Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 112: Chapter 108: Painter

But this is even more tempting, who can resist the allure of numerical monsters?

Xu Dejun, amidst his regret, also pondered over the current situation.

The Peaceful Town Dungeon differed somewhat from their initial expectations, but the outcome was still good.

As long as Sword Star can complete the reincarnation steadily, the future remains promising.

The only problem is, they had been able to suppress things largely because of Sword Star’s breakthrough at the critical moment; without it, Director Gao wouldn’t have accepted reconciliation so easily.

Now that the breakthrough was fake, the issue becomes complicated.

They must compensate them further.

Xu Dejun thought for a moment and said, ”Shi Ning’s lecture tour happens to be heading to Wanghai City. Sword Star, you go with the lecture team to Wanghai and work under Director Gao until your reincarnation task is completed, and while at it, guide those newcomers you’ve implicated a bit.”

Sword Star nodded in agreement, ”Yes.”

As the person in charge of Wanghai City, Director Gao focused his attention on the first part, unlike Sword Star.

”Old Xu, is Professor Shi’s lecture already reaching second-tier cities?”

Shi Ning, a professor at Yan University, is currently holding lectures on consciousness and energy.

The content mainly revolves around the mutual attraction between consciousness and energy, group hysteria akin to the Mandela Effect, and the possible existence of parallel worlds.

On the surface, it is a scientific lecture, but in fact, it explains recent anomalies worldwide while paving the way for the public revelation of extraordinary abilities.

Shi Ning’s lectures used to stay in first-tier cities, but this time, surprisingly, he chose Wanghai.

Xu Dejun sighed, ”There’s no other way. Chaos is imminent, and the existence of the Abyssal Game can’t be hidden much longer. Instead of confronting the Abyssal Game unprepared, it’s better for people to have some mental preparation so they can accept it more easily in the future.”

After the issue with Sword Star was settled, Xu Dejun talked a bit about the recent layout and prepared to leave.

Lin Jiang noticed this, stood up to leave together, but Director Gao grabbed Lin Jiang’s sleeve.

”Old Lin, you seem to have forgotten something.”

Lin Jiang looked at Director Gao in confusion and asked, ”What have I forgotten?”

Director Gao smiled innocently, saying:

”Do you still remember your promise that if the Peaceful Town could achieve a perfect pass, you would give everyone some perks? When the forced teleportation door opened, I had the Negotiation Master bring a detector inside. The detector just returned the results, and the Peaceful Town indeed achieved a perfect pass. Aren’t we here to share in your good fortune?”

Lin Jiang frowned, feeling quite baffled.

”It was Sword Star who achieved the perfect pass, I only...”

Before Lin Jiang could finish speaking, Lei Huo projected a video onto the big screen in the lounge.

”If the Peaceful Town can achieve a perfect pass, I’ll give each of them ten thousand Rotten Silver Coins as a gift of apology. Not just them, but everyone present can share in the good fortune. Additionally, I’ll give them each permission for one Intermediate Reward Dungeon. Director Gao, what do you think?”

Director Gao coughed lightly, a bit embarrassed, ”It seems you didn’t add that restriction. Old Xu is still here watching; we, the people of the Management Bureau, have always kept our word. I, Gao, am not about to revoke my promise, even if it means running naked around White Water Bay. Are you backing out, Old Lin?”

”You!” Lin Jiang was so angry with Director Gao that he couldn’t speak. He turned to look at Xu Dejun.

Xu Dejun closed his eyes and remained silent.

Not expressing a stance is itself a kind of stance.

Lin Jiang gritted his teeth and said, ”Gao Wenju, you’re something, all right, we’re wrong this time, I’ll acknowledge this account.”

Lin Jiang turned to leave, his foot stepping out, but his body remained in place.

He turned back to look at Director Gao, who was still holding onto him, dissatisfied, ”What else?”

Director Gao, full of embarrassment, said, ”Words alone aren’t proof, Old Lin, can you sign a document?”

Inside a private art gallery.

A melancholic, artistic man stepped out of a gigantic scroll, which burned and turned to ashes behind him.

The Space Item, the World Painting Scroll, vanished completely with the depletion of its effect from that last dungeon.

The artistic man caught a piece of burning ash and put it in his mouth, chewing on it carefully.

At the end of the dungeon, he had sensed an aura similar to the World Painting Scroll.

He had already tracked down the aura of that space item; as long as he got hold of it, he could continue traversing various dungeons, witnessing scenes of art.

As he was sensing the aura of another space item, the museum doors behind him were slammed open, and seven or eight men in robes rushed in.

The leader was a man with his head shaved like a hard-boiled egg, covered in runes from head to toe, wrapped in a cloth full of scripture, skinny and emaciated.

The man, with an angry face, approached the artistic man and shouted:

”Painter, why does my task progress show that the Treasure Seeker completed a trial! We spent a lot of money hiring you to act, and you couldn’t even handle such a small matter; do you think our Peaceful Sect’s money comes easily?”

The artistic man, called the Painter, frowned. He hated rude and uncivilized people.

Especially in this mission, faced with so many art-level emotions, he couldn’t record any; it was incredibly frustrating.

When he is in a bad mood, he becomes not so friendly.

The Painter picked up a white canvas and, with a few strokes, outlined a mouth.

With a crunching sound, the eight bodyguards behind the bald-headed man collectively lost their upper halves, turning into fountains of blood.

The rough textures of the severed bodies showed traces of teeth marks, as if bitten by some giant creature, half of their bodies gone.

The bald-headed man instantly turned pale, retreating a few steps, his voice trembling:

”You can’t treat us like this! I paid!”

The bald-headed man, being a candidate for the Saint Heir of the Peaceful Sect, had bodyguards handpicked from the finest players in the Peace Church.

Each of them was above Level 20; though they received the blessing of the Lord and burned their potential, leaving no room for further progress, their current combat power matched his.

Moreover, they were fearless, able to exert power beyond themselves.

But the Painter crushed them as easily as one might crush a group of ants.

Now the bald-headed man understood why the Archbishop told him never to offend the Painter.

The Painter walked to the bald-headed man, pointed to a sign by the gallery door, and asked with a smile:

”Do you see what it says up there?”

The bald-headed man nodded frantically, ”Yes, it says private premises, no loud noise allowed.”

The Painter turned back to his easel, replaced the canvas, and said slowly:

”I like religion because religion restrains humanity with various rules, and the tighter the restraint, the more intense the desires and emotions burst forth upon release.”

”Desires and emotions are the most brilliant light in the human soul, and they are the art I pursue. If you can’t even learn to follow basic rules, you’re not even qualified to become artistic material.”

The bald-headed man hastily said, ”Your teaching is correct, I will learn.”

The Painter started painting, drawing quickly as if printing the image in his mind directly onto the canvas.

”Don’t worry, I won’t let your money go to waste. People these days are impatient; you should enjoy the process, not just focus on the outcome.”

The bald-headed man stood aside, nodding vigorously.

Yes, yes, you are right. Had I known your prowess, I wouldn’t even have entered without shoe covers, let alone been loud.

Ten minutes later, a painting as detailed as a photograph was complete.

The Painter beckoned, summoning the bald-headed man closer, then grabbed his jaw, shoving the rolled-up painting down his throat.

The thick object sliding down the throat made the bald-headed man shed tears, whimpering in misery.

Once the bald-headed man swallowed the whole painting, he collapsed onto the floor, his body convulsing uncontrollably.

With every convulsion, parts of the drawn pattern emerged on his skin.

The emerged patterns were exactly those of the painting the Painter just created.

The Painter squatted beside the bald-headed man, patting his face.

”I told you, I won’t let your money be wasted. The thing I lodged into your body, don’t even think about trying to remove it yourself. It’s a derailed B-Level dungeon, my satisfying work; you couldn’t buy it even if you spent a fortune.”

”Aren’t you aiming to eliminate Sword Star? Just follow the task guide, find Sword Star in reality, and when you meet, it will explode, going out of control in reality.”

The Painter’s eyes revealed a look of anticipation, ”A suddenly reality-eroding B-Level derailed dungeon is interesting, isn’t it priceless?”

”The most important thing is, success or not, I won’t have to see your face again.”