Life Dungeon Game

At this moment, the entire spacetime structure has returned to stability, and it seems that A02 should no longer exist.

But He Ao didn't dare leave the 'tunnel' to go out and take a look.

The influence of your good friends hasn't dissipated yet. From a mystical perspective, going out at this time makes it easy to see things you shouldn't, which will attract the attention of your good friends.

My good friend just had a fight, so it would be inappropriate to go out and bother her now.

He Ao reached out, and wisps of red mist appeared on the core of the Verola's engine. These wisps of mist condensed in the air, forming faint strokes and complex patterns in the void.

These are the spacetime coordinates of the main world.

Drawing this coordinate system solely from memory is time-consuming and requires a lot of effort.

After a slow period of drawing, He Ao finally completed the coordinates.

The Verola shuddered as it entered a deeper tunnel.

At this moment, He Ao finally breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Hao Yi, who had already taken off his exoskeleton armor, and controlled Hao Yi to remove the lucky brooch he was wearing on his chest.

He took the brooch in his hand and gazed at the sparkling green gemstone on it.

Abilities related to fate.

His wish, made in the core control room, was that the questions he raised would only be understood by the book after he left.

Ultimately, this wish was fulfilled when A02 intervened, suppressing the pages and interfering with their power.

After he stole the golden bracelet, A02 withdrew its power, causing the suppression of the pages to disappear and resume its effect. At that time, He Ao had just gone deep into the tunnel and left the core control room.

All of this unfolded naturally. Looking back, He Ao realized that every party involved made a reasonable choice that aligned with their own interests at the time, yet the final outcome perfectly matched He Ao's initial wish.

However, from this perspective, when the lucky brooch takes effect, it seems...

It does not change the original nature of things; it merely makes a reasonable event with a certain probability of occurrence become inevitable, ultimately leading to an inevitable result.

So, after deciding to accept this lucky gift, what is the standard for paying the price?

Is it the level of the initial wish, or the sum of the 'fate' changed by this wish?

These two approaches represent two very different costs.

For example, a simple wish is to find a dollar on the side of the road.

This one dollar could have been carelessly dropped by an ordinary person, or it could have been carelessly dropped by an angel.

If the cost is measured in the former way, that is, by the result, then the two possible final results are the same, and the brooch holder only needs to pay the cost of this one dollar.

However, if the cost is measured in the latter way, that is, by process, then the cost of interfering with the fate of an ordinary person is completely different from the cost of interfering with the fate of an angel.

When the cost is measured by process, even if the wish is the smallest, the lucky brooch can be executed in the most complicated way and then collect the most complicated 'cost'.

If we interfere with items related to higher beings, wouldn't that attract their attention?

Sometimes luck and misfortune go hand in hand.

Therefore, He Ao was always very careful when using this brooch, trying his best not to get involved in anything more complicated.

Similarly, this was also the time for him to study the specific cost calculation method of the lucky brooch.

The two wishes he made this time were both limited to level C. If calculated by the outcome, he would only have to bear the cost of level C, which would not have a significant impact on him.

If we calculate based on the process, then the subsequent wishes involve A02, a being whose status is close to that of an angel, and the resulting cost would likely far exceed that of a C-level wish.

However, judging from his first use of the Lucky Brooch, the brooch was relatively 'friendly' in the early stages of its single use. Killing those lucky ones in Iver was crucial, but the price the brooch charged was not too high, only aggravating his injuries considerably.

However, when his main body was wearing the lucky brooch, his clone did not seem to be troubled by misfortune.

So this time he changed the person wearing the brooch to a clone, which also allowed him to test the selection criteria for the brooch's effective target.

With that thought in mind, he turned and walked towards the back of the carriage.

Just then, his foot slipped and he fell forward.

The clone quickly reached out to help, but as soon as it did, a 'crack' sound came from its body. Immediately afterward, the clone's skin tore open due to the excessive force, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

He Ao hurriedly manipulated his clone to suppress the wound, but unexpectedly, this movement strained his back, and the clone lost its ability to move, falling hard to the ground.

The fall caused the soldier to hit the mechanical sword on the ground, leaving a bloody gash on his forehead.

······

He Ao spun around forcefully to regain his balance and barely managed to stand.

He turned his head to look behind him, and saw that his clone, which had been lively and unharmed just moments before, had been seriously injured in the blink of an eye.

However

Given the powerful recovery capabilities of a C-level being, this level of injury is still within an acceptable range and not frightening.

He Ao then waited for a while. During this time, the clone encountered several more 'misfortunes', but none of them were as serious as the first one.

His physical body, however, did not seem to suffer any further misfortune.

The wishes made by the clones seem to come at a price paid by the clones themselves.

Although He Ao's fall just now seemed like misfortune, it was the cause of the clone's misfortune, and He Ao's main body was not harmed at all, so He Ao didn't know if this counted as a 'price'.

Moreover, judging from this situation, the 'cost' required for the lucky brooch does not seem to be paid in a lump sum, but rather in installments over time.

While this prolongs the period of suffering, it reduces the overall risk.

After all, there is a fundamental difference between killing someone outright in one go and being half-dead in two separate beatings.

He Ao put away the brooch, found the first-aid kit, and bandaged up his clone.

Because the senses of the main body and the clone are shared, He Ao's main body also bears a portion of the 'pain' as a price.

The misfortune continued, but it was intermittent and, overall, did not cause much damage.

He took out the last two items he had retrieved from the control room.

One was a mechanical bracelet worn on the skeleton's wrist; this was the access key for the Navigator's first mate.

He Ao did not take the bracelet directly when he was in the lobby.

One reason is that the bracelet was a 'bait' deliberately released by A02. A02 said that the bracelet had the authority of the first mate, but did not say whether the bracelet's authority was higher than hers, nor did she say where the bracelet's authority could be verified.

This means that taking this bracelet will involve extremely high exploration costs, and there is also the risk of failure due to the bracelet's permissions being suppressed by A02.

Of course, there is another, more important reason: appropriately feigning incompetence can lull A02 into a false sense of security and buy more time.

The best opportunity for Heo to take the bracelet is during his fight with Iver and after defeating Iver.

As long as the bracelet remains inside that semi-transparent wall and hasn't been taken away, A02 has the hope of inducing He Ao to destroy the wall and thus break the seal, so she won't easily turn against him.

It's like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey.

This maneuver bought O a brief moment after Iver's death when he could eat the canned meat and nutrients, and also gave him an opportunity to counterattack David.

This made A02 feel that everything was under control, and she patiently listened to him finish his analysis, giving him time to recover from his injuries.

If Heo takes the mechanical bracelet right away, A02 will lose all hope. Once Iver is dead, David will rush in and do everything he can to kill him first.

This is also why A02 seemed to have a lot to say when He Ao finally demonstrated his ability to easily take away the mechanical bracelet.

She realized that she had been tricked by He Ao all along.

After killing David, Heo was immediately drawn into the battle with those small warships, and he didn't have the time or ability to retrieve the mechanical bracelet.

After all, at that time, he dodged and entered the depths of the hall, where those warships...

It could destroy the seal instantly, and then A02 blocked him in the hall.

Although the mechanical bracelet might have been able to control those warships, Heo didn't have the chance to gamble at the time.

So it wasn't until the outer warships were cleared out and He Ao had the opportunity to set up his final plan that he had time to take the mechanical bracelet.

The mechanical bracelet is easy to activate; the moment He Ao puts it on his wrist, a holographic projection screen appears.

This appears to be a pop-up window.

He glanced at the text above, found the language option in the lower right corner, and switched to the language of the second region.

Then he exited again and looked at the content in the pop-up window.

The pop-up message is very simple, just a single prompt.

[Bound soul information?]

Although A02 doesn't tell the whole truth, he doesn't lie either; this key is indeed a blank key.

He Ao chose 'yes'.

[Binding successful]

Soon, a new pop-up window appeared.

Then there was nothing.

He Ao reached out and touched the mechanical bracelet, and a pop-up window appeared.

Please bring the key close to the authentication area.

It seems to be a simple key, and a pure key without any hints.

He Ao took the mechanical bracelet off his wrist.

However, perhaps only such pure machines without any intelligence can escape the pollution that has swept through all smart devices.

He put away the machine in his hand, lost in thought.

At this moment, the misfortune on the clone's side seemed to have come to an end. He Ao controlled the clone, concealing its bandages and injuries, and walked with the main body to the back of the carriage.

At this moment, Zhang Yusi and the others are still in the last dining car.

-

Ellen City, Rockren Street

Li Cheng sat in front of a street-side cafe, slowly stirring his instant coffee and gazing at the street illuminated by the bright sunlight.

He raised his hand and glanced at the time on it.

It's twelve o'clock sharp.

Then his vision flickered, and figures appeared on the gleaming street.

Most of them had various injuries, and their clothes were stained with blood.