Chapter 270: Investigating the Secrets of the System Space
Moo—!
In the distance, a mountain appeared. From its slopes, a yak slowly descended. It was as massive as House, with every strand of its black fur thick and distinct. Its voice shook the soul like thunder, and with every step it took, the mountain itself vibrated.
"The Ox Talisman..." Silas smiled joyfully. It was the Ox, the talisman of super strength.
The yak raised its majestic head and let out a resounding bellow: "Moo!"
Following the sound, its body dissipated like smoke, and the condensed light transformed into the shape of a bull's head.
[The Ox Talisman grants the user immense strength, but the boost is relative to the user's base power.]
[Congratulations to the host for unlocking the Ox Talisman. No specific clues this time; the host must find this yak personally.]
"???" Silas hadn't expected the Ox Talisman to be like the Tiger Talisman—something he had to go out and catch himself.
"Talisman Squad, it looks like you have work to do again," Silas muttered to himself.
The Talisman Squad had been resting for a long time. Lately, their only tasks had been menial labor, being sent wherever brute force was needed. Because Silas unlocked talismans so slowly, the squad was itching for a real mission.
Shortly after, the system provided Silas with the Ox Talisman locator and closed the Talisman Space. However, in the split second before he was ejected, a golden light flashed in Silas's eyes. He had a bold idea.
Back in his Room
Silas held the Ox Talisman locator and summoned the Talisman Squad. "Bring me back that super-strong little ox."
"Yes, sir!" The squad leader excitedly took the locator, looking so touched he could almost cry. Finally, a real mission!
"Mission success guaranteed, Master!" The squad declared before heading to the Shadow Kingdom to get gear from Little Black.
Nowadays, whenever the Shadow Ninjas went on a mission, they visited Little Black for specialized equipment to increase their efficiency. Little Black, of course, supported this wholeheartedly; it was all for the sake of the Master.
Once the squad left, Silas pulled out a magic paper: "Teleportation Scroll!"
Swish! A flash of green light, and Silas vanished from the room.
The System Space
"I... I made it?!" Silas looked around at the gray, misty void. He had actually succeeded.
At the moment he was being transported out of the system space earlier, a strange thought occurred to him: could he enter this place directly without the system's "invitation"?
Before leaving, he had placed a marking spell. Now, using a Teleportation Scroll, he had navigated back to those coordinates.
"This space feels different from the Shadow Kingdom," Silas noted, walking through the void.
"System?" Silas tried calling out, but there was no response, as if the system didn't recognize his presence here.
"SYSTEM!" he shouted louder, but the void remained silent.
Silas knelt down and touched the ground. It was hard, feeling no different from a standard floor. If you ignored the black mist, this place was much like the Shadow Kingdom—breathable air, yet utterly empty.
"It doesn't seem that simple." Silas suspected this wasn't actually the System Space, but a separate, unknown dimension that the system was merely utilizing to project the talisman phantoms.
"There's no sun, yet there's light. There's oxygen..." Silas felt a jolt of awe. A bolder thought crossed his mind: if Earth's creatures were brought here, could they thrive? Could life flourish here?
"Creator God..." Silas hardly dared to imagine the implications, but he wanted to run an experiment. He needed to see if life other than himself could survive here.
Silas used another scroll to return to his room. "Little Black, catch me a bunch of ants."
"Ants?" Little Black appeared instantly, tilting his head in confusion, but his hands moved fast. He produced a tube filled with ants—creatures he himself used for biological experiments.
"Back to work." Silas took the tube and teleported back to the void.
The Mystery Dimension
Silas knelt down and opened the tube. The moment the ants made contact with the air in this dimension, they flipped over and stopped moving.
"Dead?!" Silas's lip twitched. The experiment had ended before it even began. Did this mean no other living thing could survive here?
"I don't believe it." This time, Silas went directly into the Shadow Kingdom.
In the mystery dimension, he could enter his own shadow to go to the Shadow Kingdom, but he couldn't go back the other way without a mark because the void had no shadows to act as a medium.
"Come forth! My Shadow Legions!" Silas commanded in a low, resonant voice.
Instantly, all the legions Silas currently controlled appeared around him: the Ninja khan, the massive Mini Khan, the Squid Khan, the Razor Khan, and the Crab Khan.
"Go! Each legion must capture ten different species of Earth animals. Bring them here in five minutes! Move!" Silas barked the order.
The legions vanished instantly. Even Little Black in his lab and Big Black nearby joined the hunt. They knew the Master was in a hurry, so they went all out.
"No! You stay." Silas turned to stop Kha'Zix. He wanted them to remain as pure combatants; they didn't need to be involved in this.
Kha'Zix nodded and sat quietly by Silas's side as he sat on the Shadow General's throne, tapping the armrest while time ticked away.
One minute in, the Ninja Khan returned first. They had captured ten different marine animals. "We have completed the task, Master," Little Black bowed.
Two minutes in, the Squid Khan and Razor Khan returned with several land predators.
Four minutes in, the Crab Khan arrived with a collection of rare and exotic insects.
At the five-minute mark—BOOM!
The Mini Khan finally returned. They had captured various behemoths. Most notably, the largest Shadow-Eater was holding a blue whale in its mouth—the largest known animal on Earth.
"Excellent." Silas was ready to begin his grand experiment.
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