Chapter 547: 11.73 First Green Star - Punishment World: 'Labyrinth' (3)
Player Lu Feifei finished her transaction with Han Ya's team. After receiving the gold coins she received as payments, she said goodbye to the group and returned to her team. Her team was delighted with the large gold coins they had received as payments. After they had finalized their decisions, they brought out the return stones they had prepared in case they failed to complete the Punishment World Games. This is the only way aside from completing the game itself to leave the place. Though the game would be recorded as a failure in their status, life is more important than the game record in their status. Lu Feifei left the game in the middle without any hesitation. They knew they wouldn't be able to win with two rankers playing in this round.
Actually, most players had thought the same thing as Lu Feifei and her group. The Strength of the first batch of players is almost unparalleled and most of them had skills that are unique to them alone. Like the first ranked player, Abyss, he is well-known for his absolute control over Fire and Darkness. His secondary bloodline is already a Royal Grade 'Mythical Dragon King' but his first bloodline is even more special. He is an Evil Ancient G.o.d Bloodline Possessor. He is so powerful that the other players already treated him as a G.o.d himself. There are also rumors saying that he is the real owner of the Abyssal World and made this world treat humans as p.a.w.ns in his game.
But there is no proof provided this rumor has been long forgotten. The human players wouldn't think that they had guessed this fact correctly. It is indeed right when the players guessed that the Abyssal World was created by Yan Lou. But he made it for another reason instead of treating humans as toys, instead, he made this game to look for a successor. Even though Yan Lou is only Ye Xiajie's soul fragment, he had already gotten some inkling that he might be someone not from this world.
Even then Yan Lou continued to follow the World Plot and stayed silent as he watched everything unfold before him. Even if his death in this world is predestined, he didn't care at all because he knew that when the one he was waiting for arrived all the restrictions called fate would be broken. So when he first saw Hei Anjing on the Player's streaming platforms his whole world's outlook changed. To him, Hei Anjing is his world and everything. Because of that he stops wasting time and looks for him. This leads Ye Xiajie who was asleep inside of him to finally awaken after merging souls with his. The World Plot was being destroyed little by little under his wife's control and all former restrictions had disappeared. Now, they can freely move in this world where the ending is already unknown.
Lu Feifei and her team had just left the Punishment Game World when the whistle of the train was heard, this signifies their approaching arrival at their next destination, the Labyrinth Village. Everyone calmly stood up preparing to get off the train. Fifteen minutes later, the train finally reached its destination and the train stopped. The player got out one by one. Those in teams gathered together separated from the others.
The players instantly recognized the black talisman on Chu Mo and avoided him like a plague. That's an unlucky talisman. If one is weak enough to receive it only death would be the ending. Seeing the other players' reactions Chu Mo couldn't help but cry without tears as he could hear An Yuan and Lan She sn.i.g.g.e.ring at him. He couldn't glare at his honey and An Yuan who is protected by the golden halo of a protagonist but the other mob players are different.
Chu Mo bellowed, "What are you looking at!? Is it that funny!? Grr, ~~"
But then he received a mean kick on his b.u.t.t, Chu Mo lost his temper and was about to fight to the death the one who dared to kick him while he was in a bad mood only to soften when he met his Lord G.o.d's fierce eyes.
"f.u.c.k~ Do you not want to...live...!!! B-Boss?" said Chu Mo as he retracted his neck in fear.
Ye Xiajei said coldly, "My wife is sleeping. Don't be noisy." Then he looked at his wife's peaceful sleeping face within his arms and looked around to hear the noises in their surroundings. He could only use a sound-isolating barrier on his wife to leave him to rest without problems.
After ensuring that his wife would peacefully sleep within his arms, Ye Xiajie observed the situation around them. He turned a blind eye to the players sneaking a peek at him. The area around him looks like a desert with nothing in it. Before they are huge gates made of cement and thickness no human could destroy.
An Yuan who was looking around with his special eyes frowned when he looked at the humongous stone gates before them. This is obviously the entrance of the Labyrinth but why does it look like it was a closed-off world instead.
---
Gates of the Labyrinth Village
A humongous gate that leads to the secret village of real illusion. There is only one gate as an entrance but there are no exits. It is made from thick cement and within are wide metal plates made from the strongest metal, tungsten. It cannot be destroyed easily as few spells were carved on the walls themselves. It can even blood a real G.o.d's most powerful attack. It can only be opened from the inside with a key. This key can only be a.s.sembled from three fragments. The key fragments can be collected from inside the labyrinth.
The number of times the door can be opened: 10
---
"What!? No way!!!" exclaimed An Yuan as he instantly covered his mouth when he saw that the other players were looking at him weirdly.
Han Ya asked, "What's wrong, A'Yuan?"
But An Yuan just shook his head and didn't say a word and hid behind Han Ya when he saw that the other players were staring at him like he was some kind of prey. Especially the players that are in the same train car as them. They heard Lu Feifei saying that he is someone with the ability to see through some things. Even though everyone was discreetly trying to avoid their team, some are still observing them from a distance. Of course, the scene of An Yuan looking at the huge gates was also seen by them.
Han Ya noticed them as well. He looked around and glared at the other players. The players around them had instantly lowered their eyes, avoiding Han Ya's sharp gaze. But they would still sneak a peek at their team whether they like it or not. This is the team with two rankers and a monster newbie like Hei Anjing. There is no way the others could ignore them at all. Lan She brought out a barrier that isolated their whole group. Even the sound was blocked and the sight of those who wanted to see inside got blurry at the same time. This is an expensive talisman in the Abyssal Store but Lan She could make his own as long as he has the materialized for it.
After the activation of the talisman, the whole team was isolated from the others.
Lan She said, "It lasts for half an hour. Within that time no one from the outside the barrier sees or hears us. What did you see, An?"
"The number of doors it can open is limited. There are at least 20 teams in this batch of players plus a few more solo players. But the door can only be opened inside 10 times. The rest would be locked inside the labyrinth and live there until another batch entered. This means that inside the village an unknown number of players lurk waiting for the door to open when we all enter. They are waiting for the chance of the door opening from the inside to reset." explained An Yuan.
Han Ya asked, "Does this mean that the players inside already had keys with them and they are waiting for us to enter and take their places?"
"Not possible. Didn't Player Lu say that the contents of the Labyrinth change? The key they had before is no longer useful. Plus if the reset happens as An says, it means that it would only reset when we, the new batch of players, get inside." said Lan She.
Chu Mo spoke, "The Abyssal World is fair. It would never be biased from one to the other."
"What should we do then? Are we still looking through clues inside? That's a bit of a waste of time." said An Yuan.
Han Ya said, "If everything inside the Labyrinth reset doesn't that means the clues were replaced as well? The players who were locked inside shouldn't have that many advantages against us."
"The problem is whether the village is already there when we enter the gates or do we need to look for it first? If it is the latter then looking for clues would definitely be a waste of time," said Lan She.
Ye Xiajie who rarely speaks with them suddenly talks.
"Don't think too much. As soon as the gates open we fly towards the Village regardless of the danger. Kill anything on the path. No need to look for clues and use props to bind the team to avoid getting separated. We are going to tackle any trials the labyrinth would throw at us. I will make sure to keep you guys alive. Just don't forget to collect the key fragments." said Ye Xiajie.
The tone used by Ye Xiajie is irrefutable and his confidence can be felt by everyone. They instantly felt at ease when he heard him they would make sure to keep them alive. Just this is enough to show his strength. It was as if saying that as long as he is alive no one in their team would die.
Only Han Ya among the rest didn't feel secure entirely as he also felt that this man never really cared for them in the first place.
Han Ya said, "Are you telling the truth? Right from the beginning when you have joined our team you would rarely even move your gaze on us. Would you care for our life and death if you don't care about us?"
SILENCE~
As expected everyone felt silence descend in the area, Ye Xiajie whose eyes only landed on Hei Anjing finally moved away and looked at Han Ya. The gentleness his eyes show when looking at Hei Anjing instantly fades to an overbearing one when he looks at Han Ya. Those cold eyes were obviously looking down on Han Ya. It was devoid of any emotions or expressions. This made Han Ya and the rest of them s.h.i.+vered.
Chu Mo especially, these eyes of his lord were different from before. At least before he could still feel the distance between him and the Lord G.o.d. But lately, his Lord G.o.d had changed. He is cold as always but the indifference and aloofness from before had upgraded. It was he himself, his loyal subordinate, who could no longer be his line of sight. Only his beloved, Lord Hei, is all he could see. Yes, his gaze is similar to that of the Supreme Sovereign Shen Siw.a.n.g. This Ruler of Light only has his wife and family in his eyes and the others are merely pebbles on the side.
Then they heard Ye Xiajie say,
"Because you guys are my wife's (toys) that this sovereign is willing to let you exist. As long as his attention is given to you, regardless of anything I would never let you disappear. You would never die. This is whether you like it or not. The choice is all on my wife."
The glacial tone paired with Ye Xiajie's apathetic eyes and his irrefutable presence left the rest of them stunned and speechless. Especially the words he just said, Han Ya and An Yuan understood it well. The reason why the top ranker had no rejection towards them is that because Hei Anjing is interested in them and he is willing to secure their lives because his wife likes them. But this can also mean that, as soon as Hei Anjing lost his interest in the two of them, Ye Xiajie would no longer care for them. As for whether they live or die at that time, this man would never make his move at all.
"Only for this reason that this Sovereign is willing to protect you. Are you disappointed?" said Ye Xiajie his tone as cold-blooded as his face.
He is indeed a heartless man who never treats other people's life as necessary. Only his beloved is distinct from the rest because he is his precious treasure and his everything.