Chapter 133: Aberrant 23

Cheng Chu, codenamed “Angel,” and four other Judgers weaved through the alleys of Monster Domain.

Unlike the two groups they had just encountered, who headed straight for Tianzi Building, these five were searching the streets for something.

A red-eyed young boy in the group asked, “Tianping… is he really dead? How could he die here?”

As Tianping’s close friend, he still couldn’t believe it.

Cheng Chu didn’t look back, his voice heavy with sorrow: “I wish it weren’t true, but we have to face reality.”

The boy wanted to say more but was hushed by a companion and fell silent.

Cheng Chu was the most devastated here—after all, Tianping was his own younger brother.

Players bound to the Survival System receive random game missions every month. For veterans, these aren’t difficult. Some larger organizations, besides the monthly random missions, also use Tickets to enter various domain instances to train themselves.

The day before Tianping was pulled into this month’s random game, he and two friends were still playing together, planning to use Tickets next time to explore a domain. But then they suddenly heard news of a partner’s death.

Cheng Chu and Tianping once bound a special item together—when one runs into trouble, the other is immediately alerted.

In the days after Tianping’s accident, they all suffered greatly. After grieving, Cheng Chu immediately traced the incident to Monster Domain. So when the domain reopened, he came straight here with his team.

Tianping’s death was irreversible, but they had to find out who killed him—and take revenge!

Soon, Cheng Chu followed the signal from the bonded special item to a dead-end alley.

Tianping’s body had long been devoured by the domain, leaving only some dried brown blood splattered on the wall. Soon, even that trace would disappear.

Cheng Chu silently touched the bloodstains on the wall, took a deep breath, and stepped back. “Mirror, come have a look.”

A beautiful young woman in the group stepped forward. Her ability was to reconstruct the death scene from the traces left behind.

After about ten minutes, she stopped her power, her face pale as she said, “I saw it—it was Black Rabbit.”

“That Pyramid villain?!” The young boy who had been staring at her immediately scowled fiercely and shouted, “We have to kill him! Torture him so he regrets killing Tianping!”

Before coming, they all assumed Tianping died at the hands of the domain’s Weird Entities, who were indeed very powerful here. They hadn’t expected it was their rival.

If it weren’t mandatory to stay seven days before leaving, they would have rushed out by now to hunt down Black Rabbit and kill him.

“Pray for him,” said the older woman, folding her hands.

The others fell silent and clasped their hands to mourn their fallen comrade.

Li Dashao and his group arrived at Tianzi Building.

At this time, Monster Domain was arguably at its safest—Aberrant had just fallen into slumber, and the Weird Entities inside Tianzi Building were less active during the day than at night, manageable enough for them.

Liu Zhi’s wounds hadn’t healed yet, so she stayed close to Li Dashao, accompanying him into the building.

“No need to be so careful, I can protect myself,” Li Dashao said, patting Liu Zhi’s hand.

Liu Zhi smiled at him, “I can’t let you get hurt even a little.”

Li Dashao suffered from a stubborn genetic disease with no cure; no one knew when his genes might collapse, leaving him a wreck. No matter how capable he was, the Li family patriarch never dared entrust him with full power.

There was always a subtle distance between grandfather and grandson. When the Li family’s younger young master died in Monster Domain, the patriarch flew into a rage. Even without evidence, he suspected Li Dashao, scolding him fiercely at the company and demanding he come to Monster Domain himself.

Li Dashao put on a good show both at home and work, following the patriarch’s orders to come here.

As they stepped into the otherwise ordinary-looking Tianzi Building, Li Dashao calmly asked, “Yu Xi died here?”

“Yes. We almost escaped back then, but… Aberrant was just too strong,” Liu Zhi said regretfully.

Li Dashao stood where there was no visible trace, looked around twice, then began inspecting the building’s surroundings.

He’d never been to such a “slum-like” place before.

Casually, he remarked, “You said Yu Xi became a Weird Entity?”

“Yes, a gray shadow. You’d probably have to wait until the sixth basement floor of Tianzi Building appears to see him.”

“Alright, then we’ll wait for him to show up. After all, he’s my younger brother. I want to see him one last time.”

“For now, we should leave…”

“Young master! Something’s wrong!” A bodyguard, tasked with alerting nearby danger, suddenly pointed to a wall.

The old lime-and-cement wall of Tianzi Building suddenly changed—disappearing and transforming into a lavish corridor lined with a red carpet. Golden-framed paintings hung on both sides, dark red wallpaper patterned with designs connected to gold trim.

Li Dashao felt the soft carpet beneath his feet. Behind him stood only one bodyguard, while Liu Zhi and two others were instantly separated by the shifting space.

At the same time, the Association’s five-person team nearby also sensed something wrong. Vice President Cui watched as the transformation spread outward from Tianzi Building.

At first, a faint silhouette of a castle appeared in the air, like a mirage. But quickly, the illusion became more real.

A red-spired castle occupied half of Tianzi Building, merging with it in a twisted, jagged shape, like two burnt toys stuck together.

Outside Tianzi Building, the streets took on garden corners—water lilies, irises, wooden bridges, and weeping willows sprouted on the street corners.

Various art sculptures appeared scattered in the street—some half-buried in the ground, others emerging from dusty walls, even a half fountain plaza appeared, splitting a street’s buildings in two.

The small house where the five from the Association were located also began to change. Several cedar trees appeared inside, and a young girl who hadn’t reacted in time nearly got tangled in the branches.

Pulled back several steps by a companion, the girl stammered, “Could this… this be a Domain Fusion?”

The young man holding her smiled bitterly. “You actually guessed it right. Magpie, oh Magpie, you shouldn’t be called Magpie—you should rename yourself Crow!”

Vice President Cui’s face turned ashen. He’d only heard of Domain Fusion before and was experiencing it for the first time. Even within the Association, there was very little information on it.

This kind of fusion was usually temporary. For example, a Mission cycle in Monster Domain lasted seven days; after that, the fusion would disappear.

But the fusion of two domains made things twice as complicated. At this moment, Vice President Cui couldn’t even tell which domains were fusing.

“Shuhang, which domain is this?” Vice President Cui asked.

“It should be the Blood Castle located in Eagle Nation. It’s also a Weird Entities domain,” the young man holding Magpie thought for a moment, uncertain.

Usually, players enter domains in their own regions. The world is divided into nine zones, and only a few players occasionally enter domains from other zones. So the Association knew little about Weird Entities domains in other regions.

“This is trouble.”

“Vice President Cui, should we continue with the previous plan?”

“Hmph, of course we continue. It’s just a minor hiccup!” Cui said firmly.

Just then, a man and woman from another region ran over, screaming in terror.

Vice President Cui, not understanding their language, asked, “Shuhang, what are they saying?”

Shuhang replied, “They’re calling for help, asking the heavens what is happening.”

A group of people dressed in black robes and wielding large scythes chased after them. In a few swift blows, the couple was killed. Then the group knelt down with the severed heads, smeared blood on the ground, and shouted fanatically.

Vice President Cui asked, “Who are these people, and what are they saying now?”

Shuhang said, “They seem to be invoking some evil god. Looks like these players belong to a certain cult from another region.”

As they spoke, the robed group spotted them. One pointed his scythe and led the charge toward them.

Vice President Cui: “…”

Shuhang: “Should we fight?”

Vice President Cui: “Is that even a question? Let’s kill them!”

The chaos affected all players. The messy fused domain was filled with noise everywhere.

Meanwhile, Qian had just woken up.

Rubbing her eyes, she opened the door and saw at the end of the corridor a dazzling golden hall.

Rubbing her eyes again and again, the hall didn’t disappear.

Qian thought: What is this!?

With wide eyes, holding her cheeks, she ran toward it. Half the hall’s door was stuck against the wall. Qian grabbed the golden doorknob, blinking as the crystal chandelier hanging above flashed into her eyes.

Sparkling overhead, reflecting below, and beneath her feet lay a thick red carpet.

“Oh wow!” Qian’s mouth formed an O.

She gasped, ran across the hall, passed through a golden arch, and saw two spiral staircases. She tapped the golden lion on the stair railing.

Climbing the stairs, she pushed open a door leading to an equally magnificent corridor, lined on both sides with rows of knight armor holding swords, gleaming silver.

Qian looked up as she walked past, tapped the armor’s leg plates, then noticed several oil paintings on the wall.

All were portraits: a young couple with two children—a boy and a girl who seemed to be twins. The whole family had blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Ah… aaaaaah!”

A sudden scream startled Qian. She ran toward the end of the corridor where the sound came from.

Leaning on the golden carved railing, looking down, Qian saw a tall brown-haired man struggling and screaming wildly on the red carpet, as if drowning.

Two little girls in dresses, holding hands, squatted beside him, laughing coldly at his struggles.

Suddenly, the two girls looked up simultaneously, locking their eyes precisely on Qian at the second-floor railing.

Then their figures vanished downstairs, but two shadows fell beside Qian. The two girls who had just been below appeared beside her.

They wore identical dresses, had the same blonde hair and blue eyes, and looked exactly like the children in the portraits Qian had just seen in the corridor. Except in the portraits there was one boy and one girl, while in front of her both girls wore dresses.

They looked at Qian and spoke simultaneously.

To Qian’s ears: “&…&&%.”

She didn’t understand.

“Hello,” Qian said, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The two girls exchanged a glance. One reached out to pluck the bougainvillea clip from Qian’s hair; the other pinched her cheek.

They whispered to each other for a moment, seeming to reach a consensus. Then each took one of Qian’s hands.