Chapter 741 - 97: The Endless Tower
Su Changxing looked ahead and slightly furrowed his brow. It was an extremely long corridor, so long that even with his eyesight, he couldn’t see the end.
This building was half-destroyed. According to the normal spatial structure, from this position, he should be seeing the ruined debris.
It seemed as if they were in another space, though its overall layout was similar to the building.
Mu Donglai followed Su Changxing in as the second person, and the scene before him made him gasp, "How could this happen!"
On both sides of his cheeks appeared faint lines, like tightly closed eyes.
Could this phenomenon have been caused by the Ratman Statue?
Su Changxing wouldn’t retreat just because of this. Used to walking the edge of life and death, he had some confidence.
If it really didn’t work out, it was not too late to leave.
"It seems like this place has been separated into a special space, possibly due to some change in the rules." Zhong Qijun analyzed, seeming quite knowledgeable in this area.
Huang Yeying took a mechanical bug out of her pocket and placed it on the ground. The bug crawled forward along the corridor until it disappeared from their sight.
"It seems there’s no danger. This thing can sense danger to some extent. If there’s danger, it will explode."
She explained, yet her tone wasn’t exactly relaxed, her face full of seriousness.
In such a High-Level World, encountering this bizarre scene was an extremely dangerous signal.
Normally, seeing such a situation would lead one to retreat, but for some reason, Su Changxing and the others did not retreat.
Su Changxing wanted the other half of the Ratman Statue, and as for Mu Donglai and the others, it was unclear. Perhaps it was for the statue, or maybe they had other motives.
"It turns out the Black Dog Gang is hiding some secret. No wonder their boss survived such severe bubonic plague."
Su Changxing thought, recalling the scene when he met the Black Dog Gang boss, along with various strange details he hadn’t noticed then.
The bird in the cage hadn’t died from the plague but from the exhaustion of its bodily functions.
The floor where the Black Dog Gang boss stayed was large, yet completely empty, with not a single person in sight.
Su Changxing moved forward a bit, sensing a change around him. When he looked up, the chandelier on the ceiling was lit, and the bodies on the floor were gone.
The surroundings were very clean. The spotless floor and the brand-new red carpet looked as if they had just been laid.
Su Changxing remembered that when he first came here, the carpet was dark red, due to a long period of dust accumulation, appearing a dark red.
It was very quiet, with no other sounds, only their footsteps echoing down the corridor.
Zhong Qijun’s body was heavy, so his footsteps were the loudest, like a sledgehammer pounding the ground.
"Do you know where that thing is?"
Mu Donglai squinted his eyes and asked, looking down at a bronze bracelet on his hand engraved with some patterns.
Su Changxing thought for a moment and said, "I guess it’s on the top floor."
"Guess?"
"Yes, I don’t know the location of that thing, so I can only guess."
Mu Donglai and the others fell silent after hearing Su Changxing’s words: "..."
After walking a distance, Su Changxing found that the general layout of the entire room hadn’t changed. It was just elongated, making them take tens or even hundreds of meters for a corridor that used to take a few meters.
The space here was different from outside. It was wave-shaped, greatly affecting vision and perception.
The exit was not far behind them but had completely blurred, darkening until it was no longer visible.
Relying on his memory, Su Changxing led Mu Donglai and the others to the staircase. The elevator beside it was glowing, still operational.
The entire building had been destroyed; where would the energy supply come from?
Take the stairs or the elevator?
"We better take the stairs. The elevator might be a bit dangerous." Mu Donglai frowned and said.
Su Changxing inspected the old-fashioned elevator again and smiled, "Taking the elevator seems faster. Why don’t we take the elevator?"
As soon as he said this, the others fell silent, looking at Su Changxing with surprise, not knowing what he meant.
"Are you crazy? At this point, what’s the difference between fast and slow? This thing looks off." Zhong Qijun said with an ugly expression, the strange happenings along the way weighing heavily on his mind, instinctively sensing danger.
Su Changxing put his hand on the elevator lever and pulled it back, watching the elevator cable begin to slide down, "If you want to take the stairs, go ahead. I’m not stopping you."
Mu Donglai showed a smile, waved his hand to lighten the mood, "Brother Liu Luola, since we’re here to help you, we’ll stick together... but I want to ask, why take the elevator?"
With a ding, the elevator doors swiftly opened along with the sound of gears turning.
"Then why take the stairs?" Su Changxing asked in return.
Mu Donglai replied with a friendly face, "Taking the stairs allows us to retreat if anything happens. Taking the elevator would trap us inside, which is clearly not a wise choice."
Su Changxing listened, thought it over carefully, then nodded with sudden understanding, "Makes sense, you’re smart, Mu Donglai. Alright, we’ll take the stairs."
Smart my ass?
Mu Donglai’s face twitched uncontrollably, barely holding it together, while Su Changxing started making trouble at their most tense moment.
They ascended the stairs, first using mechanical bugs to scout ahead. Though unsure if this method was practical, it provided some peace of mind.
The whole process was silent; their footsteps echoed in the stairwell, and due to immense psychological pressure, they spoke little.
At one point, Mu Donglai suddenly halted, standing still. The others, including Su Changxing, also stopped.
"Something’s not right, this is too long. We’ve ascended at least four to five hundred meters, yet haven’t reached the top," Mu Donglai said, looking serious.
Zhong Qijun and Huang Yeying’s faces looked grim, as if gnawed by a dog, but they said nothing.
Su Changxing glanced at them, understandingly said, "If you’re scared, you can go back. This place might be deadly."
Mu Donglai shook his head, knowing Su Changxing was testing them, and smiled, "Since we’re helping, we’ll see it through. How could we abandon it halfway and be untrustworthy?"
Su Changxing turned and walked towards this floor, standing by the door to observe the situation inside. Beside him was a table with some scattered Points cards, seemingly used for a card game not long ago.
"Why don’t we take a look on this floor? Maybe we’ll find something."
"Alright, it’s up to you," Mu Donglai replied.
As they talked, a chatter came from above.
"Rats?"
Huang Yeying peeked up the stairs, only to be suddenly struck by a dark shadow in the face.
It was a large white rat, which bit a chunk of flesh off her cheek, exposing the facial bone.
She immediately swatted the rat across to the opposite wall, retreating continuously.
Soon after, the noise grew louder, as more rats swarmed down from above the stairs—on the steps, walls, ceiling—in various colors; white, yellow, black, terrifying them.
"Why so many rats!"
Zhong Qijun cursed, retreating and pulling a black-looking grenade from his waist, throwing it around the corner.
The grenade collided with the floor and exploded, sealing off the stairway with roaring flames.
The rats scrambled madly within the fire, letting out shrill screams, the air filled with a scent of roasted flesh.
Su Changxing had retreated to the bottom, took out a gun wrapped in ragged bandages, and rapidly fired at the rats with almost every shot hitting, each bullet precisely piercing through a rat’s skull.
The rats clearly weren’t ordinary, extremely destructive, with extraordinary speed.
Despite their efforts, some rats managed to break through, with one tearing a chunk of flesh from Zhong Qijun’s thigh.
Apart from Su Changxing, the others all suffered attacks from the rats, each losing a bloody piece of flesh from their bodies.
In about ten seconds, the number of rats had thinned, and no more followed.
With the barrage of gunfire, Su Changxing shot the last few rats, restoring silence as the chattering ceased.
Zhong Qijun stood at the forefront, sustaining the most severe injuries. His mechanical arm was damaged again, with parts scattered on the ground, while his other flesh hand was chewed into a mangled mess, exposing the bones of the entire hand.
"Damn beasts."
He took a deep breath, cold sweat beading on his forehead, saying nothing more, "Just cut off this hand as well and install a mechanical arm."
Huang Yeying looked at him somberly, first removing the damaged mechanical arm and installing a similar one.
Then, Mu Donglai deftly cut off Zhong Qijun’s mangled hand, replacing it with another mechanical arm, wrapping the joint with yellow bandages.
Similar operations as before.
"His hand should be recoverable, right? There should be other ways," Su Changxing asked, puzzled.
Mu Donglai forced a smile, turned his head to explain, "This way it won’t affect combat ability. Even if the arm is cut, as long as we get out, there’s a way to restore it."
Inwardly puzzled, he thought Su Changxing seemed like a novice Player who understood nothing, yet was incredibly powerful.
Maintaining combat ability is the most crucial thing in battle. Physical injuries can be healed in many ways, like using Points to exchange for Holy Healing once.
With enough Points, you could even recreate a new body.