Chapter 61: Chu Xuan

"Attention, young people! If these four kinds of corpse spots appear on your body, it's your body sending you a warning!"

"If corpse spots have already appeared, don't bother going to the hospital, just bury yourself. Can we please stop with the stale memes? If this keeps up, I'm going to start cursing people out."

"Stale memes are part of surfing the web. If you don't like it, don't play. Besides, we're the same person. If you curse me, it's the same as cursing yourself."

"Lanzhou flatbread. Tasty as hell. Plus three experience."

Li Cheng jolted awake from his computer desk, as if more than a dozen identical voices were speaking nonstop in his mind.

"Ugh." He took off the massage-device-like contraption on his head, poured himself a glass of cold water, and slowly drank it. The voices in his mind gradually faded.

These voices weren't auditory hallucinations or schizophrenia, but rather the Multi-Thread Brain Domain Method keeping the brain highly active, with different brain regions unconsciously talking in their sleep to themselves.

During this period, he had to activate parallel thinking mode every day, opening four, eight, or even more pages on his computer at the same time, reading ten lines at a glance, rapidly browsing all kinds of professional books and scientific journals, desperately absorbing knowledge.

Including but not limited to philosophy, logic, religious studies, finance, law, folklore, criminal investigation, history, foreign languages, math, physics and chemistry, mechanical engineering, materials, biology.

Generally speaking, even if one were skilled in computer technology and knew how to efficiently search for professional materials from internet databases, it would still take a lot of time to gather so many documents.

Fortunately, there was a specialized bookstore in Slum Street, where spending a bit of game coins could buy the complete catalog, saving a lot of effort.

On the other hand, the electromagnetic massager Li Cheng was currently wearing, marketed by Prometheus Laboratory Company, also played a key role—this thing could boost sleep efficiency and shorten the daily sleep time required.

Wearing it to sleep could also speed up the recovery of sanity points. And the price was especially cheap, only 50,000 in cash, the same price as an Apple Vision Pro.

Hmm. Speaking of which, isn't my spending mindset a bit abnormal? I actually think something costing fifty thousand yuan is cheap. In the past, I wouldn't have dared to even think about it.

Li Cheng casually tossed the massager into the drawer and slowly sipped the cold water.

Because the player group had too much income and enormous survival pressure, many newcomers lacking self-control would lose themselves, indulging in the decadent glamour of the bustling city.

Things like splurging on luxury cars and mansions, training body and combat skills during the day, nightclub revelry at night, young models at private clubs.

Some others, under the heavy pressure of survival, gradually went twisted, running to chaotic zones to reign as local kings, becoming drug lords or warlords, taking pleasure in randomly killing and tormenting ordinary people. Until one day they kicked an iron plate, got casually eliminated by other players or guilds, or died from increasingly difficult missions in the killing fields.

Thinking of this, Li Cheng glanced at the backpack column on his player panel.

The last script mission earned 800 game coins, and he spent this money lavishly, buying quite a few pieces of equipment.

Man-portable shoulder-fired rocket launcher, man-portable mortar, grenade launcher, anti-materiel sniper rifle, off-road motorcycle, small off-road vehicle, assault boat.

Most of them were quietly lying in the backpack column. The ones too bulky were tossed by Li Cheng into the White Bone Corridor, to be taken out when necessary.

"Counting the time, the mission should be coming about now."

Just as he was muttering, a system notification chime sounded in his ear.

【Mission Type: Routine Mission (Exploration Killing Field)】

【Mission Name: Heterogeneous Outbreak】

【Mission Objective: Proceed to the bunker main control room and open the main gate】

【Mission Time Limit: 2 hours】

【Mission Reward 1: 400 Experience Points】

【Mission Reward 2: 600 Game Coins】

【Mission Reward 3: Random Items *2】

【Mission Failure Penalty: None】

【Teleportation in 5 minutes. Teleport now?】

Here it comes.

Li Cheng squinted. Routine missions had no penalty, so even if he couldn't complete it, it wouldn't be a big deal. Moreover, this mission had a short time limit, a short process, and generous rewards. There was no reason not to go.

There was no time to waste. He packed up his equipment and props, locked the door, and chose to teleport.

The scene before his eyes instantly switched, and the surrounding light abruptly dimmed.

This place appeared to be a public changing room, with rows of metal lockers, marble floors, and wooden benches. Some benches still had bath towels hanging on them, extremely similar to real-world gyms, bathing centers, hot spring resorts, and the like.

The difference was that the air here was filled with a thick smell of blood. Some metal lockers were casually toppled, with three rows of sharp-blade cut marks left on them.

As if left behind by some absurdly large carnivorous beast.

Werewolf? Deathclaw? Griffin?

Of course, the most conspicuous things were the two figures standing in the corners of the changing room, apart from Li Cheng.

One wore a red-and-white motorcycle racer uniform, with gloves and a riding helmet, face unseen.

The other was a boy of eleven or twelve, wearing a standard-issue suit of the Special Affairs Bureau, with a bandage wrapped around his palm.

Whoosh—

The motorcycle-rider-dressed one acted first, kicking off the tiles to jump backward, while flipping his palm to take out two wooden Poké Balls and smash them onto the ground.

Bang!

The two Poké Balls opened simultaneously. As the light flashed, a deep-blue plant bulb with round feet and a half-pig, half-monkey creature appeared beside the motorcycle rider.

If Han Letian, a seasoned Pokémon fan, were here, he could instantly call out the names of these two creatures.

Grass-type Pokémon—Oddish. It can evolve into Gloom, Vileplume, Bellossom.

Fighting-type Pokémon—Mankey. It can evolve into Primeape, Annihilape.

"…You two,"

After summoning two bodyguards, the motorcycle rider seemed to have finally gained a sense of security, and said in a muffled voice: "What a coincidence."

Outside the Slum Street range, players encountering each other could attack one another, and after killing the opponent, they could also take the equipment and props from the body.

This led to all players being especially wary of strangers. Sometimes, out of intense fear, they would choose to strike first, causing the overall environment to deteriorate further. Like a dark forest.

The motorcycle rider warily watched the two, slowly pacing toward the changing room door, and said in a low voice: "I don't have the habit of executing missions with strangers. Let's each go our own way."

"Wait a moment!"

The boy in the Special Affairs Bureau uniform hurriedly raised his hand and said: "Judging by the style of your Poké Balls, you're a member of the Thousand Throats Beast Guild, right?

Let me introduce myself. I'm Su Jie, a specially-appointed physician of the Third Mobile Special Detachment of the Yin City Special Affairs Bureau.

This is my identification."

As if to prove his words, he took out a metal name card and showed it to the motorcyclist as he said sincerely, "I'm carrying a special piece of equipment that can prevent players from actively attacking each other.

With this prop, the three of us might be able to coexist peacefully and complete the mission together."

"..." Hearing this, the motorcyclist couldn't help but slow his steps as he was about to leave.

The Special Affairs Bureau's code of conduct was well known within the Killing Grounds; if Su Jie's identity was genuine, then it wasn't out of the question.

Thinking of this, he tilted his chin toward Li Cheng, who had been standing in the corner without speaking, tossing a red apple in his hand, "Brother, what should I call you?"

"..."

Li Cheng tossed the red apple with his left hand, pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose with his right. His appearance was ordinary, but his eyes were unusually calm, and he said indifferently, "Chu Xuan."

(End of chapter)