Chapter 148: Chapter 104: The Nine-City Seal! Occupying Nine Cities
The pale-faced man claimed to know nothing about most of the questions. To Shen Fei’s surprise, the man was somehow aware that he was being controlled.
What the hell is this?
Shen Fei frowned, growing wary of the pale-faced man’s condition. The situation was spiraling out of his control; he couldn’t figure out what was going on with this person.
After a moment of thought, Shen Fei asked again, "Then how do you know the monster tide ahead can’t be stopped?"
Shen Fei was getting to the heart of the matter. The pale-faced man had just said the monster tide from the Heaven-Reaching Tower was unstoppable.
"I can feel that it’s unstoppable," he said. "I can also feel that the monsters’ strength will double every ten minutes, for a total of ninety-nine times! If the tower is still standing after ninety-nine enhancements, the five floors above it will activate, spawning even more monsters. Then the enhancement cycle will start all over again..."
Pointing at the endlessly surging monster tide, the pale-faced man spoke of things Shen Fei couldn’t comprehend. The man seemed to know something, yet at the same time, he seemed to know nothing. He appeared to be under Shen Fei’s control and obeyed his commands, but he also seemed to be completely free.
Staring at the pale-faced man for two seconds, Shen Fei commanded coldly, "I order you to go fight!"
"As you wish, sir!"
At Shen Fei’s command, the man immediately raised his Magic Staff and unleashed an even more powerful Lightning Chain attack. In an instant, more than half of the rapidly surging monster tide was wiped out.
"How can we efficiently hold back the monster tide from the Heaven-Reaching Tower?" Shen Fei suddenly asked, seeing the pale-faced man attacking without the slightest reservation.
He had a feeling that the pale-faced man’s strangeness was linked to the anomaly of the Heaven-Reaching Tower. This man, created from the fused power of 20 bosses, should not have existed. Yet, having gained sentience and now being controlled by the Mind Control Tower, he was far too special. He was countless times more unique than the most Intelligent NPCs Shen Fei had seen in his past life. From their brief conversation, Shen Fei felt this man was more human than an NPC.
To Shen Fei’s surprise, the man actually answered his question. "The Nine-City Seal! It can temporarily Seal the Heaven-Reaching Tower. When a special set of rules descends, this place can be transformed into a special Dimensional Space..." the pale-faced man said slowly.
Shen Fei’s face remained impassive, but his heart skipped a beat. He understood what the man was saying! The Nine-City Seal! It meant that nine cities were needed to Seal the Heaven-Reaching Tower, which endlessly spawned monsters whose strength doubled every ten minutes. Once Sealed, the Heaven-Reaching Tower would transform into a special Secret Realm after a future version update.
"You must be quick with the Nine-City Seal," the pale-faced man added while Shen Fei was frowning. "The monsters’ strength will increase 32-fold in an hour. In seven hours at most, even the weakest mobs will become so strong that I won’t be able to damage them..."
Coincidence? Or is this a hint? Or is there a greater conspiracy at play? What on earth are his origins? What would happen if I didn’t use the Mind Control Tower to control him but instead summoned all my Defense Towers to destroy him? And what would happen if I released my control from the Mind Control Tower right now?
The pale-faced man’s words plunged Shen Fei into deep thought. He had a feeling that he was being guided, and this was not what he wanted. According to the rules of a Neutral City siege, the defense should have ended after the 20 final bosses were defeated. This man should never have appeared!
Within a 2,000-kilometer radius of Qing City, there happen to be exactly nine cities... And now there’s talk of a "Nine-City Seal." Is this telling me to conquer the other eight cities? And I have to conquer them within seven hours—no, within five hours!
These thoughts surfaced one after another in Shen Fei’s mind.
The appearance of the Heaven-Reaching Tower was definitely a coincidence. The Heaven-Reaching Gang traitors being driven out and somehow producing the Heaven-Reaching Tower in the end—that was also definitely a coincidence. My decision to attack Peter’s Castle was just because it was nearby... But somehow, all these random events have converged so perfectly, leading to this result.
Shen Fei suddenly felt as if a giant hand was manipulating everything from behind the scenes.
If I can’t destroy the Heaven-Reaching Tower, then I really have no choice but to conquer the other eight cities!
Time was slipping away, and Shen Fei knew he couldn’t refuse this path. The strength of the monsters from the Heaven-Reaching Tower doubled every ten minutes—an exponential increase. He had just anchored his Neutral City nearby and was now unable to move it. His trusted family from the Heaven-Reaching Gang was in Qing City. His own family, and the citizens of Qing City he had promised to protect, were all behind him. He couldn’t escape.
"Let’s do it!" he resolved. "Nine cities it is! I’ll take them all, damn it! I’d like to see just what grand conspiracy is pulling the strings! I’ve already been reborn once. If you have the guts, try sending me back to before I transmigrated!"
A minute later, Shen Fei made his decision. If he had to conquer them, then conquer them he would.
After capturing Peter’s Castle, his original plan had been to regroup briefly before leading his forces to attack another medium-sized city. Then, depending on the speed and circumstances of that conquest, he would decide whether to target a large city.
Now, however, everything had changed. Forced by the Heaven-Reaching Tower, he had no choice but to set his sights on all the nearby Neutral Cities. Furthermore, he had to conquer all eight of them and move them to Qing City within five hours. Otherwise, the ever-strengthening monsters from the Heaven-Reaching Tower would overrun Qing City before he could succeed.
Having made his decision, Shen Fei ordered the others to defend against the monster tide from the Heaven-Reaching Tower with all their might. "You’re coming with me!" He grabbed the pale-faced man and jumped into the Teleportation Gate Tower.
The range of the Teleportation Gate Tower had already been extended to 2,000 kilometers. He could reach the other eight nearby cities in the blink of an eye. It was time for action.
Near Qing City, aside from the already conquered small city of Peter’s Castle, there was one large city, two medium cities, and five small cities.
WHOOSH.
His vision blurred for a moment, and Shen Fei found himself in front of a small, futuristic-looking city.
[DING!]
[You have entered the warning perimeter of a Neutral City.]
[Do you wish to initiate the Neutral City siege battle?]
