Chapter 281: Re-entering the Slaughter Tower

The meeting ended quickly.

Albert's fighting spirit was strong. Of course, he knew that Wen Xishu had just returned, and he couldn't drag Wen Xishu to the Slaughter Tower right now.

"Since you're going, Fan Chou, you and Wen Xishu should rest well for a day. Everyone must be in their best state."

Fan Chou nodded:

"I understand."

Albert left quickly.

Fan Chou and Wen Xishu were the last to leave. Before leaving, Fan Chou said:

"Climbing the Slaughter Tower, it's actually very difficult to come into contact with those constellations you mentioned, but even if I don't know them, I can imagine their power."

"They could be said to be the 'warlords' at the very top of the Three Towers War, couldn't they?"

Wen Xishu nodded:

"You could say that. Because of their different functions, they have organized into various forces with different types of people."

Fan Chou looked at Wen Xishu:

"Most of them are hostile to us, or even if they aren't, they're just using each other?"

Wen Xishu nodded again; that was indeed the case.

Even with Scorpio, Wen Xishu knew the other party had their own little schemes.

Fan Chou said:

"The old man is strong. I don't even know how strong he really is, but he might not win this time either. If he dies..."

"Senior, that won't happen," Wen Xishu interrupted Fan Chou's statement.

"I would regret it if the old Principal really died, I would regret it no matter what, but before I see that future... if you let me choose again, I would still invite the old Principal."

Wen Xishu's gaze was clear. Facing Fan Chou's momentum, he didn't retreat in the slightest.

Fan Chou didn't say anything more:

"Then rest well. If we can see this duel, it will surely be very beneficial."

Fan Chou was upright and open-minded. Hearing Wen Xishu say this, he had no intention of blaming Wen Xishu at all.

……

……

At night, after Wen Xishu returned to the Mysterious Tower Academy, he didn't do anything else.

He was truly resting well.

William Huokena came to visit halfway through, but Wen Xishu had the Academy Spirit send him away.

Wen Xishu actually understood one thing: he seemed to be a variable.

The future he saw currently could all be changed.

He wasn't sure if the current decision would cause a huge butterfly effect, leading to the old Principal failing to participate in the duel between Scorpio and Leo.

Actually, he wasn't as open-minded as he imagined.

Or rather, facing the constellations, Wen Xishu also felt a little unconfident about the old Principal.

Although he had never seen Sagittarius kill anyone, nor had he seen the old Principal's performance in the Slaughter Tower.

……

……

The next morning.

When Wen Xishu opened his eyes, the Academy Spirit had already prepared breakfast.

Wen Xishu hadn't eaten breakfast for a while; he hadn't been living at the rhythm of a "normal person."

After breakfast, the Academy Spirit said:

"The Principal is waiting for you at the Logistics Department. He said if you've rested well, you should head there."

Wen Xishu nodded and didn't delay, setting off immediately.

The Logistics Department—three months ago, when Wen Xishu came here, the first item he rented was from the Logistics Department, a prop from the Principal—"Forgot the Key," a simple and crude door-opening prop.

Three months later, the Logistics Department had changed a lot.

Now, a Mysterious Tower supply area had appeared in the Logistics Department.

Of course, there weren't many items in the Mysterious Tower supply area. Just a few scattered pieces, mostly brought by members of the Xishu Divine Sect and the newly established Mysterious Tower Assault Team of the Bunker Anquan Bureau.

The quality of the props was concentrated in white and blue. White accounted for the vast majority.

Once it reached purple props, it was extremely rare.

Wen Xishu soon arrived at the Logistics Department. He noticed that among the blue props in the Logistics Department, there was actually a very good prop—a tongue.

Mysterious Tower Prop: Lotus Tongue.

This was a rather disgusting prop because it needed to be placed in the mouth. Once placed, your eloquence would become very good, and you would likely say some words that would move the Mysterious Tower enemies.

But there was also a small chance of suddenly saying a sentence that would break the target's defense.

This prop was considered top-tier among blue props.

Once successfully installed, even someone who wasn't good at words or "mouth-jutsu" could pull off some mouth-jutsu.

There were also many white props that, although they had large side effects, indeed had their own value.

Wen Xishu was very gratified; his appearance had made the exploration of the Mysterious Tower lively.

He didn't linger in the Mysterious Tower supply area for long.

Soon, Wen Xishu arrived at the Slaughter Tower supply area, the deepest prop storage area.

The old Principal Albert was already waiting for Wen Xishu in the deepest area.

Wen Xishu noticed there was no one around because this was too deep and was already considered the Principal's exclusive area.

The Principal's items were undoubtedly many, many more. Even though Wen Xishu's tower-climbing frequency was higher than the Principal's, the Principal had been climbing the tower for decades.

Of course, it was a pity that although the Principal had many items, the item slots were still limited. And as Fan Chou had said earlier, many props in the Slaughter Tower had usage level restrictions, unlike the Mysterious Tower props that could be used as soon as they were taken.

So these props of the Principal, the ones with powerful combat strength, all had level requirements of seventy or eighty, or slaughter count requirements in the six digits.

In short, they were all things that ordinary people found difficult to use.

This was also Wen Xishu's first time seeing such a scene, as if he were looking at an armory. The number of items in this armory was even more than the equipment in the equipment room he had visited with several assassins at the Investigation Bureau.

"I didn't expect you to have so many props," Wen Xishu exclaimed.

Albert said:

"Most of them I can't use. Actually, this isn't just mine; it's also Mr. Jin's."

"This saber was obtained by Mr. Jin from a leader-level creature that had evolved into a centaur form. The effect of the blade is simple and crude: a fifteen percent chance to cause forced dizziness."

"And this shield, which can reflect the opponent's attacks."

Wen Xishu couldn't help but ask:

"Can it reflect? In a conceptual sense, or a numerical sense?"

Albert smiled:

"Of course, numerically. Using this thing won't deal with Sagittarius; it can't even take one of my punches."

The old Principal's gaze wandered over many props.

There were external implantable bone arms that could mimic the body's movements and skills, daggers that could increase paralysis effects, shoes that could increase speed, and wings that could fly. The props were varied and were all powerful props that could change the direction of a battle.

But none of these props were favored by the old Principal.

Albert's gaze finally landed on a pair of boxing gloves.

This wasn't even an orange prop.

It was just a level-89 purple pair of boxing gloves. Among many numerical or functional props, Albert finally chose the boxing gloves.

Wen Xishu asked: "What are they called?"

Albert said: "Indomitable Gloves. A pair of gloves that can convert fighting spirit and anger into combat ability. They aren't very strong, but these things once helped me escape a disaster when I was about to die."

Wen Xishu was slightly moved.

Albert didn't put on the gloves, just took them out, revealing a childlike smile, as if he had found a teammate from many years ago.

"I've given up using them for some days because I didn't need them. Honestly, last night, I really didn't sleep well. I care a lot about the duel with Sagittarius. Because he might hold the truth about Mr. Jin, and it's possible he can really open the path for young people to go beyond the seventieth floor."

"But I don't have absolute certainty."

"I've been thinking, what prop can defeat Sagittarius?"

"I thought for a long, long time, but unfortunately, if the opponent is too powerful, I found that I have no props that can defeat him."

"But just when I thought there really wasn't one, I suddenly found it again."

"Look, this is my prop."

Wen Xishu discovered that the old Principal didn't show him the gloves, but stretched out his hands.

Those hands, at first glance, hardly seemed to belong to a human, looking more like some kind of ancient, tough weapon. They hung heavily on both sides of his body, carrying a kind of calmness that had experienced countless life-and-death struggles.

With his palms spread upward, the first thing that struck the vision was the layer of astonishingly thick calluses.

They weren't evenly covered but concentrated below the knuckles and in the middle of the finger bones, forming several uneven, deep yellow and white hard shell areas, like a layer of rough, overgrown tree bark.

Wen Xishu had never seen such hands.

But he had indeed seen a peerless weapon.

He also immediately understood the old Principal's meaning.

Facing a powerful enemy, all props were inferior to himself. What he needed was faith—the belief that he could defeat the enemy, and the courage to fight to the death even if he were defeated.

So the gloves weren't the weapon for battle; his hands were.

Wen Xishu paid tribute to these hands.

It was hard to imagine what kind of tempering it took to make the palm prints so deep and messy.

The life line and wisdom line were already blurred, as if his life trajectory had long been covered by pure "striking."

This was the limit of humanity; this was the limit of courage and will.

If such a limit failed and he was killed by the archer...

Thinking this way, Wen Xishu could immediately understand Fan Chou and Evelyn. It wasn't that they lacked courage or the determination to give up everything.

It was that the Principal truly represented humanity itself.

"I cannot imagine your failure, and it is precisely because I don't think you will fail that I proposed it," Wen Xishu said.

"Hahahahaha, then, I'll take your word for it," Albert laughed loudly.

……

……

Ever since Wen Xishu climbed the tower with Fan Chou last time, Fan Chou felt that this might truly be a training mechanism.

So he began to study the feasibility of achieving "the old leading the new" through team-up props. This feasibility was actually very low; newcomers rushing to high levels carried great risks.

But Fan Chou still felt that this method could be adopted for certain special geniuses. So he didn't give up his research.

First of all, it had to be research on levels. For example, if a level-one and a level-seventy teamed up, which level would they be matched to?

This research didn't have much progress, but it was finally somewhat effective.

If Fan Chou, Wen Xishu, and Albert teamed up, according to the level distribution mechanism, Fan Chou calculated they would be assigned to the 81st floor.

Yes, even though Wen Xishu's Slaughter Tower level was only 18...

A level-97 player like Albert could also bring him into the 81st floor.

So more people had to be arranged.

Of course, there was also a situation where, since the Slaughter Tower was a big world, direct teaming up was also possible.

Fan Chou and Albert could go directly to the relevant areas of the seventy-plus floors.

But in this way, they might encounter a Slaughter Day. A Slaughter Day was quite troublesome even for Albert, especially since he still had to protect two little guys.

So in the end, under Fan Chou's calculation, two more people were arranged—two pure newcomers.

Fan Chou hoped these two people would be death-row inmates.

But Albert was different. He believed that on the seventieth floor, apart from Sagittarius, no monster could take a punch from him.

It was better to take a gamble and bring two good seedlings.

A person like Albert could actually choose not to climb to the ninety-plus floors and use the team-up method to bring newcomers.

But Wen Xishu knew why the old Principal didn't do that.

Because in the old Principal's world, time was urgent. He didn't even want to waste a single moment; almost all his time was spent busy slaughtering, all to reach the 98th floor as quickly as possible, then the 99th, and finally break through the one-hundredth floor.

The old Principal had lived for over ninety years, and in his life, he had experienced two stages.

The first stage was when the thousands of years of human civilization suddenly ended.

Perhaps Fan Chou and Student Wenren Jing both felt that there was plenty of time and that many problems could be solved slowly.

The Bunker had just ended the Great Devourer, and everything was flourishing... it all seemed very beautiful.

But Albert wouldn't think so. Having experienced the end of the world, he had always been clear that the world's collapse could happen in an instant.

He always assumed that the Bunker might start to collapse in the next moment.

That was why he was happy to be able to fight Sagittarius directly; this was more efficient than slowly investigating Jin Shan and Mr. Jin.

But this time, in order to deal with Sagittarius, Albert would return to the seventy-plus floors.

"If I fail... you two will also die, and the Bunker will have no future to speak of. So don't assume I'll be defeated. Why bring death-row inmates? Death-row inmates gaining power will only cause more trouble. Bring two good seedlings; if they die, they die, but if they live, they will progress."

Albert's words were also reasonable.

Actually, Wen Xishu could see from the fact that the old Principal and Fan Chou killed people that the old Principal wasn't a "good person" in the true sense. In this apocalypse, the old Principal could accept anyone's death.

Even Mr. Jin.

In a gamble of fifty percent death and fifty percent improvement, the old Principal would gamble ten times out of ten.

They didn't care about individual fates unless the individual's talent made them feel they could see hope.

So under the old Principal's arrangement—

Nisen and Wang Yueyun, these two first-year freshmen, had the opportunity to experience the seventieth floor in advance.

Nisen and Wang Yueyun also knew that this time they could only be "carried" dogs, or "carried" dead dogs. They were truly afraid.

But thinking that Wen Xishu, Fan Chou, and the old Principal were all going, they felt it wasn't scary anymore.

So although the two were timid, they still agreed to go.

Thus, the team to deal with Sagittarius was formed.

Cheerleaders—Fan Chou, Wen Xishu, Nisen, Wang Yueyun.

General—Albert Napolitano.

Wen Xishu didn't feel there was anything shameful about it; anyway... in a battle of this level, even Fan Chou could only be a background board.

Evelyn and Student Wenren Jing both knew they couldn't persuade them, so they could only accept it and chose to keep it a secret within the next week.

If after a week, Fan Chou's name was no longer on the Heavenly Ladder Ranking... Student Wenren Jing couldn't imagine how chaotic the Bunker would become.

……

……

After the team gathered, the group quickly began to team up, activated the login device, and entered the Slaughter Tower rest area.

The regular guests of the Slaughter Tower's Heavenly Origin position soon appeared.

Fan Chou, Albert.

But Wen Xishu's consciousness transferred to the rest area a little later because he had one more step than the others.

The only chance Wen Xishu had to influence the battle was probably the Dice of Reversal and the Scorpio Dagger.

At the moment he activated the login device and heard "Welcome to the Three Towers Game"...

He began to pray for the first time that the Dice of Reversal and the Scorpio Dagger could provide the best assist this time.

(End of chapter)