Chapter 550

Although the buildings have become dilapidated under the attacks of aberrant species, those that still stand remain witnesses recording the city's development.

For example, the tallest bell tower.

Whenever aberrant species appear, someone presses the switch at the base, and the deafening bell toll alerts everyone to the impending disaster, and some aberrant species with overly keen hearing will flee at the sound.

This is the story of that bell tower.

Meng Kexin held a mineral lamp in one hand and a pink teddy bear in the other, slowly entering the old, dilapidated bell tower.

This place has long been abandoned by people; although the bell can warn the world, its proximity to the Eternal Silent Abyss also invites greater danger.

Over time, no one has come here anymore.

Meng Kexin didn't wear an overly extravagant princess dress this time, but perhaps because her previous habit of wearing such dresses left a deep impression, she entrusted the task of obtaining clothing to a servant of the Chen Family due to being busy, resulting in a wardrobe full of girlish charm.

Of course, there are still many convenient clothes for activity, just they are somewhat pink.

It doesn't matter much.

She looked around the vicinity; the rune circuits here are severely aged, originally meant to drive the bell-ringing mechanism, but now even injecting energy cannot make it work.

"...... Have you been waiting a long time?"

Suddenly, Meng Kexin abruptly asked this question.

She slowly turned her head, seeing a emoticon made of fluorescent green lines flickering in the corner of the stairwell.

(=ω=)

This is Ying Duo's usual trick; although it looks unreliable, it requires quite precise energy control to achieve this level.

With this ability, Ying Duo uses it every day to tease people.

【Have you eaten?】

The emoticon suddenly began to change, as if someone had written a line of text in midair with fluorescent green ink.

"No, at this time everyone is relatively relaxed; eating later is just the same."

Meng Kexin shook her head, then saw the fluorescent green lines flicker again, finally leaving a single character:

【Okay.】

Suddenly someone patted her shoulder from behind; Meng Kexin turned her head leisurely and saw a pancake pressed in front of her.

The pancake was cut in half down the middle, stuffed with many colorful aberrant plants, looking especially vibrant.

Ying Duo leisurely placed it in his mouth and took a bite, saying, "This is the local specialty."

Although a bit dry, the taste is good; if worried about mutation value, it can also be eaten with the Church's holy water.

Meng Kexin took the pancake, glanced at it roughly; the aberrant plants inside had low mutation values, still within the edible range, so she ate it directly.

...... Indeed not bad.

While eating, she handed the pink teddy bear in her hand to Ying Duo, "Let's use this as a disguise."

After all, she came out for a trip; suddenly carrying a bear back would be overly conspicuous, although this isn't much better, at least she brought it out and brought it back.

Ying Duo's movements are always swift; he ripped open the pink teddy bear, removed all the stuffing, then replaced it with a hard, deformable alloy frame.

Because he made adjustments and improvements in the middle, it is now no weaker than before, only stronger.

Ying Duo casually pulled Meng Kexin into the team channel; although Meng Kexin won't go with them to the Eternal Silent Abyss, while she remains here she can provide him with firsthand Church intelligence.

From Meng Kexin, Yang Yixie learned that Shen Zexi and Qi Hengyu would also be heading to the Eternal Silent Abyss together.

"Looks like I'll have to detour around the trash cans for a while......"

Ying Duo solemnly drew this conclusion; Meng Kexin looked puzzled, unable to figure out how he arrived at it.

Yang Yixie also wouldn't casually share his game guide; merely knowing how many enemies were among those who came this time, he decided to return to the Dome's airship later.

Until the airship departs, before they head to the Eternal Silent Abyss, he absolutely will not step out again, not even a single step.

【Ying Duo: You guys really aren't planning to kill me here?】

Ying Duo casually sent a complaint to a diligent customer service rep, didn't bother waiting for a reply, and directly shut off the game screen.

He is genuinely curious about the Church's method of selecting people; really, isn't it just singling out everyone who has a grudge against him?

Finally, Ying Duo gave Meng Kexin the box containing the Meiwei aberrant species core.

After the negotiations ended, Church personnel not participating in the abyss exploration will take the teleportation array back to Tianmian City, and this box will be brought back at the same time.

When the two finished talking, the food was almost done; coincidentally there was an abandoned rubbish heap beside the bell tower, they tossed the trash there and prepared to go their separate ways.

Under the blazing noon sun, several dim blood crystals silently coalesced from the damp corners, precisely targeting Ying Duo preparing to leave not far away.

As if sensing something, Ying Duo suddenly turned his head; his golden pupils caught sight of the blood crystals steadily approaching him.

Ying Duo immediately dodged to the side corner; upon looking up, he realized that compared to what was unfolding before him, that earlier was at most a greeting.

Countless vivid blood crystals poured down from the sky like a waterfall, tracing afterimages in the air; before they could land on Ying Duo, they themselves underwent classification, turning into countless blood droplets as fine as real rain but densely packed.

The source of the blood crystals stood on the roof of a nearby abandoned house; those semi‑transparent blood crystals beneath his feet formed a long, wide stretch that extended from his feet toward the bell tower.

Chi Jinan's mouth curled upward, bearing a hint of madness and a hint of excitement.

Countless blood crystals surged toward Ying Duo and exploded, causing the nearby broken walls and ruins to collapse completely, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust.

Chi Jinan stepped onto the edge of the roof, leaned forward, and dove straight at Ying Duo through the smoke.

The speed was such that Meng Kexin only saw a dark red shadow pierce into the gray‑white dust.

She and Ying Duo were some distance apart, and thanks to her timely reaction she only landed at the edge of Chi Jinan's attack range, managing to dodge by luck.

Meng Kexin retreated to a safe distance while the sound of blood crystals in the dust colliding with machinery continued nonstop from earlier, showing how fierce the battle inside was.

Yang Yixie's body techniques aren't bad, huh?

Meng Kexin felt puzzled; although Yang Yixie should have some foundation, his expertise is certainly not in close combat, and there are no signs of years of training.

How could he fight Chi Jinan?

Only seeing the smoke not far away gradually dissipate, Chi Jinan leapt back from the dust, emerging first; he had no visible wounds, merely breathing slightly from overexcitement.

As the dust cleared, an extraordinarily tall figure appeared within it.