Chapter 926: Bound by the Child-Bearing System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 927 Survival Instance Loading (17)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Inside Changming Botanical Garden there was a park introduction; looking at the five marked zones on it, Shen Yao pointed to the Willow Garden nearest them and said, "Let's go there first."

The entire route was circular, with the five visiting areas located at the entrance, the central location, and the corners on both sides.

Whether walking inward from the Willow Garden or inward from the Maple Garden opposite it, one could circle back to the entrance of Changming Botanical Garden.

Among the rules on the back of the ticket was one stating that no area could be skipped.

Huo Mingze lowered his head to glance at the ticket, then stared at the cement road leading to the Willow Garden, curiously saying, "Weren't the plants in Changming Botanical Garden said to be rare varieties?" But willow trees aren't rare at all; even their Residence had willow trees used as Landscape Trees.

Huo Mingjue took over the conversation while pulling Huo Mingze's wrist forward, saying, "We'll know once we go take a look."

No matter what was special about this Willow Garden, as long as they saw it they would understand everything. After Huo Mingjue finished speaking, he turned back to seek Huo Xunqi and Shen Yao's approval; the two parents each nodded, even though the Instance only gave ten hours, it might not be enough.

Shen Xi had already walked ahead first, wearing the Flaming Heart and Omni Bracer on her person, and carrying the wrench she had used quite handily during the Street Instance in her hand; at the same time, she rummaged out two transformable screwdrivers from the Hardware Store Toolbox and handed them to Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue for self-defense.

Shen Yao held a Sharp Long Blade in her hand; the long blade changed shape and completely merged with her clothing color, so even someone walking beside her would find it hard to recognize it.

Huo Xunqi put on a glove; the transparent glove merged with his right hand, showing only faint traces when moving, with electric arcs constantly wandering across it, which was the manifestation of the glove's ability.

One Hundred Thousand Volts (A): Touching any object's surface could release a current of one hundred thousand volts; if not touching, the current intensity would vary with distance.

This was the corresponding item Huo Xunqi obtained in a Power Station Instance, and it was because of this item that Huo Xunqi was able to fight his way all the way here and secure the position of Director of the Special Investigation Bureau.

After all, there were many A-Grade items, but A-Grade items differed from one another; some A-Grade items had mediocre effects, while some A-Grade items had effects comparable to S-Grade items, even surpassing many S-Grade items.

Huo Xunqi's One Hundred Thousand Volts had no cooldown period and no usage limit; it had long surpassed most items of the same level, becoming his signature, and no force or player who faced Huo Xunqi failed to pay attention to this glove. Unfortunately, up until now, no stronger item could effectively restrict others.

Stepping forward, various plants were planted on both sides of the cement road, belonging to common varieties in the botanical garden; not far away, several sightseeing electric trams were parked, but the trams had no power and no staff, so everyone had to rely on their own legs to go to the Willow Garden for a visit.

Shen Xi suddenly stopped walking and raised her hand to gently wave at the four people behind her.

Seeing the four all stop and wait for Shen Xi's instructions, Shen Xi raised her hand to make a hushing gesture, then flashed forward and accelerated to the edge of the cement road, raising her hand into a fist and fiercely smashing it toward the Bushes.

Crash—

The Bushes shook violently from being smashed; Shen Xi did not stop, continuing to use the Omni Bracer's ability to strike fiercely. As leaves fell from the Bushes, a wooden plaque slanted into the ground appeared in everyone's view.

The content on a normal wooden plaque was either for directions or a prohibition sign, but this wooden plaque in front of them was special; it was a park introduction for the Locust Garden.

"Locust Garden? Here?" Shen Xi tilted her head and walked a bit farther to continue examining the location of the wooden plaque just now.

Mm.

Indeed, it was just an Empty Space with many plants growing aimlessly inside; some looked rather strange, but most were tall trees whose crowns opened up to cover the entire space. Since their clearance requirement was to visit the five zones within Changming Botanical Garden, there was no requirement to visit these Empty Spaces.

Shen Yao raised her hand and patted Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue's shoulders to signal them to retreat, while she took the lead in extending her consciousness to explore the inside of the Empty Space. At the same time, the Staff ID she had placed in her pocket was heating up.

Huo Xunqi said in a clear, cold voice, "This place is dangerous; we need to leave as soon as possible."

The back of the ticket introduced that when encountering a visiting area not belonging to the five zones, they should notify staff in a timely manner.

Since they had been inside Changming Botanical Garden, they had not seen any staff inside; fortunately, they had one by their side, and if all else failed, they could rely on Shen Yao to cover the bottom.

Shen Yao waved her hand, took out the Staff ID from her pocket; the slightly warm feel made Shen Yao realize they seemed to have fallen into some unknown Trap, and to escape they would have to rely on this Staff ID.

"Follow me, don't look around randomly." Before and after the wooden plaque appeared, many identical cement roads appeared around them.

Without any guidance, relying on their own memory to choose, they would most likely walk deeper and deeper, finally being led to an even more dangerous place.

Shen Yao led the way, followed by Shen Xi, Huo Mingze, Huo Mingjue, with Huo Xunqi at the back.

The five of them walked in a line, constantly changing among the many cement roads.

From afar, it looked like five people were drunk, their route twisting and turning, constantly swaying left and right, making people unable to make heads or tails of it.

Not far from them, a tall locust tree was spreading its branches outward, surging; its body was densely covered with thorns. If not for leaves not much different from a normal locust tree, its variety could not be recognized at all.

The branches wanted to reach several small fruits that kept circling around it but slowly moving away; unfortunately, each time they were just a little short.

Tsk.

"Hold on a little longer, we'll be out soon." The Staff ID in her hand continued to heat up at a steady frequency; occasionally it would become hot to the touch. Whenever that happened, including Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue who were not yet players, a bone-chilling feeling would linger around them. Just endure it, and this situation would dissipate. Moreover, such situations became fewer and fewer as they kept walking, until suddenly their eyes went dark and bright again, and the cement road before them was left with only one.

Her tense nerves relaxed considerably. Shen Yao put away the Staff ID that was no longer heating up, turned around, and told the others they had successfully escaped.

Shen Xi subconsciously turned to look at the Bushes that had been smashed earlier, only to discover that it was not Bushes at all, but just a huge Stone.

"Just now, did we enter a legendary zone that doesn't exist?"

Shen Xi's mind still retained memories about the Locust Garden. Although she had not seen the locust tree of the Locust Garden, the harrowing experience of getting out was still terrifying. Indeed, crises were everywhere in the Instance, simply making it impossible to guard against.

Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue, the two big and small companions, hugged each other, nodding and sighing that it was truly dangerous; they had almost not been able to get out.

Huo Xunqi raised his hand and tapped their little heads, saying, "Nonsense."

No matter what, he could bring them out. Besides, Huo Xunqi had not made a move the entire time. Although that locust tree had some skill, it still could not withstand Huo Xunqi's One Hundred Thousand Volts ability.

"There is more than one such zone," Shen Yao said, looking back at the path they had come. It was very strange; the cement road that should have been straight actually had no building at the end in sight, only the cement road and the plants on both sides remained.

Perhaps without them noticing, Changming Botanical Garden was also undergoing some changes they did not know about.

"Hurry up, what time is it now?" Shen Yao asked about the time again.

Shen Xi lowered her head to look at the Pocket Watch on her chest: "8:48 AM."

Just now, in a moment of daze, half an hour had been used. It seemed things here would affect their senses and thereby interfere with their judgment of time.

The five of them continued to quicken their pace toward the Willow Garden. Perhaps because of the obstruction of the Locust Garden, this time as they walked forward they did not encounter any danger; instead, they arrived very smoothly at the zone marked Willow Garden. Willow trees of various forms were enclosed by iron fences, with only one Small Door that people could enter left.

Unfortunately, there was no place to stamp a Seal outside the Willow Garden.

"There's a hint here," Shen Xi said, pointing to a fence with a sign posted on it. At the bottom corner was a line of small text: "The Seal is located in the central area of the Willow Garden, where the largest willow tree in the Willow Garden is planted."

"What does that tree look like?" Huo Mingjue tilted his head, unable to imagine it.

Shen Yao touched her chin, saying, "We'll know once we go in."

Huo Xunqi indicated that since the number of people was not mentioned here, let him go first to test the difficulty. This was only the first zone of Changming Botanical Garden.

Shen Yao nodded, only telling Huo Xunqi to watch his safety, while she took Shen Xi and the other two to wait outside the Willow Garden; if a couple appeared inside, they would provide backup at any moment.

Besides putting on gloves, Huo Xunqi also took out a set of small equipment from his item bar; once released it could conduct reconnaissance autonomously — a rare and precious scouting tool.

Pushing open the Willow Garden's small door, Huo Xunqi vanished within moments; for Shen Yao and the other three the waiting time was far too long, but for Huo Xunqi it seemed he had merely blinked and arrived at the center of the Willow Garden, where he also saw the largest tree inside.

Killer Willow!

"What exactly is the situation inside? Still no word from Huo Xunqi?"

Inside Juxian Garden outside the instance, the leaders in the tent sat restlessly.

From the instance's appearance until now several hours have passed; truly one wave of trouble after another — Special Investigation Bureau players are exhausted from running back and forth, basically running all over the country, yet even so they cannot stop the appearance of spiritual energy vortexes.

Instances emerge one after another, constantly harvesting the lives of large numbers of civilians; unfortunately the domestic authorities still lack particularly effective countermeasures — those who can clear instances are few and far between, while far more perish inside, dying without full corpses.

"Director Huo, Director Huo — he may have entered the instance," the reporting staff member said with an uneasy expression; he relayed his final intelligence to the leaders, stating that during this period Huo Xunqi was on leave with uncertain whereabouts, but they discovered a seldom-used private vehicle of Huo Xunqi parked in Juxian Garden's parking lot — there was a high probability he had already entered the instance.

However it was not completely certain, because Huo Xunqi had many vehicles; no one knew whether this vehicle was driven out by Huo Xunqi himself. Besides, Huo Xunqi is a workaholic — even without work he finds things to do; would he come to Juxian Garden to relax? That does not match Huo Xunqi's personality.

"What isn't certain, make certain," the submitted documents were thrown back again; the leader steadied his composure. "Any more missing personnel?"

"No. After the previous Special Investigation Bureau players entered, the instance stopped absorbing personnel — presumably the personnel quota had reached its upper limit after the instance began operating."

"That's good then. Have everyone keep a close watch," hoping the Special Investigation Bureau players can clear the instance as much as possible, sending the damn instance away.

"Disappear?" Huo Xunqi looked at a pitch-black large hole blasted open in the ground, not understanding how the Killer Willow could have such ability yet still dare to take it head-on.

Landing from mid-air, Huo Xunqi moved his gloves continuously arcing with electricity, stepped to the edge of the pit and crouched down; the electronic reconnaissance devices, badly damaged with only two or three left like kittens, flew chaotically around him.

"Go take a look — what's down there?"

Huo Xunqi waited on the ground, finally seeing the seal brought up by the mechanical claw.

The black seal was no longer than a finger, cold to the touch, and at the very bottom were engraved the three twisted, ferocious characters "Willow Garden".

Turning away from the pit, Huo Xunqi rendezvoused with Shen Yao and the other three waiting outside the Willow Garden.

"This is the seal?" Shen Xi looked curiously, finding nothing special.

Shen Yao had Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue take out their tickets, manually stamping twice — bang bang — leaving the Willow Garden's seal on the front of the tickets.

The three clawing characters "Willow Garden" were inexplicably eerie; looking at them too long made one physically uncomfortable.

Although Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue did not inherit Shen Yao's exaggerated mental power, the two of them still belonged to the category of people with very strong mental power.

Blinking, they put away their tickets, and Huo Mingze and Huo Mingjue stayed obediently by their family's side.

With Shen Yao having stamped all five family tickets, Huo Xunqi once again took the seal back into the Willow Garden; the rule on the back of the tickets required "return things to their original owners," so this seal definitely could not be taken out.

"Still, that Killer Willow was fairly sensible," Huo Xunqi obtained a section of the Killer Willow's branch, only palm-sized, its leaves greenish-black, its roots like jade with vitality flowing through — it could be taken out and planted.

Shen Xi thought of her own flowerpot and black soil, temporarily unplanted, and said if Uncle Huo needed it, she could give it to him.

Huo Xunqi waved his hand. "The Special Investigation Bureau still has some flower-planting nutrient soil; take it back and try first — if it's uncontrollable, this branch's fate won't be good either."

Having obtained the Willow Garden's seal, next they only needed to visit the remaining four gardens to clear the instance smoothly; if they wanted a higher rating, they would need to obtain seals and stamp them on the ticket fronts.

"Next is the Sunflower Garden."

Shen Xi recalled the garden introduction from when they first entered, wondering who arranged Changming Botanical Garden's garden distribution — the five gardens sound perfectly normal just by name; even a careless person wouldn't want to visit.

After all: Willow Garden, Sunflower Garden, Banyan Garden, Dodder Garden, Maple Garden.

Would only make visiting tourists have zero desire.