CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 298: EXCLUSIVE DUNGEON FOR RED NAME PLAYERS

This is a city.

A city devastated by war.

Everywhere you look are ruins, and in the distance, thick smoke billows, evoking a bleak chill.

Li Zheng and his companions stepped out from the light screen, leading them to a hall where the entrance connected. The hall was in shambles, littered with debris from the building’s destruction. The side near the door seemed to have been bombarded by some weapon, with a massive hole torn into the thick concrete wall. The exposed metal mixture had melted and cooled, forming a thin irregular sheet of metal.

"Another new level, I wonder what kind of enemy we’ll face this time." Li Zheng glanced around briefly and pulled out half a poster from the rubble.

The poster featured a humanoid creature with grayish-purple keratin covering its body. This creature seemed to be mammalian as well, with a swollen chest, presumably female.

Behind the female creature stood a row of robots, each equipped with two cylindrical tubes like those of a Blastoise. The female’s expression was excited, suggesting this was a news conference.

"Robot Crisis?" Li Zheng looked at the half-poster in his hand, recalling numerous movies featuring robots rebelling against human oppression.

Perhaps this city was no exception, receiving a baptism of fire from their own creations.

"Could the enemies be robots again this time?" Li Zheng tossed the poster aside and looked at Zhao Yu, still lying idly.

After some thought, he instructed, "You all stay here. I’ll have Sakura protect you. If enemies appear, you fight first. If you really can’t handle it, Sakura will intervene."

As usual, Li Zheng preferred to act alone, seeking to find the boss quickly and finish the task.

"Wow, when Wang Chaoran was boasting in the region channel earlier, I didn’t believe him. Turns out the expert really can solo a level boss?" One of the two able-bodied players remarked, seemingly impressed.

"What did you think? That the top spot on the combat rankings came for nothing?" Another player took out a towel to wipe his hands, clearly disliking the contact with Zhao Yu—a towel nearly torn apart by the intensity.

"Alright, alright, skip the flattery. Stay sharp. Sakura isn’t omnipotent. If you act recklessly and she can’t save you, don’t blame me." Li Zheng motioned them to silence, exchanged a few more words with Sakura, and then turned to leave.

He stepped out of the building and turned his head, only to lock eyes with someone else. Those eyes were utterly indifferent, enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

"Another living person?" Li Zheng was somewhat surprised since what appeared before him wasn’t the mechanical robot from the poster, but rather the humanoid creature with gray-purple skin.

The person seemed momentarily stunned to see Li Zheng, then quickly reacted, raising a strange weapon slung across his shoulder, aiming it in his direction, and fired a shot.

Pew!

A red beam shot from the gun barrel, piercing Li Zheng’s forehead, shattering him.

In the next second, the fragmented Li Zheng vanished from the spot.

Reappearing behind the creature, he swung his sword.

Thud!

The head fell, and Li Zheng was taken aback.

This creature was much weaker than Li Zheng had imagined, dispatched with just a single blow.

"Is this the type of enemy we are to face in this level?" Li Zheng crouched down to inspect the body, noting the blood of the purple-skinned humanoid was also bright red, an enchanting shade, but lacking the foul stench of human blood. Instead, it had an inexplicably sweet fragrance.

"This blood is so strange. The smell makes me want to taste it a bit?" Li Zheng suppressed the sudden impulse bubbling within and picked up the peculiar firearm.

From its appearance, it resembled a toy water gun from Earth. A large closed cylinder rested on top, while a small screen was situated on the handle, displaying a symbol similar to a power gauge.

"A laser weapon?" Li Zheng recalled the earlier beam, attempting to fire it, but there was no reaction.

"An owner-specific weapon bound by identity? Only designated targets can use it?" Li Zheng received a prompt from the system, and frustrated, tried decomposing it, only to fail again.

However, when decomposing the body, he succeeded, obtaining a "Blood Crystal."

Tier: Gold

Type: Special Item

Effect: Integrates into the player after use, activating Blood Qi, with a probability of acquiring "Blood Qi" type abilities, or enhancing similar abilities’ level.

Note: Usable only by red-named players, with ability effects varying with Blood Qi concentration.

"It’s specifically for red-named players!" Li Zheng glanced at the level’s name, suddenly realizing this level might be exclusively designed for red-named players.

If this level doesn’t drop other types of items, it might yield the least gains of any level Li Zheng has ever completed.

Li Zheng casually discarded the Blood Crystal; bringing it out would only aid the enemy. No matter what he could trade for it, he didn’t want it.

However, after taking just a few steps, Li Zheng returned to pick it up.

He recalled that disabled player, who’s here just to earn some materials to modify his body. Discarding the Blood Crystal would mean he’d leave empty-handed.

Better to carry it with him for now, and let others decide whether to take it when the level concludes.

After all, Li Zheng is just a hired hand, without the authority to handle the level’s rewards.

After tidying up, with no new enemies appearing during this interval, Li Zheng was disinclined to search slowly. Who knows how big this city is?

So he decided to fly up into the air, attempting to locate other enemies from above.

But as soon as he ascended, a sense of danger welled up within him, prompting him to immediately reduce the power of his Flying Device and descend.

Above his head, seven or eight red beams converged, narrowly missing blowing up Li Zheng’s head.

"Damn it, that was careless." Li Zheng broke into a cold sweat, nearly meeting his end.

But the good news was, from the beams’ directions, the other enemies were scattered, making them not too difficult to handle.

Memorizing those directions, Li Zheng chose one at random, moving along the street.

The city bore a resemblance to those on Earth; shops lined both sides of the street, their broken signs hanging off walls and littering the ground. It was clear that before the war, the city had been quite prosperous.

But now, these shops were either collapsed, bombed to ruins, or looted bare, leaving not a single useful thing behind.

On the way, Li Zheng found a robot like the one from the poster.

The robot lay by the roadside, decapitated, its gun barrels twisted and deformed, its mechanical limbs shattered, with scattered parts everywhere.

Full of anticipation, Li Zheng tried to decompose the robot, but instead received a heartless terminal prompt: Decomposition restricted.

"Great, seems there’s no hope of acquiring any other materials this time." Li Zheng shrugged, about to leave, when a chill ran up his spine.

Danger!

Feeling the threat, without turning his head, Li Zheng decisively rolled aside, diving into the ruins of a shop.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the red beam pass by the shop entrance—that was the beam emitted by a weapon held by the purple-skinned creature!

Hiding behind a cupboard, Li Zheng poked a single eye out towards the direction the beam had come from.

The enemy he encountered this time was of the same race as before, yet entirely different.