Deep in the Living

In a one-way passageway widened through space, Minister Matthew's young prosthetic body led Luo Di to his assigned secret room.

"When the Exploration Bureau was first formally established by being approached by secret rooms, my predecessor was responsible for decrypting it.

While acquiring information of the past, they also discovered that there was more than one secret room like this. By decoding the information inside the stone walls, they could find the space source point and establish connections with other secret rooms.

Currently, twenty-three secret rooms have been discovered.

Six of them are [Information Chambers], recording a great amount of ancient knowledge, which is mainly tackled by our Technology Development Department.

[Relic Chamber] goes without saying, it is a unique secret room.

With the discovery of this secret room, the overall strength of the investigators has increased, enabling them to stand up against monsters, and the Exploration Bureau has been able to take root fully within the corner.

The rest belong to [Ordinary Secret Rooms], which do not record information but are simply ancient secret rooms that provide a pure, unaltered environment of the past.

Investigators meditating in the secret room's environment can improve their comprehension efficiency by 10~80%. It is especially effective when an individual needs to break through or digest some acquired knowledge.

Simply staying inside the secret room does not lead to botanical growth.

Exploring corners, hunting monsters, and confronting fear are the foundational ways to grow.

Therefore, investigators who want to use the secret room often need to achieve certain conditions within the corner, such as exploration, extermination, rescue, etc.

For you, Luo Di, who needs to inherit Master Jiang's mantle, the secret room is definitely the best seclusion place.

In front lies Secret Room No. 13, and you've got the usage right for the remaining week."

Minister Matthew pointed to the front, where a straight passage filled with detection devices ends, and an irregular stone gate stands there.

Luo Di still had some questions, "What about meals and physiological needs midway?"

"For a week-long seclusion like yours, it's best to bring some non-perishable, hunger-resistant food. As for physiological needs, it's best to digest directly inside your body.

If that doesn't work, you can apply for a portable toilet here, but you mustn't leave metabolic waste in the secret room, or you'll be permanently blacklisted."

"Food... It seems I didn't bring any, can it be provided here?"

"You can pick up compressed cookies and energy bars at the entrance. I personally suggest you pack some sausages, grilled noodles, chocolate, and so on from the cafeteria—sometimes fine food intake can help individuals focus better."

"No problem, compressed biscuits are fine. I'll head over there directly, thank you, Minister."

"Good luck, if you truly can fully accept Master Jiang's mantle, your power may prematurely reach Minister Level; I look forward to your state when you emerge."

Luo Di went to the secret room alone, passing through the checkpoints along the way. Since there was no charge, he took two whole boxes of compressed cookies.

Additionally, the Hell Shell also has similar physiological metabolism, and though it can be evaporated directly through high heat, considering the possible lack of ventilation in the secret room, Luo Di took a few portable toilets with him.

After the final identity verification, Luo Di walked inside.

Inside was a small stone room measuring 4m×4m×2m.

The ancient atmosphere it emitted was almost identical to the secret room that made relics.

Completely silent, there were no external sounds, and this ancient feeling made the pituitary feel at home, allowing the individual to quickly immerse themselves.

Luo Di didn't waste time either, sitting cross-legged in the center, consciousness returning to the Moon, and once again opened the book recording Master Jiang's life experiences, "Dragon Zombie".

He was once again drawn into the role of Jiang Huaishan, first arriving at the corner, relying on the zombie flesh to slay all directions, though there were many crisis moments.

During immersion,

Luo Di's own consciousness felt neither the passage of time nor the change in the external environment.

He now completely transformed into Master Jiang, retracing the path of becoming a monster.

The last time he read the book, he reached the limit of consciousness endurance in just three hours, feeling dizzy with a nosebleed.

But this time it was different. Six hours had passed, yet Luo Di remained normal, with no signs of brain discomfort.

Invisible, intangible ancient atmosphere began flowing out of the gaps in the secret room walls, not actively, but passively.

The relic "Egg of Evil" hanging on Luo Di's chest unexpectedly opened its pitch-black eye sockets and opened its mouth wide, breathing heavily.

The old atmospheric essence from the stone walls gradually got sucked out, stuffed into the relic's mouth like cotton candy, chewed, and then delivered into Luo Di's brain in a misty form.

The brain, which should have been fatigued, and the pituitary, which should have been hard to bear, recovered by absorbing these ancient mists.

Thus,

Two whole days passed.

Luo Di maintained the same posture, and though he hadn't consumed any food, his body showed no signs of emaciation; rather, he seemed to have a continuous energy supply.

Upon closer inspection of his abdomen, one would find a faint red glow, precisely the spot where Mr. Qu struck him with a palm in the cafeteria earlier.

A tumor was implanted there, which was currently releasing flesh energy, driving Luo Di's bodily transformation.

Already more than halfway through the book.

Luo Di's appearance underwent considerable changes.

Two zombie teeth formed, even piercing through the skin at the corners of his mouth, exposed actively.

His entire skin turned stiff and full of wrinkles, yet from a certain angle, these wrinkles resembled scales.

The overall hue became gloomy, and his breathing turned heavy.

And this old secret room, which was hard to develop, seemed about to turn into an ordinary stone room.

...

Between the pages.

The Jiang Mansion, with Luo Di playing as Master Jiang, returned to its former prime period.

Since the Invisible Manor was very low-key and did not recruit externally, at that time, the Jiang Mansion could almost be considered the largest organization within the corner.

Almost every monster arriving from Huaxia would actively or passively go to the Jiang Mansion, with over a thousand coffins just for transformation use.

Zombies emerging from the Jiang Mansion operated throughout every corner area, rather than just within the Mansion itself.

Sitting on the Golden Toad,

Overlooking all beings.

Luo Di was completely drawn into this feeling, this sense of being a monarch above all.

However, Master Jiang had no intention of expanding his territory even during peak times, nor did he actively invade other organizations or target the Exploration Bureau.

All his thoughts were on ascension, entirely focused on himself.

He seemed uninterested in this corner land but had a most primitive, pure dream.

These Huaxia-blooded people recruited in great numbers were merely used to increase the population, thereby obtaining more corpse oil and Yin energy, and facilitating the screening of some individuals with special physiques capable of serving as backup vessels.

While reading this content,

The remnants of Yin energy entrenched in Luo Di gradually dispersed, absorbed by him entirely.

The dragon scale structure on the surface of his body became noticeably distinct, while a phenomenon of lightning wrapping emerged, especially on the metal left arm, where electric light clearly surged.

Five days and nights had passed,

Luo Di still hadn't moved a bit.

His weight seemed to have multiplied several times, even leaving traces of his seated posture on the ground.

The pages flipped.

This book, "Dragon Zombie", reached its last page, stopping the story at the eve before Master Jiang decided to go deep into the dungeon.

"Huh!? I've finished reading it... how did I manage? Shouldn't there have been pauses midway?"

Though Luo Di wondered, his thoughts remained with the story. He was very curious about why such a powerful, monarch-like Master Jiang would end up like this.

He didn't pay attention to the external situation, nor did he check his current physical state.

Instead, he quickly opened the memory box and grabbed the diary made of zombie skin.

Though the diary's content structure differed from "Dragon Zombie", it continued the narrative, documenting Master Jiang's detailed experiences in the dungeon.

Grabbing this sealed book again,

Distinctly different from before,

Luo Di's fingertips actively secreted Yin energy, slowly permeating between the pages, gradually separating the sticky diary book, revealing one page after another.

≮This book records my entire process of going to the deepest part of the dungeon, to prevent memory disorientation due to unexpected events. This book is made from the skin of my back of the head, outsiders must not read it≯