My Salvation Game Became true?!.
Chapter 271 - 249: An Encounter under the Grey Mist (Vote for monthly ticket)

Chapter 271: Chapter 249: An Encounter under the Grey Mist (Vote for monthly ticket)

The gray fog was thick and interwoven like overcast clouds, shrouding the city beneath in darkness and obscurity.

High-rise buildings loomed within the mists, their outlines faintly visible, with considerable chunks of exterior wall peeled away. Cracks sprawled across them like gray-black ivy climbing the structures.

From those broad cracks, or through windows whose glass had shattered, one could just make out pairs of cold, watchful eyes staring out at the desolate streets.

There were also rusted, dust-covered cars, broken billboards, shattered shop windows, and more.

This was a city of deathly silence.

Four figures robed in garments bearing the pattern of flames were carefully making their way down these silent, gloomy streets.

Perrie walked at the forefront.

According to the tactics devised beforehand, she and Captain Shi Yunxi’s positions were to be staggered, one in front and one behind, with Miss Anna and Sister Cen Jingjing in the middle, holding bright torches to light their surroundings.

This was to be safe, in case one of the torches went out, there would be another still burning.

Through the torchlight, the surrounding environment became visible.

A sense of desolation couldn’t help but rise in Perrie’s heart, "The world is on the brink of downfall; could this be the future of our Blue Star?"

"It’s likely, which is why the Mentor created Dawn’s Flame and trained us—to stop the catastrophe," Shi Yunxi replied.

Stopping the catastrophe.

Chewing on the Captain’s words, Perrie felt a different insight for the first time.

It was not merely the simple oath taken upon joining, nor just for the dazzling array of exchangeable items, but because the disaster was too immense.

If a city was destroyed, she could flee.

If a country fell, she could flee.

But if the whole world was to perish, could she still escape?

The ruins of the city left a bitter taste in Perrie’s mouth. She wondered whether those cities she had passed through, occupied and destroyed by the Mysterious Evil, were gradually becoming like this.

She couldn’t keep running. She was now a warrior of Dawn’s Flame, wielding the Flame to dispel darkness!

"Careful, there are Mysterious Evils above us, three of them," Cen Jing warned.

Hearing this, Perrie quickly regained her composure. She didn’t look up casually but immediately diamondized her arm and, guided by the foul wind rushing toward her, threw a heavy punch.

Bang—

A Mysterious Evil, more than two meters long and resembling a gigantic cockroach, had its head completely shattered. The creature’s body, flung aside by Perrie’s immense strength, crashed through shop windows, scattering posed mannequins and showing no signs of life.

The second cockroach-like Mysterious Evil, just as it sprung into the air, was sliced through by Anna’s scorching and sharp thread of fire, its head severed cleanly off.

But then came the third, plummeting down with its fangs aiming viciously at Perrie.

Seeing this, Shi Yunxi did not make a move.

Her tactical position was to conserve strength for unforeseen incidents, a plan established before departure, and it was not yet time for danger.

She trusted Perrie.

In an instant, Perrie’s left arm also turned to diamond, and with a clang, the Mysterious Evil’s fangs tore her wide sleeve and bit a couple of small holes in her combat suit, but failed to penetrate the arm as hard as diamond.

The next second, Anna’s backup arrived, and a line of fire pierced the attacking fiend.

A battle that seemed dangerous but was in fact fairly routine came to an end.

Perrie, Anna, Cen Jing, and Shi Yunxi were all more or less familiar with battles in the Ghastly Realm.

Most encounters were not difficult, and with the team’s strength, even facing two or three three-star Mysterious Evils could be dealt with in a moment.

But exploring the Ghastly Realm required consideration of more than just slaying foes. Noise, endurance, among other factors, also mattered.

"Let’s move."

"Coming up, we’ll make a turn left into an area with fewer buildings. The road will be easier to navigate then," Shi Yunxi directed.

Hearing her, Perrie scratched her head in curiosity, "Captain, isn’t this your first time on this route too? How do you know there are fewer buildings ahead?"

"Because of the map. The Ghastly Realm is a mirror beneath reality; most places correspond to the environment in the real world. Where we are now aligns with Linshan City’s ghastly counterpart. I collected detailed maps of the city before we set out."

Emmmmm, it seemed she had suffered from her lack of knowledge.

She resolved to catch up on her studies when she got back. She certainly didn’t want to be like Chairman Yiluo Xi and be an academic slacker.

"Got it, got it," Perrie nodded her little head.

Captain Shi Yunxi was so dependable!

The team’s progress was not a straight line. They had to avoid areas with complex and variable environments and also steer clear of occasionally passing gigantic figures.

To hide when possible and circumvent when feasible—this was the guideline for exploring the Ghastly Realm.

Perrie followed the instructions, also constantly committing these tricks to memory.

Sometimes, they would detour for treasure.

There were quite a few such instances, mainly because Captain Shi Yunxi had purchased a ’treasure detection radar’, a special Ability only available for official members of Dawn’s Flame.

It could detect mysterious materials within a certain range, centered on the user.

The radar charged by the hour and wasn’t cheap, but everyone felt it was a great benefit of being an official member of Dawn’s Flame, as they had collected so many mysterious materials along the way.

Twelve green materials, one blue material.

Compared to that, the fees seemed insignificant. They felt it was too good a deal and worried that the organization might incur heavy losses because of it.

As they collected materials, Perrie’s eyes widened. She knew treasures were nearby, yet many times she couldn’t find or recognize them.

This was again due to a lack of knowledge.

Indeed, one really shouldn’t be an academic slacker like Chairman Yiluo Xi. Top students earned a fortune, while slackers might end up losing everything, even their underwear.

...

...

An hour later, the squad of four finally reached their destination.

It was the treasure-gathering point located in the underground parking garage.

"This place is..."

The environment ahead was ruined and deathly still, which at least matched up with reality.

But here, there were no rust-covered vehicles in the underground parking garage, instead it felt like stepping into a vast cavern, cold and damp within, with uneven ground and some areas of concrete floor, reinforced with steel bars.

Primitive and modern unexpectedly harmonized together.

After being stunned for a moment, Shi Yunxi spoke up.

"We’ve reached the target area, stay alert!"

She surveyed the surroundings, walked forward, and squatted at the border between the smooth concrete and the rugged rocky ground. She toyed with the area with her hand clad in a silver glove, revealing a look of delight.

"Found it, these are Rift Stones! Embedded in the ground at the junction, I see three pieces right now!"

This was a Blue Grade material!

The usual purchase price set by organizations started at 30 contribution points per piece, with high-quality ones reaching seventy, eighty, or even one hundred, and since these were mission materials, they could fetch at least a 50% premium.

No wonder they say this mission is very valuable.

Perrie was also invigorated, her ponytail swaying.

At this cusp of a windfall, caution was even more essential. Perrie and her team were well aware of this. Three of them kept watch while Anna, who could gather Fire Lines and had powerful cutting abilities, took on the mining.

"I’m starting."

Anna took a deep breath, crouched on the ground, rubbed the rough boundary, and after a moment’s observation, flames emerged from her palm, coalescing, and compressing into a slender crimson thread that began to cut through the earth.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—

Sparks flew.

Anna’s cutting was faster than any tool, with less noise, and soon she had extracted the first ’Rift Stone’.

This was followed by the second and the third.

The gentle dance of the flames from the two bright torches spread soft light, dispersing the fog around, bringing brightness to the pitch-black underground space.

But they could not avoid encounters with the Mysterious Evil.

The most dangerous occurrence involved three deathly giant worms, a three-star Mysterious Evil, adept at burrowing. When they burst forth from the earth below, even the scouting Cen Jing’s early warning was a fraction too late.

Dirt and stones flew, and the ground collapsed.

Enveloped in her robes, the delicate figure fell downward, as if plunging into an endless abyss.

Perrie was startled and dashed forward swiftly.

But quicker than her was Shi Yunxi.

"Waterspout, Azure Wave Blade!"

She shouted, and the water swirling around her transformed into sharp, cyan blades, shooting out swiftly and striking the same spot on one of the giant worms, severing it in a single blow.

This was only the beginning. The water swirling around Shi Yunxi grew in volume, accompanied by the sound of a torrential flow.

Waves of water crashed forth as she gathered power in her right fist, from which a white, icy stream burst out of the silver gloves.

"Waterspout, Freezing Blast, Perpetual Frost Stream!"

The freezing power of the Frozen Fist extended along the waves, spreading over the remaining two worms.

In an instant, two magnificent statues were frozen amidst the collapsing rocky terrain.

As the last of Shi Yunxi’s Azure Wave Blades fell, the statues of the worms shattered into several pieces, falling into what seemed like a bottomless abyss.

Along with those pieces fell two Rift Stones they hadn’t managed to mine.

The ascending Anna watched the falling rocks with a pained expression.

Shi Yunxi felt the same, yet she was more composed, "There are more Mysterious Evil detecting us, it’s time to leave."

Gathering the Rift Stones and anything else valuable in the vicinity into their backpacks, the team members swiftly left the underground space.

...

...

"Huff~ Huff~"

The world outside was still a dull gray, much more comforting than the pitch-black of the underground cavern.

Perrie leaned on her knees, breathing heavily.

It was the tension, but she also felt, "Thrilling~!"

She batted her eyelashes at team leader Shi Yunxi, imagining the scene where she killed three three-star Mysterious Evil in just a few seconds, gaining new respect for the power of a member of their organization, the Fire Holder.

Under the cover of the torchlight, no more deathly giant worms followed.

Seeing this, everyone drank their potions and took a short rest before retracing their path back.

As they moved through the steel jungle shrouded in thick fog, occasionally glimpsing colossal shapes in the distance, sometimes they would wait patiently, and sometimes they would take another route. Perrie followed orders carefully, then suddenly spotted an unusual light and shadow in the fog ahead.

It was a small, bright orange light, floating in mid-air, more noticeable than the vehicles and Mysterious Evil lurking in the gray mist.

Perrie stopped.

Just as she was about to ask her team leader for her opinion, the orange light quickly drifted closer.

Like a gust of wind breaking through the fog, under the illumination of the flames, Perrie saw clearly what the orange light was—a lantern, and the person holding it.

"Huh!"