Chapter 285 Crimson Mirror

After Xu Zhiyan finished speaking, the corridor fell into a brief silence.

The sudden change forced the two people who were fighting to stop and look around inconspicuously.

There were still residual meteorite fragments embedded in the walls on both sides, and the bounced flying knife shattered the glass, breaking several pieces in a row, not to mention the mirror in the room with the open door.

It is indeed a lethal loss.

Standing in the blood film, Xu Zhiyan seemed to be in no hurry. But in fact, he was constantly thinking in his heart, what if the two people in front of him didn't give him money!

After all, Jiang Huaique and Yu Xiu are still in the mirror, and he can't just leave and leave all the players trapped in the ruins world to fend for themselves. If the two guys in front of him are really prepared to die together, he can only consider himself unlucky and bear the losses.

Surprisingly, the astrologer was the first to speak.

"If you take only me away, you can pay as much money as you want." No nonsense, her meaning was very clear. Xu Zhiyan would only take her away and let the clown die under the punishment of the copy.

Both have seen the damage penalty.

The blood film in front of them now exuded a powerful force, and the attacks coming down on them were completely swallowed up. No one doubted the young man's words.

After the astrologer finished speaking, Xu Zhiyan, who was standing in the blood film, felt the sharp gaze from the clown.

"I'm just a businessman, and I don't really want to get involved in your fight."

He looked slightly apologetic.

To offset the damage caused by other people's fights would be like working in vain. Xu Zhiyan swore that he just wanted to protect his capital.

"This item is very expensive, so I won't use it unless it's absolutely necessary."

After saying that, he poked the blood film, and soon, a flying knife slipped out of the blood film and fell into Xu Zhiyan's hand.

It was the weapon that was swallowed by the blood membrane when it intercepted the attacks of the two people just now.

Once the blood is recovered by the ghosts and gods, he will no longer be able to take out such a useful defensive prop. However, there is no need to let others know that the ghost and god slices are a disposable prop.

People in the ideal country always want to kill him.

Then revealing some true or false information is the best option.

This is also one of the reasons why Xu Zhiyan received money in a high-profile manner.

Just as he predicted, the audience in the live broadcast room exclaimed in amazement at the blood film prop he took out this time.

[What kind of prop is this? I have never heard of it. ]

[Fuck! The Ugly Emperor's knife! ]

[At first I thought Xiao Baiwan was just bragging, but now that I see that the Ugly Emperor's knife has fallen into his hands... Damn, he is really awesome. ]

[The item that can stop two top players from fighting must be extremely expensive. ]

[Although Xiao Baiwan is really good at making money, this level of defensive props is already priceless, right? Who would sell it after getting it? Where did he get so many good things? ]

【Was it given anonymously? 】

[Forget it! Even if Anonymous is number one, he wouldn't be willing to give away such a powerful item, right? ]

[Yes, this item is extremely powerful. ]

[Could it be that Xiao Baiwan just got it from the eighth floor of the hotel? No wonder he dared to raise the price. ]

The power revealed by the blood is beyond the players' understanding.

But Xu Zhiyan didn't pretend too much.

In order to make himself look like he really had control over a 'powerful item that required a huge price to pay', he restrained his smile and spoke faster.

"If there's not enough money, I won't help you take on any more responsibility."

The astrologer has the skill of Astrological Rift that can move positions, but she has not used it again after fighting for such a long time, so Xu Zhiyan judged that they had damaged the museum too badly and they might have been completely "locked" inside.

Seeing the clown's serious face, Xu Zhiyan was afraid that this guy would go crazy, so he lowered his requirements.

"One million and one hundred thousand points per person. I think you can afford it."

"Those who have paid can choose to stay here and fight safely, or leave with me and go to the hotel."

Those who do not pay will bear the penalty for the damage themselves.

That's fair.

The Joker's Mask had damaged a larger area, and the Astrologer needed more breathing time to cease the fighting, so he charged equally.

The blood film between the two people became much darker in color.

Xu Zhiyan held up a payment code and quickly received 2.7 million points.

This is why he wants 1.1 million instead of 1 million. If each head costs one million, plus the clown's five hundred thousand, he will have to charge two and a half million, which doesn't sound good.

As a businessman, he always pays attention to auspiciousness. Tsk, if I had known earlier, I would have asked for 50,000 more to make up 280.

"Thank you for your patronage."

After receiving the guaranteed money, Xu Zhiyan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Before removing the blood film, he pointed to the circus tent embedded in the surrounding walls and asked in a low voice: "Do you want to take back the props? Don't worry, it won't collapse if you take it back now."

Taking money to do things is Xu Zhiyan’s life motto.

The clown did not take back the props earlier, probably because he was worried that the circus area was now embedded in the museum, and if he took them back hastily, it would cause the space to be dislocated and collapsed.

But with blood around, that's not a problem at all.

Xiao Gu Yan didn't waste any words and quickly retracted the strange mask. The mask on his wrist looked lively again.

"Hi, hi, hi~Boss Xu, we are here again——"

The strange mask returned to its owner's wrist, but before he could finish his sentence, the clown took his backpack back in the blink of an eye.

The silent man took a deep look at Xu Zhiyan who left with a smile.

The young man paused for a moment after passing him, then suddenly turned his head and blinked his right eye.

As if receiving some signal, the clown turned around, exerted force with his feet and his figure disappeared instantly. When the black afterimage appeared in front of the blood film, the astrologer wanted to say something, but the next second, the blood film disappeared and the clown's attacks fell like a rainstorm.

“Shua——”

The astrologer dodged, but still couldn't avoid being attacked.

A faint smell of blood appeared.

The original star disk had long been shattered, and she had not yet selected a new defensive item.

Seeing Xu Zhiyan already walking up the stairs, the astrologer couldn't hold back his expression, and there was anger in his words.

"Xu Zhiyan, are you going back on your word?"

Since you have received equal amounts of money, you should also give her the signal to withdraw the blood film!

"No, no, no, Boss, please don't frame me." Xu Zhiyan quickly waved his hand and held up a piece of paper and shook it.

"The money just now was to offset the damage. The ugly boss gave me extra money, so I would give him a signal in advance." He said it as a matter of course, and even the nicknames he gave to the two of them were so consistent.

The astrologer was furious. She had never thought of giving any extra money!

But the clown's new round of attack had already begun, and she had to shift her eyes away from Xu Zhiyan and concentrate on fending off the attack.

Now that we don't have to worry about damage...

Thinking in her mind, she began to move.

After solving the problem of basic income, Xu Zhiyan did not stay any longer and immediately went upstairs.

After making sure he was out of the two people's sight, he muttered something like "I hope it's an IOU" and opened the note given by the clown.

[Shell, dark alley, room 1129.]

An address.

Looks like you need to leave the instance to go there.

"What the hell..." Xu Zhiyan raised his eyebrows. He knew it was unlikely to be an IOU, but the coordinates were indeed a bit unexpected.

It looks like the Joker has some secrets he wants to tell him.

Before Xu Zhiyan could figure out what was going on, the slightly sour sound of blood began to sound. It hadn't spoken to Xu Zhiyan for several minutes.

"Will you keep your appointment after we leave?"

Xu Zhiyan shook his head, casually stuffed the note into his pocket and replied, "It depends. I hope these secrets won't affect my ability to make money."

Hearing the young man's indifferent tone, my blood became happy.

"It's better not to go. That mute doesn't look like a good person."

Hearing the nickname that Blood gave to the clown, Xu Zhiyan almost vomited. He doesn't look like a good person at all. The reason for this suggestion is too ridiculous.

However, he had just made some money and was in a good mood, so he even liked the blood a lot better.

Come to the eighth floor.

This place is intact and has not been affected by any fighting.

Time was running out, so Xu Zhiyan didn't wait any longer and pushed open the door leading to the Hall of Mirrors.

Since he had already fought a round of secret battles with the out-of-control system, his blood did not stop flowing. He openly fought back against the attack from the huge mirror that fell on Xu Zhiyan after he opened the door.

Don’t tell Xu Zhiyan about these things that happened in secret, it thought.

The Hall of Mirrors remains the same as before.

After Xu Zhiyan came in, he didn't feel anything wrong except that there was a faint red tint everywhere he looked.

He cleared his throat and spoke loudly.

"Hello, I am a player thrown in by the game system."

“We have no intention of getting involved in a fight between systems.”

"I came here hoping that we still have room for negotiation, or cooperation..."

Relying on the fact that the main system of the information here could not obtain it, Xu Zhiyan explained the current situation in a few words and showed a strong desire to cooperate.

"I heard that the main system often inserts NPCs here. I personally strongly condemn this behavior. If possible, you only need to pay a little reward to fight back and let the players help you do some harmless little things."

He was just about to put the money asking for money on his face.

After talking for several minutes, the out-of-control system did not give any response.

The blood was very reluctant and stopped Xu Zhiyan from saying anything more. It could come forward and beat this guy out.

"A guy like this who puts on airs will behave himself after a beating."

"No, no, no, you can't bully my partner." Xu Zhiyan quickly stopped him, but he put his hand on the blood film and rubbed it twice, neither lightly nor heavily, as if to encourage him.

The blood didn't quite understand, but it felt itchy inside as it was being rubbed. It hesitated for a moment and whispered in displeasure.

"I'm sure it will reply if I give it a beating."

"No, I came here with sincerity..."

"……trouble."

"I believe Mr. System didn't mean to ignore me. Calm down first."

The two of them were talking to each other.

After a few sentences, the blood realized the pattern.

As long as it threatened it severely, Xu Zhiyan would touch it twice. If it lowered its voice, he would not touch it.

Although it didn't know why, it was very happy to be touched. In order to make the other party touch it harder, it began to refute with confidence, and it was almost about to call out the out-of-control system for a fight!

One plays the good guy and the other plays the bad guy.

After using both soft and hard tactics, Xu Zhiyan finally waited for his new target.

A line of words appeared on the huge mirror.

[Human, aren't you afraid?]

The audacious human in front of it revealed in his words that he was willing to help it to cheat the main system.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Xu Zhiyan smiled with narrowed eyes.

Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk.

There is no profit without risk.

He relied on dumping supplies to impact the main system mall and used the safe house to produce items in exchange for huge wealth. These transactions lingered in the gray area and were not compliant.

No one knows when the main system will target him, so he has no pressure in cheating the main system.

"But before the transaction, I hope you can release the humans who were forced into the ruins world. If you are willing to give me a ruins world, then I will develop some props that can reshape the ruins world through more advanced research and development methods and trade them to you."

I don’t know if it can be developed, but let’s draw the pie first.

Humans can bring about changes to the ruined world with great regret, but what about monsters? What about other living things? Or other props that can carry emotions?

The out-of-control system in front of us wants to become the second main system.

If he could get a ruined world, Xu Zhiyan felt that with the help of the technology tree, he might be able to get a better option.

Even though Blood expressed disdain for the ruined world that had already been used up, Xu Zhiyan's greed was ready to act. As long as he had never seen it or had it, he wanted to get it!

So, can't we really give him a ruined world or something like that?

There was no more writing on the huge mirror, and the out-of-control system seemed to be calculating something.

Sensing the other party's hesitation, Xu Zhiyan began to play the emotional card.

"Actually, I'd like to know what you went through to make this choice. Can you tell me?"

He wondered how out of control the system had become.

If there is pure malice towards humanity, then the subsequent negotiations may be very difficult.

"Tsk, trouble."

Blood hadn't gotten over the state of 'I can be touched if I'm threatened' yet, and his voice was full of arrogance, as if he was going to punch the mirror in front of him to pieces in the next second.

Xu Zhiyan's mouth twitched, and he gave Xue Meng a hammer, signaling the other party to shut up.

This time the force was much stronger than the last time. The blood membrane couldn't help but twist its body, and its color became even redder. It seemed to be enjoying it very much, and it began to think about saying something more severe.

The result was unexpected.

Perhaps the pressure from the blood was too great, and a few lines of words appeared on the mirror again.

[I don’t want this world to become a ruin.]

Xu Zhiyan was stunned. He seemed to sense some warmth in these words. A few minutes later, he got more information.

[I used to be the system of the museum copy, but unfortunately, the copy failed to upgrade three times in a row and could not be closed to the public, so it had to be destroyed.]

[I will be transferred away from here soon...]

It accompanied the museum from a one-star copy to a five-star copy, but the higher the copy, the more difficult it became to upgrade. Destruction seemed to be the only outcome, with no other way out.

[I made everyone into a mirror.]

[This way, even if the dungeon world becomes a ruin, everyone will not die.]

Its program gives the optimal solution.

At that time, it did not realize what was happening, but just reported to its superiors, hoping to take away the mirrors containing the souls of NPCs.

[The system should not have feelings for the dungeon world. A system that has developed feelings is no longer suitable to be a system.]

[I was expelled.]

[However, since I had analyzed the current instance in detail before leaving, I was briefly freed when the control chain was disconnected.]

The process was not very beautiful, and the result was not good either.

Everything was going in the worst direction.

[Three years ago, I was caught.]

Hearing this, the blood was stunned, and it really wanted to beat up the out-of-control system.

It was staying well in the hotel three years ago.

After closing the dungeon and driving away the NPC, it soaks happily in the blood pool, waiting for the scattered blood clones to bring it various messages. Although it feels a bit lonely, as long as it cuts itself into pieces enough, it can get enough clones to communicate. Except for the occasional sequelae of split mental illness, there are no other problems.

Speaking of which, Xueli suddenly thought of the NPCs that were previously assigned to the hotel. Many of them were also killed by the out-of-control system...

So those NPCs were originally heading for the museum?

At that time, it thought it was a provocation from the out-of-control system, so it fought with the out-of-control system and blew up the opponent's building.

Fortunately, the out-of-control system didn't care, or had forgotten about it.

[I'm stuck here.]

[In order to regain control, the main system has stuffed a lot of NPCs here.]

Xu Zhiyan didn't say anything.

No wonder… No wonder there are so many categories of mirrors in the museum.

Some were carefully covered with glass and placed in display cabinets, while others were thrown on the ground and trampled on by people.

For the out-of-control system, only the NPCs that were with it at the beginning were the ones it wanted to protect. No matter how many NPCs were sent by the main system with a purpose, they were all full of malicious intent...

Well, it seems so.

Xu Zhiyan frowned and thought of the kitten.

If the rest were like their companions, and their bodies were sealed using some strange method after death and sent here as pathfinders, then to the out-of-control system, they were indeed enemies, and it seemed normal for them to be stuffed into the mirror and sealed.

[Later, the main system sent some human players.]

[I discovered that they are... No, you are different.]

NPCs cannot enter the ruins world, but human players can. With strong willpower and a complete memory system, as long as the out-of-control system provides enough power, they can reshape the ruins world.

[I need a world to put everyone in a safe place.]

As a system, it doesn't think there is anything wrong with turning abandoned NPCs into mirrors. Its wish is simple and somewhat frightening.

Xu Zhiyan's heart was pounding when he heard this.

"So you just need a space filled with energy to place these mirrors?"

[Yes. ]

[But I'm stuck here and can't leave.]

"I do know a guy who has power and can shape space. Most importantly, he can make you slip away from the main system."

His voice was steady, yet inexplicably carried a hint of bewitching undertones.

The blood finally reacted and couldn't help but swell its blood film, as if it didn't understand why Xu Zhiyan would want to incorporate this inexplicably out-of-control system.

Xu Zhiyan ignored the blood dog's sneaky movements and boldly made an invitation.

"If you just do something for me, I can help provide a safe and stable place for your friends."

Although I don’t know what the out-of-control system is used for, I’ll use it first!

The safe house has been upgraded several times and many rooms have been opened. He had already considered expanding it. At most, he could add a mirror room for the out-of-control system. He believed that this would not be a problem for Party A.

Xu Zhiyan didn't show it on his face, but the abacus beads in his mind were almost sparking.

"What are you hesitating about? I'll take care of the main system, but I guess this world won't be worth it."

The copy was already in such tatters... Well, although he wanted it very much, the museum and the hotel were too conspicuous and it was difficult to pack it up and take it away, so he could only give up with tears.

The conditions offered by Xu Zhiyan were too generous.

After the out-of-control system finished its calculations, it found that its demands had been fully met.

[You are such a generous human player.]

It praised generously.

"It's okay, it's okay. I am a kind-hearted person and I can't bear to see people being homeless." Xu Zhiyan shamelessly accepted the compliment and felt from the bottom of his heart that he had done another good thing and gave a warm home to the beings persecuted by the main system.

Suddenly, his guild dialog box lit up.

【Jin Sheng: Ahhhhhh Brother Xu, where are you? The hotel is starting to collapse! 】

[Jin Sheng: I see the museum across the street is still normal. I and others are running towards the museum. Brother Xu, you should run too!]

It was Jin Sheng who had finally solved the anomaly in the lobby bar in the morning and was finally able to rest. He had just fallen asleep for a short while when Xiaoyi woke him up by holding his collar and shaking him.

Xu Zhiyan was stunned.

No! Wait! The blood is on the eighth floor of the hotel, so the door to the safe house...

He turned his head and looked out the window.

The Scarlet Hotel, which is far away from the museum, is collapsing rapidly, and smoke and dust are sweeping in all directions like the wind.

Before he could open his mouth to ask, Blood's mocking words rang in his ears.

"Don't worry too much."

"If the original body can't even keep the door open in front of this broken system, what right does He have to take me back?"

What right does He have to possess you?

Xu Zhiyan really didn't expect that at this time, there was a hint of provocation and excitement in Blood-Deep's words.

Glancing at a pearl-sized eye emerging on the blood film, he inexplicably felt it somewhat familiar, but the situation was urgent now, and he didn't dare to ask what this eyeball was. He just frowned, stretched out his finger, and poked the bulging eyeball with his hand, not knowing how to answer.

…

Inside the safe house.

The monsters cannot judge whether the ghosts and gods are in a good or bad mood, so they can only keep their tails between their legs and act weird.

The hot magma is steaming and flowing.

The ghosts and gods sit on the throne.

He seemed to have heard something funny, and his barely audible snort was filled with tangible murderous intent.

But the next second, he suddenly reached out and touched his right eye.

Xu Zhiyan didn’t know yet that he had partial vision, but the young man discovered him the moment his eyeballs appeared... Well, it felt very strange, as if someone had gently stroked his eyelids.

Thinking of the young man's worried expression in the last shot, Guishen felt inexplicably better.

…

After a few minutes, the collapse stopped.

Xu Zhiyan came back to his senses, walked to the window, and stared at it intently. He had absolute confidence in Party A, but after all, this was just a door, and Party A couldn't reach it. God knew what would happen in the end.

Until the smoke clears.

His heart dropped back into his stomach.

Above the ruins, there is only one staircase leading to the sky.

The eighth floor, the top floor of the hotel, seemed to be unaffected by the collapse from the outside world and was still hanging high in the air, unshakable.