Chapter 375: Next Door

Dang!

It was a resonant, muffled bell toll, coming from far away, vast and grand. The tone was deep, lingering for a long time without dissipating, and its source was unknowable.

Laoba looked up toward the distance, curiously setting down the building blocks he had been piecing together. Although the blocks were regular shapes, the pattern Lin Ling had assembled was always chaotic and without rules; it was neither seamless nor traceable, and quite unexpected, yet such a pattern always gave one an indescribable sense of harmony.

Creak! Bang!

A heavy door-closing sound came from the room next door. The metal door slammed against the frame with a loud noise, and the vibration traveled from next door into his room, causing his own door to rattle with a "clanging" sound.

Every time he heard this sound, Laoba felt the door had become more fragile, so he flew up in a kick, slamming it hard against the door panel, then landed calmly on the ground. Feeling his foot go numb, he muttered to himself, "Looks like my foot is the more fragile one."

This kicking sound was an alarm clock, a school bell. Immediately after, from the room next door where the door-closing sound had just come from, an old man's gloomy voice called out to him: "Laoba, Laoba, this is Laowang, please respond if you receive this."

It had taken Laoba eight months to tame Laowang next door; as long as he flew up and kicked the door, making a muffled thud, the other party would respond exactly like this.

"Alright Laowang, what important secrets have you collected today?" Laoba could still hear the bell outside tolling with a rhythmic, muffled thud, shaking his entire room until it swayed. He was the only one who could steady the trembling world; this was his innate talent.

"Good stuff, Laoba, don't even mention it. Today I really did dig up some important intelligence in the enemy's Tushuguan," Laowang said in a gloomy, excited, and hoarse tone. "Damn it, I discovered they are actually conducting secret research, and this research is quite formidable; they have already developed a civilization we usually don't notice."

"Holy crap, that sounds amazing." Laoba picked up a mirror with one hand, looking at his own reflection in the mirror, which was shaking like water in turmoil. He revealed a shocked expression, his eyes wide, and his mouth clearly formed the pronunciation of every word, allowing anyone watching to read what he was saying even without him making a sound. "What kind of thing is that?"

"They are researching magic..." Laowang laughed insidiously. "Researching the potential energy of the human body and learning to utilize it!"

"What else, what else!?" The person in the mirror looked impatient, his brows and eyes filled with anxiety.

"And there's more..." Laowang continued. "I heard that this magic research has been going on since ancient times. People who possess this strange energy in their bodies and know how to use it to do things call themselves mages. The confidential document I read recorded a strange person among the mage community named Harry Potter."

"How strange?"

"They say he was hit by a curse that would kill a person on the spot, and then guess what? He actually didn't die!"

"Holy crap, then Voldemort must have been scared to death by that four-eyed kid."

"You bet," Laowang said as if it were true. "He was so anxious he was jumping up and down, always calling people to go kill that four-eyed kid, but it didn't work, and in the end, he even lost his own life."

"This secret is too awesome. Even I feel the severity of this matter is huge. If you report this to your superiors, hiss... wouldn't you be promoted three ranks in a row, Laowang!?"

Laowang's smug laughter came from next door. He said very modestly, "Eh, small matter. Compared to the intelligence I discovered about Doraemon last time, it's still quite inferior. The main thing is that the enemy dispatched too many White Ghosts this time, and there were even Green Spotted Zebras helping out. I didn't outrun them, otherwise, I would have definitely looked at a few more confidential documents in their database."

"That's right, that Doraemon is incredible. Harry Potter must have asked it for help too, right?" Laoba seemed to recall something and spoke with feeling.

"Yes, one time, in order to go underwater to save Shizuka, Doraemon helped him, otherwise he would have drowned in the Triwizard Cup," Laowang said with a sigh.

"That cup is really big," Laoba said with emotion upon hearing this.

"Yeah, it can even raise fish."

"Can it raise that black flatfish?" Laoba asked curiously.

Laowang responded, "That fish you're talking about? Ho ho, not only can it, it can even raise a Godzilla."

"How come, are there nuclear power plants there too?" Laoba looked interested, his eyes fixed on the mirror as if he were talking to it.

"Nuclear power plants?" Laowang smacked his lips and said, "Do you still remember that fat guy from back then? Yes, the one who was one of the children born to the blue-bottomed one. I remember he was the eldest, right?"

"Why do I remember the thin guy being the eldest in the family?" Laoba clearly knew as well, and he nodded. "Your memory is bad, you must have mixed it up. I even held the guy; their whole family is super enthusiastic."

"Ah, that's not right, how could it be the thin guy?" Laowang was very surprised.

"The legitimate eldest son inherits the family business; the thin guy is the only one left in their family," Laoba explained.

"Seems like it." Laowang let out a confused groan. "Then the youngest in their family is that little boy, right? I can't be wrong about this, the one who ran away from home first."

"Yes, he's shining and thriving overseas," Laoba said with a smile, then sighed. "It's just that things like being a celebrity are a young person's game; it flashes and then vanishes."

"Sigh, their family is enthusiastic, but they are also quite rebellious. Of course, it's understandable; no adult likes their own child getting too close to a priest, right?" Laowang let out a long sigh.

Knock, knock, knock...

Just as the two wanted to continue their deep conversation, Laoba heard someone knocking on the door. He frowned and shouted, "Damn it, not sleeping in the middle of the night, do you have any civic virtue? What are you knocking for!"

Hearing this, Laowang next door said seriously, "Laoba, don't open the door. Those White Ghosts and Green Spotted Zebras have no manners. I asked them for my room key before, and they asked why. I told them, why should you hold my room key? Of course, I should keep it myself, right?"

But damn it, this bunch of things actually wouldn't give it to me!

This group of sub-landlords has no professional ethics. I'm the one renting this house, and they actually won't give me the key."

"Eh, don't say that, they provide meals at least," Laoba consoled him, then laughed. "But it is indeed quite excessive. But don't worry, I've already told Aw upstairs about this matter. He said he absolutely must teach them a lesson for us. You know, although Aw has many bad habits, he is loyal."

"That's for sure, he's always the one standing up for me," Laowang agreed. "Oh, by the way, why haven't I run into him lately?"

Laoba said while pushing his bed against the door, "He went to play escape room; he said he wanted to temper his temperament. He should be in the dirt right now thinking about how to get out."

"His temperament really does need some polishing," Laowang realized.

Bang, bang, bang!

The knocking became heavier, and at the same time, an angry roar came from outside the house: "Number Eight, since you know it's the middle of the night, why aren't you sleeping!? Laowang next door hasn't been able to sleep for days because of you, and now he's hospitalized with a heart attack!

What are you doing, changing your voice and talking to yourself all by yourself!?"