Chapter 256 Divine Power
Puff!
Puff!
Li Zheng stabbed the last two times, taking the lives of two more Elephant Three Kingdoms players, leaving behind their battered corpses, fulfilling his promise to Naguri.
Not letting them die easily.
"It's finally almost over." He bent down to pick up the Identity Card, a trace of fatigue in his eyes.
He had lost patience with this pure slaughter and just wanted to end this turmoil quickly and return to his peaceful exploration life.
"Only one more..."
He took out the Star Thief, entered Xu Lina's name, but received the terminal feedback of [Person not found].
Took out the list of information compiled by Lu Li, Li Zheng carefully compared the channel number and name he entered twice, confirming he hadn't made a mistake.
"Strange, when I failed to lock onto Jin Zaiyin, it warned me the target was wrong. Why is it showing no such person for her?" Li Zheng stood amidst the bloodshed, scratching his head in confusion.
Thinking for a moment, he changed the name to Xu Kexin, but it still indicated person not found.
Switching to private chat mode, he sent an empty private message to the other side and finally understood the situation.
[The other party is offline.]
Xu Lina was already dead.
She had died at someone else's hands without Li Zheng's knowledge.
"That's fine, saves a teleportation of the Star Thief." Li Zheng was not curious in the slightest about who killed Xu Lina, and instead, input the channel number again to randomly teleport to channel sixty-seven.
He still needed to complete the task assigned by the doctor and deliver the remaining half of the reward to someone.
"The Star Thief has five uses left. Today's basic exploration usage was completely exhausted during the chase earlier, but the Mysterious Declaration still has nine opportunities."
Arriving at channel sixty-seven, the room Li Zheng randomly teleported to was vacant. From the scattered fragments and the two open doors, it was clear this was a room players had explored.
Without value, and without danger as well.
"The mission target is the top of the combat power ranking in this channel. What makes this person so special that even the doctor wants to study them?"
Li Zheng opened the regional channel to look for the person's name, and only two characters were displayed at the top position—Divine Power.
"Divine Power?" Seeing this seemingly un-name-like name, Li Zheng suddenly became interested.
A name recognized by the terminal indicates that this name was input into some national citizen identity system when entering the Matrix, receiving recognition of some sort.
With an extraordinary name and extraordinary treatment, it's understandable that Li Zheng would be curious about him.
"Star Thief, let's go!"
After obtaining the target information, Li Zheng conducted an accurate teleportation. In the blink of an eye, the scene before him changed.
Before he could make out the environment, a strange voice echoed in his ears.
"How long are you going to keep me locked up?"
The voice was muffled, and at one point, Li Zheng thought the speaker was underwater.
Turning his head, Li Zheng found this room different from others—there was no exit!
Regular rooms usually have six doors, some slightly special rooms might have only four or five, but this one had none!
The environment was dark and damp, with only a few oil lamps providing illumination, casting an extremely dim light.
Rather than a room in a Matrix, Li Zheng felt more like it was a cell in an Abyss, used to imprison some malevolent entity.
The creature making the noise, barely visible in the flickering lamplight, was huddled in the "cell" corner, appearing only as a frail silhouette.
The figure's size resembled that of a seven or eight-year-old child, making Li Zheng almost believe it was a child.
"Iron Destruction! You've kept me here for over ten days without a word. What exactly do you want to do?!" Curled up in the corner, the voice of Divine Power shouted angrily in another direction, noticing Li Zheng's gaze and suddenly turning to look.
In the darkness, it was as if two crimson lights flared up, locking onto Li Zheng.
In that instant, Li Zheng felt a chill all over, as if the creature had seen through him completely.
"So powerful!" Li Zheng concentrated, secretly clicking his tongue in amazement.
Such powerful beings existed among players?
"Hold on! He's speaking Mud Furnace!"
In surprise, Li Zheng noticed this detail. Not only was he not repelled by that gaze but instead moved a few steps closer, attempting to enter Old Pu's detection range.
"Earthling? Player?" In the dark, Divine Power's voice carried a hint of surprise, even a tinge of unusual excitement.
It was like a starving refugee suddenly seeing food.
"It's been over ten days, has your food finally arrived?" Divine Power's voice carried a tremor, an effort to suppress his inner excitement.
Food?
Is he referring to me?
Li Zheng frowned slightly, the Sheathed Sword already in hand. Even separated by nearly a hundred meters, he could sense the danger emanating from that direction.
It seemed like the creature hidden in the darkness wasn't a player but a bloodthirsty Fierce Beast, ready to strike and crush your throat at the slightest slackness.
[Name: Divine Power
Race: Human
Status: Radiation Mutation
Ability: Unknown
Warning!
The target is extremely dangerous, do not approach indiscriminately.
If you insist, gouge out your eyes and let Old Pu leave!]
Finally, Old Pu detected the basic information of the opponent; Li Zheng frowned, "Radiation Mutant, another player from Fudao Island?"
In the darkness, Divine Power seemed unable to contain himself, shouting anxiously, "Isn't this the food you brought? Answer me!"
He seemed to fear something, not charging at Li Zheng immediately, allowing a slight sense of relief.
At the same time, he was also on alert because from Divine Power's continuous speaking, Li Zheng deduced that there was a third or even fourth person here.
But looking around, Li Zheng didn't see a second figure in the entire "cell."
"Who is he talking to?" Drawing his sword, Li Zheng was ready to activate the Star Thief at any moment, ready to bolt if the situation turned sour.
Only Divine Power's voice echoed in the dark cell, with no response, he seemed a bit impatient.
"Since you say nothing, I'll assume your permission. I've been starving for over ten days; if I don't eat, I'll starve to death!"
Divine Power tested, stepping forwards two steps, just into the range of an oil lamp's light, revealing his true appearance.
Li Zheng wasn't mistaken, Divine Power indeed appeared to be only seven or eight years old.
His eyes lacked irises, displaying only a blood-red hue, the wide mouth exposing a row of sharp teeth, corners almost reaching the ears.
Both arms were severed at the shoulders, with numerous fleshy tendrils extending from the wounds, wriggling into the darkness behind.
His legs were twisted irregularly, seemingly without bones, and his feet resembled not feet but deer hooves.
Under his tattered blue and white patient attire, some wounds were exposed. These wounds seemed never to heal, covered in rot and pus, with innumerable tiny tendrils writhing against them.
"Let's start with an appetizer!" Divine Power's eyes rolled, a long slender blue-white tongue emerged from his mouth, wiping across his lips.
Li Zheng's expression shifted, shouting, "Xiao Ying, dodge!"
Then, a slick, writhing sound echoed in the darkness, countless slime-dripping tendrils rushing towards Xiao Ying, who stood behind Li Zheng.