Chapter 339: Carboniferous Period 11

A few people had seen her use the identification item back then, but she had taken care of them all later.

Just then, she suddenly thought of that five-star card that had vanished without a trace.

The female player still hadn’t found her own card, so she didn’t know that she could recall it with a simple beckoning gesture.

Only cards that didn’t belong to you required a fight to subdue.

Therefore, in her eyes, the Perry Yates standing before her was a ruthless figure who could stealthily subdue a five-star card right under everyone’s noses.

She naturally wanted no part of provoking someone like that.

So, not only did she hand over the Identification Card, but she even threw in several other cards for good measure.

She didn’t say a word, but her once-icy eyes were now screaming, "Please, spare me."

Perry Yates, upon receiving the cards, couldn’t help but feel her lip twitch.

’How should I put this... I really just wanted to borrow an item card.’

But since the other woman had already given them to her, there was no reason to refuse.

Taking the cards with a clear conscience, Perry Yates vanished on the spot.

When the female player realized the vines wrapped around her body and the ones inside her had disappeared, she finally let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground.

That... was absolutely terrifying.

A moment later, the female player managed to calm her wildly pounding heart. ’I can’t just let this go,’ she thought. ’When have I ever suffered such a huge loss?’

But based on what had just happened, she knew she was no match for her opponent. If she couldn’t win inside the game, she’d have to settle it outside.

She planned to draw a sketch of the woman and post it in The Dealer’s Domain.

Besides being a gathering place for Croupiers, The Dealer’s Domain also allowed one to post missions, much like a small quest hall.

Many Croupiers had posted bounties there for players they couldn’t stand.

However, just as the female player tried to recall Perry Yates’s appearance, she found that the harder she tried, the hazier her memory of the woman became, as if it had been deliberately erased.

It wasn’t just her face. Even her memory of the woman’s abilities and the cards she had handed over—aside from the Identification Card—grew fuzzy until she couldn’t remember them at all.

Realizing something might be wrong with her memory, the female player deflated like a punctured balloon. She understood that this person was not someone she could handle. Her opponent was probably a veteran player who had entered the game and become a Croupier long before she had.

’She must have guessed what I was planning. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen to erase my memories.’

The female player was now incredibly grateful that she hadn’t tried to be clever and resist.

If she had fought back then, she might have been a mangled corpse by now.

’Perhaps she spared me only because I knew my place.’

Meanwhile, Perry Yates, who had already left, was unaware of the other player’s thoughts. Even if she had known, she probably wouldn’t have cared. After all, she had gotten what she wanted.

After finding a secluded spot, Perry Yates deployed her Safe House.

She had seen the commotion this identification item could cause, so it was safer to use it inside the Safe House.

She took the card from her System Space, then brought out the identification item and took a picture of the card inside the cage.

Soon, the camera ejected a photograph.

A deep, mechanical voice then emanated from the camera.

[Card Name: Circus Clown

Card Level: Three-Star

Card Description: A card corrupted by Dark Power. It has developed self-awareness and harbors deep malice toward players, especially its former master.

A card corrupted by Dark Power will have its abilities greatly enhanced. It is no longer restricted by its Card Level and can even fight opponents of a higher level. However, fusion is still not recommended. Of course, if you are confident you can suppress it, then you can ignore my advice.]

After hearing the identification item’s description, Perry Yates looked at the card in the cage. ’Just as I thought,’ she mused, ’it’s bad news.’

’But, a card corrupted by Dark Power?’

’What is this Dark Power, anyway?’

Although she didn’t know what Dark Power was, her intuition told her it might be related to the Executors.

From the looks of it, cards corrupted by Dark Power developed self-awareness, grew stronger, were not limited by Card Level, and could fight above their level.

Though fusion wasn’t recommended, the benefits of absorbing it were clearly greater.

As long as one was strong enough to suppress it, it would be fine.

The only uncertainty was that this type of card harbored malice toward players, especially its original owner.

Perry Yates didn’t know if this card was an exception or if all cards corrupted by Dark Power were like this.

After stowing the card away again, Perry Yates left the Safe House and went back outside.

She was still holding the several cards the female player had just given her.

Perry Yates examined the cards one by one. Their Card Levels weren’t high—all one-star or two-star—but they were extremely practical.

’But that makes sense,’ she thought. ’After all, everyone can only carry five cards. They wouldn’t bring flashy but useless items.’

The cards people brought into the game were always the ones their players found most useful.

Glasses: enhanced vision, with Night Vision and directional-finding functions.

Elf Wings: granted the ability to fly after use, but could only be used for three hours a day.

Small Water Bottle: automatically produced five hundred milliliters of clean water each day.

...

Perry Yates put all the cards away. Some of them were quite useful.

She equipped the Elf Wings and flew higher.

Passing through the dense branches, she reached the top of the canopy. Only then could Perry Yates get a clear view of this world.

Since birds hadn’t yet appeared in the Carboniferous Period, she only needed to watch out for certain flying insects.

As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the farther you see. It wasn’t long before Perry Yates, flying high in the sky, made a discovery.

A fire was spreading in the distance, but it seemed to be contained by something. Looking closer, she saw what appeared to be some kind of red barrier.

A Flame Barrier!

Perry Yates flew toward the burning flames. Many others had the same idea.

They had all seen the red barrier that had suddenly appeared.

Operating on the principle of "finders keepers," regardless of whose card it was, everyone began running at top speed.