Chapter 413 - Four Hundred and Ten:

Chapter 413: Chapter Four Hundred and Ten: "You lowly creature, you’ve finally arrived....

The lamplight swayed in the gloomy passage, and a cold air floated around.

At this moment, four people were progressing through the dark underground passage, with Noel leading the way, holding a lantern.

After the Maritime Banquet had ended, the teleportation formation to Yun Shang City was activated in the Church of Light; as the sole victorious team, they had already secured the right to teleport.

Wearing the Tulip Heart around their necks, capable of resisting the poison gas, the deadly barrier was no longer a threat to them.

The instance was reaching its crucial final moments.

After passing through this corridor, the scene suddenly opened up before their eyes.

At this moment, the radiant teleportation formation lay before the four of them, as sunlight gently streamed through the church’s stained-glass windows, making even the crimson carpet sparkle.

The oil painting hanging behind the cross depicted the priest releasing pigeons in front of the church, with flames flickering over the lavish church behind him, the colors outlining his expression of despair and intoxication.

Instead of hurrying into the teleportation formation, Su Ming’an stood in front of that painting, lost in thought.

"Ah, I’m exhausted after these past few days."

The carefree Lin Yin casually chose a mahogany bench in the church and plonked herself down; along the way, she had been vigilant for any oddball players who might stir trouble at this point.

But perhaps because Su Ming’an had intimidated them with his methods a few days earlier, no fool attempted to ambush them now.

"Before entering the final phase, let’s exchange some information," Lin Yin suggested as she leaned back in the chair.

She was indeed weary from the days of running around collecting clues and watching for players’ sneak attacks; as an Occupier who absolutely could not die, she’d given herself quite the scare.

"Su Ming’an, as of now, you probably know all the information I’ve gathered," Noel said as he put down the lantern, summarily sharing the gains from his past few days.

He recounted events such as rescuing a group of players threatened by the princess and cultivating good relations with some nobles, from whom he learned some royal secrets from decades past.

Lv Shu joined in, adding some stories about The Great Library, such as the legend of the Sea Monsters, the journals and oral accounts of the sailors, and so on.

All of them were strong players, and the clues they provided were spot on. Even though their identities were not central to the Pulaya Storm, they could generally reconstruct that period of history and its conflicts. Moreover, Noel put forth a conjecture about "Su Rin having many incarnations," which was something not even Su Ming’an had mentioned; he had single-handedly deduced this and even discovered Miguel’s backstory.

For a typical Perfect Pass, their completion progress should have been one hundred percent by now.

But evidently, the most important matters, such as Yun Shang City and that deity of Yun Shang City, remained shrouded in mystery to them.

The clues were stuck at this very last point.

After listening to the team’s summary, Su Ming’an pondered for a moment.

"Yes, I am essentially aware of the whole situation," Su Ming’an said. "There are just some conjectures that still need to be verified."

"The whole situation? Including the god of Yun Shang City?" Lin Yin was a bit astonished.

"Including," Su Ming’an said.

Lin Yin’s mouth gradually stretched into an "o" shape, looking quite exaggerated.

In this team, she served as the "glue," to keep Noel and Lv Shu from being too confrontational, so in some situations, her behavior could be extra exaggerated, almost comical, to lighten the mood...

Of course, Su Ming’an did not find it amusing.

"Actually, if it weren’t for my identity as ’Su Rin,’ which requires me to dig out the entirety of the instance, we should have considered it a Perfect Pass the moment the sea monster siege ended. As for investigating Yun Shang City and such, those were just unnecessary extra tasks," Su Ming’an said. "The identity of Su Rin has dragged down our team. Our abilities were sufficient to end this instance the day before yesterday."

He had realized early on that the puzzles of the Seventh World were not difficult.

Whether it was to rule Pulaya, to trigger the destruction of the sea monster siege, or to uncover the secrets from over sixty years ago through places like the library to deduce the truth behind Su Rin, they weren’t difficult, and they all could achieve an "ending," thereby completing their respective identity tasks to perfectly pass.

But while it sounded straightforward, in practice, there were numerous obstacles.

When looking at the structure of the instance as a whole, unlike the single narrative World Replicas before, the Seventh World was actually quite complicated.

It was more like a real world, one that could develop tens of thousands of different outcomes based on the players’ actions, unlike White City’s Reincarnation, Mingxi Middle School’s destruction, or Ming Hui’s ceremony, which only had one or two fixed outcomes.

If players wanted to use brute force or strategy-type skills to recruit NPCs and forcibly take over Pulaya, then Princess Tulip would certainly not give them the opportunity.

If they recognized the importance of Su Rin and wanted to recruit him, they would also be drawn into the melee between Su Rin and the princess.

Although, a Su Rin not played by a player would have his own thoughts, and unlike Su Ming’an, he wouldn’t insist on taking over Pulaya, but if the players stirred up his mind, giving him the thought to change his own rule, the situation would become incredibly chaotic.

If Su Rin died, a new Su Rin would take his place.

If the princess died, she would turn into the King of Sea Monsters and initiate the sea monster siege.

If both died, their souls as the King of Sea Monsters would be exhausted, and the sea monster siege would launch regardless.

If both survived, naturally, the princess would try everything to kill Su Rin, the "unnecessary outsider," and the struggle would still be inevitable. Moreover, with the involvement of Soul Hunt and the Soul Clan, the battle situation would become even more chaotic.

This instance, seemingly of the mortal world, actually hid too many complex relationships. Players not seeking a Perfect Pass could comfortably muddle through, but if they wanted to perfectly pass, they would have to confront these troubles head-on.

And as one of the two central figures of the conflict, Su Rin himself, Su Ming’an was the person closest to these troubles. He was at the eye of the storm.

He couldn’t avoid dealing with these issues.

But fortunately, according to the laws of the instance, risk comes with rewards.

As a reward, at the moment the sea monster siege ended and his squad secured the final victory, except for him, the Perfect Completion Progress of all other players was instantly locked, unable to advance any further.

Now, in the entire instance of ten thousand players, he was the only one who might achieve a Perfect Pass—this was the advantage of his troublesome identity.

The Seventh World was the most complex narrative line he had experienced so far; how to handle the tangled relationship lines was the biggest challenge players faced.

"Wait, wait a minute..." Lin Yin listened, somewhat confused: "Up till now, none of us have really been to that city, and you’ve figured it all out already? Are you... sure you can persuade that deity? But Su Ming’an, you’re someone who blatantly defied His ’principle of equivalence,’ a person of great disrespect. The lines you used to hoodwink simple NPCs won’t work on a deity."

She knew that Su Ming’an was good at strategies and deceiving people, but deities and people were different matters; a deity couldn’t be swayed by mere words and emotions.

"No," Su Ming’an shook his head.

His gaze settled on the painting of the burning Church.

"This time, I will use only pure reasoning," he said. After a pause, he added, "Of course, if that deity is willing to give me a chance to speak, I am also willing to have a chat with Him. After all, language is the thing that can best bring two sides closer together."

"You already know who the deity is?" Noel asked from the side.

"Hmm... if things go as expected," Su Ming’an pondered for a moment. "But I suggest not discussing it here because I’m not sure if that ’deity’ will take any action upon hearing my answer. I dare not compare Him to the NPCs of the past."

"Then there’s no need to tell us," Noel said understandingly. "The initiative of the team is entirely yours, and we haven’t contributed much to your main clues, the Heart of Tulip was also earned at the risk of your life; it’s good to listen to you."

Hearing his words, Su Ming’an did not respond immediately.

His hand moved away from the oil painting, and he took deliberate steps toward the teleportation formation.

"...No, it was Sherrod who fought to the death for it," Ming’an said, then immediately shifted the topic, "Prepare for battle, I’ll enter the teleportation formation first. Holding the Heart of the Deity, the Cloud City God cannot kill me directly, so you can avoid being obliterated upon first contact... Of course, if you’re concerned, you don’t have to follow me to the city."

"How could we not?" Lin Yin said, "I haven’t shown you the extent of my healing capacity yet."

She gripped her priest’s staff tightly.

Today, unusually, Lin Yin had not brought her large cleaver.

"Good." Ming’an nodded, "Don’t worry. Once I truly see that deity’s face, everything should be settled."

"So—"

Ming’an stepped into the teleportation formation:

"Let’s go."

Light erupted brilliantly.

Milky white brilliance swiftly enveloped his entire body.

As he ascended to that ultimate city, he remembered the story Saya had told in Su Rin’s Memory Stone.

Ming’an had not treated Su Rin’s Memory Stone as mere drama; he had recorded almost every scene.

The story told by Su Rin he had memorized sentence by sentence at that time, and could still recreate it today.

The Memory Stone wouldn’t present him with completely useless memories. This story, in particular, contained the content crucial for the ultimate deciphering.

So, combined with the previous clues, the implication of this story is...

"Ding-dong!"

A system alert rang out, interrupting his thoughts.

...Ruler’s Quest?

Indeed, this Ruler’s Quest that appeared from the beginning of the instance was for him to reach a specific location in Yun Shang City. The reward for a First Rank Ruler was to forcibly raise NPC favorability, the Second Rank reward was the qualification to negotiate with any NPC, and he wondered what the Third Rank Ruler’s reward would be.

The white light gradually faded, and he opened his eyes.

"Whoosh—"

A barely perceptible sound whisked by his ear.

Before him, still lay the familiar Cloud Cityscape.

It seemed to still be snowing here, the icy chill piercing through the protection of the Tulip’s Heart and rushing towards him, making even him in Bright State feel the cold.

The white light gradually dimmed.

The towering spires and the glittering domes of the cathedral appeared before his eyes.

Two armored figures wielding weapons stood guard before the church, like statues.

The ground was like white jade, unlike the blood-like magma of the Demon King City in the nighttime instance. There were no bursting sparks around, only the gently falling snowflakes.

Compared with the evil, blood-colored Demon King City born amidst fire, this real-life Yun Shang City seemed more illuminated, sacred, and solemn.

...It resembled more so a city where a "God" dwelled.

Yet, it was uninhabited.

It lacked any trace of human life, like a dead city frozen in the river of time.

It was nothing like the happy city inhabited by half the people from sixty years ago that folklore spoke of.

"Whoosh—"

"Whoosh—"

The moment Ming’an set foot here, on the vast platform, began the appearance of soul-like figures one after another.

He saw many familiar faces.

Sacrificed Soul Hunters, or Souls of the Soul Clan killed in human hunts.

Compared to the puppet-like beings in the nighttime instance, they seemed much more alive, their limbs real, their expressions vivid. Despite still appearing like controlled marionettes, they resembled humans far more than those stiff puppets.

Ming’an knew that these were the "Demon King’s," which is to say, the God’s soldiers.

They were born of concentrated faith, the direct combat power belonging to the God, the energy constructs shaped into being, yet they were distinctly not real living beings.

This Yun Shang City had no living people.

The soldiers would protect this — "Demon King City," and slay Ming’an, the "Brave" who dared to ascend here.

Ming’an noticed that a line of gleaming text now appeared above the heads of their group.

(Seeing someone in the book group showing off pirated copies, I simply can’t stand it, thus I declare this in the main text.

The main base for this book is the Qidian reading APP, where there are extras and illustrations, and I basically have no earnings from any other place, including websites and various reading apps.

I understand that students have limited funds, so I didn’t enable anti-piracy to leave room for everyone to read.

But if you really like it, please come to Qidian to support my writing, and do not inherently promote piracy; thank you (ノへ￣,)

This section is under 200 words, so it’s free, and subscribers don’t need to worry, I love you guys.)