"He just walked away, not even leaving a cloud behind."
Su Qi stretched lazily as he watched the other leave, and surprisingly, he didn't immediately teleport out of the instance.
After climbing out of the pit and walking about a kilometer on the street, he saw Tentacle Man standing in the distance, appearing dazed and lost.
Su Qi waved his hand.
Tentacle Man's eyes widened as he looked at Su Qi, and he ran over with great excitement, "You really did it!"
Su Qi looked around the city, "So what's the situation now?"
"All the completely polluted monsters inside the city have vanished, but a massive amount of pollutants still exist, and others like me, who are not fully polluted abnormal people, should also be alive," Tentacle Man muttered, "But... I never thought the terrifying Pollution Source that has existed for two years would be dealt with just like that. I just saw those three Evil Spirits get grabbed by the lava giant hand. Could it be that you are the Savior sent to this world!?"
"Don't slap labels on me carelessly."
"And even though it's been dealt with, it's not completely resolved."
Su Qi spoke softly, "In these two years, this city must have spawned countless pollutants and abnormalities. Other areas have probably fallen as well, losing large tracts of the city."
He reached out and pulled out the pocket watch.
It was an instance tool and couldn't be placed in the Item Slot. Since he couldn't take it with him, he might as well leave it to Tentacle Man for self-defense.
"The rest is up to you now. I'm about to leave this world."
Tentacle Man was startled, his expression becoming solemn as he took the watch seriously, "I understand."
Su Qi: "..."
What do you understand? But he didn't say anything more, as he couldn't stay in the instance for too long. A countdown had already begun.
"Goodbye." He waved his hand, his whole figure turning into a shadow and disappearing from the spot.
Tentacle Man's gaze turned towards the ravaged city, clutching the pocket watch tightly in his hand, and then he made a certain decision.
-----------------
[Player Su Buxian has cleared Pollution instance number 2137897.]
[Game difficulty: Hard.]
[Game rating: 100.]
[Settling rewards...]
[Awarded Perfect Level clearance Experience and 1000 Game Coins, along with one lottery chance.]
[Your Level has increased to Level 7.]
[Awarded 10 points for attribute distribution.]
[Epilogue: Others achieve 100 points through performance, but you, because the maximum is only 100 points. In this world, not only did you perfectly complete the triple-line tasks, but you also accomplished content beyond the main mission itself. Whether it's luck, strength, or choices, it's hard to replicate. At the same time, you've left new hope for this half-collapsed world. Perhaps one day, this land will undergo a complete transformation and establish a new Order.]
"Luck?" Su Qi was not pleased, but upon reflection, there indeed was a stroke of it. It was the sudden appearance of the Traveling Merchant that enabled Su Qi to obtain something that could pierce the Ancient God's Heart.
Su Qi allocated all his distributable points to Physical Strength, raising it directly to 35 points.
At the same time, his Physical Strength value also increased to 350 points.
Although it seemed enough, in reality, as attributes increased, so would the consumption of Physical Strength. After all, the energy consumption of a child fighting is different from that of a Superhuman in combat; the principle of conservation of energy must still be followed.
But that wasn't important.
Su Qi stopped focusing on the panel and opened his Item Slot.
He had obtained two items this time, one was an old-fashioned speaker and the other... was that Ancient God's Heart.
[Name: Dead Heart]
[Type: ???]
[Quality: ???]
[Function: ???]
"?"
A question mark also formed on Su Qi's forehead; the panel might as well not be there.
But at least there was a note.
[Note: Mortal, though this heart has died, it still possesses a trace of the Ancient God Bloodline. Even so, it's not something that you, in your current weak state, can tolerate. So, until you activate it, all you can do is stare─A post-sale advice from the Traveling Merchant]
[Unseal at Level 20]
Su Qi frowned, annoyed—the note clearly had a personal touch.
It seemed it wasn't far off.
Su Qi still had one lottery draw left, but he wasn't in a hurry and disconnected, leaving the gaming pod.
Lottery draws were quite mystical anyway.
He had already won a nice skill today, and according to family tradition, luck refreshed once a day; saving the draw for tomorrow's game seemed wise.
Just as Su Qi was about to head out for a meal,
Liu Yishou sent a message.
"Meet up tomorrow? There are others, and I have important things to discuss."
-----------------
With the intention of understanding the strange world, Su Qi arrived at the agreed location the next day, on time.
This hotel could be considered the largest in the city; the space on the first floor was ample enough to play soccer, he noticed, eyeing the elevator entrance crowded with people.
And there, the slightly overweight man in the middle, with a question mark over his head, showed, "He's strenuously holding in that fart, but he doesn't realize it isn't just a fart."
Su Qi decisively abandoned the idea of taking the elevator.
The floor wasn't that high anyway.
He pushed open the door to the stairwell and found several teenagers sitting on the steps, absorbed in their tablets and playing games noisily.
"Argh, dead again. This instance's boss is too hard to defeat."
"There's nothing we can do; we've given it our all. Maybe we should cheat?"
"That's not allowed; I heard cheating kills your whole family!"
The teenager grit his teeth, "I'm an orphan; I'll do it!"
Su Qi stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on the game they were playing, which displayed a[?], and he read the information on it.
He bent down and said, "Cheating isn't recommended. If you just keep hitting this wooden box, you can skip the level."
The teens tried it out, and it worked.
Excitedly, they said, "Bro, do you play Primordial Spirit too?"
"I've never played it.
They looked puzzled, "But how do you know about this easter egg?"
"I heard about it by chance."
The teens' excitement waned, and with indifferent expressions, they gave way, "Well, there's no point in discussing it then. After all, those who don't play Primordial Spirit lead relatively unsuccessful lives."
Su Qi observed them silently, then chuckled wryly.
After reaching the floor, he also took the opportunity to report to the hotel staff about the teens blocking the emergency exit and playing an 18+ game.
After asking for the private room's location, Su Qi reached the door and before he could knock,
a weak voice arose from behind him.
"Are you also invited to the club?"
Club?
Su Qi turned around and saw a girl not exceeding 1.6 meters in height.
He knew at a glance that she was extraordinary, not only for her heavy dark circles but also for the hoodie she wore, and judging by the few strands of hair peeking out, they hadn't been washed in at least a week.
Her eyes were lackluster, and she was yawning.
"Yes," Su Qi pondered aloud, "A police officer called me over. Two days of being disturbed is a bit annoying."
"It's not nice to speak ill of someone behind their back, but I agree with you on that," the hooded girl nodded.
"Click!"
The door opened, and Liu Yishou stood at the entrance with a dark expression, "At least don't talk about me when I'm present."
Su Qi smiled lightly, "Well, there's still a door between us, isn't there?"
He walked in to find Xu Linqiu seated at the head of the table, alongside over ten other people, looking like an examiner, calmly focusing on the files in her hands.
Su Qi took a careful look around; there were all types of professions. He guessed these people must be on the Investigation Bureau's assessment list, apparently gathered here to be notified about something.
"Now that everyone's arrived,"
Xu Linqiu was unfazed. She tapped the table lightly and said, "As members invited to join the club, let's start by introducing ourselves to one another."