Chapter 573: Chu Mo Island (Thirty-Eight)
Chapter 573: Chu Mo Island (Thirty-Eight)
When Feng Bu Jue returned to the corridor exit, the Silkworm Mother had already vanished without a trace, and Fei Chai Shu was nowhere to be found.
Looking upward, he saw that the silk webs they had slashed through had fully restored themselves. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the damaged sections had been patched with fresh, lighter-colored silk threads.
"What's going on here..." Feng Bu Jue murmured, his brows furrowing. "Were they captured?" He checked the game menu again—the team interface still showed Fei Chai Shu's status as [Surviving]. "Or did they escape on their own?"
As Feng Bu Jue pondered, he began examining the environment. His gaze first fell on the Blade Butterfly Queen's corpse. "Not even a slight movement..." He muttered, then shifted his eyes to the nearby crystal pillars. "The damage on the crystal pillars also matches exactly what we left behind."
"Hmm... Doesn't seem like any fierce combat took place here." Feng Bu Jue stroked his chin. "So it was definitely some form of control ability."
Suddenly, something caught his eye. Feng Bu Jue immediately took several steps forward and crouched down. "This cigarette butt..." He picked it up from the ground, carefully inspecting it. "This is undoubtedly Fei Chai Shu's. Assuming he lit it right after we left, then used conversation to stall the boss... Based on the burn pattern, the cigarette would have fallen to the ground approximately two minutes later."
"But..." Feng Bu Jue dropped the cigarette butt and stood. "The time point when Hong Hu and the others were [controlled] was about five minutes after they started running. Could it be..." He looked up again at the silk web overhead. "...Could it be that this boss's ability to control others using silk threads has a delay when the target moves farther away?"
"Hey! You alright?" Tian Ma Xing Kong's voice suddenly rang out.
Feng Bu Jue turned to see Brother Horse, Ji Bu, and Hong Hu dashing toward him.
"Aren't you guys going to rest a bit more?" Feng Bu Jue asked calmly.
"What kind of hero would let someone in need wait?" Tian Ma Xing Kong replied loudly.
It had to be said—the guy was truly impressive. Just minutes ago, he had nearly hit zero stamina, yet now he looked as energetic as ever.
"Heh... Hah..." Ji Bu, as always, started huffing the moment he stopped moving. "I'd rather fight than do these long-distance sprints back and forth!"
"Was Fei Chai Shu captured?" Though Hong Hu's face was covered in cold sweat, he managed to maintain composure. His thinking remained sharp, so his first question was quite insightful. "You've already examined the scene—any conclusions?"
"Eighty percent chance the boss took him." Feng Bu Jue shrugged. "After all, from the team interface, we can directly eliminate the [death] possibility."
"What about the remaining twenty percent?" Hong Hu adjusted his glasses, testing the waters. "Could Fei Chai Shu have escaped from the boss's control using his own strength, but is now somewhere unknown?"
"Precisely." Feng Bu Jue replied. "For anyone else, those twenty percent odds wouldn't exist, but Fei Chai Shu... might actually pull it off."
"Mm-hmm, that sunglasses guy runs deep." Tian Ma Xing Kong nodded sagely.
"Huh... So what should we do now?" Ji Bu finally caught his breath and asked. "Go find him?"
"Of course!" Tian Ma Xing Kong immediately responded. "How could a Justice hero abandon their companions?"
"Firstly, I'm not a hero." Feng Bu Jue narrowed his eyes. "Secondly, at least in this game, I'm firmly part of the Evil Faction..." He licked his lips. "But... considering our new main quest hasn't appeared yet, we don't seem to have much else to do besides searching for Fei Chai Shu."
"Eh~" Ji Bu suddenly blurted out, "You don't think Fei Chai Shu might've run back into the corridor, right?"
At his words, everyone instinctively turned toward the corridor exit.
"You know... in an emergency, that's actually quite plausible." Hong Hu mused.
"If that's the case, he wouldn't have gone far." Feng Bu Jue said, already walking toward the corridor. "Because the Silkworm Mother can't chase him inside. As long as Fei Chai Shu stays near the exit, waiting for the boss to leave, he can just walk back out."
[Warning: The area ahead is filled with Defenseritual Array energy.]
As Feng Bu Jue reached the corridor exit but before he took a step inside, a system prompt sounded.
"Well... Guess we can forget that hypothesis." Feng Bu Jue immediately turned back and informed his teammates.
Everyone approached to test it themselves and received the system prompt.
"This confirms our earlier speculation." Feng Bu Jue said. "The previous main quest didn't mention [erasure] for this reason. If we hadn't exited the corridor by the time limit, the Defenseritual Array would activate, leading to a party wipe ending."
"Fair enough..." Hong Hu replied. "At least we've confirmed Fei Chai Shu is still within this Crystal Labyrinth, and confirmed we have no turning back."
[Main Quest Updated]
[Side Quest Triggered]
Just as the four discussed their next move, two new task prompts appeared simultaneously.
They opened their game menus to check—new main quest: [Reach the Despair Cage]; new side quest: [Rescue Fei Chai Shu before his death (or other scenario-exit conditions)].
"Hey hey... This time's main quest has no restrictions at all!" Ji Bu exclaimed. "Not only did they remove [erasure], they didn't even give us a time limit!"
"Heh... Seems easier at first glance, doesn't it?" Feng Bu Jue said with bitter smile. "But think deeper... This is where they really screw us over!"
"Precisely", Hong Hu added. "Time limits aren't just restrictions—they're also hints. From the system's provided time constraints, we could roughly gauge task target distance and required average completion time." He paused, swallowing. "But this main quest gives us absolutely no clues—just a simple sentence. This will be much harder than the previous ones."
"Let's not focus on the main quest for now", Tian Ma Xing Kong interjected. "Rescuing our Justice comrade is the top priority!"
"Right... Let's consider the side quest first." Feng Bu Jue said listlessly. "Now that the system has informed us of Fei Chai Shu's situation, judging from the quest content... He probably doesn't have much time left."
(End of Chapter)
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