Daily News: My 3D Zone Goddess Conquest Log

Page 176

The woman kept her head down the whole time, her steps unsteady as if she were walking on cotton – being chosen to lead the newcomers was, in her opinion, the worst thing that could happen to her.

The three of them quickly set off.

Li Pu was quite curious about the work process here.

The woman who led the way gave him a nonchalant response, and what he saw and heard along the way allowed him to quickly figure out how the underground slave labor camp operated.

This entire underground world is like a giant concentration camp factory, and each construction site is a sub-workshop within it.

However, Li Pu felt that the term "hell on earth" was more fitting than "factory".

The damp air was thick with the pungent smell of rust and sweat. Under the dim light, hunched-over slaves with vacant eyes could be seen everywhere, mechanically repeating their arduous labor like walking corpses.

The female slaves in the laundry bureau were like living chess pieces, and every once in a while they would be reshuffled and randomly assigned to the laundry bureaus attached to various construction sites.

Li Pu also noticed that the woman leading the way and the other female slaves all had different colored strips of cloth tied around their ankles, presumably to distinguish batches and their destinations.

Their job, though called laundry, was actually serving the food, clothing, and shelter of all the officials from Dongzhou at various construction sites. As for the laborers and slaves struggling at the bottom, even getting a full meal was a luxury, let alone enjoying such "blessings."

Their only fate is to be squeezed dry of their last bit of value and then discarded like trash.

As Li Pu observed, he held Tifa's hand, and the two followed the female slave leading the way through the maze-like tunnels.

The deeper you go, the more damp and cold the air becomes, and the fewer kerosene lamps are on the walls.

Tifa unconsciously moved closer to him, her fingers quietly gripping his small hand.

The faint sound of dripping water could be heard from deep within the tunnel, which sounded particularly clear in the deathly silence.

Each time he felt down, it was as if the drops were dripping onto Tifa, making her shudder.

The woman leading the way kept her back hunched over, only looking at the road beneath her feet.

“The laundry pool is in the mine tunnel facilities ahead; just walk straight in.” She suddenly stopped, her voice dry like sandpaper rubbing. “Every day, I have to wash twenty baskets of clothes for the officials at these nearby construction sites.”

Perhaps feeling guilty for personally leading the two to their deaths, Li Pu noticed that the calloused hands trembled slightly.

“In the past six months, some of my sisters have been disappearing from here.”

"Some say they've seen moving shadows at the bottom of the pool, others say they've heard a woman's eerie laughter in the middle of the night..."

She suddenly turned her head and looked at Lip and Tifa's silhouettes covered in soot, her tone softening as she comforted them:

"Judging from your appearance, you must be from the Eastern Continent, right?"

Before the two could answer, she began to ramble on to herself:

“Thanks to the protection of the Flying Light God, we people of the Eastern Continent are born with three divine flames burning on our shoulders and foreheads.” She gestured as she spoke, “If the demons and monsters inside and outside Eagle City want to harm people, they must first find a way to extinguish these three divine flames. Otherwise, they will be devoured by the God’s divine power and never be able to be reborn.”

Behind her, Lip and Tifa exchanged strange glances.

what?

Is there such a thing?

How come we've never heard of these two genuine "Flying Light" chosen ones?

Lip couldn't help but steal a glance at Tifa's shoulder.

Under the dim light of the kerosene lamp, her shoulders were bare, and there was nothing on her forehead either.

He looked down at himself again—just as clean, not a single spark could be seen.

"The version benefits have expired?" Li Pu muttered to himself, waving his hand on his shoulder, trying to summon something, but nothing happened. "This Chosen One is really lacking in prestige..."

Tifa was touching her empty forehead in confusion when she suddenly opened her eyes wide—just as Lip was gesturing wildly at the female slave woman, she clearly saw a cluster of pure white flames suddenly burst forth from the woman's shoulder!

"You little slut!" she exclaimed in surprise, and mimicked the female slave's gesture by tapping her on the other shoulder, which indeed ignited another flame.

The two looked at each other excitedly and immediately turned to try—but no matter how they gestured, chanted spells, or even secretly made hand gestures, the other's shoulder remained empty.

Tifa, her face flushed, blew hard into her shoulder, while Lip made various hand gestures earnestly, looking like two mischievous children arguing over a lighter.

The old woman who had been accidentally ignited by the three divine flames underwent a visible change in her demeanor—her hunched back straightened unconsciously, her cloudy eyes regained a long-lost luster, and even her weathered face seemed to relax a bit.

She herself was taken aback for a moment, and subconsciously raised her hand to touch her shoulder. Her originally heavy steps became lighter, and even her voice became clearer:

"That's strange... why do I suddenly feel so much lighter today?"

Lip and Tifa stared dumbfounded at the immediate "lighting" effect, then looked down at their still bare shoulders, their expressions becoming even more frustrated.

However, Tifa was the most frustrated—she had just thought she would never have to be afraid of ghosts again…

Well, that's great, we didn't even get a spark!

Deep within the mine's shadows, countless peering pupils were contorted and contracted in excruciating pain, even emitting wisps of burnt black smoke as they melted away completely.

In their crumbling vision, what followed behind the old female slave were not two mortals.

They are clearly two eternally burning, magnificent suns!

The blazing light, flowing like a waterfall, nearly annihilated them on the spot with just a glimpse!

But these two walking "human suns" were completely unaware, still patting their own shoulders in bewilderment, just like two fireflies trying to light themselves up.

And within this absurd and magnificent scene, from the deeper, denser darkness, two long-silent gazes slowly turned in this direction—

"interesting……"

Chapter 191 The Great Demoness Tengu (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival~ I'm busy with family matters, so I'll update this chapter first. I'll make up for the rest tomorrow or the day after~)

This large underground mining base is patrolled day and night.

In addition to squads of strong thugs selected from slaves, there were also elite teams composed of many Eastern Continent powerhouses of ranks 9 to 7, who patrolled their assigned areas with lanterns.

At that moment, a patrol team arrived near the mine tunnel where Li Pu was located.

"Coach Ma, we've already gone quite far out of our assigned territory, almost halfway across the base."

Someone in the team reminded.

The one-eyed official at the head of the group ignored him and instead asked those around him:

"Huh? Who's fooling around in the mine tunnels so late at night?"

Someone nearby chimed in, "Perhaps a newly assigned female slave to the laundry department..."

They followed the sound to the entrance of the mine tunnel and looked inside.

Among the rows of simple and dilapidated facilities, only one public toilet was lit by a dim yellow light, which stood out conspicuously in the dark mine tunnel.

From afar, one could see a small, dirty boy, like a tabby cat, and a "robust" woman with dark skin, wrapped tightly in a white coat.

The two, one big and one small, seemed like two sworn enemies, sometimes bickering, sometimes pushing and shoving each other. After the "dark-skinned woman" finished her tantrums, she would bury herself in washing clothes, which could be considered quite diligent.

As for that lively and energetic pretty boy, he was a complete brat who would disturb the "dark-skinned" woman's work at the drop of a hat.

Anyway, he had plenty of time to "steal" things, so Li Pu wasn't in a hurry at all. He'd tease Jerusalem first.

In the eyes of the patrolling officials, Tifa, this "sturdy and dark-skinned" woman, was not exactly elegant with her back hunched over and squatting on the ground. She did not look like a stunning beauty at all.

She was completely covered by a white lab coat and the leader's coarse linen clothes. Her 32D bust was completely hidden by bending over and the coat. In addition, her face was covered with coal ash stains, making it impossible to see her features. No one could have any illusions about her.

After all, when faced with a black-haired female gorilla, the people of Dongzhou couldn't muster even the slightest lust...

Although the female lead was somewhat disappointing, the scene of "the boy riding a bamboo horse and playing with green plums around the bed" evoked warm memories for some of the older members of the group.

“I remember now, the laundry bureau’s mistress mentioned it to me today.” A level 9 martial artist slapped his forehead and said, “These two are new, and they don’t have any connections or background, so that old woman transferred them here to fill in.”

The one-eyed instructor chuckled lightly, "Heh, what a pity~"

"These little mandarin ducks won't live much longer~"

He squinted his one eye and looked into the depths of the mine, where the "dark-skinned and robust" woman was washing clothes with her head down, her movements as mechanical as a marionette.

Even now, this simple-minded girl is still thinking about her tattered clothes.

If it were me, I'd at least want to have a good time before I die.

She's also a stubborn girl who can't bring herself to say no—how boring!

But after a moment's hesitation, he didn't dwell on it and continued his patrol.

"Be alert, everyone! The 'Plague' monster is causing a ruckus around here!"

"Master Ma, are there really monsters?" asked a low-ranking official who had just entered the strange world.

"Really!" The one-eyed instructor touched the blindfold covering his eyes, his voice low and deep. "Moreover, the demonic aura is overwhelming! That lord personally investigated it; it might be a sixth-tier mutated demon..."

"hiss!"

Horror!

Upon hearing the words "Level 6," many people around him immediately tensed up.

Can't beat it, can't beat it at all!

Even the Malaysian coach who is leading the group is only at level 7.

"Don't panic. We're not those lowly commoners whose fires were extinguished by the imperial court. The 'Flying Light' divine fire hasn't been extinguished, so what's there to be afraid of?"

"Furthermore, with the Qing Dynasty in charge and both of us enlisted in the military, even if a monster dares to come, she won't be able to devour many commoners."

His tone was extremely calm.

The gaunt, ninth-rank official with the whip said worriedly, "But... what if that monster isn't afraid of the divine fire and insists on eating us?"

Upon hearing this, the Malaysian instructor laughed heartily and patted the steel sword at his waist: "Demons and monsters are the most cunning. Although the flesh and blood of us martial artists are highly nourishing, once they are tainted with the aura of the 'Flying Light' divine fire, they are like arsenic to them—the benefits outweigh the harms, so why invite trouble upon ourselves?"

"Do you know why those foreign devils from other countries like to buy East Asian laborers and use them to conduct all sorts of experiments?"

"It's because the divine fire protected by the 'Flying Light' deity has such high resistance to those evil entities outside!"

"If a high-ranking agent among the foreign devils wanted to kill a regular Eastern Continent soldier using their bizarre methods, without preparing some kind of 'sealing artifact' to neutralize it beforehand, he would have more than ten years of cultivation burned away by the 'Flying Light' divine fire!"

"What does this mean? Even His Majesty the Ancestral Dragon Emperor, who ascended to heaven at the founding of the Eastern Continent, has at least two thousand years of cultivation by today."

"Such extraordinary cultivation is only enough to kill a hundred or two hundred soldiers protected by divine fire... and might even be in debt!"

The alleyway was deathly silent, with only the soft patter of coal dust falling.

The one-eyed instructor suddenly sneered: "What a pity... Since the Daqing dynasty entered the pass and took power, they have used ruthless methods to extinguish two of the divine flames of every Dongzhou person." His rough fingers traced the faint flame on a person's shoulder, "Now, the only way to rekindle all three divine flames is to serve the court and risk your life."

"What good is the 'Singularity Technology' for alchemy? If it weren't for the divine fire, Daqing would have been conquered by those foreign powers long ago—"

"Instructor! Be careful what you say! Don't talk about state affairs!" Several ninth-rank officials hurriedly stepped forward, their voices extremely low, almost pleading.

Someone glanced instinctively into the depths of the alley, their Adam's apple bobbing nervously.

The one-eyed instructor snorted coldly, finally swallowing the rest of his words.

The mine tunnel was deathly silent, with only the soft rustling of coal dust falling.

The officials who spoke up to dissuade him exchanged cryptic glances, their eyes revealing an unspeakable complexity.

Which son or daughter of the Eastern Continent does not hold the divine Lord "Flying Light" in high esteem?

But this reverence ultimately couldn't overcome the fear of losing his head.

Even though the world is in chaos, and countless people in the Eastern Continent have been displaced due to the debauchery of the Daqing nobles, resulting in the rampant spread of demons, this deep mine is still Daqing territory, and the clothes they wear are still Daqing official robes.

After silently surveying the area for a while, they got closer and closer to where Lip and Tifa were playing around, and Lip could already hear them talking.

Someone started it, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up again.

"Instructor, I've heard that immortals and monsters still have quite a few ways to diminish our divine fire?"

The Malaysian coach curled his lip: "There are plenty of methods... especially for those bookish, pedantic scholars and spoiled brats, they're the easiest to deal with."

"But most of it was self-inflicted!"

Everyone looked puzzled: "Did you do this yourself?"

The one-eyed Malaysian coach said, "The most common thing is to swear oaths. Anyone can extinguish their divine fire by swearing an oath. Once the oath is uttered, the divine fire is extinguished and it is difficult to rekindle!"

"Do you really think those ghost stories like 'The Fox Girl's Night Meeting' and 'The Scholar's Strange Romance' circulating in the streets are just made up?"

"Many spirits and monsters transform into beautiful women, whispering sweet nothings to people and coaxing them into making poisonous oaths. Those fools even think they've encountered a divine destiny, but what happens? They extinguish their own divine fire and become the monsters' meal!"

A knowing laugh suddenly erupted from the crowd in the mine tunnel.

Suddenly, vulgar and offensive language was uttered frequently, and the air was filled with the scent of spring...

"If I simply guard my true nature and don't follow the path, will I no longer be afraid of monsters?" the new clerk asked again.

"The divine fire doesn't necessarily have to extinguish itself; others can extinguish it too!" The one-eyed instructor glanced at them sideways.