Chapter 71: The Crying Planet

“Sorry, sorry!”

She let go, but Chen Yanran didn’t leave, still sticking close.

“It’s just that coming to a strange place alone, I’m not really used to it.”

Yang Liuqing was speechless.

Are you a little kid on a spring outing?

Seeing the two stuck together, everyone couldn’t help but whisper, their eyes strange.

Clearly, they were drifting outside the big group, not fitting in at all.

Transcendents who knew the two quietly hid, pretending they didn’t exist, to avoid trouble.

Finally, all 800 people arrived.

This number wasn’t much, but it wasn’t little either.

If they didn’t line up neatly, they could easily fill this abandoned plaza.

At this moment, those dozen or so warriors began maintaining order, making the crowd line up.

Yang Liuqing and Chen Yanran were assigned to the very front.

“Xiao Qing, let’s not separate, let’s stay together always.”

These words sounded like a confession.

In reality, it was because Chen Yanran had just moved a bit away and that complex stench drilled into her nostrils, tormenting her sense of smell.

Other Water Blue Star players didn’t have Chen Yanran’s keen Perception, so they got used to it after staying a while.

Yang Liuqing, because of the Abyssal Devour ability, continuously purified her surroundings, so she cared even less.

“Big Sister, now is not the time to talk.”

Seeing the silver-gray warriors pacing with stern faces, Yang Liuqing reminded in a low voice.

As the saying goes, a dragon in shallow water gets mocked by shrimp.

Coming to someone else’s territory, you can’t treat it lightly.

“Okay.”

Chen Yanran faced forward, standing straight as a spear.

Yang Liuqing copied her.

She had just stood properly when a flashing object entered her eyes.

From the tall tower, speed increasing.

Chen Yanran also saw it.

It was a person.

A young woman in red Exoskeleton Equipment.

Her hair was bright red as blood, her whole body radiating brilliance, flying rapidly toward them.

Yang Liuqing could faintly see the surging Qi.

The Exoskeleton Equipment here had mobility beyond imagination.

An ordinary person wearing it could probably exert great power.

“No wonder even non-Transcendents were selected.”

She muttered inwardly.

Among the 800 people present, ordinary people made up the vast majority.

The red female warrior didn’t take long to descend upon the plaza.

She was at least 5 feet 11 inches, and even wrapped in the exoskeleton, one could tell her figure was good.

After all, this Exoskeleton Equipment was very form-fitting.

Remove the equipment, and her bare height was probably around 5 feet 9 inches.

Among girls, that was supermodel level.

Her right eye wore a black eyepatch, and a broad-bladed broken sword hung at her left waist.

Looking closely, it wasn’t a broken edge—it was very neat, and the middle was hollow, as if it could shoot something out.

The six wings spread from her back folded in the instant she landed.

This equipment was very different from what the silver-gray warriors wore.

Much more advanced.

She steadied herself, slowly scanned the crowd, her brow gradually furrowing, not even bothering to hide her disappointed expression.

Clearly, she was dissatisfied with this batch of people.

“I am Este of the Radiant Knight Order.

Welcome to the Mobile Fortress [Iron Bend].”

Author: Fenghua
Update Time: 2020/5/31 23:24:28
Word Count: 6109

She lightly tapped her talent to view the detailed introduction.

Name: Abyssal Devour
Level: 1

Just the name made it feel amazing.

Description: This is a brand-new talent born from the Witch Talent Tree.
It can absorb most pollution energy and convert it into pure energy for personal use.
Semi-automatic and permanent.
Can be actively used or passively absorbed.
When your pure energy is full, the excess will condense into an energy orb for storage.
Each level up increases one energy orb.

“Amazing, Master.”

“Xiao Qingqing got something good?”

“I thought you two didn’t make it in.”

Yang Liujing had just finished reading the description when the two little ones had already settled on either side of her.

“What silly things is Xiao Qingqing saying?

We’re your Sword Spirits, we follow you anytime.”

Ke Li pressed against her face.

“Let me see, wow, not a bad ability.”

“Yes, once Master’s Magic Potion is fully absorbed, there’s no way to break through limits and restore full HP like before.”

Ke Ling commented while reading.

“This ability just fills that gap.

It can absorb excess Qi and convert it all.”

“And this purification ability is impressive.

The vast majority of pollution energy can be purified.”

Ke Li grinned.

“Xiao Qingqing has become a human filter.”

“That does feel like it.”

Yang Liujing wanted to test the new ability but found she couldn’t.

“Strange, there’s a restriction?”

Ke Ling sensed around and found the problem:

“Master, this place is too filthy.”

“Xiao Jingjing will become a dirty treasure in the future.”

Ke Li nuzzled her face.

“Let me nuzzle a few more times while I can.”

Yang Liuqing pinched her cheek:

“Let me tell you two.”

Then, she poured out her grievances.

“That person actually gave my original ability as a reward.”

She shared what happened during the space freeze with the two little ones.

After listening, Ke Ling pondered:

“The fact that Master could contact an internal staff member is itself a reward.”

Ke Li agreed:

“Exactly.

That mysterious girl we met back then turned out to be a game planner.

We can only say we’re very lucky.”

“Why do you say lucky?”

Yang Liujing didn’t understand.

“Master, the fact that the other party had no ill intent is already very good.”

Ke Ling patted her shoulder.

“Contacting Master personally was an expression of goodwill, even if the reward was a bit stingy.”

“It might not be that they deliberately deducted it with hostility—maybe the game itself is the reward.”

Ke Li offered another perspective.

“Didn’t she say it was specially designed for Xiao Qingqing?”

Yang Liuqing tapped her smooth chin with slender white fingers:

“She did say that.”

“Without her balancing the game, the main storyline would be very dangerous.”

“Right, Master.

That planner named Yueli did a lot of work.”

Ke Ling recalled everything along the way, and much of it bore Yueli’s shadow.

In fact, in this Mini Game, there were no fewer than five participants of S-Rank or above.

But the ones who actually fought Yang Liuqing were only Chen Yanran, who self-limited her strength, Ba Ye’s void blood hand, and the late-arriving Lu Xueyuan.

Only A-rank qualified to spar with Yang Liujing.

Below B-rank could only participate in the search and capture.

The paying Third Elder and Naba of the Na Family were dead weight the whole time.

This was probably restricted from the start.

Of course, the efforts of the three of them also played a part.

From beginning to end, the entire game ran normally, without being unbalanced by overly powerful forces.

The other side’s efforts could be called a gift or a reward with corresponding weight.

“Indeed, I wronged Yueli.”

Yang Liujing thought about it and found it reasonable.

This gift made her stronger and also gained her new companions and new friends.

“Xiao Qingqing, she owes you.”

Ke Li drew a clear line.

“One matter is one matter.

Gifts and rewards can’t be conflated.”

Yang Liuqing getting benefits meant they got benefits.

“That’s right.”

Ke Ling didn’t defend Yueli.

Their own interests—how could they not fight for them?

“Fine, next time make her treat us to a meal.”

Yang Liujing also drew a clear line.

The favor was too big; a token reward would do.

“Xiao Qingqing, has this game not come out yet?”

Ke Li brought the topic back.

Yang Liuqing said she hadn’t received a notification.

The Game Administrator was probably still doing a random draw.

“Master, for this game, please make good use of us.”

Ke Ling learned from the pain, not wanting to regret again.

If Chen Yanran, the creditor, hadn’t appeared in time, the consequences would have been unpredictable.

“Xiao Qingqing, this time the three of us, full power attack!”

Ke Li extended her small hand.

“Okay.”

Yang Liujing pressed hers on.

Ke Ling also pressed hers on.

At this moment, the Game Administrator’s voice rang out in the white space.

“I’m baaack, dear [Players]!

First, congratulations on being selected!

Thinking about standing out from six billion people, aren’t you happy? If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to sleep~

Anyway, this game is called . Detailed information will be sent to your panel mailbox, remember to check it.

This game will add a Points System and Points Mall.

In the game, you can use points to buy items from the mall.

At the same time, you will unlock the Leaderboard. As long as you have points, you can buy anything.

Each time the game ends, you’ll receive a rating and rewards. Accumulated ratings determine where you rank.

Leaderboard scores can be used in the Leaderboard Mall to exchange for any items you want.

All items can be extracted.

No matter where you are, as long as you can open the panel, you can receive the items.

Now, I’ll give you five minutes to digest the information.”

The broadcast ended there, and the latter part was unexpectedly serious.

It made Yang Liuqing a bit uncomfortable.

Five minutes was quite limited for what one could do.

“Xiao Jingjing, check the mailbox quickly.”

Ke Li urged anxiously.

They had to race against time to analyze.

Yang Liuqing quickly opened the panel, entered the mailbox, and found a new email sitting quietly inside.

She clicked it, and the email automatically expanded, showing its contents:

Game:
Type: Unrestricted
Time: Unrestricted
Difficulty: Three stars to five stars
Description: On the distant Canglong Star.
Humanity relied on extracting leyline energy to gain opportunities for rapid development, but without gratitude, they intensified their exploitation of the planet’s energy, causing the world to fracture.
The land, ocean, and sky all suffered severe pollution.
Massive numbers of organisms mutated, becoming Pollution Beasts and Mutants, turning against humanity.
Since then, humanity lost fixed dwellings and had to rely on steel cities [Mobile Fortresses] to migrate, surviving with difficulty.

To the two hundred fifty surviving Mobile Fortresses.

In this world, you will descend as [Outsiders].

You can freely choose to do anything.

But one thing requires special attention:

You only have one life.

If you die on Canglong Star, you cannot return to Water Blue Star.

“There’s no time limit, return is unknown, difficulty fluctuates.

It looks free, but in essence it’s no different from being locked in a cage.”

Ke Ling finished reading and felt this mission wasn’t as simple as the text described.

“Who knows how long we’ll have to stay there.”

Ke Li’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.

“Just from the introduction, you can tell it’s especially tricky.”

“This is a doomsday star, isn’t it.”

Yang Liujing had expected a relatively normal place.

But with one look—goodness, the planet was about to die.

“But this game suits Xiao Jingjing quite well.”

Ke Li spotted the bright side.

“Human greed is truly terrifying.”

“Pollution energy is everywhere.

Maybe the new ability will come in handy.”

“You actually reminded me.”

Yang Liuqing had established a certain advantage before the game even started.

In this polluted world, she wouldn’t have to worry about energy.

Ke Li wasn’t trying to scare her.

Who knows, in another world, this ability might be extremely rare.

“Master had best not expose her ability in front of others.”

Ke Ling warned.

“If exposed, Xiao Qingqing might really become the Mobile Fortress’s human filter.”

“A mere Outsider, just use them up and toss them aside.”

Ke Li circled the word [surviving] with red Qi.

Players averaged only 800 per fortress.

She didn’t want another Mini Game situation on Canglong Star.

“We need to be careful.”

Yang Liujing nodded.

“By the way, two hundred fifty surviving Mobile Fortresses, two hundred thousand players, averaging only 800 per fortress.”

“Xiao Qingqing found the key point.

This isn’t a war game, it’s a survival game.”

“Our main quest is most likely to protect the Mobile Fortress we’re on.”

“As expected, so-called freedom is all fake.”

Yang Liuqing felt both amused and exasperated.

This intelligence was full of hidden pits.

The identity of [Outsider] looked problematic at first glance.

They might not be the first batch of [players] to go to Canglong Star.

“It says right there, surviving with difficulty.

How free can you be?”

Ke Li shrugged.

Not very enthusiastic about this game.

Best to complete the mission quickly and go home.

Although, they hadn’t found their home on Water Blue Star yet.

Ke Ling similarly lacked enthusiasm, but for her master, this was a very good stage.

Strive for the highest rating and rank high on the Leaderboard.

This time, the sisters would go all out to assist and make up for past mistakes.

“Five minutes are up, you’re about to take off!”

Five minutes passed in a flash.

As soon as the Game Administrator’s voice rang out, Yang Liuqing was enveloped in white light.

Then, vanished in a flash.

Darkness, pitch-black darkness where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.

Couldn’t perceive anything.

As if a century passed, as if an instant passed.

When Yang Liuqing felt dizziness in her brain, her eyes caught faint light.

A foul smell came through her nasal cavity.

Hard to say what it was like—practically a garbage stew.

Yang Liujing stood up straight, looked left and right, but saw no sign of Ke Ling and Ke Li.

This was a gray, dim room, very small, very narrow, like a prison solitary cell.

The only light came through a small window above.

Her vision gradually recovered.

She lowered her voice and called twice, but there was no response.

Same for Ke Ling and Ke Li.

A bad feeling welled up.

“Are you messing with me?”

She opened the panel and saw the Huayue Zimu Sword was locked, showing it required [Level 50] to unseal.

Not long ago they said the three would work together, and in a blink it was sealed.

If that Game Administrator hadn’t been eavesdropping and peeking, she’d eat her words!

On the panel now, a character level appeared.

Currently Level 1.

Forty-nine more levels to unseal the sisters.

Yang Liujing laughed in anger.

Crippling her two rooks right at the start—how was she supposed to play?

Without Ke Ling and Ke Li’s assistance, her sense of crisis rose sharply.

Not that she heavily depended on the sisters.

That she couldn’t do without them.

She simply hadn’t fully adapted to this kind of [abnormal] life yet.

“Sealed is sealed, but can’t the unseal level be lowered a bit?”

Level 50 was clearly unreasonably high.

At this point, Yang Liuqing had no good option but to accept it.

Complaining would only waste energy and time.

She checked her body—still that sports outfit with multiple tears.

The status was the same as in the white space.

Boom!

Suddenly, a huge noise accompanied by subtle vibrations appeared.

Yang Liuqing had the illusion of standing on a sea vessel.

This noise and vibration continued for nine minutes before stopping.

The sky outside was still gray and dim.

“Hm?”

Yang Liujing sniffed the air around her and found the foul smell had disappeared.

“No, it’s been purified…”

She looked into her Spiritual Space and found wisps of pure energy inside.

Abyssal Devour was exerting its permanent effect.

“So that’s it—it was the smell of pollution.

I thought it was just ordinary stench.”

She examined the suspected solitary cell, murmuring to herself.

It wasn’t actually dirty—you could see traces of cleaning.

At most, it was just dilapidated.

Touching the wall, it gave off a metallic feel.

Hard and cold.

She put her hand on the iron door and twisted—it opened easily.

It wasn’t locked at all.

She waited a few seconds.

Outside was still quiet.

She opened the door.

The expected sunshine existed only in dreams.

Outside was a large hall.

Looking up, the highest point was probably 66 feet.

People were gradually coming out from other doors.

Yang Liuqing rallied her spirits, on guard against any abnormal person suddenly attacking.

In such a hall position, a dozen people quickly appeared.

Yang Liuqing sized them up—didn’t recognize a single one.

Among them were Black people, White people, and Asians, tall and short, fat and thin, with various expressions.

Their clothing was the same as hers—outsider style.

Except for clothes and items obtained from the Lottery, it seemed nothing else could be brought here.

Yang Liuqing had no such items on hand—it was just a guess.

“Hello!”

A Black guy greeted everyone.

Yang Liuqing ignored him.

“Cool hook~”

A young East Asian-faced man responded.

Everyone looked over, and he seemed a bit embarrassed.

Yang Liuqing took one look and lost interest.

Creaking sounds rang out.

Before anyone could say anything, an iron door was slowly opened, making a creaking sound.

The one opening the door was a tall, thin man wearing something resembling Exoskeleton Equipment, but lighter and more form-fitting, with the aesthetics of advanced technology.

“Why are you still standing there?

Hurry up and come out to assemble.”

He looked at everyone, speaking slowly.

Though they didn’t know what language it was, the meaning was automatically translated in their minds.

Probably an ability granted by the Game Administrator or the game itself.

The communication problem was temporarily solved.

Everyone looked at each other—curiosity, bewilderment, confusion.

“Can you [Outsiders] not waste my time?”

The man in silver-gray Exoskeleton Equipment was impatient.

The moment the word [Outsiders] came out, everyone finally felt grounded.

This place was indeed another world.

“Speed.”

The man urged, then turned and walked away.

Yang Liuqing stepped out to follow.

Rather than chatting with strangers here, better to go outside and explore for herself.

Crossing the iron door, she saw the gray, hazy sky.

Light couldn’t penetrate the thick clouds to reach the ground.

A cold wind blew through, entering through the tears in her sports outfit, bringing a bone-chilling cold.

The temperature here was somewhat low.

Outside, the smells were more complex.

Machine oil, rust, and strange stenches mixed together, coming with the wind and leaving with the wind.

Under the gray sky, there was a giant tall tower, with faint green plants visible at the top.

Bringing her gaze back down, below were all steel houses, covered in rust, some tall, some short.

She turned around, looking at where she had just been.

It was a narrow tube-shaped building, with stairs on the outside, extending up layer by layer.

People were gradually coming down.

They should also be players.

The place she stood now was like an abandoned plaza.

She could see lifeless natives too lazy to move.

Their clothes were tattered, their eyes dead gray, uninterested in Outsiders, not even bothering to glance.

This was numbness to the extreme.

More and more players gathered at the plaza—all nationalities and skin colors.

Yang Liuqing didn’t recognize any of them.

These people clustered together, chattering away—some excited, some terrified, some indifferent, simply ignoring everything.

She could sense that some among them were Transcendents.

Yang Liujing stood to the side, continuing to observe the place.

Almost everything placed outside was fixed and couldn’t be moved.

This was probably standard practice for the steel city [Mobile Fortress].

A moving city was far more complex than a moving large RV.

If large objects weren’t secured, one shake could crush a bunch of people.

Besides the [Outsiders], there were also a dozen warriors on site wearing the same silver-gray Exoskeleton Equipment.

Some carried greatswords on their backs, some had two strange guns at their waists, and others had mechanical claws equipped on both hands.

Yang Liujing moved position, observing the back of an exoskeleton.

Almost all had neatly arranged air vents on their backs, about 2 inches in diameter, six in a row, with adjustable valves.

Looking from top to bottom, she noticed each metal boot had two movable cylinders.

“Could those be jet devices?”

She suddenly remembered the Micro-thruster from the war machines.

Compared to these, those seemed like antique models.

The generational gap was too large.

And from their appearance, they didn’t look like high-level warriors.

This suggested such equipment was relatively common.

“The civilization level seems a bit higher than Water Blue Star.”

Without seeing the full picture, Yang Liujing didn’t dare conclude.

What if this planet’s natives were just extremely specialized in one area?

But the leyline energy that could move a giant city was indeed impressive.

No wonder the natives kept extracting it.

Time passed minute by minute, and the number of players on site approached 800.

The atmosphere was subtly oppressive.

Unease spread through it.

The attitude of those native warriors made them very uncomfortable.

Logically, players participating in the game and joining the Mobile Fortress were supposedly helping them.

Why was the attitude so bad?

Practically beating them with sticks.

This made quite a few pampered people furious.

Yang Liuqing wasn’t as delicate as them.

In a world where even survival was hard, who cared about that.

“Big Sister!”

Yang Liujing looked toward the voice, surprised.

“Xiao Qing!”

At this moment, a familiar voice rang out.

It was Chen Yanran.

She had been selected and assigned to the same Mobile Fortress.

The odds of that were like winning the lottery.

Chen Yanran ran over, hugged Yang Liuqing, and showed a aggrieved expression.

“Xiao Qing, the environment here is terrible, like falling into a garbage landfill…”

She sniffed, her eyes sparkling.

“Woo, Xiao Qing you smell so good~”

The faint body fragrance flowed into her nostrils, extremely comfortable.

Beside Yang Liujing, she actually couldn’t smell that complex stench.

This big sister’s strength could easily hug a bear to death.

“Big Sister, you’re hugging too tightly, I can’t breathe.”

Yang Liuqing felt her breathing about to stop.

In her excitement, she had undoubtedly forgotten to control her strength.