Chapter 631: Ying Duo: Rich Lord

"I can hear."

The pixel figurine sat there like an MC accessory, watching the person on one side and the Aberrant Species on the other, speaking coldly.

"Since when have you two become this close?"

The pixel figurine tilted its head in confusion, not understanding how Hua Jian Lei and Bai Mu Yun could be so in sync right after first meeting.

When they first met, Bai Mu Yun was still just a corpse; later, Hua Jian Lei handled Bai Mu Yun's paperwork without ever seeing the person.

It must be a kind of telepathy among victims.

Both being targets of persecution by Ying Guang Lu, Bai Mu Yun and Hua Jian Lei share a common language.

Bai Mu Yun gave no reply, merely reaching out to pinch the little figurine.

The pixel figurine wasn't just square in appearance; its feel in the hand was like a stone, no wonder when it moved it evoked the same man‑machine sensation Ying Duo used to have.

He placed Ying Duo into the left pocket of his coat; the pocket was small, just enough for the figurine to show half its face, its head bathed in Ying Guang Lu.

"Stay inside and don't move," Bai Mu Yun said, his finger pressing gently against the pocket edge through the fabric.

The pixel figurine made no move, as if truly obedient, looking like a tiny lifeless figurine.

Hua Jian Lei's mouth twitched without a word, steering the car onto a narrower road, where the buildings on either side had shifted from residential blocks to abandoned factories and junk‑filled lots.

Hua Jian Lei turned off the engine and unbuckled the seatbelt.

"We've arrived."

Bai Mu Yun pushed the car door open, and the night wind rushed in, carrying the smell of scrap and damp earth.

It's unclear what this world's people are so attached to about these things, but they seem to favor meeting points in the sparsely populated outskirts.

He read on his phone that this world's surveillance doesn't blanket the globe directly, but operates via Sky‑Eye monitoring, doesn't that make it even more suspicious?

However, halfway there, he sensed Hua Jian Lei employing Aberrant Arts, presumably to obscure their trail.

Inside, the warehouse's center held a long table and a few chairs; the tabletop simply bore a few bottles of water and a laptop.

Three people stood behind the table.

Two men and a woman, all dressed plainly; leading them was a man in his early thirties with a crew cut, who instinctively nodded when Hua Jian Lei entered, his gaze then shifting to Bai Mu Yun standing behind him.

"Who is this?"

As an Entropy Increase diplomat, anyone familiar with Entropy Increase would not find this face unfamiliar, yet Bai Mu Yun was a complete stranger.

"He's a representative sent by the Strategy Group," Hua Jian Lei said casually, "He's only here to observe, after all within our Entropy Increase, all action plans are devised by the Strategy Group."

The crew‑cut man didn't press further; anyone who knows Entropy Increase's internal structure should be aware of the Strategy Group, which is the most mysterious part of Entropy Increase, and he hadn't expected them to meet one of its members, so he hurriedly had chairs brought over and invited them to sit.

Hua Jian Lei pulled out a chair and sat, while Bai Mu Yun remained half a step behind, lightly leaning against the table, using his body as a shield to poke his head out, but he was swiftly pressed back down by Bai Mu Yun without a word.

The crew‑cut man skipped any small talk and went straight to the point:

"We brought members of Entropy Increase here because we want to cooperate with you. We know you saved many players in the game, so perhaps you can understand us."

He paused, "We... just want the important people to survive."

Hua Jian Lei leaned back against the chair, signaling him to continue.

The situation differed from his expectations; he had assumed a group of players rebelling against official control, seeking covert insurrection, yet the reason turned out to be this simple?

"We have several important people nearby; their Mutation Value was already high when they were in the game."

The crew‑cut man's voice grew heavy, thinking of acquaintances whose Mutation Value was so high they were gradually turning into beings that were neither human nor ghost...

"Under normal circumstances they wouldn't last long, but we've discovered a method to temporarily restore their lucidity."

He looked sincerely at Hua Jian Lei, "We hope to obtain Entropy Increase's assistance. You had extensive contacts when you were in the game, even connections to the legendary wanted man Ying Duo, and in exchange—"

His words were somewhat naive, yet genuinely sincere; at least Hua Jian Lei, skilled at spotting lies, detected no falsehood.

That doesn't look good....

Hua Jian Lei pondered, it seemed Entropy Increase was being treated by these players as some kind of charitable organization?

It was as if someone called his name; the pixel figurine in Bai Mu Yun's pocket poked its head out again, its body leaning slightly forward, its four‑pixel eye scanning every corner of the warehouse.

A tiny red dot hid in the shadows, almost merging with the surrounding gloom; without close inspection it was nearly invisible.

A pinhole camera.

Energy and the radio waves emitted by these modern devices aren't technically the same, yet they share many similarities; Yang Yixie, who often converts his energy into Data Stream for infiltration, is well acquainted with such fluctuations.

If this were in a city, such energy fluctuations would be rare and he might not notice anything amiss, but out here in the desolate outskirts, a camera constantly transmitting images elsewhere is quite conspicuous.

However, judging by the signal's reception point, the person on the other side of the camera isn't far from here.

This time, Yang Yixie didn't give Bai Mu Yun a chance to push him back; he casually pulled his hood over his head, flipped out, and slid down along the inner side of Bai Mu Yun's garment.

After landing successfully, he instantly transformed into a Data Stream, passing through physical obstacles, shielded by 【Stealth Lv. max】, and rushed straight toward the signal reception point.

——————————————

In another room, the laptop screen glowed, displaying a surveillance interface split into four panels, one of which faced Hua Jian Lei and Bai Mu Yun.

The time in the lower‑right corner of the screen flickered, but after Ying Duo arrived, the area was already empty.

A black trench coat still hung on the chair back, suggesting the person left in a hurry, yet Ying Duo had arrived the moment the anomaly was noticed; how did the other detect his approach and manage to slip away so quickly?

Ying Duo scanned the area with 【Recon】, finding no useful clues beyond that coat.

"Rich Lord, if the clothes and laptop say 'don't want them', then don't want them."

Given the circumstances, the price of that coat wouldn't be much lower than that of the laptop.