Chapter 329: Deprivation of Human Qualification
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
Even after leaving the first pass on that floating island for a long time, Aya was still immersed in shock that she was unable to extricate from.
"Unexpectedly, this actually works?"
Aya seriously pondered over Wang Lu’s surged of eloquence, and after much deliberation, she could not help but admire him.
"Actually, there are still many loopholes in your words."
Upon hearing Aya’s heartfelt words, Wang Lu laughed and said, "After all, the story is essentially a lie, therefore, according to strict logical reasoning, it is certainly not tenable. However, logic is not everything, after making the story sensational, what else can he do?"
After a pause, Wang Lu also said, "It is also thanks to that stone gate being originally a human, making him have human emotion and wisdom, so that he could impulsively mistake things. But if he’s not a human, how can he make this almost vexatious request? In fact, my story is essentially based on it: a fool who was exiled and punished for more than ten thousand years, yet still loyal to the Golden King and brooding over his past mistakes."
—
The team continued to climb the ladder while all around them were dark space and only the ladder under their feet that shone any light. However, before long, the scenery around them changed and a stone gate that blocked their path appeared.
Only this time, it was not an open area. Behind the stone gate was obviously a narrow corridor. The corridor was deep and it extended inexhaustibly into the unknown.
"This should be the second pass right?" Wang Lu was eager to try. "My adventurer’s spirit is starving!"
Unfortunately, there was no possibility of tricky shortcut on the second pass as in the first, because the stone gate was just that—a stone gate that has no intelligence. Perhaps it was by design that it was relatively rigid, or perhaps after more than ten thousand years, the original intelligence has withered away.
In short, there was a blurred handwriting on that stonegate, which explained the second pass rule using an ancient language. However, perhaps because it was already too long, many of the blurred parts were already indecipherable. After Wang Lu and Aya’s effort, the final translation was as this:
"The endless maze contains infinite unknown… every weakness of human nature will be captured… The rigid test needs knives and swords to face… Five people together, before they can enter the other side."
Wang Lu repeatedly read the rules and then tried to sum it up, "In simple terms, this is a huge maze that needs five-person team to activate. It has a variety of mechanisms and traps, some will test the human nature, some will test the fighting efficiency, a comprehensive class maze instance."
Aya said, "If the champion trial difficulty is progressive, then the difficulty of this pass is likely to be higher than the previous one. And as far as I know, in the time of Golden King, those who can obtain the title of champion were mostly near the legendary level. With our current team lineup, I’m afraid…"
"What is there to be afraid of? Aren’t you formerly a legendary level? With you here, can’t we just steamroll all the way to the end?"
Aya was somewhat wavering. "I’m sorry, but currently… my situation is not very good."
Wang Lu was surprised and asked with concern, "What? The spirit of the brave departed can also have period? Wouldn’t that mean… you can be pregnant?"
Aya: "..."
"Hahaha, I know what you’re worried about. It doesn’t matter, since I promised to be your ‘succeed in every endeavor’ guy, when you are in a bad situation, I will be the one to pick you up," Wang Lu said, pulled himself together, and then walked up to the door. "Okay, whatever you got, bring it on. I’ll let you experience my level clearance ability!"
Behind him, Aya somewhat helplessly shook her head, but inwardly, a surge of warmth gradually filled her heart.
Yes, although he always does things contrary to everyone’s expectation, but… I really can believe him, believe that he can help me rebuild my country and capture the previous glory of Brettonia. He definitely can do it.
Upon thinking as such, Aya’s soul of the brave departed body condensed further. The slight haze that initially appeared had made a decision without her approval and was totally dispelled because Wang Lu. Well, although from a rational perspective, Wang Lu has not really persuaded me, but… I’ll trust him first.
However, while Aya’s heart gradually turned warm and impassioned, the stone door remained silent. The gray door closed tightly, shutting the several challengers out of the door without any sign that it was about to open at all.
For a time, Wang Lu also gawked as he couldn’t figure out why the door remained shut. He stepped forward and knocked at the door. "Open the door, we are good people!"
There was no response.
"Open sesame?"
No response.
"Little bunny, open your legs?"
Still no response. Except for the annoyed Aya who punched Wang Lu with her fist.
"That’s weird." Wang Lu pondered. "Have we done something wrong? Or is there a problem with speaking to open the door? Do we need to use violence to open the door?"
Aya said, "It is best if we don’t try to use brute force on this door. I don’t think that is a good idea."
Liu Li also added, "I also think that it’s good to not break the door."
Since the two most intuitive people have said so, Wang Lu gave up that idea and had to focus his attention back to the handwriting.
"... Five people together, before they can enter the other side. Could it be it’s because of these words?" Wang Lu said, "Only a team of five people can move forward? But we are already a team of five people."
Liu Li curiously said, "Already five people? Senior Brother, Aya, Little Bai, and Huahua, obviously there are only four!"
Wang Lu looked back to see that ‘hapless’ kid’s’ expression. "So, Liu Li, your IQ hasn’t been recognized to be within the human category?"
"…"
Having said that, Wang Lu certainly didn’t think that Liu Li wasn’t recognized as a human. The girl might be silly, but at most, her brain only lacked in some parts, while the other parts were exceptionally developed. Her memory and mathematical calculation ability were so strong that they were eye-popping even to the best student like him.
If not Liu Li, then who? Wang Lu’s first reaction was naturally Quan Zouhua. Among them, this dog was the most different from the standard of being human. However, strictly speaking, there was no reason to exclude him from their team. He was one of the highest levels of the divine beast, and Huahua sooner or later would transform his form. Although in Western Continent, there was no precedent of demon wolf Fenrir transforming, in Spirit Sword Mountain, the Heavenly Sword Hall Elders thought that it was only a matter of time. Secondly, the Western Continent and Nine Regions were different. The distinction between Non-Nine Regions people and him was not so strict, i.e., the border between man and animal was relatively fuzzy. Most of the professions in Western Continent harbored the bloodline of certain animals. For example, Aya was the successor of the Dragon Clan bloodline. This mixture was even more prominent in the era of Golden King. Some of the generals under Golden King even have demon beast background and never took the form of human, so under what reason this stone gate refused to recognize Fenrir as one of their teammates?
Even after much deliberation, it was still impossible to figure out why the stone gate kept itself close.
And at this time, Liu Li suddenly said, "Ah, the ladder is gone!"
Wang Lu looked back, and sure enough, the glorious ladder had faded away. They have been isolated in a small square area in front of the stone gate.
"What are we going to do? I’m hungry already." Liu Li very decisively raised the most realistic question.
It was not that her gluttony has no limit, but the entire previous three days while she was concentrating on manufacturing the wine cup, she did not even drink any water. With her current physique, she, of course, did not need to eat. However, eating has already become her habit, so this was a more psychological dependency. Just like it was hard for a heavy smoker who because of various reasons did not smoke for three days to resist the urge to smoke.
Wang Lu had stored enough rations in his mustard seed bag, so he simply took out several meat patties and gave them to her, which made her beam with happiness. However, the immediate dilemma was still troubling.
"This is really troublesome, always getting stuck on the second pass. Not to mention that there’s a chowhound in the lineup. Sooner or later, the rations will be depleted. Do I have to rely on my Non-Phase physical advantage to squeeze out protein for their survival?" Wang Lu’s thoughts drifted from places to places. Soon, the rations issue turned into an agricultural cultivation issue. He thought that if he brought crop seeds as well as breeding sheep and pig, he could open up a piece of farmland here to play harvest moon… huh, (agricultural) cultivation?
A flash of insight passed through Wang Lu’s mind and he suddenly understood the reason why the stone gate remained closed.
"So that’s why. The reason for the lack of number is that there is an overlap." With that, Wang Lu walked towards the stupid dog and kicked it with his foot.
"Sh*t, what do you want!" His sleep being interrupted, the mottled dog was unhappy.
"I want you to make up the number." With that, Wang Lu touched the dog’s head. At the same time, in the Jade Mansion, a mark was disintegrated.
It was a master-servant contract previously set by Wang Lu and Quan Zouhua, which was now unilaterally lifted by Wang Lu.
Quan Zouhua felt that the fetters on his mind were broken and several points of vigors gushed out of his body, making him very comfortable. However, he did not relish this, instead, he stood up and said, "Damn it, are you just casually abandoning a small animal?"
"Don’t worry, I’ll still take care of your food." Wang Lu said, "I just need you to be an independent existence to make up our number."
Wang Lu thought that the biggest reason why their team was not counted as a five-person team was that the contract between him and Quan Zouhua. Being his pet, Quan Zouhua’s existence depended on him. Naturally, the dog could not be identified as an independent player, thus, they could only be counted as a four-person team.
However, as long as the stupid dog was freed from the contract, based on his qualification, how could he not be counted?
Sure enough, when the contract was lifted, with a rumble, the stone gate was quickly opened, exposing a deep huge maze, and they were greeted with an ominous and mysterious breath.
The structure of the maze was breathtaking. Shortly after the entrance corridor, there was light—a shining bright light that came from a bright warm sun that hung in the sky. It was far from that gloomy dungeon corridor. Instead, it was directly shown to everyone.
Under that clear sky, the maze was divided into countless of small areas. Some were open grassland, some were deep forest, and some were dark places even though it was under the shining sun.
These areas were isolated by space barriers. Although there was no masonry or other fixed form material, it was more than any masonry. It was difficult to use brute force to break it down. In front of them, there was a narrow and small corridor that was isolated by the space barrier. In front of the corridor, there was a gateway to the first area.
"Alas, it’s the most troublesome transmission-type maze."
At the sight of the scene, Wang Lu was upset. Of all the types of mazes, based on the complex space spell, the transmission-type maze was the most troublesome maze. Moreover, within those small areas, there were many arranged traps… this pass was the same as the first, which was of patience.
"But, I don’t have the patience when encountering this kind of pass."
Aya curiously asked, "How do you plan to finish this quickly?"
"Any maze has a common solution: bore the wall, dig the ground!"
With that, his original magical ability was immediately unfolded. A blood red sky covered the area of hundreds of meters radius.