Chapter 299: Fire

In the instant the massive fungal mass formed, Wu Chang was dragged into a space resembling a mirror world.

The original tower walls were nowhere to be seen; the space had expanded more than a hundredfold, as if he stood within a vast grassland—except there was no grass, only endless carpets of colorful fluorescent fungi.

The thick fungal mat merged with the fungal mass, undulating in unison, as if this entire space were a single living entity.

Meanwhile, the black mist emitted by Wu Chang's curse mark was no longer content to linger around him.

The dense black mist spread out, becoming a black sky, echoing the fungal mat beneath his feet.

Around him, chaos erupted everywhere, yet Wu Chang did not spare it a glance—his gaze remained locked on the massive fungal mass.

The fused mushroom people concentrated their pale red resentment onto the fungal mass.

Wu Chang saw the scenes preserved within those resentments—all originating from people close to Amber.

Some came from Amber's adoptive parents, some from her teachers, some from neighbors, and one cluster came from the former orphanage director, the biological sister of current Director Susan.

These resentments contained their cherished memories with Amber.

In those memories, they all sought to heal the tragic girl with love, hoping to open her heart and help her escape the shadows of her past.

Yet every time Amber's face lit up with a smile, disaster and accident struck without warning.

At the end of their resentment, they still worried for Amber, fearing she would close her heart again because of their deaths.

Or rather, precisely because they valued Amber so highly, they fell victim to the massive fungal mass.

The resentment that left the deepest impression on him came from the former orphanage director, Sister Amanda.

She was a devout believer, possessing the compassion and benevolence expected of a clergy member.

Whenever Amber's adoptive family met with disaster or Amber was abandoned, she would immediately open the orphanage door and embrace the girl curled up outside.

She often took Amber to the orphanage chapel to pray, telling her that no matter what hardships she faced, she must always be a good person.

Though the gods did not speak, they saw every action taken in this world.

As long as one carried kindness and gratitude, the gods would forgive every sin and lead them out of suffering.

Amanda firmly believed this, and Amber believed Amanda, so she believed it too.

Under Amanda's protection, Amber spent a peaceful and warm period of time, vowing to become a nun like Amanda and pass on warmth to others.

The accident occurred on Christmas Eve two years ago, when Amanda brought Amber to the chapel to pray for the birth of the divine.

Amber stood before the white statue of the deity, hands clasped tightly, whispering a prayer.

She asked whether, if she faithfully followed Sister Amanda's teachings, believed in the divine, and strove to be a good child, she could be redeemed and escape her suffering.

The statue did not answer Amber's prayer—it slowly tipped forward.

The falling statue bore a grim, grotesque expression.

Terrified, Amber froze in place, helpless—until Amanda reacted in time and shoved Amber aside.

She saved Amber, but was crushed beneath the marble statue.

Amber unleashed astonishing strength and moved the statue off Amanda, but Amanda's shattered ribs had pierced her organs; she felt her life slipping away rapidly.

She tried to pull something from her pocket—a golden pentagram, the gift she had planned to give Amber that day.

A miniature Star of Bethlehem.

It symbolized hope, redemption, and divine guidance, typically placed atop the Christmas tree.

She wanted to give it to Amber, telling her she would guide Amber's final path alongside this Star of Bethlehem.

Unfortunately, she never managed to hand over the bloodstained pentagram before her life ended.

When Sister Susan arrived with medical personnel, all they saw was Amber wildly kicking and striking the fallen statue.

Wu Chang took a deep breath, steadying himself against the scenes he had witnessed in the sea of resentments.

His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white, his eyes burning with fury.

Gazing at the heart-like pulsing fungal mass, he wanted to curse—but found himself speechless.

He needed a word more vicious than "beast."

Previously, his feelings toward Amber had been mostly utilitarian, mixed with only a trace of pity; helping Amber was no different from helping any other NPC who offered a hidden side quest.

Resolving Amber's plight was merely a trivial task, a routine step in completing his mission.

But now, after days of interaction with Amber and witnessing the scenes within the resentments, he saw a girl struggling endlessly against fate, desperately trying to break free from her curse.

He began to truly see Amber as his daughter, determined to shatter the countless curses缠绕ing her.

As for the reward of the hidden side quest, it had grown insignificant.

He stared at the massive fungal mass, gritting his molars and said:

"You fucking deserve to die!"

Coincidentally, the massive fungal mass felt the same about Wu Chang.

Faces emerged across the fungal mat surrounding Wu Chang, all shouting together:

"Die! Die!"

Accompanied by the fungal mass's sound, Wu Chang's curse mark erupted.

From the black-clouded sky, a single eye snapped open, plummeting downward until it merged with the fungal mass.

From that eye, Wu Chang sensed an impudent gaze—one that seemed to pierce through his flesh and bone, reaching straight into the deepest secrets of his soul.

This presence, intensely penetrating and unmistakable, was familiar—he recognized it as the bastard who had ruined his plans last night.

Wu Chang laughed—a bitter, uncontrollable laugh that grew louder.

You came just in time, you came just in time!

The two of you have offended our entire family—today, you will not leave alive.

Wu Chang's killing intent surged, yet he did not strike rashly.

He saw three pale red resentments on the eye monster—though unlike the massive fungal mass, these resentments belonged to players.

From the scenes within the resentments, it had been hunting homeless players at night, and the players it encountered were no ordinary ones—even one core player from the Western Alliance.

But the greatest threat among the three players wasn't the Western Alliance player—it was a solo player disguised as a vagrant, hiding in the alley.

The player's name was Parker. Unlike the other two players trapped in resentment, perhaps due to his personal experiences, he had seen the true form of the eye monster.

Countless eyes, dense and packed, filled the surroundings.

Parker called the monster Thousand Eyes.

Thousand Eyes' destructive power was limited—far weaker than the centipede puppet Wu Chang had once encountered. Even against players whose stats were suppressed, it did not win through direct offensive ability.

But the missing stats were compensated by a powerful mechanism.

Once combat began, Thousand Eyes' countless bodies would surround the target, exposing every movement the target made to its gaze.

All attacks requiring charge-up or wind-up would be detected by Thousand Eyes.

Once an attack was detected and dodged by Thousand Eyes, the dodged attack would return to the attacker's side. Only instant-cast skills with no wind-up or guaranteed-hit skills could strike Thousand Eyes.

The other two players, including the Western Alliance's core player, fell victim to this mechanism.

Due to stat limitations, players struggled to sustain prolonged combat, so they opened with their strongest ultimate moves, hoping for a quick victory—if the first strike failed, they turned and fled.

But their early charge-up exposed their intentions; their ultimate attacks not only missed, but the wasted energy suddenly reappeared behind them, severely wounding them.

In contrast, Parker saw the dense eyes from the start. He did not pursue a quick victory, and with minimal cost, he tested out this mechanism.

Merely hitting Thousand Eyes wasn't enough—you had to strike the one unique eye among its countless eyes to truly harm it.

Parker didn't notice it at first. As the battle dragged on, when his will gradually reached zero and his inspiration spiraled out of control, he saw that single green eye hidden behind the myriad gazes, brimming with malice.

Previously, attacking ordinary eyes—even shattering the targeted eye—had no effect on the others.

But when he grazed that green eye with a skill, all the eyes in the alley bore identical wounds.

Unfortunately, the moment he discovered this secret, his consciousness collapsed entirely.

Wu Chang stared at the massive mycelial cluster. The eyes now visible on it were not green. He realized he had to eliminate the mycelial mass first to defeat Thousand Eyes.

He pulled out Dawn's Weight, switched it to fire-suppression mode, raised the gun, and fired at the massive mycelial cluster.

This time, he didn't use dense needle-like bullets—he switched to single-shot explosive beams.

The beam flashed once, and before the massive mycelial cluster or Thousand Eyes could react, they were swallowed by a blinding explosion.

The blast radius was larger than he expected, nearly hitting him. Fortunately, Amber hadn't been dragged into the special space—if she had, and this shot wounded her instead of the monster, the consequences would've been disastrous.

After the explosion, only a charred, deep crater remained where the massive mycelial cluster had been. The mycelium, the eyes, and the mycelial carpet had all been vaporized.

The vaporized mycelial mass rose into the sky as colorful steam. When it met the cold black mist, the two merged, falling as dirty raindrops—like mixed pigments.

Before Wu Chang could step forward for a follow-up shot, mushrooms sprouted from the rain-soaked mycelial carpet. The mushroom flowers transformed into mushroom people, each with a Thousand Eyes eye atop its cap.

"Die! Die!"

The curses piled together, as if inflicting spiritual pollution on Wu Chang through physical means.

Wu Chang fired again—this time using needle-like bullets that automatically locked onto surrounding targets. The mushroom people fell like enemies in a grass-cutting game, one after another, the scene oddly satisfying.

But the fallen mushroom people dissolved into nutrients and split into more mushroom people.

Even now, the green eye Wu Chang had been waiting for had not appeared.

Tch. So it won't die, huh?

Wu Chang prepared to fire needle-like bullets again. But before he pulled the trigger, an alarm blared in his mind—his inspiration warned him not to fire.

Had Thousand Eyes, having consumed more players, evolved a new mechanism—rendering the same skill ineffective if used twice?

He sheathed Dawn's Weight and unleashed Deepwater Devourer.

Where Deepwater Devourer passed, mushroom people fell like wheat. But the distant ones hadn't yet died, while the nearby ones had already regenerated.

The regenerated mushroom people didn't collapse in the poison mist—in fact, Wu Chang felt dizzy, his limbs sluggish and unresponsive.

!

He had poisoned himself.

Worse—the mycelial mass had used the rebounding toxin to strike back at him. He raised his hand and saw tiny mushrooms growing from the pores on his knuckles.

He immediately retracted Deepwater Devourer, refusing to use it again, then pulled out the Four-Sided Flame of Years. Under the flame's glow, the mushrooms on his hand withered.

This fused monster of Thousand Eyes and the mycelial mass was truly troublesome.

Wu Chang sighed. For the first time, he regretted that his enemy wasn't strong enough.

If Thousand Eyes possessed even a shred of divinity, he could use Desecrator to strike its source directly.

Wu Chang stared at the endlessly multiplying mushrooms around him, feeling the helplessness of a novice overwhelmed by a boss.

As long as he had the Four-Sided Flame of Years, the mycelial cluster couldn't harm him—but neither could he harm the mycelial cluster.

He had set up a spatial array in the living room. If he wished, he could escape at any moment via spatial magic.

But he had promised Amber he would solve all her troubles. To flee now would make him lose face as a guardian.

There was no choice left—he had to call for backup.

A spatial array unfolded beneath his feet. With a flash of light, Erin appeared within the mycelial space.

Spatial magic didn't just transport oneself—it could transport teammates too.

Erin already knew everything that had transpired inside the space through mental communication.

Without hesitation, she shifted into her divine true form. Massive light wings unfurled behind her. As they flapped, holy columns descended from the sky, striking the mycelial carpet.

The columns carried purifying power—but for the mycelial carpet, purification was an even deadlier poison than Deepwater Devourer.

Where the light touched, golden flames erupted. Where the flames swept, the mycelial carpet, mushroom people, and even the entire mycelial space were reduced to ash.

Erin's light power was inherently the bane of strange, evil entities. Combined with the divine true form's overwhelming stat superiority, the mycelial cluster had no chance to fight back.

Within a few breaths, amid the screaming mushroom people, the mycelial space shattered completely. Wu Chang and Erin returned to the attic.

He'd planned to weaken the mycelial cluster just enough for True Self to absorb accumulated power—but the cluster insisted on struggling, forcing him to summon Erin and costing him at least five power stacks.

That debt would be paid by whatever survived of Thousand Eyes.

The mycelial space, like the mirror world, suppressed perception. Now that the mycelial space was gone, Thousand Eyes' body had nowhere to hide—the attic was suddenly filled with countless strange eyes.

Wu Chang's spiritual attribute far exceeded Parker's during his spiritual runaway state; with a single glance, he found the single green pupil among countless eyes.

If I can't deal with the mycelial cluster, can't I deal with you?

He raised his hand to stop Erin's action, then jerked his elbow—Zero Frame initiation.

"Man!"

When he first entered the Abyss Game, he had already elbowed the Eye of Lyman in a trial dungeon; this mere Thousand Eyes had no chance to dodge—it was immediately struck, eyes bloodshot, filled with agony.

The giant mycelial cluster died too cleanly, leaving Wu Chang's inner fury with nowhere to vent—he could only take it out on Thousand Eyes.

"You like spying, huh? I'll show you something worth looking at!" Wu Chang gripped the green pupil tightly, prying open its eyelids with his thumbs, forcing it to stay open.

Since the battle began, Wu Chang had felt Thousand Eyes' gaze piercing into his heart, trying to probe his memories of fear.

Reading fear and exploiting psychological vulnerabilities to launch mental attacks, widening those cracks—this was Thousand Eyes' primary method.

Parker had been reduced to zero willpower by this very technique, triggering his spiritual runaway.

But Wu Chang's willpower of 47 points was like a vault door; Thousand Eyes' ability could barely pierce through a frosted glass layer—its effect on Wu Chang was no more than scratching the vault door with fingernails.

No real damage, but the noise was disgustingly unsettling.

But now, Wu Chang had opened the vault door himself—he was going to show Thousand Eyes around.

What should he show it?

Old Four's collection? No, that was too cruel—even monsters have rights.

Since it's a monster, let me show you something of your own kind.

Wu Chang summoned his memory, letting Thousand Eyes see Lyman's true form.

Considering both were eyes, perhaps they were even related—maybe they'd get along better.

But the instant Thousand Eyes saw Lyman's true form, its green pupil lost all agony—only boundless terror and dread remained.

It shattered into countless fragments along the blood veins in its pupil, then dissolved into a red flame in Wu Chang's hand.

Through the flame, Wu Chang faintly heard a voice.

"A mere ant, dare you stare directly at a god?"

Wu Chang shook his head at the flame in his hand. "I told you not to look blindly—see what you've done? You've angered Lord Lyman."

With the core green eye dead, all other eyes of Thousand Eyes turned to mist and vanished.

With the fluorescent mycelial colony and Thousand Eyes dead, Amber, lost in the illusion, awoke.

The moment she woke, she sensed something—her face filled with unease.

She scanned her surroundings, and when she saw Wu Chang's burning hand, her unease peaked.

She sprinted to Wu Chang's side, slapping the flame in his hand, repeating over and over:

"Sorry, sorry."

In her panic, Amber moved faster than either Wu Chang or Erin could react—no exaggeration: even without the cursed dungeon's suppression, they might not have been that fast.

Wu Chang and Erin exchanged a glance—this daughter of theirs seemed to have an unusual origin.

Wu Chang blew away the remaining embers in his hand, then grabbed Amber's wrist, pulling her into his arms and stroking the top of her head.

"It's over now. Everything will be fine."

He'd learned this from Sister Amanda—every time Amber returned to the orphanage, Amanda would hug her and say these words.

The words carried a magical spell—Amber's agitation calmed, her apologies faded, and she fell into deep sleep.

Wu Chang lifted Amber's hand, still slapping the flame, and saw parts of her palm were burned.

Seeing this, Erin quickly used holy magic to heal her hand.

Hand wounds were easy to heal—but other injuries were harder to treat.

Like the city's wounds.

Whether by coincidence or not, as Amber panicked and burned her palm, Mount Ised in southern Sigef City erupted in wildfire—intense flames, whipped by strong winds, swept across the entire mountain range toward residential zones.

Mount Ised's land was worth its weight in gold; Sigef City's largest villa and elite residential districts lay there.

It offered breathtaking views of Mount Ised, fresh natural air at the doorstep, neighbors drawn from the upper echelons of society—any casual gathering could seal a major deal.

Any prominent elite in Sigef City refused no opportunity to own property there.

Now, once-envied mansions were being swallowed, one after another, by fire.

Fire alarms pierced the night sky; the hardworking firefighters of Sigef City dropped their paintbrushes used to turn fire hydrants into rainbows, donned full gear, and rushed to the scene at once.

They became fire heroes, rescuing two stray dogs and a litter of stray cats from the inferno, then returned to give interviews to reporters, basking in the crowd's flowers and applause.

On the other side of Sigef City, under the magic of money, Bai Lao's bare-knuckle arena had been fully repaired and was holding its first match since reopening.

Wu Chang, having replaced the former Kent, sat in the third-floor VIP suite, looking down at the fight below.

He yawned—the fighters were too weak, making him drowsy; he'd find some down-on-their-luck players later to liven things up.

Leaning back on the sofa, he was about to nap when the VIP suite door burst open—Miles rushed in, shouting:

"Boss! Good news! Huge good news!"

Wu Chang sat up. "What good news?"

Miles beamed. "Sigef City is burning! The disaster we've been waiting for has arrived!"

(End of Chapter)