Chapter 295: Still Saying You

Wu Chang punched Perry into infantile sleep, and the battle on the other side also drew to a close.

Miles had a very small courage, so if he decided to act, he would prepare with absolute certainty.

If Wu Chang hadn't insisted it was unnecessary, Miles would have wanted to set up several Gatling guns around.

The hidden operatives were three times as numerous as Perry's group, and their firepower was exceptionally strong.

Within just a few minutes, none of the targets caught in the crossfire could stand up.

Wu Chang waved to Miles, signaling him to search for survivors—if any existed, first assess whether they could be trusted, then whether they held any value.

He trusted Miles deeply; if there was any danger, Miles would be more afraid than he was.

While Miles was busy, Wu Chang slowly walked to the edge of the ring, picked up the fallen top hat, brushed off its dust, and placed it back on Kent's head.

Local gangs were terribly rude—how could they knock off their boss's hat?

Two minutes later, as a few scattered gunshots echoed from behind, Miles jogged over to Wu Chang and grinned obsequiously:

"Boss, sorry—no survivors."

Wu Chang smirked; Miles was even more timid than he thought, not daring to leave a single enemy alive.

But whatever—he was the one handling everything in the end. As long as he could resolve the trouble, these small matters were up to him.

"Take charge of these guys' territories."

"Boss, rest assured—I'll handle it!" Miles first gave his guarantee, then suddenly deflated, opening his mouth but hesitating to speak.

Wu Chang frowned slightly and asked: "Say what's on your mind—don't wait until you've messed things up to tell me."

Miles hunched his shoulders, clasped his hands together, and assumed a cautious, restrained posture, saying:

"Since the gang member most skilled in negotiation and persuasion died last night—uh—due to Kent's actions—I need time to invite one of my old friends."

"We can reclaim the territories first; once my friend arrives, we'll approach the financiers behind those bosses."

Wu Chang's face showed impatience: "How long until your friend arrives?"

Miles replied: "A week—at most a week—I guarantee he'll be here!"

A week was too long.

He asked: "Can't you speed it up?"

Miles offered a second option: "It's possible, but you'd need to appear several times, demonstrating New Bai Lao K's value to those financiers in the most direct way possible."

"With your cooperation, the impact would be greater than my friend's."

Wu Chang asked: "With my cooperation, how quickly could we fully consolidate New Bai Lao K and gain the support of these bosses' backers?"

Miles held up three fingers.

Wu Chang nodded; three days—acceptable.

Miles: "Three weeks! I only need three weeks!"

Wu Chang:?

So without my involvement, you spend a week recruiting and three weeks consolidating—in this cursed instance's one-month window, you'd barely have time to become a gang boss?

Too slow.

This pace was unacceptable to Wu Chang, but for now he had no better option—he could only say:

"First, map out the networks behind these people and draft a plan. I'll think of something else."

Miles bowed his head and said: "Understood, Boss."

Wu Chang walked slowly out of the warehouse, strolling through the dock area.

Miles needed his cooperation simply to show muscle to the hidden forces behind the scenes, proving New Bai Lao K's strength.

Wu Chang couldn't be everywhere at once, but he could bring in other players.

Tomorrow morning, he'd go to Ding Shouzi Square.

He'd visited during the day—many players without jobs were hanging around like vagrants. By now, after one more night, ordinary players would have only one remaining tolerance point before their Will was deducted again.

To avoid further Will deductions, they'd scramble to find shelter—by tomorrow, Ding Shouzi Square would become a cheap labor market.

Recruiting a few intimidating players would accelerate control over New Bai Lao K.

Who says players can't hire other players?

Having found a way out, Wu Chang felt a wave of relief. He breathed in the sea-scented air, walking alone through the docks.

Hou Jingchuan's guide also warned: never go out at night, or you'll be attacked by strange monsters or anomalies.

For ordinary players, staying indoors to preserve life was undoubtedly the safest option.

But for Wu Chang, the opposite was true—the more dangerous the place, the more likely it hid the instance's secrets. He'd just lifted 10% of his attribute suppression and was desperate to test his strength.

Strange attacks, huh? Let me see what you've got.

Wu Chang was lost in thoughts of seeking out anomalies when he suddenly sensed something wrong and quickly pulled out the Four-Sided Fire Lantern.

"Item Skill: Illuminate the False."

"Skill Description: The Four-Sided Fire Lantern can command flames below your level, transforming them into Age Fire to dispel evil, ward plague, and repel demons."

Within the Age Fire, warmth surged into his mind, dispelling Wu Chang's suicidal impulses.

Huh.

Wu Chang exhaled a long breath of stale air—the night of the Cursed instance truly had its say; he'd been subtly influenced without realizing it.

To investigate night dangers, he only needed to observe the resentments of other unlucky souls—why risk himself by deliberately triggering the instance's taboos?

Clearly, the night's strange rules had slipped in and warped his mindset.

He smiled bitterly—had the players he'd seen die in resentments all felt the same way before death?

Believing they were different from others—that what was dangerous to them was an opportunity for themselves, forcing them to rush over just to take a look?

That mindset was dangerous. Better to stroll at dawn tomorrow and see if he could find two fresh resentments.

Wu Chang was about to return to the New Bai Lao K base when he suddenly noticed a wisp of black mist forming around his body.

The unlucky guy previously sent to another world by a truck once had the same black qi on him.

The last time Wu Chang's attributes were suppressed, his insight returned to 34; in his eyes, the black qi was no longer a mere mass, but a strange rope-like mark.

Interesting—could he be about to strike it lucky too?

He remained cautiously alert, and with his current 61 points of strength, if he actually touched it, it might not be him who ended up in another world.

Just as he held his breath and adjusted his state to peak condition, a tall figure ran toward him from afar, shouting as she ran:

"Run! There's a monster behind me!"

Wu Chang saw the person and froze in place; clearly, she had just endured a brutal battle, with multiple wounds across her body, one of them on her face.

A sharp cut left a bloody trace on her cheek—and tore through her disguise mask, revealing an unusually striking black-and-white half-princess-cut long hair.

Just as he thought of it, Miles had just told him he needed a negotiation master—and here the negotiation master came to him herself.

The negotiation master's attention was entirely on what was behind her; she had no energy to observe Wu Chang, only focusing on sprinting with her long legs.

She didn't know where was safe, but she'd run first and figure it out later.

As the negotiation master passed Wu Chang, he grabbed her arm and yanked her back.

The negotiation master flew into rage, whipped out a delicate female pistol, and aimed it at Wu Chang.

"You're one of them, aren't you?"

Before she could fire, Wu Chang slapped her hard on the back of the head, sending her stumbling.

"Don't move—I'm on your side. You were chased by the sea monster along with that kid with the sword."

He had no intention of revealing his ability to transform into a replica's native inhabitant; apart from the Silent Passage, the last time he met the negotiation master was in the Quiet Town.

The negotiation master clutched the back of her head, glaring at Wu Chang with bitter resentment—he'd promised not to hit her, and now her head was still ringing.

"Are you Peace?"

As a mechanism monster who had never entered the Cursed by Misfortune state, the Bureau assigned her here—to help Wu Chang while searching for an opportunity to eliminate Lin Jiang.

Before entering, the negotiation master already knew of Peace's existence and that Peace and the Bureau were temporary allies; hearing the mention of the sea monster just now, she instantly realized he was Peace.

Wu Chang said: "Looks like I don't need to introduce myself. You're just in time—I need a helper. Help me with something."

The negotiation master opened her mouth to speak, then suddenly realized something and tried to drag Wu Chang away.

"Now's not the time for this—run!"

She pulled hard on Wu Chang's arm, but felt as if she were tugging a stone pillar; no matter how hard she strained, he didn't budge. Was this guy all-strength build?

She quickly explained: "A monster is chasing me—it's abnormal, unlike any other monster in the guide. Even you can't handle it—let's get to safety first!"

As the negotiation master spoke, a giant doll's head emerged from the darkness behind her; its face was sweet and cute, like a porcelain doll—harmless and innocent.

But the next moment, its body appeared—composed of countless human torsos and limbs—and instantly became grotesque, showing not a trace of cuteness.

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow. This little thing—its design was actually quite peculiar.

"You were being chased by this thing?"

The negotiation master nodded. "Run! This monster has powerful mental attacks—I'm barely holding up against it. Its agility and strength stats are extremely high, especially strength—it's probably over thirty!"

"Its HP is also very high. I used a killing move and did almost no damage."

"And its movement pattern is strange—it seems to be specifically hunting players."

Wu Chang pulled his arm free from the negotiation master and walked toward the centipede doll.

!

With his current stats, he was still in danger within the bizarre Cursed by Misfortune replica—but the threat posed by the monster before him clearly wasn't among them.

He looked again at the centipede doll, and on its doll-like cheek, he saw three bullet holes.

Each hole was small, but they were real, tangible wounds.

Once a monster's physical form is confirmed and proven attackable with a health bar, it's no longer a monster—it's prey.

The centipede doll sensed Wu Chang's disdain and charged at him, its momentum surpassing a regular truck—nearly reaching a semi-trailer.

Facing the charging centipede doll, Wu Chang stood firm, not dodging or retreating, and delivered a direct elbow strike.

"Man!"

At the moment Wu Chang collided with the centipede doll, the negotiation master instinctively turned her face away, unable to bear the sight of Wu Chang being knocked sprawling.

But reality contradicted her expectation: the centipede doll, charging with semi-trailer force, didn't budge Wu Chang even slightly—instead, its own face caved inward, like a crushed soda can.

Affected by the Manba Iron Elbow, it rolled on the ground in agony, curling into a tight ball, writhing in visible pain.

The negotiation master's mouth hung open, unable to believe what she saw.

She had fought the centipede doll before and knew its strength; for Wu Chang to stop it so casually, his strength stat must be at least double its own—if not quite, then very close.

That meant Wu Chang's strength stat was at least sixty points, possibly fifty.

Even with his attributes suppressed to 10%, he still had this level of power—how high would he be without suppression?

Is this guy really not cheating?

Or is his stat actually normal, but he's using some method to make the replica's 90% attribute reduction only apply to 50%?

No—that's still cheating!

Wu Chang ignored the negotiation master's stunned stare and walked straight toward the centipede doll.

The centipede doll was still under the debuff of the elbow strike, unable to see clearly—but it sensed Wu Chang's presence.

It opened its bloodshot, vacant eyes and glared fiercely at Wu Chang.

Wu Chang felt a gust of wind blow against his face and instinctively squinted—but after the wind passed, he felt no threat at all.

Clearly, the centipede doll's mental attack couldn't penetrate his 47-point willpower—not even enough to trigger a sense of danger.

That made sense; previously, its prey all had single-digit willpower. Suddenly encountering a 47-point willpower? It was beyond its scope.

Wu Chang touched the Mind Resonance on his clothing. You're done with your mental attack—now it's my turn.

As with Kent, the Mind Resonance's mental control failed to activate and instead transformed into a mental attack.

Boom!

After taking the blow, the centipede puppet's red dot on its forehead exploded, its entire skull half-blown open.

"Smile, smile..."

"I'm so tired, I can't smile, I can't cry..."

Amidst meaningless muttering, the centipede puppet ceased twitching, its body dissolving into faint light—but left behind a cluster of vital energy.

Wu Chang swallowed the vital energy, and a prompt flashed before his eyes.

Strength +5.

Huge boost!

Looking at his attribute panel's 66 points of Strength, he suddenly felt he might be able to actively hunt monsters.

He turned to look at the Negotiation Master; before he could speak, he saw her slam her hands together, as if she'd just confirmed an answer.

"I get it now!"

Wu Chang asked, puzzled: "What do you get now?"

The Negotiation Master stared at him seriously: "This guy is a cheater!"

Wu Chang rolled his eyes—again, the prejudice of someone who didn't know hit his heart as a hardworking player.

He didn't bother arguing with the Negotiation Master on this topic; as he led her back to the warehouse, he asked what had happened.

At the mention of the centipede puppet, the Negotiation Master showed a look of lingering fear and recounted her earlier ordeal.

According to the Bureau's records, many monsters appear at night; if someone fails to return to a shelter in time due to certain reasons and is targeted by these monsters, they usually abandon their attack once the victim enters the shelter.

But tonight was different: the Negotiation Master was resting in her daily-rented hotel, preparing to bathe and sleep, when she suddenly heard a tapping sound at the window.

Like small branches tapping the glass, or someone throwing pebbles at her window.

Based on past experience, the shelter was absolutely safe, so she didn't become overly alert—she pressed her face against the glass and glanced outside.

But the next instant, an arm smashed through the glass, trying to drag her out!

The arm that attacked her was the human arm the centipede puppet used as a supplement.

Then the centipede puppet shattered the window and charged into the hotel to pursue her.

She relied on her title to resist mental attacks, fought while running, and only escaped by using the complex alleyways.

Here, she glanced at Wu Chang—her gaze said: the monster that drove me to the brink, you casually wiped out—your stats must be broken.

Wu Chang pretended not to notice and asked: "When I grabbed you, you said I was with who?"

The Negotiation Master said: "While fighting that monster, every time I passed a puddle, I felt my body suddenly grow heavy. I nearly got killed by that damn ability several times."

"At first I thought it was the monster's ability, but when I used my killing technique to leap into the air, I saw a figure in a black robe following us from afar."

"I split my killing technique into two parts—one struck the monster, the other shattered the black-robed man's arm, and only then did he stop pursuing."

Thinking of this, the Negotiation Master showed a look of relief.

"If I hadn't accidentally spotted that guy, I wouldn't have made it here alive. He's highly purposeful, and he actively attacks monsters within the shelter—he likely ordered it. You need to be careful from now on."

As she spoke, the two had already returned to the warehouse.

Wu Chang brought the Negotiation Master to meet Myers, then briefly described his current predicament.

After hearing Wu Chang's words, the Negotiation Master was utterly stunned.

Other players worked themselves to death just to find a single shelter—even she, with her information advantage, could only escape filthy roadside motels and move into proper hotels.

How did you take down the entire Bai Lao K in two days?

No, you're not even pretending anymore—you're just opening the console and editing the code, aren't you?

Wu Chang waved his hand in front of the Negotiation Master's face and asked: "Understood? If not, I'll say it again."

The Negotiation Master shook her head. "Enough."

Don't say another word—or she'd be tempted to report him.

Wu Chang nodded. "Good. Your next task is to help Myers negotiate with the old bastards hiding behind the scenes. If you succeed, you'll at least become a leader."

After speaking with the Negotiation Master, Wu Chang turned to Myers.

"I've got a task for you too: after consolidating all factions, tell every gang member in the city to find me a new face with one missing hand. Don't touch him—come back and report to me."

"If you complete this, I'll let you replace the former White's position."

Hearing Wu Chang's promise, Myers's breathing grew rapid and shallow.

"Boss, I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

(End of Chapter)