Chapter 499: The Intruder

Looking at the drastically altered "Afternoon Town," Dai Lik hesitantly looked toward Chief Ke Lin of the six‑person council leading ahead and asked:

"Chief, shall we continue to explore this place now?"

Ke Lin was silent for a moment, then looked toward the plaza at the city center and said:

"Go meet that 'Mr. Bai Ta' you mentioned; to explore this place, we must have him dispel the illusion that shrouds it."

As his words fell, Ke Lin raised his hand in a cautious gesture, then moved to the front of the party, leading the Exploration Squad members toward the plaza.

Along the way they saw many silhouettes, large and small; some were considerably taller than even the tallest people of Silver City. As they approached the city center, the towering figures on the streets became more detailed, even their expressions grew richer.

The buildings on both sides of the street resembled shops, displaying all sorts of goods—some vague, some clear—many of which they had never seen before.

Even without any sound or scent, each member of the Exploration Squad felt curiosity and yearning.

"Is this what the outside world looks like?" A fellow squad member beside Dai Lik—dressed in coarse cloth, wearing crimson gloves, about 2.2 meters tall—asked curiously.

"I don't know, maybe," Dai Lik shook his head, staring dazed at the scene that existed only in general‑education textbooks.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A resonant bell rang from the clock tower at the highest point of "Afternoon Town," accompanied by a flock of gray pigeons flying across the sky, adding life to the illusion.

At the edge of the central plaza, Lei Ke Dun gently rubbed his fingers, creating concentric ripples of starlight that faded outward, eventually leaving only a soft whoosh in the ears.

Ke Lin, who had brought the Exploration Squad near the plaza, happened to see the scene; his eyes flickered briefly, and after Lei Ke Dun finished his gesture, he led the squad closer.

After a brief silence, Ke Lin voiced his doubt:

"Even if an illusion feels real, it's still an illusion. Why cling to creating an entirely new one? Isn't it simpler to just replicate a place you've already seen?"

"To build a massive, near‑real world later," Lei Ke Dun replied simply, then turned and raised his hand toward the center of the plaza.

The members of the Silver City Exploration Squad followed Lei Ke Dun, arriving beneath the huge gray stone statue in the plaza that Lei Ke Dun had replaced.

He lightly tapped the crystal sphere, which glittered with specks of starlight, with his right index finger, producing a crisp sound.

Starlight scattered around, and the previously empty plaza suddenly filled with chairs arranged in a circle, with a quietly burning campfire at the center.

After completing this, he turned his head toward Ke Lin, who was keeping a certain distance, and said:

"You don't mind me turning afternoon into night, do you? I think chatting by the fire feels more atmospheric."

Ke Lin looked up at the sunset hanging on the horizon, gave a slight nod, and said, "Fine."

Snap!

Lei Ke Dun snapped his fingers, causing the starlight within the crystal sphere in his left hand to flicker; the dim, amber sky was swiftly replaced by a star‑sprinkled night.

The entire "Afternoon Town" darkened at once, but soon scattered flames lit up here and there.

The members of the Silver City Exploration Squad looked up curiously at the sky; this star‑filled night differed completely from the darkness that shrouded Silver City and everything around it—not as frightening, but rather peaceful and serene.

Lei Ke Dun casually pulled a nearby chair, sat down, and pointed with his chin at the other chairs, saying:

"Sit wherever you like; I can answer some of your questions, but in return I need to ask you for some information."

As he spoke, Lei Ke Dun extended his right palm upward, and a series of glass‑bead‑sized eyes filled with starlight—the Eyes of Secret Peering—appeared.

"These are my modified Eyes of Secret Peering; they let you switch between the real Afternoon Town and this illusion. As long as you carry them, you can explore here normally, and I can also gather some information."

Lei Ke Dun glanced around the somewhat restrained and wary Silver City crowd, let out a light laugh, and tossed all the Eyes of Secret Peering he had formed into Dai Lik's hands, saying:

"Take these for now; they're like magical artifacts—just infuse a bit of spirit energy and they work. The exact usage will become clear once you hold them."

"Alright, okay." Dai Lik clumsily caught the Eyes of Secret Peering thrown toward him.

After inspecting the Eyes of Secret Peering in his hand, Dai Lik tried picking up one that shimmered with deep‑blue starlight and infused it with some spirit energy.

In an instant, he felt his vision change:

The surrounding squad members and the campfire vanished; the peculiar night above was replaced by a heavy, all‑encompassing darkness, punctuated by occasional silver‑white lightning. Using the fleeting flashes, he saw the surroundings—ruined, decayed, with collapsed building debris everywhere.

This was the real Afternoon Town; the illusion was the pre‑cataclysm Afternoon Town that Mr. Bai Ta had reconstructed.

After a sigh, Dai Lik halted the spirit infusion and gave the Eye of Secret Peering in his right hand a slight squeeze.

"Without a light source, you cannot linger in the darkness!"

The faint sound of illusory glass shattering echoed, and the illusionary "Afternoon Town" draped over the ruined, decayed town like an invisible curtain.

"Dai Lik, what just happened? Your body suddenly became blurry, like the silhouettes that were walking the streets earlier."

Dai Lik just regained his composure when the squad member beside him, wearing crimson gloves, approached and asked.

"I'm fine, Yue Shu Ya, I just returned to the real Afternoon Town," Dai Lik said, handing over the glass‑bead‑like Eyes of Secret Peering he held in his left hand.

The squad member known as Yue Shu Ya hesitated, then took one, and mimicked Dai Lik's earlier action, infusing spirit energy into it.

Under Dai Lik's gaze, Yue Shu Ya's figure suddenly became ethereal and blurry; he tried to reach out, but his fingers met empty air.

"It's just an illusion to help you discern each other's states," Lei Ke Dun said, half‑reclined in his chair, offering a brief explanation.

In less than ten seconds, the illusion Yue Shu Ya left became clear and solid; he calmly nodded toward the surrounding Exploration Squad members, infusing them.

Ke Lin steadied a silver‑white straight sword planted in the ground with one hand, rested his other hand on his left knee, lightly tapping his index finger; he did not stop the squad members from trying the Eyes of Secret Peering, merely watching them quietly.

Until Dai Lik handed him the final glass‑bead‑like Eye of Secret Peering, Ke Lin examined it for a moment before speaking gravely:

"What dangers lie hidden within the Giant King's Court?"

Lei Ke Dun's gaze passed over the campfire to the composed Ke Lin, and he said in a deep voice:

"There, the dark‑angel's malevolent spirit slumbers, along with a terrifying contamination. If your rank is too high, you'll be corrupted; if too low, you can't defeat the dark‑angel's spirit."

"A dark‑angel spirit?" Ke Lin lowered his eyes, his expression complex, and murmured.

Dai Lik pressed his lips together and entered the conversation:

"Is there any other way?"

Lei Ke Dun raised an eyebrow, then, thoughtful, looked up at the massive gray stone statue in the plaza center; a fleeting spark of inspiration brushed his mind.

"In the not‑too‑distant future, Mr. Yu Zhe will send his followers; they will aid you."

He twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, answered Dai Lik's question, and reached toward the lantern held in the massive gray stone statue's hand at the plaza's center.

A translucent face emerged, with black curls, black eyes, a broad forehead, and a thin face.

The familiar visage made Lei Kedun's already minimal expression freeze, his right hand tightened involuntarily, specks of starlight appeared around the transparent face, then instantly withdrew, trying to erase that face.

The transparent face, surrounded by starlight, twisted briefly, and the next moment appeared beside the campfire; he floated in midair like a vengeful spirit's shadow, his lower half completely transparent.

He leisurely pulled a solid monocle from his pocket and, smiling, said:

"Heh, how did you discover me?"

"Intuition, a casual grab." Lei Kedun replied expressionlessly.

He originally thought a monster from the darkness had invaded his illusion; the intruder he sensed wasn't powerful, so he could so casually try to seize it.

As he spoke, the crystal sphere Lei Kedun had held in his left hand suddenly erupted with dazzling starlight, an invisible gravity burst, flooding the entire illusion with brilliant white.

When the light faded, the crowd from Silver City that had gathered by the campfire vanished, leaving only A Meng, whose form had fully solidified, and Lei Kedun.

A Meng reached up to adjust the monocle on his face, a vague smile curling his lips as he said:

"You sent them all away?"

"Actually, even if they stayed, I never intended to parasitize them. I've already been to that Silver City; those who can survive there always have some unusual trump card. Do you want to know what the secret of Silver City is?"

"You know?" Lei Kedun looked at A Meng with a doubtful gaze, pondering whether to quickly eliminate this duplicate while the opponent's aura hadn't yet reached the demigod level.

A Meng looked at Lei Kedun with amused interest and said:

"You could place a bet; perhaps my true body is far from here?"

(End of chapter)