Mo Shao did not leave immediately. Instead, she spent some time wandering around the outskirts of the city to gather supplies.
For instance, she collected Almond Water, the most classic beverage of the Backrooms.
She gathered a significant amount from vending machines and grocery stores. It could restore SAN and HP, mitigating abnormal effects.
Restoring SAN in reality—essentially improving one’s mental state—had quite a few practical uses. She figured she could probably sell it later for a tidy profit.
In a warehouse, she also collected a substantial amount of Royal Rations. One portion provided the nutrition of three full meals, making it a sort of ultimate compressed biscuit.
Moreover, in terms of taste, anyone who ate them would describe it as the “most delicious food they’d ever tasted.”
The specific mechanism was that the food would taste like whatever flavor the consumer liked best. For someone with a sweet tooth, it would taste sweet.
However, these things were addictive, so she couldn't afford to eat too many at once.
Finally, she gathered a pile of Fire Salt. It could be used for heating, sterilization, energy fuel, or even as a direct explosive!
Its functions were incredibly diverse, and it could be combined with iron to create Fire Steel, which was used to craft various related weapons and tools.
...
After wandering around some more and determining that there was nothing else left to harvest, Mo Shao finally bid farewell to the Golfer.
She left him a Crafting Table and some saplings, instructing him to pass them on if he encountered suitable people in the future.
After he agreed, Mo Shao leisurely began her return journey. Stacking Invisibility with Flight, her trip was remarkably smooth until she reached the desert.
The sky was growing dark, but... deep holes had appeared on the surface of the desert.
“Has someone already found this place?” Mo Shao initially thought, but as she looked at the size of the holes, she became less certain.
Because these holes... “Aren’t they a bit too big?”
They didn't look like holes dug by humans at all. Instead, they looked more like burrows made by some gargantuan creature... like a sandworm or something similar.
She decided to contact Katicia and the others first.
Mo Shao took out her walkie-talkie, only to find there was no response... It seemed that the modification of some basic equipment needed to be put on the agenda.
In her previous life, she had followed the tech path, so she naturally understood various scientific modification techniques. Upgrading simple items was well within her capabilities.
Previously, she had only delayed it because the mystical path progressed much faster than the technological one.
There was no helping it; technological advancement required specifically scavenging for materials in cities, and the modifications themselves took a considerable amount of time.
...
Now that her technological tools were temporarily failing, she naturally had to rely on mystical operations.
Mo Shao channeled the mana within her body to cast a spell—one she had only recently learned called “Two-way Mental Communication.”
The casting process was a bit unrefined, but Mo Shao’s racial talent compensated for it well.
Her mental strength rippled through space, plunging through the tunnels and into the depths. Soon, Mo Shao located Katicia and the others in a room.
“Katicia, Aris, what’s the situation on your end?”
“Huh? Sister Mo?!” Katicia’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Yeah, I’m back. I’m using a mental communication method right now. Are you guys okay? What happened?”
“We’re okay, just a few bumps and bruises,” Katicia responded steadily. “As for what we encountered...”
“It’s a giant snake!” Aris provided the answer.
“A giant snake?” Mo Shao was momentarily confused.
“It’s Binah!” Aris added an explanation.
“Binah...” With that, Mo Shao understood.
Binah, also known as the Serpent, was a boss from the Decagrammaton series in the Total Assault mode of 《Blue Archive》. It was a Heavy-armored absolute powerhouse with high attack and defense.
A super-massive mechanical serpent burrowing through the desert... it was a significant threat.
After all, in the early stages, this kind of absolute powerhouse was the hardest to deal with, let alone one that could burrow. It could simply ignore the defenses of a city wall.
“It even ended up here?” Mo Shao was somewhat surprised.
“It actually seemed to have slithered over from afar. As soon as it arrived, it started burrowing all over the place. It felt like everything was about to collapse.”
Katicia shook her head. “We used blocks to build a temporary space to hide. It should have just left a moment ago.”
“Mhm... It’s good that you’re safe.” Mo Shao set the matter aside for the moment. “Come on, get back to the surface first. We’re retreating immediately.”
The danger level in the Underground Desert was far too high. If that thing kept burrowing, they might end up buried under the sand.
...
Eventually, everyone returned to the surface safely.
The journey back to Seven Hills City was also peaceful. Binah seemed to only slither through the desert underground and had no intention of coming up for air.
However, they still had to spread the word. Otherwise, it would be disastrous if it launched a surprise attack without anyone knowing.
They successfully returned to Seven Hills before dark.
Everything in the city was as it had been, except... it seemed people were looking for them everywhere. Zhang Jiaying’s group wanted to find them.
As for what they wanted—they wanted a life-or-death duel.
Wow... that’s so psycho. How can people be this insane? That was Mo Shao’s first impression.
No, seriously, can you even win? Why would you fight? And it’s not like you’re in the right here. Where do they get the nerve!?
She had only demolished one house, and no one had even died. Normally, this should have been over and done with.
There were so many houses in Seven Hills City!
They had even announced a specific location for the fight: the Seven Hills Arena, inviting everyone to witness it.
They claimed they wanted to show others the consequences of crossing them. Where on earth did they get the confidence to be so bold...?
...
“What do we do?” Katicia looked at Mo Shao.
“Sigh, I guess I’ll go kill a few people,” Mo Shao sighed helplessly. “What do you two say? Want to come along and do some killing?”
“Mhm...” Katicia thought for a moment before quickly making a decision. “It’s true that the other side needs to pay a price in blood.”
“Bad people must be punished!” Aris seemed a bit angry too, puffing herself up to boost her morale.
“Alright, then let’s go together.” Mo Shao nodded, then added a reminder. “But I’ll go check the situation first.”
“You guys stay back for now. If things don’t look right, it’ll be easier for me to escape.”
With the Wormhole Potion, as long as her teammates were in the same Phantom Realm, she could escape easily by keeping a bit of distance.
Although Mo Shao didn't think she would need to run—caution was the mother of safety, and it was always better to be sure.
When she arrived at the arena stage, only one young man was standing there. He had a cocky posture, hands in his pockets, acting very much like a poser.
“Yo! Such a delicate-looking little girl~”
Indeed, the young man’s words were just as pretentious. Based on his gaze, he was a classic edgelord.
“Prepare to taste the meaning of true fear!” Along with his harsh words, the young man lunged forward instantly.
Four muscular limbs burst from his back as black liquid flowed out, enveloping his entire body and revealing a terrifying form.
On the pure black base of his head, pale crescent eyes appeared, and a bloody maw opened to reveal fangs and a long tongue. It was quite gruesome.
“A Ghoul combined with a Venom Symbiote.” With a single glance, Mo Shao saw through the man's situation.
But hadn't he just played right into her hands?!
Rate on N.U.
