Warlock Apprentice
Chapter 2916 - 2917: Swamp Track

After activating "Imaginative Physique," Laplace could completely ignore the shift in center of gravity brought by the big tail.

Without any hesitation, Laplace gathered strength in her legs and quickly rushed up the cable car high ground, remembering to press the button on the timer.

Tick-tock, tick-tock—

The thirty-second countdown, marked by the ticking of the clock’s hands, echoed in Laplace’s ears as a warning.

The ticking in her ears didn’t affect Laplace. She jumped onto the cable car, her body leaning forward, and with a powerful push from her two fluffy, slender long legs, she shot forward like an arrow.

The speed at which her legs exchanged positions was so fast that it almost left afterimages.

In Angel’s view, it was only a brief second before she dashed into the mist.

Laplace moved as if leaping between clouds, her body extremely light and fluid. At least from the upper half of her body, it was completely unnoticeable that she was sprinting.

Five seconds.

When Laplace made a graceful leap and landed on the peak of another summit, only five seconds had passed.

A full twenty-five seconds of spare time! This shows how exaggerated the enhancement Laplace received from activating "Imaginative Physique" is.

After Laplace landed, a burst of cheers erupted from outside the mist.

Undoubtedly, these must be the cheers of the audience.

However, their cheers didn’t seem very loud. Angel mused to himself, was it because Laplace ran too fast and they couldn’t react in time?

"Oh, look at our Silver Fox challenger, completing it so cleanly and neatly. Her posture swift and agile, truly like a silver flash that strikes the heart," the host’s voice followed.

Yet, after his words fell, the applause wasn’t very abundant, with just a smattering of claps.

Perhaps seeing the atmosphere cooling, the host began to change the topic, starting to tell various absurd and humorous anecdotes to try to warm up the atmosphere.

And during the host’s monologue, Laplace seemed to be utterly forgotten.

Angel was also somewhat puzzled by the current situation, wondering if the protagonist shouldn’t be the "Silver Fox Challenger"? How come she now appeared to be on the sidelines?

Was it because the audience’s reaction wasn’t enthusiastic? So the attention had to be diverted?

But Laplace had completed the challenge beautifully and neatly, why wasn’t the audience’s response enthusiastic?

While Angel was puzzled, Laplace suddenly spoke: "11%."

Angel: "What?"

Laplace softly explained: "After completing the first track, I received a prompt that said the exploration degree became 11%."

11%? Angel frowned: "If one track gives one exploration degree, and each track has the same exploration degree, this exploration degree doesn’t seem very high."

Five tracks amount to a total of 100% exploration degree, allocating to each track a full exploration degree of 20%. An exploration degree of 11% is indeed not very high.

However, this is just Angel’s guess. It is also possible that the exploration degree of the tracks is not equally divided.

But even if it’s not equally divided, 11% should not be the highest score for this track.

Considering the lukewarm audience reaction, could it also be because the exploration degree Laplace achieved wasn’t high?

But this track was clearly perfectly completed by Laplace, with a spare time of twenty-five seconds, so why was the exploration degree low?

This instance’s exploration degree, besides completing the track, what else is it related to?

Angel voiced his thoughts, and after a moment’s silence, Laplace softly said, "...perhaps the exploration degree is linked to the second suggestion on the placard."

Placard? Second suggestion? Angel’s focus had previously been on Laplace, not noticing the placard. Now hearing Laplace mention it, he couldn’t help but shift his gaze back to the initial peak.

Angel immediately saw the second suggestion on the placard:

"Completing the challenge is undoubtedly important, but remember, remember, as a performer, the most important thing is to bring joy to the audience."

Reading the suggestion, Angel’s expression turned complicated.

Laplace’s guess might be true; the exploration degree is not only related to completing the track but also to the audience’s feedback.

In other words, to get a high exploration degree, one not only needs to complete the track but also to "perform" while doing so. Whatever the "performance" is, as long as it brings joy to the audience, the exploration degree will increase.

Previously, the audience’s response was clearly lukewarm, probably because Laplace didn’t deliver a spectacular "performance," leading to the average reaction.

The only consolation is that there weren’t any boos.

Angel: "So for the next track..." will you perform?

Laplace: "No. I came to this Special Dreamland just to take away the Temporal Body, not for the exploration degree."

Angel: ...You speak so righteously, almost got me believing it, weren’t you the one who specifically brought Glaipnir’s people along for the exploration degree before?

Angel internally retorted but outwardly couldn’t say so; instead, he went along with Laplace’s words, "Indeed, either full exploration degree or just skim through. Now it seems full exploration degree isn’t quite possible; focusing on completing the track is main, performing isn’t necessary."

Laplace secretly nodded, acknowledging that Angel’s excuse wasn’t bad.

After they planned their future actions, the host, who had been establishing the atmosphere for five minutes, finally brought the topic back to Laplace.

"The time now returns to our Silver Fox challenger. We believe she will bring a more spectacular performance on the second track!"

Perhaps due to the host’s warming up, the audience’s enthusiasm for Laplace was rekindled, and right after the host finished speaking, loud responses followed.

Seeing the enthusiastic reaction from the audience, Angel quietly glanced at Laplace, silently sighing to himself, letting Laplace satisfy the audience’s visual desires? Better forget it.

"Silver Fox challenger, are you feeling the audience’s enthusiasm? You’ll certainly bring more spectacular performances, right?"

The host’s voice reached Laplace’s ears.

Laplace didn’t bother to reply.

The host didn’t say much more, simply snapping his fingers, and once again, the surroundings dimmed. The mountains, fog, cable cars—all disappeared, leaving only the five spotlights still shining on Laplace.

The darkness didn’t last long; about five seconds later, the surroundings lit up again.

The brightness was about the same as before, still the visibility of an overcast day.

However, one of the previous five spotlights was now missing, leaving only four.

Laplace didn’t mind; perhaps the five spotlights corresponded to five tracks, and she guessed that each track would extinguish a spotlight.

The details were well done, but no matter how good the details were, they were insignificant compared to clearing this level.

Laplace was most concerned about what the second track would be.

She looked around at the environment, frowning slightly. She had moved from the misty mountain peak to a stinking dense forest swamp.

She was still standing on solid ground, but not far ahead lay the bubbling swamp, with familiar signposts and a timer at its edge.

Behind her was a red curtain, obscuring what lay beyond.

She wanted to step back, but as she retreated, her costume became heavier, finally making Laplace feel as if a mountain weighed upon her.

Clearly, the Sunshine Circus didn’t want her to retreat, or rather, the rules of this Special Dreamland didn’t allow or permit her to retreat.

Recognizing this, Laplace didn’t stubbornly challenge the rules and instead walked to the signpost to read the text upon it.

The content of the signpost was similar to the last one, introducing the track conditions.

According to the signpost, this track was called the Swamp Track.

There was no time limit written, and the manner of crossing the swamp was unrestricted. However, there was a skateboard and pole at the swamp’s edge, presumably prepared for the challengers.

Coincidentally, the host also began introducing this track, mentioning these tools: "We’ve prepared tools for the challengers to cross the swamp, but the element of surprise is key to victory... Will the Silver Fox Challenger choose them?"

From the host’s words, using these tools seemed conventional and likely wouldn’t lead to high exploration. To achieve high exploration, one would need to cross the swamp with ingenuity, or perform impressively to win the audience’s applause.

Laplace didn’t intend to achieve high exploration in this Special Dreamland, so she decided on the skateboard and the pole.

However, Laplace still had doubts. Was there really no time limit for this track? Without a time limit, might the finish line be hidden, requiring her to search for it?

What was behind the red curtain? Or was it merely a backdrop?

And was this track another glass diorama? If so, how did she arrive here?

Laplace didn’t know the answers, but Angel did.

Angel didn’t keep secrets, he revealed everything from his perspective.

Angel first addressed the location issue. This was indeed a glass diorama, but Laplace hadn’t been moved to another diorama; the current dense forest swamp was a new scene transmuted from the previous mountain cableway within the same glass case.

Angel couldn’t explain how this transmutation occurred. He only saw that one of the spotlights on Laplace had gone out, and that light then became the new glass case scene.

Angel didn’t know the principle behind it.

But he remarked that a Special Dreamland was originally just a normal dream, and trying to find logic in dreams was ludicrous.

Thus, how the transmutation happened was irrelevant, as long as Laplace hadn’t left the glass case; this was certain.

Angel then discussed the track’s endpoint.

With God’s View, Angel could clearly see that there was a finish line not far away.

The swamp area resembled a circular moat, making the entire track a circular loop, where the starting point was also the endpoint. Angel estimated the distance to be about two kilometers, still not long.

Finally, Angel mentioned the red curtain.

"Behind the red curtain lies the so-called finish line, but even if you lift the red curtain, you won’t see the endpoint as something blocks your view."

"That something is the head of a Joker."

To be precise, it was a Joker’s head, and it wasn’t the hastily painted clown makeup of the outside host but rather complete makeup... or rather, it was no longer makeup but a true Joker monster. Its swollen cheekbones, skeletal jaw, bizarre coatings, and explosive green curly hair all emphasized its separation from ordinary humans, marking it as a true horror Joker.

Though only a Joker’s head, it was enormous, about five meters high and four meters at its narrowest, capable of blocking all of Laplace’s view.

The Joker’s eyes were wide open. From Angel’s perspective, the Joker’s gaze was fixed on Laplace.

Even with the red curtain’s concealment, the Joker seemed able to see through it, staring directly at Laplace. Wherever Laplace moved, the Joker’s gaze remained unchanging.

Laplace: "You mean, the Joker has locked onto me?"

Angel: "Presumably."

Laplace let out a cold laugh, her gaze returning to the signpost.

The bottom of this sign carried a suggestion, something Laplace hadn’t understood before but now realized its meaning.

"Make sure not to slack off... The lazy will be devoured by the pursuing Joker. However, performing isn’t considered laziness; what the Joker loves most is a performance."

This track might not have a time limit, but chances are the Joker’s head will trigger along with the challengers, pushing them to complete the challenge quickly, lest they risk being preyed upon.

It’s an alternative time constraint.

Or, as Angel put it, the theme of this track was not swamp skating but a "Battle Royale."

As for performing to make the Joker overlook laziness, neither Angel nor Laplace mentioned it, as Laplace was certainly not going to perform...

Angel: "I suspect this Joker’s head is protected by the Immortal Realm’s rules, so even if you fully activate your imagined physique, you might still not counter it... therefore, your only option is to escape its hunting grounds at the fastest speed and reach the finish line."

Don’t fight; reaching the finish line means victory.

After internally repeating this phrase, Laplace didn’t hesitate, activated her imagined physique, pressed the timer button, and dashed into the swamp.

The Swamp Track officially began!

As the track started, Laplace’s speculation was confirmed; the red curtain fell directly, and the enormous Joker head let out a sinister laugh and began chasing Laplace.

The Joker’s head hovered, unthreatened by sinking into the swamp, and it was incredibly fast. Without her imagined physique’s enhancement, it would likely catch Laplace immediately.

Most importantly, the Joker’s head could accelerate, even if only briefly, each acceleration closing the distance with Laplace.

The entire track was clearly a tug-of-war.

But in the end, Laplace surprised everyone with her prowess. Her imagined physique provided comprehensive enhancements to her physical capabilities, and skating with the board and pole across the swamp was like mirror skating; mirror skating was too simple for Laplace.

Under the Joker’s regretful eyes, Laplace reached the finish line by reaching the shore.

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