Chapter 35: The Choice (Please Vote and Leave a Comment)
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Chapter 35: The Choice
Please Vote and Comment
The moment they entered the abandoned hall, a musty odor from years of confinement rushed toward them. The air was damp, and puddles formed by leaking rainwater had collected beneath their feet.
The only sound was silence. Even with Roco, a monster among monsters, accompanying them, Mo Cheng and the others remained highly vigilant.
It was not that they distrusted Roco. It was simply the professional discipline of wasteland hunters. Besides, they could not possibly have Roco escort them on every mission.
“There’s a floor plan over here.” Jeff waved them over.
“Construction workshops, energy storage rooms… Underground levels three and four.” Mo Cheng nodded toward the others.
They continued downward.
Roco sensed a faint presence in the air and used it to determine the approximate location of the Devourers.
“The fourth basement level is the warehouse, right? You can head straight there. There are several Devourers on the third basement level. I’ll deal with them.” Roco lowered his voice.
As Mo Cheng and the others continued deeper inside, Roco slowly extended his bone blades. His feet touched the ground almost soundlessly as he slipped into the darkness.
“Static… Roco, everything in the warehouse is safe. We found fuel needed by the Lighthouse, along with various spare parts. It’ll take about ten minutes to carry everything upstairs.” Mo Cheng’s voice came through the headset.
“Understood. Stay safe,” Roco replied.
“You too.”
The third basement level consisted of one spacious construction workshop after another. Thanks to his powerful vision, Roco could vaguely make out various mechanical products still resting atop enormous dust-covered machines. The floor was a chaotic mess, and the panic that had accompanied the disaster was almost palpable.
After taking a cursory look around, he found that everything here consisted of half-finished equipment that Starfire City had no use for. After a brief inspection, Roco approached the innermost workshop.
Judging from the sensation beneath his fingers, there appeared to be a massive pane of glass in front of him. There might be a laboratory for testing equipment inside, with the window intended to let people observe from outside. Without light, however, it was impossible to see anything within.
The Devourer should be inside.
Roco switched on the small searchlight mounted on his shoulder.
Whoosh—
The beam instantly illuminated the glass. A gigantic head was pressed against it from the other side, a pair of tiny eyes utterly out of proportion with its body staring fixedly at Roco.
“Damn it, couldn’t you make some noise first?”
The sight startled Roco, and his brows twitched.
It was a Ground Salamander, resembling a gigantic toad.
It unfolded three pairs of humanlike legs. At least five meters tall and more than eight meters long, it was considered above average even among its kind.
Bang!
The glass shattered as it charged out.
Behind it, five or six Snake Dogs emerged as well.
As for why they had shut themselves away here, Roco could only guess that they had failed to absorb much life-source matter and could not pay the rent. Thus, they had become depressed, fled from reality, and simply lain flat.
“Roco, what’s happening over there?” Jeff asked anxiously.
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“Just a few adorable little things. Are you finished over there?” Roco replied casually.
“We’re done,” Mo Cheng answered.
“Give me two minutes.” With that, Roco launched his attack.
The workshop, spacious moments earlier, was instantly packed with Devourers as they surged toward Roco in a crushing mass.
Wanting to finish things quickly, Roco thought, Beast Transformation.
And then… the workshop became even more crowded.
“Roar…”
“Roar—”
The Ground Howlers and Snake Dogs shrieked frantically, struggling to break free from Roco’s deadly coils.
There was no need for skills, much less any fancy techniques. Roco simply employed the hunting method of a giant python, wrapping every Ground Salamander tightly in his grasp.
Dozens of razor-sharp bone blades pierced their flesh, puncturing their life cores, while his Devouring Claws began working as well.
Before they could completely draw their last breath, they were broken down into black particles.
+55
Evolution Points [243/2000]
“Refreshing.”
After returning to human form, Roco felt his vital energy surging, his entire body brimming with strength.
On the ground—
“That fast? It really took only two minutes?” Mo Cheng exclaimed.
Roco stumbled slightly. “Quit fooling around. Let’s get moving.”
The operation proceeded remarkably smoothly. No one was injured or killed, and the entire trip took little more than an hour. The few wasteland hunters could not help but sigh with emotion.
The convoy raced back at full speed. After crossing the mountain ridge, they could already see several figures clashing in the wilderness outside Sun Valley, cold flashes of light flickering between them.
It was Erika and Feixue, piloting their heavy exoskeletons in close combat with five or six Snake Dogs. Several Snake Dog skeletons already lay on the ground, their life cores apparently destroyed by the two women.
Without a word, Roco leaped from the speeding transport vehicle. He sprang into the air, and by the time he landed, he was already fifty meters away.
Immediately afterward, his left palm trembled, and a bone arrow nailed one of the Snake Dogs to the ground.
He charged in from behind, his bone blades sweeping through everything in their path.
In the span of a few blinks, the Snake Dogs had been hacked apart and scattered everywhere.
+48
Evolution Points [291/2000]
“You’re back!” Erika cried with delight. She immediately began showing off to Jeff. “See that? I killed two of them myself!”
Jeff smiled. “Why are you so enthusiastic about killing monsters, little girl?”
“I’m not a little girl! And what’s wrong with killing monsters? I’m proud to kill monsters!” Erika protested, thumping her chest with irrefutable evidence.
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The girl and the uncle began their usual bickering once again.
“You clean things up. I’m heading back first.” Roco waved and left, a hint of complexity in his voice.
Everyone had been working efficiently and enthusiastically. A considerable number of barracks and defensive fortifications had already been built across Sun Valley, while several watchtowers had been erected along the cliffs. Cannon emplacements were positioned atop them one after another.
Roco had no mind to pay attention to any of that. He climbed onto the cliff and gazed at the clear sky. Just moments earlier, the system had unexpectedly sent him a message on its own, and its contents required serious consideration.
“Host, please make a choice. Would you like to designate the Ling Cage world as your primary world and use it as your ‘home’ for traveling through the myriad realms? Afterward, at the end of every journey, you will be given two options: ‘Return Home’ or ‘Begin the Next Journey.’”
“Note:
“Regardless of how much time passes in each realm, only two days will pass in the primary Ling Cage world.
“The host may decide when to leave each realm. There are no restrictions or lockouts. However, the host is advised to focus primarily on increasing evolution points. Devouring and evolving is the system’s original purpose.”
Roco fell silent. He had always assumed that one day he would leave this place for good, but he had never expected the system to offer him such a choice.
This truly was a decision.
Just as he was at a loss, someone patted him on the shoulder from behind.
He turned around, but saw no one. When he turned back, an adorable little face appeared before him.
“Hey!”
Xia Dou pulled a face and leaned close to Roco. “What are you thinking about all by yourself? I’ve been looking for you forever!”
“Hmm? What is it?” Roco asked, puzzled.
“Something very, very important.” Without giving him a chance to refuse, Xia Dou grabbed his hand and led him onto the lift, returning with him to the Lighthouse. “They’re calling you down to eat!”
Wasteland Hunters’ Cafeteria
“Where have you been? You’re never enthusiastic when it comes to eating!” Shanda shouted with a laugh.
“You’ve been working for so long. Aren’t you hungry? Come on, come on!” Mo Cheng grumbled around a chicken leg.
Ran Bing, Jing Nan, Erika, Jessica, and Penny all greeted him with smiles and urged him to take a seat, warning that the big men would seize all the good food if he did not hurry.
Donnie took the initiative to make room for Roco. As soon as Roco sat down, Jeff handed him a steak.
“I saved this especially for you, buddy. Otherwise, Mo Cheng would have eaten it already.”
“Nonsense! I was the one who saved it!” Mo Cheng glared at him and spat out the words.
Listening to everyone’s clear laughter and watching them joke and fool around with one another, Roco felt as though he had awakened in another lifetime.
At that moment, the system issued another notification.
“Detected happiness and joy among the protagonist group. Evaluation in progress. Evaluation complete—side mission accomplished. Reward package delivered and awaiting collection.”
“Host, please make your choice as soon as possible. Would you like to designate Ling Cage as your primary world?”
He speared the steak and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Yes.”
Ling Cage will remain the primary world and the story will continue, though it will not receive excessive focus. After all, traveling through the myriad realms, devouring and evolving, is the true theme.
Most readers came for Ling Cage. If I stopped writing it entirely, the number of subscribers would probably drop sharply. Besides, I cannot simply abandon Xia Dou and leave her here waiting endlessly for someone who may never return. Nor can I write the kind of disastrous plot where I bring people along on my journeys through other worlds. Most importantly, Ling Cage’s story has only just begun, and we still need to wait for more official details in the future.
End of Chapter