Chapter 938: Invitation to the Death Zone

938. Invitation to the Death Zone

“We can take a break for an hour. I’m going to do some fishing by the sea.”

Lin Ye took out the Dragon Fishing Rod and cast his line toward the ocean.

Before the hook even hit the water, a Penguin Fragment leaped out of the sea and wrapped itself around the fishing line.

“Quit messing around.”

Lin Ye shook off the Penguin Fragment and cast again. The hook passed through a Spatial Rift and caught a black Death Zone creature on the other side, one only half a meter tall.

The other side of the Spatial Rift was probably some corner of the Death Zone, though Lin Ye had no idea where exactly.

He had learned how to apply spatial knowledge from those abnormal spiritual imprints, so using it was still very unstable.

Lin Ye grabbed the black creature, which resembled the upper half of a small pig, and sensed its bodily structure.

The black creature struggled for only a few seconds before gradually losing its vitality. It seemed it could survive only inside the Death Zone.

Lin Ye tossed the black creature back and cast his line again.

The multi-headed shark beside him had been staring at the black creature and drooling. It looked disappointed now, and rubbed its head against Lin Ye’s left hand, making an ingratiating sound as it tried to reserve the next catch.

“That one was too small. I’ll catch you a big one in a bit.”

Lin Ye kept shaking the Dragon Fishing Rod. This time, the Spatial Rift opened inside a strangely structured building. No matter how much he jiggled the hook, he couldn’t find anything to pull through.

Lin Ye continued fishing in the Death Zone, and soon a pile of all kinds of strange “catches” had accumulated beside the lounge chair.

Among them were stone slabs carved with bizarre patterns, various everyday items, a refrigerator that was rotting away, and fresh chunks of meat from some enormous Death Zone creature…

Lin Ye only stopped after fishing for an hour.

“That’s enough. Send those parasitic nodes into the Death Zone and drain its power.”

Lin Ye put away the Dragon Fishing Rod. From his tests just now, he had discovered that the deep layer of the Death Zone had become unstable. As long as he could keep draining its power, he would be able to deal with it.

“It’s already underway.”

Little Guardian was using the Parasitism Network to observe the structure of the Death Zone. She was very interested in this mental infectious disease.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t a mental attack system. Otherwise, she could have learned more about this area of knowledge with less effort.

The assault on the Death Zone went very smoothly. All the Surface Layers of the Death Zone were shrinking, and the deep layer made no attempt to resist.

Lin Ye sensed the changes in the Death Zone through the Parasitism Network. The Death Zone was not entirely incapable of fighting back. He didn’t believe the Exploration Mission would end so easily.

But the counterattack he expected never came. Even after all the Surface Layers of the Death Zone had vanished, the deep layer still did not resist.

“…The Parasitism Network has covered this entire planet. All the Surface Layers of the Death Zone have been destroyed, and the deep layer has disappeared.”

Little Guardian sensed the area several more times, but she couldn’t find the deep layer of the Death Zone.

“It must have hidden itself… So it can do that.”

Lin Ye could more or less guess where the deep layer of the Death Zone was hiding. He got up from the lounge chair and used the Parasitism Network to open a portal to the city shelter.

All the survivors in this world had been sent to this shelter. They had forgotten everything about the Death Zone and the Death Plague, but they had not managed to sever their connection to the Death Zone.

As long as there were still survivors in this world, the Death Zone would not disappear.

Likewise, as long as there were still survivors in this world, the Death Zone could not leave.

That was why the Death Zone had previously tried to use Kurt to transform all the survivors into Death Plague infected.

It was already preparing to run away.

But Kurt had failed to complete his mission. Lin Ye had prepared his entire brain for him, so Kurt had to do whatever Lin Ye wanted him to do.

“Do you need me to take care of it? If we deal with all the survivors, we should be able to find the Death Zone.”

Little Guardian appeared beside Lin Ye, ever so thoughtful.

“No need. I have a better option.”

A silvery-white full moon appeared behind Lin Ye. The enormous Moon filled the entire sky, and its silvery light spilled across the ground, illuminating the whole city and all the survivors.

In the deepest shadows behind those survivors, something utterly chaotic was hiding. It was the deep layer of the Death Zone.

A blurry human silhouette appeared behind Lin Ye and moved slowly along with him.

Lin Ye used the Parasitism Network to temporarily separate the deep layer of the Death Zone from the survivors. Then he took out the Spiral Maze of Flesh and Spirit and locked the deep layer inside it.

After dealing with the deep layer of the Death Zone, Lin Ye deactivated the Parasitism Network and recalled all the spiritual imprints into the mental world.

Then Lin Ye took care of a few final tasks and chose to return to the Shelter.

………………………………………

【Exploration Mission Complete】

【System evaluation increased】

【Obtained Exploration Chest*1】

【Please draw Today’s Card】

“My turn! Draw!”

This time, the card showed a red pelican. The card dissolved, and a red pelican with its beak wide open appeared in the middle of the Shelter.

“Squawk, squawk.”

The pelican tilted its head and looked at Lin Ye with its round eyeball.

“Let me finish sorting out the loot first, then I’ll make you dinner.”

Lin Ye stroked the pelican’s long, slender beak. The pelican opened its mouth and swallowed his entire arm.

Its belly was very warm. Lin Ye felt around inside for a while, but couldn’t touch anything.

“Quit it.”

Lin Ye pulled out his right hand and opened the Exploration Chest.

Inside was a white card made of an unknown material.

【Death Zone Invitation】

【Use the invitation to enter the Death Zone】

【Note: Please come back to explore another time】

“…So the Death Plague is a mental infectious disease connected to the Death Zone? What kind of place is the Death Zone?”

Lin Ye thought for a moment, then put the invitation away. He couldn’t go to such a dangerous place yet.

Besides the Exploration Chest, Lin Ye had also fished up some “catches” from the Death Zone. After checking the system information, he found that the Death Zone’s items were basically worthless junk.

Lin Ye took out the Spiral Maze of Flesh and Spirit and checked the system information.

【Spiral Maze of Flesh and Spirit】

【This is a spiral maze made from a mixture of flesh and spirit. Its creator incorporated a great deal of complicated knowledge, then added a special fragment connected to the Death Zone. It is said to imprison two deities】

【Note: This is a work of art in the process of approaching perfection】

After putting away the Spiral Maze of Flesh and Spirit, Lin Ye reflected that his main gains this time had still been the various kinds of knowledge he had acquired through contact with the Death Zone.

After sorting out the loot, Lin Ye tidied up the Shelter and spent some time tending to its plants and animals. Then he prepared a lavish dinner for the pelican before starting on his own dinner.