Terrible news! My deskmate's first chapter is gone!

The moment Chen Xi stepped into the vortex of black and white, it felt as if he were in a dark universe where all the stars had perished.

Darkness, endless darkness!

In terms of physical sensation, it's like riding in an extremely fast elevator that's simultaneously heading in all directions, creating an amplified sense of disconnect.

The fleeting darkness passed in a flash.

Before the eyelids were even opened, a scalding heat surged forth like lava, seeping into every pore and burning the skin.

Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was an endless golden desert, which was the root cause of the intense heat.

Then, as if remembering something, he suddenly looked up.

"There is no sun, but there is light..."

After speaking, as if sensing something, he closed his eyes and adopted a listening posture:

"That's... the sound of ocean waves?"

The desert and the sea are connected?

Is this the environment on the first floor of the Black Tower?

Without much thought, Chen Xi bent down and touched the golden sand on the ground, wanting to see how it differed from the sand outside the Black Tower.

After rubbing it for a while, Chen Xi was surprised to find that it was not sand at all.

It's metal, it's gold!

The endless golden desert beneath our feet is filled with grains of gold the size of sand!

"Why."

Chen Xi sighed:

"When the monetary system collapses, gold becomes worthless."

If the world were still the same, wouldn't it be wonderful to grab a share and take it all back?

After looking around again, Chen Xi confirmed that there was no danger.

According to the information Lu Xitong gave him, this golden desert should be a doomed zone.

The criterion for judging these two locations is whether there are any traces of similar buildings.

Areas with similar architectural features are considered safe zones.

The area without any similar architectural traces is the doom zone.

These two areas together constitute the entire first floor of the Black Tower.

The current environment is a desert with no trace of buildings, so it is clearly a doom zone.

As someone randomly teleported in by the Black Tower, you might end up in the safe zone or the doom zone.

It's not strange anywhere anyway.

If you only look at the literal meaning, the safe zone must be safer, but that's not actually the case for Chen Xi right now.

First of all, the safety of the safe zone is relative; there will be dangers inside. Of course, there are also a very few absolutely safe zones, such as the Prophecy Turtle.

Although misfortune may befall the Doom Zone, it only applies to the progress range of 0% to 99% in Tier III.

Chen Xi's current progress is at 99% of Tier II. Staying in the Misfortune Zone, where he won't attract misfortune, is the safest option!

His only concern was the superhumans, pseudo-humans, and other creatures here.

He stood up and clapped his hands.

Now that we've confirmed it's safe, it's time to get down to business.

Chen Xi assumed a dragon claw stance and pulled sharply.

Unsurprisingly, Yang Wei was directly brought to life from history.

Chen Xi had considered reflecting the author and Yan Mingliang as well, even though it would take up some of his mental energy. But both of them were at the I stage, so it wouldn't take up much.

Only Yang Wei, being a Level II, had some impact on me.

They wanted to reflect on their main fear that the identities of the author and the sniper would be revealed to the rest of the population.

Then I thought about it again. Now that all ordinary people have entered the Black Tower, even if these two identities awaken, they will be inside the Black Tower.

Without the backdrop of a modern city, these two identities, if placed on two ordinary people who have no knowledge of superhumans, would not last long.

Normally, it will die very quickly and won't last long.

The author's abilities are important, but his potential is limited; it will only be useful once Chen Xi upgrades his hyperthymesia by one level.

Yan Mingliang is partly a friend and partly a future long-range combat asset; he is a trustworthy and capable lieutenant.

Yang Wei was an exception; his eyes were a necessity for Chen Xi, especially after losing the Black Tower ball.

Therefore, it is not too late to reflect on the author and Yan Mingliang when Chen Xi has sufficient strength or when the time is right.

"Holy crap, it's so hot!"

This was the first thing Yang Wei said after he was "resurrected".

Looking at Chen Xi before him and the endless golden desert beneath his feet, Yang Wei quickly realized something:

"Boss, you succeeded?"

Chen Xi nodded, "Yes, this is the Black Tower." She then recounted what happened next to Yang Wei.

Much of the conversation with Lu Xitong was casual chatter, but Chen Xi now shared the useful information she had extracted with Yang Wei, and it was all done in five minutes.

After saying that, he handed over a gem the size of an apple.

"Is this the crystallized fruit?"

"So beautiful! I've never seen such beautiful fruit before."

Yang Wei blinked, his eyes revealing the surprise of a country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time.

"I don't know if this counts as fruit, but I'll give it a try anyway. This stuff is just like a health supplement at best—it's useless but also harmless."

Yang Wei nodded. His life was reflected in Chen Xi, so naturally he wouldn't care about such trivial matters.

With a "snap," it bit right into it.

After a series of loud chewing sounds, it went down in my mouth:

"It tastes so strange. I can't tell if it's good or bad. It has all five flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and umami. But with so many flavors, why isn't it spicy?"

"It's not surprising that there's no spiciness, because spiciness is a sensation of pain, not a sensation of taste."

Chen Xi casually gave a brief explanation.

The fruit was small, and Yang Wei finished it in a few bites.

Just seconds after Yang Wei had swallowed all the crystallized fruit, his expression froze as if he had turned to stone.

Chen Xi was startled upon seeing this:

"Poisoned?"

After saying this, seeing that Yang Wei did not reply, he frowned slightly, rolled up his sleeves, and assumed a stance as if he were about to unleash a powerful punch:

"Yang Wei, if you're in a lot of pain, just say so. I'll kill you right now and then reflect it onto you, so you won't suffer any more pain!"

Chen Xi's words immediately startled Yang Wei, causing him to react with a startled expression:

"No, boss!"

"I'm alive! It's like I've come back to life!"

"I was just too shocked."

"Oh my god, I feel like I have a mission!"

"Task?"

Chen Xi remembered that Yang Wei's mission was to "actively kill someone whose progress in a certain stage is greater than his own health," which meant to kill them solo!

Yang Wei originally intended for Chen Xi to cover for him; if he couldn't kill Chen Xi, he would step in to save his life.

The subsequent progress was too fast, the world was turned into a blank sheet of paper, and he was killed by Yan Mingliang, which has been delayed until now.

Chen Xi lowered his fist, which was as big as a sandbag, and reflected that he had no mission.

It seems his guess at the time was correct.

It reflects that once a person is infused with life, they can truly be resurrected!

Chen Xi belatedly realized that the part of his mental power that had been sealed had been released and returned to its full state.

"That's great, but it's still a bit of a pity. This crystallized fruit isn't fully ripe yet, so you only have 20 years to live."

"Another piece of bad news is that this might be the last Crystallized Fruit!"

"You probably only have 20 years left to live!"

These are details that Chen Xi hadn't told Yang Wei before, but now that he's been resurrected, he's adding them to Yang Wei's list.

Yan Mingliang killed Yang Wei with his own hands in order to let Chen Xi enter the Black Tower, which can be considered a kind of compensation in the dark, although it is still a loss for Yang Wei personally.

But it was the best outcome.

If Yan Mingliang had not taken this action at the time, he would have had no choice but to return home.

Even if they force their way forward, they will avoid meeting Lu Xitong. In the end, even if they are incredibly lucky and actually enter the Black Tower, they will be randomly teleported to different locations.

Given their strength, they are doomed to die.

"It's alright, you can reflect on me again after you die, as long as you don't die."

Presumably because he had died once, Yang Wei was very accepting of it.

"OK."

After Chen Xi finished speaking, he pointed in a direction:

"Let's go check over there first; I can hear the sound of waves."