Chapter Ninety-Seven: Tang Yu

"Willow Fluff!"

The battle with the Fallen had reached a stalemate.

The carbonized state of his entire body was causing Fang Tang no small amount of trouble.

Neither the Reverse Blade nor the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow could break through its defenses, and the propulsion of the mechanical claw-arms was no longer of much use in a fight of this level.

So he needed help from outside the battlefield, just as he had told Willow Fluff before.

Willow Fluff found a chair and sat down, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.

Almost instantly, everyone sensed a subtle change in the corridor.

Liu Yiran watched Willow Fluff with great interest.

"This kid..."

He let out a laugh, then shook his head helplessly.

An invisible force pressed down upon the Fallen, and the charred skin on its body actually began to shed in flecks.

Fang Tang’s eyes lit up, and the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow in his hand thrust straight out.

With a wet tearing sound, the blade entered flesh.

For the first time, Fang Tang dealt damage to the Fallen.

"Heh, time to end this."

He swung his blade in rapid succession, the dense flash of steel weaving into a net that engulfed the Fallen.

The sixth strike will work for sure - decapitation!

In an instant, the Fallen’s head flew up, and the towering body froze mid-motion before crashing stiffly to the ground.

"What just happened?"

Xu Lin, Ta Meng, and Su Mang all looked completely at a loss, not understanding what had taken place.

Did Fang Tang not just call out Willow Fluff?

Didn’t Willow Fluff just close her eyes and sleep?

So how had the Fallen been dealt with?

With a clang, the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow was returned to its sheath.

Willow Fluff also woke at that moment. Her little face was a little pale, but excitement was written all over her.

I finally managed to be useful!

Since entering the building, Willow Fluff had felt like dead weight.

She had been unable to help with anything, and in the critical moments, someone still had to protect her.

That helpless feeling had been gnawing at her heart the entire time.

Fortunately, Fang Tang had given her a chance to show what she could do, and that had given her a great deal of confidence.

"Well done!"

Liu Yiran nodded slightly toward Willow Fluff.

A beautiful smile appeared on Willow Fluff’s face.

Seeing that smile, Fang Tang felt a touch of emotion.

Sequence 059 - Dreamlike Illusion really was formidable. It had actually weakened the Fallen’s defenses, creating the opening he needed.

"You helped me a great deal. If not for you, I’m afraid I might have been worn down by that Fallen. Since you want a level-six armor, I can help cover part of the materials as thanks."

Fang Tang was generous with his own people, especially since Willow Fluff’s ability was so powerful.

Xu Lin and the other two kept shifting their gazes between Fang Tang and Willow Fluff.

At the mention of level-six armor, all three pairs of eyes lit up with varying degrees of brilliance.

"You can make level-six armor?"

"Huh?" Fang Tang froze, then shook his head. "Not me. Xie Ling."

"Oh!"

The three of them turned to Xie Ling with burning eyes.

The little girl grew nervous and timidly hid behind Fang Tang.

"All right," Liu Yiran said, stepping in to smooth things over. "We’ve cleared the fourth-floor checkpoint. Let’s go see the big boss on the fifth floor. Hopefully, he’ll give us a pleasant surprise."

The seven of them went up the stairs, with Ta Meng still taking point.

The fifth floor had a different layout from those below: a corridor enclosed entirely in glass.

At both ends of the corridor were all kinds of precision instruments; it was a world entirely apart from the four floors beneath.

If the floors below could be compared to a hospital from the nineteen-seventies, then the fifth floor was a high-tech laboratory from the twenty-second century.

Amid the many instruments, a person in a white lab coat was busy at work.

Noticing Fang Tang and the others coming up, he looked up and smiled at them. "Please wait a moment. I’ll be done soon."

"No rush."

Liu Yiran waved a hand with a genial smile, looking for all the world like the friendly exchange between a company boss and his researchers.

The group stood before the glass and waited for the Fallen to finish.

After a few minutes, Xu Lin frowned. "I’ve picked up another debuff."

"Me too!" Su Mang nodded.

Fang Tang glanced at the time on the pass; there were only two seconds left before the four-hour mark.

Liu Yiran said, "See whether the debuff affects your mood. If it does, click return right away."

Within this twisted rule, the most lethal threat was not the Fallen, but emotion.

Once emotional fluctuations grew too severe, the chance of turning into a Fallen rose sharply.

The four members of Liu Yiran’s team were all seasoned explorers, each with their own unique methods of suppressing emotional upheaval.

But Willow Fluff and Xie Ling were different.

They were newcomers; even though they had experienced twisted rules in the underground caverns, the danger they faced was still the greatest among them.

Xie Ling said, "My debuff is exhaustion. I think I can hold on."

"Mine is laziness. I’m not sure whether that counts?" Willow Fluff asked carefully. She did not want to retreat now.

"Looks manageable." Liu Yiran nodded slightly and continued, "Do you have sedatives? If the debuff starts affecting you too severely, use them immediately, then return."

"Mm-hmm!"

Willow Fluff and Xie Ling agreed.

They continued waiting. Roughly twenty minutes later, the Fallen finally finished with its work and strolled out at an unhurried pace.

"I’m sorry to have kept you waiting." The Fallen adjusted its glasses, sniffed lightly, and smiled. "You all smell rather nice. Have you all already picked up debuffs?"

Fang Tang studied the Fallen intently as subtitles unfolded before his eyes.

Liu Yiran smiled. "And what if we have? We are both level six. You are no match for me."

Fang Tang: ...

Captain, please don’t say things like that. It makes one liable to be slapped in the face.

Tang Yu laughed heartily, both hands tucked into the pockets of his lab coat.

"Then why have you come to me? For my blessing?"

Liu Yiran merely smiled and gave a noncommittal nod.

Fang Tang was starting to get curious as well.

Both the Mirror and Tang Yu had spoken of a blessing, but what exactly was it?

Tang Yu’s gaze remained calm. "If you want that blessing, you’ll have to clear this checkpoint. By a data-based analysis, you’ve only completed forty percent of the building. Not even half. At this rate, you’re not qualified to receive my blessing."

Liu Yiran smiled faintly. "We need your help."

"My help?" Tang Yu studied Liu Yiran with an expression that seemed to say, Are you out of your mind? "How strange. I can tell you’re brimming with confidence. What method do you have that would make me help you?"

Liu Yiran slipped his hands into his sleeves, adopting a lazy air, and said with a smile, "I know you’re Tang Yu."

"So?" Tang Yu looked surprised.

"Li Cheng is also you."

Tang Yu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Even Fang Tang and the others were a little stunned.

Liu Yiran went on, "Li Cheng is dead. You killed him."

As the final word fell, Tang Yu’s expression finally changed.