Chapter 193 Matrix's 1st Negative State: Blindness!
"For the dungeon, we've gathered four players beyond the top hundred for you, just waiting on you."
Xiao Siyuan cares quite a bit about Li Zheng's affairs. Li Zheng had barely left 879 for a short while, and Xiao had already settled the first dungeon for him.
Li Zheng immediately replied, "I'm good here, ready to open the gate anytime."
As soon as he sent the message, a teleportation gate opened before Li Zheng's eyes in just two seconds.
This time, the teleportation gate opened directly inside Li Zheng's capsule dwelling.
The sight left him momentarily dazed, and he walked outside with Sakura, trying to put it away.
Bang!
As the dwelling turned into a capsule, the teleportation gate remained unaffected, still standing in place.
Bang!
Li Zheng threw the capsule out again, opened it for a look, and saw the teleportation gate appear inside the dwelling.
"I see, the teleportation gate is not physical, so it's not obstructed."
After two attempts, Li Zheng collected the capsule and entered the teleportation gate.
After passing through, Li Zheng saw four players already assembled.
Surprisingly, Xiao Siyuan and Lin Fengjiao were among them.
The other two players' names weren't very familiar, having only been seen in the chat hall, typically in the "+1" slot.
"Look, it's really Li Zheng the big boss!"
"Damn, look at that luxurious gear he's got on, that item on his back looks like some kind of flying device."
"Yeah, it looks like it. Check out that belt, it's definitely some special effect item."
"Not just that, those shoes are clearly custom-made. I've never even seen that style or material in the trading hall."
"Wow, I thought the talk about Li Zheng opening special rooms was just gossip, but he's actually serious!"
"Why doubt it? Look how many benefits Li Zheng has granted us over these days. My four-dimensional attributes are almost at Black Iron 3+ now!"
"Hurry, let's greet the boss and thank him in person for all he's done."
"Indeed!"
Seeing Li Zheng, the two appeared a bit excited, almost running towards him, eyes glimmering like two fanboys.
Just as they were about to speak, they locked eyes with Li Zheng, froze on the spot, trembling, unable to express their gratitude.
Li Zheng pulled a corner of his mouth into a smile and said, "Why are you two so scared of me? I'm not going to eat you."
As soon as he spoke, the two players showed signs of panic, retreating repeatedly, resembling two quails, not daring to utter a word.
Li Zheng was even more puzzled, touching his own face and mumbling, "Am I really that scary?"
Confused, he bypassed the two and walked towards Xiao Siyuan.
He vaguely heard the two whispering behind him.
"S-so scary!"
"Just being looked at by him for a moment made me think I was facing a Gold Level creature, I was freaking trembling."
"Shh, quiet... lower your voice."
The two suddenly sensed something beside them, looked down, and saw a lizard-like head, next to it floated a pink balloon.
"Aow?"
Sakura tilted her head, ignored them, and followed in Li Zheng's footsteps.
"Fierce... too fierce, the boss's pet is actually a dragon!"
"What dragon? That's a terrorsaur!"
"Idiot, that shape is clearly a Western dragon!"
"That's not important, didn't you notice? Its attributes display it as a Leader Level!"
"Wow, amazing!"
...
"Is it necessary to make such a fuss?"
Li Zheng's sharp hearing caught all of their conversation. He hadn't yet realized how astonishing the things he took for granted were in the eyes of these low-strength players.
Xiao Siyuan, supporting a mummy-like wrapped Lin Fengjiao, said to Li Zheng, "What did you do? Why are those two kids so scared of you?"
Li Zheng: "How would I know? By the way, why are you two here?"
Xiao Siyuan pointed to his eyes, explaining, "I'm the discoverer of this dungeon, naturally I have to bring Xiao Lin along."
Li Zheng was surprised, "Your combat strength is outside the top hundred?"
Xiao Siyuan's face turned black, "Refreshed this morning, just at 101."
Really unlucky.
Li Zheng was silent as he realized that he actually had an acquaintance with combat strength this low.
In his mind, the people he usually interacted with were those within the top fifty on the combat strength ranking, so he naturally overlooked Xiao Siyuan's true ranking.
But Xiao Siyuan's greatest ability lies in medical skills, and the combat ranking is based on combat ability, so it's understandable.
Changing the topic, Li Zheng inquired about Lin Fengjiao's injuries: "How's her recovery going now?"
Lin Fengjiao, although able to walk, was still wrapped in bandages all over, with only her mouth and nose exposed for conversation and breathing.
Xiao Siyuan shook his head slightly, "Not very optimistic. She's blind, one eardrum is dissolved, causing deafness, and there's also some trouble with her vocal cords.
I'm looking for a human modification table to get her a pair of new eyes."
Lin Fengjiao struggled to speak, "To...hang on... to life, I... am already... very grateful... to both of you."
Her voice was horrible, extremely hoarse, and very faint, every word requiring effort to be barely audible.
All of this was due to vocal cord damage. Old Xiao's advice was to avoid speaking as much as possible to prevent permanent loss of voice.
Li Zheng lifted his hand to stop her from talking but remembered she couldn't see it, so he comforted her instead, "Don't worry, Old Xiao and I will find a way to treat you, at least help you return to a normal life."
Lin Fengjiao nodded lightly, "I... will... repay you."
Although quiet, Li Zheng could detect the determination in her tone when she said these words.
"No need to repay," Li Zheng said with a smile, "We didn't save you to seek favors. Just remember to pay the medical bills when it's all over."
"By the way, can you see the system interface in your current state?"
Lin Fengjiao didn't speak, just slightly shook her head.
Xiao Siyuan said, "The interface information is likely projected onto the player's retina. I'll look for eye-protection items; otherwise, during combat injuries, it could be very troublesome."
Li Zheng nodded in agreement, remembering those sent by the White-headed Eagle all wore low-level protective goggles: "There should be plenty of such items. Just ask in the channel later, preferably learnable blueprints.
If they're asking too much, just contact me."
Finding a particular item or blueprint isn't something that can be settled quickly. If the regional channel fails, try the world channel next.
The two chatted a bit more and decided that Li Zheng would handle this dungeon alone while the others just needed to keep themselves safe.
Since Xiao Siyuan was the discoverer, he suggested Li Zheng choose a reward item, but Li Zheng refused.
Li Zheng said, "I said from the start I'd carry three times for free, and I won't take any items in those runs, regardless of who it is."
Finally, Li Zheng added, "If there's something I need, I'll trade it for an equivalent item."
With that, he led the way into the dungeon.