Chapter 234: Hua Jian Lei

The hazy pink lights drifted slowly through the dim bar space, like some vague, unclear dream.

At this time the bar should be at its noisiest, yet it is unusually quiet now.

There was no loud shouting, no clinking of glasses, and only three people sat at the bar.

The man sitting in the middle had peach-blossom eyes, his pupils an eerie light pink, and he was toying with an antiquated brass pipe in his hand.

To his left was a tall man with an exaggerated orange‑red spiky head, wearing a tight black sleeveless vest, his face showing obvious impatience.

"...... So, the number of players in this game has expanded again, perhaps because too many died before, leaving a vacancy."

The silver‑haired man's voice was languid, a bit absent‑minded.

"The screening mechanism still shows no pattern; the new players include old men and women, students, office workers...... so far we've found no common trait."

"Pattern? Knowing the pattern would let them survive?"

The orange‑haired man's voice was quite impatient; even in the game world he had to listen to them discuss this issue, and back in his own world it was still the same topic.

"Those Dome lunatics grab players like they're catching chicks! The new players barely land before they figure out what's going on, and the Dome's Field Operations Department hauls them off—now they've probably even dissected their brains."

"What can we do about it?" the silver‑haired man shrugged, his pink eyes showing no ripple, merely bringing the pipe to his lips.

"What we can do is limited; the sole condition for those few talented ones who've defected to us is to rescue their kin and friends snatched by the Dome...... tch, if they weren't actually useful........"

"So? Are we supposed to kick up a fuss with the Dome over a few 'newbies' you dug up from nowhere?"

The orange‑haired man couldn't help but roll his eyes; he also couldn't understand why this guy suddenly wanted to recruit, when before it had always just been the few of them teaming up.

What's the use of more people? Not all of them are just dead weight.

"What's the rush?" the silver‑haired man lightly tapped the orange‑haired man's arm with his pipe.

"Just give them a verbal promise to keep them quiet; anyway, it's just feeding them empty hopes."

The two were chatting there when the third person, who had been unusually silent beside them, suddenly sprang up from the high stool with a "whoosh".

"Thud!"

The green‑haired head thudded solidly into the low bar's hanging decoration, emitting a dull thump.

It was Xi Ren Sheng.

He jumped up without warning, dragging the stool back half a foot with a screeching scrape.

"Holy shit?!" the orange‑haired man jumped, almost reflexively throwing a punch.

The silver‑haired man raised his hand; the weighty pipe in his grasp struck Xi Ren Sheng's forehead with a precise "smack."

"I don't expect you to give any sensible advice, but at least learn to stay quiet?"

That bit of pain was nothing to Xi Ren Sheng; even facing the silver‑haired man's lecture, he just clutched his phone and shrank back to his seat.

This abnormal silence instead left the two of them stunned for a moment.

That Xi Ren Sheng, who usually makes a fuss over the tiniest thing so everyone knows, actually stayed silent after getting hit?

The silver‑haired man set down his pipe, his pink peach‑blossom eyes narrowing slightly.

"Hey, Lu Mao," the orange‑haired man barked, "Did you see a ghost? Or win the lottery?"

Xi Ren Sheng lifted his head, his eyes shining frighteningly bright; he merely licked his dry lips, his voice trembling with excitement.

"I, my partner......"

"Your partner?"

"My partner is in this batch of new players! He's just on the Church's turf!"

"Bang bang bang bang——!!!"

Several sharp blasts exploded in the quiet bar, spraying out colorful paper scraps and glittering ribbons that drenched the silver‑haired man who had just approached, also coating the polished bar and the expensive carpet.

Xi Ren Sheng was still going crazy there, thrusting his phone straight into the silver‑haired man's face.

"Brother Hua, hurry and look! We're not short of people anymore!"

The man whose online name is Hua Jian Lei just sat there motionless, a few gold‑red sequins hanging from his silver hair tips reflecting light.

He could feel the veins at his temples throbbing happily.

"Hiss——"

The orange‑haired man instinctively leaned back, distancing himself from the two, wisely choosing to keep his mouth shut.

Xi Ren Sheng seemed not yet to realize what he had just done, staring innocently at the ribbons on Hua Jian Lei's hair and shoulders as he blinked.

Such a big happy event definitely calls for a celebration.

Just setting off a few firecrackers feels like a grievance to him.

Hua Jian Lei simply smoothed his silver hair, trying to shake off the sequins; finding they wouldn't come loose, a few specks of white flame directly burned them all away.

"So, he's awakened an Aberrant Art?"

"That's a given—his partner must have awakened an incredibly powerful Aberrant Art!"

Hua Jian Lei merely spread his hands silently, his intent clear; his pink pupils practically read, "More nonsense and you'll end up like these ribbons."

Xi Ren Sheng grudgingly pursed his lips and passed over the phone, his grip heating it.

"Here, have a look—it's all right here......" Xi Ren Sheng muttered softly, his body unconsciously shifting closer to Hua Jian Lei to view the phone's contents together.

Hua Jian Lei took the phone, his light‑pink eyes swiftly scanning the short chat log on the screen.

Hua Jian Lei's fingertip hovered for half a second over the words "Aberrant Species" and "report to the police."

When a new player encounters a threat beyond reason, his first reaction is to ask "How much does the official know?", then he chooses to "report to the police".........

This doesn't much resemble his usual behavior.

The authorities could indeed offer a more proper arrangement, but for some people a "proper arrangement" only turns into a constraint.

And we few gathered precisely because we despise such constraints.

Hua Jian Lei's gaze swept over Xi Ren Sheng's over‑excited Lu Mao head, then returned to the phone screen.

"His understanding of 'Aberrant Species' comes entirely from your description—that is, in those days in the game he never actually saw an Aberrant Species."

The theatrical life is just a blink.

"Is that not nonsense? Over there we don't have Aberrant Species strolling the streets every day!"

Leaving other matters aside, the Dome's Security Team patrols nearby often; if it weren't for a few occasions when they specifically went out into the wilderness, the theatrical life wouldn't have even seen what an Aberrant Species looks like.

"No, he said he was in Tianmian City, right? That place is not quite the same as the Dome here."