CHAPTER 360: CHAPTER 360: THE MANSION, A NEST OVERTHROWN_1

"An antiquated theme again? Seems like the Game System is deliberately suppressing intellect?" Wang Linchi furrowed his brows. When he had arrived at this large instance, he saw various modern buildings and facilities being deliberately altered on his way, and various instances also seemed to have transformed into an ancient mode.

As for how to interfere with the Erroneous Sin, I’m not certain yet, Wang Linchi thought. However, I’m sure that with the Game System’s current strength, if it can’t directly interfere with the Erroneous Sin, can’t it at least interfere with its environment? By indirectly prompting changes in the Erroneous Sin and then altering it bit by bit, it could naturally be molded into the desired form.

"What do you know about this large instance?" Wang Linchi straightened the Shadow of Gluttony before he asked it.

The Shadow of Gluttony recovered quickly and blurted out, "I know a bit. I was tossed in here by the Game System as a BOSS earlier. It’s essentially a ’tales of the strange’ type, full of Erroneous Sins."

"There are scores of players and NPCs here to serve as foil, unlike the small instances, which mostly contain players and Erroneous Sins."

"Moreover, it appears to be driven by some major trend, as if the Game System is simulating the real world," the Shadow of Gluttony quickly added.

The idea of simulating the real world left Wang Linchi pondering. So the Game System wants to usurp the world, and while living its second life, it can conveniently save the world as well?

Bullshit. I believe it rather aims to efficiently exploit resources, using them for the artificial creation of Erroneous Sins to maintain a self-sustaining cycle in this ranch, Wang Linchi immediately dismissed the idea of the Game System saving the world. That might have been true before its ’Erroneous’ transformation, but now it’s simply impossible. The real possibility is that it’s creating some means to escape this world, to leave immediately after the world halts, and head to other worlds. With the three technologies from the Abyss, I refuse to believe that’s the extent of its capabilities. However, the prerequisite is that the world halts and dies. Otherwise, the Game System wouldn’t be able to leave even if it wanted to. Though powerful, it’s still fundamentally a set of rules; even as erroneous rules, it cannot detach from the world. So, it’s more like it’s preparing, just like me. The moment the world halts, it will leave with all its assets. And these large instances are experimental farms, allowing the Game System to manufacture Erroneous Sins on its own when it parasitizes other worlds after leaving this one. Can’t deny, it really has considered things quite thoroughly.

"So, boss, what do we do next?" The Shadow of Gluttony asked cautiously.

"Well, it’s time for dinner. I’m a bit hungry." Wang Linchi looked at the Shadow of Gluttony, his gaze seeming to contemplate where to take the first bite.

"The boss is right! People are like iron and food is like steel—skip a meal and you’ll be starving! I just saw what looked like a house not far from here; we could go ask for some food." The Shadow of Gluttony shivered involuntarily; being seen as food naturally terrified it.

But upon hearing this, Wang Linchi smirked. "How do you know there’s a house not far away? I don’t see it."

"..." The Shadow of Gluttony cursed silently.

Seeing Wang Linchi’s somewhat dangerous expression, it felt that if it couldn’t provide a good explanation, it might be done for.

"Because I’ve been here once before, so I remember." At this point, the Shadow of Gluttony could only brace itself and speak, even though it didn’t have any scalp to brace.

"Good, I’ll trust you this time. If there’s no one ahead, and I get too hungry, I might just have to eat you." Wang Linchi’s expression instantly changed, and he spoke cheerfully.

This was, of course, to scare the Shadow of Gluttony. Erroneous Sins were inherently nasty creatures. Even though the Shadow of Gluttony was intelligent, Wang Linchi couldn’t afford to be too lenient with it. He knew its true nature; if its strength surpassed Wang Linchi’s, it would have swallowed him long ago, rather than cowering like this.

Therefore, he needed to teach this Shadow of Gluttony a lesson from time to time, to remind it who was boss.

Otherwise, what if it suddenly rose up and backstabbed Wang Linchi?

Although it likely wouldn’t break his defense, it was still a potential threat. He had to suppress it relentlessly, ideally tormenting it until it conformed completely to his will.

Carrying the Shadow of Gluttony, they proceeded, only to find themselves heading into increasingly remote territory instead of an inhabited area, which gave Wang Linchi a bit of a headache.

Fortunately, the creature hadn’t lied; there was indeed a house.

A whole den of Erroneous Sins. Well, well. I wonder if this is the result of the Game System’s artificial interference or if it was just this perfectly suited to begin with.

Wang Linchi looked at the luxurious mansion standing incongruously in the barren wilderness.

"Let’s have a little logic here, seriously. Who builds such a large mansion in the middle of nowhere instead of in a city? It’s obviously screaming that something’s wrong," Wang Linchi remarked wryly.

Indeed, it was quite the strange tale.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Wang Linchi went straight to banging on the door, his strength well-controlled so as not to smash the door with a single blow.

"Open up, I’m back!" Wang Linchi’s banging on the door was thunderous.

SQUEAK.

The main door opened. Caught off guard, Wang Linchi’s palm slapped onto a house servant who was opening the door. The force suddenly intensified, directly shattering the servant’s forehead into fragments.

"Ah, this... my sincere apologies, I wasn’t paying attention just now." Wang Linchi quickly helped the fallen house servant up. This was an Erroneous Sin of Excellent Level and Excellent quality; its skull healed quickly.

However, because Wang Linchi had acted too rashly, he directly triggered the other party’s killing rule. It pounced towards Wang Linchi, its great mouth wide open, filled with all sorts of grotesque, sharp teeth.

The Saint Master’s figure materialized and struck the Erroneous Sin’s head with a single punch, instantly sucking it dry.

"This... he... isn’t he dead?" The Shadow of Gluttony stammered. It had seen the Saint Master self-destruct with its own eyes.

"Are you senile? When did the Saint Master die?" Wang Linchi said teasingly.

"Just... just now. I saw him... explode." The Shadow of Gluttony’s voice grew softer and softer, finally saying, "I must indeed be senile."

It realized then. After all the torment it had endured, how had it still not learned its lesson? It should just agree with whatever Wang Linchi said, not foolishly question him.

"How could you be senile? It was clearly me who saw wrong," Wang Linchi said sarcastically.

This made the Shadow of Gluttony regret its words deeply. He’s planning to torment it again. Otherwise, why would he say that?

Meanwhile, the Saint Master had already charged into the mansion, and large numbers of Erroneous Sins were continuously swarming forward.

Under normal circumstances, when facing Erroneous Sins, one needed to evade and utilize their killing rules. Otherwise, triggering, violating, or destroying their killing rules would provoke endless attacks from the Erroneous Sins.

Players definitely wouldn’t be able to withstand it; basically, once triggered, they were doomed.

As for two Erroneous Sins triggering each other’s rules, that would result in rule-entanglement. Within the entire instance, all Erroneous Sins were actually entangled with each other, but they hadn’t been able to determine a victor or reach a stalemate, thus requiring the players’ assistance.

Victory naturally meant one side integrating the other; a stalemate meant they all crashed.

The direct consumption conversion rate is still higher, Wang Linchi thought, feeling the spiritual power pouring into his body. Having the Saint Master do the killing was indeed convenient, but the utilization rate was much lower. There’s some loss in the process, about a tenth. Otherwise, why would I eat them myself? I also thought about feeding them to the Dragon Soul Saint Main, but it’s not possible. The Dragon Soul Saint Main can’t digest; it can only absorb. So, stuffing Erroneous Sins into it won’t convert them into spiritual power.

"By the way, do you have any brilliant ideas?" Wang Linchi asked after releasing the Shadow of Gluttony, which he had kneaded into a ball.

"No... no brilliant ideas. Boss, you are right," the Shadow of Gluttony’s voice was tinged with pain. When Wang Linchi was kneading it, he didn’t just use brute force; he also employed his Thought Field, ensuring it felt sufficient pain.

This was pure torture, without any other fancy intentions.

"Good. You’ve finally kicked your habit of spouting nonsense." Wang Linchi was very satisfied with the Shadow of Gluttony’s reply. What it said didn’t matter; the main thing was that it had submitted.

The Saint Master’s slaughter grew increasingly horrifying, shaking the entire mansion as if its killing rule had been triggered.

Bloody patterns crawled over the ground, walls, and even the attic. Upon closer inspection, these patterns were revealed to be clusters of overlapping "death" characters.

Is it going all out? Wang Linchi felt this mansion was undoubtedly Epic Level. Then, another thought occurred to him: Speaking of which, why is the quality of most architectural Erroneous Sins so high? Among the Epic Level ones I’ve encountered—Night Hotel, Human Skin Inn, and now this mansion—all are Epic Level. Could it be that architectural types have an inherent advantage?