Life Game In Other World
Chapter 729: Moths to the Flame (Extra Long - for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 729: Chapter 729: Moths to the Flame (Extra Long Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

"How long will the division of areas take?"

He Ao looked towards Kodo.

"Just a moment, it’ll be quick."

Kodo reached out his hand and took a computer from a fellow Moonlight Transcendent nearby.

Chen Lin took out his mobile phone and sent the approximate list of Transcendents at the Research Institute and their current locations to Kodo.

Actually, these data weren’t very secret, as a department of a diplomatic nature, the number of Transcendents at this division of the Research Institute was public. If necessary, they could temporarily call in more from the outside.

"Thank you for your hard work."

And He Ao turned to look at Feiya.

No matter how many people they sent out or how many doors they found, in the end, it would be Feiya who would have to extract these ’doors,’ so she was bound to be the most exhausted one.

"Actually, it’s not that hard,"

Feiya shook her head gently, "As you said, we have no other choice right now."

Hearing this, He Ao could only nod slightly.

Kodo’s work efficiency wasn’t slow, and soon, he had made a rough allocation.

He Ao did not express any opinions on this allocation, so the group immediately split up to find the doors and contacted other Transcendents from the Research Institute and Moonlight via walkie-talkie.

······

"I thought that Kodo would assign us the most troublesome and dangerous area."

Chen Lin and He Ao were assigned to the same area, and the two of them walked together for a while. When they were far from the others, Chen Lin spoke with some emotion.

Kodo’s final allocation was quite fair; everyone could quickly reach their designated area, and even the areas allocated to the Research Institute were relatively easy.

"His attitude doesn’t stem from his personal stance but represents the position of Moonlight,"

He Ao simply shook his head calmly, "And now, whether it’s the Research Institute or Moonlight, our fundamental interests are aligned, so he wouldn’t tamper with such matters."

This was precisely why He Ao had entrusted this task to Kodo.

"Your insight and tactics are admirable,"

Chen Lin remarked, looking at He Ao’s somewhat youthful face and expressing his feelings with a sigh.

He Ao’s brief speech and the task allocation for Kodo had successfully united the two organizations with gaps between them - the Research Institute and Moonlight - and established his authority, nipping many potential internal issues in the bud.

"I’m just doing what I should,"

He Ao said with a smile, shaking his head.

At this moment, they had reached a three-way fork in the road, and he waved goodbye to Chen Lin.

Chen Lin watched his figure disappear into the night and sighed softly.

In the past, he had only read about this person on forums. Although the recounts sounded impressive, they felt somewhat unreal, like legends exaggerated for publicity.

But after truly interacting with him, Chen Lin realized that the forum posts might even be somewhat restrained.

Many times, if it weren’t for his youthful face, Chen Lin would forget that he was looking at a boy who should be of school-going age.

······

Meanwhile, He Ao, having reached his assigned cleaning area, didn’t immediately start clearing monsters. Instead, he took off the jade pendant he wore around his neck.

He tried to put the pendant into the Pirate Treasure Box.

Then, as expected, he failed. In theory, the Pirate Treasure Box could only hold items up to C-level.

It wasn’t clear whether the inability to put the pendant into the box was due to the status from the bloodstains or the energy intensity.

However, it seemed that these Martial Arts type Transcendent items weren’t completely compatible with the Talent Sequences corresponding to Transcendent item levels?

Setting aside the bloodstains that seemed to come from a Divine Being, the pendant itself was just an item that stored energy, albeit a rather large amount.

Perhaps it was possible to use this characteristic to bypass the level judgment of the Pirate Treasure Box.

After a brief contemplation, He Ao began to manipulate the energy of the pendant and forcibly shrunk it, suppressing the flow of the bloodstains within it.

It wasn’t easy to achieve this. He Ao’s energy wasn’t sufficient to manipulate the massive energy needed to suppress the terrifying bloodstains.

Then without hesitation, he activated his Super Memory. The immense mental power of a B-level surged into the pendant and swiftly gathered the energy needed to restrain the bloodstains.

For a moment, the pendant became quiet, and the murmuring and corruption seemed to pause.

The dim light shone on the translucent pendant, making the bloodstains within seem a bit clearer.

Without any hesitation, He Ao immediately tried to stuff the pendant into the Pirate Treasure Box.

Instantly, he felt a lightness in his hand.

He had succeeded.

Then, in the next second, the Pirate Treasure Box began to thrash as if it were about to be forcibly torn apart by some powerful force.

He Ao immediately took out the amulet.

The clamorous roar echoed in his ears once again, and the bloodstains within the amulet returned to their original color.

As if to be torn apart, the Pirate Treasure Box calmed down.

Can it last a second?

He Ao looked at the amulet in his hand.

One second should be enough.

He had already tested it when the relic gateway had taken him into the Navigator; the items placed inside the Pirate Treasure Box seemingly didn’t count as items he was carrying on his person.

Perhaps the inside of the Pirate Treasure Box also housed a ’Mirror Space,’ an otherworldly space that could completely isolate the power of the items within the box.

Withdrawing his gaze from the amulet, He Ao turned his attention to the street in front of him, where monster after monster was stealthily moving about.

Just now, in order to suppress those bloodstains, some energy from within the amulet was consumed, and it was now a good time to replenish it.

A flash of white sword light flickered under the streetlight.

······One hour later······

Maple Leaf Hotel · Conference Room

"Is it possible?"

He Ao, with the bone sword on his back, looked at Feiya standing in front of the door.

Dozens of yellow light spots were revolving around Feiya’s fingertips at the moment.

"It should be enough."

Feiya nodded slightly, looking towards the hotel door, "We’ve extracted the power of nearly thirty permanent gates from the whole Newland City-State; it should be enough to generate at least two C-level gates."

She slowly reached out, pressing her hand against the door frame, and the floating light spots followed her fingertips, quickly merging into the door frame.

The corridor scene outside the door flickered momentarily, starting to change.

The atmosphere in the air began to tense up.

"What do you think is beyond the door? In my memory, I seem to never have come across a similar area, and it doesn’t look like any of the relic exploration data we have,"

Kodo said softly, as if to alleviate the tension, "I see many metallic areas occupied by monsters, very similar to the Navigator spaceship. Is it the Navigator?"

"It should not be."

He Ao shook his head.

He had truly been on the Navigator, and the world beyond the door did not resemble the Navigator.

"If it’s neither the Navigator nor a relic," Kodo watched as the scene beyond the door gradually changed, "then what could it be?"

"The Underground Palace."

Chen Lin suddenly spoke up.

Everyone present, including Feiya, who was gathering light points, was taken aback.

The world’s nearly all large Transcendent organizations knew that the areas within the relics fell into three categories: Ruined City, Wilderness, and Underground Palace.

People knew a lot about Ruined Cities and Wilderness, and there was plenty of information available, but there was very little understanding of the Underground Palace.

It wasn’t because few had entered the Underground Palace; the most widely accepted theory now was that ’almost no one has returned from the Underground Palace.’

The only bit of effective information about the Underground Palace came from a joint relic exploration by three large Transcendent organizations ten years ago. Almost all the Transcendents on that exploration perished, with only one surviving, who returned with an unclear mind, repeatedly mumbling ’Underground Palace... Underground Palace...’

The survivor was not fortunate. After returning, he immediately transformed into a monster.

The three organizations retrieved a recording device from the survivor, gaining some information about the Underground Palace.

Most of the data captured by the camera had been corrupted, turning into unreadable blotches.

The remaining few photos and videos showed the place where the survivor had been, indicating a windowless, rock-filled, seemingly underground, and dim area.

People from the main world did not know what this area was originally used for, but it had indeed evolved into the most terrifying area within the relics.

Since then, no further detailed information about the Underground Palace had been discovered by the main world.

This information about the Underground Palace was semi-public, and anyone who was interested could find it. He Ao had also looked it up when flipping through relic data in the past.

However, the Underground Palace was so distant from people’s lives that with nearly a decade without new information about it, despite everyone knowing of its existence and the danger it posed, it gradually faded from memory.

If Chen Lin hadn’t suddenly brought it up, everyone might not have remembered that there was such a thing as the Underground Palace in the relics.

But as the term resurfaced in people’s minds and after comparing the surviving data in the files’ memories with the specific scenes beyond the door, they realized that the scenes truly did resemble the mysterious ’Underground Palace.’

"I previously worked for a while in the Underground Palace research team at the Research Institute,"

Chen Lin looked at everyone and spoke softly, "The survivor didn’t just bring back video materials, but also some ’things’ from the Underground Palace, including rock samples from his clothes and monster remnants left on his body.

"We conducted a detailed research on these items, even created simulated images of the monsters, and three-dimensional models of the real scenes in the Underground Palace. The sights I’ve seen beyond the door are similar to the scenarios we had simulated before, and some of the monsters also share similarities."

"This is certainly not good news,"

Kodo sighed and then looked up at Chen Lin, "But how did you guys research so deeply? To create all this with just that little bit of samples and data?"

"Cough,"

Chen Lin covered his mouth and coughed lightly, "Our research topic is a bit unconventional. Without some results, it’s hard to secure funding. There’s credibility in what we have, it’s just that compared to the real scene, there might be some deviations. After all, it’s based on conjecture and simulation."

"If it really is an Underground Palace, behind that door is probably very dangerous."

Kodo looked towards He Ao and Feiya.

All major organizations’ speculation about the Underground Palace was that ’it’s not that no one has ever gone there, just that none who went have returned.’

One current research finding that all Transcendent organizations can agree on is that the monster density inside the Underground Palace is highly likely far higher than elsewhere in the ruins.

"We’re already facing the dangers of Angels and Divine Beings,"

Confronted with Kodo’s concern, He Ao shook his head, "If we know it’s the Underground Palace, for us that’s actually good news. It gives us a fundamental understanding of what’s inside, reducing the time needed to get acquainted with the area."

"Alright."

At this moment, Feiya released her hand from the door frame.

Behind the office door, it was no longer the original hotel corridor, but had transformed into a deep, cave-like space. In the depths of the cave, there was no light—only a faint, terrifying pressure coming from the darkest parts.

As if something was rapidly approaching from the depths.

"The door I’ve forcibly gathered is not stable, and there seems to be something inside. We must move quickly."

Feiya looked at He Ao, "This door should allow two C-levels to pass, plus one or two C-level Transcendent items."

"Let’s give it a try."

He Ao nodded lightly, then turned to Chen Lin and Kodo, "We’ll be relying on you two here."

"Mhm."

They both nodded.

In Newland City-State, the threat wasn’t gone—there was still the Traitor lurking in the unknown.

Kodo glanced at Feiya, then at He Ao, paused and said, "Good luck."

"Thank you for the good omen."

He Ao nodded, stepping beside Feiya.

"This door isn’t very stable, it might break apart as we pass through," Feiya looked at He Ao and extended her hand, "Let’s go through it arm in arm."

"Okay!"

He Ao nodded, the two of them stood side by side, his one hand holding Feiya’s outstretched hand, the other over his chest, "I’ll count to three."

He Ao glanced at Feiya, maintaining her calm composure, "One, two, three!"

They both rushed through the door at the same time.

In that instant, He Ao placed the jade pendant into the Pirate Treasure Box and his Soul descended onto his clone.

Strictly speaking, his body was still C-level, but the Super Memory tied to his Soul had been promoted to B-rank. To avoid accidents, he still chose to move his Soul away for a short while.

The door that led into the profound darkness shattered violently, like a balloon stretched to its limits by a massive force, after flickering intensely with a ’pop’ just as they passed through it.

The silent hotel corridor reappeared before the eyes of the two who remained.

"Was it successful?"

Kodo looked at the door with some confusion.

"It should be a success," Chen Lin nodded slightly, "I saw them look like they made it through."

"Shall we continue as planned and suppress the information?"

Kodo looked towards Chen Lin.

"It seems like we don’t have much choice,"

Chen Lin shook his head, looking at Kodo with a wry smile, "Those Traitors probably have the combat power of peak C-level. All we can do now is maintain the situation as best as we can and wait for their return. If people outside find out that two C-levels have already left, things would probably spiral out of our control."

"What they’re facing is likely much more dangerous than what we are."

Kodo gazed at the now empty doorway and let out a sigh.

"Above Angels,"

Chen Lin turned his head to look out the window at the unchanging night sky.

There were still no B-levels coming to rescue us, probably because even the B-levels can’t get in from outside."

Moreover, the strongest combat forces in the main world seem to be only at B-level.

Thinking this, Chen Lin sighed, "They really think highly of us."

"Can we truly be successful?"

Kodo also looked somewhat blankly at the sky.

Although they had tried their best, they still felt as vulnerable as mantises trying to stop a chariot.

Two C-levels, facing the mysterious Underground Palace, facing the suspected Angelic presence at the very top of the Palace, were but frail moths flying towards a raging fire.

"I don’t know," Chen Lin shook his head and walked toward the office door, "All we can do is not let the situation get any worse before they come back, and not drag them down."

His hand rested on the door frame, "Do everything within our power."

Kodo watched the departing figure, sighing softly.

Weren’t they also like moths to the flame?

If only Hao Yi were here.

——

Outside the Newland City-State

Whoosh——

The fluttering coin landed in a large palm.

The whole world was so silent.

Standing on a desolate island reef, He Ao looked up at what was in front of him.

A dense fog covered his body, he turned around and walked toward the mirror behind him.

The fog enveloping Newland City-State had a diameter of over a hundred kilometers, and although the fog was not evenly distributed in a circle, He Ao found a spot within fifty kilometers of the center of Newland City.

He looked at the life-sized mirror in front of him, lifting his hand and entering it.

As his hand disappeared into the mirror, He Ao let out a breath of relief.

Then he lifted his foot, slowly stepping into the mirror.

In just a moment, his vision dramatically expanded, and a vast hall filled with mirrors appeared in his sight.

The patterns that spread throughout the hall were gradually growing dim, and the expanse of floor bore traces of bloodstains that had already dried.

This was Wester’s fixed Mirror Space.

And with He Ao’s arrival, the entire Mirror Space trembled.

In He Ao’s view, at the edge of the hall, a scene of nothingness was starting to appear.

With He Ao stopping the payment to sustain this space, its stability was rapidly declining.

Now, it seemed that this collapsing space could no longer withstand B-level forces.

But this was within He Ao’s expectations.

He quickly walked to the largest mirror in the center of the hall, and with a thought, ripples began to emerge on the surface of the mirror.

About five seconds later, the ripples on the mirror finally ceased.

He Ao took a step and crossed into the mirror.

A sky filled with stars and the moon came into view; he was inside the Newland City-State.

It worked.

As expected, Newland City-State’s chaotic space didn’t affect the connection between the temporary Mirror Space and the fixed Mirror Space,

and from the fixed Mirror Space to the main world, only a narrow passage was needed which wasn’t too affected by the spatial chaos.

He Ao’s gaze swept around.

Where he looked, there was a chaotic Ruined City, and he stood beneath a half-collapsed wall, with broken mirror shards scattered under his feet.

This was where he and Wester had fought yesterday, it had been completely turned into ruins.

He Ao briefly let his soul descend, scanning the surroundings with Super Memory.

No one was around, nor were there any prying eyes.

All things related to the Transcendents had been cleared from this location, and it was originally guarded by people under the moonlight. But with the appearance of those ’doors’, there weren’t enough hands, so the guards here were redeployed elsewhere.

The absence of people here further validated another of He Ao’s guesses.

Wester and those who manipulate space were not on the same side.

The shadowy figures behind the scenes didn’t show up to rescue Wester, and even in Wester’s thoughts, there was no information about these individuals. It seems they just wanted to use Wester.

Given that, they might not even know Wester’s most core secret—the ability of the coin named Mirror Shadow.

He Ao had investigated and found that Wester had once delved into and resolved a C-level or higher bizarre incident. This coin was very likely obtained during that incident.

Of course, to resolve that incident, it’s very likely Wester borrowed the power of the God of Chaos.

However, the likelihood of this coin originating from those masterminds is slim.

Therefore, those masterminds didn’t prepare for the real defense against the Mirror Shadow, whether it’s the fog that doesn’t entirely cover the fixed Mirror Space’s range or not establishing watchers in the corresponding main world area of this fixed Mirror Space.

This aspect could be exploited.

He Ao clenched the coin, then leaped down from the top of the building.

A monster capable of mobilizing power at the peak of C-level, lurking within Newland City-State’s space, meant that those hidden figures might not be limited to C-level.