Chapter 30: Successfully Rushed Part 1

“Forget it, I’m really not the type to swallow my pride and beg.” He regained his cold demeanor, lightly tapping the big wooden crate and said, “Old Bin, are there any other monster nests around here?”
Possessing treasures with no way to use them.
Yang Zicang deeply felt the pinch of insufficient resources, unsure how much Sequence he would need to spend to extend his time. If only he had more extra lifespan, he could immediately enter the unknown dream world and acquire new abilities.
“Pfft~” Luo Bin shot him a disdainful glance: “Ha, if you’d asked me half a day ago, I’d have said there was nothing suitable for you. But now, my model has just discovered a C-level Staggered Ground.”
C-level Staggered Ground, also known as the Crescent level.
“Your model has that ability too.”
“Of course. Let’s go.”
A few of them packed up their things and set off. The rift of this C-level Staggered Ground was still relatively hidden, tucked inside a wardrobe in a room on a residential building floor.
Without a frequency crystal, Luo Bin might still have some trouble locating a hidden A-level intersecting zone, but for a C-level one, spotting nearby zones is a piece of cake.
This left Liang Xi, who only had a blunt angle, feeling utterly envious.
“Are you sure I’m okay to go in with you?”
The frequency crystal spawner for this level was just a two-line human like the boy—but without a frequency crystal, he’d be in serious danger.
Luo Bin said:
“Free intel. If there are two or more Triangle-ranked individuals, they can stabilize parts of a C-class Cross Zone without using a Frequency Crystal.”
Liang Xi followed the other two into the wardrobe nervously.
Everywhere inside were flickering energy fields and swirling mists.
Overlapping chaotic images filled the space, with only a few meters underfoot showing a relatively stable image. The grassland ahead glided under wave-like trails of energy, then changed into a sandy shoal.
[Luo Bin wants to invest in me.]
[Luo Bin invested 200N in me.]
“Roar~”
“Howl~”
The space rumbled faintly as different scenes revealed the figures of all kinds of beasts, all staring their way. Those monsters, blocked by other zones, couldn’t cross over.
Both Liang Xi and Yang Zicang had entered such a place for the first time, feeling immediately fascinated.
“This is the ‘Cross Zone,’ where various terrains overlap.”
Luo Bin pointed at a mutated beast, grinning.
“Don’t worry, they can’t get out. There are multiple terrain scenes here—all we need to do is stabilize them into one.”
Within a couple of minutes, some images transformed into a completely different scene as energy waves spread.
“How do we stabilize it?”
“We pick the same scene, clear out the creatures living in it, and after a while, that scene will solidify.”
Luo Bin explained: “Since forest scenes are more common here, to save time waiting for a refresh, let’s go with forest.”
The three of them walked into the three-dimensional world that resembled a holographic curtain on the left, stepping into what felt like a forest stage. Inside this dimly lit forest, four lean old wolves cautiously snarled at them.
Pfft!
Yang Zicang swung his silver spear, piercing the head of a thin old wolf that lunged at him in a single strike.
[I gained 7.1Y.]
Seven months—their lifespan was so short.
Accustomed to lifespans often measured in decades, Yang Zicang muttered a slight complaint, then looked at the few gray wolves scattering around in panic.
This manifested gray wolf arena was only the size of two ordinary living rooms, and they couldn’t escape since the space had been temporarily stabilized.
With a throw of his spear, another wolf was pinned to the ground, wailing incessantly.
“What a fine spear! And your aim is spot on, tsk tsk.”
“You guys deal with this one.”
Yang Zicang said, referring to the wolf still alive and pinned down by his long spear.
Luo Bin laughed heartily, gave him a thumbs up, and jerked his chin to signal Liang Xi to step in. Liang Xi tightened his grip on the steel rod—fitted with a wooden handle and a sharpened tip—walked over, and thrust it into the gray wolf’s heart.
“Wow, we scored several months of lifespan so easily!”
Liang Xi almost cried from emotion—he’d never had it this easy before.
After finishing off these ordinary beasts and waiting two more minutes, the area suddenly expanded by about two meters.
“Stabilization complete.”
Luo Bin looked at Yang Zicang and praised.
“Alright, it won’t turn into another world for a few days now. Fast, only two minutes. Using a C-grade frequency crystal to stabilize the terrain would take at least ten minutes. The quadrilateral model is truly amazing.”
This sarcastic guy was clearly praising himself. Yang Zicang gave him an exasperated look.
“If we just keep waiting for other scenes to turn into forests and clear them, we’ll end up with a forest in the end?”
“Exactly. Also, these areas are called Staggered Stage Views.”
Yang Zicang nodded. It really did look like small scenes under a curtain. Seeing is believing; he finally understood the rules here.
The forest scenes appeared and disappeared intermittently. Though numerous, some were separated by stage-like landscapes such as dense thickets, fields, and riverbanks.
The terrain kept shifting. In just a few minutes, a patch of wasteland nearby vanished, replaced by another forest right next to it.
Gun shadows flickered.
Once again, a few gaunt gray wolves fell at the hands of the trio. After clearing this area, which was the size of two stages, Luo Bin picked a sturdy-looking wolf, skinned and carved its meat, chipped off some wooden branches from a nearby tree, and started a fire.
“Kid, I’ll teach you how to roast meat.”
Liang Xi nodded.
Luo Bin was skilled in his movements and had brought seasoning packs before coming. Right there, he put on a real show for the two of them. Since everyone hadn’t eaten much, Luo Bin was basically taking them out to see the world and have a picnic combined.
About halfway through the roasting, the small patch of barren land nearby slowly transformed into a new forest scene.
There seemed to be a faintly visible wooden cabin within it.
“Looks like someone lives there?”
“No, there can’t be anyone in there. If it’s a humanoid creature, then we need to be careful.”
Luo Bin glanced at it and gestured for Liang Xi to take over the skewered wolf meat. He wiped his hands, picked up the steel rod, and headed toward it.
Yang Zicang followed.
“Woo-ow~”
Swarms of shadows rushed out from the surrounding darkness.
“So many?” Luo Bin was startled.
[Liang Xi wants to make an active investment in me.]
[Liang Xi invested 50N in me.]
This vista had expanded significantly in size.
“We’ve already stabilized two forest zones—this is the third. The more we stabilize the same type of terrain, the faster other undisclosed forest zones will appear.”
A golden phantom aura shimmered around the steel rod in Luo Bin’s hand. Although he hadn’t bothered with physical training, someone who had struggled and survived here for three years was clearly no waste.
“After all, this is just a C-level zone, and it’s not that big. It only took clearing two to trigger terrain convergence.”
In the face of the gray wolves that pounced suddenly, his movements were agile, fast and precise. In almost a flash, he accurately ended the lives of two nearby vicious wolves.
Thud! Thud!
Yang Zicang swung his spear like a child fighting, but it moved strangely fast, carrying a semblance of convincing power.
[I gained a total of 2.11N.]
Two wolves fell to the ground.
Counting the two smaller landform areas from earlier, this trip has already netted nearly five years of temporal sequence.
This is the source of temporal sequence for most people around here.
It might seem decent, but they only have half a month to accumulate them, with three hundred years left to hold back for the end of the month—the pressure is palpable.
“Too many. I’ll go alone.”
[Investor Luo Bin wishes to make an active investment for me.]
[Luo Bin invests 100N for me.]
Protected by a quadruple amplification, Yang Zicang grabbed his spear and charged into an area over ten meters away.
The wolf pack had been waiting for a while, and several vicious figures sprang at him.
Spear shadows flickered; though many wolves were there, up close with Yang Zicang, they scratched narrowly past him without landing a blow on the young man.
Thump! Grunt! One gray wolf after another collapsed into pools of blood, staining the ground crimson. They seemed to rush right onto the spear tips.
Behind him, Luo Bin stood dumbfounded.
After cleaning up, Yang Zicang reached for the wooden door but couldn’t help thinking of that rusty iron door from before.
“Shouldn’t be that unlucky.”
Still uneasy, he circled the wooden cabin and found a gap—from a rain-preserved warped plank due to leakage—to peer inside.
He peered through the gap to find the interior had been abandoned for a long time. It only contained some supplies left by hunters—ropes, an axe, nails—along with withered wolf skins hanging on the wall and a sturdy bow.