Chapter 616 - 397: Demoness

Chapter 616: Chapter 397: Demoness

Li Xiye looked out the window at the apocalyptic city. "B-033, Sinful City, has had many masters," she said. "After its last Receptor died six or seven years ago, the Forbidden Object’s whereabouts were unknown. It seems Dupe secretly obtained it.

Getting out of here is actually quite simple. I could tear through space and take you with me... But the flow of time here is different from the outside world. If we just leave like this, Dupe and his people will return to reality with a completed Ritual Array in less than ten seconds, and then they’ll activate it."

"We definitely can’t just leave, then," Zhou Chen mused. "Did those Tier Fours get in too?"

"Of course." Li Xiye pointed in a certain direction. "Twenty kilometers away, they’re fighting a heated battle. That Tier Four who was following you also got in. He’s on a rooftop, enjoying the view.

No ordinary people were pulled in this time. I felt a brief disturbance in the flow of time in Hai City. It must have been a protective measure from the Star Association.

If I’m not mistaken, the Star Association used the fact that time flows faster inside Sinful City than outside to create a slow Time Circle that enveloped everyone. This delayed the speed at which ordinary people would arrive... To put it more vividly, it’s like giving a falling person a parachute so they land later. Although they’ll eventually be pulled in, there’s no danger as long as we can solve the problem before that happens."

As she spoke, Li Xiye pointed to a dilapidated skyscraper in the far distance. "And that’s the source of the problem."

With an Ascender’s enhanced vision, he could faintly make out many figures bustling about on top of the skyscraper. Layer upon layer of glowing Alchemy Matrixes unfolded, overlapping and extending into mid-air, intertwining with each other to form a radiant ocean of light that completely enveloped the area.

"That ritual is of a very high caliber. Even a Great Sage would need a significant amount of time to construct it. Even if Dupe was prepared beforehand, it will still take him at least an hour to fully build the ritual."

Li Xiye shrugged. "But it’ll take us quite a while to get there."

At that moment, Zhou Chen recalled the information about the Forbidden Object:

—B-033, Sinful City. A Rule-type Forbidden Object.

Once pulled into Sinful City, one must act according to its rules, or face punishment. There was once a case of a Tier Four Ascender who fell after trying to defy the punishment of Sinful City’s rules.

And the core rule here was—no legal or moral constraints, only the truth of the strong devouring the weak!

Everyone who entered this place would receive something called "Crime Value." As the name implied, the more numerous and severe the crimes committed, the higher the Crime Value would become.

Sinful City was divided into three districts with a strict hierarchy. Only by reaching a certain Crime Value could one enter a higher-level district. Anyone who tried to force their way through would be killed on the spot.

The higher the district, the better the quality of life, as most of its inhabitants had abandoned low-level, purely violent crimes in favor of more sophisticated offenses, such as the high-intensity enslavement and exploitation of other thugs to carry out urban construction.

Countless thugs in the bottom district fought tooth and nail all day long just to accumulate enough Crime Value to enter a higher-level district. There, they wouldn’t have to eat garbage and drink sewage every day, nor would they have to sleep exposed to the elements or go about in rags. As long as they wanted, there were countless men and women to play with. To them, that place was practically Heaven!

Right now, Dupe was in the highest-level district, and to get there, one needed enough Crime Value.

"Look, this thing is the Crime Value." Li Xiye tapped the top of her head, and a black number "0" immediately appeared above it. This meant she hadn’t committed any crimes here yet.

Zhou Chen tapped his own head, and a number "0" icon also appeared. He pondered for a moment. "How much do we need to accumulate to get to the district Dupe is in?"

"I don’t know. We can just grab someone and ask later."

There was no time to waste. Zhou Chen and Li Xiye acted immediately. They had just gone downstairs and stepped outside when they encountered two thugs hacking at each other with knives.

These thugs were all humans who had been devoured and assimilated by Forbidden Object B-033 thirty-three years ago. However, they could no longer be called human. They had actually died the moment the city fell. Now, they were merely monsters in human skin, eternally condemned to a life of violence and crime.

Even in death, Sinful City would reset them and drop them back into the bottom district to continue their slaughter, thereby gaining a continuous source of evil deeds.

The main theme of this World was crime, crime, crime!

As the two of them appeared, the two thugs stopped fighting in unison. Their greedy eyes were fixed on the pair, and they were practically drooling.

"What a beautiful woman..."

"What a handsome man..."

BANG BANG BANG BANG!

The next second, gunshots rang out. Zhou Chen had materialized a pistol on the spot and fired several shots, shattering the limbs of both thugs. He then walked up to one of them, aimed the gun, and asked condescendingly, "How much Crime Value do you need to get to the inner city?"

"Hmph hmph hmph, ah, AAAAAAAAH..." The man’s expression was twisted as he groaned and screamed in agony.

BANG!

Zhou Chen shot him dead without a second thought, then turned to the other man. "How much Crime Value to get to the inner city? Tell me and I’ll spare your life. If you don’t, you’ll end up just like him."

The thug, who had just been screaming and cursing, immediately quieted down. He sized up Zhou Chen for a moment, then asked in a pained voice, "Are you new here?"