Dark Moon Era

Kun was stunned.

 In fact, the upcoming mission had lost its meaning. Tang Ling’s unbelievable gamble put the proud and almighty Kun in an awkward position.

 Increase the difficulty? No, it would go against the most basic of rules, which was grinding the Dream Seed on the line of life and death! No matter how outstanding Tang Ling’s performance was or how well the Dream Domain could self-adjust, Kun could no longer increase the difficulty. He would be breaking the rules if he did. The missions assigned to Tang Ling were considered the most difficult among the list of missions given to the pre-Purple Moon Warriors.

 Would he simply allow Tang Ling to complete the mission?

 Just look at what Tang Ling had gotten up until this point! The precious jade had landed its innocent possessor in prison!

 Tang Ling did not seem to understand the saying, and if he was simply allowed to complete the mission freely, he would probably search up and down for more spoils.

 Kun did not want Tang Ling to possess things that did not match his strength level in such an early stage, it would not provide much help to his growth.

 However, if Tang Ling reaped the rewards with his own effort, Kun would not take them away from him either. That included the Dream Coins that he had gotten and would be getting, or the items and spoils that he had collected from his enemies within the Dream Domain.

 “What’s wrong? Feeling awkward?” Ya was delighted. Beating Kun at everything was a joy to him. Even though it was Tang Ling who put Kun in such a position, it did not matter to him.

 Ya even started to admire Tang Ling. The kid had an unusual, attractive sincerity to his actions, but sometimes, he would display the most primal and brazen greed. It was bold yet smart, all of which were displays of the most vivid human nature.

 “Awkward? Not at all.” Kun did not submit verbally, but he had decided to ‘evict’ Tang Ling from the Dream Domain as soon as possible.

 How? A little scare would still be within Kun’s capability.

 However, it was unprecedented that a Dream Seed would be ‘evicted’ from the Dream Domain.

 …

 Swish!

 The alloy longsword reaped the life of another black-robed clergy. Sweat was rolling down Tang Ling’s forehead, but he was very delighted as he stripped the gloves off the dead body and bagged it skillfully.

 If it was possible, he wished that this dream could last longer.

 The earlier stage might be a little difficult, but when he got the rewards, the sweetness melted the bitterness away. Tang Ling liked to use sweetness to describe his battle. It was not a mainstream way to describe it but he did taste the sweetness.

 An hour ago, after he successfully killed the red-robed bishop and was collecting the spoils, another crazy and bold thought popped up in his mind: counterattack! The moment the thought came into his mind, he could no longer hold himself back, so he did as he wished.

 He quickly headed back to where Fatty and the Rose Knights were and officially placed Fatty in the care of the Rose Knights.

 “The difficulty of my mission increased again, but the mission I shared with you earlier should be the same: surviving for 24 hours. I don’t think your mission difficulty will increase. Fatty…Uh, I mean…Ji Chenxi, you should be with the Rose Knights and you can easily clear the 24-hour mission. There are less than 23 hours on the clock, so I guess finding a place to sleep the time away will be better for you.” That was what Tang Ling told Fatty.

 After hearing what Tang Ling said, Fatty blinked. An unfamiliar emotion was rumbling in his heart—gallantry.

 However, the gallantry quickly faded when he thought about how mad Tang Ling was as he danced in and out of death’s doorway and the helpless feeling when he searched for the horses. He really wanted to slap himself a hundred times over.

 Then, that was it. Fatty ultimately responded with few blank blinks and nothing else.

 “Bro, as your brother, I can’t stop you if you want to go on by yourself, but I have a question, and I can’t breathe if I don’t get it out of my mind.” On second thought, Fatty decided to ask before Tang Ling went off and the question remained in his heart, baffling him.

 “A question? Ask away.” Tang Ling immediately felt sour in his heart when he answered Fatty.

 This motherf*cking Fatty’s accent is infectious. Why am I talking in his accent? 

 “Why did you send me to find horses? They ain’t useful either.” Fatty finally vented the question that has been troubling him. Indeed, what were the horses for? In front of these supermen, the horses were like a joke. If they traveled by horse, the red-robed bishop would probably catch up with them.

 “Three reasons. First, I have to give you something to do.” Tang Ling did not seem like he was joking at all. Back then, in order to make sure Fatty was safe, sending him away was the most important of all. However, as his partner, ignorance was denying Fatty’s capabilities, but Tang Ling did not want to hurt his pride like that.

 Tang Ling was always like such. He was bold and brazen at times but also meticulous and caring. His care for people around him was not displayed verbally but would surface in the form of feelings, especially the warmth.

 Fatty was caught off-guard by the answer, and he felt teary and moved in the next second. He was basically useless in battle, but he was good at something: being understanding and sociable. He knew that the feeling of being depended on was very important to a person.

 “That’s it?” Despite the touching feeling in his heart, Fatty still showed an unhappy pout.

 “I wish! Actually…” As Tang Ling elaborated, he took something out from his backpack.

 “Why the hell are you keeping this for?!” Fatty squealed in shock immediately and the Rose Knights behind him were instantly alarmed and cautious.

 “It’s nothing. These two Demon Seeds are unconscious, so they are harmless now and killable.” Tang Ling slowly tightened his palms and the two unconscious Demon Seeds were strangled to death.

 The bodies should not be wasted! Even though they were still at the infant stage, the appendages were still tough. Tang Ling stuffed the Demon Seeds back into his backpack and continued leisurely, “I actually observed a lot of problems in the murder case that I ran into when I came into the dream.

 “Back then, I witnessed the so-called scene of the murder in that alleyway. I sharply realized that the cuts are not caused by someone from the outside. It’s a cut from the inside out as if something burst open,” Tang Ling searched his backpack as he explained. Then, he fished out a pack of cigarettes that he had brought into the Dream Domain.

 He lit it up naturally and gave Fatty a stick. He noticed that the Rose Knights were looking at him with a curious gaze and he passionately shared it with them. The pitiful Rose Knights were stained by this unhealthy bad habit, but they did not know any better. Instead, they seemed to be interested in the smoke coming out from his nose.

 “You managed to observe all that? But what does it mean?” Fatty took a happy puff. He could never bring such things into the Dream Domain. Even in the real world, he had to hide in the corner to steal a puff or two.

 “At the scene of the murder, other than the dead woman, there was also a horse. As for why the horse died, I didn’t have the answer back then, but I got the similarities.” Tang Ling did not get into detail. With Precise Instinct, every detail would be revealed to his sight. Furthermore, Tang Ling was a veteran killer, so of course he knew the difference between internal and external cuts.

“What’s the similarities?” Fatty pressed the question. He admired Tang Ling a lot. This kid might seem crazy but his observations are sick!

 “It’s the neck. The woman and the horse’s neck. There are two tiny holes around the cut. The shapes are the same and they lined up in the same way. I noticed the tiny holes on Tonnies and Bick as well,” Tang Ling explained.

 Tonnies’ situation was unlike the others, but Tang Ling deemed the details unnecessary for the moment.

 Tang Ling went quiet for a few seconds when Tonnies came into his mind. He continued, “This is why I’m certain Bick was beyond saving back then. I had a feeling Bick knew something, hence his decision to cooperate. But none of that is important. The important thing is, after I noticed these two points, I took a guess: the dead woman and horse must’ve been infected, hence the gory death.” Tang Ling spat a cloud of smoke out.

 “The following matters also proved my speculation, following which I can come up with another theory: those who can be infected can also be fused,” Tang Ling uttered his most important theory while holding the cigarette in his mouth.

 The moment his voice subsided, one of the Rose Knights, who got intoxicated by his first cigarette, came over and tapped Tang Ling’s shoulder. He said loudly, “Bro, I didn’t stop you because I really want to know what your findings are. I’m pretty impressed. You probably came up with the most accurate theory just from a murder scene.

“You’re right. It’s the Fallen Star Church’s handiwork. They used several types of living beings as hosts to breed their so-called Demon Seeds. Once the Demon Seed is matured enough, it will burst out from the host, killing it in the process.

 “However, the matured Demon Seeds are not strong in nature, and they cannot keep growing. They needed a new host to fuse with them. Those monsters are the product of the fusion. The Demon Seeds can infect and fuse with any living being.” The Rose Knight revealed much vital information without pause.

 Fatty was stunned when he heard the revelation. Unconsciously, he asked, “Why didn’t you guys tell me about it before?”

 “With your strength, you’re better off not knowing all this.” The Rose Knight felt embarrassed when asked because he was an honest and straight man.

 Fatty was once again defeated, but thankfully for his previous experience, he was used to such attacks. However, he somehow felt like his pride was challenged.

 Tang Ling casually tapped Fatty’s shoulder and said, “Now that you’ve heard of it, Bro, I want to let you know that your future dream entries will be a lot harder, but I think you can handle it just fine.”

 Tang Ling said it in such a natural way and consoled Fatty yet again. Fatty finally understood his meaning after all the explanation. “I get it now. Are you saying that if the horse can be used as a breeding vessel for the Demon Seeds, it might be able to fuse and form a new type of monster? Did you keep two Demon Seeds because you want to test it on the horses? Do you really think that after the fusion, the horses can run faster?”

“Something like that. It’s more or less the same,” Tang Ling answered Fatty’s question in a vague way.

 “Actually, the fusion monsters are rather disgusting. After so many battles, haven’t you noticed? The Demon Seeds are simply crawling on the backs of the people from the Fallen Star Church.” Tang Ling shifted the topic again, afraid that Fatty might strangle him to death.

 At the next second, Fatty really put his hands around Tang Ling’s neck, “Bro! Why are you guessing everything?! What do you think our lives are worth? Cabbages?!”