Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 748 Challenge Dungeon 4

There were people jogging, practicing Tai Chi, walking their dogs, and even an elderly man strolling with a birdcage.

The sounds were lively and bustling, a stark contrast to the deathly silence of a convenience store late at night.

Yun Chu mingled in the crowd, seemingly strolling casually along the main road, but her sharp eyes scanned her surroundings.

She soon spotted the tower.

It stands beside the artificial lake in the center of the park, its silver-gray metal structure gleaming coldly in the morning light, its spire pointing straight to the sky.

The area around the base of the tower is a wide open square, where some people are doing exercises and dancing.

[Checkpoint: Top floor of the Tower of Light.] The quest prompt is very clear.

But how do we get up there?

There appears to be no obvious staircase or elevator entrance on the tower.

Yun Chu approached discreetly and circled half of the tower to observe it.

On the back of the tower, near the woods, she found an inconspicuous small gray metal door that looked like an equipment maintenance entrance.

The door was tightly closed, and next to it was a small electronic sensor area that appeared to require specific permissions to open.

Ordinary people wouldn't notice this place, let alone try to enter. But this is clearly not a passageway prepared for tourists.

There might be other players in the park, or there might be investigators lying in wait.

Trying to break in directly is too risky.

Yun Chu stopped walking, pretending to be attracted by the scenery by the lake, and leaned against the railing, seemingly watching the fish swimming in the water.

Its consciousness quickly communicated with the fire iron flying ants scattered throughout the park.

Tiny mechanical creations, as small as dust, transmit back the images and sounds around her in real time.

The music from square dancing, the conversations of the elderly, the laughter of children... So far, no particularly suspicious people have been found loitering for a long time or staring at the tower.

She then quietly guided a few flying ants to the vicinity of the small gray metal door, trying to find a gap to enter or to observe the structure of the electronic lock.

The flying ants' sensors indicated that the door lock was a sophisticated electronic lock with an energy barrier, making forced entry virtually impossible and inevitably triggering an alarm.

So, what is the proper way to "check in"? Do we have to wait until a specific time when the tower opens to "players"?

The instant Yun Chu had this thought, the dormant mission notification sound in her mind suddenly rang again, but the content made her pupils shrink slightly:

[Player 'Bai Yun Chu' has been detected to have arrived within the range of the Tower of Light.]

[Special check-in task trigger conditions: Two or more players must be within 50 meters of the tower base simultaneously, and touch the designated sensor point on the tower body within 30 seconds (with an interval of more than 10 seconds) to open the top-floor check-in channel.]

[Current number of players within 50 meters of the tower base: 1.]

Please wait for other players to arrive, or find other players to complete this task together.

[Note: The sensor is located on the east side of the tower, 1.5 meters above the ground, below the silver diamond-shaped metal plate.]

Yun Chu's gaze suddenly shifted to the silver-gray tower.

It turned out to be the case.

A single person cannot open the check-in channel; at least two people are required to "cooperate," and this "cooperation" must be done in a specific order and within a time limit.

Yun Chu maintained her posture of watching the fish, but her consciousness was rapidly filtering through the hundreds of fragmented images and sounds transmitted back by the Fire Iron Flying Ants.

My gaze was fixed on the benches at the edge of the square.

A young girl with a high ponytail, wearing a fluorescent pink sports vest and yoga pants, was looking down at her phone, her fingers flying across the screen, her face showing a hint of suppressed anxiety.

She occasionally glanced up in the direction of the tower, then quickly looked away, her fingers unconsciously gripping the edge of her phone.

No mistake. It's a player.

Yun Chu no longer hesitated. She straightened up, as if she had enjoyed the lake view enough, and walked naturally along the lakeside path towards the square. Her pace was neither hurried nor slow, like someone who had finished their morning exercise and was preparing to leave.

She walked straight to the bench, and from a distance of a few meters, her gaze fell on the girl, carrying just the right amount of confusion and caution, and asked, "Excuse me, um... may I ask what time it is?"

She pointed to her wrist, indicating there was no watch there, and lowered her voice slightly, with a hint of barely perceptible probing, "My phone seems to have gotten wet..."

The girl looked up at the sound, and the anxiety in her eyes was instantly replaced by vigilance.

She looked Yun Chu up and down, her gaze lingering briefly on Yun Chu's ordinary sportswear and baseball cap before quickly scanning the surroundings.

"Uh... 8:41." The girl's voice was a little tense, and she subconsciously gripped her phone tighter after giving the time.

"Thanks." Yun Chu nodded, but did not leave immediately. She took a small step forward, lowered her voice, looked directly at the other person, and clearly uttered two words: "Guang Qiong".

The girl's pupils contracted sharply! The knuckles of her fingers gripping the phone instantly turned white.

She almost reflexively took a breath, leaning forward slightly as if to stand up, but forcibly held back, her sharp eyes scanning Yun Chu's face, trying to discern the truth from the falsehood.

Yun Chu seemed oblivious to her reaction and continued speaking in that calm yet slightly troubled tone, her voice so low that only the two of them could hear: "Sensing point, below the silver rhombus, 1.5 meters above the ground. Requires two people to make contact, with a gap of more than ten seconds between them."

She didn't say "mission" or "players," but every key piece of information pointed to the predicament they faced together.

This direct and precise information can only be known by other players in the instance.

This is the most efficient way to confirm.

The shock and wariness in the girl's eyes surged rapidly, eventually settling into a ruthless decision.

Without asking another question, she stood up abruptly like a taut bowstring, her gaze shooting towards the east side of the tower, quickly locking onto the location Yun Chu had mentioned.

“Tadon?” she uttered only two words, her voice hoarse and strained.

“Yes.” Yun Chu nodded.

"I'll go first." The girl spoke rapidly, with an unquestionable commanding tone. She was clearly afraid that the person she was dealing with later might back out or cheat, so she chose to take the initiative first.

Yun Chu had no objection: "I will catch up in ten seconds."

The next second, the girl shot off like an arrow toward the east side of the tower. Her movements were swift and sudden, drawing surprised glances from several elderly people doing exercises nearby.

Yun Chu stood still, her gaze sweeping over the surrounding crowd that might be alerted, while her mind precisely began a countdown: [1, 2, 3…]

The girl rushed to the foot of the tower, and without hesitation, she stood on tiptoe and precisely pressed her right hand against the inconspicuous metal plate marked with a silver rhombus on the tower! Her palm pressed hard against the cold metal surface.

hum-

An extremely subtle energy fluctuation spread out from her hand, only to be instantly absorbed by an invisible barrier without attracting any attention from the outside world.

At the spot where she touched it, a faint blue light flashed past inside the silver diamond pattern.

[5, 6, 7...] Yun Chu's countdown was calm and unhurried.

The girl almost immediately withdrew her hand, quickly took a few steps back, turned her head and stared intently at Yun Chu, her eyes sharp as knives, as if warning her not to break her promise.

【8, 9, 10!】After counting to the tenth second, the clouds began to move.

Her pace remained slow, even carrying a hint of fatigue from her morning exercise, a stark contrast to the girl's rapid stride.

She walked to the tower wall, raised her hand, and, under the girl's wary and urging gaze, firmly placed her palm on the still slightly warm metal surface.

A cool sensation instantly followed.

hum!