435: Chapter 434 Recognition

When Chu Xuan returned to the pet room, he saw Cai Hou fishing a bloated Pig-headed Man out of a container.

Both of them appeared extremely weak.

Seeing Chu Xuan return, Cai Hou's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Did you kill the Rule-Breaker?"

Chu Xuan shook his head. "She escaped; she should have already left this place."

“Left?” Cai Hou froze, his withered monkey-like face filled with disbelief. “The mission is still in progress; how could she possibly leave? And there's the penalty of forced erasure...”

“She has a death-exemption token,” Chu Xuan said.

“A death-exemption token... such an item actually exists?” Cai Hou sucked in a breath. “I’ve participated in so many missions, yet I’ve never heard of anyone obtaining a death-exemption token.”

Speaking of which, Cai Hou suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, “Where is that Minotaur? He’s very likely a Rule-Breaker too! That guy’s strength is too great; we need to be careful...”

“He's already dead.”

As those calm words fell, Cai Hou was instantly stunned. “That... that terrifying guy was actually killed by you?”

Two clean white rags were tossed over, landing on his dazed head.

“Hurry up and wipe the glass; time is running out.”

As Chu Xuan said this, the ninth bell had already tolled downstairs.

Cai Hou nodded hurriedly, pulled up the Fat Pig who was sitting on the ground coughing incessantly, and quickly began wiping the remaining glass containers.

At the same time, he couldn't help but repeatedly glance at Chu Xuan.

He marveled, “I knew you might be strong, but aren't you a bit too ridiculously powerful? Just the pressure radiating from that Minotaur was hard for us to bear...”

“The Minotaur's pressure was a skill-based disguise; he wasn't actually that strong himself.”

While speaking, Chu Xuan was also wiping stains off a glass container, and simultaneously couldn't help but observe those labels again.

The various abilities marked on them were diverse and had been verified through the Minotaur and Xuan Xuan; it was practically equivalent to gaining an extra Talent.

However, Chu Xuan had no intention of merging with these strange things; there might very well be a trap hidden within.

He tried to see if he could authenticate them through the System and store them in his Exclusive Space first, then study them slowly later.

But unfortunately, he failed.

[This item has been marked; you cannot authenticate it.]

“Whatever you do, don't try to fuse with them.”

At this moment, Cai Hou's voice rang out from nearby as he hurriedly warned:

“Although you can gain an extra ability, the higher the value, the higher the Fusion difficulty, and there's even some of the original owner's consciousness inside!

I can feel it now—a consciousness wanting to seize control of my body at any moment. There are likely other traps in this as well.”

“There's a trap, can't fuse...” The Fat Pig, who was wiping glass, turned his head and muttered. Already dull-witted, he seemed even less intelligent now.

Chu Xuan noticed that these two seemed to be affected by their animal characteristics.

This was quite different from the Minotaur and Xuan Xuan he had seen earlier.

“It’s truly annoying; the two of us are basically half-successful, half-failed defective products.” Cai Hou’s expression was helpless.

“Although I gained the ability to burrow, I might be stuck in this form forever. Especially that other consciousness—even though it's suppressed by me now, I have a premonition that it's watching me constantly, ready to erupt at any time.”

Cai Hou looked at his reflection in the glass container and subconsciously scratched his head and ears.

“I... can feel it too...” Fat Pig had become even more corpulent; he reached out to take a white steamed bun and began munching on it while wiping the glass.

“Another consciousness, constant observation, ready to erupt...” Chu Xuan looked at the room full of containers and fell into deep thought.

A few more minutes passed, and all the remaining containers were wiped clean.

At that instant, the liquid inside every glass container in the pet room suddenly churned and boiled, and all the beast-headed, human-bodied specimens began to tremble.

Rumble!!

Accompanied by vibrations and a loud roar, the door to the pet room remained motionless, but the four walls shook incessantly, miraculously expanding.

“Hmm?” Chu Xuan suddenly looked outside the pet room, only to see that the objects in the corridor were actually growing larger.

“Monkey, why is this room getting bigger?” Fat Pig asked blankly.

“The room isn't getting bigger; we are getting smaller. Let's go!” As Chu Xuan spoke, he had already exerted himself to run outward.

Cai Hou clearly realized this as well, hurriedly grabbing Fat Pig and rushing out after Chu Xuan.

However, the state of those two was not very good; their bodies twisted and turned as they ran, appearing extremely uncoordinated, as if they hadn't yet adapted to their new physiques.

As they fled outward, they felt as if the distance to the doorway was getting further and further away.

Chu Xuan frowned slightly and glanced back.

One Minotaur was already dead; if these two died as well, it would be a bit problematic.

“Monkey, get on...”

Fat Pig shouted, grabbed Cai Hou, and threw him onto his shoulders, and then his entire body actually took flight.

“Behold my Flying Pig in the Sky!” Fat Pig let out a muffled roar, spreading his limbs and following closely behind Chu Xuan at a speed no less than his.

Chu Xuan nodded slightly; this saved him the trouble of going back to rescue them.

After a short while, once they left the room, their bodies immediately returned to their original size.

Looking back now, the door to the pet room had shrunk to the size of a needlepoint, and after a few more seconds, it was too small to be seen with the naked eye.

“This place is too bizarre...” Cai Hou's expression was grim. “We clearly didn't transmigrate to another world, but this ancient castle... especially this pet room, clearly doesn't seem like a product of our world!”

[Mechanism Unlocked X11]

[Rule-Breaker Privilege: Rule-Breakers can select any animal specimen in the pet room and achieve 100% Fusion success.]

Upon receiving this prompt, Chu Xuan immediately asked, “Besides you few, did you see anyone else enter the pet room to fuse?”

“No one else,” Cai Hou shook his head. “All those people have already gone up to the sixth floor.”

“It seems the Rule-Breakers were only the Minotaur and Xuan Xuan.” Chu Xuan felt slightly relieved as he led Cai Hou and Fat Pig to the staircase.

The snow-white barrier blocking the floors remained as it was, and observing its state, it was actually somewhat similar to the barrier Xuan Xuan had released earlier.

However, whether in terms of surface area or color depth, it was on an entirely different level.

“This should be a barrier released by Xuan Xuan.” Cai Hou's face was grim as he gritted his teeth. “It's meant to block the fifth and sixth floors. As long as we all die down here, even if the people on the sixth floor complete their prompt mission, they won't be able to finish wiping the containers on the fifth floor, and they'll still end up dead.”

“Those two Rule-Breakers are truly insidious!” Cai Hou said resentfully, then looked at Chu Xuan with a face full of gratitude. “Fortunately, we have an expert like you with us.”

Speaking of which, he suddenly froze.

“Wait... that Black Flame you used just now...” Cai Hou's eyes suddenly widened, and he blurted out, “You... you couldn't be Chu Xuan, could you?”