Chapter 41: The First Deceased

The man was about one meter ninety tall, but what stood out most was not his height, but his arms, which hung naturally and easily reached past his knees.

His arm span was so astonishing that it felt as if he could touch the ground with his fists just by bending over slightly.

Judging solely by his limb proportions, in Wen Xishu’s eyes, this last teammate looked even more like an ape than Nisen.

Of course, what was most striking was the man’s mouth, which was sealed by an iron muzzle. Wen Xishu had only ever seen such an getup in anime.

Usually, once the muzzle is removed, it triggers some kind of second phase.

However, Kane, Park Yingshuang, and Sita were all quite bold, and they didn't pay much attention to this attire.

"My name is... Zheng Zai." The man spoke with some difficulty.

"I'm sorry, I hope my appearance didn't scare you... I have to be like this. I am trying to break a certain desire."

Zheng Zai’s voice sounded quite gentle. If not for that iron muzzle, Zheng Zai might have given the impression of a big, tall guy who was rather reassuring and a bit simple-minded.

Wen Xishu noticed that Zheng Zai would glance at Sita from time to time.

"Is there some kind of scent on Sita that is attracting him?"

"He is trying to break a certain desire?"

Wen Xishu couldn't help but ask:

"Are you sick?"

Zheng Zai nodded:

"I am sick. But it cannot be cured."

Wen Xishu asked again:

"There is a Level 6 hospital on the second floor now; can't they cure you either?"

Zheng Zai shook his head:

"After the epidemic ended, that hospital stopped being very accessible to ordinary people... I have to earn money, earn enough money in the Ghost Tower."

Wen Xishu suddenly had a guess:

"Which tower did you go to last time?"

Zheng Zai quite liked it when people asked questions; in that case, a certain desire of his would diminish because his attention would be partially diverted:

"In, the Ghost Tower, fourth floor. That mission... I completed it. Level 4 completion."

Ghost Tower, fourth floor, Level 4 completion.

The Ghost Tower itself should have bonuses, and with a Level 4 completion, the supplies should be very abundant...

Combining this with Zheng Zai’s physical fitness, Wen Xishu said:

"What crime did you commit?"

Zheng Zai was slightly startled, as if his thoughts hadn't kept up with Wen Xishu.

He was silent for two or three seconds before speaking slowly:

"My father... was arrested during the anti-corruption campaign. My family members are all prisoners."

It was actually somewhat similar to his own fate.

But with the term anti-corruption added, plus the collective punishment... it stood to reason that Zheng Zai’s father was no ordinary person.

Wen Xishu asked one last question:

"How long ago was this?"

Zheng Zai looked about thirty years old, but he already seemed somewhat weathered; he replied:

"Twelve years ago."

"Alright, welcome to our team."

Twelve years ago; it seemed it had nothing to do with the Wen family.

Wen Xishu did not sense a shred of malice from Zheng Zai, which made him feel good.

As for Zheng Zai’s illness, perhaps it wasn't an illness at all.

Of course, Wen Xishu could not judge that for now.

"Captain, why don't you take the role?" Wen Xishu suddenly looked at Park Yingshuang.

Logically speaking, the probability of someone arranged by the higher-ups happening to become his teammate was very low, but based on the fact that he was always experiencing various low-probability events, Wen Xishu never harbored any wishful thinking.

Arranging for Park Yingshuang to be the captain was, on one hand, to observe her, and on the other, because she might have some intelligence.

At this moment, Sita raised an objection:

"Why should a woman be the captain? Women are meant to be... no, I can't accept this."

Wen Xishu looked at Kane:

"Do you also think this beautiful lady is not suitable to be the captain?"

Kane shook his head:

"Of course not. Gender equality, hey, this beautiful lady must have rich experience in climbing towers, and I am willing to learn from her."

Zheng Zai and Mendemuer said nothing.

Park Yingshuang asked:

"Why did you choose me to be the captain?"

Wen Xishu seemed to change the subject:

"The keyword for this mission is 'parrot.' Regarding parrots, having climbed the Desire Tower many times, do you have any impressions?"

Park Yingshuang frowned:

"This is also my first time climbing the Ghost Tower; how could I know what a parrot represents? Although the highest level of the bunker promoted the use of the Chinese language as the official language back then, your language... is very obscure."

"Your writing is simply complex for the sake of being complex."

Wen Xishu said:

"Alright, alright, Ms. Park, I don't expect you to understand the beauty of the Chinese language, but what I want to say is, do you have any memories regarding parrots in the Desire Tower?"

Park Yingshuang seemed to hear that, in Wen Xishu’s words, there might be a connection between the Desire Tower and the Ghost Tower.

She actually valued Wen Xishu’s words quite a bit.

After all...

Unlike the others, Park Yingshuang had indeed come here specifically for Wen Xishu; Wen Xishu’s intuition was not wrong.

The six people had finished forming their team, and they had less than an hour to prepare for battle.

Park Yingshuang naturally also hoped to survive; only by surviving could she have a chance to obtain a better life.

For this mission, the bunker’s higher-ups—mainly the Administration Bureau—arranged 244 female special agents. Although these women usually only mingled in the lower levels of the Desire Tower, they each had their own skills.

And the bunker’s Security Bureau also arranged for quite a few non-academy graduates to infiltrate the Ghost Tower, totaling 450 men.

Students who graduated from academies were related to the Three Towers Academy and could not be persecuted. But the Security Bureau recruited some people from the bottom of society every year to do "dirty work," and even cultivated death squads.

Nearly seven hundred people were thrown into the Ghost Tower just to team up with Wen Xishu and obtain the secret to clearing the Ghost Tower. These people might all die, and the bunker’s Security Bureau and Administration Bureau were actually prepared to pay huge compensation for this.

And this was just the ones with official status; as for those without, the real criminals, it was unknown how many had been arranged, and some data was unknown even to Park Yingshuang herself.

All of this indicated how important the secret hidden within Wen Xishu was.

Park Yingshuang said:

"You should all know the number one person of the Desire Tower, Wenren Jing, right?"

Everyone nodded; this name could be said to be known to all.

Park Yingshuang continued:

"Wenren Jing also once had regrets. Regarding parrots, what I know is the colored bird written about by Wenren Jing on the fourth floor..."

"'Even a colored bird will have regrets. She didn't want love; I gave her the wrong thing. At that time, I was greedy for speed and used the wrong method. That was one of the very few Level 1 completions in my life.'"

"'To this day, I also regret why I looked at her so superficially. What the bird wanted was true freedom.'"

Park Yingshuang said:

"My study of the Chinese language is indeed insufficient, but I can still read from this that the earlier Wenren Jing expressed great regret over the final outcome of that bird."

"You ask me about parrots... the only thing I can think of is that colored bird."

Wen Xishu nodded:

"You see, you are very suitable to be the captain; after all, you have experience that none of us have. Perhaps in this team-up, some things you recall occasionally will be of great help to us."

Park Yingshuang did not decline.

She believed that she had not been exposed, and only by not being exposed could she obtain as much of Wen Xishu’s intelligence as possible.

Otherwise, once the other party became guarded, it would be troublesome.

So she nodded:

"Listening to you, these two birds... are related? If that is truly the case, I hope my memories will really be of help to everyone."

The captain of the six was Park Yingshuang, and the six also briefly got to know each other.

Except for Wen Xishu and Zheng Zai, everyone else was exploring the Ghost Tower for the first time and had previously been in other tower systems.

Time passed quickly, and after the group had prepared without error... they simultaneously activated their login devices.

The world of the parrot descended.

Wen Xishu was not surprised; this was indeed not a birdcage. It was a special room... with doors on all four sides.

Apart from the doors on the four sides, there was only a chaotic vortex in the room; there was nothing else.

This room really did have a bit of the feel of a parrot cage.

Because in Wen Xishu’s view, the doors on the four sides opened like an open birdcage, yet the birds dared not fly away. Just like everyone here, they were all hesitating on the spot, waiting for someone to give an order.

[Please choose a door and find the item behind it that needs to be purified. Each item allows two people to leave. The final score will be determined by the number of purifiable items obtained.]

"It seems we need to enter the rooms and find an object... There are six of us, so as long as we find three objects, we can all leave," said Mendemuer.

Although he was timid, he was not so frightened by the scene that he couldn't think.

Xita, meanwhile, walked up to a door:

"I... I smell a scent I like!"

A black vortex filled every corner of their vision. Wen Xishu and the others could not see the scene inside the door.

Wen Xishu had to admit that brainstorming was best. His first thought was that the door led to another space.

So, if one couldn't see, one could only enter blindly.

But the logic of the Indian brother was truly unfathomable; Xita’s first thought was actually... to take a sniff.

Heaven knows what scent he smelled that made him feel it was familiar and likable?

However, this did give Wen Xishu a bit of an idea:

"Then let's take this door? It’s useless for us to just stand here. It seems there are four doors leading to four different scenes, and these scenes... will eventually form the birdcage that causes the 'parrot' to fall."

"There are four different items in the four scenes, and we need to find them. If we find one, it should allow two people to leave, and those who leave might achieve a Level 1 completion."

"Whoever finds it can leave, and they can designate one person to leave with them. No problem, right?"

Upon hearing it was just about finding items, everyone felt the difficulty didn't seem high.

Xita said:

"No problem, let's go in quickly, I can't wait."

Zheng Zai also said slowly:

"No, prob, lem."

After entering the Ghost Tower area, Wen Xishu felt Zheng Zai becoming increasingly strange, and his gaze grew more terrifying and ferocious whenever he looked at Xita.

Xita himself did not notice, his mind entirely on the scent behind the door that he liked.

Park Yingshuang had no objections to Wen Xishu's instructions, though she was not blindly obedient to him:

"If we stand here and do nothing, will we be forced to return safely after seven days? This isn't the Desire Tower; there is no setting where we die if we don't achieve the mission objective."

This was a good suggestion. In Wen Xishu's view, proposing this could, to a certain extent, reduce his suspicion of Park Yingshuang.

Because it was reasonable.

Everyone didn't know the danger behind the doors, so waiting in place for seven days wasn't impossible.

However, before Wen Xishu could give a reason why they couldn't do that—the variables in the arena made everyone realize they couldn't.

Because... Xita felt the door move.

He was the one closest to the door because he had leaned in to sniff it with his nose.

So, Xita was the first to sense the subtle movement of the door.

"The door is moving, it's leaning toward us!"

Wen Xishu glanced at Park Yingshuang:

"Captain, it seems we cannot stay here. Assuming one door contains one scene, and there is a strange entity in that scene to harm us..."

"Then if we keep staying here... it is very likely that all four doors will gather together, and we will enter all four scenes at once."

"By then, the danger and variables will be four times... no, if there are combinations, it will be more than four times."

Park Yingshuang nodded:

"My oversight, I'll listen to you."

In fact, the pitch-black chaos all around already made Park Yingshuang feel uncomfortable; she was afraid of this kind of scene.

She wanted to survive, and to do that, she had to make good use of Wen Xishu.

Wen Xishu did not expose her thoughts; he no longer hesitated, moving even faster than Xita, and was the first to walk into the door.

The others, seeing the chaos swallow Wen Xishu's figure, although they felt a little fear inside, thought of Wen Xishu's words and entered the door one by one.

Books were scattered all over the floor.

If viewed from a high vantage point, one would see exercise books and workbooks placed on a desk taller than a person; on the opened workbooks, there were marks of fingernails clawing through the pages.

Wen Xishu was the first to enter, and the moment he did, he realized this was a study.

A giant study.

When he discovered that the palm-sized books were actually half as tall as he was, he realized that either he had been shrunk, or everything in this study was larger than standard human study furnishings.

To Wen Xishu, the desk felt as high as a wall.

When he looked up, he felt the ceiling was dozens of meters away.

There were many things in the room. A pen holder, a trophy, many books on the bookshelf, a desk, an office desk, a chair, a certificate of merit, a music box...

Everything was larger than he had expected.

Wen Xishu walked up to a huge, tattered page.

It was his first time seeing such a huge page; it was as if a page from a workbook filled with exercises had been stretched out on a 65-inch giant screen.

"This is... seventh-grade exercises?"

The scene was Jiangcheng.

Wen Xishu viewed the Three Towers world as a parallel universe version of his previous life's world.

He guessed this might be a place similar to Suzhou or Shanghai.

The room's decoration style didn't show any issues, but the scattered pages and discarded books made it look like it had experienced a struggle.

Before Wen Xishu could analyze what the pollutant might be or how to find it, he heard the voice of the Indian brother, Xita:

"I smell it! It's that scent, it's that scent!"

Xita began to run frantically toward a corner of the room.

If the proportions were normal, this room would be about twenty square meters, and even running a diagonal would only take a few steps.

However, because the proportions had changed, Xita ran for quite a while, almost at a hundred-meter dash speed.

At this moment, Wen Xishu, Kane, Mendemuer, and Zheng Zai all looked at the destination of Xita's sprint—

The items there made Kane reveal a mysterious smile, while Wen Xishu frowned slightly.

They were a woman's clothes.

Because they were magnified, the lace panties were enough to cover Xita's entire upper body. And Xita was indeed thinking of doing just that.

Like a pervert, he was frantically trying to press his whole body against them.

When a person is in a state of hunger, their sense of smell becomes acute.

But perhaps only the Indian race would have such a change in that regard as well.

That Xita could smell the scent on the woman's clothes from behind the door, actually dozens of meters away, made Wen Xishu have to admire him.

But at this moment, Wen Xishu also saw the barrage.

From Zheng Zai.

"Meat... I want to eat meat!"

Wen Xishu suddenly had a feeling that a big scene was about to happen.

Not long after Xita's mad dash, Zheng Zai finally couldn't control himself; his reason was trying to command his body not to move, but his limbs had already begun to twitch involuntarily.

It looked exactly like a zombie.

At the same time, Xita had already rushed to the giant clothes.

But suddenly, Xita stopped in his tracks.

Because a piece of information appeared in his mind:

[You have found an item, it bears traces of sin, do you wish to purify it?]

There was a pollutant in the room that needed to be purified; as long as one found this item, they could gain a chance to leave the Ghost Tower and receive at least a Level 1 completion reward.

As soon as Xita saw that it bore traces of sin, combined with his brain being overly excited by the woman's scent, he chose to purify it without almost any thought.

In this instant, the study, which had previously looked only somewhat messy, changed.

A strange aura descended in that moment, and the giant music box that Wen Xishu had noticed at the beginning suddenly began to play music.

Wen Xishu seemed to have guessed this development; he even guessed why Xita had paused, because he had received the same prompt when he touched the book page.

It was just that Wen Xishu had chosen "Refuse to purify."

This game was about finding items; if it were in the Desire Tower, perhaps there would be no penalty for errors, but this was the Ghost Tower—once you found the wrong thing, there would inevitably be a penalty.

So Wen Xishu refused to purify.

At this moment, he could have warned Xita, but he didn't.

His eyes were as cold as polar ice, and the playfulness deep in his pupils made him seem like a troll.

As the music began to play, everyone heard a prompt in their minds.

[Good girl, you are really good at hiding, so you were here all along; today's lesson is very tight!]

This voice was full of grease, making one feel nauseated, especially Park Yingshuang, who instantly thought of those obese high-level leaders.

Not long after the voice fell, everyone saw a terrifying scene: the strange entity hiding in the items finally revealed its figure.

Wen Xishu began to look for a hiding place; he didn't look at what was happening.

He only guessed from the prompt that he had to hide next. He didn't share this information with anyone.

"Sorry, Liu sir, of course I want to be a good person, provided that in the game rules, a good person can survive to the end."

Xita, not knowing what he was encountering, let out a shrill wail.

The first teammate met their death.

(This chapter should have more words than the two chapters yesterday, but there is still one more chapter! It will be posted in the afternoon.)

(End of this chapter)