Chapter 10: Hope IV (Thanks to the Night Alliance Leader for Cramping)
Li Chengyi’s eyes carried a trace of hope, a trace of frenzy.
He quickly released the flower in his hand and grabbed another bunch.
As he continually switched grips, strands of coolness flowed into the backs of his hands.
Accordingly, the collection rate of the Wisteria Flower scales also rapidly increased.
From an initial 5%, it quickly rose to 28%.
But after reaching 28%, all the Wisteria Flowers here were absorbed.
‘Is that all?!’ He looked around but could no longer find any other Wisterias.
There were at least hundreds of Wisteria Flowers here, and yet they still couldn’t fill the collection rate of the flower scales.
Li Chengyi somewhat regretted not choosing the wild chrysanthemums from before.
After all, wild chrysanthemums were everywhere at the wall corners; maybe they could have gathered enough flower scales to activate this mysterious armoured armor.
But now that it was decided, everything was too late.
After confirming there were no more Wisterias around, Li Chengyi quickly ran towards home.
He needed to bring along various dining tools he had bought before.
In a mad dash, it only took him three minutes to return home, grab the packed plastic bag, and without a word, dashed out of the house again, hoping to check the neighboring community while there was still time, maybe there would be Wisterias there!
He didn’t take the elevator, clutching the bag, he rushed down the stairwell, sprinted out of the building entrance, and raced along the community driveway.
Exiting the community, he suddenly paused, recalling something, and quickly glanced around.
‘There definitely are many flowers in the small park!’ his mind instantly reacted.
The small park where he often exercised had many plants and trees, surely more Wisterias could be found.
The streets at night were quiet. Outside the community, passing vehicles came and went like boxcars without a soul, separated by thick, dark glass, concealing any human shadows.
These cars gave a cold and unemotional impression.
On one side of the roadway, the long, grey-white footpath saw Li Chengyi in a grey-white tracksuit, quickly clutching the big plastic bag, sweating on his brow as he rushed towards the small park.
On the footpath stood tall evergreen trees, their green canopies trimmed into standard ovals, whining softly with the wind.
Li Chengyi passed by the evergreen trees, past the letter-shaped lamp posts.
The cold white light of the lamp posts stretched his shadow into long, thin silhouettes.
Thud, thud, thud.
The rhythmic sound of his sport shoes on the tiles echoed.
Soon, he reached the corner near the entrance of the small park.
The footpath turned right, passing a somewhat rusty white metal road sign, reaching the small park.
Li Chengyi felt his body heat up, sweat gathered from his hairline and slid down.
He breathed heavily, turning sharply at the corner.
Screech!
A sudden friction sound of shoe soles echoed.
He abruptly stopped, standing still, looking into the park.
At night, the park’s solar lights all lit up, their dim halos like bubbles floating in a dark forest, mysterious and beautiful.
‘I think, I saw them during the day when I exercised,’ Li Chengyi tried to calm his thoughts, remembering the scene before.
The small park was oval-shaped, with flowers planted along the outer running track.
Flowers, often wilting quickly and replaced just as quickly, thus he, in his previous life, never paid much attention while exercising here.
‘Should be… inside, near the right side stone frame!’
Wisterias don’t grow on the ground, so they are easy to recognize.
Once the location was confirmed, Li Chengyi charged into the small park, sprinting along the dark red plastic running track.
Not even running two hundred meters, a clear shade of purple on the side of a solar lamp post entered his view.
‘Found it!!’ His heart excited, he sped up and rushed over.
His right hand quickly grabbed towards the Wisterias hanging mid-air.
Puff.
A cool, soft touch transmitted to his hand.
‘Collection rate increased to 31%.’
‘Collection rate increased to 32%.’
‘Collection rate increased to 34%.’
A series of prompt messages appeared in his mind.
After many messages, the collection rate reached 43%.
Seeing this bunch of flowers no longer useful, Li Chengyi quickly switched to another, continuing to listen to the continuous prompts.
The Wisterias near the lamp post totalled over ten bunches, densely packed like big purple grapes.
In terms of quantity, they were much more concentrated than the wild chrysanthemums on the ground, further affirming Li Chengyi’s earlier choice.
If he had chosen wild chrysanthemums, he might not have been able to increase the collection rate this quickly.
After all, wild chrysanthemums were too scattered.
Whereas for Wisterias, he had already absorbed hundreds.
Under the dim light of the lamp post, Li Chengyi continuously reached for different bunches.
From afar, if someone saw him at this moment, his focused and tense expression might make them think he had a mental disorder.
But only he knew, all of this was for one purpose.
To survive!
The collection rate rapidly increased.
Seeing it break through 70%, Li Chengyi suddenly stopped, all the Wisterias here had been touched by him.
‘Not enough?’
He scanned his surroundings, noticing some more at the edge of the stone frame not far away.
Immediately, he moved towards it.
Quickly, covering the distance of over ten meters in a few strides, he grabbed the new Wisterias.
Watching the collection rate rise again, his tense emotions slightly relaxed.
‘Faster…!’
‘Even faster!’
78%.
82%.
86%.
91%.
94%.
Close to the final few points.
Li Chengyi’s eyes widened, faint veins of blood visible on them.
One hand clutching a bag full of items, the other constantly switching Wisterias to grasp.
At this moment, he faintly felt a sense of weariness slowly creeping up.
‘Is it coming!!??’
His emotions became more anxious.
‘Hurry!’
‘Faster!!’
96%.
97%.
98%!
Just two points away!
Li Chengyi’s body trembled, at the peak of nervousness.
He felt as if he was racing against life, tugging war with time.
Soon.
99%!!!
Just one last point!!
On his right hand’s back, the purple-black ring had one of its segments slowly light up with a purple glow.
Within the glow, numerous intertwined Wisterias formed an ornate pattern.
In the segment, densely packed Wisterias created an oval vortex, with its center pitch black. In the black center, a pinpoint of pure white shimmered faintly.
Li Chengyi dared not blink, staring intensely at the Wisterias in front of him.
He awaited the final point, the final completion!
Finally.
100%!
‘Collection rate complete.’
Ding.
In an instant, a clear and melodious bell rang in his ears.
Before Li Chengyi’s eyes, everything turned pitch black.
Within the darkness, a splendidly magnificent purple-black armor, with shoulders shaped like knife tips protruding outwards, slowly emerged from the mist, approaching from afar.
The armor perfectly protected every part of the body, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
Overall, it resembled a purely decorative ceremonial armor, each plate of the armor carved with an abundance of Wisteria patterns and edged with fine, sharp serrations, looking extremely sharp.
The head of the armor was a metal helmet with three purple sharp horns.
The entire helmet covered the mouth, nose, and ears, leaving only the eyes exposed, delicate and beautiful.
Is this the Flower Scale Armor?!
Li Chengyi couldn’t help but feel an urge to wear the armor just by looking at it.
But he resisted; this wasn’t a hidden spot, and even in the small park, there were surveillance cameras in many places.
As he refused to wear it, the surrounding darkness faded, and soon, the scenery of the small park returned.
‘Just made it in time’
Standing still, he took a deep breath of relief.
The drowsiness from before was now gone.
‘It seems the sleepiness before was a natural reaction of the body due to excessive exercise, not a harbinger of a Dead End.’
Li Chengyi felt much more relaxed.
He gently touched the back of his right hand, now even without a phone, he could clearly see the purple-black ring on his hand.
It seemed like the first time he truly filled it with flowers, this mysterious Evil Flower underwent a different change.
Looking up at the remaining Wisterias, Li Chengyi reached out to touch them again.
But this time, there was no response.
No cool breeze flowed into his hand.
A strange message rose in his heart.
‘Do I need to switch to another type of Wisteria? Have I reached the limit for this particular sub-type of Wisteria?’
Reluctantly, he let go of his hand and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Since it was no longer useful, it was time to go back to rest and think about what else he might need to prepare.
Turning around, he walked quickly towards the exit of the small park.
“Hmm!?!”
Suddenly, Li Chengyi froze, his right leg that had just lifted returning to the ground.
He stared blankly at the scene before him. An inexplicable chill rose in his heart.
Before him was not the expected small park’s plastic running track.
Instead, it was an open, white-light extending to the end of an underground parking garage!
Underground parking garage!?!
No!
Not just any underground parking garage!
It was a Dead End!!
Just then, he seemed to realize something. His body tensed, and his gaze followed the wall to the right, quickly finding a small maintenance room door.
That door.
Was open!!
Just like the last time he was in a premonition, the small maintenance room door was opened and then…
Thinking this, Li Chengyi seemed to sense something.
He broke into a cold sweat and suddenly turned around!
A giant black and white face filled his view!
Only meters away!
The face was expressionless, silently opening its mouth.
Boom!!!
A piercing shriek erupted from the mouth, exploding forward and engulfing the area in a cone-shaped zone.
Black smoke also flew out of the giant face’s mouth, instantly engulfing Li Chengyi, along with a ten-meter area behind the parking lot, turning it dark.
The smoke billowed, and the wind roared.
The enormous sound echoed in the underground parking lot, creating echoes.
The ground shook, light bulbs swayed, and fragments of dust fell from the ceiling, skewed by the wind as they hit the ground.
After three or four seconds, the smoke slowly dispersed, turning into streams, spreading towards the depths of the underground parking lot, fading and disappearing.
Within the smoke, a purple silhouette slowly appeared, kneeling on one knee.
An intangible Wisteria fragrance, akin to fine wine, diffused with the smoke and wind.
Click.
The purple figure stood up, revealing the full-body purple-black metallic armor adorned with delicate Wisteria patterns.
Multiple translucent Wisteria petals circled and danced around him, dreamy and illusory.
“I won’t die.”
“Absolutely!!”
Li Chengyi suddenly lifted his head, his helmet’s black eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
In an instant, he stepped forward.
Raised his hand.
Straight ahead, he stretched out his hand with all his might.
“Tear you apart!!!”
Puff!
His hands viciously pierced into the giant face, as if penetrating a balloon, effortlessly breaking through.
With a ripping sound, the entire giant face was split in two.
The shattered halves slowly disintegrated mid-air into smaller black and white particles, vanishing into the air.
(End of Chapter)
