Chapter 32: Tentacles

After returning home, Zhou Yuan rushed into the bathroom, stashed his clothes in the backpack slot, took a shower, and washed off the blood residue on his body.

The death of Ms Blood, who put up a fierce struggle before being suppressed by the park warden, meant that the blood lost its supernatural properties and wouldn't provoke any paranormal phenomena.

After meticulously cleaning himself, Zhou Yuan wrapped himself in a bathrobe, returned to the bedroom, lay down on his bed, and reflected on the mission he had just completed.

"The goal of the mission was to survive three days inside the Happy Castle. Hence, the normal strategy would involve cozying up to the Mobile Task Force, earning their trust, and then holing up in the stronghold for three days."

However, on the third night, the Ghost Amusement Park would open, and those foreign ghosts, each with a ferocious nature and not under the park warden's control, could easily mob someone with the slightest mistake. With the overtly hostile Six Desires Heavenly Demon Tree, a group wipeout was very likely, leading to a dismal ending."

Zhou Yuan felt fortunate that he hadn't remained inactive. Although such a method might appear safer and more prudent, it buried a massive pitfall.

Of course, that wasn't to say that laying low would make it impossible to clear the mission. The Mobile Task Force had strong combat capabilities. With their firepower, maybe one could endure the last hour or two.

But the result...

Everyone except for him got wiped out, the park ultimately fell under the control of the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Tree, and it ended with a Bad End.

And if one completed the mission in such a manner, the score would definitely not be high.

Another way to clear the mission was the path Zhou Yuan took: taking the initiative to strike, cooperating with the Mobile Task Force to overcome the park's challenges, uncovering the truth behind the park's anomalies, and killing the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Tree... He even completed the "Ghost Call" mission as a side quest.

It was more difficult and risky, but the reward was also higher.

The experience gained from the two missions allowed him to level up straight to LV11, and his total Star Coins reached 9900, quite a bountiful harvest.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan glanced at the reward for the "Happy Castle" mission inside the backpack slot—a Fine Quality Item Pack.

"Time to open the box."

With a flash of light, a green spherical object appeared in place of the item pack.

[Name: Advanced Paru Ball]

[Quality: Fine]

[Special Effect 1: When thrown at a weakened target, there is a certain chance of capturing it. Note: Unable to capture Paru that are too high level.]

[Special Effect 2: After capture, it will brainwash the target, turning it into a state of absolute loyalty.]

[Special Effect 3: The Paru Ball contains its own space and has healing abilities. When Paru with low health is returned to the ball, it can gradually recover its health.]

[Remark 1: There's no shortage of Paru in the world of Paru. If you don't do it, there's plenty of Paru that will.]

[Remark 2: Using the Paru Ball to capture humans is considered an inhumane act.]

"Wow!"

Zhou Yuan sat up from the bed in excitement; another good item had appeared.

"Capturing Paru... does this mean I'm on my way to becoming a Pokémon Master?"

Zhou Yuan instantly thought of Ms Blood, who had suffered a terrible death at the Happy Castle. If he could bring her under his control, then he would have a super-strong loyal enforcer at his side.

Unfortunately, Ms Blood was of a high ranking, and it was unlikely that an Advanced Paru Ball could capture her.

The store did sell higher quality Paru Balls and Pokéballs from Pokémon, but they were too expensive. Given the shortage of Star Coins in the early stages, they weren't worth buying.

After all, neither Paru Balls nor Pokéballs had a hundred percent catch rate, and if the capture failed, the ball would be wasted, which was tantamount to throwing away the money—the Master Ball from Pokémon had a hundred percent catch rate but was priced too high, making it not within consideration for the time being.

"My luck with opening boxes has been pretty good lately. Could it be that my fortune is truly changing?"

Zhou Yuan scratched his head, feeling like his hardships had finally turned to sweet outcomes.

He then turned to his attribute panel.

He had gained five levels in total this time and had five discretionary attribute points.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yuan allocated one point to Perception and three points to Charm, bringing all six of his attributes to 11 points each—neat and satisfying for anyone with a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

After indulging in that satisfying decision, he then assigned the last point to Perception—the main attribute for Shadow System Aoneng Power.

Having allocated his attributes, Zhou Yuan entered the game's store to look for suitable items.

[Dark Matter - Muddy Shadow: Fine quality, for use by Shadow System players only. It can thicken shadows into swampy mires to control enemies. Price: 3000 Star Coins.]

[Dark Matter - Demon Shadow: Rare quality, for use by Shadow System players only. Demon Shadow can be used for assassination, disguise, stealth, domestic tasks... The main body can switch places with the Demon Shadow. Price: 7000 Star Coins.]

[Dark Matter - Shadow Eater: Perfect quality, for use by Shadow System players only. The shadow gains the ability to devour, which can be used to feed back to itself. Price: 30000 Star Coins.]

[Dark Matter - Heavenly Detriment: Perfect quality, for use by Shadow System players only...]

[Black Sun: Epic, for Shadow System players only…]

[Return to Ruins: Legendary, for Shadow System players only…]

[Dark Plane: Mythical, for Shadow System players only…]

[...]

There were countless items in the store that could enhance Shadow System abilities, which made Zhou Yuan incredibly envious; he wanted them all but sadly lacked the strength.

"So merging with a new Dark Matter grants me new abilities, huh…" Zhou Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, his chin resting on his palm, lost in thought.

[Mud Shadow] and [Demon Shadow] seemed very practical, but he really wanted [Shadow Eater]. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough money to buy it; otherwise, it would have been a decisive power.

"Forget it, I'll just buy these two first."

Zhou Yuan gave up on the idea of saving up any longer—he was still 20,000 Star Coins short. Who knows how long it would take to save that much.

It was best to invest in strengthening himself as soon as possible. Once his strength improved, earning Star Coins would be a piece of cake.

Zhou Yuan sold a human flesh sausage and scraped together 10,000 Star Coins, then purchased two items without a moment's hesitation.

Immediately after, he lifted his palm, and a clump of sticky black matter slowly began to condense in the center.

With just a thought from Zhou Yuan, countless fine threads suddenly stretched out from the dark matter, darting towards the gaming chair next to him, binding it securely and lifting it with ease.

"Not bad at all; such a small amount can lift a chair."

Zhou Yuan controlled the shadow tendrils to thicken, then couldn't help but be taken aback.

Once the tendrils thickened, they were no longer fine threads, but turned into slimy black tentacles that wildly flailed in the air. The scene looked extremely bizarre, like the nest of some evil creature.

"Tentacle play?"

Zhou Yuan straightened his back solemnly. This ability, he really bought the right one!

After playing around for a bit, he retracted the dark tentacles and conjured up a demonic shadow that looked almost identical to himself in front of him.

Swap positions!

With that thought, Zhou Yuan switched places with the mattress, now perched at the edge of the bed, while the demonic shadow took his spot on the bed, sitting cross-legged.

"Good, this is akin to having a life-saving skill."

Zhou Yuan was very satisfied; he truly had gone from bringing a knife to a gunfight.

[Name: Zhou Yuan]

[Level: LV11]

[Experience: 310/600]

[Spirituality Value: 2300]

[Title: None]

[Buff: None]

[Aoneng Power: Shadow]

[Skills: Condensed Qi Fist, Soul Ignition Skill, Aircraft Piloting Skill]

[Equipment: Iron Rose·Divine Enchantment, Ghost Walker, Super Alloy Wrench, Shadow Assassin Cloak]

[Inventory: Advanced Paru Ball*1, Golden Dragon Treasure Scale*2, Golden Dragon Scales*4, Evil Warding Talisman*5, Enlightened Cross*1, Human Flesh Sausage*4...]

[Attributes:

Strength: 11

Agility: 11

Constitution: 11

Intelligence: 11

Perception: 12

Charm: 11]