Xu Yuan wanted to laugh; these people had their own agendas before, but seeing Nan Yue's power made them as docile as little chicks.
Nan Yue swam back to shore, pushing her wet hair back to reveal her smooth forehead.
"You can go up now. There was a bit of an accident just now."
"I can't guarantee it's a hundred percent safe, but it shouldn't be as dangerous as before. The important clues are up there. Don't take them when you're done; leave them for the next person."
The danger of the pavilion lay in choosing the boxes. For experienced scavengers, picking the right box wasn't hard; even if it was pure luck, it was a fifty-fifty chance.
However, the mental pollution on the boxes lowered the probability of choosing correctly, not to mention the mental attacks they faced while swimming across the lake.
Even a scavenger with a healthy psychological value would be in a state of mental fluctuation by the time they reached the pavilion, making it hard to stay clear-headed while choosing.
Moreover, usually, by this point in a mission, everyone's psychological value would have suffered some damage.
Not everyone had a psychological value as resilient as Nan Yue or Gu Xiang Kai, and not every team had a healer like Jiang Siyan who could restore their psychological value.
Objectively speaking, the mental pollution in the lake and the pavilion wasn't particularly heavy—it was only slight—but it was very effective.
Now that the pavilion had exploded and only one box remained, the streamers only needed to be wary of the negative effects in the lake water.
"Then should we... go one by one?"
Xu Yuan thought for a moment and then rejected his own idea.
"No, I saw you guys stall for a bit in the lake. There should be some issues in the water too. It might be better if people go together to remind each other?"
Nan Yue gave him an appreciative look. "Good thinking."
Xu Yuan became even happier, and Xie Nanchen found it a bit funny seeing Xu Yuan straighten his back with pride.
Watching the scavengers and the few surviving NPCs enter the water one by one, Zhang Qixu felt restless.
Everyone saw that Nan Yue had brought a box back with her, but no one asked about it; they didn't even dare to let their eyes drift toward it.
While everyone had their own little schemes during missions, nothing was more important than their lives.
Zhang Qixu really wanted to follow them back to the pavilion now, otherwise, as the only outsider left, he didn't know whether he should listen in or not.
Zhang Qixu wandered a bit further away. Nan Yue didn't mind. After letting Zhu Xi Ning confirm there was no dangerous aura on the box, she opened it directly.
Inside, there was no human skin or anything nerve-wracking, only a few fragments made of a strange material.
"A puzzle?"
Gu Xiang Kai carefully poured the fragments out. Each piece was about the size of a palm, pitch-black and hard, with a silver luster.
There were words on them, but they were carved.
Just as Gu Xiang Kai said, these fragments were of varying sizes with uneven edges; they really could be a puzzle.
Gu Xiang Kai didn't leave the lakeside. He took off his shirt to pad the ground and started working on the puzzle with Zhu Xi Ning.
Nan Yue stood to the side stretching her body, and Jiang Siyan slowly moved toward her.
"Are you okay?"
Nan Yue looked at him with amusement. "Didn't you already check?"
Nan Yue hadn't paid it much mind, but she could feel a gentle, non-malicious force around her. A little thought told her it was Jiang Siyan.
Jiang Siyan coughed lightly. "Yeah, you're fine."
Nan Yue said nonchalantly, "There was an accident just now. Did I scare you?"
Right after asking, Nan Yue felt the question was redundant. Jiang Siyan was a Top 9 player; even if he was a healing-type, he was a battle-hardened high-level player who had seen it all.
How could he be scared by her?
However, Jiang Siyan nodded seriously. "Yes, you did scare me."
"I didn't know you were this strong before."
Jiang Siyan was serious. There were many attack-type awakened abilities, and many with strong attack power, but this kind of destructive force wasn't something an ordinary person possessed.
And it seemed Nan Yue didn't suffer any negative effects.
Indeed, the source of Nan Yue's power was different from others. She had experienced pain and despair that others wouldn't, turning those emotions into her own ability.
Therefore, she wouldn't be restricted or affected.
In fact... Jiang Siyan had just sensed that not only was Nan Yue uninjured, but she seemed healthier than before?
Nan Yue silently watched the two assemble the puzzle while recalling what had happened.
The Zhou family had manually designed a trap for these fragments, using countless layers of mental suggestions to make the person choose the box on the right.
Once opened, an evil ghost would claim their life.
If not for the black mist, Nan Yue would have certainly died; this was a man-made rule designed to eliminate anyone who could discover the Zhou family's secrets.
Although Nan Yue had leveled the pavilion, she hadn't killed that vengeful spirit; she had absorbed it.
Ever since the last meeting, Nan Yue had made up her mind. For herself and for Wen Xiang Yuan, she needed to increase her strength, and the way to do that was to devour other pollutions.
She didn't know why she could coexist with pollution, so she wouldn't let this skill go to waste.
That was Nan Yue's first attempt, and it was unexpectedly successful.
It was just that the evil ghost wasn't a particularly strong pollution, so Nan Yue had no difficulty devouring and digesting it.
If she were to face an entire polluted mission world, it wouldn't be that simple.
Still, starting well was always something to be happy about.
Jiang Siyan observed Nan Yue's expression. It wasn't hard to guess why she was stronger and healthier than before, and amidst his relief, he felt a sense of surprise.
To be honest, he had always maintained a reserved attitude toward the fact that Nan Yue had pollution within her because it was simply too inconceivable.
But if Nan Yue could truly devour and digest pollution, it meant everything before wasn't a fantasy—it was all real.
Only now did Jiang Siyan gain a clear understanding. He seemed to have truly found someone extraordinary.
At first, it was just curiosity and exploration, which evolved into a slight craving for Nan Yue's special treatment. Now, he was determined to walk this path with Nan Yue and this team.
Not only because Nan Yue could bring the sweet dew of hope to his long-withered heart, but also because, for a long time now, he had wanted to know the secrets of this world.
He loathed this world, yet he was filled with curiosity.
He felt that Nan Yue might be the only one who could let him see the truth.
"It's a tortoise shell."
Zhu Xi Ning fit the last fragment into place, and a tortoise shell larger than an ordinary turtle appeared; it was so large that a single person couldn't wrap their arms around it, and the fact that it hadn't decayed at all after so many years proved this turtle was no ordinary creature.
It was likely something the Zhou family had specially commissioned.
Rate on N.U.
