Chapter 221 - The Final Level! Paglio’s “Self-Destruction Program”
Chapter 221: The Final Level! Paglio’s “Self-Destruction Program”
“No way! So powerful?!” Roman came over while holding Delia, “You did it all by yourself?”
“It’s still too early! That guy is just a projection, so nothing really happens to his actual body.” Chen Rui looked strenuous as he covered his heart, “My secret technique has a time limit. This strength won’t last any longer. The next 24 hours, I’ll be useless. Now, we need to find the actual location of the treasure as soon as possible and then leave this damn place.”
Delia said, “If my bloodline sensing is correct, the secret treasure should be in this hall. Yet, it seems to be blocked by something, so I can’t sense the specific location no matter what.”
“Here?” Chen Rui nodded, “Let’s not wait any longer. Spread out and look for it in this hall.”
Despite Delia’s bloodline senses and Roman’s <The Eye of Evil>, the trio couldn’t find any traces of treasure even after they searched the entire hall.
Chen Rui felt that the trauma in his heart was a little difficult to withstand. Therefore, he laid down on the ground and panted effortfully. Despite the combination effects of <Regeneration>, <Astral Form> and <Damage Absorption>, the feeling of the heart being almost shattered by other wasn’t tolerable by ordinary people. Besides, the effect of <Scorching Dragon Possession> had disappeared, and the effect of Roman’s infused power and black potion had also disappeared. It was as if all the wounds were mourning together. Fortunately, <Regeneration> was very wonderful. Along with the effect of grand master-level potion, a tingling sensation came from the cramps in the heart. Obviously, the injured internal organs had started regenerating automatically.
“Hey, are you okay?” Roman walked to Chen Rui.
“Not dying yet.” Chen Rui raised his brow, “It’s the best time to get revenge now. If not, after 24 hours, you won’t have a chance when I regain my strength.”
“I, Sir Roman isn’t a guy who takes advantage of others’ difficulties. I’ll still beat you down after this.” While he said he won’t take advantage, he noticed Delia wasn’t paying attention and immediately knocked Chen Rui a few times. He muttered, “You wanted to feed me to the demonic beasts and fill the pit? I’ll collect some interest first!”
“Such a petty vengeful guy!” Chen Rui cursed silently. Suddenly, his tone changed, “Initially, I wanted to try if I can help Delia to heal her face. Now, your performance has changed my mind.”
“What did you say?” Roman was startled, and his eyes widened. Suddenly, he thought of the miraculous potion that Chen Rui gave them and his lively face suddenly changed to “charming smile”, “Master Chen Rui, you can’t be a man that changes all the time. You must stand firm… Why are you being so serious with your follower? With your words, no matter if it’s filling the pit or feeding the demonic beasts, I won’t frown a single second!”
Roman’s rapid change of face made Chen Rui a little speechless. He grinned and when he was about to add more conditions, his sight fell onto the lamp at the top that was blocked by Roman’s figure just now. Chen Rui’s smile suddenly froze, and he said, “Do you have any transparent dark-colored gemstone? Give it to me now if you have it!”
Roman saw Chen Rui’s dignified look and stopped joking. He quickly took out a dark blue chip from the space ring and handed it to him.
That chip was very thin, just like a spectacle lens, which was good for observation. Chen Rui carefully observed the odd firelight stone he found through this lens. The dazzling huge firelight stone faintly revealed a strange symbol. If he didn’t use a different colored stone, he wouldn’t be able to detect it at all.
Chen Rui observed for a while, and he seemed to have realized something. He supported himself to stand up. Then, he urged Delia and Roman to guard the backpack that Dodo’s resting in and not to move around. He examined the runes while walking in the hall. In every few steps, he would step once harder as if it was based on a special rhythm.
Delia and Roman were surprised to see that under that sequence of “taps”, the ground began to stick out rectangular stone pillars of different heights. Some of them were 3 meters high while some were only a dozen centimeters.
After Chen Rui finished the steps, these stone pillars had been combined into a realistic figure shaped like a lying dragon.
The stone pillar dragon made a strange sound, “3 questions, those who answer correctly can enter! Those who answer wrongly, the entire cave will self-destruct in 10 minutes!”
Fuck! This must be the self-destruction program Paglio mentioned. It even has a cliché Q&A session!
Chen Rui secretly despised the taste of the stubborn dragon, but he still admired Paglio’s inscription accomplishment. This kind of inscription that used sound to launch different forces was extremely difficult to make, and it required ingenious matching. Based on this alone, Paglio could be considered as the top man in Dragon Inscription in the Demon Realm… no, the top dragon.
“Cough…” The stone dragon cleared his throat realistically, “You have a minute to consider. Answer questions? Or fuck off?”
Delia and Roman both showed dignified expressions at the same time. They didn’t expect that there would be such a “trap” in the end. There was even the danger of self-destruction. What could be the questions? Once we answer wrongly…
“Answer question.” Chen Rui took a few deep breaths and made a choice. How many rounds do you get to fight for something in your life? Since it’s the final level, I can’t give up.
“What is the name of the scariest female lunatic in the world? No more than 10 words! Answer within 10 seconds!”
Delia and Roman had already prepared for various “encyclopedia” to answer, so they were shocked when they heard those words. Who would know the answer to such a weird question?!
On the other hand, Chen Rui was relieved. He immediately answered, “The fairy dragon, Zola.”
“Fairy dragon, correct. Zola, correct. First question is answered correctly.”
It was just like how Chen Rui understood. This kind of voice inscription test should be detecting the pronunciation of certain keywords. As long as there were correct keywords, it would pass. To avoid continuous guessing and lucky guess hence there was the limit of 10 words.
“What is the name of the most handsome, smartest and most admired handsome dragon by the female dragon? No more than 10 words! Answer within 10 seconds!”
Surely there is such lame, boring question! Chen Rui despised the poison dragon in his heart. He added a new label of “narcissism” and replied with annoyance, “Bastard Paglio.”
“Bastard, wrong. Paglio, correct. Second question is answered correctly.”
At that point, Delia and Roman had no more doubt in their mind. As Chen Rui said, he was indeed the “legal” heir to this treasure. Who could answer these questions other than the guy who was familiar with that “dragon” owner?
The stone dragon’s voice sounded again, “Last question, when Paglio was born, was the first thing he saw his father or mother? No more than ten words! Answer within 10 seconds!”
This 50/50 question shouldn’t be difficult. Generally, when a baby was born, the first thing he saw would be his mother.
However, when facing the simplest question, Chen Rui seemed to be a little hesitant. 10 seconds was running out. Just as Roman couldn’t stand it and wanted to rush in to answer, Chen Rui answered, “Eggshell.”
It seemed to be a simple 50/50 question, but in reality, it was very sinisterly misleading because both answers were incorrect. Chen Rui remembered Paglio mentioned during one of their chats.
“When I was born, I saw nothing but eggshell.”
“In the past few years, I had no closed ones, but a lot of enemies.”
“Dragons don’t need friends, especially poison dragons. Have you seen God having friends? They only need admiration and fear. They have no need for unnecessary care and understanding.”
If the questions prior were just boring and narcissistic, then the last question had a touch of loneliness.
However, that guy should be much better now. When I return this time, I’ll give him a gift of freedom by unlocking the restraint of the <Lock of Light and Dark>. He can finally get out of the blue lake’s area. Then, he won’t be nagging always that “even my ass has calluses now”.
The stone dragon’s voice sounded, interrupting Chen Rui’s thoughts.
“Eggshell. Correct.”
After saying that, Roman was afraid after a while. Fortunately, he didn’t go up to “answer”. Otherwise, it would all be over.
The stone pillars began to change. The original dragon shape combination turned into an entrance to a cave. There were stone stairs spiraling downwards, and there were magic stones along the way to illuminate. It seemed that the real location of the treasure was the “third floor” under this hall.
“Let’s go.” Chen Rui said to Roman and Delia, “The real body of the lich hasn’t appeared yet. He is likely to be nearby, but he might also be downstairs. We must be careful.”
Roman nodded. He carried Dodo’s backpack, and the trio walked down the stairs together.
The stairs were very long. It took half an hour to reach the bottom, but there was no inscription or trap along the way. In front of them was a huge door. When Roman pushed the heavy door open, the light from the gap of the door almost blinded the three of them.
It was a bigger hall with a taller mountain of money! Compared with the sight in front of them, the illusive mountain of money in the hall above could only be considered as a tiny hill.
Chen Rui tried the storage, and it was withdrawable! This is the real treasure pile!
The environment here was a little different from above. The innermost was a pool, and a number of huge boxes were placed in order. Then, it was followed by gems, ores and outermost was the undulating black crystal coin mountain. The sequence was clearly defined.
Chen Rui’s eyes were a little hot and the eyes of Delia and Roman were also shining. For such a huge amount of money, those who said they didn’t care would be hypocritical.
“I kind of have an urge to get rid of you since you have no strength now anyway.” Roman rubbed his nose desperately. “Then, I’ll take Delia to spend this money as if they were soil and live as a rich man for hundreds of years.”
“I feel the same.” Delia, who was wearing the veil, had a rare smile in her eyes, “Yet before that, I want to find what I need the most.”
After resolving the misunderstanding with Roman, the gloom in Delia’s eyes seemed to have reduced a lot. At that moment, she ignored the other two and activated <The Eye of Incubus> to detect her family’s secret treasure. Certainly, there was clear feedback information, and she quickly walked forward.
“I’ve made such a bad choice in friends!” Chen Rui looked miserable, but he was actually very relaxed, “I should’ve killed you upstairs.”
One could see who were the true friends in the face of difficulties. The previous battle had proven many things which were far more reliable than words.
“Hehe, give me a bottle of wine.” Roman smiled, “Later, I’ll be gentler.”
Chen Rui threw a bottle of wine toward him. Both of them were looking at the dazzling treasure while following Delia’s footsteps forward. Suddenly, Roman, who had activated <The Eye of Evil>, yelled at Delia, “Wait! Delia! Come back quickly!”
Delia retreated without hesitation. At that moment, a black smoke quickly emerged from the pool and surrounded Delia in the blink of an eye. Delia reacted quickly and immediately activated <The Eye of Incubus>. However, the strength of the black smoke was too powerful, so the strength of <The Eye of Incubus> was instantly disintegrated. However, <The Eye of Incubus> also bought some valuable time. Roman, who activated <Flash> with all his strength, had already rushed over, carried Delia and retreated.
The crisis hadn’t resolved as the scope of black smoke was still expanding and covering. Roman changed his direction multiple times, but he was still blocked. It seemed that the two was about to follow Akui’s footsteps.
“Guradam! If you want to leave this place, don’t hurt them!”
Chen Rui’s loud scream stopped the movement of the black smoke. Roman took the advantage and finally managed to carry Delia and escape. Even though both of them were strong-minded, they were both astonished after that incident now.
After all, no one wanted to be a skeleton.
Chen Rui couldn’t use any skills including <Analytical Eyes> now, but he could feel that Guradam’s breath was far stronger than that on the upper layer. This must be his actual body!
The most dangerous boss in this treasure, the master of necromancy 2000 years ago finally shows himself! He is actually in this hall that is full of treasures!
The black smoke gathered into a human form and stood opposite of Chen Rui. His eyes glowed in a strange red light. A hateful voice sounded, “If you didn’t open the door to this treasure, you might be able to threaten me. Now, you’re just seeking death! When you destroyed my projection, I vowed to tear your flesh off your bones. I never thought to have my wish come true so soon!”
“Did you forget how the projection failed? Do you want your actual body to be annihilated?”
The corpse necromancer said disdainfully, “Although that skill that’s kind of like Nirvana has some effect, it can only damage my projection. Unless you reach the Demon Emperor level, it is useless against my actual body… Besides, you have no strength left now.”
Chen Rui didn’t flinch. His expression remained unchanged, “How do you know I have no strength?”
The corpse necromancer sneered, “Even if I didn’t hear what you said, I can see it from your current state. In the face of absolute strength, tactics such as bluffing are useless.”
If this corpse necromancer was really the Guradam 2000 years ago, then even if Chen Rui could use his skill now, he had no chance of winning. Chen Rui thought quickly and shrugged his shoulder, “Since in the face of absolute power, tactics are useless. Then, with your strength, you don’t have to be scared of me. Why don’t we talk about it?”
“What’s there to talk about!” Guradam yelled furiously, “Talk after I turn you into skeletons one by one!”
“There’re a lot of things we can talk about, such as… about you being imprisoned here… or perhaps a Demon Overlord-level dragon?”
Guradam trembled slightly, and the spreading black mist suddenly slowed down.
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