CHAPTER 276: CHAPTER 236: AN UNPROVOKABLE EXISTENCE!

Following the path straight ahead, this space is much larger and more complex than imagined.

After walking for about five minutes, a fork appeared on the left.

The fork led to a similar environment, pipes seemingly stretching endlessly into the distance.

"Not here." Li Zheng glanced at the business card in his hand; the arrow on it still pointed forward. He guessed this fork led to another metal door.

Continuing to follow the business card’s guidance, after another five minutes, a fork appeared on the right.

This time, some debris appeared at the junction, where Li Zheng stabbed a group of rats emerging from the debris to death.

These rats were wild, each as large as a medium-sized dog, with mottled fur hinting at what used to be white hair.

These rats had only the instinct to attack, charging at Li Zheng without regard for the vast disparity in power between them.

Even if their bodies were pierced by the Sheathed Sword, they would struggle fiercely as long as they weren’t dead, trying to bite Li Zheng with their sharp teeth.

[These filthy rats, it seems their genes have been tampered with, and more than once.

Long ago, they might have thought they were cats.]

"Genetic creations?" Li Zheng muttered as he chopped off the last rat’s head, deep in thought.

This area likely served as the doctor’s doorstep, and these specific genetic creations, marked by Old Prelles, must be related to the doctor himself.

After all, for a doctor to occasionally dabble in genetic engineering isn’t really something unacceptable.

Decomposing the rat corpses yielded only some foul-smelling rat meat, which, if consumed, carried a risk of spreading diseases.

Such worthless meat could simply be tossed into the compost pile.

Leaving behind a sea of undecomposable garbage fragments, Li Zheng continued forward with Xiao Ying.

Another five minutes later, a fork appeared again on the left.

This time, Li Zheng was startled.

Two paths leading in one direction consecutively?

[Two paths discovered, do you guess they might connect somewhere?

The answer is: there’s actually a man-made "maze" there. The place you’re headed to, its occupant doesn’t seem to like being disturbed.

Keep going, there are plenty of forks ahead.]

Old Prelles’ tip appeared in a timely manner. Li Zheng had been in this area for over a dozen minutes, during which Old Prelles clearly mapped the terrain.

"Maze killer Prelis’ Eye, honestly, if this were inside the Matrix, you’d be a game-breaking master in a puzzle-solving game!" Li Zheng made a small sarcastic remark, without any intent to go and experience the maze firsthand.

Indeed, as Old Prelles mentioned, more forks appeared upon continuing along the path.

In fact, after passing an unknown number of forks, the current path Li Zheng was on also came to an end.

Only here, he didn’t find a metal door; instead, forks appeared simultaneously on both sides of the path, forming a T-junction.

[To the left? Or the right?

You know, with me here, you don’t have to worry about these multiple-choice questions.

So I suggest you go right, because going left leads to the "maze."]

Ignoring Old Prelles’ suggestion, Li Zheng raised the business card in hand, silently.

Damn it, I have the business card, I can find my way too!

[Damn! The existence of this guiding tool is the greatest insult to the great Old Prelles!]

Li Zheng found it amusing; the last time Old Prelles had this tone was when he used a pictorial guide.

It seemed that other tools encroaching on its job made it very displeased.

A guy like Old Prelles — diligent and possessive over his work — is practically the labor force capitalists love the most!

The arrow on the card indeed pointed right. Following the path, Li Zheng suddenly realized that many tasks Prelis’ Eye could accomplish, numerous tools in the Matrix could also handle.

Detecting information on various creatures could be achieved by a pictorial guide.

Guidance could be achieved by the business card.

Detecting danger behind doors could be done by a Pocket Watch.

Occasionally giving battle tips seemed like a tactical monocle with upgraded functionality.

Old Prelles seemed like a culmination of these tools, besides being more convenient and possessing the spirit of an amusing online friend, it didn’t seem to have any other special capabilities.

Walking and pondering again, after about five more minutes, Old Prelles suddenly gave a blood-red text alert:

[High-energy warning ahead!]

Li Zheng instantly snapped to attention, switching tools in his hand immediately, replacing them with the Sheathed Sword, tensing his entire body.

Whoosh!

The sound of hydraulic machinery echoed as a tall figure cloaked in gray emerged from a corner ahead.

"A monster?" Li Zheng stared intently at it, not daring to relax for a moment.

Both the bloody-letter alert from Old Prelles and the faint aura he sensed from the figure indicated that the opponent was undeniably formidable.

Facing this figure reminded Li Zheng of the feeling he had when he awakened the Ice Giant leader.

That feeling reminded him that the enemy ahead was unbeatable, leaving no option other than to flee quickly from this space!

The distance between them was less than a hundred meters.

This distance was entirely within the scanning range of Prelis’ Eye, yet it didn’t provide any information about the figure.

Not even a name.

Just like when facing Luo Aiman.

It seemed that any slight reaction would be noticed by it.

Li Zheng gazed at the figure, and the figure gazed back at Li Zheng.

This creature was entirely shrouded in a Cloak, its physique very human-like, except for the fact it was much more robust with significantly wide shoulders.

Under the gray Cloak’s hood revealed a peculiar mask, with three lens-like items arranged in a triangle where eyes should have been.

One lens reflected Li Zheng’s face, another depicted Li Zheng’s overall details, and the last fixed on his sword-holding hand.

Li Zheng could feel the gaze from the other, carrying an inexplicable meaning.

It was as if a deity watched an interesting mortal.

Li Zheng wanted desperately to flee, but he didn’t dare move; he felt his entire body stiffening, his blood seeming to freeze, even his heartbeat slowing considerably, afraid that any vigorous thump might displease the opponent.

Every signal in his body told him not to provoke the figure in front.

He would die!

Gazing at Li Zheng for a while, the figure uttered a series of low, incomprehensible syllables from beneath the mask, resembling an ancient language.

Li Zheng couldn’t understand this tongue, nor did he dare make any response, simply standing there stiffly, gripping the Sheathed Sword as tightly as possible.

It was all he could do.

If the opponent wanted to kill him, at least he could die with dignity.

Seeing no response from Li Zheng, the figure seemed to recall something, returning to silence.

A cold sweat droplet slid down his forehead to the corner of his eye, pricking his nerves, his eyelids twitching nonstop, yet even the act of raising a hand to wipe the sweat away felt too perilous, leaving him to endure the discomfort of sweat seeping into his eyes.

The Air Purifier diligently supplied barely fresh air, yet within this silence, Li Zheng incrementally felt a sense of suffocation.

Just as he figured they might remain stalemated for quite some time, the figure suddenly moved!