Chapter 543: The Strange Consciousness Battlefield
Chapter 543: The Strange Consciousness Battlefield
“Boom!”
“Gurgle...”
It sounded as if Chen Chen was crashing into the water and he felt like he had fallen into the deep sea. His consciousness was slowly sinking, wafting down bit by bit, and there was a clamorous buzzing sound in his ears.
The water around his still body seemed to reverberate with the babel of countless people.
The light in front of him was getting dimmer and the pressure on his body was getting stronger but he realized that he still had not sunk to the bottom of the sea.
He did not know how long it took but just when Chen Chen thought that his consciousness would completely dissipate, he woke up again.
Chen Chen quivered all over and slowly opened his eyes.
Ten meters away in front of him, there was a huge ball of light. The light was soft and not blinding. The strands of light shone on Chen Chen’s body and made him feel an inexplicable warmth.
In contrast, his back which was beyond the reach of the light ball felt a wisp of chill.
Chen Chen looked around but saw nothing around him. He tried to walk forward but he could not reach the ball of light, though it seemed to be close at hand.
At this point, Chen Chen was sure that he had been placed in a void.
Where was this?
Chen Chen was a little confused. His consciousness remained at the moment he got into the cryogenic chamber.
“Welcome to the ‘Consciousness Battlefield’!”
However, when he was feeling mystified, the ball of light in front of him rang out resoundingly. This sound passed into Chen Chen’s mind with repeating echoes, making him immediately understand the meaning of the ball of light.
The weirdest thing was that this ball of light did not seem to speak Chinese or even English or other known languages but directly communicated on a conscious level.
“Two candidates have been detected. Starting data quantification test... Data quantization is running...”
The booming voice continued. “Data quantization is complete, creating character cards... Character cards are being created...”
Immediately, an apparition appeared in front of Chen Chen.
“Name: Chen Chen.
“Sex: Male.
“Age: 27.
“Race: T-virus modified human (scientific name: Tyrant).
“Alignment: Lawful evil.
“Attributes [3D6]: Strength 21 (non-human strength), Physique 24 (close to the vitality of a troll), Size 11 (standard human size), Agility 20 (more flexible than a cat), Appearance 10 (plain and average), Intelligence 18 (human limit), Perception 31 (perception only available to gods), Willpower 17 (close to the human limit).
“Occupation: Biologist, capitalist, secret manipulator, guardian of civilization.
“Professional skills [5D20]: Biology 95, Medicine 95, Psychology 77, Archaeology 12, Occult 10, Shooting 99, Reconnaissance 99, Listening 99, Fighting 65, Tracking 99, Defense 99.
“Special skills: Field power (Defense +99, Shooting +99, Reconnaissance +99, Listening +99, Tracking +99).”
Seeing this data, Chen Chen looked bewildered. What was this, a tabletop role-playing game?
However, before he could react, Chen Chen faintly saw another apparition moving. His opponent was less than two meters away beside him, like a black lump of meat, and in front of the meatball, there was also a character card—
“Name: Alosorthoth [newborn form].
“Gender: None.
“Age: 0.1.
“Race: ???
“Alignment: Chaotic evil.
“Attributes [3D6]: Strength 15 (you are as strong as a cow), Physique 35 (the vitality of a god), Size 10 (still a baby), Agility 5 (you move like a snail), Appearance 3 (aesthetic means nothing to you), Intelligence 5 (a pig is smarter than you), Perception 20 (you have an intuition that mortals don’t), Willpower 30 (too-low IQ prevents your brain from working sharply).
“Occupation: None.
“Professional skills [5D20]: Defense 80, Mind Reading 99, Mind Devouring 99, Body Regeneration 99.
“Special skills: psionics (Mind Reading +99, Mind Swallowing +99).”
Seeing this weird character card, Chen Chen’s pupils suddenly shrank.
What the h*ll was this? Was this the body of the monster that had come from beyond the skies?
Just when Chen Chen was shocked and uncertain, the loud voice came again. “‘Consciousness Battlefield’ is activated and the module is being created based on the character cards of both parties. Both candidates, please get ready...
“The dice system is starting...
Chen Chen only saw the light from the ball in front of him getting brighter and finally, he could not help but close his eyes...
“Hum...”
There was a soft sound in his ear and then Chen Chen only sensed that the light instantly softened again.
He tried opening his eyes, only to find that he was standing above a city.
The city below his feet was only about the size of a small city, with an area of no more than ten square kilometers. There were countless ruined farmhouses scattered throughout. In the center of the city, there was a small five- or six-story castle.
This seemed to be a desolate and run-down European medieval city.
“Module has been created...”
The mighty voice continued. “Both parties, please roll the dice to determine who moves first.”
Chen Chen’s heart jolted. He felt that a few cool objects had appeared in his right hand. He lifted his hand and saw that, as expected, five golden icosahedral dice were in his hand.
Chen Chen thought for a while. He raised his right hand, with the palm raised flat, and then opened his fist lightly.
“Clink, clink...”
After a few tinkling sounds, the five dice fell upon thin air and stopped immediately after rolling for a while.
“15, 6, 18, 1, 5, Candidate Chen Chen has rolled 45 points.”
The voice continued. “Now, Alosorthoth, please roll the dice.”
“Clink, clink...”
Chen Chen looked in all directions but did not see the figure of the Consciousness Stealer, only those five dice were thrown near him.
Furthermore, those five dice were all blood red.
“20, 19, 15, 20, 13!”
The voice continued to speak in a non-emotional voice, “Alosorthoth threw 87 points, Alosorthoth shall begin first!”
Chen Chen frowned slightly. Although he did not know what “begin first” meant, he knew those who threw more points must have an advantage.
Sure enough, the voice continued. “The module is about to start. Era: Middle Ages, region: William Castle, duration: 24 hours.”
“Whoosh...”
It sounded like a gust of wind brushing past Chen Chen’s ear and his vision turned blurry. When he regained his sight, he realized that he was standing in a room at the top of a castle.
What he saw was a place full of dilapidated, decayed furniture, walls filled with cracks, and a layer of dust half-a-finger thick.
The sunlight shone in through the extremely dirty glass and illuminated Chen Chen’s body, inducing a sense of discomfort in Chen Chen.
“You’re a vampire count.”
Suddenly, that booming voice became a lot softer as if it was murmuring in Chen Chen’s ears. “Today is the first day you wake up in the castle and the reason you woke up is that a group of adventurers had strayed into your territory. You don’t know why they came. All you know is that you want to keep them here and use their flesh and blood to fill your growling stomach.
“Goal: Destroy the invaders and survive successfully. The most important thing is to find the most special adventurer as it’ll be your most delicious dinner tonight...”
The voice disappeared quickly. It was only then that Chen Chen realized that he was able to move. He looked around in confusion, only to find that he was wearing a loose white shirt and there was even a circle of gorgeous lace around the cuffs and neckline of the shirt.
“Is this medieval European aristocratic dress?”
Chen Chen murmured in a low voice. He turned his head slowly but saw a line of footprints extending from the door to his feet.
“Those are my footprints.”
Chen Chen immediately realized that. He turned around, followed his footsteps, and went downstairs step by step, heading down six floors until he came to the first-floor hall of the castle.
The hall looked huge, but all the furniture and decorations were covered with dust, and it had long been dilapidated. He did not know how many years it had been since anyone came here.
Chen Chen continued to look at the footprints but saw that his footprints led to the front of the fireplace and disappeared in that direction.
Chen Chen immediately wore a thoughtful look. He walked to the fireplace step by step, touched the inside, and expanded his Field at the same time.
Under the observation of the Field energy, he noticed something off at once. Namely, there was a slight gap in a brick next to the fireplace.
He touched the brick, then pushed it slightly!
“Rumble, rumble...”
There was a soft noise and the wall behind the fireplace slowly slid open, revealing a deep and dark passage behind it.
Chen Chen’s Field energy continued to explore inward, only to find that the passage was in the shape of a circular stairway, extending to a depth of over 50 meters. Even the Field energy could not reach the bottom.
Seeing this, Chen Chen did not hesitate anymore. He went into the tunnel. After walking a few steps, the wall that had slid away closed again behind him and the entire passage became completely dark.
Still, this kind of darkness without any light source made no difference to Chen Chen. He used Field energy instead of his vision and walked down step by step.
After he went down to a depth of more than one hundred meters, finally, he came to a basement.
This basement was about 100 square meters, but there were no extra furnishings. Only in the center of the basement was there a solid wood coffin with a gold rim.
The lid of the coffin was opened and inside was a soft dent. In the soft dent was a dark box and nothing else.
Chen Chen took out the box and suddenly, a feeling of connection to his bloodline washed over him.
“This is...”
Chen Chen frowned. He seemed to have faintly understood something.
“Lich? Vampire?”
Chen Chen was a little puzzled. Castles, coffins, and Western nobles were all elements of vampires, yet this weird black box signified a lich in Dungeons and Dragons.
In D&D, the lich was a kind of undead creature. It was immortal and had extremely strong power. Its only weakness was its phylactery. As long as the phylactery was destroyed, the lich would die.
Now it seemed that Chen Chen had become a combination of lich and vampire.
Thinking of this, Chen Chen seemed to realize something. He took the black box and turned upstairs, but he had barely taken a few steps when unusual heart palpitations suddenly struck him. It seemed that if he continued to walk up, something bad would happen.
“Can’t I take the phylactery away from here?”
Chen Chen had to walk back to the basement. He looked at the lines of footprints under his feet. With a sudden wave of his hand, endless dust rose and piled up in the corner of the basement. It was only then that Chen Chen could see the floor under his feet. There was a magic circle like a six-pointed star.
Now he understood...
Chen Chen fully grasped that this magic circle was closely related to him. If the phylactery was taken away, this magic circle would also lose its effect.
“In other words, this phylactery is the key to defeating me. It’s forcibly placed here and isn’t allowed to be taken away by me. What I have to do is not only find the group of intruders but also pay attention in protecting my phylactery...”
Thinking of this, Chen Chen could not help frowning. If he had not noticed the footprints before, he would have given those adventurers a chance to find this place.
Chen Chen thought for a while, then simply threw the phylactery back into the coffin. Following that, he waved his hand and the coffin lid that had been cast to the ground was placed back. After doing all this, he returned to the surface and walked out of the fireplace.
Looking at the footprints under his feet, Chen Chen activated Field again and all the dust in the hall on the first floor immediately flew out. The footprints leading to the fireplace had disappeared.
He was not done. Chen Chen went upstairs again, casting out all the dust layer by layer and soon, the entire castle was spotless. If it were not for the furniture that had been worn out and ruined, showing the traces of time, outsiders might still think that this was an inhabited castle.
Chen Chen returned to the position where he had awakened. This was the top floor observation deck of the castle, surrounded by glass windows, and this place was also the highest position in the entire city.
At this time, it seemed that it was already time for the sunset and the scorching sun had already turned dark red. At the same time, it was slowly sliding down toward the skyline.
The sunlight outside the window came in and this time, Chen Chen got that uncomfortable feeling again.
“Sure enough, vampires are afraid of the sun...”
Chen Chen thought for a while. He tried to crack the window open. Suddenly, a ray of sunlight shone on Chen Chen’s arm, causing a sharp burning sensation in his arm.
Seeing this, Chen Chen closed the window again.
Now there was a string of blisters on his arm.
“It’s ultraviolet light...”
Chen Chen immediately surmised. “Ultraviolet rays cannot penetrate the glass, so I’m not afraid of the sunlight coming through the windows, but once there are no windows, the ultraviolet rays will harm me.”
Thinking of this, Chen Chen looked out the windows on all sides but saw that the far ends of the city were surrounded by a towering wall. At the same time, there were four gates, one each in the east, south, west, and north.
“Gates? Can they get out of here then?”
Chen Chen wore a thoughtful look. “The voice in the consciousness battlefield only told me that a group of adventurers broke into my territory and my task is to eliminate them and find the most special adventurer... In other words, the Consciousness Stealer is mixed in with that group of invaders? So, who are the other invaders, NPCs?
“The number of intruders is unknown, the situation outside the castle is unknown, the motives of the adventurers are unknown... It seems that I need more clues...”