Chapter 551: Chapter 550: Being a Stranger in a Foreign Land (Part 1)

Looking around, there was nothing but darkness.

Fang Zheng felt as if his soul were a rootless duckweed, floating in the void of the air. The surrounding darkness was like some kind of tangible monster, wanting to completely engulf him. But in the next moment, Fang Zheng felt as though he were tied to a stone being thrown into the water, rapidly falling downward.

And then…

“Puh—-!”

Fang Zheng suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for fresh air. He felt weak all over, like an old man, even each breath made him feel utterly exhausted. Fang Zheng raised his head, his previously groggy brain beginning to clear. He reached out to touch his chest, feeling a surge of pain.

“Hiss…”

The pain emanating from his chest made Fang Zheng involuntarily suck in a breath of cold air. He looked down at his chest to see it pitch black, even able to see the deep wound there. Although it had scabbed over, even so, each movement Fang Zheng made allowed him to feel the intense pain emanating from it…

Wait, no clothes?

Fang Zheng raised his head in surprise, only then noticing that he had no clothes on his body at all, which was absolutely not normal. Because Fang Zheng’s clothes were supposed to be manifested from dragon scales, and even if Fang Zheng lost consciousness, his Dragon Scale Armor shouldn’t have disappeared like that!

“Ow—-!”

Fang Zheng instinctively tried to summon the dragon scales again, but as he was about to do so, he suddenly felt an intense pain erupting from his body, like the feeling one gets the day after doing a whole day of hard labor, where every muscle aches and can’t exert force, yet it was ten times more painful than that.

What on earth was going on?

Fang Zheng raised his hand, attempting to perform magic, but similarly failed. Whenever he prepared to muster his strength, his body would transmit an unusually intense and nearly unbearable pain. It wasn’t just his magic power; even the Power of Time was the same. Now, Fang Zheng seemed to have completely lost those powerful abilities he once had, left only with this body.

“What on earth is this mess…”

Muttering to himself, Fang Zheng quickly opened the Dimensional Codex System, but what he did not expect was that the Dimensional Codex in front of him was completely different than before. It was as if everything was sealed off, unresponsive at all. Those parts that should have been colorful had also turned black and white. When Fang Zheng clicked a button, all he got was a “System Offline” notification.

Not only that, but he also couldn’t open his personal item bar, which thoroughly depressed Fang Zheng, as it suggested that almost all his abilities were unusable. Fang Zheng tried to open the communication terminal but was met with a disconnected status.

“Damn it… Who the hell was that bastard? What did he stab me with?”

Thinking back now, Fang Zheng was still frightened. Fortunately, he was cautious enough to bind a Soulstone to himself when the opponent cast a Binding Technique on him, just in case. It now seemed that choosing this Magician Skill was indeed the correct choice, otherwise Fang Zheng might have truly faced game over.

But it was no surprise, who could have expected that the opponent would have such great power that they could attack him during the time travel process after he had left the Main World? And Fang Zheng, too trusting in the power of the system, had let his guard down at the very last moment, nearly capsizing in the gutter.

However, as matters stood, the situation wasn’t that disastrously overturned, luckily there was still a chance to set things right.

But now that that’s out of the way… where is this?

Fang Zheng raised his head, looking around. He was in a place that looked like an operating room or something similar to a hospital room, but there were no electrical appliances and it looked very old. It gave Fang Zheng the impression of something from the Middle Ages. And Fang Zheng himself was lying on what looked like a bed intended for moving patients and corpses… huh, this feeling wasn’t too pleasant for Fang Zheng.

Isn’t there anything to wear here?

Fang Zheng stood up from the hospital bed, looking around. The area was dead silent without a sound. Only the dim light from a flickering candle was visible. Apart from a medicine cabinet, there were bloodstained surgical tools and scattered books around. But on another bed nearby, Fang Zheng did see a set of somewhat worn clothes, seemingly like someone had changed out of them… but well, having something to wear was good enough.

“As long as I can wear it, it’s better than being naked…”

While muttering to himself, Fang Zheng changed into the outfit which itself looked ancient and simple, consisting of a white shirt and trousers, along with a shawl and a top hat. Beside these items, a firearm and a cane were scattered. Curious, Fang Zheng picked up the cane and toyed with it, quickly discovering that the cane was more interesting than he had imagined.

“Is this… a weapon?”

With the help of the dim firelight, Fang Zheng could see that the lower half of the cane appeared to be made up of several sharp blades connected together, resembling a serrated sword. Moreover, there was a small mechanism in the handle. Fang Zheng stretched out his hand and pressed it lightly, only to hear a slight “clatter.” The next moment, the “cane” in Fang Zheng’s hand dispersed, transforming into a chain sword.

“Hey, this weapon is really interesting!”

Looking at the cane that had transformed into a chain sword, Fang Zheng immediately became interested. It was his first time seeing a weapon that could switch between two forms at will, combining both ranged and melee capabilities. Although Fang Zheng had never used such a shapeshifting weapon before, it seemed to have its unique advantages.

As for the firearm… Fang Zheng thought for a moment and then casually took it and hung it around his waist. He still didn’t know what world this was. Honestly, without the system’s assistance, Fang Zheng didn’t know how long he would have to stay in this world before he could leave. Although he hoped this would be an ordinary and kind world, unfortunately, judging by the bloodstains on the floor and the eerie and deathly silent surroundings, this might well be another world filled with danger.

Just to be safe, it was better to carry weapons.

After getting dressed, Fang Zheng also took a turn around the place. He first followed the staircase beside him to the second floor, hoping to find someone. But to Fang Zheng’s frustration, the main door on the second floor was securely locked; knocking on it elicited no response. Helpless, Fang Zheng turned and walked out the other side.

“Crack… crack…”

But just as Fang Zheng left the room, intending to look for an exit, he keenly heard a faint sound not far ahead. It sounded like something being chewed, and even a low growl like that of a wild animal could be heard.

Oh shoot, this can’t be good.

Thinking this, Fang Zheng raised his alertness and walked cautiously outward. When Fang Zheng left the room and came to the ground floor hall, he finally located the source of the sound.

In front of the hall’s door, a beast as large as a person was crouched on the ground, seemingly tearing and swallowing something, surrounded by murky blood everywhere, emitting a nauseating, bloody smell.

As expected, I knew this couldn’t be a respectable world.

Fang Zheng sighed helplessly, then gripped the cane tightly, staring intently at the creature before him. There was only one exit, and the creature was unfortunately blocking it. Normally, he would not have been concerned with such a creature, but now, with all his powers gone except for his innate physical strength, and still injured, Fang Zheng was not willing to take risks.

Looks like I’ll have to use that move.

With this thought, Fang Zheng’s expression became solemn. He held the cane and stealthily approached the creature. The beast seemed to be engrossed in its meal and thus completely unaware of the figure approaching from behind. Seeing the creature now right in front of him, Fang Zheng did not hesitate to raise his cane and thrust it forcefully at the creature’s raised buttocks!

“Awoooo–!!”

The creature let out a soul-shattering scream, stood upright, its legs trembling incessantly, and its eyes bulging out as if it had been petrified. Fang Zheng naturally didn’t miss this opportunity; with a swift move of his sword, he pierced the creature’s heart, turning it into a lifeless corpse.

“Phew…”

It was only when he saw the creature fall again that Fang Zheng let out a sigh of relief. Although most of his strength had vanished, fortunately, the combat skills he learned in Black Soul World had not grown rusty…

However… when Fang Zheng really looked at the true face of the creature before him, he couldn’t help but start complaining.

“Oh come on, are we playing Werewolves?”