Black and White

After running for an hour, the effect of the Personal Map finally wore off, and the group finally stopped.

"Finally done..." Ma Qiao squeezed the brakes, stood with his legs spread apart, and panted heavily. "Even cycling is tiring enough... How far did we go?"

"My electric bike has a mileage display," Sun Xiaowei said. "I started riding the electric bike about half an hour after I switched to it, and I've ridden 88 kilometers since then."

"Nearly ninety kilometers in half an hour?" Ma Qiao clicked his tongue in surprise. "Then we ran a total of one hundred and seventy or eighty kilometers in an hour?"

"Not that much..." Old Yuan shook his head. "After you and Xiao Wei started cycling, our speed increased, so the total distance should only be about 150 kilometers."

"That's far enough." Ma Qiao clicked his tongue. "Luo Jun, aren't you Elemental School? How come you ran so fast?"

"Who says Elemental School are always slow?" Luo Jun scoffed. "If Senior Xiao Wei can ride an electric scooter, why can't I utilize some Wind Element?"

"So it's the Wind Element..." Ma Qiao believed it and finally felt a little better.

"Let's organize our findings from the map," said Old Yuan. "For these 150-plus kilometers, we tried to run in one direction as much as possible. Even when we encountered walls, we used the map to find our way around them and tried to maintain our original direction. Even so, we still haven't reached the edge of the Endless Maze. This place is much larger than we imagined."

"It's fortunate that this maze is big enough, with corridors as wide as roads, and a turn every few hundred meters or so, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to keep up the speed..." Sun Xiaowei recalled the moment of high speed just now. Although she was weak in terms of basic skills, her physical strength and reaction speed were far beyond those of ordinary people. When she sped up on her special electric scooter, she was faster than professional racers. Even so, she had to concentrate fully in the second half of the race to barely keep up.

"Looks like we need to prepare for a long haul." Luo Jun took out Video Recorder and started playing back the previous recordings. "If I remember correctly, we saw two shops along the way. I specifically noted the times: one was around thirteen minutes and forty seconds, and the other was around forty-eight minutes and fifteen seconds... There were quite a few relics; I noticed six, and I remember the times for each one..."

As he spoke, Luo Jun began adjusting the video recording to verify his memory.

"Besides the relics and shops, there are three treasure points. We haven't encountered any treasure points before, so we don't know what's inside, or if there are any traps or monsters guarding them... There's a special room, around the 50-minute mark, which should be similar to the Hall of Choice... Apart from these, it's basically all monsters and traps; we see them almost every minute..."

Old Yuan nodded and said, "Even at a rate of one per minute, at our speed, these monsters and traps are still two or three kilometers apart. That's the straight-line distance in the maze. In reality, to cross those two kilometers, even following a map, you might have to take several times the route. Without guidance, it's indeed very difficult to encounter monsters if you wander around aimlessly."

"Now we have a guide! Let's follow this video and fight our way back!" Luo Jun looked at the screen. "Come on, this way, let's find the first monster first!"

After wandering around the maze for a while, the group soon arrived at a spacious crossroads, where a tall Knight Armor stood in the center.

Seemingly sensing someone approaching, the armor trembled slightly, stretched its body, and came to life, wielding its greatsword as it charged forward.

As usual, he started with a ranged attack. Ma Qiao raised his shotgun and fired a shot at the head. With a loud bang, the armor was shattered into pieces, with parts scattered all over the ground and a handful of copper coins falling to the ground.

"That simple?" Ma Qiao was somewhat surprised. That skinny monster from before had been dealt with only after Old Yuan's intervention...

"It seems Caroline was right." Old Yuan checked the surrounding Vital Energy Wave, confirming that the monster was completely dead. "The monsters in the Endless Maze aren't very strong. In fact, because of the shops, the absence of monsters is more troublesome. The one we fought before dropped Gold Ingot, but this one only dropped a handful of copper coins. It seems the two monsters differ greatly in strength and value."

"Even a small mosquito is still meat." Luo Jun stepped forward. "Let's keep the money first; everything else is fake."

The group hurriedly picked up the copper coins, a total of two hundred, which Luo Jun put into his Smart Equipment Pack. Then they continued to follow the video back and soon arrived at a mechanism.

This was the first time the group had ever seen a trap; it was more of a challenge than a trap.

This is an open area about fifty meters square, with the ground covered with black and white grids about one meter on each side, alternating with each other. At the entrance to the mechanism, there is a sign explaining the Game Rules.

The requirements are simple: walk across all the white squares, but do not step on or cross any black squares. Once a white square is stepped on, it will automatically turn into a black square, so you cannot backtrack. You only have one chance. If you succeed, you will receive 500 coins. If you fail, once you step on or cross a black square, you will be randomly teleported to another part of the maze.

"I know how to do this!" Sun Xiaowei volunteered. "As long as we plan the route well, success won't be difficult."

As she spoke, she stood outside the area, carefully observing the squares and gesturing with her fingers to plan her route.

But as time passed, Sun Xiaowei's expression changed from eagerness to doubt, then to frustration, and finally she completely broke down.

"Something's not right. There's no solution. We definitely can't get through without going back the way we came!"

Sun Xiaowei pointed to the ground. "Look, there are several white squares here. There's only one way to step on them, but going in is easy, but coming out requires going back the same way. It's impossible to avoid stepping on the black squares..."

The problem she raised, others also noticed, and it certainly seemed to be an unsolvable problem...

"Let me give it a try!" Luo Jun suddenly stepped forward.

"No, what if you get teleported away?" Sun Xiaowei advised, "If you encounter a monster then, you won't even have a chance to call for help!"

"Don't worry, I've found a way." With that, Luo Jun jumped directly into the arena.

As he stepped over a white square, the square immediately turned black, and he could no longer step on or cross it. Luo Jun didn't look behind him and walked straight ahead, soon arriving at a fork in the road.

Turn right here, and you'll find two paths. One leads forward, while the other is a straight line made up of four white squares, sandwiched between two black squares, extending into Dead Alley. To step on all four squares, this is the only way forward. However, to turn back, you must step on the white squares that have turned black.

"See? There's no solution to this." Sun Xiaowei shrugged. "Now the path you took in is all dark, and you can't get out. You can only accept your fate and be teleported away... What do you think..."

Sun Xiaowei was very worried for Luo Jun, but before she could finish speaking, she saw Luo Jun leap over three white squares and land on the innermost one. "Huh?" Sun Xiaowei was stunned. Then she saw Luo Jun turn around, stepping on the white square he had just stepped over, and walk back...

Yes, the rules say you can't jump over the black squares, but they don't say you can't jump over the white squares. As long as you have enough jumping ability, it doesn't matter how many white squares you jump over in one step!

In this way, all those Dead Alley that were previously thought to be insurmountable were now easily resolved.

Luo Jun darted left and right across the map, eventually stepping on all the white squares. Suddenly, the ground changed color, turning into the shape of ordinary maze tiles. Then, a brick rose up from the ground, with a large string of copper coins on it.

A rough count revealed approximately five hundred pieces.

"It seems this copper coin represents one dollar." Luo Jun carefully put the coin away. "I wonder how many copper coins that Gold Ingot can be exchanged for."

Having solved the puzzle, the group continued their journey back, constantly defeating monsters and overcoming challenges along the way, keeping themselves very busy.

As Old Yuan mentioned before, most of the monsters in the maze are weak and basically free points; killing one usually yields a few hundred copper coins. The traps are similar, mostly accumulating three to five hundred coins. Occasionally, you'll encounter ones that give Silver Ingot. Based on calculations, one Silver Ingot should be worth a thousand copper coins... So, does that mean that Gold Ingot is worth ten thousand coins?

Could it be that they defeated the hidden boss in this maze?

Luo Jun thought about it carefully and realized it wasn't impossible. Old Yuan was Peak Level Combat Power, and the Eight Trigrams Finger Tiger was Mythic Treasure Item. With such a combination, he could make a name for himself even in Tier S Mission. Shouldn't this mere Class A mission be a breeze for him? The fact that any monster could withstand the burning of the Eight Trigrams Finger Tiger for more than ten seconds already proved its strength!

Thinking about it this way, this task doesn't seem as difficult as I imagined...

If you just keep grinding monsters all the way back, by the time you reach the shop, you'll have accumulated a large sum of money. Even if it's not enough to buy an Exit Indicator, you can still buy a Personal Map. If you do a few more waves like this, it won't be long before you've saved up 100,000.

Of course, Luo Jun also knew that luck played a significant role in getting him this far. According to Old Yuan, Caroline spent over a month in the maze, starving to death without ever encountering a single shop. It could only be said that the dice were incredibly lucky...

The group continued farming their way back, and when they finally returned to the first shop, they had over five thousand copper coins, three Silver Ingot, and one Gold Ingot!

It feels so good to be rich and powerful!

Luo Jun craned his neck and knocked on the shop window. The familiar fat man poked his head out again.

The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.

"Welcome... Oh, isn't this a regular customer? You're back again so soon?"

"You still remember me?" Luo Jun, somewhat surprised. "Did you own all the stores by yourself?"

"Hehe, that's true, and that's not true either..." The Fat Merchant didn't answer the question directly, but simply smiled and asked, "What would you like to buy this time? After opening, my shop will only be open for one hour, you know."

"Don't rush to buy anything. Can you check these first to see if they can be exchanged for money?" With that, Luo Jun took out all the gold ingots and copper coins he had saved.

"Wow, you've got quite a haul, young man... These Silver Ingot and copper coins are the same as the banknotes I issue; they can all be used as currency. Of course, if you prefer something more portable, I can exchange them all for banknotes for you."

"Let's exchange them." Luo Jun wasn't worried about carrying them, but copper coins were too loose and not as easy to count as paper money.

Soon, the merchant exchanged over eight thousand dollars for him.

"Huh? Can't this be exchanged?" Luo Jun asked, puzzled, seeing that the merchant wasn't accepting Gold Ingot.

"Oh, this Gold Ingot is different from the Silver Ingot..." the merchant explained, "It's dropped by special creatures, we don't accept them here..."

"If you won't accept it..." Luo Jun understood the merchant's unspoken meaning. "Then where should I hand it over to?"

"We don't accept these kinds of shops with White Signboard," the merchant said, pointing to the tattered sign on the window. "But occasionally you'll come across a shop with Black Signboard; they'll accept these... but their prices aren't fair, and these special monsters are hard to kill, so I don't recommend you go out of your way to hunt them."

"Black Signboard?" Luo Jun frowned. "Are they selling different things than you?"

"Not exactly the same..." The merchant shook his head. "Some have similar functions, but they are completely different things. We don't have much contact with them, and I don't know much about them either. But I don't recommend that you have too much contact with them."

"Why?" Luo Jun asked, "What would happen if we came into contact with them?"

The merchant swallowed hard and whispered, "Trading with them is dangerous. If you don't know your limits, you might get eaten... literally!"

"Eat it?" Luo Jun raised an eyebrow, not expecting there to be hidden elements in this maze.

He wanted to ask more about the Black Signboard shop, but the Fat Merchant refused to say anything more.

Left with no other choice, Luo Jun could only use the badge to withdraw another 3,000 yuan, and then, combined with the previous 8,000 yuan, exchange it for two Personal Map.

With Personal Map, one has the capital for sustainable development. After saying goodbye to the store, Luo Jun left with the remaining thousand-plus banknotes, and also told Old Yuan and the others about the Black Signboard shop.

"This might be important intelligence..." Old Yuan analyzed, "The shops with Black Signboard are clearly not in the same camp as those with White Signboard ..." As he spoke, he looked at the Fat Merchant deep inside the passageway. "What he said may not all be true."

"I think so too." Luo Jun nodded. "But right now, we don't have any other sources of intelligence. For now, we can still have friendly exchanges with the White Shop, but since they are so hostile to the Black Shop, we should at least be more careful."

"Let's share this message with the other groups first, so they can be reminded as well." Sun Xiaowei said, "... let's give them a heads-up too."

Old Yuan nodded, took out Talisman Paper, lit it, briefly explained the situation regarding the Black and White Shops, and reminded everyone to be careful.

... Somewhere in the maze, Li Ying, covered in blood and leaning against the wall, took out Talisman Paper and played a message from Old Yuan.

"The Black Shop might be dangerous? Old Yuan, you warned me too late..." Li Ying almost cried out. At this moment, his body was severed from the waist down, and blood and internal organs were splattered all over the corridor. Not far from him, half a blood-soaked human head could be seen, as if it had been bitten by some kind of wild animal. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that it was Zheng Yu had walked with him!

Just then, a chilling roar rang out, and a thick tentacle emerged from the depths of the alley, coiling around the dying Li Ying and dragging him through a dilapidated gate. Above the gate hung a huge Black Signboard...

Endless Shop!

(End of this chapter)