Chapter 39: Shared Grave

The memory information recorded some of the life fragments that Zheng Yi experienced after being farmed and kept in captivity by farming players.

Cao Yu found that the earlier content was similar to the documents he obtained from the police station.

The difference was that after Zheng Yi's family was murdered, he was not consumed by blind rage. Instead, for the sake of revenge, he chose to endure in silence, embarked on a frantic path of grinding dungeons, and began accumulating his strength.

This city was not called the City of Truth.

It was called Tanyu City.

The people living in Tanyu City were not enthusiastic about hunting farmers or destroying farming dens... or more accurately, ordinary people simply lived ordinary lives.

The players here were not noble at all; on the contrary, they were utterly despicable.

When high-level players witnessed the "pig farm" model continuously generating massive evolutionary points at the cost of human lives, they eagerly followed suit.

Meanwhile, official government-affiliated players were bribed by the farming players. Not only did they refuse to rescue or protect novice players, but they even shipped the newcomers who occasionally escaped from the "pig farms" right back to where they came from.

Over time, Tanyu City itself transformed into a massive "pig farm."

The farmers even enclosed the city, blocked all information flow, allowed entry but prohibited exit, and spread false intelligence externally to lure in outside immigrants.

The low-level players and ordinary people living here suffered beyond description.

Zheng Yi's tragic experience was merely the tip of the iceberg regarding the sins of Tanyu City.

Originally, he too would have perished amidst the exploitation.

However... fate bestowed upon him an extraordinary Demi-Human player talent.

When it came to fusing foreign genes, he possessed a nearly omnipotent adaptability. Once any superior gene entered his body, he could adapt to it, and under the influence of evolutionary points, it would gradually become part of the foundation of his transcendent bloodline.

Depending on a wild methodology of frantically devouring the genes of other creatures, and driven by the resolute determination to eradicate all farmers, he step by step grew into a powerful C-rank player... And then, just when he had the capability to slaughter every single farmer in Tanyu City, his transcendent bloodline—evolved and fused through the endless consumption of heterogeneous genes—finally went berserk.

He became a monster.

His consciousness plunged into madness.

His flesh continuously proliferated, covering the urban districts, submerging the mountain forests, and swallowing the entire Tanyu City.

The ordinary people and players within the city all merged into his flesh and blood, becoming a part of him.

Thus, the "Symbiotic Remains" was born.

This place was consequently selected by the Evolution Game, and under a series of rule modifications, it became a dungeon.

Zheng Yi's hazy subconscious was thereby split into two parts.

First, the residual desires from his time as a human created the City of Truth during the daytime.

Second, the instinct born from his transformation into a monster—a craven hunger for the flesh, blood, and genes of other organisms.

The consciousness of everyone in Tanyu City was eroded and dominated by this instinct, released every night.

...

【You have completed Side Quest 2】

After reviewing the memory information, Cao Yu and An Li received the notification that the side quest was completed.

An Li said thoughtfully:

"I never expected the Demi-Human path to hold such potential. Utilizing a nearly omnipotent adaptability to integrate countless superior genes into oneself, progressively evolving to construct an almost all-encompassing transcendent bloodline... What a pity that he failed."

"This path is far too wild." Cao Yu shook his head. "It's just that Zheng Yi's talent was too incredible; he managed to reach C-rank before collapsing... Overdrawing his talent ultimately led to a backlash from it."

He actually knew that the potential of the Demi-Human path went far beyond this.

Judging by the fragmentary descriptions in the system store's commodity introductions... the truly formidable aspect of Demi-Human players would only begin to manifest after their evolution degree surpassed the limit of the B-rank stage.

Three transcendent forces existed within the Evolution Game—the Game Corporation, the Spirit Realm, and the Astral Evolution.

Among them, the Astral Evolution, or rather the "Astral Evolution Realm," was paradise for Demi-Human players... Cao Yu reined in his wandering thoughts.

These matters were still somewhat distant from him at present.

"Now we can basically confirm that conditions exist in this dungeon to trigger an S-rank evaluation," An Li reminded Cao Yu.

"Mhm..."

Cao Yu acknowledged this point as well.

To obtain an S-rank evaluation, extraordinary potential dangers needed to exist within the dungeon—this was the conclusion he and An Li had deduced.

And the "Symbiotic Remains" was a city of flesh and blood.

Speaking of danger, if the flesh and blood throughout the entire city stirred and writhed, crashing down like a tsunami, facing such a natural disaster, an E-rank player's resistance wouldn't even count as a ripple in a pond.

It was fortunate that the E-rank dungeon limited the difficulty; otherwise...

Cao Yu ran a mental simulation and deduction, quickly arriving at the conclusion—he would have instantly dropped dead on the spot.

Although he held Serial 11, the "Symbiotic Remains" might not be able to break through his "Immortal-Slaying Mantra." However, the opponent could easily drain his mental energy dry and then kill him.

Direct confrontation was simply unviable.

Fortunately...

Cao Yu said, "We should go build a 'Symbiotic Tomb'."

"Are you planning to strive for the S-rank evaluation?" An Li asked.

"Let's build the tomb first, and then decide based on circumstances," Cao Yu replied. "For all we know, once we finish building the tomb, the 'Symbiotic Remains' might fall into an eternal sleep right along with it."

An Li did not take this remark literally.

The "Symbiotic Remains" was similar to the Mother of Buddha from the previous dungeon. If it could be resolved so easily, they would have already secured an S-rank evaluation in the last dungeon.

The two immediately left the cemetery and returned to the urban district.

They returned to the fountain plaza where they had first entered the dungeon yesterday day.

The cemetery was a dangerous place; if they chose to site the tomb construction nearby, heaven knew whether it would trigger another crisis of the sea of flesh and blood.

Fortunately, before entering the cemetery, Cao Yu had parked the vehicle they hijacked last night in a very outer area, and the vehicle had not been swallowed by the sea of flesh and blood.

Driving An Li back to the urban district did not waste much time.

After getting out of the car, the two immediately began constructing the tomb.

Everything was just like when they had first entered the dungeon yesterday.

However, the difference was that the tomb they were building this time lacked the "sketch-like style" of yesterday; it was much more regular and complete.

Simply put, they put some genuine effort into it.

At least visually, it looked very much like a tomb rather than a haphazardly piled mound of concrete.

Cao Yu even cut a piece off the marble balustrade surrounding the fountain pool, shaped it into a rectangular gravestone, and erected it in front of the tomb.

Then, he began carving characters—Tanyu City...

"Wait." An Li stopped him and suggested, "Shouldn't we wait until the dungeon is almost over before carving the information?"

"Do you remember the first side quest?" Cao Yu reminded her.

An Li glanced at the player interface—【Side Quest: Fulfill the wishes of the city's residents】.

After a brief moment of thought, she understood Cao Yu's implication.

It was obvious that the true wish of the city's residents was to seek liberation and attain peace. And building the gravestone well would achieve precisely that.

The Evolution Game would not arrange a must-die task—if constructing the gravestone provoked the "Symbiotic Remains" and drew retaliation, the Evolution Game would inevitably provide a sanctuary scheme to allow players to survive.

The balance of the dungeon was consistently reflected in every aspect.

It was not based on the subjective perception of the players, but operated as an objective law within the framework of the Evolution Game.

Cao Yu continued:

"If my prediction is correct, once this 'Symbiotic Tomb' is completed, the 'Symbiotic Remains' will essentially be crippled... At the very least, it will no longer possess city-wide scale. Perhaps by then, subjugating it will become a possibility."

After weighing the matter, An Li said, "Then let's build it."

Cao Yu nodded, and then channeled the "Immortal-Slaying Mantra" through his fingertips, continuing to carve on the gravestone:

"Tomb of all the people of Tanyu City."

Pausing for a moment, he added another line:

"Dust to dust, earth to earth; why hold onto those who must depart."

Roughly ten seconds later.

Cao Yu and An Li noticed that the sporadic residents scattered throughout the fountain plaza collapsed one after another. Their bodies disintegrated into heaps of scattered flesh and blood, which then decayed and scattered into dust in the wind.

Bright points of light drifted out from the decaying dust. They... no, they emanated the aura of spirituality, surging into the tomb built for them.

Not just the plaza, but the surrounding blocks, and even the people across the entire city, exhibited this identical transformation.

The decaying flesh collapsed, and countless points of spiritual light converged from all directions, entering the "Symbiotic Tomb" together.

Subsequently, the massive aura of spirituality subsided, resting eternally within the tomb.

Only the radiance previously emitted by those light points lingered like physical, tangible matter, remaining behind and spreading across the entire ground of the plaza to form an illuminated zone.

【You have completed Side Quest 1】

【You have harvested the gratitude of the city residents and established a Safe House】

Cao Yu and An Li received the system notifications from the Evolution Game.

Simultaneously, they heard the soul-shaking roar of a monster echoing from afar...