Chapter 736: 736

Chapter 736: Empire’s Dusk

Naturally, Zhang Heng would not fully believe what the old man in the Tang suit said . However, the timing of the book appearing was indeed a big problem, but he decided to put this matter aside for the time being . Recently, he spent most of his energy learning to control the pair of newly acquired Shadow Wings .

In order to avoid frightening the people on the street, Zhang Heng only practiced his flying technique when time stopped for him . Unfortunately, his flying time was capped at twelve seconds a day . After two weeks of training and exploration, he had finally mastered his flying technique, no longer landing face first .

During his last practice session, he climbed onto a 405-meter-high communications tower, looked at the city under his feet, took a deep breath, and took a leap of faith . His body began free-falling under the influence of gravity, and his rate of descent accelerated . When he was only a hundred meters above the ground, he closed his eyes and pictured the crow in his mind .

Almost instantly, a pair of Shadow Wings spread out on his back, helping him to slow his descent as he flew to the distant residential building . Right before the wings disappeared, Zhang Heng landed on the roof of a building .

The moment his feet hit the concrete of the roof, the wings behind his back folded and disappeared . The whole landing process was a smooth one . He figured that he might even perform more complicated moves in the air if he carried on with the daily training . This skill could prove instrumental in evading ground attacks or even flying over extreme natural environments .

But for the time being, he had achieved his goal—spread his wings and land smoothly during an emergency fall . In other words, he no longer needed to worry about untoward falls from high places .

Other than that, this pair of wings also served as an option for him to escape the threats he would face in the future . Since he had depleted the uses of Shadow Moment and Evil Wall, Zhang Heng had no game items that would get him out of serious trouble, although he had obtained a ton of items recently—the skill set he had helped him overcome many threats of late .

But now, with this pair of wings, he was shielded by another layer of protection .

And it had to be admitted that flying to the heavens had always been humanity’s dream . There were murals that depicted flying since the dawn of civilization . Since then, the desire to take to the skies had penetrated many cultures . Whether it was Western myths or Eastern novels, the gods and demons always had a pair of wings on their backs .

With the advancement of science and technology, people had invented hot air balloons and airplanes that could take human beings into the sky . However, it was still unlike flying freely . Although the ability could last a scant twelve seconds, Zhang Heng did feel like a bird in the sky .

From up there, high above, he could see everything under his feet, free from the shackles of reality . When he looked at the familiar sights of daily life from a completely different perspective, everything became refreshing . Unfortunately, twelve seconds was not enough for him to fly to the clouds . Zhang Heng could only wish that he could reach out and touch the dark clouds .

…

After the proxy war started, the interval between the games he needed to complete had shortened . Before the war, he was required to complete one game every month . Now, he needed to complete one proxy war round in that month . Although his physique would be restored to tip-top condition after the end of the dungeon, the mental fatigue would remain .

Fortunately, it was not a big issue for Zhang Heng since he had an extra 24 hours . In fact, his resting time was twice as long as other players . Therefore, two weeks after the end of the first round of the proxy war, Zhang Heng returned to the game checkpoint and started an ordinary quest .

Prior to this, he learned that Shen Xixi’s score for her first round of the proxy war was 325 . Her score was not considered low, but it was not too high either . Especially after the top three guilds had begun to exert their strength, she still qualified to participate in the game’s next round . However, she now ranked 60 on the leaderboard, and she was still falling .

Maybe Shen Xixi didnt give in everything she had to complete the quest, or perhaps other factors were affecting her . Zhang Heng had only seen Shen Xixi used her ability once during Yogurt’s kidnapping incident . The little scale she had with her could probably attack a human soul . The moment she put it to use, her words were enough to shut 1810 down .

Zhang Heng’s figured that it should be a Grade-B game item . Besides, as the agent of Justitia, Shen Xixi should have other abilities . Of course, there were limitations to these powers . She could only attack enemies with evil intentions; the reason she failed to intercept Shen Dongxing that night . However, she remained an excellent decision-maker . If her team members were there, she would find a way to maximize each of their abilities .

The current ranking did not represent her true strength . Besides, Zhang Heng had fallen from third place and was overtaken by the player in that position . The player had dived right into his second round of proxy war . He didn’t take it at heart, though . According to Miss Bartender, the rewards were similar for those who ranked first to fifty .

So, he decided to complete his ordinary quest first .

However, he was a little worried about Fan Meinan, having not heard from her since the proxy war began . Until now, she still had not replied to Zhang Heng’s message . The last time the two met was at McDonald’s .

At that time, Fan Meinan did not look too good . She looked thinner and had Zhang Heng’s offer to help as well .

“I’ve asked about your sword,” the bartender said to Zhang Heng, “The fastest you can get it back is in four days . The latest is a week . I think you should be able to get it before the next proxy war round . ”

“Well, thanks a lot . ” Zhang Heng sat down and took out the alarm clock . There were only less than ten minutes to midnight . It appeared that Fan Meinan’s affairs had to be put aside first . For now, he had to focus on his next quest .

After setting the time, he laid down on the deck, waiting for the dizziness to hit him as usual .

[Verifying player identity . ]

[Identiity verified . Randomly selecting the ninth quest for player 07958…]

[Draw complete . You are now participating in Empire’s Dusk]

“Nerva founded the Antonine dynasty, Trajan expanded the territory, Hadrian perfected the bureaucracy, Antonine made sure that vault was always full . Aurelius wrote “Meditations,” but everything would eventually come to an end no matter how brilliant it was . Where should the empire go now…”

[Task objective: Survive for 80 days]

[Mode: Single player]

[Time flow rate: 480] (1 hour in the real world is equivalent to 20 days in the game . After 80 days, the player will be automatically returned to the real world . )

[Friendly reminder: the game will officially start in five seconds, prepare yourself!]

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