Dark Moon Era

Chapter 368: Sub-mission

Huuu, huuu, huuu!

Laying on the door, the large hole in Tonnies’ stomach bled ceaselessly.

Maybe because of his posture, his wound was not as bad as the lady’s who had died in the stable whereby all her organs had spilled out.

However, judging from Tonnies’ darkening eyes and heavy breaths, it was impossible for him to survive this.

“No matter who I am, I wish you can understand that I’m not the one who’s after you. I’m not involved in any murder either. I’m just a victim.” Tang Ling squatted down, removed Tonnies’ armor and put pressure on the wound. It was the only thing he could do for Tonnies at the moment.

Tonnies stared into Tang Ling’s eyes. His lips were trembling as he seemed to have something on his mind, but only heavy groans were heard from his throat before he spat a mouthful of blood out.

Tonnies was a fighter, so his strong physique granted him one last chance to fight. He mustered all his strength and pointed at his neck.

Tang Ling saw a pendant hanging from there. When he took it out, he realized that it was actually a copper key.

“Do you want me to have this?” he asked with a frown before he probed the key in his hand. There was nothing special on the copper key except for roughly etched initials and a number ’11’at the bow of the key.

Tonnies nodded with his remaining strength and dipped his finger in his own blood. He could no longer speak as blood drowned his throat, so he had to dip his finger and arduously write his message on the floor.

Tang Ling dared not interrupt Tonnies as he waited. He decided to close the door and not open it because when he grabbed the handle, he took a glance at the man and realized that he was muttering inaudibly, “W-wait.”

Tang Ling’s sharp perception told him that staying back might be fruitful. Therefore, he did not chase the attacker and decided to wait for Tonnies’ final message.

‘Let’s just hope I made the right choice,’ Tang Ling prayed in his heart. He realized the Dream Domain’s setting was somewhat disgusting and would not allow anyone to exploit the loopholes.

Similar to how he delicately planned to fish for more information and had the Blood Bulrush Sword as his trump card, the Dream Domain immediately adjusted his main mission from breaking out to surviving for 24 hours.

It was obvious that the previous main mission was one that required him to use force, yet he had decided to go with the smart way and use his quick wits to hide in a relatively safe prison cell. By doing so, he provided himself with a safe period and conveniently completed a part of his mission, not by force but with his quick-wits.

Therefore, in the new main mission, the difficulty had obviously mounted, and without a doubt, this 24-hour survival game would be harder than breaking out of the prison.

While Tang Ling was combing through his thoughts, Tonnies had written two words on the floor.

The first word was ‘help’ written in the Light Continent language.

The second word was ‘number’.

The two words were as simple as they could be, but Tonnies was unable to provide more explanation, hence Tang Ling had to find out the meaning behind these two words.

Tonnies wanted to write the third word. His finger was trembling as he arduously moved his wrist, but he was at his limit. He only managed to write a ‘W’ for his last word before he stopped.

Choking groans came from his throat again and blood spewed from his mouth. His legs suddenly contracted and he grabbed Tang Ling’s wrist tightly, looking at him with anticipation and yearning. He was at his last moments, but he did not want to gulp his last breath.

“Fine, I’ll do my best to carry out your last wish. It may be difficult since we can’t communicate anymore,” said Tang Ling. He paused for a moment before he said, “May God bless you and may you rest in peace.”

These words were probably the friendliest thing he could say to Tonnies.

After Tang Ling’s assuring words, Tonnies heaved a breath of relief. As the last breath escaped his body, his tight grip on Tang Ling’s wrist slackened.

Tang Ling stood up and kept the key, unable to describe his feelings at the moment, but he stared at the ‘W’ for a few seconds.

What was he trying to write? This mission is really confusing and mysterious.

Tang Ling looked away, and at the same time, the notification voice came into his head again.

‘Poor Tonnies. You might have consoled him at his last moment, but he wasn’t sure you could carry out his last wish, so he didn’t leave in peace.

‘Dear Danny, do you want to accept the sub-mission “Salvation—Tonnies’ Last Wish”?

‘If your answer is yes, the sub-mission will start and you’ll be given 48 hours to complete the mission. Rewards will vary depending on the rating acquired and the failure penalty is Tonnies’ grudge. Never underestimate one’s presence, what more an innocent man like Tonnies! His presence will more or less affect the real world. You might be more unlucky or a third of your strength might be forever taken away. Do note that a third of your strength is calculated based on your actual strength level.

‘If your answer is no, the sub-mission won’t start and you won’t have to pay the price.”

“It finally came.” Tang Ling had actually kept Tonnies’ key away, but after the voice spoke to him, he could not help but look at the key again.

The penalty was harsh! Should he fail, he would have to lose a third of his strength. That was not a price that he could afford to pay!

He was still in the middle of the Hell Ledge Challenge back in real life, and if he really lost a third of his strength, he would be left with the strength of six bulls. Should that really happen, he would not even be qualified as a genius, let alone challenge Hell Ledge.

As for the term ‘forever taken away’, it must mean a permanent loss of his strength.

For example with Tang Ling’s potential, he could train his strength to achieve 1,000 kg of punching force, but after it was taken away, even if he could grow further, the highest limit that he could reach might be 970 kg of punching force. His maximum limit would forever be lost.

Severe! The penalty was merciless!

However, the more severe the penalty was, would that mean the more alluring the reward would be? Tang Ling was not greedy, but if he could get it, he would. His crazy hobby of dancing on the edge of life and death ignited in his heart, and he felt excited about it.

He selected ‘yes’ without a second thought! He was looking forward to Liu He delivering him more Dream Coins.

From the moment he made his choice, a 48-hour counter appeared in his head.

At the same time, his main mission 1, the 24-hour survival game, was suddenly activated.

New information from the Dream Domain was then delivered into his mind. ‘Tonnies’ death is a signal. This city will change subtly because of his death and it isn’t good news for you. You must survive this.’

Tonnies’ death is a signal?

Tang Ling stretched his neck. He felt that the several strips of vicious beast meat that he had eaten earlier had more or less been digested, so he tore more strips and put them in his mouth, chewing as he thought. He wanted to analyze the situation before he made the next step.

The Dream Domain was constantly changing and adapting to the Dream Seed’s actions. Tang Ling’s plan would actually put him in a position with many options, but the Dream Domain would take the options away with its setting.

If I can’t choose, can I think about it for a second?

The Dream Domain answered Tang Ling’s question quickly and it was a solid ‘no’! Missions that involved force would not provide Tang Ling with the time to think or plan.

All of a sudden, Tang Ling heard a commotion from outside the prison cell window as if a group of people had noticed Tonnies’ death and warned the others about Tang Ling’s suspicious presence.

That was not even the worst! The worst was that Tang Ling heard footsteps from outside the prison cell. It was closing in on him.

Like hell if I can think in this situation!

Tang Ling quickly pulled Tonnies’ body away from the door, opened it and dashed out.

He did not act like a smartass and decide to escape through the window even though he believed that he could do so with the Blood Bulrush Sword.

After eating some vicious beast meat, Tang Ling’s body had recovered to the level at which he had first gotten out of the closed training camp in the safety sector. However, his recovered power level in this world only made him a little stronger than a common man like Tonnies. Compared to his prime form, he was a total weakling.

Tang Ling did not believe Tonnies’ strength level was equivalent to the enemy. If it was, he would not be a dead ‘NPC[1]’.

With that in mind, Tang Ling dashed to the nearest cell, and without a second thought, he used his Blood Bulrush Sword to slash the handle and kick it open.

Nothing!

He went to the second cell, the third, and so on. As he kicked down the doors of the cells, a slightly withered figure in a black robe appeared at the end of the corridor.

Tang Ling was unsure whether this black-robed figure was the one who had yanked something from Tonnies’ stomach, but he was not slow by any means.

The figure also noticed Tang Ling the moment he broke out of his cell. The figure also realized what Tang Ling was trying to do. A slight pause later, the figure sped forward and charged towards Tang Ling.

Damn it! He’s fast!

With Tang Ling’s current speed, fighting the mysterious black-robed figure would be suicidal, but he managed to break down at least six cell doors in the meantime.

Every cloud had a silver lining. Tang Ling had expected things to go out of control and he had been paying attention to his neighboring cells, trying to sense if they were holding other prisoners. If there were, what kind of prisoners would they be?

Tang Ling had his own theory. The prison was actually highly secured, so the prisoners should not be the typical kind.

Felons? Death convicts? Who knew?!

The important thing was were these felons threatening? How powerful were they?

Tang Ling had been thinking about how to find out about his neighbors. He wanted more information about the felons. When Tonnies came into his cell earlier, he had spoken in a hurry and forgotten to close the door, so it was open for quite a while before he closed it.

Tang Ling exaggerated his explanations because he wanted to attract the attention of the other prisoners while he was listening to their response.

If a person heard a topic that interested him, he would surely show some reaction.

Tang Ling’s hearing was outstanding. Even if his strength was suppressed and his hearing was slightly affected, he was still a lot more sensitive towards noise compared to normal people. After al, his ears were naturally sensitive.

With his Precise Instinct, he could roughly estimate the person’s strength level based on the breathing.

To his surprise, this prison might actually be holding…monsters!

[1] NPC refers to “non-player character” which is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player.