Blind Spot

Li Chengyi's eyes carried a hint of hope, tinged with fervor.

He swiftly let go of the flowers in his hand, reaching for another cluster.

With each grasp and change, streaks of coolness continuously flowed into the back of his hand.

And the collection progress for the Floral Dress was rapidly increasing.

Starting from 5%, it quickly rose to 28%.

But after reaching 28%, all the Wisteria Flowers here had been absorbed.

'Are they gone?!' He looked around, but could no longer find any other Wisteria.

The Wisteria Flowers here, with at least hundreds of blossoms, still weren't enough to fill the collection progress of the Floral Dress.

This made Li Chengyi somewhat regret not having chosen the wild chrysanthemums he saw earlier.

After all, wild chrysanthemum bushes were everywhere; perhaps they could have completed the collection progress and activated this mysterious armor.

But by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

Once certain that there were no more Wisteria Flowers around, Li Chengyi ran swiftly toward his home.

He needed to bring along the various food and tools he had purchased earlier.

In a mad dash, he made it home in just three minutes, grabbed the packed plastic bags.

Picking up the bags, he didn't say a word, just closed the door and dashed out again. While there was still time, he planned to check the neighborhood opposite, maybe there were Wisteria Flowers there!

Not using the elevator, Li Chengyi, holding the bags, ran down the stairs and dashed out of the building, sprinting along the driveway of the residential complex.

After leaving the residential area, he suddenly paused, as if remembering something, and quickly looked around.

'There must be lots of flowers in the small park!' His mind instantly reacted.

The small park where his former self often exercised had many plants and trees; there definitely would be more Wisteria.

The streets at night were quiet. Outside the community, vehicles passed back and forth, like iron boxes without occupants, their dark glass windows preventing any view of the interiors.

These cars gave off a cold, lifeless impression.

On the long, grayish-white sidewalk next to the roadway, Li Chengyi, in his gray and white sports outfit, held a large plastic bag while sweating profusely as he rushed toward the small park.

The sidewalk was lined with straight, tall evergreen trees, their green canopies pruned into standard ovals, whispering softly in the wind.

Li Chengyi kept passing one evergreen tree after another, one 'r'-shaped street lamp after another.

The cold white light of the lamps cast long slender shadows of his figure.

Thud thud thud thud....

The rhythmic sound of his sneakers hitting the pavement echoed.

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

The sidewalk turned right and passed a slightly rusty white metal signpost, the entrance to the small park.

Li Chengyi felt hot all over, sweat streaming down from his temples, dripping continuously.

He breathed heavily, suddenly turning the corner.

Screech!

Abruptly, the sound of his shoe soles scraping the ground rang out.

He stopped abruptly, standing there, peering into the park.

At nighttime, solar lamps throughout the small park lit up one by one, their dim halos floating like bubbles in the dark forest, dreamy and beautiful.

'Let me think... I was here during the day; I should have seen them.'

Li Chengyi tried to calm his thoughts, recalling the earlier scene.

The small park was egg-shaped, with little flowers planted along the outer track.

Flowers, which faded quickly and were replaced often, couldn't catch the attention of his former self during his exercises.

'They should be... at the back, near the rock shelves on the right!'

Wisteria, since they don't grow on the ground, were easy to identify.

After pinpointing the location, Li Chengyi rushed into the park and sprinted along the dark red plastic track.

He hadn't run 200 meters when a clear purple hue next to a solar lamp post came into his view.

'Found them!!' Excited, he sped up, charging forward with full force.

His right hand quickly reached out for the drooping Wisteria Flowers in mid-air.

Plunk.

A cool, soft sensation transmitted to his hand.

'Collection progress increased to 31%.'

'Collection progress increased to 32%.'

'Collection progress increased to 34%.'

A series of prompt messages rang out in his mind.

After many prompts, the progress had reached 43%.

Seeing that this cluster of flowers was used up, Li Chengyi swiftly switched to another and continued listening to the incessant prompts.

The Wisteria Flowers near the street lamp had more than ten clusters, densely packed, looking like numerous purple grape bunches.

In terms of quantity, they were much more concentrated than the wild chrysanthemums on the ground. This made Li Chengyi increasingly confident in his previous choice.

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

After all, the chrysanthemums were too scattered.

Whereas with the Wisteria Flowers, he had already absorbed hundreds of them.

Under the dim light of the street lamps, Li Chengyi continually reached for different clusters of flowers.

From afar, if anyone saw him at this moment, his focused and tense expression, they might think he was mentally disturbed.

But only he knew, all this was for one purpose.

To survive!

The collection progress was rapidly increasing.

Seeing it break through 70%, Li Chengyi suddenly stopped. He had plucked his way through all the Wisteria Flowers here.

'Not enough?'

He looked around, noticing that there were more near the edge of the rock shelf a little farther away.

Immediately, he set off toward them.

Quickly, he crossed the ten-meter distance, grabbing the new Wisteria Flowers.

Watching the collection progress increase again, the tension in his heart relaxed slightly.

'Faster...!'

'Even faster!'

78%.

82%.

86%.

91%.

94%.

Just a few points shy of completion.

Li Chengyi's eyes widened, with faint streaks of red on the whites of his eyes.

One hand hugged the plastic bag filled with items, while the other continuously switched Wisteria Flowers to grasp.

At this moment, he faintly felt a sense of weariness slowly rising within him.

'Is it coming now?!'

His emotions grew more anxious.

'Hurry!'

'Faster!!'

96%.

97%.

98%!

The final two percent!

Li Chengyi trembled all over, nerves stretched to the breaking point.

It was like he was racing against life itself, tugging war with time.

Very quickly.

99%!!!

The last percent!!

On the back of his right hand, one of the cells on the purple-black ring had started to show a faint purple glow.

Within the purple light, countless interwoven wisteria flowers appeared, creating a magnificent floral pattern.

In the cell, densely packed wisteria flowers formed an elliptical vortex with pitch-black at the center, where a pinpoint of pure white shimmered slightly.

Li Chengyi didn't dare blink, staring fixedly at the wisteria flowers before him.

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

Finally.

100%!

'Collection complete.'

Ding.

In an instant, a clear bell chime resounded near his ears.

Everything in front of Li Chengyi's eyes turned pitch-black.

In the darkness, a luxurious armor in purple and black, with shoulder guards sharp like knife points protruding outwards, slowly emerged from the mist, approaching from afar.

The armor provided perfect protection for every part of the body, leaving only a pair of eyes visible.

Overall, it resembled a purely decorative ceremonial armor; the entire suit was composed of palm-sized petal-shaped plates.

Each plate was carved with numerous wisteria patterns, the edges fine and sharply serrated, giving it a lethal appearance.

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

The helmet covered the mouth, nose, and ears, only exposing the gap for the eyes, delicate and beautiful.

Is this the Floral Dress?!

Just by looking at the armor before him, Li Chengyi inexplicably felt the urge to put it on.

But he resisted; this place was no blind spot, and even in the small park, there were still many hidden cameras.

As he refused to put the armor on, the surrounding darkness faded, and the scenery of the small park quickly restored.

'Luckily, I made it in time…'

Standing still, he sighed in relief.

The fatigue from before had vanished.

'It seems that the sleepiness earlier was likely a natural reaction to overexertion, not a forewarning of the blind spot.'

Li Chengyi felt much more relaxed.

He stretched out his hand and caressed the back of his right hand; even without a phone, he could clearly see the purple-black ring there.

It seemed that for the first time filling it with flowers had caused this mysterious Evil Flower to undergo a different transformation.

Looking up at the remaining wisteria flowers around him, Li Chengyi reached out and touched them again.

But this time there was no response.

No cool breeze flowed into the back of his hand.

A hint of understanding rose inexplicably in his heart.

'Do I need to switch to other types of wisteria? Has this specific kind reached its limit?'

He helplessly dropped his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Since it was no longer useful, he needed to go back and rest, then think about what preparations he might have missed.

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

"Hm!??"

Suddenly, Li Chengyi's expression froze, and the right leg he had just lifted touched back down to the ground.

He stared blankly at the scene before him, an inexplicable chill rising in his heart.

Before him was not the plastic track he expected of the small park.

It was an open space, a white-lighted underground parking lot stretching endlessly to the far end!

An underground parking lot?!?!

No!

Not any underground parking lot!

It was the blind spot!

At that moment, as if realizing something, his body tensed, his gaze followed the wall on the right, and quickly found a service room door.

That door.

It was open!!

Just like the last time he saw in the premonition, the service room door was ajar, and then....

As these thoughts passed, Li Chengyi seemed to sense something.

He was drenched in sweat, suddenly spun around!

A black and white figure came into view!

The two-meter-tall colossal human face was right behind him!

Mere inches away!

The human face appeared expressionless, mutely opening its mouth.

Boom!!!

A piercing scream erupted from the gaping mouth, exploding, creating a shockwave that enveloped a fan-shaped area.

Thick black smoke billowed out from the colossal face at the same time, swiftly engulfing Li Chengyi and a ten-meter radius of the parking lot behind him in darkness.

The smoke roiled; fierce winds surged.

The massive sound continuously echoed in the underground parking lot, creating reverberations.

The ground shook, light fixtures swayed, and fine dust particles fell from the ceiling, blown askew by the wind.

After a good three to four seconds, the black smoke was slowly blown away, turning into streams and strands, spreading deep into the parking lot, thinning out, vanishing.

From within the smoke, a figure in purple slowly emerged, kneeling on one knee.

The invisible scent of wisteria was intoxicating, spreading with the smoke and the raging winds.

Click.

The figure in purple stood up, revealing the purple-black Metal Full-body Armor it wore.

The armor was engraved with tiny, delicate wisteria patterns.

Countless translucent wisteria petals, like a sandstorm, circled and danced around him, dreamlike and fantastic.

"I won't die...."

"Absolutely!!"

Li Chengyi suddenly lifted his head, his eyes under the helmet bloodshot.

In an instant, he stepped forward.

Raised his hand.

He reached straight forward, straining with all his might to extend his hand.

"I'll tear you apart!!!"

Pfft!

His hands plunged fiercely into the human face as if piercing a balloon, penetrating effortlessly.

With a muffled rip, the entire gargantuan face was torn in two.

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