Once Human, Now a Parasite

Chapter 590: 590

\"Thank you! Thank you!\" With tears welling up in his eyes, the city lord repeatedly thanked both Arthur and Zodiak, who insisted that he stopped kneeling again and again .

After finally getting him to stop with that, he patted his armor before saying:

\"You want to get to the higher floors, right?\"

While Zodiak maintained his silence, Arthur actively interacted with other people, even strangers, finding it more efficient than relying on simple movements as if he’s a mute .

\"Yes, is there another way besides the Sky Door?\"

The city lord grinned and answered:

\"As a matter of fact, we have a door right under our city but we don’t know where it leads . \"

\"Can you lead us to it then?\"

\"Why the hurry? Stay for the celebratory banquet!\"

Seeing as he’ll probably insist on them staying, Arthur waved his hand dismissively while adding:

\"All the others have already gone up to the next floor, we must move with haste . Please guide us to the underground door . \"

Reluctantly, the city lord did as request and took Zodiak and Arthur to a secret and well-guarded place two hundred meters under the castle .

There were old mages guarding the entrance and constantly the barrier protecting the whole area . Fortunately, with the city lord with them, the two were able to smoothly enter the room and witness a really massive door, as big as the destroyed Sky Door . However, this one was one with the ground and facing the roof, it was golden and closed-shut, just like its counterpart .

\"The city was purposely built above the door to hide its existence but I honestly don’t know where ti leads or what it does . \"

\"It’s alright, we just need to open it and go through . \"

Zodiak ignored the two conversing men and stepped closer to the door, which didn’t react to his arrival . Slowly, he pulled a large black talisman from his heart and put it right at the center of the golden door, which soon caused it to lightly shake then submissively open .

With their powers no longer restricted, it wasn’t as difficult to open the Sky Door or this one hence the instantaneous and effective result caused by the talisman .

Shortly after, the two contestants passed through the golden door and vanished from the city lord’s sight .

****

Right when Sol’khin was defeated, the screen displaying what’s happening on the 4th floor was cut off and the Red Tower informed everyone present at the Waiting Room that they’ll be taken to 5th floor in half a minute .

Lucy wasn’t very worried about her husband as she knew he could handle all kinds of troubles, especially with Zodiak tagging with him .

In total, there were 479 contestants who passed through the Sky Door and safely reached ’Haven’, which is what the 5th floor is called . Presumably, this floor is like a checkpoint where it is possible to recuperate and gather more data about the Red Tower, specifically the higher floors .

Forne and the rest wanted to quickly reach the top floor, however, when they appeared in Haven, the robotic voice didn’t give any task or say how to reach the next floor, which kind of irritated the Black Seat though he could only sigh and patiently wait .

As the name suggests, Haven is a place of safety and refuge, where one does need to worry about an enemy attack . Fighting each other is strictly prohibited and, apart from a few literal humanoid robots setting stalls to sell some merchandise, the place was rather barren .

The sky was permanently dark with shimmering stars across the canopy, a grassy yet empty area that could fit all 400+ contestants . Obviously, some were confused while others immediately started searching for a solution or an escape, wanting to reach the next floor before anyone else .

Sadly, none of them managed to achieve that and their hopes were crushed as the Red Tower gave out a notice only 15 minutes after they all appeared in Haven .

*Contestant Arthur MoonStar and Zodiak have successfully passed through the Earth Door and arrived at the 6th floor . *

****

To their surprise, Arthur and Zodiak leapfrogged over the 5th floor and appeared on the 6th floor, named ’Land of Rabbits’ .

Like always, the tower spoke to the newcomers, explaining the rules and the task .

*On the 6th floor, the contestants need to catch a randomly generated number of rabbits .

Please be warned that there’s a limited number of rabbits and once they’re all caught, all the contestants who didn’t reach the given quota will be disqualified .

Please warned that a rabbit can bite, two can stab, and three can kill . *

For a while, neither Arthur nor the old man next to him said anything .

\"What is this ’one can bite, two can stab, and three can kill’?\"

The parasite questioned his reincarnation, who shrugged his shoulders, pulled the hood over his head before replying:

\"Figure it out yourself . \"

Right after saying that, he transformed into a flying dark cloud and vanished from Arthur’s sight .

The place they were at was a bamboo forest which was surprisingly big . Arthur’s sense covered only a small portion and even his map didn’t show anything useful, nonetheless, the parasite didn’t remain idle for a second longer and, like Zodiak, started searching for said rabbits .

The number of rabbits he needs to catch is 120, which is either too much or too little depending on the number of rabbits currently in the forest .

Arthur took the form of a rare monster called treant, which actually a moving tree with the height ranging from 2 to 6m . Although it severely decreased his movement speed, it won’t alert said rabbits, if they are actually rabbits, that is .

Unlike Zodiak, who went around wrecking the place to find the target, Arthur took a more subtle approach and wanted to capture the rabbits while they’re unaware . After all, there has to be a meaning to the tower’s warning and recklessly attracting attention may be dangerous if not suicidal .

As he had expected, ten to twenty minutes later, the parasite located and closed in on a small furry creature that looked like a normal rabbit in all aspects . It looked totally harmless and the moment it heard a slight rustling nearby, it hopped away with a speed that was laughable compared even to Arthur’s current form .

Confused by this, Arthur followed whilst stabbing his hands, which were actually long branches, in the ground . Several brown vines drilled through the soft earth and caught up to the rabbit, quickly binding it . Arthur didn’t know if he had to kill it or what but such thought vanished when the creature turned into a flashing light then disappeared . The given quota, which was shown as part of his system, changed and the number 0 was replaced by 1, indicating that he successfully captured one target .

Seeing how easy it turned out to be, Arthur actually felt worried that this may be a trick . Despite catching a rabbit without any effort, he wandered the forest with the utmost caution, fully aware that this 6th floor is not what it really seemed .