Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 176 Rules and Code
"Commander Zhou." Yu Tianlun's voice was still as calm and experienced as ever, befitting the former Commander of Dawn. "What's your decision? I can give you some time to think it over, but it's best not to take too long."

Zhou Chen stood on the stone steps of the shrine, his peach wood sword tucked diagonally at his waist.

If the look in his eyes as he stared at the screen could kill, it would have been enough to have Yu Tianlun executed by slow slicing.

"Yu Tianlun," Zhou Chen said, each word seemingly squeezed out through clenched teeth, "Do you think I'd believe your nonsense?"

On the screen, Yu Tianlun showed Qin Mei, who was kneeling on the ground in shackles, and said, "Believe it or not. But Qin Mei's life is indeed in our hands."

He paused, then added, "Of course, you can also choose to continue being Blood Lord's dog and abandon this colleague's life."

Qin Mei's mouth was covered. She wanted to warn Zhou Chen to be careful of the balloons, but she couldn't open her mouth at all.

Veins bulged on Zhou Chen's forehead. Qin Mei was his lover, but he was now helpless! For Yu Tianlun, killing Qin Mei, who was wearing the magic-suppressing shackles, would be a piece of cake!
"Yu Tianlun, you're a grown man, using a woman as a hostage to blackmail me! How shameless! Are you even a man?"

Hearing Zhou Chen's accusations, Yu Tianlun felt somewhat more certain. Perhaps Zhou Chen really did like Qin Mei.

He planned to test the waters again.

"Zhou Chen, there's no need for such nonsense. I only distinguish between friend and foe, not men and women! Your two teams, with about twenty people each, came to besiege us, and now you're talking to me about whether we're men or not? What a joke!"

Then, he pulled out the peach wood sword and plunged it into Qin Mei's hand!
"you!"

At that moment, Yu Tianlun carefully observed Zhou Chen's facial expression.

Even an Oscar-winning actor would find it difficult to demonstrate excellent acting skills when dealing with unexpected situations.

"Yu Tianlun! You're asking for death!" Zhou Chen almost ground his teeth to powder, his expression turning into that of a demon from hell!
Yu Tianlun now believed 90% of the information provided by Shirakawa Rin.

To everyone's surprise, the leader of the Scarlet Team actually fell in love with Qin Mei, who was old enough to be his mother!
Who could believe something like this if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes?

"Commander Zhou, it's unwise to make threats at a time like this, because it will only make me more certain of how valuable my bargaining chips are in the negotiations."

Hearing Yu Tianlun's mocking words, Zhou Chen felt extremely tormented.

Who said Yu Tianlun is an upright person? Come out here, I promise I'll beat you to death!

In retrospect, he was completely different from a true saint like Sima Jin. The latter would never deliberately torture a defenseless woman to threaten the enemy.

Suddenly, the demon bone let out a low whimper.

The undead hound suddenly raised its head, its scarlet eyes fixed on the night sky above the shrine.

Han Wei's expression changed drastically: "Commander! From the sky—"

When Zhou Chen looked up, he saw nothing.

However, Liu Shi, a team member and a Level 1 psychic, saw a balloon slowly descending from the sky.

It was a familiar face—her own signature short hair and stubborn smile, only the face on the balloon looked as lifeless as a poorly made doll.

Then the second and third reincarnators saw their own balloons!
"What is this? Such a big balloon! It looks just like my face?"

Hearing this, Zhou Chen's heart pounded violently. He immediately took out a bottle from his body, poured out water to wash his eyes, and then opened his eyes. He immediately saw seven balloons silently floating above the shrine, each with a steel cable hanging below it that gleamed with a metallic sheen!
Upon seeing this, Zhou Chen quickly realized what instance this was!

"Head balloons! Don't attack the balloons!"

Shirakawa Rin suddenly chuckled softly.

Countless spirit-eating bees flew out silently. These worms were incredibly fast, leaving almost invisible trails in the night sky.

"puff--"

The moment the first bee stinger pierced the "Willow Poetry Balloon"!

Liu Shi let out a scream that sounded inhuman, and grabbed her face with both hands. Her originally smooth skin became loose and wrinkled at a speed visible to the naked eye, just like the deflated balloon!
"What's going on?!" exclaimed the team members whose balloons hadn't appeared. "Was it... was it cleaned up by the cleaners?"

Then came the second, the third... all seven balloons deflated within seconds, turning into wrinkled membranes that floated down!

"No! Stop!" Zhou Chen roared and lunged at Shirakawa Rin, but it was too late.

"Help me..." Liu Shi's eyes bulged out, and her tongue lolled out uncontrollably. As her skin completely turned into balloon-like wrinkles, her body fell to the ground at an eerie angle.

The same thing happened to the other six. Zhang Man knelt on the ground, desperately scratching his withered face; Lin Qi's skin sagged like a mummy, and he made gurgling sounds as he choked.

Seven corpses lay on the ground in various contorted positions. Their faces were all wrinkled like shriveled balloon skins.

The Crimson Team lost seven members in an instant, and everyone was terrified and their faces turned ashen.

"Shirakawa Rin!" Zhou Chen's peach wood sword flashed as it was drawn, the blade slicing precisely across the shrine maiden's throat. But the decapitated body transformed into a paper doll—it was the shrine maiden's Paper Doll Substitute skill!
Yu Tianlun's cold laugh came through the phone screen: "Commander Zhou, are you satisfied with this gift? Alright, I'm waiting for your reply. My suggestion still stands."

Then, he hung up the phone.

Zhou Chen's hand holding the sword trembled with anger.

I have never suffered such a humiliating disgrace!
He finally understood—Yu Tianlun wasn't negotiating at all; he was just waiting for their balloon to appear! Now, Scarlet Clan only had nine members left, and what's worse…

"Commander Zhou!" Han Wei suddenly pointed to the sky, "They're here again!"

New balloons are appearing and disappearing in the clouds.

Zhou Chen gritted his teeth and shouted, "Everyone, retreat!"

Then, he threw out a huge handful of insect repellent powder!
This is a powerful insect repellent powder specifically designed for Liu Yan to deal with Gu worms. Once sprinkled, it will instantly evaporate and spread, killing all Gu worms!
Then, the nine people stumbled and fled into the town.

"Commander, look!"

Soon, under a tree, someone pointed to a piece of paper posted on it.

Those are the ten rules!
Zhou Chen immediately took out his phone and photographed the rules!
Suddenly, blinding searchlights locked onto them. A squad of fully armed self-defense forces blocked their path in the middle of the street, the dark muzzles of their guns gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

"Halt! No going out during curfew!"

Zhou Chen quickly assessed the situation. These self-defense members were armed with ordinary M16s, and he was confident he could wipe them out. However, once the fighting started, they could still pose a deadly threat to some members of the current Crimson Team.

"We're lost." Zhou Chen forced an apologetic expression, while discreetly tucking the peach wood sword behind his back. "We'll be right back..."

"boom!"

A sudden gunshot interrupted his words. Wang Hao, the most impulsive hunter in the team, suddenly pulled out a pistol and blew the head of the leading officer apart!
"Why waste words with them!" Wang Hao roared ferociously. "Perfect timing! I've been waiting day and night for the chance to kill those Japanese soldiers!"

Damn it! Zhou Chen wished he could slice his head off with a sword. You angry young man, at least pick a time! Do you think you're in an anti-Japanese war drama?!
"Fire!"

A barrage of gunfire instantly tore through the night sky.

Zhou Chen quickly set up a defensive formation, but he was still a beat too slow. Three bloody holes exploded in Wang Hao's chest. He looked down at his bleeding wounds in disbelief and slowly knelt down.

Another team member was shot in the femoral artery, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

"Idiot!" Zhou Chen roared in fury, causing the formation to take shape and finally completely blocking the bullets.

He grabbed the injured team member and led the remaining seven men into a nearby alley.

The hound Demon Bone roared and pounced on the pursuers, buying the team a few precious seconds.

Zhou Chen and his men fought and retreated, eventually turning into a grove of trees.

Then, Zhou Chen formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation in a low voice. As the last syllable fell, the runes on the ground suddenly lit up, then quickly went out. An invisible barrier rose up, isolating their aura from the outside world.

——【Concealment Array】.

This formation is enough to conceal everyone's figures, making it impossible for the Self-Defense Forces to detect them.

This is a spatial array that can only be cast by a level 3 Shaman. It can temporarily shield them from external perception, allowing them to rest briefly in this area.

"It's safe for now."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Team doctor! Team doctor!"

Fortunately, the Scarlet team had more than one medic; another, Tang Min, was still alive.

"Listen carefully." Zhou Chen checked the rules he had filmed and lowered his voice, "From now on, never look directly at the sky. If you see anything that might be a balloon, immediately close your eyes and turn around as the rules say."

He touched his itchy cheek. "Our skin has already started to change."

Suddenly, someone pointed into the distance: "Commander! That's...?"

Across the street, a patrolman wearing a silver armband was looking up at the sky.

Beneath his feet was a silver thermal blanket, but suddenly his neck twisted at an eerie angle, and he was lifted up as if by invisible ropes. His feet kicked wildly a few times before he stopped moving. "Looks like another rule-breaker," Zhou Chen sneered. "I see now, Nirvana plans to use these balloons, whose lives are tied to ours, against us!"

At this moment, Zhou Chen's eyes turned sinister as he began to think of a countermeasure.

Meanwhile, inside the textile factory workshop.

“Seven Scarlet members remain.” Yu Tianlun received a notification from the Reincarnation System. “Not bad.”

“They’ve lost more than half of their members,” Jiang Jin said excitedly. “The rule contamination of memes is truly terrifying. No matter how powerful a reincarnator is, they will die as soon as their balloon bursts.”

At this moment, Zhou Chen stood in a clearing deep in the woods, his peach wood sword deeply embedded in the soil, the runes around the blade glowing faintly.

Han Wei and the other five team members formed a circle, warily watching their surroundings.

"Commander Zhou, Jiang Jin hasn't moved." Han Wei said in a low voice, his hunting dog, Demon Bone, crouching beside him, its scarlet eyes constantly scanning the darkness.

Zhou Chen nodded, took out his phone from his pocket, and tried to contact Blood Lord.

No signal.

He frowned and tried dialing again, but the phone screen still showed "No Service".

"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath, gripping his phone tightly.

The situation is out of control.

He originally thought this mission was just a simple hunt down of the Nirvana team, but he never expected to get caught up in this bizarre instance.

Worse still, they were unaware of the intricacies behind the rules of this instance, and could only passively respond to each crisis.

"Captain, what do we do now?" a team member asked in a low voice. "The Nirvana team has clearly gathered more intelligence."

Zhou Chen's eyes were cold, and his fingers tapped lightly on the hilt of his sword.

“No rush,” he said slowly. “Even if nine people die, those who survive will be elites. Besides, the balloons won’t be targeting us alone, and the Nirvana team won’t have it much easier than us.”

He looked up into the depths of the woods, his gaze deep and thoughtful.

This was the first time he had encountered such a crisis since joining the Blood Lord's ranks, and also the first time he had encountered a situation where the interdimensional communicator could not be used.

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.

We must rescue Qin Mei no matter what!
Besides, what's a little crisis? At least I can still use my professional skills!
What's truly terrifying is that completely rule-based mission he carried out with Blood Lord back then, during which his professional skills were completely sealed!
The name of that copy is "The Note Left by Mom".

That was the first time he met Blood Lord.

At that time, the latter had just been expelled from the Insect Nest team and was arrested by the imperial court for using forbidden techniques, and was exiled to this instance.

At that time, Zhou Chen remembered that as soon as he entered the instance, he was standing in an unfamiliar living room. It was eerily quiet all around, and a cat was lying on the floor.

This is an ordinary apartment; the furniture is old but clean, and a few blurry family photos hang on the wall. A note sits on the coffee table with a few lines written on it:
"Sorry, Mom has to go on a business trip for a month. You need to follow the rules while you're home alone, okay? Be a good girl and wait for Mom to come back. ^_^"
1. If there is a month's worth of food in the refrigerator, allocate it reasonably and do not finish it in advance; it is okay to leave some.

2. If someone knocks on the door during the day, carefully check through the peephole to see if you recognize the person outside and if they are unharmed. If not, do not open the door. If they continue knocking for more than five minutes, immediately hide under the bed. The wardrobe will protect you; enter the wardrobe.
3. If someone knocks on the door at night, don't look through the peephole, no matter who is making the noise. You can hide in the closet at night.
4…

The note was strange; the font and color of many of the words were unusual, and some words even lacked punctuation.

The rules became increasingly strange, such as not giving the cat a name or feeding it the cat food from the corner.

The strangest thing is that it was repeatedly mentioned that you could go into the closet, but in the 15th article, it says that you should never go into the closet under any circumstances!
Starting with item 16, garbled characters begin to appear!
Article 18 was actually "Don't attempt suicide," and then it was crossed out!

The last one, number 21, contained 12 characters in very large font: "Don't go out, don't go out, don't go out" along with three exclamation marks!

Finally, eight words were written in red: "Do not stay out overnight."

At the bottom of the note were written "Wait for Mom" ​​and "Don't run away." The strangest thing was that the four words "Wait for Mom" ​​were separated by many lines.

Zhou Chen's fingers trembled slightly.

He had a hunch that the note might not have been written by the same person. Or perhaps, the person who wrote the note was in a state of severe meme contamination at the time.

This is a completely rule-based instance where all class skills and items are locked.

In this instance, they must survive in this condition for a month in order to leave alive.

In the living room, besides him, there were more than twenty other people—including Blood Lord, Long Cang, Duan She, and Wu Ge's father, Wu Zhiping, among others.

"It seems the imperial court has really gone all out this time." Blood Lord sneered, picking up the note and reading it carefully. "They actually managed to designate us to enter this kind of instance."

These kinds of instances are generally entered randomly by reincarnators, with an encounter probability akin to winning the lottery. So many people entering simultaneously is clearly abnormal.

"A completely rule-based instance..." Long Cang's voice was deep, "and the rules are so complicated? What are the people from the imperial court trying to do?"

"Who knows, but they must have something in mind."

Zhou Chen did not respond, but silently memorized each rule.

They must survive.

Then, they went back with their reward.

More than twenty people were gathered in a room that was only a little over 100 square meters. Naturally, there couldn't be that much food in the refrigerator. However, the imperial court had prepared enough food for them in advance and stored it in the Reincarnator Watch.

The experience of that instance remains a nightmare to this day. Moreover, the aftereffects of the memetic contamination caused by that instance still have some impact on them.

Zhou Chen still feels that he was lucky to have survived.

At the time, Wu Ge's father, Wu Zhiping, played a crucial role in cracking this copy.

He deduced that there was a trap within these rules: the bed was actually safe, while the cabinet was the dangerous one. The so-called "it" could cause cognitive contamination, and cats were originally humans.

The so-called "it" exists in the wardrobe mirror, but its power is much weaker under the bed.

However, the space under the bed is limited, and it's impossible for everyone to hide there. This instance wasn't originally intended for that many people to enter.

What followed made Zhou Chen realize what purgatory truly meant.

After the instance ended, they were teleported back to the real world.

Rewards settlement.

Zhou Chen, who participated in cracking the dungeon rules, received the following rewards:

[Rules and Codes] title.

[Curse Immunity Potion] ×3.

【Shards of Resentment】×3.

Blood Lord gave most of his rewards to the imperial court in exchange for their support in establishing the Bloody Team.

That was their first pot of gold.

Back to the present.

Zhou Chen's gaze refocused.

"Commander Zhou?" Han Wei's voice brought him back to reality.

“It’s nothing,” Zhou Chen said coldly. “I was just thinking… how to kill Yu Tianlun and make him regret messing with me.”

This time, he won't lose.

Because he and Blood Lord had survived an even more terrifying dungeon.

And the name Nirvana Team will become history.

Because they messed with the wrong people!
Next, he began to use the title of [Rule Code].

This is a unique title within the entire reincarnation system. Using this title grants complete immunity to rule corruption and allows one to decipher all the mysteries behind the rules. However, once used, it cannot be used again in the subsequent three instances.

After activating the [Codex of Rules] title, he suddenly noticed a text prompt in his left eye!
"Zhou Chen, the Reincarnator, you have used the title of [Code of Rules]."

The Rules of Law have detected a [Currently Deceptive Lawyer] in this horror instance!
"The 'deceptive lawyer' is an unacceptable profession."

Do not tell anyone about the existence of the "Crazy Lawyer," find the "Crazy Lawyer" within the instance, and report it to the Reincarnation System.

You will receive one [Undying Pardon Token], 10 Resentment Shards, and directly advance to LV4 class!

(End of this chapter)