socalfunplaces Chapter 698 'Screening'
Chapter 698 'Screening'
This new instance, perhaps a coincidence, or perhaps intentionally designed by the new algorithm, has created a unique environment where, despite the large number of players currently inside (including those who have already died, as they are also temporarily unable to leave), different areas are using different methods to divide players into different teams with varying restrictions. While the details differ, they can all be clearly identified by one thing: player level. So far, those who have encountered traps or even been eliminated by the instance are primarily the lowest-level players. They lack experience, and their beginner classes lack the ability to handle unexpected situations and events. Furthermore, most beginner classes and low-level players rely heavily on items; it's no exaggeration to say that the timing, method, and quantity of item use essentially determine how far they can go. Currently, it seems they are indeed unable to cope well with the situations that arise. Surviving the first large-scale player death event is already relatively difficult, as seen in the two teams mentioned earlier.
However, they rely too heavily on items, or more accurately, they can only rely on the items they have. Teamwork and coordination are still lacking, and as for experience, if they are lucky enough to survive to the end, this experience might be very helpful for their future leveling up—but that's a matter for later.
As for those who are slightly better off, they are the more experienced advanced players who don't rely as much on items. Although they are still among the lower-level players, they at least have some means to deal with unexpected situations. For example, the team preparing to enter the fountain and go down the wooden stairs.
Their captain is Ye Xun, the "Spirit Weaver," dressed in a plain linen robe with pale gold embroidery on the cuffs. Tiny specks of spiritual light swirled around his fingertips. He excels at weaving barriers with his spiritual power to disrupt enemy perception and can also decipher residual energy imprints in the environment through spiritual threads. Teammate Su Mei, the "Shadow Dancer," wears a black, form-fitting outfit with only a blunt dagger at her waist. She can merge into shadows for short-range teleportation, using her agility to avoid damage and creating illusions with shadow energy to confuse enemies. Lu Yan, the "Elemental Harmonizer," wears loose-fitting clothing... Clad in a light blue cloth, holding a short wooden staff (used only for energy guidance, with no additional effects), he excels at harmonizing the weak elemental energies in the environment, primarily using earth and wind elements. He does not rely on items such as elemental crystals, but drives his skills purely through his own perception. "Voiceprint user" Chen You carries a minimalist leather shoulder bag containing only a small recorder (for recording energy fluctuations and voiceprints, not a combat item). He can release sound wave skills through sound, which can both detect the environment and vibrate the internal energy of enemies, and can even mimic specific voiceprints to break energy seals.
Although the stairs beneath the fountain looked mysterious, they actually seemed to be just a hidden passage, its sole purpose appearing to be leaving the plaza from the lower level. However, it's also possible they hadn't discovered the secrets hidden within the passage. What they did know for now was that the instance they were in was multi-layered, and it seemed to have many layers.
Leaving the plaza and exiting through the passage beneath the fountain, they found themselves in an old commercial district shrouded in shadow energy. Most of the shops along the streets had broken doors and windows, their signs askew and torn. A thin layer of shadowy mist covered the ground, within which distorted light and shadow could be vaguely seen, emanating an aura of the same, but fainter, dark power as the previous two teams had encountered. Ye Xun immediately raised his right hand, his fingertips gathering spiritual light into a fine mental net that slowly expanded: "The surrounding shadow energy concentration is moderate. There's no obvious aura of large creatures, but there are numerous tiny energy imprints, like those left by many small creatures frequently moving around." He manipulated the mental net to gently touch the mist on the ground. The net glowed faintly with golden light, temporarily dispelling the mist and revealing tiny claw marks on the ground. "These claw marks have residual energy at the edges; they should be from rodents mutated by shadow energy. There are quite a few of them, adept at ambushing from within the mist."
As soon as the words left his mouth, dozens of fist-sized mutated rats suddenly sprang from the mist. They were jet black, with glowing red eyes, sharp teeth imbued with shadow energy, and charged towards the team. Su Mei immediately darted to the side, disappearing into the shadows beside her. A second later, she appeared behind the swarm of rats, simultaneously releasing three shadow phantoms. These phantoms, identical in form to her, ran in different directions, drawing some of the rats to the side. "Lu Yan, seal off their movement range!" Ye Xun shouted, simultaneously creating four mental barriers to protect the team from flanking attacks. Lu Yan gripped his wooden staff, lightly tapping the ground with his feet. He muttered a harmonizing incantation, and the ground instantly glowed with a faint earthen-yellow light. Two earthen walls rose from the ground, trapping the mutated rats in a narrow central area. The walls were covered with fine cracks—formed by drawing upon the natural energy of the surrounding soil, requiring no earth-based artifacts. While not sturdy, they were enough to temporarily restrict the enemy.
Chen You closed her eyes, lightly tapping the ground with her fingertips. A sonic skill was silently released; the low-frequency sound waves, invisible to the naked eye, precisely penetrated the bodies of each mutated rat. The mutated rats instantly went berserk, tearing at each other, their previously orderly ambush formation completely thrown into chaos. "My low-frequency sound waves can interfere with the shadow energy within them, causing them to lose their minds," Chen You said to her teammates, opening her eyes. "But the duration is limited, at most thirty seconds. Finish them off quickly." Ye Xun seized the opportunity, his mental net suddenly contracting, transforming into countless mental threads that precisely entangled each struggling mutated rat. The mental threads tightened continuously, stripping away the shadow energy within the rats bit by bit. Deprived of energy, the mutated rats collapsed, turning into black dust that merged into the mist on the ground. Throughout the entire process, the team did not use any offensive items, resolving the crisis solely through skill coordination.
After clearing out the mutated rats, the group continued deeper into the commercial district, arriving at a relatively intact department store. The main entrance was tightly shut, the familiar "snake entwined with a bird" symbol engraved on the door panel. A layer of shadowy energy swirled around the symbol, firmly sealing the door. Chen You walked to the door, took out a small recorder from his bag, pressed the record button, and simultaneously released a sound wave towards the symbol: "I'll try to decipher the energy signature of this seal. Each energy seal has its own unique sound signature frequency; if I imitate it correctly, I can weaken its energy." The sound wave landed on the symbol, causing it to emit a faint black light, and the recorder screen displayed a complex fluctuating curve. Chen You stared at the curve, constantly adjusting the frequency of his own sound wave, his voice gradually becoming sharper from low to high, then slowly leveling out. A few minutes later, the black light on the symbol began to flicker erratically, and the seal's energy noticeably weakened.
“Just one last step. We need mental strength to stabilize the voiceprint.” Chen You nodded to Ye Xun, who immediately manipulated mental threads, winding them around the symbol along the sound wave's trajectory. The golden light of the mental threads intertwined with the black light of the symbol, forming a stable energy flow. Chen You seized the opportunity, releasing a sound wave perfectly matching the sealing voiceprint. The shadow energy on the symbol instantly dissipated, and the door creaked open slowly. “This seal relies on the binding of shadow energy and the symbol. Breaking it with voiceprints is less effort than forcibly destroying it, and it won't trigger an alarm.” Chen You put away the recorder, her tone relaxed. She hadn't used any unsealing tools throughout the process, opening the door solely through her own skill coordination.
The building was dimly lit, with only a few rays of light seeping in through the broken skylight. The air was thick with dust and a faint fishy smell. Ye Xun released his mental network again to survey the entire floor: "The first floor is a shopping mall, no major dangers. There's a strong energy fluctuation on the second floor, probably indicating special items or a hidden passage. Moreover, the energy fluctuation contains a faint divine aura, the same as the flying bird spirit energy that the first two teams might have encountered." The group ascended the stairs. The steps were old and dilapidated, creaking slightly underfoot. Su Mei remained on either side of the group, her figure sometimes disappearing into the shadows at the stairwell corners, checking for any ambushes.
Upon reaching the second floor, they saw a massive display stand in the central area. A bronze badge floated above the stand, engraved with a bird in flight, contrasting with the symbol of a snake entwined around a bird. The badge emitted a faint white light, the source of divine energy. Around the stand stood six puppets clad in black robes, each wielding a rusted longsword. Their bodies were enveloped in shadow energy, and their eyes glowed green—clearly the guardians of the badge. Unlike the shadowless puppets encountered by the previous two groups, these puppets were agile, and their shadow energy could actively deflect attacks.
“The energy core of these puppets is in their chests, enveloped in layers of shadow energy, making it difficult for ordinary attacks to penetrate.” Ye Xun sensed the internal structure of the puppets through his mental power. “Lu Yan, use wind energy to disperse the shadow energy on their surfaces; Su Mei, restrain their movements; Chen You, use high-frequency sound waves to vibrate the core; I will use my mental power to lock onto the core location and coordinate with your attack.” After the division of labor was clear, Lu Yan raised his wooden staff and swung it at the puppets. The wind elements in the surrounding air quickly gathered, forming several small wind blades. The wind blades did not directly attack the puppets, but precisely scraped across the shadow energy layers on their bodies, dispersing most of the shadow energy and revealing the faint black light on the puppets' chests (the location of the energy core).
Su Mei acted immediately, her figure weaving among the puppets. Shadow energy transformed into countless tiny threads, binding the puppets' limbs and restricting their movements. Simultaneously, she released shadow phantoms to divert the puppets' attention to their sides. Chen You took a deep breath and released high-frequency sound waves, precisely focusing on the energy core in the puppet's chest. The puppet's body trembled violently, the black light on its chest flickering erratically, and its internal energy began to become chaotic. Ye Xun seized the opportunity, his mental threads precisely piercing the core of each puppet. His mental power erupted instantly, completely destroying the core energy. The six puppets, losing their support, collapsed to the ground, turning into a pool of black slime, which was purified and disappeared by the white light emanating from the display stand.
Ye Xun stepped forward and carefully grasped the bronze badge. The badge was warm to the touch, and a gentle, divine energy spread from his fingertips throughout his body, instantly dispelling the residual shadow energy on the team members. "The energy of this badge is from the same source as the pendant the first team might have found; both are remnants of the power of the flying bird deity," Ye Xun observed the patterns on the badge. "Moreover, there are residual spiritual imprints on the badge. I'll try to decipher them." He closed his eyes, merging his spiritual power into the badge. After a moment, he opened his eyes, his tone grave. "The imprint records that there is a shadow altar on the basement floor of this building, a node where dark power initially infiltrated. The 'snake entwined with a flying bird' symbol was activated on the altar. Destroying the altar's energy core will weaken the shadow energy in the entire area. However, there is a powerful shadow barrier around the altar, which requires the divine energy of this badge combined with voiceprints and spiritual power to break through."
The group descended the stairs to the first basement level. The shadowy mist within the underground passage was several times denser than on the surface, reducing visibility to less than two meters. Lu Yan immediately channeled his earth elemental energy, conjuring an earthen barrier in front of the team to block the mist's encroachment: "The shadow energy concentration here is too high. My earth barrier can only hold for now. We need to find the altar as soon as possible." Chen You released sound waves, which echoed through the passage, allowing them to assess the path ahead: "There's a bend in the road about fifty meters ahead. Beyond the bend is an open area; that should be where the altar is."
Upon reaching the corner, the group indeed saw a circular altar. At the center of the altar stood a black stone pillar, engraved with a massive "snake entwined with a bird" symbol, radiating a dense black light. Three shadow barriers surrounded the pillar, their surfaces flowing with twisted energy patterns. Ye Xun held up the bronze badge, its white light surging, temporarily suppressing the surrounding shadow energy: "Chen You, you release sound waves to decipher the sound patterns on the barriers; I'll use my mental power in conjunction with the badge's energy to stabilize the energy flow of the barriers; Lu Yan, you mobilize earth elements to reinforce our defenses and prevent energy shocks when the barriers shatter; Su Mei, you're in charge of guarding, preventing any dark creatures from being attracted by the energy fluctuations."
Chen You immediately released a sound wave, which struck the shadow barrier, causing ripples to spread across it. She watched the fluctuations on the recorder and quickly adjusted the sound wave frequency. Ye Xun, meanwhile, manipulated mental threads, weaving the white light of the badge into a band of light. This band wrapped around the barrier, gradually penetrating it and intertwining with the barrier's shadow energy. A few minutes later, Chen You located the barrier's unique sound signature and released the corresponding sound wave. The three shadow barriers flickered simultaneously, and the black light gradually diminished. Ye Xun seized the opportunity, unleashing the badge's energy. The white light instantly enveloped the barrier, and it shattered with a "crack," dissipating into countless black specks of light.
The moment the barrier shattered, the stone pillar suddenly trembled violently, the black light on the symbol surged, and a huge, shadowy serpentine phantom emerged from the pillar. Its head hissed at the team, and shadow energy surged around it—clearly the guardian spirit of the altar. "This is a spirit formed from shadow energy; it has no physical form, so physical attacks are ineffective. We can only destroy its core with energy attacks!" Ye Xun shouted, simultaneously weaving multiple layers of mental barriers to block the serpentine phantom's first attack. Lu Yan, meanwhile, mobilized wind and earth elements, forming a rotating energy vortex. The vortex drew in some of the serpentine phantom's shadow energy, temporarily restricting its movement.
Su Mei merged into the shadows, teleporting behind the serpentine phantom. She released shadow energy to entangle its body, causing no damage but briefly restraining its movements. Chen You then released high-frequency sound waves that penetrated the serpentine phantom's body, vibrating its internal energy structure. The serpentine phantom let out a painful roar, its body beginning to contort. Ye Xun seized the opportunity, channeling all the white light from the bronze badge into the spiritual threads. The spiritual threads transformed into a blade of light, precisely piercing the serpentine phantom's head (the energy core). White light erupted instantly, the serpentine phantom struggled violently, gradually dissipating into black specks of light. The symbols on the stone pillar also lost their luster, completely dimming.
After the shadow energy of the altar disappeared, the surrounding mist gradually dissipated, and the light on the underground level became clear. Ye Xun picked up a black crystal that had fallen onto the altar. The crystal still retained a faint shadow energy: "This should be a fragment of the altar's energy core. Although it has lost most of its energy, it proves that this is indeed a node where dark forces have infiltrated." Chen You used a recorder to record the residual sound patterns of the symbols on the stone pillar: "This sound pattern is from the same source as the energy fluctuations of some symbols we encountered on the way. It seems that they all come from the same source."
Just then, Ye Xun's mental energy suddenly sensed energy fluctuations in the distance, a powerful unknown energy rapidly gathering: "Strong energy fluctuations have also appeared in other directions, could it be a mini-boss in the area?" Su Mei immediately withdrew her shadow energy, her eyes wary: "Should we go take a look?" Ye Xun shook his head, gripping the bronze badge in his hand tightly: "We don't have many items, and our skills are being used up quite a bit. If it's just an elite monster or a mini-boss that we can handle, that's fine, but if we can't handle it, I think it would be a loss. I think we'd better explore other places before making a decision."
The four of them composed themselves and continued moving forward. Ye Xun used his mental power to explore the road conditions, Su Mei hid in the shadows to keep watch, Lu Yan mobilized earth elements to clear obstacles along the way, and Chen You continuously recorded the energy patterns around them. They made steady progress by relying on the synergy between their skills.