112: The Mysterious Clue — The Monster’s True Form (Part 2)

Page (1/3)
The Dimensional Trade Rules, Chapter 112: The True Identity of the Mysterious Clue Monster (Part 2)

Addressing Ludoxuan’s question, Zigu smiled sheepishly and said, “First, I can answer that. The spaceship shook violently, and then an unidentified star beast appeared. Everyone thought the star beast had collided with the ship, causing the tremor. But now, thinking back, it must have been the star beast absorbing energy from the engine room, which caused the ship to malfunction and abruptly stop, resulting in the vibration.”

Ludoxuan nodded. “Yes, that makes sense. But what about the second question?”

Muto asked in confusion, “Could the star beast have mutated after digesting that thing?”

Ludoxuan shook his head. “If that thing could cause such a huge mutation in a small star beast, it definitely isn’t ordinary. It couldn’t have been digested. It might even be the monster’s fundamental source of energy.”

Hearing this, Toutou suddenly said, “I know now. That thing is probably gone.”

Everyone looked at him curiously. He continued, “Remember when I used the skill ‘Soul Extraction’? It’s an advanced skill between A and S grade, capable of instantly killing targets below A grade with one strike.”

He shrugged and spread his bald hands. “This strike extracts the target’s essence and destroys it directly. So, I think what I extracted was the very thing that caused the monster’s mutation.”

“Oh.” Ludoxuan neither confirmed nor denied as he adjusted his glasses and scanned the hall. Everyone knew his glasses were advanced detectors, likely searching for more clues.

Sure enough, after a while, Ludoxuan picked up a fragment from the floor and examined it carefully. The group gathered around to see a piece of ordinary metal, seemingly part of an oval-shaped object.

After some scrutiny, Ludoxuan said, “This should be it. It’s probably damaged, which is why only residual weak radiation remains.”

Muto looked at it and suddenly said, “I feel like I’ve seen this before.” After some thought, he added, “Yes, I remember now.”

He pulled out a slightly larger-than-egg-sized round metal object from his bracelet and asked, “Is it this?”

Zigu noticed it too and said, “Hmm, I think I’ve seen this somewhere before.”

Gu Feng sneered, “What’s with your memory? That thing was found in your sci-fi dimension. Think carefully.”

Zigu was puzzled.

Toutou explained, “That’s the item that dropped when I killed the Mother Queen back then. We didn’t know what it was, so we treated it as a memento of our first battle and gave it to Muto.”

Zigu finally understood. Ludoxuan compared the fragment with the round metal ball and said, “The patterns and curvature match. It seems to be the same kind of object. Fortunately, Muto kept it in his spatial bracelet; otherwise, being infected by it, he would have turned into a monster long ago.”

“Ah,” Muto exclaimed, wiping sweat from his brow. “Lucky, really lucky.”

Page (2/3)
Suddenly, he remembered something. “I have another one of these.” He pulled out another metal ball identical to the first.

Ludoxuan asked, “Where did you get this one?”

Muto recounted his experience during a hidden trial mission and said, “That mutated woman was still conscious, but she no longer seemed human—more like a demon.”

He continued, “I understand why the octopus monster started eating people—it’s evolving.” He then described how the monster absorbed the woman’s genes, attempting to evolve into a perfect lifeform.

Everyone inhaled sharply, feeling the metal ball emanate a chilling, sinister aura.

Ludoxuan examined the metal ball for a while before returning it to Muto. “Keep this item separately in a storage space. Its radiation is too strong; the weaker the lifeform, the more likely it will be contaminated. What about the Mother Queen, the witch, and the octopus monster’s power levels?”

Muto, who had dealt with these three creatures contaminated by the metal balls, pondered and replied, “The differences aren’t huge. The Mother Queen is the weakest, probably because her energy was used to hatch six-legged minions; the witch hasn’t evolved into a perfect lifeform yet but has early B-grade strength; the octopus monster is the strongest, having absorbed the life energy of 5,000 people aboard the ship, almost reaching A-grade strength.”

Ludoxuan nodded. “Hmm, I roughly understand why we received this mysterious mission. Muto, do you remember the system prompt when we were in the Cultivation Dimension? It said: ‘This agent has been bestowed the title “Chosen.” The dimensional protective barrier is lifted. The basic material dimension agent Chen Mu will become one of the dimensional beings. Reminder: Since this agent possesses the “Contract Insignia,” all team members of the contract squad, regardless of level or strength differences, are uniformly granted the “Chosen” title and automatically gain eligibility for the trial grounds.’”

Muto nodded.

Ludoxuan continued, “Actually, you have triggered hidden missions three times before, but at the time your strength was very weak and still protected by the dimensional barrier, so the missions were not activated. Now, the system has lifted your—or rather, our entire team’s—dimensional barrier because the conditions are met, so the hidden mission was triggered.”

Everyone found his explanation quite reasonable. Zigu asked, “What do we do next? The mission is very dangerous. The system warned that previous agents who accepted it have perished. I’m still at C-grade warrior level and can’t even defeat the octopus monster.”

Ludoxuan pushed up his glasses and said calmly, “What can we do? This mission is forcibly assigned by the Space-Time Management Bureau. Do you think you can refuse? Besides, don’t pretend in front of us. You’re wearing the latest ‘Combat Armor’ from the sci-fi dimension, right? It has a secondary transformation similar to EVA, boosting your power tenfold, bringing you to A-grade.”

“Ha ha,” Zigu chuckled awkwardly. “I meant my own strength. Brother Gu often scolds us saying relying on equipment is wrong.” He winked at Gu Feng.

Ludoxuan ignored him and turned to Muto. “The clue lies in the Basic Material Dimension, latitude: 2322934 North. That’s a term from your sphere’s internal logic, right?”

Muto nodded. “But I don’t know what that latitude means. The Basic Material Dimension isn’t just the sphere; it should include cosmic space. Could the latitude refer to coordinates in space?”

“No,” Ludoxuan replied decisively. “Space is boundless; there’s no concept of latitude. It must be a specialized marker. Well, the next place we’ll go is the sphere.”

Muto nodded. “If it’s a position on the sphere, that’s easy. Zigu made a good point. Since the mission has caused agents to perish, it must be very dangerous. Should we make preparations?”

Ludoxuan shook his head. “Those who accepted the mission before were S-grade agents. Agents at that level don’t have dimensional barrier protection. As I said, our contract team is unique. Together, plus your previous methods, dealing with two S-grade opponents is no problem. My strength far surpasses that of prior agents who accepted the mission. As long as we’re cautious and adaptable, it should be fine.”

Hearing this, everyone relaxed and began discussing the rewards offered by the dimensional system. They didn’t quite understand the phrase “allowed dimensional agents early access to the Advanced Dimensional Trade Space.”

Page (3/3)
“What is the Advanced Dimensional Trade Space?” Zigu asked.

Ludoxuan explained, “Agents above S-grade who complete three Space-Time Bureau missions can enter that space. It’s essentially like a dimensional trading hub, but it hosts a collection of different dimensions’ marketplaces. The space is always open, about the size of a small town, with countless dimensional traders running shops there.”

“There, you can find all sorts of exotic items—for example, a fruit that, if eaten, extends your life by 300 years without aging; or a jar of ginseng and deer antler wine that adds 800 years to your lifespan. You can even buy divine artifacts.”

“Wait, you said divine artifacts?” Gu Feng suddenly jumped up.

Ludoxuan glanced at him. “Yes, in that space, divine ranks aren’t that rare. Also, agents there are called dimensional merchants.”

Zigu was surprised. “Merchants? Don’t we advance through fighting and completing tasks in our dimension?”

Ludoxuan replied, “Each Space-Time Bureau has different methods for cultivating agents. Our dimension is combat-based, and you need to reach S-grade to enter.”

“Ha ha ha,” Zigu laughed loudly. “Then what are we waiting for? Those who didn’t fight aren’t our opponents. We’ll take their money, women, and shops!”

The others were stunned by his bold words. Ludoxuan said calmly, “Then you go ahead. Don’t expect us to recognize you. Most merchants there have divine ranks from their main gods, roughly equivalent to SS level in our system.”

Zigu suddenly lost his smile and sat down obediently.

Muto thought for a moment. “Brother, it sounds like besides this Space-Time Bureau, there are others managing different dimensions.”

Ludoxuan nodded. “Exactly. But all ‘Chosen’ eventually enter the Advanced Dimensional Space. There, all civilizations coexist. If you see a magician drinking with a cultivator, don’t be surprised.”

Muto was speechless. “That would be quite a strange sight.”

Ludoxuan said calmly, “In one word, the Advanced Dimensional Trade Space is the gods’ proving ground.”

[The following is a special notice to celebrate the launch: Muto will release 45 chapters.]

This is Muto’s first chapter since launch. Let’s see how it performs today. Muto also requests monthly votes. He wants to compare himself against other new releases to see where he ranks. He kindly asks readers with monthly votes to support him. Muto usually posts two updates a day but has decided to add one more chapter for every 30 monthly votes received. Muto bows in gratitude.