Chapter 300: Strange Little Town

GOR Chapter 300 Strange Little Town

Looking at the glowing lights coming from the little town up ahead, Chen Xiaolian who was inside the car was shocked!

“This, this is…” Qimu Xi was also staring. Her face was contorted together as she asked in a whisper, “Why did we come back?”

Chen Xiaolian did not answer. He simply took a deep breath and pulled out the system prompt in his personal system.

The content of the system prompt was clear. They were to leave the little town and move into the next phase.

Logically speaking, the next phase should be in another game region. So, why did they end up coming back to this little town?

After leaving the little town, he would not be shocked to find that time and space were being warped or if there were more regional restrictions – yet, he mysteriously ended up back here?

Just what was going on here?

Additionally, there were no new prompts in his system.

What is the new phase about? Could it be that we have to circle around this little town?

No matter how much he pondered about it, Chen Xiaolian was unable to come up with an answer. He then stepped down on the throttle and turned the car around. Next, he drove the car away in the opposite direction.

Ten minutes later, the outline of the little town reappeared before him.

On their way here, Chen Xiaolian had been carefully observing his surroundings. The street that he was driving on was straight, devoid of any turns. He also observed the surroundings on both sides in detail. However, the wasteland was covered in darkness and it was difficult for him to make out anything of note. There were expanses of wastelands on both sides and nothing for him to use as reference.

When he caught sight of the little town, Chen Xiaolian instantly turned the steering wheel and moved the car out of the road and into the wasteland.

As the car was moving across the wasteland, the uneven surface caused the car to jolt and shake about. The two people riding inside the car was silent. However, both of them had unpleasant expressions on their faces.

After more than 10 minutes later, a road appeared before the car once more.

Chen Xiaolian drove the car up this new road. A few minutes later…

The little town appeared once more!

This time, Chen Xiaolian stepped on the brakes and had the car parked by the roadside.

There was a livid expression on his face as he pulled out a cigarette. Lighting it up, he took a drag.

Qimu Xi asked in a terrified voice, “We… did we encounter something strange?”

“Shut up,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. “Let me think about it. You, quiet.”

Qimu Xi glanced at Chen Xiaolian and obediently shut her mouth.

A few minutes later, Chen Xiaolian got down from the car and pulled a box out from his Storage Watch. He then threw the box in the middle of the road.

After giving it one more glance, Chen Xiaolian then turned around and got up the car. Starting up the car again, he then turned the car around and left.

Once again…

The little town appeared once more and Chen Xiaolian saw that the box was resting right in the middle of the road.

He narrowed his eyes.

By now, he was certain that he had been going in circles on this road!

Furthermore, it did not matter which direction he took, he would still end up here on this road. Not even going into the wasteland could change that!

Also, it did not matter which direction he took while driving along this road. His final destination would still be the little town!

Are we trapped here?

Chen Xiaolian scoffed.

New phase?

Could this be the new phase?

“What should we do now?” Qimu Xi was finally unable to restrain herself from asking.

Chen Xiaolian remained silent for a few seconds. Then, he started up the car and drove straight into the little town!

“We’ll head back!”

“Back?”

“Back!” Chen Xiaolian sneered and said, “I understand now. This is the new phase!”

…

The road and streets were the same as the one he had used to leave earlier.

However, despite the familiarity, it was also unfamiliar.

The streets and buildings were indeed familiar. The part that was unfamiliar was…

This little town appeared to have been ravaged by war. Along the way, they were able to see remnant ruins of houses. More than 30 % of the houses there had been reduced to ruins and only a small number of those were able to retain their original shape.

Numerous craters that were the result of explosions could be seen on the streets. There were also bullet marks and scorch marks on them.

Chen Xiaolian’s hands, which were holding the steering wheel loosened slightly.

He now understood something.

Although it had appeared similar, this little town was in fact not the same little town that they had escaped from.

They’re not the same!

At the end of the street, he saw two tanks that had been wrecked by explosions.

One of them was a Thunderstorm Tank. The other one appeared very futuristic and science fictional as well. However, it was not something Chen Xiaolian could put a name to.

A wrecked aircraft with broken wings had crashed into a house. Although it was in tatters, the weapons compartment at its bottom part was still intact.

When making his way through an intersection, Chen Xiaolian saw the damaged remains of a mech – it was a small type of mech, similar to the infantry type that he had seen back in Zero City.

The mech’s two legs had been cut off and its upper body part was left in a heap inside a house. Chen Xiaolian jumped down from the car to go check up on the mech. He found that the cockpit of the mech had been forced open.

The glass on the cockpit door had been shattered and the metal frame beside it showed that it had been forcefully twisted!

On the surface of the metal frame that had the thickness of an arm was a deep paw mark.

Indeed, it was as though some kind of beast had used its paw to twist open the metal frame!

Qimu Xi had been sticking closely with Chen Xiaolian. When she caught sight of the ruined mech, her face turned pale. “What is this?”

“I don’t know” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. However, he vigilantly surveyed his surroundings. “My intuition is telling me that this place is not safe.”

The whole of this little town appeared to be the ruins left after a battle. It seemed a fierce battle had taken place here!

There was no telling who the two sides participating in this war were.

Chen Xiaolian led Qimu Xi back to the car and he drove forward once more. Every place they saw was littered with damaged equipment and debris.

He saw damaged armours and weapons. There were damaged swords and axes abandoned there as well.

The weapons there were not limited to those of the technological type. There were many other cold weapons there and some were of the magical type.

When Chen Xiaolian was driving past a street, he saw a magic puppet.

The puppet was a huge. Its body was comprised of blocks of stone and had a humanoid shape.

Naturally, this puppet was already destroyed.

The puppet’s body was smashed into several parts and its huge head lay in the middle of the road. Looking closer, the head had also been cut in two!

“This should be an Earth element magic puppet,” Chen Xiaolian said coolly. “It is a war puppet made through magical means. It is like a robot that would obey and fight for its owner.”

However, the question was… why were there so many wreckage here?

Who were the people waging a battle here?

Players?

Right, it should be the Players.

Because this was a Player mode region.

In other words…

Chen Xiaolian suddenly remembered something important.

If this place is a Player mode region… then this place…

“Player’s battlefield.” Chen Xiaolian sighed.

“What did you say?” asked Qimu Xi who was behind him.

“I said, this place is probably a battlefield for Players. Mm, only Players and not Awakened ones.”

“How is that possible?” Qimu Xi asked, “I heard that both Players and Awakened ones must participate in instance dungeons.”

Chen Xiaolian glanced at the girl and replied, “That is not necessarily the case. Since there is such a thing as a punishment instance dungeon that is specifically for Awakened ones, why can’t there be instance dungeons made specifically for Players? Besides…”

He let his words trail off.

He had a speculation in his mind.

Since this world was created by the Development Team…

Then, in the beginning, this world did not have Awakened ones.

This world only had instance dungeons for Players.

Later on, Awakened ones emerged and the Development Team modified the instance dungeons to host both Players and Awakened ones.

However, it was possible that all instance dungeons were made exclusively for Players in the beginning.

If so…

“Could we have entered a Player exclusive instance dungeon template?” Chen Xiaolian observed the surrounding wreckage and frowned to himself.

Checking the radar, he saw that there were no enemies around. However, the road eventually became too damaged for the car to continue moving forward. Chen Xiaolian kept the car back and the two of them moved forward with their bare feet.

He speculated that there was something that needed to be done to activate the quest for this phase. However, he had yet to find out what that something was.

The little town that was a ruined battlefield was filled with wreckage, weapons and equipment. While walking forward, Chen Xiaolian had been inspecting those items he saw along the way as he attempted to salvage something good from the place.

He saw a war axe that appeared completely similar to the one that he was using before. However, it was thoroughly damaged and was beyond repair.

As for the mechs, tanks, aircrafts; they were also badly damaged.

If Roddy was here, then he might be able to do something with his Mechanical Heart skill. However, Chen Xiaolian could just stare and do nothing.

“They’re all good stuff!”

Chen Xiaolian rubbed his chin as he observed a damaged human shaped mech left on the roadside. The damage on the mech was not too extensive; it was missing an arm and its turbine fans were damaged. There were also scorch marks on it.

If he could drag it off with him, he might be able to find a way to slowly repair it.

After making his way past another street, he found a more familiar scene before him.

Qimu Xi pointed at the door of a building located to the left of the street and said, “Look! It’s here!”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and he looked at the door as well.

That was the little town’s…

Safe zone!

It was in the same position as the earlier town. The same building, the same door.

The same… safe zone?

Chen Xiaolian felt dubious as he walked over with Qimu Xi in tow.

Finding the door closed, Chen Xiaolian forcefully pushed it.

To his surprise, the door easily gave way.

Creaking sounds came out, indicating the severity of the damage on it.

There were traces to show that someone had hacked down on the door.

After the door was pushed open, dust drifted down from the top of the doorframe. Noticing that, Chen Xiaolian quickly covered his nose but Qimu Xi who was behind him gave a loud sneeze.

The room was dark and Chen Xiaolian took out a tactical flashlight to illuminate the room.

A strong ray of light shone and dust could be seen drifting around the room. Clearly, the room had been left untouched for a long time. Even the air was filled with staleness.

Chen Xiaolian used the scarf to cover his mouth and walked inside. Qimu Xi too, followed suit.

…

Thanks to the light from the tactical flashlight, they were barely able to make out the insides of the room.

Judging by the size and area of the room, the room was exactly the same as the safe zone that they had appeared in earlier.

However, all the fluorescent light on the ceiling had been broken.

The same applied to the floor. There were many damaged areas, resulting in an uneven surface.

Chen Xiaolian swept the room with his tactical flashlight.

Qimu Xi who was behind him suddenly cried out and her body stuck to Chen Xiaolian as she gripped his arm tightly. “There! Something is there!”

Chen Xiaolian harrumphed and directed the light in that direction.

There was a silhouette on the wall.

It appeared to be… a person?

…

A damaged armour. The chest part of the armour had been cut by something very sharp while the waist part was stabbed. Whatever stabbed the waist part had pierced all the way through to the back. Chen Xiaolian could only guess what kind of weapon had accomplished that.

The helmet tilted to the side.

The left arm had been completely crushed. The iron armour on it was crumpled into a clump and tossed to the side.

Red and black marks could be seen on the surface of the armour… it appeared to be rust formed from the prolonged exposure to blood.

Inside that armour was… a dried corpse!

Who knows how long the corpse had been left here. There was no more water and the corpse was so dry it resembled a withered tree branch.

Chen Xiaolian attempted to grab the right arm only to see the elbow break apart and the hand fell down. However, the armour on it was still very durable.

“This is good stuff!”

Chen Xiaolian did not hesitate to pick up the fallen arm. He inspected the marks on the surface of the armour.

The marks appeared to be some form of pattern and Chen Xiaolian was unable to stop himself from looking at it once more.

“If I am not mistaken, this armour must certainly be a high-grade equipment. It might even be some amazing stuff with magical blessings.” Chen Xiaolian said with a sigh.

He began searching the corpse.

He quickly found a leather sheath on the waist area of the armour. He opened it up.

Chen Xiaolian smiled.

It was a dagger!

It was somewhat heavy to the touch but its blade was very sharp.

The system was quick to show a system prompt.

[System prompt: Picked up the equipment: Shadow Dagger. [B+] class weapon.]

Chen Xiaolian’s heart skipped a beat and he kept the dagger into this personal system. Then, he inspected the Shadow Dagger using the system.

[Shadow Dagger. [B+] class weapon. State: Slightly damaged.

[Complementary skill: Assassinate. Stab the other party’s vital area. There is a 5 % chance to deal double damage.]

“Pretty good,” said Chen Xiaolian. He did not hesitate to take the item for himself.

This corpse clearly belonged to a Player.

However, there was no way to know who.

Chen Xiaolian continued inspecting the other parts of the corpse, hoping to get lucky.

If he could find some kind of storage equipment, then this would be a productive endeavour.

To his disappointment, although he did find one…

There was a watch that was very similar to the one he wore.

However, the watch was obviously more advanced compared to his.

Unfortunately… that watch was damaged.

It had been cut in half!

If the storage equipment was only slightly damaged, it could still be repaired.

However, if it was utterly damaged, the items inside could never be recovered.

…

The corpse was the only thing inside the safe zone. Other than that, the room was empty save for the thick layer of dust on the floor. There were no other corpses or wreckage inside.

Chen Xiaolian held the flashlight and moved around in a circle, feeling a little disappointed.

It was then that he heard a sound coming from behind him.

Crash!

Chen Xiaolian jerked his head back to see Qimu Xi standing there. She shrank back and cried out, “I didn’t do it! I didn’t touch anything! It fell by itself!”

The armour-clad corpse had fallen onto the floor and had broken into several parts!

Chen Xiaolian glanced at Qimu Xi and said, “Don’t worry. It must be because I touched it just now.”

After saying that, he turned around. Qimu Xi however, stared at the remains of the corpse on the floor and said, “Eh? This… there is something here!”

…