I have an Apocalypse City
Chapter 1037 - Chapter 1037 Chapter 1039 Entering the Castle_1

Chapter 1037: Chapter 1039: Entering the Castle_1 Chapter 1037: Chapter 1039: Entering the Castle_1 Song Jian’s eyes watched a slow unlocking progress bar inching forward, and the Key of Oblivion flickered with various colors of light, as if it were cracking a code.

Now, the Key of Oblivion was no longer the inconspicuous, pitch-black object it had been before; it shone like a dazzling, flowing crystal, filling the entire keyhole of the trial chest.

As time ticked by second by second, the progress bar finally reached the end, and with a “click”, the chest opened. Song Jian reached inside and fished out several items.

One was a skill book with golden silk edges, exquisitely made, emitting a faint purplish-red glow.

A look of surprise appeared in Song Jian’s eyes–he hadn’t expected to actually find a skill book within.

Upon examining it, he discovered that it was a skill exclusive to the thief profession, “Forced Cooldown Removal.” Once activated, all skills that are in cooldown status immediately recover and can be used right away.

Forced Cooldown Removal: A thief-exclusive skill, after use, it removes the cooldown time for all skills within 5 minutes; the skill itself has a 15-minute cooldown.

The thief profession had many skills, much like mages, relying entirely on skills to deal damage. With this skill, thieves could unleash two rounds of burst damage consecutively, instantly doubling their combat power.

Besides the skill book, there were also a gold and a silver quality piece of equipment, as well as some miscellaneous items that could only be sold in stores.

Song Jian glanced at the skill book and chose to devour it. His newly upgraded Thousand Swords Art at level ten saw its proficiency leap forward significantly, roughly by one-fifth. That meant he would need five epic quality skill books to increase the Thousand Swords Art from level ten to eleven.

After opening the epic chest, Song Jian continued moving toward the castle deep in the city center, stealthily taking out any stray monsters he encountered. With the terrifying damage of the Thousand Swords Art, monsters hardly had time to react before being instantly killed, leaving them no chance to call for reinforcements against Song Jian.

In the process of repeatedly using the Thousand Swords Art, Song Jian carefully noted the nuances of each execution. As the core skill of the exclusive Sword Immortal profession, mastering it required a significant amount of time and effort, a task not meant to be accomplished rapidly. Song Jian was not in a hurry.

Gradually, Song Jian approached the fortress’s central castle. Before the castle, there was a spacious plaza, and Song Jian hid behind a five-or-six-story auction house, peering out at the square.

The plaza was vast, spanning several thousand square meters, swarming with soldier zombies wandering about, holding rifles in their hands and carrying swords, and sabers as cold weapons on their backs. Some wore leather armor, while others were even clad in scale or chainmail.

Among these monsters, a formidable warrior towering over three meters held a Gatling gun, draped in ammo belts, dressed in a special forces combat suit, with a war knife at his waist and a dagger strapped to his calf.

This formidable warrior was clearly an extremely dangerous BOSS. Even though Song Jian couldn’t see his level, he could still feel the aura emanating from a commander-grade BOSS.

To enter the castle, one had to pass through this plaza, with no alternative route available. Song Jian had already assessed that the minimum alert range for the soldier zombies was about three meters, with most between five and six meters. The square was so densely packed that the distance between them was likely less than a meter, meaning not even the most elite thief could slip through undetected.

“No choice, I have to force my way through,” Song Jian murmured to himself after pondering for a moment.

With a thought, Song Jian’s figure suddenly blurred, and after a violent shake, two identical Song Jians appeared in the original spot.

Sword Shadow Clone!

The level four Sword Shadow Clone could inherit 50% of Song Jian’s attributes and all of his skills, albeit all inherited skills were only at level one.

After the clone appeared, it charged straight into the plaza. Standing at the edge, it swung its long sword, and dozens of Spirit Swords manifested, floating around the clone. With every movement, they hurled themselves at the monsters on the plaza.

Boom, boom, boom~

A first-level Thousand Swords Art enveloped a vast area, damaging over a hundred monsters and simultaneously drew the attention of even more. The boss in the middle of the square also let out a roar, brandishing its machine gun and charged towards the clone with large strides.

Bang, bang, bang~

Already, monsters in close proximity fired at the clone, and a few bursts of blood exploded from the body of the Sword Shadow Clone before it turned into black mist and dissipated in the air, with Vitality Points plummeting.

Song Jian was startled; these monsters’ attack damage was formidable, and he dared not let the clone take the hits. He quickly controlled the clone to sprint into the alley behind him.

A large group of monsters were lured away by the clone, and in a short while, the square was left with less than half of the wandering monsters. These were the ones too far away to be attracted.

Even the boss had been led out by the clone; soon, the distinct roar of a Gatling gun resounded in the alley as the clone’s Vitality Points rapidly decreased.

“I need to be fast, the clone won’t last much longer!” Song Jian’s figure darted out like lightning, with Sword Qi surging throughout his body, which in an instant, all converged into his hand holding the Sky-breaking Sword, releasing a dazzling sword light.

Karmic Fire Red Lotus Ten Thousand Swords Art!

Song Jian charged to the center of the square and swung his sword towards the monsters blocking the castle gate.

In an instant, hundreds of Spirit Swords, burning with dark red flames, shot towards the monsters like missiles, while Song Jian, heedless of anything else, charged straight for the castle gate.

Just then, Song Jian felt the connection with his clone abruptly sever, understanding that it wouldn’t be long before the lured monsters and the boss would return. He couldn’t help but accelerate his pace.

The monsters around the castle gate were left in disarray by the impact of the Spirit Swords. As they prepared to charge at Song Jian, a giant red lotus spun, drawing them all into the center of a Sword Formation.

Song Jian nearly brushed past several monsters as he dashed by, and just as he entered through the castle gate, the distinct roar of a Gatling gun sounded from behind.

Ratatatatata~

Suddenly, Song Jian felt a sharp pain in his back, and at the same time, the rocks on both sides of the castle gate were shredded to rubble. The scattered debris shot out in all directions, painfully striking Song Jian’s face.

Song Jian instinctively dove forward, tucking and rolling twice before hiding inside the castle. Behind him, the Karmic Fire Red Lotus Sword Formation roared, and the combat status bar swiftly displayed a series of Experience Points gained notifications.

The monsters behind didn’t seem to dare enter the castle; after Song Jian hid inside, the boss and the monsters that had doubled back lost their target and resumed wandering.

Soon the Karmic Fire Red Lotus Sword Formation dissipated, and Song Jian returned to a non-combat state. Only then did he see that his Vitality Points had dropped by more than three thousand.

“That’s terrifying, the monsters here are too powerful. To kill it, I’m afraid it would take many lives, but if I can cause the boss’s weapon to drop, that would be a real windfall,” Song Jian thought, shuddering as he glanced back at the castle gate. If the boss’s weapon really dropped, it would at least be of Epic Quality, and it might even reach Legendary Level. Such a multi-barreled rotating machine gun is a strategic weapon in warfare, capable of turning the tide in a region’s battle.

While pondering, Song Jian continued deeper into the castle, following the path. He had a hunch that the Bronze Coffin the mentor had spoken of should be deep within this castle.

…