Chapter 125: Water Ghost

Compared to their last meeting, Duizhan Qibing's hair seemed thinner, and his dark circles were heavier; he looked like he'd evolved from a ten-year veteran programmer into a twenty-year veteran programmer ape.

For transcenders whose physical fitness far surpasses ordinary people, this was quite rare.

Li Cheng controlled the drone, first tilting it slightly up and down, nodding at Duizhan Qibing, then circling the resort once more to confirm no anomalies before switching to hover mode.

He himself stepped through the dense forest and greeted Duizhan Qibing, "Hey."

"You?"

Since Li Cheng had used his worm-gene ability to revert to the face he wore during the 【Cursed Oath's Resentment】 mission, Duizhan Qibing recognized him instantly, his expression stunned and pained: "Wait, why are you still wearing that Daoist robe?"

Li Cheng, clad in the Daoist robe, casually shrugged, "Only those who wear the same outfit forever can be anime protagonists—that's common sense, right? Like One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Conan, and Gintama."

Hmm. Come to think of it—if other anime protagonists wear just one outfit to define their character, isn't Conan's case mostly to prevent readers from mixing up who's who? After all, Shinichi, Kaito, and Heiji all look alike. Ran and Aoko look alike too."

"All just Aoyama faces, huh."

Duizhan Qibing groaned, "The FGO and Kyoto Animation teams are laughing their asses off."

"You've been surfing the internet a lot in your free time, huh? Your roasts are spot-on." Li Cheng glanced at him.

"Of course—I'm a veteran two-stick monkey," Duizhan Qibing replied, squinting. "Aren't you?"

Li Cheng gasped, "Impossible! Using 'two-stick monkey' gives you AIDS!"

"? Okay, okay, you break it like that, huh."

By mutual player consensus, Duizhan Qibing avoided asking Li Cheng taboo questions like whether he was from Yin City, instead continuing to work while venting, pouring diesel into the generator.

Boom—

The generator started on its own, humming as electricity flowed along the cables to power the nearby streetlights.

"Good."

Duizhan Qibing adjusted his glasses. He had arrived before Li Cheng and had not only successfully restored partial power to the park but also placed surveillance cameras with remote data transmission capabilities across the amusement park.

He tapped a few keys on his laptop, connected all the surveillance networks, and immediately detected two other figures: "Looks like we've got company."

The two noticed the drone Li Cheng had sent out, circling in the air, and entered the park from the eastern and western entrances of the abandoned amusement park, waving from afar to Li Cheng and Duizhan Qibing.

The first was a white man with brown hair, dressed in a suit, wearing a luxury watch on his right hand and carrying a heavy leather briefcase in his left.

The second was entirely shrouded in a black robe; from the visible eyebrows and eyes, he appeared to be a middle-aged man of Middle Eastern descent.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Are you also here to undertake the mission? I am Elliot, an employee of Prometheus's Yin City branch. Here's my business card. And this is my printed mission log."

The suited man produced his business card and a white A4 sheet printed with the text: 【Mission Objective: Arrive at the Abandoned Lexin Resort Amusement Park in Yin City's Western Suburbs by Midnight Tonight】, then voluntarily revealed his Summoner ID.

【Corporate Dog · Elliot】【Lv9】

In the absence of mutual knowledge, Elliot's open identification was both a gesture of goodwill and a subtle deterrent—he was an employee of a major corporation; before touching him, one had to consider whether Prometheus's low-orbit military satellites might already be monitoring this location.

Seeing Elliot's overture, the black-robed Middle Eastern man also revealed his player ID.

【Mediator · Baylang】【Lv10】

"In this remote wilderness, no one would come here unless on a mission."

Baylang spoke slowly, his voice gravelly and harsh, like metal scraping against metal.

Li Cheng shook his head, "Then you're unaware—even the most remote, dangerous places can spawn fishermen and unlucky fools tricked here by Xiaohongshu water ghosts."

Fishermen are easy to understand—Han Letian's father is one. When a colleague's wife gave birth and posted on WeChat Moments, "Six jin two liang, thank life for this surprise and happiness,"

he'd skip the whole post and immediately comment: "Bro, where'd you catch such a fat one?"

Fishing at night in secluded river bends and pulling up dead pigs or human corpses is normal—nothing out of the ordinary.

As for Xiaohongshu water ghosts—they're unscrupulous bloggers who lure people into caves and ditches, pushing unexplored "attractions" for traffic. Flood-prone spillways are branded as "hidden water-play gems!" "The water's clear and shallow, super safe!"

Abandoned mine tunnels with poor ventilation and oxygen risks are called "nuclear engineering ruins!" "Perfect summer escape!"

These marketing accounts that care only for clicks and ignore human lives are just like the vengeful ghosts in strange tales who seek living substitutes—hence they're called cyber water ghosts.

Accidentally click one, and the platform's algorithm floods you with endless similar content. It's like a Bilgewater night.

"."

Baylang, with his Middle Eastern face, clearly didn't understand the slang term "Xiaohongshu water ghost," so he didn't respond: "It's eleven twenty. Forty minutes until midnight."

"Sorry I'm late."

From among the tree shadows came a deep, resonant male voice.

A priest, nearly two meters tall, broad-shouldered and powerfully built, parted the branches above him and walked forward steadily.

He had black curly hair, a high nose bridge, a broad chin, and clear Mediterranean features. He wore a priest's robe, a brass cross hanging from his chest, white gloves on both hands, and two standard longswords at his waist.

"André?"

Duizhan Qibing greeted him in surprise, introducing: "This is one of the representatives of the 【Knights Templar】 guild in Yin City. I've worked with him before."

The 【Knights Templar】 is a large guild with Vatican backing, relatively low-key in the real world, recruiting only those with fervent religious faith.

【Cross · André】【Lv11】

This priest seemed to use his real name online; Duizhan Qibing followed suit and displayed his own ID. His title remained 【Overworked Coder】, and his level had reached Lv11.

Finally, Li Cheng: 【Death-Defying Gambler · Master Pi Fu】【Lv9】

The others noticed nothing unusual, but Duizhan Qibing stared at Li Cheng in shock.

During the 【Cursed Oath's Resentment】 scenario mission, he was Lv7, and Master Pi Fu was Lv2.

Now he's Lv11, and Master Pi Fu has jumped to Lv9? This kid must've been gorging on experience pills—how'd he level up so fast? He can't possibly have cleared every S-rank mission, right?

"A five-person team with an average level of Lv10. The reward must be substantial."

Elliot smiled faintly, "Let's confirm again—no one wants to back out?"

The higher the average level, the greater the reward—but also the greater the difficulty and potential danger. Since this is a routine mission with no penalty for failure, withdrawing is always an option.

"Good. No one's backing out. Then let me analyze—"

Elliot was mid-sentence when, in the next instant, a sudden change erupted.

The ground beneath them shuddered violently; trees swayed, roads cracked, and soil liquefied—just like the strange earthquake that had struck Yin City recently.

Seeing the situation turn bad, Li Cheng drew his bat-hook claw spear and fired it toward the top of a lamppost. Under the effect of special effects, he rose from the ground in a flowing pose and flew into midair.

However, as an air-raid siren of unknown origin suddenly blared, the surrounding scenery abruptly shifted.

The original battered, broken facilities all vanished, replaced by a brand-new, grand, brightly lit Disneyland amusement park.

An illusion? No, more like teleportation.

The ground no longer trembled. Li Cheng landed steadily and turned his head to look—the others had also been teleported over.

Moreover, the trees, roads, buildings, and so on had all changed, markedly different from the Yin City Disneyland he remembered.

The most crucial point was that it was now eleven o'clock at night, yet the setting sun still hung on the horizon.

【Mission Log Updated】

【Mission Objective: Read the park guide and escape the amusement park before sunset】