Chapter 191
Xing Nuo and Lu Qi’s energy-stealing operation continued for over a year.
Xing Nuo hadn’t expected an SSS+ level dungeon to have such a vast reserve of energy.
He went there every night, spending less than half an hour each time, sneaking in and out.
He had explored almost every corner of the amusement park, and Lu Qi had created a detailed map,
including the layouts of all the sub-dungeons.
But in all this time, he hadn’t encountered Qi Yao once.
Not even his teammates.
Under the scorching summer sun, Xing Nuo, too lazy to go out, stayed home, sprawled on the sofa with Shen Baizhou, like two beached fish.
Shen Baizhou, fanning himself, seeing Shen Wen busy in the kitchen, attempting another black forest cake, discreetly turned the AC down a couple of degrees.
The cool air, a welcome relief, soothed Xing Nuo’s flushed cheeks and neck.
They exchanged glances and, their silent agreement clear, hid the remote and turned on the TV, watching cartoons.
Shen Baizhou had loved cartoons since Xing Nuo was a child, and his fondness hadn’t diminished with age.
He was currently watching a new series about a little mermaid’s adventures.
Looking at the chubby little mermaid on screen, he glanced at his brother and said:
“You were also chubby…when you were a merman.”
Xing Nuo huffed, tilting his chin up.
“Big Brother, you’re lying! You just think I don’t remember…so you tease me!”
Shen Baizhou chuckled, reaching out to pinch Xing Nuo’s cheek, the soft flesh yielding easily under his touch.
“But you were cute. Little golden tail…swishing back and forth…so funny.”
Shen Baizhou, his heart simple and straightforward, having been initially surprised by Xing Nuo’s knowledge of their true nature, had quickly accepted it.
He didn’t hide his monster form from Xing Nuo, his casual acceptance making Shen Wen and Shen Yan uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Xing Nuo didn’t seem to mind, their family dynamics unchanged.
But unlike Shen Baizhou, Shen Wen and Shen Yan rarely revealed their monstrous sides in front of Xing Nuo.
They knew he wasn’t afraid, but they still worried about scaring him.
Shen Wen emerged from the kitchen, a burnt black forest cake in hand, his brow furrowed.
“What went wrong? I followed the recipe…”
He placed the cake on the table and consulted his cookbook, his face creased with frustration.
He hadn’t been wasting his failed baking attempts lately. He would take them to his dungeon.
Players who failed his dungeon were given a chance to try his cakes.
If their praises were sufficiently enthusiastic, he would let them go.
Listening to them describe his cakes as the most exquisite delicacies, his ego boosted, he had started to believe he was a talented baker.
Xing Nuo, watching his dad’s latest culinary disaster, felt a pang of sympathy for the dungeon players.
Were they lucky or unlucky to be forced to eat Daddy’s cakes?
After finishing an episode of the cartoon, bickering with his brother, Xing Nuo went to do his summer homework.
His summer break was only two weeks this year. Being in his final year of high school, they had to start early.
On August 10th, Xing Nuo, his backpack filled with homework, went to school.
His and Lu Qi’s energy-stealing operation was also coming to an end.
They had raided almost every sub-dungeon in the amusement park.
And recently, they had even revisited some of the higher-level ones.
Now, except for the core dungeon, the other sub-dungeons were mere shells of their former selves, their power depleted.
They looked intimidating, but their threat level had significantly decreased.
The players had also noticed this.
A player, entering the Trapeze Artist dungeon for the second time, exchanged glances with his teammates, their faces filled with surprise.
“Even dungeons get nerfed?”
They knew the difficulty had decreased, but they still pretended to be scared, yelling and screaming.
It was an unspoken agreement among players.
Whatever was happening to these dungeons, it was to their advantage, and they wouldn’t reveal their secret.
And the number of clowns in the amusement park had also decreased significantly.
After over a year, even an idiot would have noticed something was wrong.
Xing Nuo, entering the dungeon on the first day of autumn, thought, This is the last time.
He would steal a bit of the Clown’s core energy, then stop.
But the moment he entered, he was surrounded by clowns.
They wore grotesque masks with painted smiles, their red clothes and red noses a disturbingly cheerful contrast to their cold, menacing eyes.
They danced and sang around him, their cheerful yet unsettling song echoing through the park, making his head throb.
Xing Nuo covered his ears, the transparent barrier Lu Qi had erected around him flickering and cracking under the pressure of the clowns’ combined power, as he slowly retreated.
But surrounded, he couldn’t escape.
As Lu Qi frantically searched for a loophole, a sharp, mocking laugh echoed through the air.
“Little thief, we finally meet!”
This clown, unlike the others, wasn’t wearing a mask, its face painted white and red.
It stood at the front, looking at the little pest who had been stealing its energy, its smile wide and sinister.
“You’ve been stealing my energy, haven’t you?”
It shrieked, its laughter high-pitched and piercing.
“Such audacity! I haven’t seen such bravery in years!”
Xing Nuo didn’t speak, just looked at the approaching clown warily.
The clown, shorter than Xing Nuo, grabbed his chin, tilting his head back, its eyes glinting.
“Not bad looking.”
Xing Nuo felt the clown’s overwhelming power, the oppressive weight of a high-level monster, and froze, unable to move.
Only Lu Qi, in his mind, frantically searching for an escape route.
Xing Nuo, buying time, asked:
“You know who I am?”
The clown monster, admiring Xing Nuo’s soft, golden curls, its smile widening, nodded.
“Of course. You’re Shen Wen’s son, aren’t you?”
Xing Nuo, surprised that the clown knew his dad, his eyes widening, then narrowing, nodded quickly.
“Yes. You can’t defeat me! My brother and daddy…also high-level. If they find out I’m missing…they’ll kill you!”
The clown burst out laughing.
“Such a brave little thief, stealing my energy, and now you’re hiding behind your daddy and brother? Pathetic.”
What’s the point of being brave when I’m about to die? Xing Nuo thought.
He forced a smile, sensing that Lu Qi had found a loophole.
“Even if I didn’t steal your energy, how long do you think you can keep this dungeon running?”
The clown’s smile faltered, its eyes narrowing, its expression turning sinister.
“What do you mean? What do you know?”
Xing Nuo didn’t know much, but he was a good guesser, and, based on the deaths of the two high-level monsters and the clown’s arrogant behavior, he said:
“You know…two SSS+ level monsters died recently. Aren’t you curious…who killed them?”
The clown’s smile vanished, its face a mask of contemplation, its gaze distant, as if remembering something.
“Do you know who killed them?”
It had thought itself invincible, but its rivals had died mysteriously, their bodies never found, their presence simply vanishing from the world.
It had celebrated their deaths, its laughter echoing through its empty lair, finally free from their constraints.
It had come to the human world, expanded its dungeon, watching with amusement as friendships and relationships crumbled, its heart filled with a cruel satisfaction.
But beneath the surface, a loneliness lingered.
It looked at Xing Nuo and asked again: “Do you know how they died?”
Xing Nuo nodded.
“Let me ask you something. I’ve been stealing your energy for so long. Why did you only notice now?”
The clown giggled, its voice high-pitched and shrill, circling Xing Nuo.
“Who knows? Maybe Shen Wen gave you some kind of protective treasure?”
Xing Nuo shook his head. “No. My daddy is a monster, but I’m just a normal human. I don’t have any props.”
The clown’s aura flared, scanning Xing Nuo, but it couldn’t detect anything unusual.
“Then how…?”
Xing Nuo was now certain: no monster or human could detect Lu Qi’s presence in his mind.
Lu Qi had been right. Both the real world and the horror world were below his level.
As long as he stayed hidden within Xing Nuo’s soul, he was undetectable.
Could there be another system, hidden within someone else’s mind?
Someone who had been planning this for a long time, using players to eliminate the high-level monsters?
