Chapter 1 A Glimmer of Hope

Li Cheng颐’s eyes held a trace of anticipation, a hint of fervor.

He quickly released the flowers in his hand and grabbed another bunch.

As he continuously grasped and changed them, wisps of cool air flowed into the back of his hand.

The collection progress of the wisteria flower scale armor was also rapidly increasing.

It quickly rose from an initial 5% to 28%.

But after reaching 28%, all the wisteria flowers here had been completely absorbed.

‘Is that all!??’ He looked around, but couldn't find any more wisteria.

There were at least a hundred wisteria flowers here, but it still wasn't enough to fill the collection progress of the flower scale armor.

This made Li Cheng颐 somewhat regret not choosing the wild chrysanthemums earlier.

After all, wild chrysanthemums were everywhere in the corners, perhaps enough to gather the collection progress of the flower scale armor and activate this mysterious armed armor.

But now that he was sure, it was too late.

Confirming that there were no more wisteria flowers around, Li Cheng颐 quickly ran towards home.

He needed to bring the various food props he had bought earlier.

In a frantic run, it only took him three minutes to return home, grab the plastic bag he had packed.

Picking up the bag, he didn't say a word, closed the door, and rushed out of the house again. While there was still time, he planned to check out the opposite residential area, maybe there were wisteria flowers there too!

Not taking the elevator, Li Cheng颐 held the bag and ran all the way down the stairs, rushed out of the stairwell, and sprinted along the residential area's driveway.

Exiting the residential area, he suddenly paused, remembering something, and quickly looked left and right.

‘There must be a lot of flowers in the small park!’ He instantly reacted in his mind.

The small park where his predecessor often exercised had many plants and trees, surely he could find more wisteria there.

The streets were quiet at night, outside the residential area, passing vehicles came and went, like unmanned iron boxes, with thick dark glass separating them, unable to see anyone inside.

These cars gave a cold, devoid of warmth feeling.

On the side of the driveway, on the long, gray-white sidewalk, Li Cheng颐, dressed in gray-white sportswear, quickly ran with a large bag of plastic, sweat dripping from his forehead, rushing towards the small park.

On the sidewalk, there were rows of straight evergreen trees, their green crowns trimmed into standard ovals, making soft whimpering sounds in the wind.

Li Cheng颐 constantly passed evergreen trees, passed R-shaped streetlights.

The cold white light cast long, slender shadows of him.

Thump, thump, thump...

The sound of sneakers hitting the pavement rang rhythmically.

Soon, he reached the corner of the small park entrance.

The sidewalk curved to the right, past a slightly rusty white metal sign, and there was the small park.

Li Cheng颐 felt hot all over, sweat constantly gathering and sliding down his temples.

He gasped for breath, and suddenly turned the corner.

Screech!

Suddenly, the sound of shoe soles rubbing against the ground rang out.

He abruptly stopped and stood in place. Standing at the park entrance, he peered inside.

At night, the solar streetlights in the small park lit up, the dim halos like bubbles floating in the dark forest, dreamy and beautiful.

‘Let me think....I exercised during the day, I should have seen them.’

Li Cheng颐 tried to calm his thoughts and recall the previous scene.

The small park was oval-shaped, with small flowers planted along the outer perimeter of the running path.

Flowers like this wilt quickly and are replaced quickly, so the predecessor didn't pay much attention to them even when exercising here.

‘It should be... in the innermost part, near the stone frame on the right!’

Wisteria doesn't grow on the ground, so it's easy to identify.

After determining the location, Li Cheng颐 quickly rushed into the small park and sprinted along the dark red plastic running path.

Before he had run two hundred meters, a clear purple color caught his eye on the side of a solar streetlight.

‘Found it!!’ He was excited and sped up, rushing forward with all his might.

His right hand quickly grabbed the wisteria flowers hanging in the air.

Poof.

A cool, soft touch was transmitted to his hand.

‘Collection progress increased to 11%.’

‘Collection progress increased to 12%.’

‘Collection progress increased to 14%.’

A series of prompt messages rang in his mind.

After a series of rings, the collection progress reached 23%.

Seeing that this cluster of flowers was useless, Li Cheng颐 quickly changed to another cluster and continued to listen to the constant prompts.

There were more than a dozen clusters of wisteria flowers beside the streetlight, densely packed, looking like more than a dozen bunches of purple grapes.

In terms of quantity, they were much more concentrated than the wild chrysanthemums on the ground, which made Li Cheng颐 more certain of his previous choice.

If he had chosen wild chrysanthemums, he might not have been able to increase the collection progress so quickly.

After all, wild chrysanthemums were too scattered.

As for wisteria flowers, he had now absorbed at least hundreds of them.

Under the dim light of the streetlight, Li Cheng颐 constantly reached out and touched different clusters of flowers.

Looking from a distance, if someone saw him at this moment, seeing his focused and nervous expression, they might think he was mentally ill.

But only he knew that all of this was for one purpose.

To survive!

The collection progress was increasing rapidly.

Seeing that it had broken through 70%, Li Cheng颐 suddenly stopped, all the wisteria flowers here had been touched by him.

‘Not enough?’

He scanned around and found that there were still some on the edge of the stone frame not far away.

Immediately, he strode out and rushed towards it.

Soon, he crossed the distance of more than ten meters in a few steps, and grabbed the new wisteria flowers.

Seeing the collection progress increase again, the tense emotion in his heart slightly relaxed.

‘Faster....!’

‘Even faster!’

78%.

82%.

86%.

91%.

94%.

Seeing that there were only a few points left.

Li Cheng頤’s eyes widened, and a few strands of bloodshot faintly appeared on the whites of his eyes.

With one hand, he hugged the plastic bag filled with items, and with the other hand, he kept changing the wisteria flowers to grasp.

At this time, he faintly felt a sense of fatigue slowly surge into his heart.

‘Could it be coming!!?’

The emotion in his heart became more and more anxious.

‘Hurry!’

‘Hurry up!!’

96%.

97%.

98%!

The last two points!

Li Cheng颐 was trembling all over, extremely nervous.

He seemed to be racing against life, playing tug-of-war with time.

Soon.

99%!!!

The last point!!

On the back of his right hand, one of the cells on the purple-black ring was slowly lighting up with purple light.

In the purple light, countless gorgeous patterns of wisteria flowers intertwined and piled together appeared.

In the cell, dense wisteria flowers formed an oval vortex, the center of the vortex was pitch black, and in the center of the pitch black, a pin-sized pure white was shining slightly.

Li Cheng頤 didn't dare to blink his eyelids, staring at the wisteria flowers in front of him.

He was waiting for the last point, the final completion!

Finally.

100%!

‘Collection complete.’

Ding.

In an instant, a clear chime rang in his ears.

Li Cheng颐’s eyes instantly turned pitch black.

In the darkness, a purple-black, gorgeous armor with shoulder armor protruding outward like knife tips slowly emerged in the mist, approaching from a distance.

The armor perfectly protected all parts of the body, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.

Overall, it looked like a purely decorative ceremonial armor, the entire armor composed of palm-sized petal-shaped armor pieces.

Each armor piece was engraved with a large number of wisteria flower patterns, with subtle sharp serrations on the edges, looking extremely sharp.

The head of the armor was a metal helmet with three purple sharp horns.

The entire helmet covered the mouth, nose, and ears, leaving only gaps for the eyes, exquisite and beautiful.

This is the flower scale armor?!

Li Cheng頤 just looked at the armor in front of him and inexplicably had the urge to put it on.

But he resisted, this was not a dead end, even in the small park, there were many places with hidden cameras.

As he refused to wear it, the surrounding darkness faded away, and soon the scenery of the small park was restored.

‘Fortunately, I made it....’

Standing in place, he let out a long sigh of relief.

The fatigue just now was gone.

‘It seems that the previous sleepiness should have been caused by excessive exercise, a natural reaction of the body, not a sign of a dead end.’

Li Cheng颐 felt a lot more relaxed.

He reached out and gently stroked the back of his right hand. Even without his phone, he could clearly see the purple-black ring on the back of his hand.

It seemed that it was the first time it had truly filled with flowers, causing this mysterious Flower of Evil to undergo a different change.

Looking up at the remaining wisteria flowers around, Li Cheng頤 reached out and stroked them again.

But this time there was no reaction.

No cool airflow flowed into the back of his hand.

A strange message rose from his heart.

‘Do I need to change to other types of wisteria flowers? Has this sub-category of wisteria reached its limit?’

He helplessly put down his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Since it was useless, he had to go back and rest first, and then think about what he had not considered to prepare.

Turning around, he quickly walked towards the exit of the small park.

"Huh!?"

Suddenly, Li Cheng颐's expression froze, and his right leg, which had just been raised, fell back to the ground.

He stared blankly at the scene in front of him. A nameless coldness rose in his heart.

In front of him was not the plastic running path of the small park he had expected.

But a spacious, white-lit underground parking garage that stretched to the end!

An underground parking garage!?!

No!

It wasn't an underground parking garage!

It was a dead end!!

Just then, he seemed to have thought of something, his body tensed, and his gaze followed the right wall forward, quickly finding a small maintenance room door.

That small door.

Was open!!

Just like in his previous premonition, the small door of the maintenance room was opened, and then....

Thinking of this, Li Cheng颐 seemed to realize something.

He was covered in sweat and turned around abruptly!

A black and white color came into view!

The two-meter-high giant face was right behind him!

Within reach!

The face was expressionless, silently opening its mouth.

Rumble!!!

A piercing scream erupted from the huge mouth, blasting open and covering a fan-shaped area forward through the air.

Black smoke also spewed out of the giant face's mouth, instantly submerging Li Cheng颐, and blackening more than ten meters of the parking lot behind him.

The smoke billowed, and a strong wind surged.

The huge sound wave constantly echoed in the underground parking garage, creating an echo.

The ground shook, the lights swayed, and tiny dust fragments fell from the ceiling, blown askew by the wind.

After a full three or four seconds, the black smoke slowly dissipated, turning into strands and bundles, spreading towards the depths of the underground parking garage, fading, and disappearing.

In the black smoke, a purple figure kneeling on one knee slowly emerged.

An invisible fragrance of wisteria flowers, like fine wine, permeated with the smoke and wind.

Crack.

The purple figure stood up, revealing the purple-black metal full body armor worn on its body.

The armor was covered with tiny, exquisite wisteria flower patterns.

Countless translucent wisteria petals, like sand, surrounded and danced around him. Dreamlike.

"I will not die...."

"Absolutely!!"

Li Cheng颐 suddenly raised his head, his black eyes under the helmet were full of bloodshot.

Suddenly he stepped forward.

Raised his hand.

Straight forward, reaching out with all his strength.

"Tear you apart!!!"

Poof!

His hands pierced into the face, penetrating it as if piercing a balloon, without any resistance.

With a muffled sound, the entire giant face was completely torn in two from the middle.

The shattered halves slowly crumbled in the air, turning into smaller black and white particles, disappearing into the air.