Chapter 1660: Apocalyptic Net

"There's still an hour..."

Continuously releasing disaster-altering power to break the Black Lock.

Lin An stood still beneath the sky like a statue.

From afar, under the blessing of the Grim Reaper's phantom, his silhouette resembled an ancient demon god, contemplating the shackles that bound him.

Mysterious, terrifying.

But only Lin An himself knows that he is far from as relaxed as he appears.

He had no spare thoughts to consider Hei Di and the others.

At this moment, Lin An's heart was like still water, like a cold machine, quickly analyzing the structure of the Black Lock.

After breaking a node of the Black Lock, he still hopes to trigger the disaster and turn the tide.

Otherwise, his time of death will be when the mission ends.

But no matter how hard he tried to break the Black Lock, Lin An helplessly discovered that this seemingly simple chain was essentially a rule labyrinth on every link.

Besides consuming his mental energy like a bottomless pit, he could not find any critical node.

"If this continues, maybe I can pull a few strands and cause unknown effects."

"But destroying the whole structure would probably be difficult."

Silver light flickered rapidly in his eyes, Lin An murmured inwardly, feeling a pressure like a mountain weighing on his heart.

These Black Locks are like a net woven together.

Only by unraveling the most critical strand will the entire Black Lock collapse.

If only one or two strands are destroyed, it would probably just "smash" the nearest few unlucky souls.

Obviously, that is far from enough.

He rubbed his brow wearily, and Lin An gave a bitter smile.

Little time remains for him.

He had already noticed, noticing that Hei Di and the others had arrived.

Moreover, centered on the fortress, large numbers of Fifth Stage beings lurked like hungry wolves in the darkness, silently watching this place.

When his "restriction" ends, everyone will pay attention to what Lin An will do.

"When the restriction ends, if I am truly a Shattered Star Rank, I must begin hunting other Fifth Stage beings."

"If I don't act, even a fool knows I have a problem."

"If I act, I will expose my strength as soon as I leave the fortress..."

One link after another, Lin An clearly realizes he has only bought two hours of safety time.

Now, with the system's restriction, he still has a reason not to act.

Once the restriction disappears, he must think of another way to delay.

"I can't go out!"

"With my current strength, I have no confidence in killing any Fifth Stage being."

"Moreover, these Fifth Stage beings would never give me a chance to face them one-on-one..."

"Should I let Hei Di and them go out instead? Or should I 'recruit' another batch of people?"

Divided attention.

Repeatedly simulating the outcome, Lin An felt as if he were walking on a tightrope; a slight misstep would plunge him into an abyss of ten thousand feet.

Not only must he face Hei Di and the others' close-range probing, he also needs to face thousands of Fifth Stage beings.

Moreover, to survive, he must kill everyone!

"What should I do... what on earth should I do..."

As if shrouded in an unseen-hope black mist, under immense pressure, Lin An clenched his fists tightly, countless possibilities flashing before his eyes like a slideshow.

"The trump cards I currently hold seem none capable of turning the tide..."

"Too weak... really too weak..."

"If only I were given..."

"Wait..."

In an instant, Lin An suddenly recalled the points he had previously earned.

If he remembers correctly, the system gave him a substantial amount of points, and he still has a batch of captives he hasn't killed.

It's not that he hadn't thought of this; rather, after he killed that Fifth Stage being, Hei Di's probing followed immediately.

For the sake of his schedule, he simply didn't have time to go to the fortress to check the opened exchange list.

"Exchange... points..."

Lin An subconsciously turned his head, looking at the building at the fortress's core.

Just like the trial battlefield.

According to the system's explanation, points can only be exchanged within the fortress.

Overwhelmed by pressure, intent on cracking the Black Lock, he even overlooked this fact.

Those points...

They must be important!

Recalling the exchange options in the points shop, Lin An's heart leapt.

If relying on himself won't work, perhaps the newly appeared exchange list will have what he wants!

Not counting that batch of "gifts," he also has twenty points on him.

Perhaps he really could exchange for something.

With that thought, Lin An decisively stopped breaking the Black Lock and instantly flew toward the fortress.

Ignored the large number of Fifth Stage that were secretly observing him.

Given the extremely short distance, Lin An merely blinked and arrived inside the fortress.

Seeing him enter expressionlessly, he instantly used his mental power to directly shut the stone gate of the exchange hall.

「Boom—」

As the stone gate closed, the entire world seemed to instantly fall silent.

「Exchange List. »

A low grunt.

Lin An took a deep breath, somewhat nervously watching the light screen slowly appear before him.

Although his points were few, but thinking that he only got twenty points by killing across Fourth Rank, Lin An also thought these points were definitely not the same as points.

Soon, after one second, the system notification arrived instantly.

「Beep, detected target player first opening the Apocalypse Net, generating exclusive network. »

「In ten seconds the exclusive network will open; would you like an introduction to the Apocalypse Net's functions? 」

Mm?!

Hearing the system's sudden prompt, Lin An looked at the data light curtain like a turbulent flow, his eyes slightly startled.

Apocalypse Net? Not the Exchange List?

Or does it mean exchanging things within the network?

Upon first contact with such a thing, Lin An also dared not operate recklessly.

Before he could think much, the light screen before him changed again, generating two options.

「【Apocalypse Net Rules Introduction】」】

「【Exclusive Network/Public Network】」】

Looking at something resembling a selection interface, Lin An hesitated slightly, then first chose the rules introduction.

For some reason, this newly appeared Apocalypse Net was extremely similar to an internet interface.

Exclusive? Public?

It wouldn't be..

Forget it, no need to guess, just look at the introduction.

His resolve was firm.

As Lin An clicked on the rules introduction, the light curtain instantly displayed a dense array of function descriptions.

「Apocalypse Net」】

「This network is the Doomsday Game-linked network; all civilizations and individuals can publish information, trade, etc., on the Apocalypse Net. 」】

「Function 1: System Exchange (requires d-level permission, current permission: d-level)」】

「Function 2: Information Release (requires c-level permission)」】

「Function 3: Star Domain (plane, multiple worlds, subspace, higher dimensions) Broadcast (requires b-sss-level permission)」】

「Function 4: Apocalypse Net Attack (requires s-level permission)」】

「Function 5: Transmission, Transition, Descent (requires b-level permission)」】

「Function 9: Time-Space Rollback/Individual Information Reload (requires??? -level permission)! 」