Chapter 16, First Nine

The loot from the A-grade disaster explosion naturally did not disappoint. However, this time, the monster did not drop any materials; instead, all the energy from the corpse converged into a single card.

It was not a one-time skill card but a cultivation card.

The front of the card depicted a dark, shadowy monster, while the back bore a silver pentagram.

[Skill: Shadow Stealth]

Description: Silver skill cultivation card; requires Dark Affinity 15. After fusion, you will master Shadow Stealth (Lv0), gaining the ability to blend into the darkness.

The mechanical-arm girl looked at the card and exclaimed softly, “Oh, it’s a cultivation card.”

Ji Xun was once again bewildered.

He understood the words, but he didn’t grasp the true value of the card.

The mechanical-arm girl seemed accustomed to his occasional ignorance.

This guy was clearly intelligent, but it seemed he lacked a lot of common knowledge.

Oh!

Low-level hunters wouldn’t normally come into contact with such cultivation cards, so it’s natural to be surprised.

She explained, “These are said to be cards imprinted by the divine consciousness of ancient spell card masters with an extremely low appearance rate, even lower than that of radiant silver materials. They are more efficient than martial arts manuals; anyone who meets the conditions can directly master the skill after fusion. This is one of the most sought-after commodities in upper society, and its value is very high. Moreover, this [Shadow Stealth] appears to be a lost assassin secret technique. At least, I’ve never seen it before. It’s best not to sell it easily.”

Listening to her explanation, Ji Xun finally understood.

This was akin to the ghostly movement of the earlier monster, which could hide its true form in shadows. If an assassin mastered it, it would indeed be highly effective for both survival and assassination.

Ji Xun also found it fascinating to master a skill without arduous cultivation, directly imprinting it on the soul.

Such an item would indeed be highly attractive to the wealthy.

As she spoke, the girl handed the card to him without hesitation and said, “I don’t follow the assassin profession line, so this card is no use to me.”

“Then I won’t be polite,” Ji Xun glanced at her and accepted it without declining.

He already knew that this companion didn’t like taking advantage, a trait he’d witnessed before.

Moreover, since she said it was valuable, it must be valuable.

But looking at himself, his Dark Affinity value was only 1.

It would be a while before he could fuse with this card.

Besides the cultivation card, another ordinary black card appeared on the monster’s body.

This card had no function, only two lines of text:

“When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.”

“Someone must light the darkness before dawn arrives.”

Staring at the card, Ji Xun had a vague feeling as if it was hinting at something. He said, “This should be the final ‘key’ to clearing the level.”

Unlike the skill cards dropped by earlier monsters, which could kill the next boss, this card only had two lines of text.

The mechanical-arm girl pondered for a moment but couldn’t figure out its purpose, so she asked, “What does this card mean?”

Ji Xun: “A clue.”

The mechanical-arm girl looked exasperated: Of course, it’s a clue! But what does it signify?

“I don’t know either,” Ji Xun understood her expression and shrugged helplessly. “You don’t think I know everything, right?”

The mechanical-arm girl didn’t respond, but her expression indicated: Haven’t you shown that all this way?

It seemed they had developed a habit of thinking that whenever they encountered a puzzle, this guy would decipher it from some peculiar angle.

Understanding her thoughts, Ji Xun smiled and shook his head.

He said, “It’s like playing a puzzle game. The mastermind behind the scenes leaves clues so you won’t miss the answers, but also makes the clues obscure. You’ll only have an epiphany at a specific moment when you need it. You can’t expect to decipher its purpose as soon as you get it.”

This explanation seemed convincing; the mechanical-arm girl, behind her gas mask, also nodded in agreement.

Ji Xun thought for a moment and said, “We should be heading to the final checkpoint now. Typically, the last checkpoint is either the hardest or the most unexpected.”

He looked at the card again and added, “It seems to be the latter now.”

The mechanical-arm girl remained silent, pondering the two lines of text on the card.

They packed up the loot and continued deeper into the laboratory.

As Ji Xun speculated, they were about to face the final checkpoint. After killing the [Shadow Fiend], they didn’t encounter any threatening mutated creatures.

Some scattered small monsters occasionally ran out from the corners of the laboratory, but the mechanical-arm girl always detected them in advance and easily killed them.

As they walked, Ji Xun suddenly spoke, “By the way, may I ask, Miss, how should I address you?”

From the beginning, neither of them had asked the other’s name, but considering they had endured hardships together, he casually asked.

Hearing this, the mechanical-arm girl continued walking without responding. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Just as Ji Xun thought she didn’t want to talk to him, she suddenly responded indifferently, “Chujiu.”

Ji Xun pondered, “Chujiu?”

Clearly, it wasn’t a proper name but a code name.

But it was better than calling her the mechanical-arm girl.

Ji Xun introduced himself, “Ji Xun. Nice to meet you.”

Chujiu remained silent.

Ji Xun didn’t mind.

Despite her cold demeanor, she was still a good companion.

They continued walking deeper.

The laboratory had to end somewhere; after a while, they reached a rusted elevator.

“Someone has used the elevator.”

“Hmm, probably those mercenaries.”

After checking the passage and finding no danger, they took the elevator.

Judging by the way it looked, this was the path leading to the exit.

It resembled an abandoned mine elevator, rusty and creaking as it ascended, making one fear it might suddenly fall.

Fortunately, nothing happened, and after ascending more than twenty floors, they reached the top of the elevator.

Walking through a narrow passage, they entered a strange mirrored world.

The floor was white, and the ceiling and walls were covered with mirrors of various sizes.

Without sensing any monster presence, they walked in.

At first, there were only a few mirrors, but gradually, the number of mirrors increased.

They saw countless versions of themselves, strange and bizarre, and countless pairs of eyes staring back at them.

In the mirrors, they saw all their inner thoughts, doubts, obsessions, anger, caution, fear, desires, and some distorted reflections, representing twisted desires.

“Tsk, this is interesting,” Ji Xun said, stepping forward steadily.

Most people might feel uncomfortable seeing so many mirrors, but he was used to it.

Every moment, the images in his mind were like this: countless versions of himself arguing.

Seeing these reflections didn’t bother Ji Xun at all.

But Chujiu beside him seemed visibly disturbed by what she saw in the mirrors.

Seeing her condition, Ji Xun patted her shoulder, “Let’s go.”

Chujiu snapped out of her nightmarish state.

This “Mirror House” seemed not difficult, and its trial unclear.

They walked straight through it.

Suddenly, they reached a dead end.

Chujiu exclaimed, “A dead end? A maze?”

She was recalling where they might have gone wrong when Ji Xun’s eyes narrowed slightly, “No. We’ve arrived.”

As soon as he spoke, the surrounding mirror light retreated like a tide.

Looking again, they found themselves inside a sealed iron cage.

A revelation appeared: “Entered an unknown space, discovered a special hidden mainline. Exploration +5%.”

(End of this chapter)