Chapter 701 - 440: Sublimating the Evolution Matrix (2)

Chapter 701: Chapter 440: Sublimating the Evolution Matrix (2)

"Alright."

Zhou Chen agreed, then looked up at the city around him, clicking his tongue in admiration.

This place looked more advanced than any of the cities he’d visited before. It featured not only technological marvels but also fantastical products of Magic. On the streets, one could see office workers in suits chatting with dust-covered adventurers, or even Elves, Dwarves, Giants, and Dragon-men walking in groups with Cyber-Modified People.

Many of these non-human races—the Elves, Dwarves, Giants, and Dragon-men—even had mechanical prosthetics.

If Gaia were ever unsealed, this place would surely become a world-renowned international metropolis.

Munching on some roasted meat, Zhou Chen walked toward a distant plaza. In the center of the plaza was a burning bonfire, around which a few Players in all sorts of strange outfits had gathered. A crowd of passersby had formed a circle, curiously sizing them up.

"Are you serious..."

Just then, the sound of an argument broke out at the entrance of a nearby dessert shop.

Being a classic rubbernecker, Zhou Chen curiously edged closer to the commotion.

"My wife sent you to bring me lunch? You! Tsk, I deliberately didn’t bring any precisely because her cooking is so awful. Why would you bring it over anyway?" a middle-aged man in a dessert shop uniform said, clearly annoyed.

Across from him was an adventurer in a leather bandana and a full leather outfit. It wasn’t hard to tell from the getup that this person was a Player.

The Player spread his hands helplessly and asked, "So, what about my reward?"

The middle-aged man’s eyes flew wide with anger, his blood pressure soaring. "You want a reward for walking a few steps? Are you outsiders out of your minds? Get lost!"

The Player flew into a rage. "If there’s no reward, fine! But who are you calling names?"

His shout drew even more attention. The middle-aged man’s expression shifted, and he grudgingly pulled a box of dessert from behind the counter. "Here’s your reward."

The Player took the dessert, snorted unhappily, and left the unpleasant scene, leaving the middle-aged man to grind his teeth in anger.

"Haha... This sort of thing used to happen all the time."

The Nameless Ghost’s soft laughter echoed in his ear. "After all, the outsiders treat Gaia like a game, so it’s inevitable they clash with the Gaia People over their actions. Things like barging into people’s homes to loot them, or expecting a reward for some trivial little quest... But the quality of outsiders in the last few descents has clearly improved. They haven’t done too many morally bankrupt things."

’So those delivery fetch quests in games really don’t make any sense. Why would anyone give you a reward for just walking a few steps...’ Zhou Chen complained inwardly.

He walked over to the bonfire in the plaza, activated the save point, and saved his game. Then, he opened his player panel.

The max Level for a Player was 100, and he had already reached Level 72. His experience was still increasing, but the pace had slowed to a crawl. This was because the Artificial Sun was using most of its Power to fight the Black Sun, drastically reducing the rate at which it killed Abyssal Demons.

Still, his Level was far ahead of everyone else; not even Tang Ling’s was as high as his.

Zhou Chen then checked his Wish Points. The growth trend was terrible; it had nearly flatlined. He guessed it was because of the Black Sun’s activity and the ongoing war.

The Satellite City had entered a state of war readiness, but people were still going about their daily lives. However, a solemn look was etched on their faces, and a repressive atmosphere hung in the air. It was clear they were very concerned about the battle raging outside.

If the residents of the Satellite City were like this, it was even more true for people in other cities. They had probably long forgotten about the Sun’s reignition, focusing all their attention on the war. It was only natural that his acquisition of Wish Points had slowed.

’If I can deal with the Black Sun and the Abyssal Army, I’ll definitely be able to rake in a huge amount of Wish Points...’ Zhou Chen thought.

But that was no easy task.

Even with the Satellite City supplying it with energy, the Artificial Sun couldn’t overwhelm the Eternal Dark Radiance emitted by the Black Sun. For him to solve the problem was practically impossible.

In essence, this was basically "defeating the final boss."

’Hmm... maybe I should start spreading the Prayer System?’

Zhou Chen quickly dismissed the idea.

First of all, Gaia’s population was small, and the natives had been educated by the Star Association from the very beginning. Combined with environmental factors, this made them extremely sensitive to any form of manipulative behavior. They would report the slightest sign of it. A figure like the "Lamp God," who had never been recorded in history but suddenly appeared out of nowhere, would absolutely be labeled an "Evil God" and trigger a full-scale investigation.

What about brainwashing?

There were certainly villains among the natives of Gaia. Brainwashing them and making them do good deeds to farm Wish Points was exactly what Zhou Chen had done in North Carolina.

However, after careful consideration, Zhou Chen gave up on this idea as well.

There was no other reason—Tang Ling was here.

There were countless surveillance systems in every major city, and Tang Ling monitored everything. Any unusual activity would attract her attention.

Villains with long track records of evil suddenly starting to do good deeds—such abnormal behavior would inevitably draw Tang Ling’s gaze.

As he was pondering, a notification for incoming Wish Points suddenly popped up.

[Wish Points +500... +1000... +2000... +3000... +5000...]

Huh? Zhou Chen was momentarily stunned, but he quickly figured out the reason.

—It was because he had found the lost Divine Hall, and Tang Ling had told others the news.

Finding the Divine Hall meant finding the lost Sword of Ten Thousand Kings. There was no shortage of people who wanted to obtain or even just see the Sword of Ten thousand Kings. Countless individuals had spent their entire lives searching for this lost legendary holy relic, only to die tragic deaths in the wilderness.

"I’ll have to leak this information later," Zhou Chen decided.

WHOOSH...

Just then, a wave of air washed over him as a high-end black Floating car slowly descended and stopped in front of him.

The rear door opened automatically, and inside, Jiang Che gestured for him to get in.

The door closed, and the Floating car ascended. It was a smooth, steady ride with no turbulence as it flew slowly toward an entirely black skyscraper.

"Nice work," Jiang Che said, looking at Zhou Chen with approval.

"It was nothing," Zhou Chen said, waving his hand humbly.

"I’m not talking about you finding the Sword of Ten Thousand Kings."

Jiang Che’s gaze suddenly turned cold, sending a chill down his spine and causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

"Abducting a key strategic member of the Star Association is a jailable offense."

She said indifferently, "You’ve really got some nerve."

Cold sweat trickled down Zhou Chen’s temple. "Well..."

"Don’t bother trying to explain. I see your true nature crystal clear. I just didn’t expect you to be so bold as to even make a move on a Godslaying Weapon... Did you think I was already a sure thing, that there was no challenge left, so you immediately switched to a new target? Is that it?"

A flash of displeasure crossed Jiang Che’s icy gaze.

She had just given Zhou Chen her answer, and the next thing she knew, he was off hitting on Tang Ling.

Even though she was used to his awful, scummy nature, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger.

"I was wrong." Zhou Chen lowered his head and admitted his mistake sincerely.

"Save it. That little trick is useless on me."

Jiang Che said coldly, "I hope you know your limits. Although we both chose to accept this, our tolerance has its limits too."

Zhou Chen nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. "I really do know my place. I swear."

Seeing that Jiang Che’s gaze remained just as cold and severe, Zhou Chen sat up a little straighter. His expression turned solemn as he swore in a deep voice:

"I promise you."

Only then did Jiang Che’s expression soften. She looked out the window and said nonchalantly:

"You’d better think long and hard about how you’re going to explain this to them when we get out."

She was, of course, referring to Erin and Li Xiye.

Zhou Chen felt a headache coming on. But this was a story he had started with his own hands, so even if he got ’axed,’ he would just have to take it... Of course, it probably wouldn’t get that extreme, but he was definitely in for a scolding.

A short while later, the Floating car neared the black skyscraper. Space fluctuated, and the scene abruptly changed, shifting to an enclosed parking garage.

After getting out of the car, Zhou Chen let out a breath and composed himself.

Now came the main event.

—To use the Creation of All Things and sublimate the Adaptive Evolution Array!