% exploration rate on a [Metamorphosis] difficulty would be quite the feat, to Lu Ban, an 80% exploration rate was like not having explored anything at all.

“Something’s not right, why is it so low?”

Lu Ban thought for a moment. He and his friends had already identified Doctor Howes’s killer and had cracked the origin of that Sludge Monster, so why was the exploration rate so low?

Expanding his thoughts, he considered what else they hadn’t accomplished.

“Although we know the Sludge’s true identity is Liz’s sister named Aio, we never actually made contact with her, and even her name was picked up by Old Cui, who resonated with the Sludge. Perhaps the task wanted us to investigate the case through legitimate means and ultimately deduce the existence of the person Aio?”

“While the apartment manager of Home of Happiness didn’t know about the twins, could we have gotten information about the previous manager from him, thereby learning Aio’s name?”

“The connections between these people were only known through Old Cui’s dreams. Following normal procedures, it would already be quite difficult to track down Flora, Tuck, and Liz. Stone brought Blade Gang’s records that day, which indicates they keep archives. Maybe the case needs further escalation, waiting for a couple more deaths before closure?”

“And that woman… hmm? Come to think of it, the bartender who broke his leg once saw a similar woman near the slums. She seems almost unrelated to the case, yet she appeared when I was returning. Is there a reason for this?”

“Old Cui’s dream lover, that singer doesn’t seem to be anything special, probably has nothing to do with the mission, at least not this mission.”

“At the end of the day, the reason why Old Cui’s dreams appear is crucial to solving the case. It’s like cheating; without these dreams, we might have to circle around for a few more days. Is this the fundamental reason for the low degree of exploration?”

“So, even with cheats, you can’t score full points, is that it?”

Upon reflection, Lu Ban felt that there were indeed many aspects of the mission he hadn’t fully explored, so this evaluation didn’t seem unjust.”

Having earned some points, Lu Ban wasn’t in a rush to check his next career development mission, as, according to his thinking, what followed would probably be some movie box office or award requirements, not much difference.

He had two urgent matters at hand.

First was to take advantage of Old Cui’s comatose state to scavenge “The Ascension of Crane Cry” from the Catania Family’s trove, a material essential for his “Testament’s” Essence Extraction. Now that he had gathered all three materials and had the points, Lu Ban could choose to proceed to the next stage of Essence Extraction.

With the Essence Extraction of “Testament,” its extraordinary powers were becoming increasingly prominent, and Lu Ban was quite looking forward to what special abilities it would reveal next.

Secondly, his accumulated Silence Points had exceeded five hundred thousand, which meant his shop could be upgraded and enter the next phase.

Lu Ban decided to first perform Essence Extraction on his “Testament.”

He reviewed his materials.

The Lucky Amulet from He Dao, the Winter Wolf’s Pale Heart from Night Country, and “The Ascension of Crane Cry” from Abandoned Capital.

He casually flipped through the last book, which recounted the story of how Taoist Crane Cry ascended. Interspersed within were numerous nonsensical mutterings, ghost tales, and fabricated elements. After reading it, an average person would probably feel dizzy and mentally punched.

Placing the three items on the table, Lu Ban opened the “Testament” panel and selected Essence Extraction.

[Essence Extraction]

[“Sublimation Qualitative Change”]

[“Consume resources for miracles”]

[Recommended to try]

[Silence Points required: 200,000]

[Material required: Lucky Amulet]

[Material required: The Ascension of Crane Cry]

[Material required: Winter Wolf’s Pale Heart]

Two hundred thousand Silence Points, which could buy two and a half “Small-Scale Catastrophe Generators,” but thankfully, “Testament” had no side effects for Lu Ban and had proven to be quite handy in previous missions.

Compared to some unreliable and expensive items, this silver revolver was already considered an excellent weapon.

Worthy of trust.

There couldn’t be a chance of Essence Extraction failing and all enhancements resetting to zero, could there?

Looking at his +2 perfect “Testament,” reaffirming his choice, Lu Ban clicked Essence Extraction.