Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 660 No More Role Models
Li Zheng and Zhan Zhouzhou spent a whole day wandering around the Wrathful Sin Domain, returning to the outer city with thirteen white magic crystals of varying sizes.

He didn't take Zhan Zhouzhou to see the Golden Light Zone; it was too far away, and a round trip would take more than a day, which would be a waste of time.

Back at the magic crystal shop, Zhan Zhouzhou handed the twisted magic crystal to Le Jia, cleansing it of any evil intent.

Li Zheng then met Lu Li and the other two who had just returned.

Qian Buchu was still as unkempt as ever, looking like a street vendor. Upon seeing Li Zheng, he habitually flashed a professional smile: "Boss Li Zheng, long time no see."

He used to be an undercover agent, and after spending a lot of time in contact with special groups of people, he no longer exuded any sense of righteousness in his demeanor or appearance. Instead, he seemed somewhat sleazy.

This was his unique camouflage, which had helped him escape death several times.

Li Zheng glanced at him; his strength rating was the lowest among the three, only at the initial stage of the King realm.

Having served in the army for a long time, Ma Long always maintained a meticulous expression, stood upright, and spoke with a strong voice: "Mr. Li Zheng, the major has instructed me to follow your orders while I am in the outer city. Please feel free to give any instructions."

He was the strongest of the three who entered the outer city this time, having reached the peak of the King realm. Even Miriel's mother, the Succubus Queen, might not be his match.

It is conceivable that Kunlun must have invested a great deal of resources in him.

Li Zheng patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Relax, this isn't the military base, there's no need to be so serious."

"Yes!"

Ma Long was serious and stood at attention, saluting as straight as a javelin.

Qian Buguo chuckled from the side, "That kid Ma Long is like that with everyone. He doesn't talk much when you first meet him, but once he gets to know you, he opens up and becomes a goofball."

Ma Long stared straight ahead, his eyes darting sideways, then his gaze swept out of the corner of his eye and he glared fiercely at Qian Buguo.

However, when it came to not having enough money, they just smiled and didn't care, pretending not to see it.

Li Zheng was amused by Ma Long's little actions and realized that Ma Long was indeed as Qian Buchu had said—a goofball in front of acquaintances.

He patted Malone on the chest and said, "Exceptionally talented."

This refers to the action Malone just performed, where he rolled his eyes to the corner of his eye and glared at someone – something most people couldn't do.

Finally, there's Lu Li.

This guy was different from before; he seemed listless, as if he hadn't had a good rest in a long time, and he stood to the side yawning constantly.

Even when Li Zheng walked up to him, he didn't greet him as enthusiastically as before. Instead, he listlessly raised his eyelids and didn't say a word.

Seeing that something was wrong with him, Li Zheng looked him over carefully, his expression gradually becoming serious: "Come with me."

"Ah..." Lu Li opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly lost interest in speaking. He closed his mouth, kicked his legs, and slowly followed Li Zheng's pace, walking very slowly and yawning more and more frequently.

Li Zheng took him home. Miriel had just finished absorbing the energy of the Twisted Magic Crystal and was preparing dinner.

Seeing him return, she greeted him happily, "Dinner will be ready soon, just wait a little longer. Oh? We have guests? Then I'll have to make a little more."

Li Zheng stopped her: "Go out for a moment, and come back in when I call you."

Noticing that Lu Li's condition was not quite right, Miriel nodded obediently, turned off the stove, walked out of the house alone, and closed the door behind her.

Once the door was closed, Lu Li collapsed onto the ground with a thud, stretched lazily, and closed his eyes, looking like he could fall asleep at any moment.

Li Zheng frowned slightly, circled Lu Li twice, and asked, "How long have you been in this state?"

Lu Li didn't even open his eyes, his voice barely a whisper: "I don't remember...maybe ten days..."

The two words seemed to have exhausted all his strength. He yawned again, and his breathing gradually became even.

“Five days.” Li Zheng calculated that ten days ago was shortly after Lu Li and the others entered the outer city, which means that he had shown initial symptoms at least ten days ago before he became like this.

"Have you ever come into contact with the ancient race or entered the ancient ruins before entering the outer city?" Li Zheng continued to ask, but Lu Li had already fallen asleep and was snoring softly.

"Sigh..." Li Zheng sighed, pointed a finger at Lu Li's brow, and suddenly mobilized his mental energy to impact Lu Li's mind.

Lu Li had entered a deep sleep, and his mental world was almost completely undefended, so Li Zheng entered it with ease.

Here, Li Zheng saw a different environment again.

Lu Li's mental world was a boxing match arena, with a ring in the center and raised stands around it, roughly two thousand seats. "This place..." Li Zheng looked at the environment and paused, "Could this be the venue where Lu Li's brother used to fight?"

Looking up at the arena, there were two huge screens surrounded by several neon bulbs of different colors. One of the screens displayed a man who looked seven or eight parts like Lu Li, with a bronze complexion and more rugged facial features.

Lu Manjiang

This is his name, and next to it is a bright red national flag. Unlike the flag on Earth, the flag of the Blue Star Dragon Kingdom does not have a five-pointed star, but a golden pattern resembling a crescent moon.

Below the national flag, scrolling text in large characters introduces Lu Manjiang's honors, the competitions he has participated in, and the rankings he has achieved.

Li Zheng watched quietly for a while and realized that Lu Li really hadn't been bragging. His brother, Lu Manjiang, was indeed undefeated and won every single match.

The screen next to it was a bit blurry, but the name on it was crystal clear.

Kim Jae-in!

"This is Lu Manjiang's last competition before his death!" Li Zheng suddenly understood why Lu Li's mental world was like this, because this was his brother Lu Manjiang's last competition, and the competition that Lu Li remembered most vividly.

It was also in this match that Lu Manjiang died with resentment in his heart!

"I never imagined that Lu Manjiang was so important to Lu Li." Li Zheng looked at the screen displaying Lu Manjiang. The image was so clear, with every detail perfectly presented.

Just how much weight did Lu Manjiang hold in Lu Li's heart that he could still remember every detail of his brother so clearly after all these years?

Li Zheng originally thought that people like Lu Li, who suffer from mental illness, should have a completely different mental world from ordinary people. They should be strange, broken, and illogical.

However, Lu Li's mental world was so normal that it was impossible to tell that it belonged to someone with a mental illness.

Li Zheng looked towards the arena, which was the center of the entire spiritual world. Logically, Lu Li's spiritual body should have been staying there.

However, he couldn't find Lu Li on the stage. Instead, he saw a little boy who was only seven or eight years old in a corner of the front row of the stands.

The boy knelt on the ground, leaning against the railing, and fell asleep with his eyes closed.

This posture suggests that before he fell asleep, he may have stood on tiptoe and shouted his brother's name loudly towards the ring.

Li Zheng could almost picture that scene.

Lu Li always regarded his older brother, Lu Manjiang, as a role model. He deeply admired his brother, who had repeatedly won victories and brought glory to the country. Whenever his brother participated in a competition, he would go to the venue and lie down as close to his brother as possible to cheer him on.

He would join the other spectators in the stands, shouting out his brother's name loudly when he gained the upper hand in the match, and proudly saying in his heart, "Look, that's my brother!"

Until that day, this undefeated legend fell, fell on the ring, and was defeated by an opponent far weaker than him.

His former supporters turned on him, cursing and wishing they could personally go down on stage and tear their favorite contestant to pieces.

Lu Li was still young at that time, and he probably couldn't understand why the audience's reactions were so different.

All he knew was that his brother had lost and was lying on the ring, his face covered in blood, while his brother's opponent continued to attack him, and even the referee had to warn him repeatedly to stop him.

The champion strutted around the ring, making all sorts of provocative moves, while his supporters cheered loudly, as if it were New Year's Day.

The audience who supported Lu Manjiang were either dejected, indignant, or hurling insults.

But he was the only one in the entire room who cared about the figure lying on the ground, unconscious.

Apart from the event organizers and his brother's colleagues and friends who rushed to carry him off the stage, no one in the audience cared how badly he was injured.

It wasn't until many years later, when Lu Li had grown up, that he realized that the audience members didn't actually support his brother Lu Manjiang; rather, they had placed heavy bets on Lu Manjiang to win at the black market casino.

The older brother lost, which means they lost a lot of money!
All they care about is money!

They don't care about the players' past honors or how much money the players have won for them. They only care about this one time: Lu Manjiang will make them lose everything!
They hurled insults and attacks at the player who caused them to lose money online, wishing him dead.

In the end, Lu Manjiang did as they wished, jumping off the high-rise building and fulfilling their wish.

He gave his life so that those people could win again.

From then on, Lu Li's life was no longer filled with Lu Manjiang, no longer with the Lu Manjiang who brought glory to the country.

There are no more role models.

(End of this chapter)