Chapter 55: The Dark Realm

"So this is the dark world?"

After stepping out of the magical energy array, Li Mochen raised his head to look at the sky.

The dark world was truly dark; not to mention the sun, there weren't even any stars. It was said that it was pitch-black day and night, twenty-four hours a day. However, around this Ghost City, there were over a dozen large lighthouses, each three hundred meters tall, emitting strong light that illuminated an area about ten kilometers in diameter with perfect clarity. The spiritual energy here was also very strong, surpassing that of the bright world on the other side.

Next, he began to survey his surroundings, looking around with a sense of novelty.

According to the markings on the map, Ghost City was now divided into two parts: one side was the old city surrounding a medieval castle, and the other was a huge modern fortress-like stronghold, connected by a massive bridge.

The corresponding location of the magical energy array in Atwood Cathedral was a church inside the ancient castle.

This was also an eight-hundred-year-old building, but because the stone used inside the castle was high-quality Dragon Breath Stone, the castle had remained as good as new over the centuries.

Outside the castle was a large expanse of wooden houses, along with a few scattered stone buildings.

Li Mochen noticed that the latter were also built with Dragon Breath Stone, and their shapes were very peculiar. He immediately realized the military function of these stone buildings: they could serve as residences in peacetime and transform into small fortresses in wartime to protect the main castle of Ghost City. The surrounding wooden houses could be dismantled at any time without affecting combat operations.

This was probably a makeshift solution due to material shortages in the early colonial era. They couldn't build the castle too large, and since it couldn't accommodate too many people, they had to expand outward in this way.

The new city area didn't have this problem. It was a large military fortress three kilometers in diameter, with massive walls 150 meters high and wide enough for fourteen magical energy tanks to drive side by side. On the walls were densely packed artillery positions and a large number of magical energy machine guns, making one's scalp tingle just by looking at them.

Inside this fortress, apart from a section used as a military zone housing a magical energy armored brigade of about three thousand men, the rest were residential areas.

Li Mochen took a distant look and saw that those were thirty-story high-rises, which besides serving as residences also had auxiliary military functions.

However, according to what he had learned, most of the residential buildings here were vacant.

When the federal government originally planned the internal buildings of the city, they sold them off in parts, reaping high returns from real estate developers. But precisely because of this, only the wealthy and powerful could afford to buy houses in the new city area. Among these owners, only a very few spent time in the dark world. So this was essentially a ghost town; most magical energy professionals preferred to stay in the old city area. There, they didn't have to pay anything—just cut down some wood in the dark world and build a wooden house. Why bother spending millions of gold shields to buy a dwelling in the new city area that wasn't much bigger than a pigeon cage?

Li Mochen didn't stay in the city for long. After looking around, he picked up a magical energy lamp bought for two hundred gold shields and headed toward the outskirts.

But just as he stepped out of Ghost City's range, a rumbling sound came from behind, and countless high beams shone forward. Li Mochen turned around and saw a large group of wildly modified vehicles roaring out of Ghost City in a mighty procession. As Li Mochen moved to the side of the road, a large motorcycle shaped like a skull slowly stopped beside him.

"Hey, little boy, are you really planning to go out alone? So you've decided to become food for those dark creatures, huh?"

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. When he looked sideways, he saw it was the young woman who had teased him earlier in the magical energy array.

She had changed into a denim outfit, wearing a safety helmet, and a tactical vest with various guns slung on her back. She looked dashing and elegant.

Li Mochen could tell that she meant well, but her way of expressing it was unacceptable to him.

He shook his head and continued walking without a word. Once he left the illuminated area, he planned to activate the Heart of Heaven's Divine Illumination, a state in which he would be indifferent to all things.

So rather than be embarrassed at that time, it was better not to respond from the start.

"Hey! Listen, little boy, I don't know why you've come to the dark world, or why that damned priest at the church let you in. But this place is a hundred times more dangerous than you little boys imagine, you understand?"

The young woman persisted: "I don't care if you live or die later, but since I've seen you, I don't want to miss out. It's been a long time since I've seen such a pretty virgin like you. How about five hundred gold shields a night? A thousand? Okay, okay. I'll give you two thousand; you're worth it. Just wait for me in the city, okay? Don't be shy, baby."

As she spoke, she pulled out a stack of cash and waved it in front of Li Mochen.

At first, Li Mochen didn't care, but as he listened, he nearly twisted his mouth in anger.

Was he, the esteemed 'Divine Firmament Boundless Purple Void Immortal King,' being treated as a male prostitute?

What left him even more speechless was that he actually felt a slight temptation.

This girl was pretty—not as beautiful as Angela, but only one level below, and she had a unique charm. Besides, she was offering a lot of money—

This must be a combination of sexual desire and greed. Lone Heaven's Will amplified not just the former. In fact, these past few days, every time he passed by a bank, he had the urge to pull out a gun and rob it.

Li Mochen thought it over seriously and decided to activate the Heart of Heaven's Divine Illumination ahead of time. Then, ignoring the woman as if she didn't exist, he continued forward. He regarded that moment of wavering as a personal disgrace.

"Hey, little boy, are you really that cold?"

The young woman was about to persist further when a roar like a bear's came from afar: "Elisa! How much longer are you going to delay? Speed it up, understand? We don't have time."

The girl named Elisa frowned. After a moment's hesitation, she suddenly tossed a water-blue crystal toward Li Mochen.

"Take this. It can summon a level-seven ice elemental in a crisis to hold off the dark creatures near Ghost City. Consider it a down payment from me. Don't die—"

But the young woman's words were cut short. The water-blue crystal, just as it flew through the air, was sliced in two by a flash of cold light, falling to the ground in two halves.

Seeing this, Elisa was stunned. She hadn't even seen what weapon Li Mochen had used.

It seemed to be a practice longsword made of fine steel, but that was too surreal. Had she misseen it?

Just then, the roar came again from ahead: "Elisa, are you trying to make everyone wait for you? Get over here now!"

The young woman hesitated, but ultimately reluctantly stepped on the gas, and the motorcycle sped off into the distance.