Chapter 1339: Chapter 741: Climbing Mount Everest

"Is he alive? Quickly check if that Kingdom member in the Death Shroud is alive!" Zard said, unusually excited. "But, if he really is alive, what should we do? Kill him again?"

Ever since Qing Chen wrapped the dead Kingdom member in the Death Shroud, Zard had been checking the time occasionally, waiting for 24 hours to pass.

Da Yu said sullenly, "If he were alive, he would have moved by now. The guess must have been wrong; this thing can’t bring people back from the dead. In the Federation, there are two taboo items capable of trading lives, but among the hundreds of taboo items in the entire Federation, not one can resurrect someone. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural laws that cannot be reversed."

Qing Chen crouched down and untied the Death Shroud, finding that the corpse inside had already begun to stiffen.

This indicated that the Death Shroud couldn’t even preserve a dead body.

"Indeed, the guess was wrong," he said thoughtfully. "Since it can’t bring people back to life, what use could it have?"

Yang Yang suddenly said, "When the Death Shroud wraps around a corpse, they disappear from my force field perception."

Qing Chen was stunned for a moment: "You can’t perceive them at all?"

"Yes," Yang Yang nodded, "Though in my perception, there’s still a force field void here. Its position can still be identified, so it can’t be used to evade phased-array radar."

Qing Chen was somewhat disappointed. Nowadays, Federation radar technology is advanced—even if you can completely absorb electromagnetic waves, you still can’t hide.

What is the purpose of this Death Shroud anyway? Qing Chen, Yang Yang, Da Yu, and Zard all looked at each other, completely clueless.

Exploring the rules of taboo items is incredibly difficult without any information.

Then, he crouched down to investigate, touching where the body was injured: "Wait, I remember clearly when I inspected the corpse, the neck bone was crushed from behind by someone, but now the neck bone is intact!"

Da Yu also crouched down to check: "Huh!"

Qing Chen pondered: "The corpse is still continuing to decay, but the bones have healed? Now there are two possibilities. First is that the Death Shroud might turn him into a living dead—a zombie. Second is... it can repair broken things!"

A test will reveal the answer.

He took a banknote from his wallet, tore it into pieces, and wrapped the fragments in the Death Shroud.

However, before putting all the fragments into the Death Shroud, Qing Chen removed one corner.

An hour later, the banknote was restored, missing the corner Qing Chen had taken.

"It’s confirmed; its function is specifically to restore items, even if they are just fragments," Qing Chen said thoughtfully.

Qing Chen took out an outdoor windproof lighter and straightforwardly burned the US Dollar bill to ashes, then wrapped it in the Death Shroud.

An hour later, upon opening the Death Shroud, the banknote appeared again, completely intact.

Zard exclaimed, "So if I’m in the desert without food or water, couldn’t I use this thing to turn what I’ve eaten, drunk, and... released back into usable form?"

Qing Chen and Da Yu looked at him silently, neither saying a word.

Zard’s tone grew weaker: "I’m just trying to learn how the boss exploits bugs..."

Yang Yang sighed: "The way you exploit bugs is quite impressive. Don’t do it next time."

Da Yu calmly said, "This kind of function is quite a chicken rib; nowadays, the most valuable items in both worlds are taboo items, and nonetheless they do not get damaged. Maximizing benefits would mean repairing luxury jewelry, like a broken bracelet worth billions, but we don’t need to provide this service to those socialites."

Qing Chen shook his head: "There’s no such thing as a useless taboo item, only people who don’t know how to use them."

Da Yu raised his eyebrows, feeling as though this comment was a sarcastic jab at him...

Qing Chen suddenly said, "Da Yu, I’m giving you this taboo item."

"Huh?" Da Yu was stunned: "Giving it to me?"

He pointed to his nose and said: "Qing Chen, are you crazy? You’re giving me this? It’s a taboo item!"

Who am I? Even after paying off my debts, I’m still your enemy!

Da Yu was almost shaking Qing Chen’s shoulders: "Brother, wake up, how can you give a taboo item to your enemy?"

Qing Chen suddenly said, "This taboo item could be used to save someone."

Da Yu was taken aback: "You mean, if someone’s hand or foot is severed, it can reconnect the limbs?"

"Not just that," Qing Chen shook his head, "One day you’ll know, but I hope we never have to use it."

Da Yu turned his head away, feeling deeply conflicted—he’d just cleared off old debts, only to incur a new one. How long would he have to work to pay this off?!

"I don’t want it," Da Yu said.

Yang Yang and Zard looked at the two, one daring to give away a precious taboo item and the other outright refusing it!

This time, Qing Chen said, "This is meant to save Zard; once someone targets him or if he’s glazed by a fire ability user, this can help him recover within an hour instead of after 14 days. You’re a high-level expert, so you should understand just how important reducing recovery time from 14 days to 1 hour is for Zard. You carry a Space Ring and can rescue him anytime. If he dies, Xiao Yu would be sad."

If Qing Chen carries this thing, it would be very cumbersome, but Da Yu has a Space Ring, making it easy to carry.

Moreover, though Da Yu constantly roasts Zard, if there’s anyone in the world who would spare no effort to save that lunatic, it would definitely be Da Yu.

Qing Chen continued, "You’ve been with him longer than anyone else. Only if you have this taboo item will Zard be safe. Just say if you’re willing to save Zard."

Zard nodded: "Just say if you’re willing to save me."

Da Yu glared at him annoyingly, then, looking conflicted, accepted the Death Shroud and said to Qing Chen, "I’ll find a taboo item to repay you."

Qing Chen saw him take it, immediately smiling broadly: "No rush, no rush, repay slowly."

In the plan of this surprise attack on the Kingdom headquarters, Da Yu was one of the most crucial figures. Without this clear-headed A-Class expert leading the team, who knows what kind of trouble Zard could cause.

From now on, Qing Chen and the others will likely face more battles, and Da Yu is an indispensable high-level combat force for them.

There are only so many A-Class experts in the Outer World, so of course, every potential ally needs to be recruited.

At this moment, Yangyang curiously asked, "According to your plan, you already dealt a heavy blow to the Kingdom and the Future. In the short term, they will definitely focus on recovery. So, do you still need to continue completing the life-and-death test with injuries? You can totally rest for a while and wait until your wounds are fully healed."

Qing Chen shook his head, "No, we don’t have that much time. In the Inner World... we’re still being hunted by a demigod, we have to find every way to strengthen ourselves. Besides, I have been recovering for three days already, much stronger than ordinary people now. I am a Knight, and Knights always recover faster than others."

The crisis in the Outer World is resolved, but not in the Inner World.

However, Qing Chen has no plans to follow the conventional route and wait another month to climb the mountain.

He wants to take a different path.

At this very moment, a transparent dragonfly was constantly hovering in the sky at an altitude of 400 meters, lightly flapping its wings, silently monitoring below.

Strangely, even though it was watching Qing Chen, it would not be detected by an A-Class expert’s sixth sense.

...

...

In the early morning, Mount Everest Base Camp was already bustling with activity, and Qing Chen emerged quietly from his tent with a climbing bag, heading silently towards the gathering crowd.

At the entrance to Mount Everest, hundreds of Sherpas had already gathered, with countless oxygen tanks placed on the ground.

The largest expedition company at the Mount Everest Base Camp, ’TINY’, in its capacity as the Alliance Hierarch, collected funds from all expedition companies and paid for this year’s Sherpa climbing team’s expenses.

The white Alliance Hierarch solemnly handed over cash to ’Ming Ma Tenzing Sherpa’, the most respected among the Sherpas.

Many Sherpas have uniquely characteristic names, with each day of the week being a different name. For example, Ming Ma is Tuesday, Phurba is Thursday, and Nima is Sunday.

Thus, there would be many Nimas in a group...

Ming Ma Sherpa smiled honestly as he accepted the US dollars, then said, "We will set up the road for you within three days and won’t delay your ascent of the Hillary Step. The oxygen tanks will all be in place."

Here, as long as you have money, you can do anything, even have the Sherpas carry you to the summit of Mount Everest.

Next, everyone was waiting for the Sherpas to set up safety ropes and aluminum ladders for all climbers without any safety measures.

A total of 23 aluminum ladders are needed across the Mount Everest ice crevasses to create a path to the summit.

Throughout the years, most of the casualties on Mount Everest weren’t climbers, but Sherpas.

For example, in 2014, an avalanche here killed 14 Sherpas.

And in the 2016 Nepal earthquake, 18 people were killed on Mount Everest, including 13 Sherpas; they are in the greatest danger.

Meanwhile, the Sherpas also need to carry oxygen tanks to the three designated points on the mountain, so the climbers don’t need to carry tanks themselves.

When reaching an altitude of 7,000 meters, everyone’s thinking gradually stalls, and they become like walking corpses, mechanically completing their final obsessions.

Most can’t even sleep without oxygen.

The Sherpa team was about to start off, when Xiao Zhang Tour Guide’s hired Nima Sherpa found Ming Ma Sherpa, whispering and pointing towards Qing Chen.

They were saying things like, "This guy wants to experience setting up safety ropes with us," "He offered too much," "Rest assured, nothing will happen, I’ll watch him," "My son is getting married; I need the money."

The main point is, Qing Chen offered too much...

Ming Ma looked troubled as he glanced at Qing Chen, then walked over and asked in English, "Have you ever had mountaineering experience at an altitude of 8,000 meters, like visiting K2 or similar places?"

Qing Chen smiled and shook his head, then took out two 1,000-gram gold bars from his backpack, placing them in Ming Ma’s hand.

The equivalent exchange for one is 420,000 RMB, so two make 840,000.

It was only then that Ming Ma had a clear understanding of the phrase "he offered too much..."

Ming Ma, who was responsible for the entire climbing operation, contemplated for a few seconds before saying, "Welcome to join us."

This Ming Ma has been on Mount Everest for more than 20 years and has a nickname among Chinese people: "Ming Ma Price Tag."

...

...

The Sherpas’ team set off, the climbers watching them enter the ice mountains as if sending heroes off to battle.

It was a bit strange, though, that among the Sherpas’ team, there was a young climber mixed in.

The sound of cracking came from the mountains, and Qing Chen asked Nima, "What’s that sound?"

Nima looked troubled and said, "You really haven’t been at these altitudes, that sound is ice cracking, don’t panic, Ming Ma and the others will observe and only let us through when it’s safe. Never shout loudly in the mountains, or you might trigger an avalanche."

Qing Chen chuckled, "If there’s something to watch out for on the road, let me know."

Nima sighed, hoping the patron wouldn’t die on Mount Everest: "Let me take your climbing bag, or your money will burn a hole in my hand..."

...

Previously, I slept five to six hours a day. From yesterday to today, I’ve had intermittent sleep for 16 hours and feel like I’m gradually coming back to life... There will be another Chapter before 11 PM.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.