Chapter 259: Journey of Miracles

Albert was the kind of person who could endure even the greatest of sorrows.

At the moment, Old Jin's death made him blame himself, but he could only accept it and serve as the one to deliver the news.

Wen Xishu said:

"There are some clues that might... might be related to Little Jin, but I don't know where Little Jin has gone now."

Albert was still somewhat surprised to hear about Little Jin.

Old Jin's death made him feel that he needed to treat the Five Elders, those old subordinates of Old Jin, a bit better.

With Old Jin gone, the true number one of the Bunker could only be him.

He had to guide these old fellows who had passed the ninetieth floor of the Heavenly Ladder to exert the value they ought to have.

Of course, he also had to give them some hope, just as Old Jin had.

Not just the old subordinates; Little Jin naturally had to be looked after as well.

But now, if the culprit was Little Jin, he would have to suppress his pain and restrain him.

"Are you certain?" Albert asked.

Wen Xishu shook his head:

"I'm not certain. I only said Little Jin fits the profile, but it's also possible that the truth is far from my speculation."

"I know Little Jin has a certain ability to transform into others. Mr. Jin mentioned this to me as well."

"His transformations can even... mimic constellations."

"But once inside the Bunker, it's naturally weakened. Still, he could mimic someone at the Elder level."

"When Mr. Jin was around, Little Jin seemed quite stable. And he gave us the feeling of being very kind."

"But perhaps he lost control once Mr. Jin was gone."

"However, I have no evidence. As I said before, perhaps it is someone else."

Albert nodded:

"How are your injuries?"

Wen Xishu touched the location of his wound:

"They are no longer a major issue."

Albert looked at Luo Feng:

"Old Luo, can you use the Piercing Hand one more time?"

Luo Feng was puzzled. He was Mr. Jin's earliest subordinate and was currently the most devastated, still immersed in grief.

But since Albert had asked, he complied.

Luo Feng used the Piercing Hand against the air with incredible speed; although it didn't strike a physical object, its power was indeed formidable.

Albert said:

"How much force?"

Luo Feng said:

"Thirty percent."

Albert looked at Wen Xishu:

"What do you think?"

Wen Xishu understood what Albert meant:

"Not enough."

Luo Feng didn't say anything more and used the Piercing Hand again. This time, Wen Xishu couldn't see it.

He only felt that Luo Feng seemed to have struck, yet also seemed not to have struck at all.

Albert said:

"This time it must have been ninety percent force."

Luo Feng nodded, not surprised by Albert's observational ability.

Wen Xishu said:

"Slightly stronger than the Piercing Hand that assassinated me. By this calculation, he can probably mimic seventy percent of the standard."

Albert said:

"That is a huge threat."

Wen Xishu agreed, and everyone else agreed.

Being able to reach seventy percent of an Elder's combat power in an environment like the Bunker... it was almost equivalent to a massacre.

Albert said:

"Do what you must. Do not let matters in the Bunker delay your progress."

"Once your injuries are healed, go explore the Strange Tower if you wish."

"I must reorganize the Bunker during this time. Rest assured, as long as I am in the Bunker, no one will be able to harm you."

"As for the culprit who assassinated you, I will give you an answer within three days."

"As long as he is still in the Bunker, I will definitely be able to find him."

Wen Xishu nodded. With these words from the old headmaster, he felt much more at ease.

It was also at this moment that Luo Feng, one of the Five Elders, suddenly spoke:

"Albert, what about... Liu Zhizai?"

One of the Five Elders, Liu Zhizai, the behind-the-scenes protector of the Gongben family. He was also one of the first to follow Mr. Jin.

Not long ago, Liu Zhizai had climbed the tower with Mr. Jin.

Albert said:

"There is no breath left. Accept it; we have been losing people all these years, haven't we?"

Luo Feng's expression was desolate, and he appeared even more aged.

Even Evelyn, while sighing, revealed faint wrinkles.

"Can we... defeat those constellations?"

Perhaps thinking of something, the dejected Luo Feng suddenly had a light in his eyes.

Albert liked that look; it was the look of revenge.

At this moment, Wen Xishu realized that this Elder Luo might have been lost at the pinnacle of power, but deep down, he was still a person who valued loyalty and affection.

"Sagittarius, is it? Then you must work hard. If you want to kill him before I do, Old Luo, you'll have to train with your life on the line."

Albert patted Luo Feng on the shoulder.

Over the years, the grievances and grudges between Albert and the several Elders seemed to have become unimportant with the death of Old Jin.

Facing these words from Albert, Luo Feng only said faintly:

"Good."

……

……

The conversation between the few ended quickly. Next, for Evelyn and the others, there were still many things to handle.

The pioneer of the Bunker, this low-key Mr. Jin, was actually unknown to many Bunker residents.

Only some elderly people knew a bit about the legend of Mr. Jin.

But soon, Mr. Jin's deeds began to appear in people's discussions.

Because these things were no longer secrets.

And because Evelyn insisted on holding a funeral for Mr. Jin. Albert thought about it and approved; after all, this old friend was worth recording in history. Perhaps the old friend himself wouldn't like being so "high-profile," but since he was already dead, being high-profile for once didn't matter.

For many days to come, many people in the Bunker wore a white paper flower on their chests.

Many of them didn't know Mr. Jin, but seeing some leaders of the Bunker Security Bureau and people from the six major families wearing them, they followed suit.

Thus, very soon, more and more people were wearing flowers representing mourning.

A faint atmosphere of sadness permeated the Bunker.

There were currently no natural deaths in the Bunker, because Wen Xishu had extended everyone's natural lifespan.

This meant that those who died either encountered some accident in the Bunker or died while climbing the tower.

Clearly, the latter was much more likely.

Not long ago, the assassination of Dean Wen was gradually forgotten by the masses.

As for Wen Xishu, the day after that garden conversation, after meeting with Zheng Zai, he began the next round of tower climbing.

It is worth mentioning that Wen Xishu discovered that Zheng Zai had obtained two orange items.

Horn of Competition (Silver), Scale of Chaos (Mad).

Simply put, the difference from Wen Xishu's was—the Horn of Competition, Wen Xishu's was gold, while Zheng Zai's was silver.

The effect was the same, creating a competition, but the silver horn had no rules favorable to the holder.

The Scale of Chaos (Mad) was the same; Zheng Zai could place an item on the scale to create a "third-party force" of the corresponding level.

But unlike Wen Xishu's, there was no protection time.

Wen Xishu's Scale of Chaos would not be attacked by the third-party force of the Scale of Chaos for the first two hours, but Zheng Zai's was not.

However, even so, Zheng Zai's items were still orange.

Wen Xishu found it very strange.

Zheng Zai's items were different from his own.

Logically speaking, he should have had a share of Old Zheng's rewards as well.

However, he soon learned the reason.

In fact, what he had obtained at the very beginning was also the Horn of Competition (Silver) and the Scale of Chaos (Madness).

Both he and Old Zheng had obtained them, and combined with his Dice of Madness, it allowed him to obtain the items Old Zheng had acquired—thus, Wen Xishu obtained two Horns of Competition (Silver) and two Scales of Chaos (Madness).

The two merged into one, becoming the Horn of Competition and the Scale of Chaos.

Of course, regardless of anything else, it was a good thing that Old Zheng not only obtained the Sequence Mutation: Slaughter, but could also obtain two orange-grade items.

Wen Xishu actually wanted to ask about this.

After understanding all of this, the next thing he had to do was find Xiao Jin.

Only by finding Xiao Jin could he confirm some of his speculations.

This was a very strange feeling.

Wen Xishu felt it was very immoral.

Extremely immoral. Extremely... measuring a gentleman's stature with a scoundrel's yardstick. So much so that when this feeling appeared, he examined himself—

Have I become this dark?

This feeling was that he felt Mr. Jin might not be dead.

Perhaps finding Xiao Jin would provide the answer to everything.

But this matter was not his specialty; several elders and Albert were currently working on it.

In addition, the Weird Tower Academy had not yet officially started classes...

So Wen Xishu decided not to waste time—he activated the login device.

Perhaps after exploring the Weird Tower, the old principal and the others would find Xiao Jin, and everything would have an answer.

……

……

Wen Xishu began the fifteenth tower climb of his life, which was also his fourteenth journey into the Weird Tower.

He explored relatively deeply every time; despite having climbed only a dozen times, he was already far ahead of others.

As of now, Wen Xishu still had two special invitations.

One from Gemini, and one from Scorpio.

However, he did not consider using the invitations to complete such tasks in the short term.

"Continue climbing the tower, strengthen yourself, do not be rash."

Adhering to this, Wen Xishu began his fourteenth journey into the Weird Tower.

[Welcome to the Three Towers Game.]

[Special item "Dice of Madness" detected, do you wish to roll?]

Wen Xishu rolled the Dice of Madness again.

This time, the result of the Dice of Madness was a number that, logically, should have appeared long ago, because the Dice of Madness actually easily produced some special sequences. And this sequence definitely counted as quite special.

But looking back at the previous ones... it was a result that had actually never been rolled before.

The numbers: one, two, three.

Although the colors of the three dice were different, Wen Xishu had now discovered that the color of the dice did not seem to affect the result.

For example, with the white die, the black die, and the red die, no matter how one, two, and three were distributed among the three dice, the final result was actually the same.

One, two, three—Wen Xishu only then realized that this was the first time he had rolled this combination.

The options provided by the Dice of Madness were as follows.

Wen Xishu could only choose one.

A gambling-type option that grants high rewards but discards abilities—Minimalism.

An item-enhancement option that allows newly obtained items to receive a quality upgrade—Quality Boost.

And a combat-ability-enhancement option where all consumption is halved and combat becomes smooth—Smoothness.

There was also a new option, one exclusive to one-two-three.

The fourth option—Floor.

The effect of Floor is as follows: Triggered when the numbers are the minimum consecutive sequence of one, two, and three. Effect: When you are at or below the 40th floor, any damage you deal will cause at least 0.5% of the target's maximum health in damage. When you are between the 41st and 50th floors, any damage you deal will cause at least 0.3% of the target's maximum health in damage. When you are between the 51st and 60th floors, any damage you deal will cause at least 0.1% of the target's maximum health in damage. Note—the damage caused above prevents the opponent from recovering health for a short period.

Wen Xishu remembered.

He had rolled a number before; when climbing the Slaughter Tower, he had rolled four, five, six.

The option for four, five, six was "Ceiling."

Triggered when the numbers are the maximum consecutive sequence of four, five, and six, the effect is to not be killed in one hit when taking damage.

And one, two, three was a perfect match, named "Floor," with the effect of at least not failing to break the opponent's defense.

In other words, assuming the opponent's defense is max, health is 1000, and health recovery speed is 1000...

Then below the 40th floor, he could at least ignore defense, deal five points of damage, and cause the opponent's health recovery speed to fail.

"An interesting option. If I encounter some monsters in this Weird Tower exploration journey that cannot be broken through due to mechanics, couldn't I disrupt the mechanics and execute a violent kill?"

In the game, many NPCs are untouchable, but with this Floor, one could become a game-breaker.

Although Quality Boost was tempting, as the saying goes, choose the new over the old.

Wen Xishu decisively chose the fourth option—Floor.

……

……

Weird Tower rest area.

In the bustling rest area, many people were exchanging experiences of exploring the Weird Tower.

On the outskirts of the area, many people were already exploring the Weird Tower for the second time, facing this unreasonable tower where one had no idea what to do...

People all had the intention of applying to the Weird Tower Academy.

Wen Xishu had to say that William Faulkner was a very capable man of action.

In just a few days, William Faulkner had spread his Weird Tower Academy welfare policies throughout the bunker.

Wen Xishu did not head to the Weird Tower immediately, but stopped in the Tianyuan District to listen for a little while.

"You plan to apply to the Weird Tower Academy? That's right... it's not just about climbing the tower, the quality of life has changed too."

"Yes, the treatment for climbing the Weird Tower now is really good."

"But don't forget, climbing the Weird Tower is very dangerous; it doesn't mean that just because you've learned it, you'll pass steadily."

"Nonsense, what isn't dangerous? The Slaughter Tower was dangerous before too. People like us aren't afraid of risking our lives, we're just afraid that risking our lives won't fetch a good price."

"Now the food and drink are good, and the treatment for climbing the Weird Tower is as rich as a noble's; I'm willing to risk my life."

It had to be said that the wishes and needs of the common people were simple—treatment.

This was just like his previous life.

Overtime? Of course, you pay enough, and the company is my home; it's not up to you, the boss, to educate me, I can do it myself.

People resist overtime simply because the benefits and the effort are seriously disproportionate.

Climbing the Weird Tower is dangerous, but now, those who climb the Weird Tower receive rewards that allow them to face that danger.

Without Faulkner, Wen Xishu really couldn't have achieved this in such a short time.

After listening to others' discussions for a while, Wen Xishu also began to examine his own task.

This time, the game effect provided by the Scorpio Blade was portals.

Simply put, the Scorpio Blade would place some portals throughout the entire task map, and players could teleport to other portals through them.

It didn't seem to have much use, because the portals needed to be activated first.

But Wen Xishu's task this time was called "Miracle Journey."

[Task Description: Welcome to the 40th floor of the Weird Tower. Although the level here is low, based on people's taboos regarding certain numbers, a special area has been created here.

Death is the greatest parting, the most absolute parting, and the obsession with longing for a reunion is always the obsession among obsessions.

Can the rules of life and death really not be shaken? You will have one chance to go to the depths of the netherworld, where countless spirits gather; please make every key choice, and then return to the world of the living.

Please observe carefully, distinguish carefully, and make the correct choice in every key decision, otherwise... the netherworld is not the starting point, but the end.]

This task was eerie.

Wen Xishu looked at the task information and frowned:

"If I haven't misunderstood... this task requires going to hell, and from a pile of dead people, bringing a dead person to the world of the living?"

The feeling this task gave him was shocking enough.

But the problem was, is it really possible?

If life and death can be inverted, can the constellations not do it?

There were quite a few suspicious points about this task, but Wen Xishu still found it quite interesting.

"Assuming it really is the kingdom of the dead, perhaps I can see if there are any acquaintances?"

(End of chapter)