Three people in front of him.
The first was a burly martial artist wearing a gauntlet, he was cautiously observing his surroundings;
The second was a young man that seemed to be either 15 or 16, wearing a black Japanese-styled uniform with a poker face;
The final person was a dark-skinned tall and lanky man, he left his upper half bare, wearing a necklace with three skulls and a grass skirt, quite a belligerent individual at first glance.
They were all preparing themselves for battle while quickly observing their surroundings.
—–apparently because Gu Qing Shan was a newcomer, the young man and the tall lanky man both ignored him.
The kind-faced martial artist was the only one who talked:
“Listen, newcomer”
“You must be a Combatant of considerable strength among those from the world you were born in, correct?”
Gu Qing Shan was a bit surprised.
His words weren’t exactly incorrect.
Watching his expression, the martial artist continued: “Each of us who were transported here represents the worlds we come from as the most powerful individuals there”
“In this place, you will have to complete a never-ending series of probing missions. If you succeed, you will survive and your world will also benefit; otherwise, you die”
“Die? If we’re all so powerful, how would we die?” Gu Qing Shan doubtfully asked.
The martial artist looked confusedly at Gu Qing Shan and asked: “Although you’re a newcomer, how come you don’t know anything at all?”
Gu Qing Shan was also confused.
This place was created by the Four Evil Gods, by the Matriarch of Myriad Earths’ standard alone, everything should have been very well-designed, so there should have been some sort of tutorial for newcomers like myself.
But there was nothing.
Gu Qing Shan replied: “I accidentally entered this place—— perhaps it was unexpected for people like me who entered this place?”
The martial artist explained: “You should have received a short summary of what happened before anything else, then obtained a weapon best suited to your expertise as well as a miniature storage device to keep everything that you collect during these missions”
Gu Qing Shan shrugged: “There was nothing”
The martial artist scratched his head in confusion: “That’s strange…”
The other two have been gazing indifferently at a distance for the past while, only now did they both turn towards Gu Qing Shan.
The young man pondered: “A newcomer; and one that hadn’t received any guidance from the four Gods…”
The grass-skirt dark-skinned lanky man smirked: “A pitiful fellow, he has no idea what he has to face”
The three skulls on his necklace lit up at the same time, giving off hundreds of thousands of burning ghostly flames.
He began to exude killing intent.
Gu Qing Shan glanced at him, took a step back, then waved dismissively: “What are you holding killing intent for, you still want to fight at a time like this? I’m betting that you’re no match for me, so don’t bother wasting your life”
The dark-skinned lanky man spat in disdain, then mumbled to himself:
“Completely clueless… what a self-centered newcomer—— just in time too, my supplies are about to run out, and my insects also need to suck in some souls in preparation for the next mission”
The young man crossed his arms: “If you leave his flesh and blood to me, I’ll give you a hand. We can save some stamina this way as well”
“Deal” the dark-skinned lanky man replied.
The young man smirked, slowly lowered his hand and pulled out a long sniper rifle from the void of space.
“You first, I’ll cover” the young man said.
“Sure”
The dark-skinned lanky man slightly lowered his body, preparing to charge forward.
Gu Qing Shan stood still without moving.
A faint glow flickered within his iris before vanishing.
His Secret Art [Water Flow Severance] had evolved into a Huang Quan Divine Skill, and a Huang Quan Divine Skill wasn’t something to be trifled with.
I’ve finished preparing [Forgetting River Severance] since a while ago, and despite how strong these two were, it’s still a far cry from being able to survive being attacked by my gaze.
Right as the air of battle had gotten extremely intense, a cold mechanical voice resounded:
[The third stage mission is about to begin]
[Prepare to accept your new mission:]
[There is a ruin in the barren meadow, after arriving there, you will find a strange corpse sitting in the depths of the ruins]
[Please attempt to contact that corpse, after confirming that there are no dangers, prepare for your next orders]
[Attention, the mission had begun]
[Any actions unrelated to your mission will result in deduction of your assessment, up until you face the baptism of the Apocalypse]
The mechanical voice vanished.
The young man and the lanky man’s expressions both changed.
“Ah, we don’t have time to kill him” the lanky man said regretfully.
“The mission is more important”
The young man said and immediately flew away.
He cautiously maintained a stable flight speed as he headed deeper into the wilderness.
The lanky man glanced at Gu Qing Shan for a short while before flying away as well.
——they’ve left.
The martial artist also looked at Gu Qing Shan and said: “I also need to leave, otherwise both I and my world will be erased”
“This is the punishment for a failed mission” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“Yes” the martial artist replied.
The cold mechanical voice sounded again: [Please immediately proceed, or you will be erased]
The martial artist exchanged glances with Gu Qing Shan.
The martial artist said with an unwilling tone of voice: “Let’s quickly go!”
Gu Qing Shan could see the anger and helplessness in the martial artist’s eyes.
At this point, the martial artist was no longer concerned with Gu Qing Shan and quickly flew away into the wilderness as well.
Only Gu Qing Shan remained here.
“Hah, what a ridiculous thing. Also, War God UI, why didn’t you even give me a notification?”
He sighed and randomly asked.
After his Soul Points was deducted, the War God UI replied: [Because you didn’t have a mission]
“Huh? I didn’t have one?”
Right as Gu Qing Shan was about to chase after them, he stopped as he heard this.
[That’s right, you don’t] the War God UI confirmed.
His Soul Points were deducted again.
Gu Qing Shan opened his mouth and was about to say something when a series of tiny clickclackering noises sounded.
When Gu Qing Shan looked down, he saw that the face of the black watch on his wrist was moving.
On the clock face, the 12 scales were divided into 2 portions, the upper half, from numbers 9 to 3, was white; while the lower half was black.
The clock hand quickly moved along and pointed at one of the scales inside the white portion.
Eleven.
The hand of the watch was pointing exactly at the number ’11’.
A mechanical voice sounded from the watch: [Connection complete, identity confirmed]
The cold mechanical voice from earlier sounded again from the void of space.
[Your excellency, Matriarch of Myriad Earths, the trash collector mission had begun, please wait patiently to confirm the results]
Gu Qing Shan scowled in surprise.
——–this ‘Twelve Scales Grasp of Duo-faced World’s Infinite Rejection’ seems to be hiding some sort of plan devised by the Four Evil Gods of the past.
Although they are already dead, their plan still continues.
Gu Qing Shan pondered and asked: “What is the content of the current trash collector mission?”
The mechanical voice replied: [To investigate the situation of the ruins within the 11th scale. After preliminary exploration, this location has been confirmed to still hold great danger]
[To prevent the exploration from injuring your excellency, the mission system has been utilized to summon manpower and conduct fodder-type exploration]
[In consideration of your presence within this mission, the mission rank has been raised by two stages]
[Exploration has begun!]
A flash of light descended from above to envelop Gu Qing Shan
[To prevent any dangers from harming your excellency, a barrier of the highest intensity had been deployed, as soon as any dangers are found, your excellency will be transported away as a priority]
[Your excellency, the exploration has officially started]
Before Gu Qing Shan could say anything, a screen of light appeared in front of his eyes.
In the wilderness, the real-time circumstances of the three people from before were being displayed, making it convenient for Gu Qing Shan to observe them.
Gu Qing Shan observed as the three of them entered the ruins, avoiding layer after layer of danger, before finally arriving in front of the corpse.
They swiftly took out the tools that had been prepared and began to examine the corpse.
While Gu Qing Shan was observing them, the mechanical voice continued:
[Your excellency, no Apocalypse were encountered up to this point of the mission, it has been smoothly completed]
[Please wait for a moment as I return the three fodder members in front of your excellency for them to make their reports]
A second later, the screen of light flashed.
The martial artist, the young man, and the dark-skinned lanky man appeared just a bit away from Gu Qing Shan.
The three of them were all startled.
“What? You’re still alive after not participating in the mission!?” the martial artist exclaimed in shock.
The other two were also looking at Gu Qing Shan in disbelief.
The mechanical voice sounded again:
[Kneel, mortals. Then report your findings to your God]
