Working at an otherworldly junkyard, making a fortune by collecting trash.

Thanks to Chen Chen's tireless efforts, the vast survival instance was finally reduced to just one last area.

It was a place completely different from the hellish scene I had seen before.

There were no menacing vines that blocked out the sky, no stark white bones or pungent blood, but instead a boundless sea of ​​pale blue flowers.

A breeze swept by, and the waves of flowers rippled and swayed, carrying a delicate fragrance that washed away even the harshness in the air.

Chen Chen's nerves, which had been tense the whole way, finally relaxed at this moment.

He gazed at the dreamlike scenery before him, and the fatigue and fear of the past few days seemed to be blown away by the wind, even his breathing slowed down.

"Hey, hey, feed—that cleaner?"

A rough, hoarse voice suddenly shattered the tranquility.

Chen Chen looked in the direction of the sound and saw a pale blue flower, several times larger than its counterparts, swaying its petals slightly in the flowerbed.

In the center of the petal was a palm-sized human face, with blurred eyebrows and eyes, but two rows of teeth that were as sharp as icy daggers, making one's heart tremble.

That awful look again!

Chen Chen was startled and instinctively took a half step back, her hands clenching tightly.

He secretly grumbled to himself that this dungeon run had taken a toll on his heart more than he'd ever taken in his entire life, and he'd probably have to go to the hospital for a checkup when he got back.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" Suppressing his fear, Chen Chen asked politely.

"Aren't you a cleaner?" The large flower's petals trembled, and a few leaves stretched out. It pointed impatiently to the bottom of the plant. "Come and clean up this mess. It's an eyesore and ruins the scenery here."

Chen Chen looked in the direction the leaf pointed and saw many withered petals lying on the ground, curled up listlessly, forming a stark contrast with the vibrant blue surrounding them.

"Okay, okay," he quickly replied, afraid of upsetting this flower that looked like it had a bad temper.

He turned on the high-tech vacuum cleaner, deliberately setting it to the lowest setting, and gently sucked in the fallen petals little by little, afraid that too much force would disturb the tranquility of this sea of ​​flowers.

This blue sea of ​​flowers is incredibly vast, and there are countless withered petals on the ground.

As Chen Chen cleaned, he secretly groaned. What was worse, all these flowers were incredibly talkative.

Wherever he went, the flowers chirped and chattered incessantly, their voices rising and falling in waves, giving him a headache.

But thanks to the whispers of these flowers, Chen Chen finally figured out their secrets—they were flowers of illusion, and the fragrance emanating from their petals could evoke the deepest desires and most beautiful thoughts in people's hearts, making them indulge in the illusion and willingly walk towards them step by step, only to be swallowed whole by that mouth with sharp teeth.

"The more we eat, the stronger we grow, and the faster we change our petals!" a little flower exclaimed proudly.

"Those fallen, withered flower petals are good stuff too! Whoever eats them has to tell the truth for ten minutes straight, answering every question without uttering a single lie!"

Petals of Truth?

Chen Chen stopped abruptly, his eyes lighting up instantly.

This is like finding a treasure!

He suppressed his overwhelming joy and asked casually, "Then... is there any way to counteract the effects of these truth petals?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the large blue dream flower with a human face slowly began to move.

It used its two thick leaves to rummage through its sharp teeth for a long time, and finally pulled out a transparent bead the size of a pigeon egg.

The beads lay on the leaves, glistening and translucent, as if wrapped in moonlight.

"These are the fruits we bear," Big Flower's voice tinged with pride. "They only bear one a year! Eat one, and it'll last for ten years! For those ten years, even if you swallow a basket of truth petals, you can still lie with complete conviction!"

Chen Chen's breathing became rapid.

He stared at the bead, his Adam's apple bobbing, and cautiously asked, "Then... could I trade something for one? No, for two?"

"Change?" The large flower's petals tilted, its sharp teeth gleaming coldly. "Do you have a fresh corpse? If so, change it; if not, get lost."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Chen Chen answered hastily.

After leaving the Skull Forest, he cleared out dozens more intact corpses, all of which, judging from their manner of death, had died from mutual slaughter.

Besides these, there were many more incomplete ones—some were just skin, some were just heads, some were just piles of bones—all of which he stuffed into his spatial ring.

At that moment, he opened the ring without hesitation. With a clatter, the corpses were piled up on the open ground in front of the sea of ​​flowers, and the stench of blood instantly filled the air.

He looked at the budding, dreamlike flowers and asked with a smile, "Are these enough to trade?"

"Change! Change! Change!"

Before the large flower could speak, the surrounding illusionary flowers began to excitedly shout.

Their petals trembled wildly, their leaves stretched out, instantly surrounding Chen Chen and the corpses. Their mouths, hiding sharp teeth, were practically drooling.

Ultimately, everyone was happy with the deal.

Chen Chen traded those corpses, which he considered useless, for a full twenty transparent True Word Exemption Beads.

While the flowers of the Illusion were gathered together, enjoying their "feast," Chen Chen quickly swept away all the withered petals from this flower sea area.

The moment he turned off the vacuum cleaner, his StarNet watch vibrated, and a cold, electronic voice clearly announced: "Mission complete. 1000 Star Coins have been credited to your StarNet account. Please check your account. Teleportation will begin in ten minutes. Please take your belongings with you."

Chen Chen let out a long sigh, slumped to the ground, rubbing his aching back, and muttered, "Finally finished cleaning, I'm exhausted!"

He rested for a moment, then stood up, waved to the illusory flowers that were happily munching away, and called out with a smile, "I'm leaving now! See you again someday!"

A little flower raised its head, its petals swayed, and it cried out crisply, "Next time you come to the dungeon for survival quests, we won't eat you!"

This is probably the most profound friendship that the Flower of Illusion can offer.

The largest blue dream flower hesitated for a moment, then stretched out its leaves and, with a touch of pain, plucked a fresh, vibrant blue petal from its own petal, offering it to Chen Chen: "This is for you. It can weave you the most beautiful dream; I suggest you keep it by your pillow when you sleep."

"Thank you." Chen Chen accepted the flower petals. They were slightly cool to the touch and carried a faint, pleasant fragrance. He searched his entire body but couldn't find anything he could offer as a gift. Suddenly, he remembered the little ones, Green Bean and his friends, and his eyes lit up. "By the way, do you guys eat potato chips?"

As he spoke, he pulled a bag of tomato-flavored potato chips from his spatial storage, tore open the packaging, and handed it over.

I picked up a leaf from the large Dream Flower and put it in my mouth.

"Crunch—crunch—"

After the crisp sound, its eyes lit up instantly: "Delicious! Is there more? Is there more?"

"Yes!" Chen Chen grinned and simply took out dozens of boxes of potato chips he had stored in his spatial storage—tomato flavor, original flavor, barbecue flavor, all kinds of flavors—and piled them on the ground like a small mountain.

"These are all for you! Thank you for the gifts, I love them!"

"From now on, you'll be a good friend of our Dream Flower Clan!"

Looking at those dozens of boxes of potato chips, the flowers of illusion trembled with excitement, their rough voices filled with joy.

Ten minutes went by in a blink of an eye.

Chen Chen felt a familiar dizziness wash over him, and the light and shadow around him began to distort.

Just as he was about to be teleported away, he glimpsed many blurry figures suddenly appearing at the edge of the previously empty sea of ​​flowers, which were slowly beginning to solidify.

At the same time, a cold, system-generated voice pierced my eardrums:

"Welcome to the Survival Dungeon - Botanical Garden..."

It ended abruptly with just one sentence.

The next second, a bright light flashed, and Chen Chen's figure completely disappeared into the pale blue sea of ​​flowers.