Since all these rules and superstitions are outdated, what's wrong with me indulging in some me

Cheng Caijun endured his discomfort and stood to the side holding a flashlight. As the knife went deeper, a faint smell of blood permeated the air.

"Something's not right..." Lu Changsheng muttered to himself, "His heart was taken away, cleanly and efficiently."

Lu Changsheng continued cutting down along the chest cavity, and just as he cut through the diaphragm, he suddenly felt a resistance.

The two exchanged a glance, and Lu Changsheng carefully widened the incision and reached inside.

My fingertips touched a hard, cold object with irregular edges.

When he took it out, both of them were stunned.

It was a palm-sized fragment, made of bronze, with a matte rusted surface and a faint dark golden luster showing through the broken edges.

The fragments were covered with ancient and intricate relief patterns, and the grotesque lines and unintelligible symbols were almost identical to the mysterious fragments that Lu Changsheng had previously obtained from the system.

Lu Changsheng didn't speak, but quickly took out the fragment he had obtained earlier from his storage space.

The two fragments were placed side by side, and under the light, their color, material, style, and texture were completely identical.

"Brother Lu, what's wrong with you...?"

Cheng Caijun's eyes widened.

"A reward from the previous dungeon system."

Lu Changsheng's expression was also not very good.

"This should be a fragment of something."

He carefully tried to piece the two fragments together, but unfortunately, he couldn't fit them together at the gap.

"Is this what the messenger is swearing to protect with his life?" Cheng Caijun asked, puzzled. "Could this be related to the game of strange rules and supernatural phenomena?"

"It should be. What the messenger is holding in his arms is probably just a decoy; what he really wants to protect has already been swallowed up by him."

Lu Changsheng nodded, his expression growing increasingly serious.

"Does the employer know about this? Why does he want this body? Is it for this fragment?"

Cheng Caijun felt a chill run down his spine.

"It's very possible, but I'm not sure."

"So, do we still have to hand over the body and remains to the employer?"

Cheng Caijun asked.

Lu Changsheng remained silent for a moment, toying with the two fragments in his hands, a smile playing on his lips.

"Hand it over, but only the body."

Lu Changsheng carefully wrapped the messenger's body again and carefully put away the two pieces of the body.

A sharp glint flashed in Lu Changsheng's eyes: "The things behind this fragment are probably deeper than we imagined. The messenger risked his life to hide it, and the employer was willing to pay a fortune to buy the body... We are in the middle of it all, yet we know nothing about the truth. This is too passive."

-

As night deepened, the stench of blood in the abandoned ship's cabin was diluted by the night breeze.

"Mr. Lu is punctual."

It was still that tall man. He looked at the oil paper package behind Lu Changsheng, his voice calm and even.

"Did you bring it?"

"certainly."

Lu Changsheng's voice was low beneath his mask.

"Then let me check it first, is that alright?"

Although the man spoke with a smile, he couldn't hide the probing look in his eyes.

Lu Changsheng didn't say much, but simply untied the package and pushed it in front of the man.

The man glanced at Lu Changsheng, then squatted down and began to examine him. His movements were professional and swift. He focused on the wounds in the chest and abdominal cavities and carefully examined the corpse's fingers, teeth, and other features.

"It is indeed the 'messenger'." The man visibly relaxed when he confirmed that it was the target, but his expression changed drastically when he saw the large hole in his chest and the cuts in his ribcage.

"Mr. Lu didn't find anything?"

The man slowly stood up, his voice turning cold.

"Perhaps," Lu Changsheng answered ambiguously, "Perhaps not."

The middle-aged man took a deep breath and suddenly changed his attitude: "Mr. Lu, how about we make an extra deal? If you find anything in the corpse that doesn't belong to the corpse, I'm willing to pay double the price to buy it."

Lu Changsheng stared at the man for two seconds, and then the air suddenly fell silent.

The next second, he suddenly laughed:

"Sorry, I was just asking casually. You've already examined the body; it's intact. If there are no problems, let's settle the payment."

The man's face was grim, but he clearly couldn't find any evidence. He gritted his teeth, tossed a smaller package to Lu Changsheng, and didn't forget to utter a harsh threat:

"Mr. Lu, some things are not for ordinary people to touch. I hope you will take care of yourself."

With the outstanding payment settled, Lu Changsheng didn't bother with him and quickly left the dock.

Shortly after he left, a man slowly emerged from the abandoned cabin, his face showing no trace of his previous frustration and anger.

He picked up his phone:

"Target has been confirmed to have made contact with debris."

A cold voice came from the other end of the phone: "Continue the surveillance as planned."

Night quietly crept in.

On the morning of the seventh day, an SUV pulled up in front of the villa right on time. It was the time that Lu Changsheng and the countermeasures team had agreed to test the talismans.

Yan Xiangming personally came to the laboratory to observe Lu Changsheng's talisman test results.

Each test result left the researchers present speechless.

The explosive energy from the ignition of some commonly used attack talismans, if converted into numerical values, would be enough to instantly kill some low-level monsters! It can even cause some damage to mid-level monsters.

While it poses little threat to some advanced supernatural entities, its power is still considerable.

After all, that's something bizarre, a super-powerful existence that transcends human comprehension.

The talisman test lasted for another two hours. Lu Changsheng cooperated with the research on various talismans. When he finally left, Yan Xiangming personally saw him off at the door.

After returning from the countermeasures team base, Lu Changsheng spent a relatively peaceful two weeks.

During this time, he searched through ancient books to find out the origin of the two fragments, while also drawing talismans and researching the system shop, spending some points in the process.

Cheng Caijun continued his rigorous training at the countermeasures team's training camp, and his physical fitness improved significantly.

Aokiji still hasn't returned; I don't know where he's gone off to have some fun.

The peaceful days were shattered in the early hours of the 15th day.

[System notification: Player Lu Changsheng has been detected; his survival time has reached 30 days. The forced dungeon is about to open.]

[Instance Type: Multiplayer, Multinational Player Co-op]

[Dungeon Difficulty: A]

Number of participants: 10

[Instance Name: Destiny]

[Completion Requirements: Survive in the village for seven days]

As the cold, mechanical voice rang in Lu Changsheng's mind, he was drawing a new talisman. His pen paused, and the cinnabar left an irregular mark on the yellow paper.

Grade A?

This time, the mandatory dungeon is only Rank A?

And it's a multiplayer, multi-national co-op instance?

[10 seconds left countdown.]

Lu Changsheng and Cheng Caijun exchanged a glance.

Cheng Caijun nodded, his face slightly pale: "Brother Lu, I'm also in this destined instance!"

Lu Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief; with the two of them together, they could at least look out for each other.

[Countdown complete, global live stream begins, teleportation commences.]

But the countermeasures team was in an uproar.