Chapter 298

Sigef City is a city where money reigns supreme; with enough money, you can break any rule, even the laws of physics.

Wu Chang had never truly felt the truth of that statement before; although Hou Jingchuan's dossier contained many similar cases, cold numbers could never match the shock of witnessing it firsthand.

Two consecutive days of gunfights had severely damaged the warehouse interiors where Bai Lao K operated, with bullet holes and bloodstains visible everywhere.

The worst damage was to the spectator area of the bare-knuckle fights.

Most of the seats on the second floor were shattered, and not a single pane of glass remained intact in the VIP viewing rooms on the third floor.

Bai Lao K's KO bare-knuckle fights were the most popular entertainment event in Sigef City, without exception, with immense influence—Wu Chang could not afford to abandon it.

So he seized this opportunity to renovate the fight venue.

Not only would they rebuild the arena and seating, optimize the viewing environment, but they also planned to formalize the event and launch a dedicated livestream for bare-knuckle fights.

For the venue reconstruction, Miles recruited his junior from the same university's architecture department, paid him five times the normal fee, and had blueprints ready by nightfall.

With the blueprints in hand, Miles hired three construction teams; after paying five times the standard project rate, all three teams went all out.

From Wu Chang's perspective, time in the arena area seemed to have been fast-forwarded—construction workers each transformed into the Flash, leaving motion trails as they rebuilt the site at visibly rapid speed.

He observed closely for a long time but could not discern why this space could fast-forward—as if, when money was involved, the world's rules began to fracture.

Compared to Wu Chang's astonishment, Miles and the other Bai Lao K members remained far more calm.

They calmly set up yellow construction tape to bar others from approaching, clearly accustomed to this phenomenon.

Wu Chang had asked Miles about it—he wasn't saying that paying money could accelerate everything.

To accelerate, you first needed to obtain the relevant qualifications, and it only applied to your own profession; if Bai Lao K sent their own people to repair, no amount of money could speed things up.

Second, acceleration could only apply to inanimate objects—it could not hasten the growth of animals or plants, nor could it increase the speed of movement.

No sports could be accelerated.

This left Wu Chang somewhat disappointed; if it could affect living things, paying to speed up actions would be far more powerful than any stat boost.

Although living things couldn't be accelerated, native residents of Sigef City, accustomed to its rules, would self-adapt to acceleration.

For example, once a target was set, all progress would become astonishingly swift.

According to Miles's intelligence, the factions involved with Perryco and other leaders totaled twelve.

Of these, four were internal factions under Perryco's leadership, while the remaining eight were external factions tied to Sigef City's political and business circles—all powerful local bosses.

Miles and the Negotiation Master visited the eight external factions; under the Negotiation Master's influence and skill, just one day saw five of them willing to form alliances with the new Bai Lao K.

The negotiation order proceeded from strongest to weakest; the five strongest factions willingly allied, while the three weaker ones, fearing they'd be pushed out, proactively sent representatives to contact the Negotiation Master.

What Miles had planned to take three weeks to accomplish was accelerated to completion in a single day, simply by demonstrating sufficient strength.

Compared to Sigef City, the Saint Song Corporation seemed sluggish.

As for the internal purge within Bai Lao K, it was even easier.

Wu Chang took a stroll at Ding Shouzi Square in the morning, originally intending to recruit just a few combat-capable players as expendables, but he happened to run into Booker.

Booker dragged Colton along, summoned Veronica, and came rushing over to him.

Booker explained that, per Bai Ta's instructions before they entered, they were forbidden from initiating contact with him and were supposed to stay dispersed to provide intelligence.

Wu Chang asked curiously, "Then why are you coming to me now?"

Booker rubbed his nose. "The motel at night was too loud—me and Colton couldn't sleep at all."

"Besides, whether we're three more or three fewer doesn't really affect this instance. Let our colleagues handle tracking the target."

Although Booker's trio weren't top-tier in combat, they were still far superior to solo players.

With the three of them plus Wu Chang each handling one area, they cleared out four internal factions in just half a day.

As night fell, Wu Chang slipped a stack of Federal Bills to each of them; the Negotiation Master had contributed the most and was half-familiar, so Wu Chang slipped her an extra envelope when no one was looking.

It was something he'd learned as Li Zaishi: if you want your subordinates to work hard, the boss must throw money around.

One day's pay: ten thousand Federal Bills.

Holding the banknotes, Booker felt a little aggrieved—for the previous players who'd entered the instance.

Earn in Sigef, spend in Sigef—none of it could be taken home; over eighty percent of previous players who gathered intelligence left the instance with less than a thousand in savings, yet they'd earned ten thousand in just one day.

If even expendables like them could make this much, they couldn't even imagine how wealthy Peace, the boss of Bai Lao K, must be.

Remember, this was only the third day of the instance.

This guy—could he really be sleeping with a game administrator?

While Booker and the others counted their money, Wu Chang had already summoned Miles to discuss the gang's next move.

He wasn't satisfied with merely expanding Bai Lao K's influence; no matter how much black power grew, a touch of white drew far more attention.

In any country, once a gang grew large, it sought legitimacy.

Even a drug lord who dared seize the Supreme Court and commanded forty thousand private soldiers dreamed of running for president after making his fortune.

As Bai Lao K grew, it too would naturally head in this direction.

To go legitimate, the first step was to demonstrate social responsibility—shift from crime to business, then from business to politics.

Shifting from crime to business was simple: spend money—at least visibly.

Charity and public welfare were the fastest, easiest way to show social responsibility, and if handled well, they wouldn't just burn cash—they could turn a profit.

Besides charity, Miles gave Wu Chang one more piece of advice: wait.

Sigef City never lacked accidents; if a natural disaster struck and Bai Lao K played a major role in responding, it would outweigh ten charity galas.

Wu Chang was intrigued—natural disasters were good, but where would he find one?

Evening, Garden Street No. 26.

After several days of adjustment, Wu Chang and the other two had truly become like a family.

After dinner, Erin helped Amber with her homework, while Wu Chang sat nearby flipping through newspapers, checking what other players had gotten up to.

At nine p. m., it was time for good children to go to bed.

Watching Amber return to the attic and lock the door behind her, Wu Chang's breathing grew rapid.

Climb the mountain!

Tonight, his right-hand little person must climb the mountain!

This time, he learned to be smarter—he locked the bedroom door from the inside; no matter what happened, it would not stop his actions.

But just as he lay down, a faint, elusive gaze pierced through the window into the room.

Wu Chang frowned slightly and got up to draw the curtains.

Lying down again, he felt the gaze pass through the curtains and continue resting on him and Ailin.

No matter how careless he was, he could never engage with Ailin under someone else's watching eyes—he wasn't a exhibitionist.

He took a deep breath and sat up again.

No matter what creature was sending that gaze from outside, tonight, it had already earned its death.

When he left home radiating killing intent, the faint gaze vanished; when he returned indoors, the feeling of being watched returned again.

The watching gaze seemed to play hide-and-seek with him, or like a game of "One, Two, Three, Wooden Man."

Wu Chang was red-hot.

He had never hated the suppression of inspiration and intuition by bad luck more than he did right now.

You lurking creep in the shadows, don't let me catch you—otherwise, you'll learn what a Black Hand really means.

He simply didn't return inside; instead, he sat on the rocking chair by the front door, staring outside.

With him there, the gaze from the darkness retracted and no longer peered into the house. Fine—at least Ailin and Amber could sleep well tonight.

Another peaceful night—except for Wu Chang.

The next day, the family of three went to school together.

Today is Friday; after today ends, it means students will get a weekend without early mornings—and also means that this morning, short in-class quizzes will be held for all subjects.

Knox Elementary is a public school, but most of the students' families are middle-class or social elites; if you want "happy education," turn left two kilometers—you'll find the slum district's schools full of it.

In any country, as long as you don't need to inherit a family legacy and don't want to become the lowest-tier ox or horse, you must compete.

The Federation is no exception.

Today's school time was unusually calm—no strange monsters disturbed them, and Wu Chang received no curse mark.

After the quiz, Amber calmly attended class, then wandered the campus with Grace during recess.

Everything was steadily improving, as if this instance's name wasn't "Cursed by Bad Luck" but "Federation Middle-Class Family Simulator."

!

If nothing goes wrong, something wrong is about to happen.

When they returned home from school, Wu Chang prepared dinner; when he went to the attic to call Amber for dinner, she didn't wait a moment before coming down—she immediately called out Wu Chang's name and stepped out of the attic.

"Xiao En."

Wu Chang stopped what he was doing and looked at Amber, who seemed shy and hesitant.

"What's wrong?"

Amber pulled out her report card from behind her back and whispered, "The test scores came out."

Wu Chang paused, wiped his hands on his pink apron, and took the card.

All subject grades were B's—indicating good performance; though not A's, they were a huge improvement over her past D's and F's.

Wu Chang ruffled Amber's hair. "You've been trying hard. I'll take this to Ailin—she'll be thrilled."

Amber's cheeks flushed slightly as she lowered her head; she cherished Wu Chang's approval but struggled to restrain herself.

"There's one more thing..."

Wu Chang stopped again, waiting for Amber to continue.

Amber nervously twisted her fingers. "Xiao En, you can see things—things only I can see, right?"

Wu Chang nodded. "Even if I can't see them, I'll try my best to see them."

Amber said, "I've always felt I'm not normal—I can't tell reality from hallucination, and I always mess everything up."

"I'm not trying to keep you and Ailin out—I'm just afraid you'll think I'm a monster."

Wu Chang chuckled softly. "You don't need to worry—I've never thought anyone was a monster."

This wasn't limited to "Cursed by Bad Luck." Everyone says the Abyss Game is dangerous, full of monsters in the instance—but after entering so many near-collapse instances, where did he ever see any monsters?

Amber pressed her hand to her chest, as if making a difficult decision; Wu Chang stood still, waiting quietly.

When Amber had calmed herself, she gently pushed open the attic door behind her and said:

"Xiao En, will you... come in and take a look?"

Wu Chang smiled—he had waited so long, and now, finally, Amber was granting him her trust.

"Of course I will."

He followed Amber into the attic—the scene inside was unlike what he had imagined.

Before entering, he had envisioned what the attic might hold.

Susan's disdainful attitude at the orphanage made him assume Amber had suffered cold abuse.

Like a cold, damp living space, a dim room, cluttered belongings.

He had also imagined Amber had a cruel side—perhaps the attic was filled with dissected animal specimens, dismembered human limbs, or even evil ritual objects.

But in reality, Amber's room was tidy and warm, everything arranged neatly and orderly.

All daily necessities were new; much of the furniture was custom-made for the attic, perfectly sized.

Any carelessness in placement would have ruined the aesthetic—clearly, Amber's previous adoptive families had poured great thought into her.

At a glance, there was nothing hidden or shameful in the room—the only thing that caught Wu Chang's attention was a small patch of colorful fluorescent fungi growing in the farthest corner.

At first glance, they looked like mold stains; upon closer inspection, each stain had a unique shape—some like blooming flowers, others like enlarged snowflakes, many perfectly round droplet-like spots.

The attic's dim lighting made the fungal patch glow strikingly, radiating a bizarre, eerie beauty.

An Bai noticed Wu Chang's gaze and asked softly, "Can you see them?"

Wu Chang showed a puzzled look. "Them?"

He noticed An Bai had said "them," not "it."

An Bai nodded lightly. "They're my friends, but only I can see them."

As An Bai uttered the word "friends," the fungi in the corner began to change — they started reproducing rapidly, weaving together into a thick fungal blanket.

The colorful fluorescent fungal blanket spread outward, covering the entire attic in the blink of an eye.

Fine, dense hyphae wound around one another, sprouting strange, slender mushrooms that looked like furled umbrellas, swaying left and right and rustling like a folk song.

An Bai's face broke into a completely unguarded smile as she said to Wu Chang, "Xiao En, they're greeting us."

An Bai followed the mushrooms' rhythm, humming softly. As she hummed, the mushroom caps opened, revealing human faces hidden beneath them.

Then they pulled out their own roots, which became a pair of human feet. Within a few breaths, the mushrooms that had grown from the fungal blanket transformed into little children wearing mushroom caps.

They spun around An Bai, singing and dancing amid the brilliant, radiant fungal blanket, as if standing inside a fairy tale.

Wu Chang rubbed his eyes. Have these Blue Milk Mushrooms become spirits? He hadn't even eaten any — just one glance, and little people were popping up before his eyes.

Surrounded by the mushroom-folk, An Bai's face glowed with excitement and joy, yet her eyes were full of emptiness and blankness.

Although Wu Chang had never seen anyone get poisoned from eating mushrooms, seeing An Bai's state, he knew that if one fell into a mushroom hallucination, this was probably what it looked like.

The scene before him was extremely bizarre. He called out, "An Bai! Wake up!"

An Bai was very close to him, yet she didn't hear his shout at all. A silly smile hung on her face as she murmured:

"Xiao En, do you see them?"

Wu Chang furrowed his brow, took out the Resounding Horn, and strode toward An Bai.

Sensing Wu Chang's movement, the mushroom-folk stopped spinning. Their cute expressions vanished, replaced by fierce faces full of grievance and malice.

That expression, tossed into Ju-On, could play the son of Kayako straight away.

Now that An Bai was bewitched, they're not even pretending anymore, huh.

Wu Chang snorted disdainfully and bellowed at the mushroom-folk:

"How dare you, you fiends! I saw at a glance that you are not human!"

The mushroom-folk all turned to look at Wu Chang and said in cold, chilling voices:

"Don't interfere with us."

"An Bai only needs us."

"You are redundant."

"Disappear."

The mushroom-folk merged with one another, becoming a single massive, writhing fungal mass. As the mushroom-folk's true forms were fully revealed, clumps of pale-red malice appeared on their bodies.

"Die! Die!"

Accompanying their roars, Wu Chang's body grew heavy. Thick black mist surged around him — the fluorescent fungal mass had actually managed to summon a Misfortune Mark.

And this Misfortune Mark was far more intense than the previous ones.

Something big is coming!

(End of this chapter)