Chapter 525

On the land fragments near Mechanism Island, Xiao Feng's figure appeared out of thin air.

"Master."

He Er Na had been waiting nearby, never leaving.

Seeing Xiao Feng arrive, she immediately said to him: "Just now, several people from the Salvation Divine Kingdom entered Mechanism Island and were strangled on the spot. Mechanism Island now seems very violent—be careful!"

"Oh? Strangled on the spot? Very violent?" Xiao Feng felt surprised.

Although Mechanism Island is extremely dangerous, with a mortality rate over 97%, usually after entering, one goes silent for a while and is then judged dead.

Dying immediately upon entry is relatively rare.

He Er Na said: "Yes, those four were all Intermediate Gods, who separated from their companions and flew straight to Mechanism Island. At the moment they entered the 30,000-kilometer range of Mechanism Island, I saw spatial ripples appear, transporting them directly into the crevices on Mechanism Island's surface, where they were strangled by the intersecting massive grids, not even leaving their divine essence." Her tone was somewhat solemn.

"So ruthless!"

Just flying into the 30,000-kilometer mark, they were instantly devoured and killed, given no chance at all.

Such a cruel fact sends chills down one's spine.

Those around who had originally planned to venture onto Mechanism Island now dared not move.

Fortunately, Xiao Feng is a player with the "undying" ability as backup; otherwise he would surely have been frightened into hesitation.

"Master, why not wait a bit longer, go when Mechanism Island calms down?" He Er Na proposed.

Xiao Feng shook his head: "No need, at worst I'll just die once. I'm going—wait for my good news!"

Having spoken, he directly rode the wind upward and flew swiftly toward Mechanism Island.

He Er Na wanted to speak but held back, wanting to detain him; yet seeing his full confidence, she didn't want to utter discouraging words.

She could only pray that his trip would go smoothly, without encountering danger.

The distance of tens of thousands of kilometers is still quite far.

Xiao Feng flew at full speed; after an hour he still hadn't entered the "30,000-kilometer" boundary.

Mechanism Island resembled a colossal mechanism puzzle box, appearing mysterious and perilous, having devoured countless lives.

The long strip-like grids kept moving, rotating, interlocking—some clockwise, some counterclockwise—operating simultaneously, seemingly without end.

The distance gradually narrowed as he flew.

At that moment, countless eyes were fixed on Xiao Feng.

Those nearby could sense the Intermediate God aura emanating from his virtual level.

Someone shook his head and said: "Another reckless Intermediate God. Just a few died moments ago, yet he dares to approach—truly clueless about life and death."

Someone else said: "His aura is special; he seems to be an adventurer. Adventurers are protected by the Supreme God, so they don't truly die—perhaps he can create a miracle..."

However, most people still weren't optimistic about it.

Under their gazes, Xiao Feng gradually approached.

40,000 kilometers, 38,000 kilometers, 35,000 kilometers...

As the distance closed, Xiao Feng slowly felt a sense of oppression emanating from Mechanism Island.

That colossal mechanism box exuded a terrifying pressure, far more fearsome than a main divine artifact.

He couldn't help recalling a description He Er Na had mentioned about Mechanism Island.

"This colossal thing... is a weapon!"

33,000 kilometers!

Around, spatial fluctuations seemed to appear, faintly sensing a violent energy eager to tear apart any foreign matter and life.

Xiao Feng did not slow down, continuing to fly forward as much as possible.

At 31,000 kilometers from Mechanism Island, he already felt its enormity.

A box several thousand kilometers high, with each rectangular grid on it tens of kilometers long and several kilometers wide.

Under the drive of mysterious power, some moved clockwise, some counterclockwise.

Looking closely, those things seemed wooden, yet also had a metallic sheen, as if they had been polished.

Moreover, each grid was etched with some patterns or characters, whose meaning was unknown.

"This thing seems like a gigantic artificial object. Could it really be a weapon?" Xiao Feng thought to himself, unable to help being astonished.

"Who would you hit with such a huge weapon?"

"It's over three thousand kilometers in length, width, and height—what size body would be needed to wield it?"

"If thrown to smash someone, wouldn't it instantly shatter heaven and earth, even capable of blowing up a planet?"

"Even a divine kingdom tens of thousands of kilometers in size would be blasted open a huge hole by this thing, possibly even rupturing outright!"

"One can't imagine how formidable an existence must be to manufacture such a colossal object!"

The distance grew even closer.

Xiao Feng hurried forward, finally reaching the 30,000-kilometer range.

Hum~

A surge of spatial undulation arose around.

Without waiting for him to slow down and observe his surroundings, it directly swallowed him whole, vanishing from the spot.

Click-click-click~

After swallowing Xiao Feng, the long rectangular grids on Mechanism Island rapidly began turning, operating like a Rubik's cube, emitting violent energy undulations.

"He's dead!"

"Exactly the same as before—such violent energy, death is certain!"

"Poor soul..."

The onlookers around who witnessed this scene all concluded that Xiao Feng had died.

He Er Na felt anxious in her heart and quickly used mental communication to ask: "Master, how are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Xiao Feng quickly replied.

After being swallowed by spatial fluctuations, he felt a wave of dizziness and then appeared in another place.

All around was empty; it was a huge square room, not the surface of Mechanism Island.

The room's surroundings were all white bones; unknown how many people died here, becoming a small handful among the bone piles.

He Er Na asked how he was; he wasn't sure either, only able to reply: "I'm temporarily safe, let's see first. Don't worry, just wait for my good news."

Then he began exploring.

This room isn't large, about the size of a basketball court, overall square, with height equal to its length and width.

He tried to ride the wind, but the system prompted that flight-type skills cannot be used in this scene; it pressed him down.

Unable to fly, he could only walk.

Each of the room's four directions had an exit, unknown where they led.

Each exit looked the same, with no difference.

Xiao Feng randomly chose a direction and went forward.

The ground was littered with countless white bones; a rough estimate suggests at least thousands of corpses would be needed to pile up to such a snow-like effect.

These skeletons were all of human kin—elves, dwarves, etc. —basically branches of humanity that walk upright with two arms and two legs.

Xiao Feng discovered something interesting.

These bones were pure white skeletons, with no hair, no clothing or ornaments from life, and no equipment or artifacts.

It was as if everyone had died here bald and naked, then weathered and corroded, leaving only bones.

Passing through the bone pile to the front-left exit, he saw the outside scenery.

The exit led to a long corridor with no visible end.

All four sides of the corridor, top and bottom, were walls, with no scenery at all, not even a window for light.

"What is this place used for? Why did so many people die as soon as they entered?" Xiao Feng wondered.

At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded.

【You have passed the initial selection of the "Death Competition"; please choose a passage to continue forward.】

【Hint: In each level's all options, only one option allows survival; failure to choose or timeout results in immediate death!】

【You have 120 seconds left!】

"What the heck?" Xiao Feng froze.

What does that mean?

Four paths, pick one at random—three are dead ends, one is the way to live?

This is damned…

(End of chapter)