The rounded turret, sloped armor, and those iconic five pairs of road wheels.

This was clearly an outstanding specimen among tanks.

"For the Great Mentor!"

Rust let out an ear-shattering roar and fired the cannon toward Liu Zheng.

The 85mm tank cannon roared violently as a red high-explosive shell screamed toward its target.

The explosion sounded almost simultaneously, and in just an instant, Liu Zheng was blown to pieces.

But it wasn't over yet.

The tank's externally mounted flamethrower spewed scorching flames, burning even the debris into nothingness.

"Don't burn it all."

A weak voice spoke up.

"Why?"

Rust asked in confusion.

"Being human just doesn't work out."

"As you wish."

Rust fell silent for a moment before responding.

After burning about two-thirds of the debris, the flamethrower ceased operation.

As the flames dissipated, Liu Zheng sat completely unharmed on the electric chair.

As if everything that just happened was merely an illusion.

Only the newly grown dark, rotting seaweed on his head proved the descent of the Gospel.

"Not bad at all. Would be even better with a different hairstyle."

Liu Zheng touched his head and remarked.

Permed hair isn't in fashion these days.

And given his facial structure, a side-parted hairstyle would better accentuate his temperament.

"You seem quite optimistic."

Rust retracted the tank and examined him with interest.

"Surviving all this, why wouldn't I be optimistic?"

Liu Zheng countered.

This dungeon's difficulty was already absurdly high to begin with, and with his series of reckless maneuvers, he'd made the situation even more complicated.

But precisely because of this, he became even more determined to survive.

Fighting against heaven brings endless joy, fighting against people brings endless joy.

Fighting against these non-human entities? That's like Lay's potato chips releasing a Sichuan peppercorn flavor - absolutely delightful!

Moreover, Liu Zheng wasn't just finding joy in hardship.

As they say, high risk brings high rewards. Since the dungeon difficulty was so extreme, the gains naturally wouldn't be small.

Now he already possessed two perfect-grade items, though neither could be taken out of the dungeon, they could still be traded.

Even if Bullhorse didn't want them, the plane tree would definitely take them.

Even if he couldn't trade for perfect-grade items, he could still get some powerful fine-grade items.

If he ended up with god-tier equipment after just clearing his first dungeon, wouldn't that be an instant takeoff?

Intuition told Liu Zheng that other players' beginner dungeons absolutely wouldn't be this difficult, and the rewards definitely wouldn't be this high.

Of course, he wasn't considering that subsequent dungeon difficulties would also increase progressively.

Life was already fucking hard enough—why make things more troublesome for himself, right?

"Aren't you the same?"

Liu Zheng said to Rust.

Those children could no longer be considered truly alive, yet it still taught them classes, trying to let them live relatively normal lives.

"The traces of divine descent, I've basically eliminated them all. As long as no accidents occur, you won't hear the Gospel again."

"But the parts you asked to preserve will still gradually transform your essence. When you completely become non-human, I'll have no choice but to eliminate you along with them."

Rust changed the subject.

"No problem, I'll just hide far away by then."

Liu Zheng said indifferently.

Anyway, by that time he'd probably have returned to reality.

Let's see if Rust could chase him outside the dungeon.

"But the benefit is that you generated an enormous amount of electricity this time—enough to power the shelter for over a decade."

A hint of amusement colored Rust's tone.

"Shouldn't that warrant some extra rewards then?"

Liu Zheng seized the opportunity to push his luck.

Even streetlights know to give workers year-end bonuses.

"No."

Rust said bluntly.

"Tch."

He pursed his lips. The source of thɪs content is novel✦fire.net

"But if you encounter trouble, you can come to the shelter to hide."

Rust offered.

"Thanks awfully."

Liu Zheng said insincerely.

Compared to Rust, he still trusted the plane tree more.

And he probably wouldn't be coming back to this section of sewer anyway.

"Any safety door in the sewer can lead to the shelter."

Rust added.

"Then I'm truly grateful."

This time Liu Zheng's thanks carried much more sincerity.

As long as he didn't catch the Megamouth Whale, he'd have to keep coming back to the sewer.

Having the shelter available meant gaining an additional safe house.

Even if the entrance to this safe house was somewhat difficult to find, it was still quite good.

"Alright, you should go now."

Rust said.

"Indeed."

Liu Zheng glanced at the time—only one hour remained.

The two returned to the classroom, where all the lights were now on.

The classroom was brightly lit, but aside from the children's clothes and hair accessories, everything appeared gray and muted.

"Goodbye, Mr. Electrician."

Galia bid farewell enthusiastically.

The other children waved along with her.

Liu Zheng smiled and made a motion to ruffle her hair.

"If possible, please bring some cake and juice. Their birthday is in a few days."

Rust said quietly.

"Their birthday?"

"Correct. Also their death anniversary."

Rust stated.

"You can even blast back divine descent, why don't you go up and get them yourself?"

"Slow death in a dream versus instant death upon waking—which would you choose?"

Rust countered.

"Probably slow death, I guess."

Liu Zheng thought for a moment before answering.

Living one more day is one more day—what if a miracle happens while dragging things out?

Just like if he had committed suicide immediately after learning about his terminal illness, he would have missed this opportunity of being selected by the Hell Game.

"That's what they chose too. So me not going up is better for everyone."

Rust said calmly.

"The banners of the old era have fallen, while the ships of the new era have yet to arrive."

"Until they make new choices, I'll remain here, waiting to either completely decay or be reborn anew."

As it spoke, an intense odor of decay emanated from its entire being.

Liu Zheng only needed one whiff to feel as if he had already stepped into his twilight years.

ALS didn't matter anymore—he probably wouldn't live long enough for symptoms to appear anyway.

Delivery time limits didn't matter—he could make it even walking slowly.

The legendary deliveryman's hat didn't matter—even if the legendary deliveryman was dead, collecting the full set wouldn't make him stronger.

He even began to think that staying in the shelter wouldn't be so bad.

No work, no life-or-death struggles, no exhausting efforts to trade with others.

Just staying here for ten or twenty days, then completing the dungeon.

Thinking about it, it's kind of...

Never mind, not really that exciting anyway.

So be it—any way of living is still living.

If I can't live, then I'll die. Just like that.

As Liu Zheng's consciousness gradually slowed, the purple-black shell covering his body began to take on a grayish-white hue.

"Wake up! Soldier."

With a sharp command, something ice-cold pressed against Liu Zheng's forehead.

He jolted awake abruptly and found himself facing a rocket launcher.

"Is this how you people wake others up here?"

Liu Zheng broke out in a cold sweat and couldn't help but complain.

Rust shook its head, then pulled out a rocket launcher two-thirds smaller.

"So I always use the mini version."

"Hahaha, so humorous."

Liu Zheng said with a completely straight face.

"I think so too."

Rust seemed somewhat proud.

"Let's hurry up and go, otherwise I'll freeze to death."

He shivered and said.

"Then let's go."

Rust led him back to the safety door.

"Just open the door and go out."

It said.

"Aren't you going to see me off?"

What if the sewer was still throwing a tantrum?

"From here you can go directly to the surface."

Rust explained.

Sensing no reason for it to deceive him, Liu Zheng chose to believe.

He opened the safety door and stepped through.

The next second, Liu Zheng found himself on the street.

In the distance, the plane tree stared at him dumbfounded.

"Human, how did you get out?"