Chapter 208: Honey Trap

Regarding killing, Wen Xishu was actually quite familiar with it.

After all, in his journey, everything had only spanned three months.

In these three months, he had killed indirectly and directly; he had killed wicked people, and he had killed those who were not so wicked, or even somewhat innocent.

The more people one kills, the fewer emotional barriers the slaughter will cause.

When Wen Xishu found Russell, Russell had indeed already learned the concept of women. Looking at those monsters of the Sea of Sin in the sky that seemed to be frame-stuttering... Russell ultimately still wanted to return to the Ark.

But Wen Xishu did not give him such an opportunity.

Russell died.

The next person Wen Xishu had to kill was the sickly old man, Smith.

Smith was very calm. When Wen Xishu stated his intention to kill him, Smith smiled and said:

"Is it because of that child, Horn?"

Wen Xishu did not deny it.

Smith said:

"Then kill me. I have already experienced a happy old age here. After learning that this is a false world, and learning that the concept I lost was women..."

"I no longer have any feelings about returning to the Ark."

Wen Xishu drew his Scorpion Blade.

Smith said:

"Actually, on the Ark, I lived very close to Horn. The reason I have been able to live until now is that, like Horn, I possess some knowledge reserves that can be utilized by the Ark's administrators."

Wen Xishu did not act immediately, but patiently waited for Smith to finish speaking.

Smith said:

"Back then, Horn said that those old people shouldn't be treated like that. Now... I am just like those old people, about to die."

"Young man, answer me... what is the difference between Horn and the Captain? On the road to your great cause, what is the difference between the people who must be sacrificed and the old people sacrificed on the road of the Captain's rule?"

"Are you and the Captain not the same kind of people?"

After saying this, Smith smiled and closed his eyes.

Wen Xishu did not give an answer, but simply killed Smith with one strike.

But as he left, he was also pondering this question.

Yes, what is the difference between Horn and the Captain?

After thinking for a long time, Wen Xishu realized... the methods of many monarchs in history are actually similar. Some things cannot be avoided, nor can another path be found.

"The process may be the same, but the ultimate goals are different."

Wen Xishu did not get sentimental about this point and continued his actions.

He soon found the soldier, Elliott.

When Elliott learned that Wen Xishu had come to kill him, although he was not as composed as Smith, he still had enough courage:

"Will you... make the Ark a better place?"

Wen Xishu nodded:

"I believe in Horn."

Elliott also nodded:

"Can I not die?"

Wen Xishu shook his head:

"Sorry, given the current time, I cannot trust you."

Excluding Zhu Di and Mia, everyone who landed on the island was a man. Wen Xishu could imagine that after returning to the Ark, if the Captain knew what the lost concept was...

Then those who returned would inevitably have to undergo a test—a test from women.

Only when the Captain was certain that those who returned were unwilling to stay on the island, and had indeed lost the concept of women, would the Captain be at ease.

If only he and Horn returned, theoretically the risk would be minimal, but Horn felt that after Zhu Di returned, some things would be explained in a way that made people feel it was more reasonable.

But the other men were not necessarily the same.

Elliott died.

He clearly wanted to live, but to save Sirius, Wen Xishu dared not take that risk.

The last assassination target was the muscular black man, Jilu.

When Wen Xishu found Jilu, Jilu was already dead drunk. He enjoyed this place very much and did not seem to care much about the black shadows in the sky.

Here, Jilu could do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted.

His status was unprecedentedly high, and certain desires could be indulged to the fullest.

So Wen Xishu did not say much, just flashed, his dagger drew an arc, and he left, brushing his sleeves.

With this, everyone was dead.

Only Mia and Zhu Di remained. Mia had already been purified and had become a part of this world. Those black tentacles had completely brainwashed Mia; in Mia's cognition, there were no women in this world.

Despite this, Horn had already allowed Mia to complete her mission during this process.

After Mia was brainwashed, although she kept emphasizing that there were no women in this world, only men, her words seemed to carry a certain magic, which perhaps stemmed from Mia's own resistance to this cognition.

After repeating it many times, Mia also woke up, stopped repeating those words, and the concept of women was completely erased from her cognition.

But those who had heard Mia's words were already spread across the entire island.

If there was no day of the Island of Women, it just ended like this.

……

……

The Ark.

The scarlet sea fog finally faded, and the sea beast that had been slapping the Ark with its giant tentacles in the distance also, as in the past, retracted its tentacles and hid its massive body in the depths of the ocean.

Wen Xishu felt the familiar scene change; crisscrossing white lines deconstructed the space and then reconstructed it.

Soon, he arrived inside the Ark from the city, with Horn and Zhu Di around him.

Wen Xishu looked up.

The portal was in a closed state, with no more strange energy fluctuations.

The Chief Sergeant had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Wen Xishu and the others appear, he immediately said:

"Congratulations, three warriors. Thank you for your contributions to the Ark. Please follow me; we have prepared a banquet to welcome you back."

Wen Xishu and Horn noticed at first glance that following behind the Chief Sergeant was a group of female soldiers dressed very provocatively.

Each one of them looked like Quiet from Metal Gear, with almost nothing on their upper bodies and battle-damaged stockings on their lower bodies.

Horn, Wen Xishu, and Zhu Di, who had been trained by Horn for most of the day, all frowned:

"Please... can you make these guys dress normally?" Wen Xishu said.

The test had clearly already begun.

Wen Xishu's observational skills were very strong; even with his peripheral vision, he could notice the pinhole cameras on the Chief Sergeant.

I am afraid that not only the Chief Sergeant, but every place they were about to go had quite a few surveillance devices.

The Chief Sergeant said:

"Hahahaha, what are you saying, warrior? These... are all dishes on the table."

The Chief Sergeant revealed a lewd expression.

Wen Xishu felt physically uncomfortable:

"Sorry... I can't really accept this."

Acting is a required course for every Tower Climber. Even for the Slaughter Tower, Wen Xishu felt he needed to refine his acting skills.

The Chief Sergeant was very surprised by this disgusted reaction, but the people observing all of this felt much more at ease.

It was not just Wen Xishu; even Horn and Zhu Di showed expressions of disgust.

Zhu Di's profile was lesbian, but Zhu Di did not like men and would not start liking men just because she lost a certain concept.

Especially, if Zhu Di had truly lost the concept of women, then what appeared in Zhu Di's eyes would not be a group of beauties.

But a group of enchanting men.

So Zhu Di would be even more disgusted.

The three people's performance had no problems.

Wen Xishu and Horn were vivid and realistic, not like they were pretending. Although Zhu Di's acting was slightly worse, the disgust in her eyes was more convincing than that of Wen Xishu and Horn.

The three soon arrived at the dining table.

At the table, several blonde women with big wavy hair wanted to get close, but were rebuffed by Wen Xishu, who said that doing so would only cause him to lose his appetite.

Horn also hoped that if there was anything they wanted to ask, they should just ask directly.

In fact, the Chief Sergeant had received orders from a higher level, wanting to let women approach Wen Xishu and Horn to see if they had any... physiological reactions.

But Wen Xishu and Horn simply did not give such an opportunity.

And even if they did, in this high-pressure environment, the two could perform flawlessly.

Thus, the Chief Sergeant received new instructions, and the probing of the few people entered the second stage.

The Chief Sergeant began to ask what the few had experienced and how the others were doing.

Regarding this, Wen Xishu and Horn, these two people who calculated everything, had long since thought of a reasonable story.

Russell became a business owner, gained status, and was too happy to think of home. Smith became friends with a bunch of old people and enjoyed all the care. The black man Jilu was simply a walking sex machine, getting dead drunk in the red-light district. Elliott also gained people's respect and lived the life he liked.

As for Mia, it seemed that because she was very repulsed by her current body, a small malfunction occurred, but then the sky suddenly went dark.

Out of fear, Wen Xishu and the others left that area.

As for Wen Xishu and Huo En, neither liked men; they were physically repulsed by them. They chose to return to the Ark. In their memories, men on the Ark seemed more normal.

As for Zhu Di, because she was loathed by Mia, she was heartbroken and returned to the Ark.

This story was logical, and everyone’s performance was seamless.

The Chief of Soldiers even mentioned the word "woman," and Wen Xishu and Huo En had also deduced—

If they returned to the Ark and were no longer in the fragments of the Sinful Earth, it would mean the concept of "woman" had been completely erased. Even if they heard the word "woman," they would not recover the lost concept as they would in the Sinful Earth fragments.

Therefore, the three of them also rehearsed this reaction.

Although Zhu Di did not understand, she knew that following the two big shots was the right thing to do. Whatever the two big shots said, she would do.

So when the word "woman" appeared at the dinner table, Wen Xishu and Huo En were both stunned. Their stunned expressions were different, yet equally convincing.

Huo En also knew that Zhu Di was a woman, so even if Zhu Di had the concept erased, she had to act even more bewildered.

Zhu Di stared blankly with dead eyes for quite a while.

The Observer, Lilith, was finally convinced that these three had indeed lost the concept. Moreover, the Sinful Sea Behemoth had already left.

Everything seemed to indicate that Wen Xishu, Huo En, Zhu Di, and even the other few people had all lost the concept of "woman."

Of course, a total of eight people had entered the mental world of the Sinful Earth fragments, but the other five had fallen into a coma; they did not appear in the elevator but appeared in another part of the Ark.

These five people had become like vegetative patients. But to everyone else, being unable to wake up and being a vegetative patient were one and the same concept.

Wen Xishu and Huo En also asked about this topic, and the Chief of Soldiers said very naturally:

"Just as you know, they stayed on the island. We hope they are happy and content, don't we?"

The night of the first day.

Wen Xishu was given a room to himself, while Huo En and Zhu Di were assigned to a room together.

Without a doubt, the room where Huo En was staying was under surveillance. Letting the beautiful Zhu Di stay with Huo En was the final test.

The Observer wanted to see the various developments of a man and a woman alone in one room.

Huo En was very calm, letting Zhu Di help him onto the bed; during the process, Huo En did not deliberately avoid physical contact with Zhu Di.

Zhu Di also understood very well, because—Huo En had also guessed this possibility.

Therefore, when Zhu Di was taking care of Huo En, she did not show the coquettishness she usually displayed when serving the men on the Ark, but instead felt very masculine.

The two soon fell asleep, each returning to their own beds.

But even while sleeping, Huo En was still performing, without any deliberate concealment, and Zhu Di was the same; Zhu Di even slept topless.

It was just like men sleeping in a boys' dormitory, not deliberately hiding anything.

Everything was so natural, but all this naturalness was a carefully crafted performance after Wen Xishu and Huo En’s deductions.

The morning of the second day.

Wen Xishu and Huo En were eating in the cafeteria.

There were many cafeterias on the Ark, a full hundred of them, and each could accommodate nearly twelve thousand people.

At the same time, the Ark also had a food delivery service; besides the cafeterias, there were various more expensive restaurants.

In terms of resources, the Ark, like the bunker, adopted a system where merit was used as currency.

Everyone took on various tasks to earn merit, and merit could be exchanged for various available resources.

Because there were tens of thousands of people in the cafeteria, it was noisy, but it was also during this process that the surveillance could not hear the details.

The two waited until the second day to start plotting what would happen next.

"Wen Xishu, next, I will apply to go to the next island. Soon, the sea beasts will appear again."

"The Sinful Sea Behemoth, perhaps as we analyzed earlier, symbolizes some kind of... desire for self-rescue from Sirius."

"We preserved the concept of 'woman,' but the Sinful Sea Behemoth of Sirius still withdrew. Does this mean he is cooperating with us?"

Wen Xishu nodded naturally, then pointed at some food and gave a thumbs up, as if expressing that the food was not bad, but what he said was in response to Huo En:

"You mean, the next eight people have already been chosen?"

Huo En nodded:

"Actually, after we left, a selection ceremony was held very quickly to arrange the eight people for the next island landing. In theory, we are heroes..."

"Since we are heroes, we won't have the chance to be arranged to land on the island again for a short time."

"But—I can apply; I have already prepared a reasonable excuse."

Wen Xishu frowned:

"Then what about me?"

Huo En said:

"You cannot apply as well. That would be too... coincidental."

"I will list many reasons to land on the island that are enough to convince the administrators, such as—the urbanization on the island makes me feel far from the apocalypse, and the fact that there are no huge sea beasts chasing us on the island, etc."

"But if you do the same thing, it will inevitably arouse suspicion."

Wen Xishu said:

"You want me to... infiltrate?"

Huo En nodded:

"Yes, infiltrate. With your ability, infiltration should be no problem. How about you give me the controller?"

Wen Xishu did not hesitate at all; without anyone noticing, he passed the controller to Huo En from under the table.

They were like two secret agents meeting.

Huo En said:

"I will live up to your trust. With the experience of the first island landing, the second time, we might be able to avoid the sea beasts."

Wen Xishu was curious:

"The second island, in the language of Sirius, is crucial. I'm afraid it will be a very important concept. If this concept is gone, I wonder if the sentient beings on the island will appear extremely deformed?"

Huo En did not know either:

"We can only hope that we can find a way to clear the level. Wen Xishu, actually you are not from the Ark. If this is a game, you have already entered the safe zone, so can't you just go AFK now?"

Wen Xishu did not deny it:

"I could. Theoretically speaking, I just need to go AFK from here on out. I protected the concept of 'woman,' survived successfully, and don't need to land on the island again..."

Huo En’s gaze was fixed on Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu smiled:

"But I am a person who likes a challenge."

Huo En also smiled:

"Thank you, Wen Xishu. Before entering the elevator, I will arrange for everyone willing to help us to create a disturbance."

When the disturbance occurs, I will control you to enter that portal from outside the elevator at the fastest speed."

The two had already observed that although the elevator could take people into the portal, there were other paths to enter the portal.

It was just that this required jumping ability that exceeded human limits.

Coincidentally, Wen Xishu had it.

"This is a desperate, all-or-nothing operation, Wen Xishu. The concept of that world is very important. Once lost, you might also become a puppet of the Captain. You must think it over," Huo En said.

Wen Xishu suddenly looked straight at Huo En:

"Actually, you aren't without emotions, are you? When we first met, you said you lacked emotions; that was actually a lie, right?"

Huo En was slightly moved:

"Why do you say that?"

Wen Xishu said:

"Your decisiveness in killing is not as sharp as mine. Although you tried your best to hide it, you care a lot about the deaths of those people, right? You said you were imitating human emotions, but you weren't actually imitating; sometimes it was just a genuine outpouring of feelings, right?"

"Sometimes people set up a persona for themselves, and after saying certain things enough times, they start to believe it themselves. You want to be absolutely rational, right?"

Facing Wen Xishu’s several "right?" questions, Huo En did not respond; he did not know how to respond.

Wen Xishu said:

"Since we are friends, I will naturally help you. Don't worry, I will save Sirius, and you will become the master of the Ark."

Huo En let out a long sigh:

"If we were in the same place, we would definitely be very compatible partners."

Wen Xishu said:

"I think so too."

Huo En said:

"Then see you later. I hope the future me will be able to help you, just as you are helping me now."

The two soon finished their meal, then each turned and left.

But the greatest transformation belonging to the Ark also quietly began with the turning of the two.

(End of chapter)