The Secrets of This City

The Secrets of This City

[Random generation complete]

[Spirit Vessel

Mind: 30

Body: 100

Trait: Calm Lv1]

[Searching for a random deployment location.]

[Please note: After random deployment is complete, the Spirit Vessel will undergo a 2-second solidification process. During this process, the Spirit Vessel will not take any damage.]

"Pretty mediocre stats."

Makes sense. After all, she had only deployed one core.

As for the Spirit Vessel's solidification process, Xu Zhi simply and crudely understood it as two seconds of invincibility.

[Random location selected. Beginning deployment.]

The moment this line from the Narrator appeared, Xu Zhi's vision went dark. There was no dizziness or anything strange; it felt as though she had merely blinked. The next second, a line of white letters emerged from the darkness.

[Deployment successful. The moment you open your eyes, solidification will begin.]

"So that's how it is."

Xu Zhi had always wondered how the game would place her consciousness into the Spirit Vessel. Based on the Narrator's description, she had guessed it might create a body capable of housing her consciousness, but she had also considered that it might simply add a controllable pixel character to the game. Now, it seemed that it had indeed created a "temporary body" for her.

That gave her much more room to work with.

While inside the Spirit Vessel, she did not need to fear death. She could use it to do things she had reservations about in reality. Though the Spirit Vessel came at a cost, compared to what it could accomplish, that cost was not high. Xu Zhi could use it to take all kinds of high-risk gambles for great returns.

After mentally preparing herself, Xu Zhi slowly opened her eyes. She instinctively looked around first, but after seeing her surroundings clearly, she froze on the spot.

For a full two seconds, Xu Zhi's mind was blank. The intense shock slammed into her brain, leaving her unable to think or even breathe. Her breathing had stopped altogether.

The moment the two seconds of invincibility ended, a scarlet flash streaked past Xu Zhi's eyes. Then, her Spirit Vessel died. It happened so quickly that she did not feel the slightest pain, and her consciousness instantly returned to her original body. Only then did Xu Zhi's mind begin turning again, slowly, as if rusted.

But the moment she began thinking, cold sweat covered her back.

What had she just seen?

First of all, there was no doubt that she had been randomly deployed in the city center. When Xu Zhi opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the bus stop standing before her, clearly marked People's Park Station. Cloud City's People's Park was located downtown.

Yet the next second, her vision was filled with something that caused her mind to crash on the spot.

It was—

Aberration monsters packed densely across every road and building, their appearances twisted and horrifying, so numerous that merely looking at them could trigger trypophobia.

And the instant Xu Zhi opened her eyes, they seemed to notice this "outsider." Their eyes, glowing faintly through the mist, all turned toward Xu Zhi at once. They were cold, Bloodlust-filled, and utterly devoid of reason.

Although the street had been silent at the time, when Xu Zhi recalled it now, it was as if she could hear countless monsters whispering to one another.

They were saying: Look, a lost lamb.

Every monster had been eager to make a move against her, so the instant the two seconds ended, one of them attacked first.

Should she be thankful that her Spirit Vessel had been so fragile before the Aberration monsters that death came too fast for her to feel any pain?

Because she had opened her eyes completely unprepared and witnessed that horrifying sight, Xu Zhi's mind had gone blank for a moment. She died before she could think. Now that she recalled it, beyond the fear came immense confusion.

Why had those countless Aberration monsters, some standing by the roadside and others crouching atop buildings, all gathered in the city center?

There were too many possible reasons. Something might have been attracting them, or perhaps a more powerful Aberration had controlled them and sent them downtown. In short, anything was possible.

Now that she knew the Aberration monsters were all in the city center, she could explain why she had not seen any of them over the past few days.

But what followed was intense anxiety and urgency.

Because Xu Zhi did not know how long those Aberrations would remain downtown. What if they left the city center the very next second and came here?

Not just here—they could go anywhere in the city. As long as those Aberrations existed, nowhere in this city could be considered safe.

In fact, Aberrations moving in groups were even more dangerous than the news reports had claimed.

If they wanted to, no one in this city could stop them.

Was she supposed to entrust her life to praying that those Aberrations would not suddenly come her way?!

From that one glance alone, Xu Zhi had seen at least a hundred Aberrations. That was only because the mist had blocked part of her vision. Farther away, all she could see were pairs of faintly glowing eyes flickering in the fog!

She could not understand why the Aberrations had gathered in the city center. She only knew that this city likely held yet another secret she did not understand.

The excessive tension and anxiety even made Xu Zhi want to get angry. She had no choice but to close her eyes and take deep breaths to steady herself.

Fortunately, in the past, the pressure brought by illness and death had always been Shadow Following her. Even this sudden encounter with something so terrifying failed to crush Xu Zhi. After taking some time to sort out her emotions, she opened her eyes again.

"Looks like I need to be more aggressive."

She was still not growing fast enough!

Xu Zhi's mind was filled with the scene she had witnessed the moment she opened her eyes. Her goal had changed as well: at the very least, she needed to survive being surrounded and hunted by those Aberration monsters.

Before seeing that scene, Xu Zhi's goal had never been so "grand." The more she learned, the heavier the pressure on her became.

Under that immense pressure, Xu Zhi made a decision.

She took out the gray [Moth] Attribute Core and, without hesitation, tossed it directly into her mouth.

She knew one core would not increase much energy, but this was a declaration of resolve.

The instant she swallowed the core, the Attribute Core, hard as crystal, melted into liquid in her mouth and slid down her throat. Then Xu Zhi's vision blurred, and a dreamlike illusion appeared before her.

She seemed to see countless gray Moths trapped beneath glass covers, then released one by one into the night. Burning candles floated in the air, and every Moth flew toward the flames like a pilgrim, only to die and turn into ash that fell to the ground.

The bodies of an unknown number of Moths carpeted the ground. The black patterns on their gray wings resembled silent eyes. They twisted and changed, gazing longingly at the candle flames in the sky.

Xu Zhi's gaze followed and landed on the wavering flames. She even felt an uncontrollable urge to approach them, despite the searing heat they gave off and the merciless way they burned Moths to death one after another.

However, the next second, the scene before Xu Zhi began to distort. A violent wave of dizziness struck her, pulling her free from that hallucinatory scene of Moths flying into flames.

Her clothes clung to her back, soaked through with sweat and giving off bursts of chill. Xu Zhi felt lingering fear. If she had not woken up in time and had thrown herself into the candle flame like those Moths, what would have happened to her?

Xu Zhi tried to sense whether there had been any changes in her body, but unfortunately, after feeling around for quite some time, she noticed nothing different. So she picked up the Game Console, wanting to see whether the Narrator would offer any prompt.

Sure enough, the Narrator did not ignore any of her actions.

[What you saw through the Spirit Vessel left you trembling with fear and made you resolve to change. You consumed an Attribute Core. It was a truly bold act, but was it not also the right choice under the circumstances?]

[Your extraordinary affinity with the Moth attribute has increased, but it is not enough for you to gain an extraordinary ability. Perhaps you need more Attribute Cores.]

[But please note: You should have realized that consuming Attribute Cores carries risks for intelligent creatures, especially an attribute as dangerous as Moth.]

[Please remain rational. Do not let yourself fall into "fascination."]

"Fascination?"

So that nearly uncontrollable urge she had felt, so similar to a Moth wanting to "burn itself alive," had been a sign of fascination?

Still, one core really was not enough.

Where was she supposed to get more [Moth] Attribute Cores?

Xu Zhi turned to check the time. She had assumed not much time had passed, since her Spirit Vessel had been instantly killed, and the illusion had not seemed to last long either. Yet when she looked, over an hour had already gone by.

Before long, both of her Familiars would be done for the day.

But so far, there had been no prompt in the game about finding a Black Fruit. It seemed her luck today was not very good.

Xu Zhi put down the Game Console and got up to wash up. She had brought medicine when moving, but that was merely in case of emergencies. After Doggie reached level 10, her physical condition had improved a little more. She was still much weaker than an ordinary person, but she was now fine even without taking medicine.

After washing up and changing clothes, Xu Zhi fiddled with the washing machine in the room, washed her dirty clothes, and only then returned to the bedroom.

She sighed. "It's the apocalypse, and I still have to get up at five every day and do my own laundry."

Once she became strong enough, she would definitely take in a subordinate to help wash her clothes and handle everyday chores.

By the time she finished all that, it was almost time. Xu Zhi picked up the Game Console and checked. Sure enough, neither of her Familiars had gained anything this morning.

"Forget it. I can't expect to find good things every day."

After sending her two Familiars out to level up on their own, Xu Zhi did not idle around either. Apart from some daily necessities, the rest of her luggage was made up of books.

Xu Zhi knew perfectly well that she would never use any spare time to exercise this body of hers that became breathless after only a few steps, nor would she recklessly go outside searching for some opportunity. The only thing she could do now was seize every moment to enrich her mind and acquire more knowledge. Even if that knowledge might never prove useful, it was always better to be prepared.

Besides having her two Familiars hunt, she had also instructed them to keep an eye out for nearby libraries. This morning, they could clear a relatively safe route so that, after she finished the books at home, she could continue replenishing her supply.

"Ah, if only there were internet."

Cloud City's network had already gone down. Otherwise, she would not even need to visit a library; she could simply use her phone or tablet.

Only after the first round of hunting ended did Xu Zhi lift her head from her books and prepare to take stock of their gains.

After reading for seven hours, Xu Zhi was somewhat tired, but there was a faint excitement in her eyes. She had discovered that her energy bar had increased considerably, and even her memory and comprehension had improved somewhat. She could read faster than before.

And it was not merely skimming through things carelessly. She was truly taking it in, understanding it, and remembering it.

Perhaps that [Moth] attribute had not visibly enhanced her body, but it had certainly benefited her greatly in this regard.

"If I digest enough cores, could I reach the point where I never forget anything I read?"

Xu Zhi briefly imagined it, then looked at the game screen.

The evolution points gathered by both Familiars were enough for each of them to level up once more. More importantly, under [Special Items], there were clearly three Attribute Cores!

Xu Zhi checked them. Two were [Blade] attributes, and one was a [Moth] attribute.

"Not bad."

What she urgently lacked now was not new Attribute Cores to increase her "knowledge," but matching cores to increase her strength.

She planned to feed both [Blade] Attribute Cores to Little One. In Xu Zhi's eyes, Attribute Cores were scarce resources. At a time like this, rather than spreading them evenly, she would rather cultivate one stronger combat force.

Besides, she needed Little One to reach level 20 as soon as possible and unlock a third Familiar.

Xu Zhi first had Little One and Doggie find places where they could level up, allowing both Familiars to gain a level. Then she ordered Little One to eat the two [Blade] Attribute Cores, while Doggie continued into the next seven-hour hunting round.

After reaching level 11, Doggie gained 22 Mind points, while its Body increased by a full 120 points, reaching 860 Body. Nothing else had leveled up for now.

Once Little One finished digesting the two [Blade] Attribute Cores, its evolution points once again met the requirement to level up. More importantly, because it had absorbed the Attribute Cores, the [Blade] attribute within Little One increased, and its traits improved as well.

Little One's status panel changed again:

[Familiar: Snake Lv14

Mind: 200

Body: 800

Attribute: Blade

Traits: Toxin Lv5→Lv6, Sharpness Lv3→Lv4, Bloodlust Lv4, Cunning Lv3

Special Ability: None]

[Evolution Points: 200/3000]

Toxin and Sharpness had each risen by one level, but it still had not evolved an active skill.

"Alright, keep hunting."

At this point, an hour had passed since Doggie set out. Leveling up and digesting the [Blade] attributes had taken some time. Xu Zhi looked at the [Moth] Attribute Core in storage and did not hesitate. She took it out into the real world again and swallowed it in one gulp.

But this time, she was mentally prepared for what would happen after consuming a core, and she remembered the crucial point: remain rational.

However, this time, the dreamlike illusory scene underwent some subtle changes once more.