Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 428 A node as big as a planet!

"The Dark Realm is an illusion; nothing with a physical form can exist there. In fact, the very concept of existence itself does not belong to the Dark Realm."

"Your appearance has broken this rule, creating a flaw in the Dark Realm that allows it to accommodate things that exist between the real and the unreal."

"To be precise, it is because of my existence that those illusory and real life forms were able to find this place and create that lamp that could send you in."

Therefore, the dark realm does not have rules distinguishing it by size, height, distance, brightness, etc.

Li Zheng's activities are restricted here, but in reality, it's just the area of ​​the Dark Realm that is affected by his presence.

It wasn't the Dark Realm that restricted him, but rather he restricted himself, which is why he couldn't go far.

"So what exactly is that thing between reality and illusion?" The illusory figure paced back and forth in front of Li Zheng. "I've been thinking about this question for a very long time... until that time when a guy covered in blood came in, I finally found a word to describe it from his thoughts."

"Translated into your language, that's called spiritual power."

"Later I started thinking, if you beings in the real world can develop the concept of spiritual power, then... could I do it too?"

"Since then, I have been studying mental power, trying to actively create some existences between reality and illusion in the dark realm."

"At first, I thought I had failed."

"Until later... another guy with an even stronger bloodlust came in carrying a lantern and broke the rules of the Dark Realm, I realized that I had actually succeeded!"

"What proves this is those things..." Xu pointed to the sky, "...nodes!"

Li Zheng looked in that direction and saw a dense patch of starlight.

Although the starlight was dense, it was not bright enough to illuminate the dark realm.

"The existence of nodes, like mine, is a mixture of illusion and reality, yet not true reality." The virtual finger moved, pulling a starlight closer.

The starlight, which was originally as small as a grain of rice, was pulled by his fingers and rapidly approached the top of their heads.

From a grain of rice to an egg, from an egg to a basketball, from a basketball to a hot air balloon.

Finally, a colossal planet stretched out before Li Zheng's eyes, boundless and imposing, pressing down on him with a sense of oppression.

Just like a documentary he once watched, looking at Earth from space, one realizes how insignificant one is.

The starlight was not round and smooth; Li Zheng could even see the craters on its surface, much like the craters on the moon.

The person who created it must have had little talent in art.

Finally, with a sudden tug, the "planet" passed through the two of them, disappeared beneath their feet, and turned into a grain of rice.

When Li Zheng finally realized what was happening, he discovered that he had somehow changed direction, and the starlight that was originally overhead had all moved to his feet, resembling a lake of stars.

He and Xu stood suspended in mid-air above the starry lake.

"These nodes are actually a manifestation of spiritual power that I have researched. I don't know when they appeared in the Dark Realm."

"Only when a second life enters the Dark Realm and breaks its rules will they manifest."

"Perhaps... even if I create virtual and real life forms here just like myself, they will fall into silence once the rules of the Dark Realm are restored."

"Unless, I can create reality in the Dark Realm."

But that's impossible. The ability to create nodes, which are half-virtual and half-real, is achieved by borrowing from real-world rules. It's like going through a back door in the rules and catching the bug.

If he creates something "real" in the world, it won't be called exploiting a bug, but rather starting to "crash" things. With that ability, wouldn't it be better for him to use it on himself, brute-force the rules of the dark world, and break through to the real world?
Li Zheng stared intently at the handsome, bald man who was just as good-looking as himself and incredibly charming, and read a feeling called "loneliness" on the other man's face.

As the only life form existing in the Dark Realm, it has lived for an unknown amount of time, forever existing in the concept of "nothingness," without any awareness of the passage of time.

Until one day, a life form that looked very much like him appeared in the Dark Realm, and he thought he finally had a companion.

However, he found that when those creatures saw him, they reacted with extreme fear and even attacked him.

He tried to "leave" some of them behind, so that these lives could stay with him forever.

Although it looked more like "imprisonment," he didn't care about the methods; he just wanted more companionship.

Unfortunately, unlike himself, they grew weaker and weaker before long, eventually fading into nothingness. Later, he stopped forcing them. If similar beings wandered into this place again, he would send them out if they were friendly, and imprison them as punishment if they were malicious.

Until that guy showed up...

That was a very special guy; he was real, yet he had comprehended a kind of ability similar to nothingness.

By sheer accident, they entered the Dark Realm.

It was very friendly and quickly became friends with Xu after meeting him.

He found it quite pleasing to the eye, so he gave it the illusory life form he had captured not long ago, so that it could use it as a springboard to frequently come in and communicate with him.

Afterwards, it did not disappoint Xu. After making the Abyss Walker that Xu had given it its pet, it often came to the Dark Realm to chat with Xu, using the Abyss Walker's more stable virtual and real characteristics.

It would tell the virtual world about many things that happened in the real world. The virtual world was not as talkative as it is now, but a quiet listener.

Over time, Xu got used to this kind of life.

Whenever it leaves, the void will wait in the "nothingness" for it to return.

Xu felt that although he was still unable to escape the Dark Realm, that brief period of time was the most beautiful memory of his life.

It was so wonderful that, even now, after so much time has passed, it feels like it just happened.

Until that one time, the last time it appeared before Xu, it told him that it was leaving to complete its mission.

However, before leaving, it used the power of the virtual to create several parts together.

It said that with these things, more people would come in to keep Xu company and chat with him.

Those people are called "lamp holders".

But the truth is that the component malfunctioned, and the beings that came in later carrying lanterns were all covered in blood and extremely violent.

Xu disliked this kind of life and never paid any attention to it.

It was from those existing consciousnesses that Xu understood what blood and qi meant.

From then on, he decided that he would not see anyone except a lamp-bearer who was devoid of bloodlust.

"So... you can read other people's consciousness, yet you still need them to chat with you?" Li Zheng rolled his eyes after listening to the talkative Xu's ramblings.

At that moment, I was caught off guard and felt awkward.

He knew that some beings valued what was in their consciousness very much and would get very angry if someone spied on them. He had been so engrossed in his recollection that he had forgotten to keep this aspect of himself hidden.

"Actually, I can only read information that isn't being read... Well, judging from your expression, you don't seem to believe me." Xu appeared somewhat embarrassed, as if he had lost his best friend and suddenly met another potential friend, but now he was about to lose that person.

He's afraid of being alone; he's really afraid of being alone.

Only by experiencing it can you know how precious the companionship of friends is.

Li Zheng is the second person in countless years, after the first lamp-bearer, who could possibly become his friend.

If you miss Li Zheng, who knows how long it will take to wait for the next one?

"If you don't mind, could you wait a moment? Let me make up an excuse to convince you." He rested his chin on his hand and paced back and forth.

This was an unconscious action Li Zheng took when he was thinking alone, and Xu actually copied it...

Li Zheng had no choice but to find a way out for Xu, considering that Xu was also a pitiful person:
"How about this? You should know I like to make deals. How about we use your knowledge of my memories as leverage to make a deal?"

"Great!" Xu Yi exclaimed excitedly, having once again peered into Li Zheng's consciousness, "Deal!"

"???"

Li Zheng was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and uttered a single word.

"Gan!!"

(End of this chapter)