Saving the World in an Apocalypse-Style Text Game-Chapter 663 - 331: Life Gene, Labyrinth of Crawlers_2
[Which forked passageway do you want to go down?]
Lin Xun raised an eyebrow, suspecting that the ’Crawlers Tribe’ was likely a significant maze.
Following his established approach, he started to record all the fork options he encountered.
[You proceed down the left passage, stepping on fragments of stone as you delve deeper into the cave...]
[Soon, you see another two forked paths just ahead.]
[Which forked passageway do you want to go down?]
[As you were about to choose the left fork, you suddenly heard a faint rustling noise coming from the right passageway.]
[Quickly, you saw countless red dots appearing at the end of the right passage, each being the size of a fist...]
[Focusing your True Element into your eyes, you realized those weren’t mere red dots; they were a swarm of gigantic insects resembling ’cockroaches.’]
[They don’t look like bug-people but are entirely monstrous insects. This suggests another method to achieve ’Feathered’ form.]
[The ’Feathered Crawlers of the Tribe’ seem to have sensed your presence from the start, as their eerie shrieks echoed through the passage. They surged towards you, shoving and squeezing each other to reach you...]
[Facing such a flood of monsters, you gathered your spirit and swelled your True Element, gripping the sword mantra...]
[Suddenly, the ’Rotating Stars Immortal Sword’ transformed from a three-feet long sharp blade into a colossal sword that occupied the entire corridor!]
[The weapon’s Special Skill, ’One Sword Frosts Fourteen States’, was activated!]
[The sword pierced through the passageway with an unstoppable force, nothing could obstruct it, and every crawler in its path was cleaved in half.]
[The piercing Sword Qi stirred by the giant sword filled the entire cave passage, countless crawlers shrieked in death...]
[You have defeated the ’Feathered Crawlers of the Tribe’. Experience points mildly increased.]
[You have defeated the ’Feathered Crawlers of the Tribe’. Experience points mildly increased.]
[You have defeated ...]
The massive amount of text was scrolling on the screen, with occasional prompts of dropped spirituality appearing. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
The ’Crawlers’ were weak and easily defeated, there were just a lot of them.
With his weapon’s special skill, Lin Xun could turn singled-out attacks into a group assault. He wasn’t afraid of these small fry. Even without a weapon’s special skill, he could use his battle Mage shell, manipulating spells to attack the mobs.
Quickly, he cleared the passage, wiping out the monsters.
"These are just swarms of monsters, what’s so dangerous about that?"
The Crawlers’ shells were incompatible, and he couldn’t inhabit them. Besides, Lin Xun didn’t plan to give up his warden container to possess these bottom-feeder monster shells.
He continued to explore the cave...
Just as he predicted, the ’Crawlers Tribe’ was indeed a massive maze.
Each time Lin Xun encountered a fork, he diligently recorded his chosen path. Even if he had to solve the maze by brute force, at the very least, he could always return to the entrance. He wouldn’t get lost.
But as he continued to move forward, he gradually realized that this maze seemed to have no exit?
The reason was simple; he had been choosing the left-side passage for nearly two hours without seeing an end.
During this time, he had encountered over twenty fork options, it almost seemed as if the Crawlers Tribe had no end.
Lin Xun began to consider another possibility. If the entire maze followed a circular pattern connecting the beginning to the end, choosing the wrong path could lead him back to where he had been previously.
If he didn’t choose the correct path in one go, he would just keep circling within the maze indefinitely.
Furrowing his brow, he realized that markings needed to be made at every passage entrance.
If he chose the wrong path and ended up at a place he had previously passed, he would know, eliminating confusion.
By ruling out all the wrong answers, the only remaining options would be correct.
Although the method was clumsy, it was presently the best choice.
He went through his inventory and quickly found an item that could be used for marking.
[Fluorescent Footprint Powder *2（Item）, a vial of multi-colored fluorescent powder. When used, for a brief period, every path you took will be marked with multi-colored fluorescent footprints that guide you home.](From Chapter 138)
The three vials of ’Fluorescent Footprint Powder’ provided by his old friend Bennett were originally for finding his way back to the clinic through the fog.
He only used one vial when fighting the final boss, the Astral Corpse Sacred Beast. So, he had two vials left, which he could use for marking.
Lin Xun prepared to return to the starting point of the maze and used the item while zipping through the passages by flying on his sword. This way, he would leave footprints behind, and he would know if he was retracing his steps.
He turned around and headed back towards the starting point of the maze...
This time, to conserve time, Lin Xun utilized the method of Sword Flight. Following the recorded choices, he quickly traversed the passages.
Yet after reversing all the selections he initially made, he was unable to rediscover the starting point of the maze.
"Something isn’t right!"
Normally, in Y-shaped crossroads, if you turn back and make decisions opposite to the ones you made before, you should be able to return to the start.
Having initially gone left all the way, he thought just going right should have been the solution.
But after Lin Xun reversed his directions based on his records, he was still confronted by two forks in the path – one going left, one going right.
In his mind, he should have ended up seeing a single path which would lead him back to the cave entrance.
"What the hell?"
Lin Xun had an inkling that the maze he was facing this time was somewhat peculiar.
Stubbornly, he continued on his return journey through the right tunnels, and after passing through more than ten crossroads... he finally realized, he was lost.
Even though the maze could potentially loop back on itself, he should have been able to return via the same route he noted.
His current situation defied common understanding.
Lin Xun took a deep breath and used the Fluorescent Footprint Powder.
[You’ve used the ’Fluorescent Footprint Powder’!]
[As you step forward, the ground is marked with colorful footprints. The prints emanate a faint glow, slightly eyestraining in the oppressively dark cave.]
[With a thought, you draw out the sword seal, the True Element within you surging powerfully. The ’Rotating Stars Immortal Sword’ hovers in midair.]
[With hands behind your back, you step onto the flying sword, it transforms into a streak of sword light, swiftly weaving through the passage.]
[Wherever the sword light reaches, it leaves behind a slim trail of radiant, multicolored sword marks...]
The speed of the sword flight was extremely fast, with choices appearing one after another before his eyes.
Repeated prompts of a new left or right fork in the path, as well as "Which path do you wish to take?" kept popping up.
Having reversed his direction, Lin Xun disregarded his previous systematic choices and picked paths randomly.
After advancing for some time, he indeed found the luminous sword mark he had left before.
However, the scene that greeted him greatly deviated from his expectations.
[You zoom on the Flying Sword, swiftly reaching the next junction through the passage.]
[The entrance to the left passage has a slim trail of multicolored sword marks that extend deep into the passage, twinking like fireflies.]
[The entrance to the right passage, just like the left one, also holds the same multicolored sword marks!]
[Which path do you wish to take?]
"Fuck! This is truly unfathomable!"
At each crossroad, Lin Xun could only pick one entrance at any given location.
Even if he were to backtrack to a previously traversed crossroads, he should only see a single luminous mark. It was absolutely impossible for two identical but disconnected sword marks to appear.
"Could it be some hidden Crawler, sneakily shifting the footprint powder to mislead me?"
"Impossible! The sword mark is a unique trace left behind by the flying sword. It’s absolutely impossible to fake in a world filled with insectoids."
Lin Xun frowned in contemplation for a long while.
Eliminating every impossibility, he eventually came to a rather unnerving conclusion.
"This maze...it’s probably...alive!"
[You’ve thought it through thoroughly and finally realized, the ’Crawlers Tribe’ you stepped into isn’t a regular maze.]
[What will your next course of action be, cornered Apostle?]
[1. Overwhelmed by despair, you decide to crash headfirst into the rock wall. Use death as a means to gain a new life, thereby returning to the Rest Page.]
[2. Indomitable, you decide to continue exploring for an exit in the maze, believing that no matter how long it takes, you’ll eventually find the way out.]
[3. In an unorthodox approach, you decide to attack the walls of the maze. Creating a new passage might just enable you to escape this living maze.]
