Ashen God
Chapter 573 - 572 Going to Ashen World

Chapter 573: Chapter 572 Going to Ashen World

"Speaking of which, I don’t know if we’ll meet the Eight-foot Lady in the Ashen World. If possible, it would be incredibly joyful to have one as a pet. Although she wouldn’t be much help in battle, she should be absolutely great at helping pass the boring times."

Zhang Yanhang felt that if he later encountered areas related to the Night Parade of Hundred Demons or urban legends, there was a fairly good chance of meeting the Eight-foot Lady, since she was quite famous.

"As for the third option, I’ve already slept for five hours, so sleeping half an hour more or less doesn’t really make a difference. It’s better to enter the Ashen World as soon as possible."

Although Zhang Yanhang had chosen to wait a bit before entering the Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu last time, that was because the option had mentioned that there would be an unexpected event, so he only entered the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu after his Energy Value was fully restored and he was completely prepared.

Moreover, right after he entered, he indeed encountered the unexpected event mentioned in the option and was blocked by a swarm of Crimson Iron Ants in the C-shaped channel of the Transmission Channel, but fortunately, this incident turned out to be more of a blessing for him, as he quickly hunted down all two thousand Crimson Iron Ants.

But this time, there were clearly no surprises. Or rather it was impossible for there to be any surprises.

After all, the Crimson Iron Ants in the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu had been completely eradicated by Zhang Yanhang. Even if some Crimson Iron Ants had respawned in the last few days, without the command of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen, it was impossible to initiate another Crimson Iron Ant Swarm.

Moreover, encountering another Crimson Iron Ant Swarm would actually be a good thing for him, as it saved him the trouble of having to search for them himself.

"This time, the third option holds no allure for me, and the second option with the Cat-faced Old Lady or the Deformed Kemonomimi are equally untempting.

If that Fierce Ghost in a black cat’s form had parasitized a younger female corpse, I might have been slightly tempted, but old ladies are definitely a hard pass, they just tank the SAN values. And after all, one must have some principles."

After reviewing all three options, Zhang Yanhang felt that indeed, the most straightforward option was the best fit for him.

"So, I choose Option One and immediately enter the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu." After making his selection, suddenly, everything went black before him, then it abruptly turned red, and he thumped hard onto the solid ground of the C-shaped channel.

Lying on the ground, Zhang Yanhang looked at the red-glowing Crimson Iron Ore above him in the C-shaped channel and strangely felt a sense of familiarity – after all, he had spent five days here before, and there was a bit of sentimental attachment, yes, only a bit, perhaps just surpassing Goblin Plain, but definitely not comparable to his favorite, Raccoon City.

Of course, more than the Crimson Iron Ore overhead, what made Zhang Yanhang feel even more familiar was the Lucky Slot Machine sitting right next to him. Last time to facilitate the draw, he had directly moved the Lucky Slot Machine from the depths of the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu to the most exterior part of the C-shaped channel.

"There’s no time to delay, let’s start the draw immediately. Although I got an extra ’Makarov’s Regret’ last time, I still lack a ’Makarov’s Remorse’ to perform the fusion. I have been looking forward to upgrading the Makarov Set from Dark Purple Quality to Light Golden Quality for a long time."

Although Zhang Yanhang had been looking forward to it for a long time, he didn’t feel that clearing the prize pool this time would immediately grant him ’Makarov’s Regret.’

After all, he had just obtained a Purple Quality Drop Treasure Box from the Second Tier Three-Star Crimson Iron Ant King the last time he cleared the prize pool. It was clearly unrealistic to immediately expect to get a new Drop Treasure Box from the Crimson Iron Ant King again.

Thus, Zhang Yanhang didn’t have high hopes for the monsters in this prize pool, only hoping to accumulate several Crimson Iron Ant Kings to increase his chances of a treasure box drop.

According to his experience, he would probably have to kill at least seven or eight, or possibly even eight or nine Crimson Iron Ant Kings to obtain another Drop Treasure Box.

Therefore, from this perspective, he likely wouldn’t have the chance to obtain another ’Makarov’s Regret’ and upgrade the Markarov Set to Light Golden Quality before he at least advanced to Third Tier.

It would probably only be possible to obtain that elusive ’Makarov’s Remorse’ the next time he officially came to the Crimson Iron Ore Vein to clear monster nests.

Zhang Yanhang mimicked a movie pose and sprang up from the ground. After really using this pose, he found it not very practical—normal side standing would be better.

Moreover compared to this fancy fish flop, Zhang Yanhang felt that directly manipulating the Energy Shield to prop him up in place would be better. After all, it was just a matter of a thought.

After standing, Zhang Yanhang immediately pulled the metal lever on the side of the Lucky Slot Machine. As the metal lever was pulled down, hundreds of densely packed text option boxes immediately appeared before him. Although he hadn’t seen this option box for several days, he was still very familiar with its contents.

[Please choose the specific content of this Lucky Slot Machine draw]

[Option One: (Third Prize, Crimson Iron Flying Ant, First Tier One Star, Elite Monster.)]

[Option Two: (Third Prize, Crimson Iron Worker Ant, First Tier One Star, Ordinary Monster.)]

[Option Three: (Third Prize, Reproduction Ant, First Tier Three Stars, Ordinary Monster.)]

...

[Option Forty-Five: (Third Prize, Crimson Iron Soldier Ants, First Tier Two Stars, Ordinary Monster.)]

...

[Option Ninety-Seven: (Third Prize, Crimson Iron Ant King, Second Tier Two Stars, Elite Monster.)]

...

"Option One-Forty-Three: ✭✮✭ (Fourth Prize, thank you for your patronage, no physical prize.)"

...

Five days later, when Zhang Yanhang cleaned out the Lucky Slot Machine located in the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran again, he couldn’t help but thoroughly check if anything had changed in its prize pool.

To Zhang Yanhang’s disappointment, there was no change at all—the number of monsters remained the same as before: forty Crimson Iron Worker Ants, twenty-five each of Crimson Iron Flying Ants and Crimson Iron Soldier Ants, nine Crimson Iron Breeding Ants, and one Crimson Iron Ant King.

Moreover, besides the third prize pool having the same number of monsters, there was also no refresh of the most crucial first and second prizes in the Lucky Slot Machine.

"This Lucky Slot Machine in the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran has been emptied for ten days, but still, there is absolutely no sign of a refresh for the first and second prizes.

So it seems that, indeed, the refresh of the first and second prizes must require a very long time or else it is simply a one-time reward that won’t refresh once obtained."

Zhang Yanhang had initially hoped that the Lucky Slot Machine in Raccoon City was a special case and that it was the reason it did not refresh its first and second prizes.

But now it seems that his idea was merely wishful thinking. The fact that the machine in Raccoon City didn’t refresh the first and second prizes wasn’t an exception but rather the norm, and perhaps machines that do refresh these prizes are the anomalies.

"Sigh, although I wasn’t really counting on the Slot Machine refreshing the first and second prizes, I inevitably feel somewhat disappointed when it really doesn’t."

However, although that’s the case, Zhang Yanhang believed he still had one last hope; the Slot Machine in Raccoon City had been emptied for over twenty days and was approaching one month. He thought maybe the first and second prizes might refresh once a month.

Though by that time, as someone promoted to Tier Three, the first and second prizes in the machine would be useless to him, the concept of it refreshing is still different than not refreshing at all. As long as there’s a refresh, even if he couldn’t use it himself, he could still sell it to others.

After all, it is an artifact that could permanently increase attribute values, which still holds significant Value, and Zhang Yanhang reckoned it could still be traded for some useful things.

"Forget it, I better hurry up and clear out the prize pool. Afterward, I need to go and dig a tunnel. A new monster nest lies seventy-seven kilometers deep underground, and I’ve already dug seventy-four, only three kilometers left to break through the entire tunnel."

Speaking of this tunnel, Zhang Yanhang suddenly remembered an issue—since he already had Teleportation Technique and Arbitrary Gate, why was he foolishly digging a tunnel?

Although digging the tunnel makes going down easier, coming back up is quite arduous. Previously, when he didn’t know the Flying Technique, going down took at most a few minutes, but coming back up took nearly an hour, wasting too much time.

Therefore, Zhang Yanhang felt it would be better to teleport directly to the bottom of the tunnel, then use the Arbitrary Gate to bypass the last three kilometers of the underground tunnel directly to the monster nest.

Once he entered the monster nest, reaching that specific location, he wouldn’t need to use the Arbitrary Gate anymore. A simple Teleportation Technique would allow him free access in and out of the monster nest and the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran.

"Suddenly, I feel like I’ve had an epiphany. I’m truly a genius. This way, I can save a lot of time to do other things."

The reason Zhang Yanhang said he came here not to hunt monsters but to dig a tunnel was because the time needed to dig the tunnel was simply too long. After delving seventy kilometers deep underground, it took Zhang Yanhang ten hours to barely complete four kilometers of the tunnel, with each kilometer taking an average of two and a half hours.

Thus, if nothing went wrong, the final three kilometers of the underground tunnel would also require at least seven and a half hours for Zhang Yanhang to break through, and perhaps even eight hours due to the increased depth.

And, with exactly seven and a half hours left until the Transmission Channel closes, even if progress went smoothly, Zhang Yanhang would need to spend all his time digging the tunnel to return to the Main World before the Transmission Channel closes; otherwise, he would have to stay here and clear out the monster nest at the bottom of the tunnel.

Although this would reduce the importance of the previously dug tunnel, digging the tunnel was still a necessary task.

After all, Zhang Yanhang’s Arbitrary Gate can open doors anywhere, but only for a few kilometers, and if he tried opening one inside a solid ore vein, he’d get stuck in the wall.

So, from this perspective, digging the tunnel was absolutely necessary—he obviously couldn’t teleport directly through a seventy-seven-kilometer-thick ore vein unless he wanted a death wish.

"So, the question is, now that I don’t have to waste time digging the last three kilometers of Crimson Iron Ore, where should I use this time instead?"

Zhang Yanhang thought for a moment and decided he might as well take advantage of the Time Pause to scan the current number of Crimson Iron Ants in the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran. If the number is still quite high, he could use this time to clear out the Crimson Iron Ants in the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran and accumulate some Ant Power.

After all, he was about to promote to Tier Three, and the drop rate of Treasure Boxes from killing First Tier Monsters might decrease again after his promotion, so it was quite necessary to harvest them now, especially since he had been hoarding Crimson Iron Ants for ten days. Logically, there should be at least a thousand Crimson Iron Ants by now.

And if the number of Crimson Iron Ants in the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran wasn’t enough, then what should he do? Naturally, he would just teleport down and clear the new monster nest. However, due to the short amount of time, even if he went down, he could only clear a small part of the area, perhaps not even one-tenth.

The main reason is that Zhang Yanhang had previously idly asked for information about that underground monster nest, and Multiple Choice told him that the new monster nest was much larger than the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran, and not just by a little. Additionally, the terrain inside was even more complex and rugged.

Therefore, from this aspect, the clearing speed can’t be fast. After all, even with just a forty square kilometer area like the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran, it had taken Zhang Yanhang more than twenty hours, and with rest, around thirty hours in total to clear completely.

Zhang Yanhang’s cleanup efficiency averaged to less than 1.5 square kilometers per hour.

And since even cleaning the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalaran was so difficult, not to mention the new underground monster nest below.