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Chapter 165 - The Corridor of Time (XXI)

Editors: Kitty & Humu

Luo Jian seemed to have miscalculated the time.

Because the one who appeared in front of him was Xing Yan, and just like Duan Li, he was just a teenager. Although he was very tall, one could see a trace of immaturity in his face. The young man was wearing a thick black combat uniform and slightly lowered his head. He actually wore a black mask to conceal his facial features, but just by looking at his eyes, Luo Jian could easily recognize Xing Yan.

Xing Yan had a pair of very good-looking eyes. He was not a stalker yet, so the colour of his pupils was still dark and deep, unique to Asians. There was no bloodthirsty red in his pupils indicating the identity of a stalker, and there was not a hint of grey when the red retreated. The teenage Xing Yan had an unique vibe to him, just like a green and immature fruit, but some semblance could be seen. The Xing Yan who was not mature enough did not know how to hide his sharpness, so when Luo Jian came close, he could clearly feel the youth’s biting cold ferocity.

But there was something slightly strange about him.

Luo Jian did not hide himself, and he did not care that he was holding a big red umbrella. He was standing overly close to Team Ghost Shadow. He raised his foot lightly and walked as if he were floating. He did not make any sound, but he revealed his breath, so Team Ghost Shadow noticed him.

The four people could not help but fix their eyes on the child in front of them.

He was a child who was about ten years old, and his thin body made him look younger. Children were rarely seen in the chambers. Even if there were some young or underage players who were drawn into the secret chamber, they were mostly about 13 to 18 years old. For children who were too young, it would be hard for them to differentiate danger.

Therefore, once Luo Jian did not use his ability to cover himself, he would naturally become conspicuous among players, although because of the red umbrella...... An after effect of using his weapon caused his sense of existence to be weaker than that of ordinary people.

Luo Jian did not pay attention to the other team members in Team Ghost Shadow. His eyes were only focused on Xing Yan. Because the look in Luo Jian’s eyes was too focused and fervent, Xing Yan had to lower his head down to look at the child shorter than half of his height. Of course, he did not recognize the current Luo Jian. To him, Luo Jian was just a strange child in the secret chamber.

However, he was a child with value.

Xing Yan narrowed his eyes a little. The child was too young. For him to appear in the secret chamber was unnatural. Moreover, if the child could appear in A Lone Boat trading ground, he must have experienced escaping a secret chamber five times. He must have been a player who had a step into the ranks of senior players. At such an age, he could accomplish this, so in Xing Yan’s eyes, naturally, his future was limitless.

“Are you Xing Yan?” Luo Jian stared at the young Xing Yan for a long time, frowned a little, and sighed unconsciously.

The young Xing Yan slightly tilted his head to look at the child. His eyes appeared as if they were inspecting Luo Jian. He did not show much emotion when he looked at Luo Jian. He seemed to be just estimating the value of Luo Jian, as if he were looking at some kind of goods that was put up on sale.

“Do you know my name? That’s interesting.” Xing Yan started to smile, although under the black mask, that smile was almost unnoticeable.

At this time, a member of Team Ghost Shadow interjected: “Captain has never disclosed his name. Where did you get this information?”

Luo Jian paused for a moment. He did not look towards the team member who interrupted but just stared at Xing Yan persistently: “Are you Xing Yan?”

Xing Yan almost narrowed his eyes to make himself look cunning. He said, “Of course I am Xing Yan.”

However, Luo Jian stepped back. He felt disappointed and shook his head: “No, you are not.”

What he said made everyone else feel inexplicable, or at least Xing Yan felt so. He began to feel that the child was a bit of trouble. He said impatiently, “Of course I am Xing Yan, the captain of Team Ghost Shadow. If you have nothing to do with us, don’t get in the way.”

Luo Jian pursed his lips. He was very disappointed, so he stepped backwards a few steps and consciously made way for Team Ghost Shadow. He went to the corner alone and squatted, holding the red umbrella bigger than his body.

That was not Xing Yan&#k2014;No, rather, it was not the &#k2018;Xing Yan’ that Luo Jian knew.

The Xing Yan Luo Jian knew was the Xing Yan after he became a stalker, and the necessary conditions for him to become a stalker&#k2026;&#k2026; Ying also gave Luo Jian a brief explanation. Although stalkers were made from players, a players’ soul and self-consciousness had been completely expropriated by the secret chamber. The secret chamber would stuff some programs into the empty bodies to control these soulless dolls.

That stalker was an exception. He was a soul born in the darkness and primal chaos of the secret chamber. He inadvertently encroached on the body of Xing Yan, inherited all Xing Yan’s memories, and had Xing Yan’s power and weapon. Because his soul was originally born in the darkness in the chambers, the stalker could resist and violate the commands given to him by the secret chamber to a certain extent.

Therefore, the stalker that Luo Jian fell in love with was not the present Xing Yan. Now, Xing Yan was just an ordinary player even though he was an excellent player and had that body.

As Luo Jian thought about it, he suddenly felt that his heart began to ache. He covered himself with his big red umbrella and rubbed his chest with his fingers. He felt a tinge of pain in his heart, although it might have just been him hallucinating.

He spent 3,650 days fighting day and night in the Asura Realm. Adding up to ten whole years, he had abandoned almost everything that he was persistent and could not forget about on the battlefield. But the moment he exited the battlefield, he found them all again. He missed the man very much, he missed the stalker, he missed him so much that he felt a pain like a knife twisting in his heart and he felt extreme agony.

Could this be love?

Luo Jian could not remember what love was.

He had been numb for a long time, and he was slow to react to his feelings. Although he sometimes felt that he was far away from everything and did not feel much fear, sadness, or agony, maybe that was because he had been alone for too long.

Luo Jian did not squat in the corner for long. The tenacious him naturally climbed back up quickly from his slump. His plan did not change. He wanted to see Xing Yan at first, but Luo Jian was also ready to suffer from a psychological blow. So he stood up and walked towards Team Ghost Shadow.

Team Ghost Shadow was recruiting players. Some players had long been attracted to this place, hearing their famed reputation, as they waited for a long time. But good and bad players intermingled within. The captain appeared as if everyone was unpleasant to his eyes. Although he was wearing a mask, one could still see a trace of contempt in his eyes. Come to think of it, the captain of Team Ghost Shadow was still very young, and he did not know how to hide the look in his eyes.

However, he did have the capital to be arrogant.

That probably also caused some dissatisfaction, so some players who had been watching quietly exited from the trading ground.

The number of players on A Lone Boat was not many, and when one left, many of them followed. Only a few people were left on the trading ground, and Luo Jian was one of them.

Team Ghost Shadow began to look for the players they thought were fit for the team to open a fighting arena to test the strength of the new players. However, the member conducting the test was not the captain, but a short and thin man in Team Ghost Shadow. This man was terrifyingly skinny, and one would describe him as emaciated. Although he was wearing gloves, one could still see that his wrist was so skinny that it looked like a bone from a skeleton. However, that man seemed powerful and brought a few players who were interested in joining Team Ghost Shadow into the fighting arena. And they exited from the room in a few minutes.

All the players who came out left with bleak faces.

Several members from Team Ghost Shadow got together to discuss for a while. Parts of their conversation were transmitted to Luo Jian. Luo Jian heard several words and phrases. Perhaps they felt that this batch of players was subpar. Perhaps they felt that they had to wait for the next time before they allowed a new member to join their team.

Luo Jian licked his lips. It was not known where he took out a bag of chocolates. He tore the wrapper and sent one into his mouth. Not to mention, this chocolate was also a prop. It seemed that it could enhance spiritual value, but he gobbled it, treating it as a snack.

At present, Luo Jian had a lot of authority. The secret chamber gave him the ability to use any props arbitrarily. Therefore, Luo Jian didn’t need something like a carry-on secret chamber any longer. What he needed could be obtained by him with a wave of his hands.

Of course, this permission could only be used when he was in the secret chambers and when his identity was not a player/stalker/NPC. In other words, he could only use this permission when he was a GM.

Once he joined a team, he could no longer freely eat his chocolates.

But there were other methods.

Luo Jian ate his chocolate as he deliberated. Luo Jian thought that in the secret chamber, even if he was not using the GM’s identity, he could still adjust the probability of props appearing in the secret chambers to obtain them, and he could still set whatever prop he wanted. He should simply just set it as a pile of chocolates.

Moreover, this kind of chocolate props had little value. And if Luo Jian ate the chocolates, it would not affect the plot the secret chamber provided and the outcome of the players, and it was not against the regulations that the secret chamber stipulated for Luo Jian.

As Luo Jian thought, he could not help shaking his head. His attention had all gone to chocolates. But he could not be blamed for this. After ten years of staying in Asura Realm, he did not sleep well or have meals. His poor sense of smell and taste buds could only smell(taste)—the smell(taste) of blood.

However, the food-type props in the secret chamber were usually quite delicious.

Luo Jian opened a packet of chocolate and chewed on it. Just as he was nibbling on chocolate, he felt someone walking towards him. He raised his head to take a look. It was the captain of Team Ghost Shadow again.

“Kid, I think you’ve been here for a long time, and you’ve been staring at us. Are you interested in joining us?” However, even so, Luo Jian still recognized a trace of expectation in his tone. It seemed that the young man had been paying attention to Luo Jian and seemed to be optimistic about him.

Luo Jian did not like him. He did not like a stranger draped in Xing Yan’s skin, although it was really shameless to say so...... After all, this body should have belonged to the young man in front of him.

However, according to the future developments, this fellow should have failed in the secret chamber before he was turned into a stalker.

Luo Jian bit his chocolate and raised his head to look at Xing Yan. The look in his eyes appeared gloomy.

The look in the child’s eyes was so gloomy that Xing Yan vaguely felt a sense of oppression. He was surprised that a child could give him such a feeling. He was also a little excited, as if he was caught unprepared to find such a treasure.

Just as he wanted to say something, the child suddenly interrupted him: “I really need to join a team.”

Luo Jian blinked: “Your team seems to be good, too.”

Xing Yan laughed and said: “I want to test your skills.”

“Fighting arena?”

“Yes,” Xing Yan said as he took out a piece of paper from his pocket. On it, several big words were written on it: ‘Single player application to join a fighting arena.’

“You just need to touch the note and say the four words ‘I agree to join,’ and you will be able to enter the room with me.”

Luo Jian glanced at the short and thin man in Team Ghost Shadow: “I thought he’s the examiner today.”

“Different people should be treated differently. Besides, you aren’t afraid of how powerful I am, are you?” The tone of the boy was as arrogant as ever.

However, Luo Jian responded with a gloomy laugh: “Just be happy if you don’t get your teeth smashed in by me.”

Of course, Xing Yan did not think that he would be beaten by a little brat to the state where his teeth got smashed in. Luo Jian also didn’t want to expose his strength too much in front of the teenager. Since he had left the Asura Realm and returned to the secret chamber, Luo Jian tried his best to restrain himself. Although he often looked for people to fight while carrying a stalker’s identity, he still kept it in check. He only took out one-tenth of his strength and pretended that he was fighting with all his strength.

He was even willing to allow others to beat him up so much that he became a mass of bruises.

There was no other way because in Luo Jian’s opinion, these players in the secret chamber were fragile and glass-like. It seemed that they would be broken just by his using a little force, forcing Luo Jian into a situation where when he beat people, it felt like he was tickling them instead. Although just by tickling them, his strength would bash their faces in.

In Crimson Asura Realm, everyone fought to their deaths. Everyone would do their best to fight until they died. They did not know how to control their strength. They did not need to worry about other people’s lives. In any case, everyone would come back to life. After getting used to this kind of battle......

Luo Jian could not wait to build another Crimson Asura Realm!

The fighting here was too subdued! Couldn’t even have a good time playing!

From after he exited from the Crimson Asura Realm until now, the only time Luo Jian ever had a good fight was with Clown. Although it was just a simple comparison, the strength of Clown was obviously much stronger than that of ordinary players, especially his skill that would allow him to transform himself without limits.

However, today, Luo Jian once again felt such good prowess from the young man Xing Yan. Spatial weapons were really cheat-like weapons. They could appear invisible or visible and could hide the other party’s breath. In particular, young Xing Yan had a strange intuition which enabled him to successfully avoid Luo Jian’s attack at various times. He deserved the nickname Ghost Shadow. However...... he was still a little inexperienced.

There were players and monsters in Asura Realm too numerous to count who possessed cheat-like skills.

Luo Jian had always thought that if he failed to truly destroy the secret chamber, he would have to commit suicide. Ying would probably open the doors to the Asura Realm and let the monsters who had been fighting together for ten years, decades, or even longer come out to bombard the chambers. These monsters did hold the possibility of destroying the secret chamber.

“It’s like a Gu,” Luo Jian thought and muttered to himself.

The youth opposite him was short of breath and did not understand what Luo Jian had said. He looked to Luo Jian: “What do you say?”

“Ah, I mean Gu, that Gu, do you know about Gu?”

Xing Yan frowned and did not quite understand the child’s unconstrained thinking. The entirety of the child gave off strange vibes. Now they were engaged in a fierce battle, but the other party did not seem to be involved in the fight. When they fought, the child’s actions were filled with carelessness. The child almost did not make any moves. He simply avoided the attacks and occasionally knocked Xing Yan’s head with an umbrella. Although he acted in this manner, his power—

This was the first time that Xing Yan felt how the word ‘unfathomable’ was written.

“The insect you mentioned is a kind of witchcraft. I remember it was said that the poisonous insects were put in small containers and allowed to fight and devour each other. The insect that survived at last would be something terrifying,” Xing Yan said, “I don’t know much about it, but it seems to be that.”

“So...... what if the poisonous insects were replaced by human beings? Or other monsters with similar human intelligence? Hundreds of thousands of them put together, and let them fight each other. What do you think will happen?”

Xing Yan could not understand what the child was thinking about, but he was not quite like a child to think of these.

“Maybe the final winner would be an incredibly powerful monster, if it could stand out among hundreds of people.”

After hearing these words, Luo Jian suddenly raised his head and raised his umbrella. He pointed the tip of the red umbrella at Xing Yan. Then he laughed grimly and said, “Do you want to see it? The monster that stands out among thousands of people!”

T/N: Apologies in advance-I’ll be taking a 1-2 weeks’ break from Tuesday onwards. My lovely editors chose to edit the chapters I will be supposedly posting if I’m not away, so I’ll post those chapters after I’m back. (I’ll be making a discord announcement as well on Tues/Weds explaining this.) In the event where there are kofi chapters, I’ll be posting them when I’m back as well.