Chapter 339: The Rules Are Absolutely Correct for the Chosen Ones!
Martin felt that studying the clearance recordings of the Dragon Kingdom’s Heavenly Masters really did help quite a bit.
That textbook-level clearance player truly lived up to his reputation.
When he got the chance, he’d go to the Dragon Kingdom again to learn some “low-down” moves. These moves might seem a bit vulgar, but they really worked well.
His performance really did grab the audience’s attention. Apart from being a little despicable, there were no shortcomings.
But the Australian expert team and the superhuman factions all looked worried.
How the hell are you going to get back after playing like this?
Lime powder is useful, but the first time you throw it, the whole point is catching them off guard. Those weird creatures with physical bodies really didn’t expect you to do that.
But when you come back, how could these weird creatures you’ve already lime-powdered fall for it a second time? And the way you’re playing, these weird creatures are the hot-tempered type. The moment they see you, they’ll want to fight you to the death.
Just like Rahman, the chosen one from the Pyramid Kingdom—he had to use up all his spawned skills before he could escape.
Before the Australian expert team and superhuman factions’ worries could even materialize, trouble already appeared.
Martin’s pocket lime was completely used up, and having skip-leveled his way here, he’d entered a rather powerful “encirclement.”
Under the streetlights around him were weird creatures that all looked like they could fight—and probably actually could fight very well.
This forced him to choose one to battle.
But the next scene completely stunned the Australian expert team and superhuman factions.
This Australian superhuman wasn’t fighting his target at all—he was attacking the ground.
By kicking up dust and creating obstacles, he blocked the weird creatures’ line of sight and slowed them down.
As long as the weird creatures were delayed, he just ran.
After all, he hadn’t actually attacked them, so when these weird creatures saw him leave, they didn’t give chase.
This method was truly one of a kind.
“My God, did this guy go study in the Dragon Kingdom? How does he know so many low-down moves?”
Even the leader of Martin’s superhuman faction found it hard to understand.
You’re supposed to be a superhuman of our faction—how do you know so many Dragon Kingdom moves?
At least show some signature skills like Cardinal What’s-His-Name from the neighboring Ramen Kingdom with his holy light.
That guy looks pretty sinister, but he’s still recognizable. The audience can tell he’s from the Vatican.
Martin wore a bamboo hat and a mask. If it weren’t for the big screen showing Australia, others would think the Dragon Kingdom had sent someone to participate.
But this superhuman faction leader was overthinking it, because the Dragon Kingdom’s representative was even more fierce and far more recognizable.
That guy, when clearing stages, couldn’t even be bothered to throw stuff like that.
He only taught his subordinates when he himself didn’t feel like lifting a finger.
Watching other chosen ones’ big screens, the audience was always on edge, cheering for these chosen ones.
Now watching the Dragon Kingdom’s big screen, people were basically watching a comedy show—the real torture was here!
When Zhang Yangqing arrived at the area with four child weird creatures and a five-meter-tall giant weird creature.
Did he need to choose? Did he need to assess the risk?
Obviously there was no need for that.
Other chosen ones only picked ones they could handle—pick the wrong weird creature and you’re doomed.
Zhang Yangqing was different. Whichever weird creature he picked, that weird creature was doomed.
This time, the unlucky ones were the four child weird creatures.
Because their streetlight area was closer to the next streetlight, Zhang Yangqing didn’t care what weird creatures were inside—naturally he chose the closer path.
When he stepped into the streetlight’s illuminated range, the four child weird creatures sensed him.
The leader, with a ferocious face, lunged at him—hollow eyes and blood-red fangs incredibly terrifying.
In this kind of weird environment, just seeing them could make chosen ones lose three parts of their courage and be unable to perform at full strength.
But lunging at Zhang Yangqing was no different from seeking death.
Bang!
Zhang Yangqing couldn’t even be bothered to speak—he kicked the thing square in the forehead.
Under this fierce blow, the weird child’s body turned into a meteor, crashing into the weird creature under the next streetlight far away and exploding it into two clouds of blood mist.
The weird creature under the next streetlight never dreamed that it would die before even making an appearance.
“Bro, if you’re this badass, just say so! I would’ve gotten out of your way!”
This scared the other three weird children so much they were crying, scrambling and tumbling over to the neighboring five-meter-tall giant weird creature.
Now the pressure was on the five-meter-tall giant weird creature.
He was shocked—if you want to die, don’t drag me into it! This is my territory! What if the big shot comes over here?
That guy who died from afar was even stronger than me, and he couldn’t withstand such a casual strike—how am I supposed to fight?
To survive, the five-meter-tall giant weird creature directly stomped the three of them to death, showing Zhang Yangqing: “I really don’t know them! Boss, look, I killed them for you, so please let me go.”
But even if he hadn’t done that, Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to deal with him.
After all, Zhang Yangqing only liked walking in straight lines—he didn’t like detours.
But seeing how perceptive he was, Zhang Yangqing gave him a thumbs up—that’s the Heavenly Master’s approval.
After seeing Zhang Yangqing’s thumbs up, the five-meter-tall giant weird creature felt warm and fuzzy inside. If the rules didn’t prevent him from going out, he would’ve wanted to clear every obstacle for this big shot.
But that was just a thought—after all, his abilities were limited, and there were even fiercer ones ahead that he couldn’t fight.
Zhang Yangqing’s side was all about torture—those who were clueless or had bad eyesight got kicked like balls to deal with the weird creature under the next streetlight.
Those with good eyesight and good sense ran the moment they saw him.
Because their rules were that after running out, they’d be attacked by even more terrifying things in the darkness.
But if they didn’t run out, they’d die on the spot.
Between dying early and dying late, they chose dying late—maybe there’d still be a chance to survive if they died late.
So along the way, the audience could find many streetlights with no weird creatures under them—but only on Zhang Yangqing’s side.
After about an hour of fighting.
When the chosen ones approached the city center area, the real accident appeared.
Before them was just an ordinary streetlight, and under it floated a red-clothed ghost.
Logically speaking, floaters weren’t that strong, but this one was in red.
Some chosen ones wanted to go around, but the dark areas around seemed to be cliffs—they almost fell down.
Fortunately they reacted in time, otherwise several who tried to sneak past would’ve died before the fight even started.
Miller was observing this floating red-clothed weird creature—this thing’s hands were truly eye-catching.
Her claws looked like they were made of bone, each over a meter long, looking incredibly sharp.
Miller judged that this thing probably had high attack power, high speed, but possibly low defense.
His peachwood sword just happened to counter ghost-type weird creatures—as long as she took one hit from him, she’d die.
Miller also had another advantage—he had no heart, so being stabbed in the heart was no big deal.
His body’s recovery ability was extremely strong. Just earlier, a weird hunting dog had bitten his thigh, and he thought he was done for, but it healed up in no time.
As long as it wasn’t a fatal wound, it wasn’t a big problem.
So the muscular Miller decided to fight this hard battle.
Lure the bone-clawed fierce ghost to attack his heart and other parts, then deliver a fatal blow.
This was Miller’s pre-battle analysis—pretty good analysis, actually.
But when the fight actually started, he learned what “good plan, but the opponent doesn’t play by the rules” meant.
Actually, just from observation, the chosen ones all had similar ideas, but the bone-clawed fierce ghost had a skill.
During battle, the bone-clawed fierce ghost pressed her palms together, then spun through the air like a drill, stirring up a whirlwind and charging at the chosen ones.
Because she spun too fast, there was no way to find her weak point.
But if she so much as grazed a chosen one, a big hole would appear in their body.
The chosen ones could only desperately block with their two swords, otherwise they would’ve died right there.
Still, three relatively unlucky chosen ones were drilled to death by her.
Forget the heart—the entire chest had a big hole.
Miller ran fast—he bolted the moment he sensed something was wrong. As long as he ran out of the streetlight’s illuminated range, he wouldn’t be attacked.
This stage really stumped the vast majority of chosen ones.
Many chosen ones stayed here for half an hour, tried several times, and simply couldn’t get past.
Was there no solution to this stage?
No—there were many solutions to this stage, and many chosen ones thought of them, but they weren’t willing to accept them.
Because the simplest solution was right there in the free trading market. As long as you knew about this weird creature’s situation, you could buy the corresponding item there and pass.
But the chosen ones had no money. Without money, they had to go back to the grocery store to earn some—that was the solution.
To get SSSS or above, you either had to find a better method or take a big risk and gamble.
The gap between chosen ones started to show here. The weird tale world definitely had solutions, but getting SSSS wasn’t easy.
For example, the 5,000 ghost coin demon-binding rope would make dealing with this weird creature a piece of cake.
You could say it was made specifically to counter her, but the chosen ones had no money to buy it.
Just getting here, many chosen ones had already died accidentally.
Without the peachwood sword, even more would have died.
This stage really showed the importance of items.
But this was only the beginning of the slaughter. If you had money, this stage would naturally be easier.
This was also why the grocery store rules mentioned at the very start that revenue was the key to whether you could survive.
At this stage, the chosen one from the Rainbow Kingdom only had a few hundred coins on him. Forget those expensive items—he couldn’t even buy much information. So facing the bone-clawed weird creature, he couldn’t think of any other way besides buying items, and simply turned back.
Because he gave up early and didn’t wander around here, after taking the boat back to the surface, he quickly ran back to the grocery store according to the map, opened for business, and focused on earning more money first.
He’d more or less figured out the process, but without money he definitely couldn’t get past.
At this point, he’d essentially given up on the hidden mission. After all, even if he completed the hidden mission—
Since he’d already given up, just to accumulate some experience and survive, staying open for a couple more days was the right call.
Maybe if he saved enough money, he could buy better items.
There were many other chosen ones who made the same choice. After all, this kind of place required a lot of spending, and they hadn’t even reached the city center yet—would there be no more places to spend money later?
But going back to continue business would also encounter plenty of unexpected pitfalls.
According to statistics, 26 chosen ones chose to leave due to insufficient funds.
31 chosen ones had insufficient funds but chose to stubbornly continue.
The vast majority of the rest still had over a thousand ghost coins in available funds and were deeply researching the bone-clawed weird creature.
But before long, 8 more chosen ones chose to leave.
Because they’d been frightened along the way, they didn’t have much incense left. If they went inside and got caught up in some big process, wouldn’t they be doomed?
Backing off when you know your limits was a good thing at this point, though they also lost the qualification to compete for an SSSS rating.
The ones who remained were all tough characters—their goal was to farm resources.
“Fuck, this thing’s fast enough, and its turning ability is fast too—how do you get past this?”
Miller had been knocked back again and started cursing.
His muscles were pretty fierce—if it were anyone else taking hits like he did, their hands would be numb and they wouldn’t be able to hold their swords steady.
At this stage, almost no one considered selling one of their two swords to exchange for money to pass.
Because you could never have too many items—it was precisely because of these two swords that they’d survived this long. If they sold one and something unexpected happened, what then?
Then they’d be robbing Peter to pay Paul, and in the end they’d only get themselves killed.
“Doesn’t she have any weak point?”
Miller kept observing.
And wouldn’t you know it—after fighting several rounds, Miller felt that the bone-clawed fierce ghost’s strength was starting to decrease.
He had a “special constitution”—he didn’t get tired.
Could this be his advantage?
Anyway, she couldn’t kill him, so he’d just keep wearing her down.
With this thought, Miller grabbed his peachwood sword and coin sword and charged in again.
Sure enough, under Miller’s attrition, the bone-clawed fierce ghost gradually began to lose ground.
She relied on constant spinning to maintain her burst power, but spinning also required energy.
Miller was a muscular tough guy, plus with his unknown “zombie constitution,” he was literally wearing the bone-clawed fierce ghost down.
Miller kept using the cross-slash stance to block the bone-clawed fierce ghost’s attacks.
He wasn’t attacking at all—just wearing her down.
Go ahead, drill me to death if you can. If you leave me alone, I won’t kill you either—I’ll just move on to the next location.
But just as Miller and the bone-clawed fierce ghost’s battle was reaching its climax, the sound of iron chains being dragged on the ground appeared.
Two patrol members mentioned in the rules appeared under the streetlight. Their aura was terrifying, black mist swirling around them, as if they’d walked out of the eighteenth layer of hell.
Both wore fierce ghost masks and held very long iron chains. The other ends of the chains extended into the darkness, as if endless.
Just from their entrance appearance, Miller knew he was no match for these two patrol members—the gap was too big.
Here, he suddenly remembered a rule.
[Rule 6: When you encounter patrol personnel holding iron chains, please stop all activities, do not draw their attention, and wait for them to leave.]
Miller decided to gamble here. Facing the menacing bone-clawed fierce ghost, he stood completely still, not intending to dodge her attack, to see how the two patrol members would react.
This gamble was very bold, but he wasn’t made of flesh and blood—he had no heart. Drill through the flesh and see what happens.
The frantically spinning bone-clawed fierce ghost couldn’t hear any of this and continued her assault.
Facts proved that Miller gambled correctly. When patrol personnel appeared, no matter what was happening, everything must stop—otherwise it would be seen as disrespecting them and breaking their rules.
When the bone-clawed fierce ghost’s claw was about to pierce Miller’s chest, he was even considering whether to fight back, when one patrol member had already struck.
“How dare you! Committing murder right in front of me!”
The patrol member shouted sternly, his voice booming out with earth-shaking energy.
His figure instantly appeared in front of Miller, both hands grabbing the two ends of the iron chain, using his strength and the chain to block the bone-clawed fierce ghost’s spinning, leaving her not only unable to move but blasted flying.
The bone-clawed fierce ghost had finally caught one opening from Miller, only to have it ruined like this. Just as she stopped spinning and was about to burst out in furious desperation, she caught sight of the ghost-masked patrol members.
This scared the bone-clawed fierce ghost badly—she knew she’d gotten herself into trouble.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she turned and ran.
Her speed was like the howling wind.
But the other ghost-masked patrol member swung the iron chain in his hand and hurled it.
The soul-locking chain seemed able to chase souls and claim lives—it had a tracking function. In an instant, it pierced through her chest, then slowly corroded her body until it turned into a puddle of black water.
This water felt somewhat familiar to Miller—he seemed to have seen it somewhere before.
If he went up and smelled it, he’d know—it was similar to the smell of the river from when he first arrived.
Miller truly didn’t move an inch. He actually really wanted to suck up to these two big shots.
But it was better to follow the rules here.
Miller was like a stone statue, waiting until the two ghost-masked patrol members had disappeared for a while before daring to move.
When he left, he constantly paid attention to his surroundings—the moment patrol personnel with iron chains appeared, he had to stop.
This stage, Miller passed with both boldness and caution, because he did have combat ability, but not much—his way of thinking was the key to passing.
But those powerful superhumans were unlucky. The Stick Kingdom didn’t have many superhumans to begin with, and this time they’d finally gotten a strong esper up there. His ability was telekinesis.
Against the weak, he could make them explode with a single thought.
Against the strong, telekinesis could significantly interfere with their bodies.
Coincidentally, his speed was also extremely fast. With telekinesis boosting him, he could actually keep up with the bone-clawed fierce ghost.
You could say he completely countered the bone-clawed fierce ghost.
Just as he’d knocked the bone-clawed fierce ghost to the ground and was about to deliver the final blow—
The sound of iron chains sliding on the ground appeared around him, and two patrol members arrived as expected.
But at this moment, the Stick Kingdom superhuman judged that if he didn’t finish off the bone-clawed fierce ghost now, he’d have to fight her again when he came back.
It was just one quick move—shouldn’t be a big deal, right?
So he decided to kill the bone-clawed fierce ghost first, then stop and wait for the two patrol members.
And his strike was extremely fast—he shouldn’t be noticed.
His thinking was good, but he did violate the patrol members’ rules.
The moment he struck, the soul-locking chain, as if guided, lashed toward his weapon.
The two patrol members shouted thunderously and attacked him.
Even when he explained it was a misunderstanding, the two patrol members paid no attention.
Here, rules were rules.
At the moment of life and death, the Stick Kingdom superhuman still displayed astonishing burst power.
He quickly ran out of this streetlight’s illuminated range, back to the previous streetlight. But the problem was, the two patrol members’ attack range wasn’t limited to just that one streetlight.
After the Stick Kingdom superhuman had consumed most of his internal energy, his leg was hit by the iron chain.
He collapsed to the ground in pain, and then the chain coiled around him like a snake.
At this moment, the Stick Kingdom superhuman was completely bound by the iron chain. Then the two patrol members, one on each side, burst out with an extreme, fierce pull—the sound shook the area—and he was twisted to death alive.
Blood splattered under the streetlight, kicking up a mist of blood.
When the chains were pulled apart, you could see the Stick Kingdom superhuman’s mangled flesh clinging to the iron chains.
The death was just that gruesome, leaving the Stick Kingdom audience terrified.
The timing of the two patrol members’ appearance was precisely when chosen ones were about to sneak past the stage or about to kill the bone-clawed fierce ghost.
As long as the chosen ones stopped all actions and followed the rules, there would definitely be no losses. This was the rule—and also why Miller was bold enough to gamble.
In the world of rule-based weird tales, the rules were absolutely correct for the chosen ones. Whether you listened or not depended on your own ability.
And in this clever trap, 27 chosen ones violated the rules for various reasons.
Because at these critical moments, many chosen ones weren’t willing to accept it—they thought, “I’m just one move away from escaping,” or “I’m just one hit away from killing the weird creature, so a little sneaky move shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
It was this “shouldn’t be a problem, right” thinking that cost them their lives.
