Chapter 209: Bartender: It's All the Dome's Fault

The bartender can only guess that something happened to Yang Yixie's family; otherwise Yang Yixie could not have become the way he is now, still bearing the new identity of "Ying Duo" while carrying out an undercover mission in Tianmian City.

"Is that so?" Ying Duo let out an incomprehensible retort.

Got it, the player isn't an orphan after all; he not only has an impressive dad, but also a beautiful mom, and a brother who's missing without a trace.

Huh, the player's dad is also connected to the Research Department? From the intel he's gathered so far, anything related to research in this game probably involves human experiments.

Come to think of it, the player's initial awakening of Aberrant Arts seemed odd; whose family awakens Aberrant Arts by injecting a drug?

No way, Yang Yixie is about to start spouting conspiracy theories.

Could it be that Ying Duo's dad did some human experiment on the player?

The bartender was also thrown off by that sentence and didn't know whether to keep talking; the problem is he doesn't know much—when he left Tianmian City, Yang Yixie was still just a little tail that only followed his brother.

He looked at Ying Duo; the boy's face, once bearing an obedient smile, was now cold as ice. He simply stared quietly, as if what he said had nothing to do with him.

Ying Duo set down the completely emptied glass, and the bottom of the glass gave a crisp clink against the bar counter.

He looked at the bartender, his golden pupils seeming a bit unsettling under the dim blue light.

Ying Duo's voice was flat, revealing no emotion, "My parents… they......"

"Sorry."

The bartender suddenly spoke up, cutting him off, and poured the remaining half‑glass of green liquor into the sink beside him.

He turned on the faucet, took the glass in front of Ying Duo, and began rinsing it.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up."

Ying Duo: "........?"

He tilted his head slightly, his face still expressionless.

Yang Yixie was only trying to keep the conversation going, hoping to trigger more quest clues, and the NPC just ended the dialogue outright?

The bartender said nothing more, merely began wiping the glass with a cloth, his knuckles turning slightly pale.

Through the glass's hazy reflection, he could see the boy's obedient silhouette seated on the high stool—silent, calm, yet exuding a cold sense of distance.

He should have realized long ago that this child was no longer the little tag‑along he knew.

The boy's icy, emotion‑less demeanor made him keenly aware of that fact.

It's all the Dome's fault.

The bartender spat a bitter curse in his mind, sending the kid to that cursed Mutation Department and then assigning him to Tianmian City's very own dragon‑pit as an undercover...

Look at it—what a fine child has been ground down into now?

He said no more, flipped the rinsed glass onto the drying rack, producing a faint clatter.

Ying Duo sat on the chair for a while longer, and after confirming no new dialogue box popped up above the bartender's head, he gave up.

So why did the story suddenly cut off? Did this NPC think he didn't want to listen?

Yang Yixie watched the bartender's silent, busy silhouette on the screen, and for a moment couldn't decide whether to try raising the topic again.

Forget it, let's leave it at that.

He commanded Ying Duo to step down from the high stool; since no more information could be dug up, staying here would just waste time.

Bai Mu Yun and that whatever Raven, they really weren't buried by him, were they?

Everything that Yang Yixie arranged is now causing some doubt.

Ying Duo walked toward the TV in the corner; the bartender assumed he was bored and wanted to watch some TV, and didn't intervene.

Although Source Crystals are a bit pricey in the Slum, the Dome employs child labor, letting kids have a look—what's the problem?

The bar's somewhat shabby door was pushed open from outside, letting in a wind laced with dust.

Two silhouettes entered, one after the other.

Leading the way, Bai Mu Yun's steps were swift, seemingly deliberately keeping distance from the person behind; his black coat had already vanished, the rest of him was simply tidied up.

Behind him, Lu Mu was even more disheveled, hair in a mess; although he had brushed off most of the dust, a lot remained, and his once tidy suit now resembled rags, no wonder Bai Mu Yun despised him.

As soon as they entered, Lu Mu couldn't help shouting loudly.

"Give me a Bloody Mary first!"

Damn, what kind of monsters and demons are in this mission!

Bai Mu Yun gave him a disdainful glance, and the next second his gaze locked onto Ying Duo, who was in the corner, apparently about to tamper with the TV.

Lu Mu's hand rose instinctively, as if to send a few Ravens to swoop onto Ying Duo's face and tear it apart.

Ying Duo halted his steps toward the TV, his golden eyes calmly looking back.

He seemed completely unaware of any wrongdoing he'd committed.

"You kid!"

Lu Mu, looking at the suddenly appearing Ying Duo, felt it necessary to settle both old and new grudges with him.

"What? Do you really think you're someone from Mitra?"

He swung his arm, and several Ravens with blood‑red eyes burst from the wings at his waist, lunging at Ying Duo's face; from their stance, they truly intended to leave a harsh lesson.

Ying Duo stood still, unmoving.

His inorganic golden pupils reflected the swiftly approaching black raven shadows, calm to the point of indifference.

"Stop causing trouble here."

Bai Mu Yun's silhouette, ghost‑like, blocked Ying Duo from the raven flock; he raised a hand, and black mist billowed from his palm.

The Ravens "puff" into the black mist, never emerging on the other side, vanishing without a trace.

"Lu Mu," Bai Mu Yun said softly but imperiously, "clean yourself up first; you look like a homeless man just crawled out of a trash heap, and you're giving me a headache."

Lu Mu paused, looked down at his dust‑covered, rag‑like clothes, brushed a handful of ash across his face, and his spirit instantly stalled, his complexion turning a mix of pallor and blue.

Yet he truly didn't dare defy Bai Mu Yun, especially while Bai Mu Yun was in a terrible mood.

So he could only ask the bartender for clean clothes and go find a place to wash them.

After sending away the noisy companion, Bai Mu Yun finally turned his full attention back to Ying Duo.

He did not immediately call him to account; although he had simply cleaned up, that could not stop his impulse to go change clothes at once.

He turned his head to look at Ying Duo; the youth still showed no expression, as if the person who had just almost been attacked was not himself.

"I'll give you some time to choose your words; you had better give me a satisfactory answer."

Bai Mu Yun spoke, his golden horizontal pupils flashing with a cold light.

"Otherwise I will report directly to the superiors; by then, both you and your brother's fate will need no further explanation from me."