Chapter 164 - The Corridor of Time (XX)

Editors: Humu & Kitty

After he finished dealing with little Ah Lan, Luo Jian thoroughly treated his arm. After leaving Duan Li alone, he picked up Ah Lan and flew lightly into the school gate of the elementary school. He casually put him in a corner of a stairwell. Of course, the teacher would find a student sleeping in the stairway and pull him to make him stand up. But this was none of Luo Jian’s business.

He had stayed in this space-time for too long. Luo Jian had to leave for the next place. From now on, his life would not be as easygoing. Although the secret chamber would not restrict him too much, it would constantly give him tasks to do. In fact, Luo Jian also had the right to refuse the tasks. However, in the initial stage of cooperation with the secret chamber, it was not very advantageous to have an awful dispute with the secret chamber.

So what should I do?

Luo Jian’s goal was to find the ‘heart’ of the secret chamber, which was the missing lock.

However, the secret chamber would be on guard against Luo Jian. No matter whether the secret chamber had found out Luo Jian’s real identity or not, and even if they had negotiated and established a preliminary ‘harmonious and friendly superficial relationship,’ he was afraid no one could really trust each other privately.

Therefore, Luo Jian understood that his present predicament was worse than what he faced previously, but he also knew that this was the road he had to take. If he could not even take this basic step, it would have been better to not walk out of the Crimson Asura Realm in the beginning.

Luo Jian was deliberating, and he took out a printed note with purple patterns from his pocket. There were a few lines written on it. It was a message from the secret chamber:

[Dear Abyss, we need your help to do something, and this task is not difficult and very simple. It helps us understand your strength and make a series of plans for you in the future.]

[First of all, please join any team and enter the secret chamber.]

Such a message was very short, and when Luo Jian finished reading, the words on the note slowly disappeared, and it became blank. However, Luo Jian knew that those words would appear again. When the secret chamber’s will wanted to order Luo Jian to do something, words would appear again in front of Luo Jian.

“Temporarily, I’ll be taking one step at a time while planning for the next.” Luo Jian crumpled the note into a ball and put it into his pocket. He decided to be flexible and adaptable to any moves the chamber dished out. He had many routes to choose from. Maybe it was a good choice to try to gain the trust of the secret chamber.

After that, Luo Jian, who was thinking about it, disappeared in the street. No one noticed his absence. Of course, even if someone did, that person would gradually forget all of this.

On the street after he left, the early morning sun scattered lazily, printing on the grey stone floor, plated with a layer of golden glory. In these countless days and nights, such scenes would appear every morning. Though something different from the ordinary day occurred, no one would pay attention to the story that unfolded hidden in the dark corner, and these occurrences would disappear like dust blown away by the wind.

Once again, Luo Jian once again went to A Lone Boat trading grounds. On the huge circular platform, floating on the sea of clouds, was an excellent place to form a team. Tens of thousands of players flew there every day. The rankings on the platform were updated at any time and anywhere. There was also a special team formation platform, which was next to the slab ranking list, and there were many players standing around there, waiting for suitable teammates.

Luo Jian’s purpose was to go there. Since the secret chamber allowed him to form a team at will&#k2026;&#k2026; why not just go straight to the strongest team? Team Ghost Shadow was still on the top of the list.

It was worth mentioning that Clown, who was the first one on the individual rankings, suddenly fell to the bottom of the list. Clown’s plan to play dumb had been implemented, and he had rapidly acted upon it.

However, Team Ghost Shadow was hard to find. Luo Jian first turned around on the platform of A Lone Boat. He did not even see a trace of Team Ghost Shadow.

So he squeezed into the crowd of players in the surroundings to listen to what they were saying. Sometimes, some intelligence was revealed in the conversation of these players, which made it convenient for Luo Jian to collect information that was beneficial to him. And the secret chamber’s will did not give him a time limit on when he needed to form a team to enter the secret chamber, so he had a long time to make some preparations.

After wandering more than 10 minutes on A Lone Boat, Luo Jian finally got the information he wanted to know from a middle-aged man who had been talking to his peers about other teams. They stood in front of the slab and commented on each team at the top of the list.

Then the middle-aged man mentioned a little about Team Ghost Shadow, but he did not say much. The tone of his voice revealed that he seemed to know Team Ghost Shadow well. So after the man separated from his companion, Luo Jian ‘seized’ this uncle away by using some unconventional means, hypnotized him, and induced him to obtain a lot of information from his mouth.

This uncle said that Team Ghost Shadow seemed to be short of one member because one of the five members died in a secret chamber, so now they were secretly recruiting capable fellows.

The uncle also said that the team seemed to have a very stringent selection method, and they only selected players from the channels they trust. Moreover, they never selected the ‘strong individuals’ on the ranking list because personal strength did not necessarily mean that they would have the ability to work well in a team. Those who fought alone were often used to being alone and choosing such a lone ranger to join a team was usually not a good choice.

It seemed that Team Ghost Shadows did not like players who were ‘of unknown origins’ and tried to join them with ulterior motives. It might be because they were in the limelight now, so their recruitment was carried out secretly.

Therefore, it was still a bit difficult for such ‘irrelevant’ characters such as Luo Jian to get in touch with them.

historical

However, the uncle hypnotized by Luo Jian blurted out some new information.

“I know when Team Ghost Shadow will come to recruit players. In three days in the evening, when most players have to enter the secret chamber and players start to prepare in advance for their escape, at that time, the number of online players in A Lone Boat will be the lowest. Only players who have the information will be there to try to contact Team Ghost Shadow in an attempt to join them.”

“What are the conditions?” Luo Jian questioned.

“It’s said that one merely has to compete with the team captain of Team Ghost Shadow once.”

“Is it possible to compete in A Lone Boat?”

“Yes, you can apply for a separate room solely used for fighting.”

“I see.” Luo Jian got what he wanted. He waved his red umbrella in front of the uncle and said, “Forget me, forget our conversation. Now, return to your companion’s side.”

“I understand.” The uncle nodded with a dull face and turned away.

Luo Jian watched him walk towards the direction of his companions. His figure was quickly engulfed by people in A Lone Boat. Luo Jian looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him, so he turned and disappeared.

There was still plenty of time left for him to wander around. For example, he could go to some secret chamber that was having a team battle or some other secret chambers with a special identity. He was eager to fight with others. The secret chamber’s will did not seem to restrict his love of fighting. And Luo Jian could not give up his crazy, bloodthirsty desire for fighting. The only thing that made him feel dissatisfied was that compared with the players in the Asura Realm, the combat effectiveness of these players in the secret chamber was simply weak.

Luo Jian began to miss the battlefield again.

But he couldn’t go back. He could go anywhere except back to the Asura Realm. It had already become a forbidden area for Luo Jian now. The secret chamber would not give him such a chance, so...... he could not seek Ying’s help, and there was no way of retreat.

Three days later, on A Lone Boat, evening.

Luo Jian was afraid that he would make some mistakes when he leaped over here, so he was an hour ahead of schedule. When he appeared there, there were still a lot of people on the trading ground. After calculating the time, Luo Jian went around the entire trading ground, and he began to stroll around through the stalls there.

There were many strange stalls on the trading ground. Players would choose the periphery of the circular platform to set up their own stalls. On A Lone Boat, players couldn’t use their weapons or other offensive props. In addition to their carry-on secret chambers, one could see players ‘pulling’ out all kinds of strange-looking things from the air.

The sellers around tried to decorate their store more ‘luxuriously’ to show their dazzling goods. Luo Jian even saw a player taking out an armored car and treating it as a display board. That person hung all kinds of guns and weapons on the car, marked the goods with small product labels, and sat on the roof to inspect the visitors.

Thermal weapons were still very popular and suitable for players with lower skillsets who waded in shallow waters.

There were many booths selling all kinds of firearms, machinery, and other weapons that could carry out physical attacks. But far away, there were also some gloomy-looking guys who wrapped themselves in large black robes selling some inexplicable props, most of which were in the ‘magic category.’

There was a strange dividing line between weapons in the secret chamber. On one hand, there were players who used modern thermal weapons, futuristic weapons one would see in fantasies, and cold weapons. These weapons were all categorized under the ‘physical category.’ On the other hand, there were players who used magic wands, magic charms, and other kinds of weapons related to ghosts and spirits. They were categorized under the ‘magic category’—as for why it was called magic category and not sorcery category, Luo Jian did not even have an inkling.

A few of them possessed special weapons, which were classified into the ‘special category.’ Weapons that were neither used for physical attack nor magic attacks were classified under this—Luo Jian’s weapon was classified into this category.

Luo Jian’s understanding of the secret chamber was not enough. At least, he was quite unfamiliar with many props in the secret chamber and did not understand what uses these props had. The GM’s authority gave him the right to check various props, but he was not willing to use this kind of authority.

Because when Luo Jian was in possession of this body, he always felt that it would give him a wrong impression.

He felt that he was the only master of the vast and countless secret chambers.

It was really scary, wasn’t it? Especially when he conceived such an impression, the secret chamber’s will seemed to unlock more of its functionality to him intentionally or unintentionally, resulting in Luo Jian’s growing power. He could totally do whatever he wanted in any secret chamber.

Most of the time, human beings were unable to resist the temptation and entitlement to power.

Fortunately, as long as Luo Jian recalled how he had a hard time sweeping through the fields in the Crimson Asura Realm, he would calm down.

Blood turned him into a lunatic, and blood could also calm him down.

He began to grow stronger in ways that he did not realize.

When the blue sea of clouds around A Lone Boat turned into a bloody sea of clouds in the sunset, the number of players on the trading ground became much less, and the players left the beautiful space one after another. At this time, several strange figures appeared in the ‘spawn point’ of the trading ground. Not many players could be seen spawning at A Lone Boat at this time.

Luo Jian had been staring at the spawn point for a long time. Around him, some players hiding in the corner also paid close attention to the spawn point. They were waiting for the appearance of Team Ghost Shadow: the strongest team in the legends that was always on the top of the team ranking list and had never fallen down since they moved up. The time they were on the top of the list was much more than that of the previous teams.

Their strength could probably be guaranteed, so being able to join them was also a guarantee of survival.

The members of Team Ghost Shadow wore the same clothes. They kept their heads lowered as they muttered softly. They donned black combat outfit and boots, wearing black knitted hats and tactical gloves. In fact, such attire was very commonly seen among players. Other than some unconventional fellows, most of them dressed like soldiers or mercenaries. Therefore, the members of Team Ghost Shadow did not appear conspicuous. Just by inferring from this, it could be seen that they were quite a low-key group of people.

There were only four of them, and it seemed true that they were missing one player.

Luo Jian looked left and right with widened eyes. Although others were paying attention to the team, they were just watching them from a distance. Only Luo Jian was bold and indulgent. Since Team Ghost Shadow appeared, he walked towards these people. He had really wanted to see Xing Yan. It was undeniable that Luo Jian had really longed for the stalker.