NOVEL WEB Chapter 786: The Feeling of Being Targeted (2)
Wang Tao quickly arrived at the second level, and sure enough, sensed the presence of many Fifth-Order Monsters. However, unlike before, the monsters on this second level were not asleep but fully awake and showed no signs of weakness.
Of course, this wasn't a problem for Wang Tao. He took out his Finger Tiger and charged straight at them.
After some time, he had cleared the entire second level, not leaving a single monster behind. But Wang Tao was somewhat disappointed to find that this crack space did not have a third level. He searched three times but found nothing; it seemed there wasn't one.
Then Wang Tao left this rift and flew to the next one.
Before long, another rift appeared before Wang Tao. There were also many zombies at the edge of this rift, but no rift monsters. These zombies were alive and well.
Wang Tao didn't bother with these zombies and flew directly into the rift, then suddenly understood. No wonder no rift monsters came out because the monsters inside this rift were mutated plants.
These mutated plants had roots and stems, only able to move in a limited range underground. Unlike those previous mutant beasts, it was obviously impossible for them to crawl out of the rift.
The area of this crack space was much smaller, and Wang Tao quickly searched it, killing all the mutant plants. He also found the passage to the second level.
"Continue!"
Wang Tao didn't rest much and went straight to the second level. Those immobile Fifth-Order Mutant Plants were no challenge for him.
More than an hour later, all the mutant plants in the second-level space were taken out by Wang Tao, and at the same time, he discovered the entrance to the third level.
"Finally, a third level!"
Wang Tao rubbed his hands together and then strode into the third level.
The passage to the third level was very long, similar to when he was in the Red Maple Base cave. It took some time to reach the third level.
After entering the third level, Wang Tao's face lit up. In this third level of the crack space, there were no Sixth Rank Disaster-level monsters, but there were Sixth Rank Elite and Sixth Rank Lords.
Wang Tao currently didn't need spoils of disaster-level creatures; what he lacked most now were the Crystal Cores dropped by elites.
So the mutant plants on the third level were also cleansed by Wang Tao.
The combat power of the sixth-order mutant plants was strong, but in front of Wang Tao, they were just like Fifth-Order creatures that could take a bit more of a beating. After spending just a little more time, all these Sixth-Order mutant plants were dealt with by Wang Tao.
After carefully searching to ensure there were no treasure chests, passages, or anything like that, Wang Tao left the rift and then rushed non-stop to the next one.
There were no zombies or monsters outside the third rift, but there were torn zombie corpses everywhere. Wang Tao entered the rift with a serious expression and indeed found no living creatures.
Obviously, the monsters in this rift were likely mutant beasts, which had all run outside. Not knowing where they might have gone, Wang Tao reckoned he couldn't find them anytime soon, nor did he have time to look for them.
After confirming that this crack space had only one level, Wang Tao proceeded to the next space.
There was nothing outside the fourth rift. Wang Tao thought it might be home to immobile mutant plants, but surprisingly, it turned out to be mutant animals. Wang Tao didn't understand why these mutant animals didn't come out, but he didn't think much about it—if they didn't come out, they would just die inside...
...
As Wang Tao visited more and more rifts, he gradually discovered a pattern—the emergence of those mutant beasts in the rifts was not a matter of luck but depended on whether there was any commotion at the rift edges that attracted them!
As long as there was noise at the edge of the rift, whether from humans or zombies, it would lure out the monsters inside the rift! But it only attracted the monsters on the first level; the monsters on the second level and below seemed unable to hear the sounds from the surface...
Wang Tao estimated that the reason the rift monsters could emerge this lifetime was likely related to the black mist. In the previous life, there was a lot of black mist inside the rift and overhead, which blocked all perception, so the rift monsters didn't know what was happening on the ground and didn't come out.
As for the current situation where the rift monsters can come out, it can't be said to be all bad. After all, if only Fourth-Order monsters come out and not Fifth or Sixth Rank ones, then humans wouldn't necessarily be one-sidedly overtaken. They could even get prepared in advance and lure out the rift monsters for hunting!
However, Wang Tao was still concerned. If Fifth or even Sixth Order monsters escaped, it would be troublesome for the survivors.
And there were too many of these rifts—Wang Tao couldn't kill all the rift monsters...
But after some exploration, Wang Tao found there was no need to worry too much, as these rift monsters easily got into fights with zombies!
The rift monsters that managed to come out might be mutant beasts, but most rift monsters seemed to lack intelligence and would charge at any creature they saw, even if it was a zombie. Meanwhile, zombies also lacked intelligence and would charge at any creature they saw, viewing the rift monsters as food.
So when the rift monsters and zombies encountered each other, it would result in a fight to the death!
If humans were lucky, they could even wait until the battle ended to collect the spoils of war!
Just like now, a daring team hid in the ruins, using special methods to mask their presence. As soon as the rift monsters had killed off all the zombies and left, they hurried over to collect the spoils from all the zombies and some of the dead rift monsters...
Seeing this, Wang Tao shook his head with a smile.
Humans are resilient. As long as they don't give up, they can always find a glimmer of hope amid despair. The appearance of rift monsters might not be a good thing, but they turn it into an opportunity.
Wang Tao didn't disturb them and headed towards another distant rift. He had just checked this rift and found it had only one level, which wasn't of much use to him.
Not long after, I saw another rift. After entering and conducting a cleanup, I suddenly fixed my eyes.
He took a few steps forward and discovered a palm-sized disc among the pitch-black rubble.
"Oh? A Summoning Altar..."
[Seventh-tier Summoning Altar]
[Quality: Ordinary]
[Usable Times: 1/1]
[Offerings: 0%]
Looking at this little thing in his hand, Wang Tao raised an eyebrow. This was a good find! A key to advancing to the Seventh Level!
In his previous life, he had obtained several Summoning Altars, but each time came with its own story. It was the first time he had casually picked one up from the ground like this.
"Once I gather the necessary Crystal Cores for the Sixth Level and improve my strength a bit more, I should be able to kill the elemental monsters in the summoning altar, then use it to ascend to the Seventh Level—uh, wait, I don't seem to need it..."
In his previous life, he used the Summoning Altar because he needed to reach the Seventh Level, but the Power of Laws wasn't enough, so he had to rely on Fire Beasts.
But now, he should have no barriers to ascending to the Seventh Level, and as long as he has enough Sixth-Level Crystal Cores, he can ascend directly. So this summoning altar seems to be of no use to him; once he saves enough Crystal Cores for the Sixth Level, he can ascend to the Seventh Level directly!
Wang Tao laughed and shook his head, then put away the summoning altar.
Although this item seems to have no use for him, he is curious about where the elemental monsters are being summoned from the altar. Unfortunately, even up until time reversal, he never figured it out. Perhaps this lifetime he can study it.
Wang Tao put away the summoning altar and continued clearing out the monsters inside the rift. While hunting monsters and collecting Crystal Cores, Wang Tao suddenly thought of a question.
After he ascended to the Sixth Level, an unexpected corrosive acid rain fell, and the zombies evolved once, but their level was still lower than his. Now, there are a lot of new rifts with Sixth Rank Monsters inside, and his level is no longer unmatched... This suddenly gave Wang Tao a sense of being specifically targeted.