Astral Apostle

Buzz—

His vision shifted, and his consciousness once again entered the starry space.

In the background, the huge LED panel floated in the galaxy.

The moment Zhou Jing entered, a waterfall of information appeared on the interface. Before he could react, he was caught off guard.

[Will·Wood's placement has ended]

[You may view the Placement benefits report (Automatically Expanded)]

[Placement Duration: 3 days (Astral Time)]

[Reward: +9 Astral Points]

[Accumulated Rewards: 9 / 2,000 Astral Points]

[Ability Growth: None]

[Trigger Achievement: [First Death (Unique)]

[Placement Rating: None]

[Will·Wood (Serial #001) is dead]

[Do you want to check the death playback?]

"What the heck, why did he die?!"

Zhou Jing was a little stunned.

That's unexpected… Let's see what happened first.

He immediately activated the death playback. An image popped up on the interface.

——

Inside a little wooden cabin.

Will·Wood was lying on the bed. His face was green and purple, evidently deeply poisoned. His eyes are closed, and he is in a severe coma. The arrow wounds on his body are already oozing pus and festering.

Beside the bed, an old man dressed in a strange attire was jumping around. His dance was strange, and he was mumbling as he jumped, as if he was holding some kind of ritual.

The old man's wrinkled face was smeared with oil paint, and there were two feathers stuck on his head. He wore a robe woven from black feathers, which made Zhou Jing involuntarily think of the witches and priests of primitive religions.

There was another familiar face watching from inside the house. It was Griff, looking worried and anxious.

After doing some dance rituals to pray to some unknown god, the old man stopped. He was sweating profusely, and his hands were clenched into fists against his forehead as if he was praying.

After about ten seconds, the old man stepped back and turned to Griff. "I've prayed for him for three consecutive days. I've done my best. The gods will try to redeem him."

"I don't believe in your God." Griff was dissatisfied. "Why didn't you give him the medicine that you gave to Captain Barong and the rest?!"

"The medicine has been used up." The old man shook his head. "He has been poisoned too deeply. The only thing I can do is to clean the wound and release the poisoned blood to treat him. The rest will depend on the will of the gods."

"How is that possible! We went into the mountains to help you pick so many medicinal herbs, how could it be used up so easily?!"

"But it is what it is. There's no time to prepare more medicine at the last minute." The old man lowered his eyes and said with a benevolent expression, "But it doesn't matter. I've already sincerely prayed so he can receive gods blessings. If he still dies, it means that his life is over. No medicine can save him either!"

Without waiting for a response, the old man picked up his walking stick and staggered out of the house.

Only Griff stayed behind to take care of him.

Day turned into night. Will·Wood ultimately didn't make it through and stopped breathing on a cold night.

Griff took the body to the village cemetery and buried it, accompanied by the silent circle of hunters.

The tombstone with the name "Will·Wood" engraved on it quietly stood over a mound of sand that covered his pale face.

[Death Replay Over]

——

The video ended, and Zhou Jing came back to his senses.

So that was how he died… He didn't survive the poison and succumbed to his injuries in the end.

Before he returned, the carrier was already half-dead. It was not surprising that it did not survive.

"I guess the astral apostles don't just suddenly recover when my consciousness leaves this realm… Before I return, I should try my best not to put the astral apostles in danger. Otherwise, they might die in the process."

Zhou Jing frowned as he thought out loud.

If he had access to the medical skills of the main world, he probably wouldn't die… However, there was no point in saying this. Although he had guessed that the medical skills of the Mutant World might be very backward, he didn't expect that they would actually use this sort of dancing ritual to treat patients.

This isn't even a problem with the medical procedures. Are you trying to scam me?

The most ridiculous thing was that such a doctor was qualified to practice medicine in the village.

How have the villagers not stabbed him to death with pitchforks?!

A quack is harmful!

Zhou Jing was furious.

However, what he was most angry about now was the group of Subterranean scum.

Becoming friends with the hunters and being able to go to Frostwood Village to gather intelligence was great, so why did it become like this…

If not for that Subterraneans sneak attack, this Astral Apostle would not have been poisoned or dead.

"Subterraneans, huh? I'll settle the debts sooner or later."

Zhou Jing made a mental note.

After sorting out his emotions, Zhou Jing looked at the interface. The death of Will·Wood had temporarily disrupted his plans. He now had to see what to do next.

At this moment, following the death playback, an interface popped up.

[Death Settlement of Will·Wood (Serial #001)]

[Total Survival Time: 9 days]

[Synchronization Rate: 32%]

[Strength: Mortal]

[Total Astral Points gained: 1,477]

[Total Information State Particles obtained: 0]

[Legendary Points: 0]

[Career evaluation: Early death]

[Evaluation Reward: None]

[Free inheritance Slot: x3 [Random], x2 [Specified]]

"There's still the death settlement? It really counts the gains from an Astral apostle's career."

Zhou Jing looked at it carefully and started thinking.

It seemed like there were a lot of calculations involved during each Astral Realm travel.

There was a small settlement every time he returned, which would calculate the gains from his astral travel.

Every time an apostle's time ended, the system would calculate the total gains of the Astral Apostle during the period of operation.

The death settlement was the total statistics of an Astral Apostle's career. It showed the results of an apostle.

"If I'm right, there will be a reward if I manage to complete any of the mission objectives."