Chapter 39: 31. Flowers bloom elsewhere
Translator: 549690339
Killing the Sin Soldier Zombie, appeasing the original master’s soul, and obtaining a small spell that might have unexpected effects, Noland Lee could not help but feel somewhat down.
Because he had no spare filter cartridges left.
The filter cartridge he was currently using would lose its effectiveness in about 10 minutes.
Not much time remained for him.
Noland Lee had no choice but to speed up the modification of the Undead Runes.
However, he soon discovered an even more confusing and troubling issue:
No matter how he modified the runes on the wall, he could not reduce the remaining 1000 building value points of the Stone Tomb.
These remaining 1000 building value points clung to the Stone Tomb as stubbornly as a dog skin plaster, immovable no matter how hard Noland Lee tried or how he struggled.
Unless he could completely remove these 1000 building value points, the Stone Tomb would not collapse due to a zero building value, and Noland Lee would remain trapped in this ghostly place.
His only other option was to take a risk and follow the direction from which the zombies had appeared, delving deeper into the corridors to see if there was another exit deep inside the Stone Tomb.
But honestly…
Considering the “Death Priest” mentioned by the Sin Soldier Zombie, Noland Lee believed that going forward alone was not a safe choice.
If that Death Priest was waiting at the deepest part of the Stone Tomb, wouldn’t he be walking into a trap…?
Noland Lee could only try his best to modify any runes he could see. At last, as the air in his breathing mask became murky, he gradually felt suffocated and dizzy.
The sudden appearance of the stone wall not only blocked the path from here to the entrance of the Stone Tomb, but also became the dividing line between life and death for him.
Noland Lee sat down next to the stone wall, leaning the back of his head against it. His eyes stared blankly at the swirling poisonous fog in front of him.
The filter cartridge was about to fail, and its filtering effect had become very poor.
Smelling the sour and rotten stench, Noland Lee’s consciousness became somewhat blurry.
In his drowsiness, he seemed to hear rustling noises, like footsteps or the movement of a crawling creature.
He tried to muster some energy, squinting towards the depths of the corridor, wondering if another wave of zombies had arrived.
Just then, he heard a distant shout, as if from the far-away mountains.
“Jarvis … Jarvis …”
Was it an auditory hallucination or a whispering like whispers of ancient gods?
Did the newcomer know illusion magic?
Noland Lee stood up with the help of the wall, concentrating on the poisonous fog in front of him, waiting for his enemy.
Whether it was a zombie or a Charming Demon, he would fight to the end.
“Jarvis… Jarvis… are you still alive?”
“Thump thump thump…”
Was the knocking sound coming from behind?
Noland Lee’s gaze trembled slightly.
He finally identified the source of the sound.
Indeed, the sound came from behind the stone wall!
He turned around, felt around on the wall, but could not find any cracks or anything of that sort.
If there was someone on the other side of the wall, they must be shouting with all their strength to barely carry their voice through to him>.
Noland Lee clenched his fist and knocked on the wall a few times in response but dared not to shout out loud for fear of alerting any enemies that may be lurking deeper in the corridor.
“Jarvis! Jarvis! Is that you? If it is, knock on the wall again, three short and one long!’
This time Noland Lee heard it clearly, it was Sergeant Mars’ voice.
Hadn’t he chased the Death Herald Guild spy into the depths of the tomb? How did he end up on the other side of the wall?
A huge question mark arose in Noland Lee’s mind, but without stopping his hands, he knocked out the three short and one long signal with his fists.
“It’s really him! Ha ha! I knew it! He’s still alive! It must have been him who modified the Undead Runes, allowing us to break out of the enemy’s encirclement!”
Mars’s joyful voice came from the other side of the wall:
“Hurry, hurry, hurry! Bring the explosives! … Jarvis, Jarvis, step away from the wall, we’re going to blast it!”
Noland Lee quickly retreated, hiding around the corner nearby.
The sound of hammering on the wall came through, and Mars and his team chiseled a small hole in the stone wall to insert the explosive. Then came a booming explosion and a fierce surge of air.
Noland Lee waved his arms to dismiss the debris and dust in front of him, to see the approaching Imperial Soldiers, who were members of Mars Squad.
Corporal Mars handed a filter cartridge to Noland Lee:
“Hurry up and change it; your filter has turned green…”
He glanced at the situation in the corridor and his eyes widened as if he saw something unbelievable:
“My God, you’ve managed to modify so many Undead Runes on your own!”
Looking at the corpses on the ground, Corporal Mars was even more astonished:
are these all Walking Dead that you have killed?!”
For a moment, Corporal Mars looked at Noland Lee with intense disbelief in his eyes.
The other soldiers and private second classes had the same expression, almost wanting to surround Noland Lee and observe him closely.
“Don’t get me wrong, Chief Officer. They came at me one by one. If they had swarmed at me all at once, I would have been dead.”
Noland Lee changed his filter cartridge and, under the scrutiny of everyone, asked:
“What happened outside, Chief Officer? Where is Sergeant Hansen? He and I got separated in this stone tomb.”
“The wall appeared too suddenly, Jarvis. It stopped you in the corridor and Hansen outside. Hansen wasn’t trapped in the corridor like you were. He’s fighting the Undead outside, so don’t worry about him.”
Mars walked forward, and the sight of many dead Walking Corpses met his gaze; further away, the Undead Runes modified by Noland Lee were displayed on the walls.
A sense of admiration welled up in his heart.
Noland Lee Jarvis, truly a dedicated Imperial man, persisted in modifying the Undead Runes under the onslaught of so many enemies.
Mars raised his hand, patted Noland Lee’s shoulder, and cheered:
“Well done, Jarvis! You’re really good! … Come on, let’s go into battle with us. When we’ve cleared the Grave Vault Level Two of enemies, I’ll tell you all about the previous battle.”
Mars turned his head and reached out to Private Second Class Corbin, who was carrying supplies:
“Corbin, pass me a revolver and a bag of bullets.”
Corporal Mars took the lethal weapon and handed it to Noland Lee:
“Take it, Jarvis. From now on, you are qualified to use it.”
After this, Corporal Mars did not linger here, ordering the team to return the way they came and set off to leave the stone tomb.
Noland Lee followed behind the team, clutching the revolver and bullet bag in his hands.
His gaze swept over the Undead Runes on the wall, and he had some guesswork as to why Corporal Mars was so excited about it.
He had spent more than two hours in the dark corridor, successively modifying more than thirty square meters of Undead Runes, and killing almost 20 Walking Dead…
This unseen effort and sacrifice could have played a crucial role in a battlefield of this tomb.
From the way Mars talked, it seemed that they only managed to break through the encirclement because the Stone Tomb’s Undead Runes had been destroyed.
As Noland Lee passed through the blasted stone wall, the “Perception Obstruction” effect disappeared.
He could already see the flashes of fire outside, a scene completely different from the darkness and narrowness of the stone tomb.
He looked back at the stone tomb corridor where he had almost suffocated, and memories of the past two-plus hours flashed through his mind.
Not Tomb Walking Corpses, Strong Walking Dead, nor Armored Walking Corpses were able to overpower him.
Sin Soldier No. 079 who had become a Tomb Skeleton Soldier was also taken care of by him with the help of “Death Storm.”
And the potential threat of the Original Master Vengeful Spirit turned into a friendly soul contract that bestowed him with a death-related spell.
He had made it through wave after wave of these crises?
Noland Lee raised his eyebrows, suddenly realizing that he seemed a bit impressive…
Why didn’t he show this side of himself before the crossing?
Well, it must have been the different environment.
With a change in the major environment, his potential was unleashed….