Star Gate

Chapter 246: The Second Passageway (III)

“Is there anyone who wishes to try the house?” the Revolution King asked again. After momentary hesitation, four independent supernaturals walked out of the crowd.

“Are there any from Yama, Celestial, or Red Moon willing to go?” he asked. “Rewards will be doubled for those of the three great organizations who make the attempt!”

Some walked out from the three greats after his latest offer. It was more than apparent that Revolution wished for his own people to come out alive. It would bring them the greatest amount of intel. He just wasn’t forcing their participation.

“I’ve already gone once, I don’t wish to go again,” said Liu Long. “It’s useless for me, anyway!”

“And what if I want you to go?” Revolution replied faintly. He would bring force to bear if persuasion didn’t work! The man looked at Hao Lianchuan. “If Liu Long is unwilling, then the Night Watchers will send a few supernaturals to go inside!”

“Why?” Hao Lianchuan frowned.

“Because you didn’t tell us about this before!” Revolution snapped back. “You need our cooperation, Hao Lianchuan, if you want to make it into the inner city together!”

Hao Lianchuan cursed inwardly and had no choice but to look at Liu Long. “Liu Long... you... will head inside one more time! I’ll reward you with a hundred cubes on behalf of the Night Watchers when you return!”

Liu Long frowned, but still nodded. “Understood, I will do as ordered!”

Director Hao was his superior, so there was no denying what he requested. However, he looked at the Revolution King. “I want two hundred cubes and I want them now! I don’t trust you. Also, I want water energy!”

Liu Long stared intently at the Revolution King. I want water energy! Are you going to give it to me or not? You didn’t give Li Hao fire energy when he wanted it, so it’s not like you’ll give that to me instead now, is it?

“You want water energy?” chuckled the Revolution King. “I just gave the rest to Li Hao, you can trade with him for it. I only have some earth, wind, and metal energy left. It’s all the same!”

I won’t give you anything you want! He threw out a few bones that contained vast sums of mysterious power. Some were still slick with blood—the Revolution King had obviously collected them from those who’d died in the previous plaza battle. He was the strongest in the field at that time and had no use for these. It was a perfect opportunity to reuse trash that he’d obtained for free.

Liu Long frowned wordlessly. He handed the bones to Li Hao and muttered, “Take care of our other brothers in Silver City for me if I don’t come out!”

The young man nodded emphatically.

With Liu Long added to the mix, a ten person team was quickly formed. Four independent supernaturals, Liu Long, one supernatural each from the three great organizations and Sword Sect, as well as another Sunderer from the Sword Sect. The Sword Sect plainly wished to experiment on the differences between supernaturals and martial masters. While they sent two, neither of the two were that strong. They didn’t have many martial masters to begin with.

The group chose to enter all at once as opposed to one at a time. The latter might be safer, but also slower and harder to discern differences between the two. Would variances be a result of supernatural ability, luck, martial master, or energy system?

The ten that formed the group all possessed their own unique characteristics. Metal, earth, wood, thunder, water... Not a single attribute was repeated. The leaders of the various large organizations wished to test the differences between all traits in one go.

......

Worry lurked deep in Li Hao’s eyes—what if something went wrong with Liu Long? This place might be a trap! However, Hao Lianchuan’s voice sounded by his ear. “It’ll be fine, we tested this passageway before! This is a special place that offers a very high rate of survival for martial masters. It’s not low for supernaturals either, but the weaker the supernatural, the higher the chance of survival! The stronger, the lower the chance of survival!

“If these guys are tempted and think they’ll be fine because weaker supernaturals made it back out, or if they’re enticed by the medallion... then all the better! It’ll be good to ensure some of their deaths on this expedition, even if we don’t claim the origin weapon.”

The deputy director was already prepared—he would weaken the three great organizations if he couldn’t make it to the inner city. Violet Moon and the others would have an exceedingly low rate of survival if they dared attempt the house.

Li Hao remained staring silently ahead and didn’t say anything. Liu Long took the lead and entered the ancient house without a word. He possessed the courage of martial masters in spades. Since the situation was thus, he would go in. There was nothing to worry about!

He vanished soundlessly into the darkness; the others were a little more apprehensive. But when they thought of the benefits to be had, the remaining nine quickly charged into the house.

Silence!

There was no movement forthcoming. Some powerhouses found nothing when they sent their consciousnesses into the house. Just as the crowd relaxed into the quiet... a ghastly scream rang out! Frowns crossed faces. Any manner of noise should be audible from the house, but the first and only thing they heard was the scream. Was this an attempt to create a sense of danger?

That scream had belonged to an independent supernatural. He might be dead!

Expressions remained the same in the crowd. No one was fearful just because someone had died. That was just a wandering supernatural. It was within expectations even if they all died.

Another ghastly scream echoed after a while. There was no further disturbance from the house. After an indeterminate period of time, figures appeared on the street behind the ancient house. Those on the other side peered through the protective membrane with widened eyes. They were out!

The figures swiftly ran toward the plaza. These had been their previous instructions. They were to leave as soon as possible if they made it out! Some of the members of the three great organizations also bore special missions on their shoulders. They were to test the Black Armors’ reactions!

The Revolution King headed for the plaza without a word. The others were hot on his heels. They weren’t worried as the plaza wouldn’t disappear, they cared more about whether the survivors had obtained the medallion or any other treasure.

Li Hao heaved a slight sigh of relief. Liu Long should be fine since he hadn’t heard the captain’s voice. If only two had died, then this rate of death wasn’t that high. Hao Lianchuan’s claim of a ten percent survival rate rather seemed like an exaggeration! It was further proof that the man was just in the business of scaring people away!

......

The crowd arrived outside the plaza before long. A figure leading the pack sprinted to them—Liu Long. He didn’t dare linger in the city and ran back as soon as he exited the house. He wasn’t the only one, there were several more figures behind him that were each faster than the rest.

When Hao Lianchuan saw that they were about to exit the plaza, he quickly said, “Don’t brashly leave the outer city. The protective film that you just received will vanish as soon as you do so! You’ll have to go through the house again if you wish to conceal your supernatural ripples. This effect isn’t permanent. It persists inside the city and disappears soon after you leave it!”

The supernaturals on the plaza were startled into indecision. Liu Long didn’t care; he walked right out. Being a martial master, he didn’t sense any protective film. What did he care about leaving the city! He didn’t want to stay inside.

Another person ran out from the city—a Red Moon Darkmoon. He was very agitated and approached the edge of the plaza. Panting, he called out in a fearful tone, “Milady!”

“Go ahead and speak.” Violet Moon inclined her head. All of the organizations had sent people inside, so there was nothing to hide.

“Milady, I.... I just approached within ten meters of a Black Armor and demonstrated some of my supernatural abilities. The soldier really didn’t have a reaction!”

Eyebrows raised in the crowd. The Black Armors didn’t react when someone within ten meters used supernatural abilities?

Violet Moon subconsciously wanted to enter the plaza to assess what was different about her subordinate.

“The Silver Armor has committed your presence to memory,” Hao Lianchuan said quietly. “It might be here shortly if you enter now!”

Violet Moon frowned, but didn’t say a word as this was possible! Instead, she looked at her man. “Come out of the city!”

The man followed orders and quickly set foot outside. Violet Moon surrounded him with the power of thunder the moment he did. She immediately sensed something different. There’d seemed to be a layer around the man that was connected to the ground. It was broken as soon as he walked out!

“The ground?” She looked down; Hao Lianchuan nodded.

Understanding dawned on the group. It looked like the protective film came from the ground. It might be a similar case to the Black Armors. Walking through the house gave one the protection of the earth, but setting foot outside the city meant severing this connection with the earth. Hence, the protective film vanished and the person in question needed to go through the process once more.

“What did it feel like?”

“The house was pitch black and pretty much like Li Hao said. But... I didn’t see a medallion.” The person looked suspiciously at the young man. The others didn’t mind his findings. It was normal for Li Hao to see it and it was normal for this Darkmoon not to see it. There might really be something special about the bloodlines of the eight families.

“Did you run into danger?”

“There was a little bit of danger...” came the frightened response. “Someone seemed to put a cloth bag over me at one point—maybe that was the feeling of getting the protective film. I felt like I was going to suffocate, but it quickly dispersed and I made it out.”

“Did you discover anything else?”

“No.”

Violet Moon frowned and continued to wait. The others emerged after a short while. Two were dead out of eight—one was an independent and the other was a Yama member. The Revolution King wanted to vomit blood. His organization, again!

“Two are dead—one Plenilune, one Fullmoon. One fire and one thunder...” Violet Moon murmured. “Was it because their offensive abilities were too strong? But the metal supernatural is still alive...”

When it came to offense, metal was stronger than fire. The metal supernatural was still here! But it was also true that more offensive supernaturals had died. Additionally, no one had seen the medallion.

If anyone had, it might be treated as a fake. Since only Li Hao saw it, then the crowd believed it might really exist. These eight just hadn’t been lucky enough or possibly possessed the right bloodline.

“So supernatural ripples can indeed be obscured!” said the Revolution King. “What now? Should we all take that path?”

The danger was high at a twenty percent death rate.