Speaking of Proxies, he thought of the Phaethon siblings he had just met.
He wondered if Ling had woken up from her coma yet.
He would go visit them tomorrow if he got the chance.
Lying on his sofa, Jiang Yu scrolled through various notifications on the Inter-Knot.
Although he wasn’t a Proxy, it didn’t stop him from hanging out on the Inter-Knot.
There was all kinds of real-time news on there.
But none of that was what he cared about.
He drafted a post and clicked send.
“Crate Hollow activity is decreasing.
Got word from a professional today that Crate Hollow’s activity has been steadily dropping lately.
Proxies, get ready for some business!” Replies started rolling in soon enough.
“Holy crap, for real?
Thanks for the tip, Whitey!
Time to gather a squad and make some bank.
See you all on the richest list!” “Verified: the guy above is just talking big.” “Isn’t the activity in Crate Hollow still unstable?” “Damn it!
Just found out today my partner’s cheating on me, and with someone short, ugly, and dumpy!
I’m crying my eyes out.
Going to trick my girlfriend into entering Crate Hollow later!” “Cheer up, original poster.
Seeing more and more comments pile up under his post, Jiang Yu showed a mischievous, dark smile.
If there were no wild Proxies around, he would just bait some in.
He put down his phone and began sorting his gear, preparing to enter the Hollow to test out his new trait’s abilities.
— The edge of Crate Hollow.
Under the cover of night, Jiang Yu found an empty spot and stepped into the Hollow fissure.
In a small square, a few young people were being besieged by a pack of Ethereals.
One of the young men had just repelled a charging high-tier Ethereal when the attack of another high-tier Ethereal lunged straight at his face.
Fortunately, his teammate reacted quickly and blocked the strike for him.
“Damn it!
Isn’t the activity of Crate Hollow dropping?
Why are there still so many high-tier Ethereals?” “A-Kong, watch your back!” Seeing that it was getting harder and harder for them to fend off the high-tier Ethereals’ attacks.
The female Proxy in the team stared at her detector, trembling all over.
She stammered, “A…
a much stronger Etheric fluctuation is approaching!
Shouldn’t we get out of the Hollow right now?” “Getting away in this state is hard enough.
Once I get out of the Hollow, I’m definitely going to kick that guy’s ass!” Just as everyone felt completely powerless, the high-tier Ethereal in front of them was suddenly sliced to pieces by a red blade energy.
Jiang Yu rushed forward, the blade of his “Wuming” wrapped in materialized Ether energy.
The formidable blade energy shattered the high-tier Ethereal, its momentum unabated as it plowed a long trench into the ground.
The huddled young people stared slack-jawed.
The red blade energy flared again, bathing their faces in a crimson glow.
Under Jiang Yu’s long blade, the other high-tier Ethereal instantly dissolved into flecks of starlight.
A few useless, ordinary Ethereals fled in panic.
Sheathing his sword, the severe symptoms of Ether erosion on his body were reset and refreshed under the power of the [Brave Bull] trait.
He walked up to a cute young girl.
“Hello, wild…
Miss Proxy, could we borrow your Carrot?” The girl’s companion immediately blocked her path as if facing a mortal enemy.
A red-haired youth barked at Jiang Yu, “What are you trying to do to Xiaoqi?
Let me tell you!
If you dare touch a single hair on her head, I’ll fight you to the death!” Jiang Yu wasn’t angry.
He merely smiled at the rather timid Proxy girl.
*If it weren’t for the sake of this pretty girl, I would have sliced you all to ashes long ago!* At that moment, the young man who seemed to be the core of the team pulled the red-haired youth back and smacked him on the back of the head.
“Thank you for saving us, sir.
Xiaoqi, bring out our spare Carrot.” Seeing that they were about to give the Carrot to Jiang Yu, the red-haired youth immediately grew displeased.
He was about to shout something, but after a glare from the older youth, he instantly deflated.
The cute girl called Xiaoqi was a bit timid.
Her watery eyes looked curiously at the handsome older brother before her, and her small hands trembled as she handed the spare Carrot to him.
Jiang Yu took the Carrot, reached out to pat the young girl’s head, and turned to leave.
“Brother!
This guy is way too impolite!” “Shut up!
We’re lucky he didn’t attack us.
Let’s get out of the Hollow first.
We got screwed big time today.
When I get out, I’m definitely going to find the bastard who made that post!” …
Jiang Yu clenched his fists, feeling the subtle changes inside his body.
Having just slain two high-tier Ethereals, he could clearly feel that his physical fitness had improved significantly.
However, his Haki had not shown any progress yet.
The biggest hurdle—the Carrot—had been resolved.
Next, he was going to become a merciless grinding machine!
The Inter-Knot.
In the comment section of the post Jiang Yu had made, several fresh comments popped up.
“Damn it, which bastard said Crate Hollow’s activity was dropping!
I was targeted by a swarm of Ethereals as soon as I entered.
If my butt weren’t thick enough to take a beating, I would have mutated into a high-tier Ethereal Dullahan!” “Quit joking, bro.
Even if you did turn into an Ethereal, you’d just be a minor mob.” “Just confirmed with Sister Yangyang.
Crate Hollow’s activity is indeed decreasing, but at a very slow pace.” “Holy crap, you guys are still chatting here?
I almost turned into an Notorious Ethereal!
If I hadn’t run into a monster-grinding expert, I would have said goodbye to you sons of guns.” “A monster-grinding expert?
Did the guy above lose his mind from snorting too much dust?
Can’t even tell reality from gaming anymore.” “I just DM’d Sister Yangyang.
There really is a Hollow Raider madly slaying Ethereals in the Hollow.” “Sister Yangyang again.
Who exactly is this Sister Yangyang you guys keep talking about?” “What are you talking about?
Sister Yangyang is Sister Yangyang!” …
10…
14…
44…
102…
404…
Before he knew it, the sky began to show the first pale light of dawn.
The final Ethereal in his line of sight dissolved slowly into specks of light under the blade of “Wuming”.
Jiang Yu panting heavily.
He casually drove his long blade into the ground and plopped himself down.
His clothes were in tatters, and his hands and feet were covered in wounds, though they had already scabbed over.
After a full night of battle, he had roughly figured out how to use the [Immortal Golden Body] trait.
Slaying Ethereals of different ranks yielded different enhancement effects.
At first, killing low-tier Ethereals gave some benefits.
But once he felt his physical toughness reach the level of a high-tier Ethereal, killing low-tier ones yielded almost nothing.
In short, if he wanted his physical body to strengthen rapidly, he had to slay higher-tier Ethereals.
He raised his right hand, grinning as he watched the black color slowly recede from his skin.
“Fought all night, and it’s finally out!
The ultimate defense—Haki!” True invulnerability!
Now, relying purely on his physical strength, he could go toe-to-toe with an average high-tier Ethereal in a Southeast Asian kickboxing match.
As for Haki, Wuming’s [Sizhi] trait did indeed accelerate the fusion of Ether and cells, but this wasn’t something to be rushed; he had to take it slow.
Although he could use [Brave Bull] to exploit a bug in the Ether erosion system, if he failed to reset his erosion state before completely mutating into an Ethereal, his life would be over.
Life wasn’t just about poetry and distant lands; it was about fighting to stay alive.
A thin line of white crept across the horizon in the distance.
Dawn was coming.
He pulled out the katana, which had been driven deep into the ground, shook off the dust, and sheathed the blade.
Tonight’s gains were greater than he had ever imagined.
He would go home to catch some sleep first, and then it would be time to perform his duties as a grand beverage-carrying worker.
At the same time, the Special Criminal Investigation Task Force of the Public Security Bureau received orders from above to rush into Crate Hollow to investigate the sudden, drastic drop in Ether activity.