The players in the Blackrock City scene in Chapter 72 are from the tank squad, and...

"It's a bat."

Hanging upside down, its claws were as sharp as knives, gripping tightly into the cracks in the ceiling.

Sensing the intrusion of strangers, the giant bat flapped its wings slightly. The dim light cast dappled shadows, and Jiang Yang and Ji Yang could then see that its body occupied almost a quarter of the entire ceiling, while its dark wings clung tightly to the wall, completely covering the ceiling light.

A pair of crimson eyes slowly opened, long fangs protruding from the corners of their mouths. They faced each other silently, the air thick with a suffocating sense of oppression.

Suddenly, the bat began to flap its wings violently, creating friction in the surrounding air and producing a strong sulfurous odor. Then, it flipped over and adjusted its posture, spreading its wings and flying straight towards the two people outside the door.

Its outstretched wings could almost completely envelop the two of them. It nimbly pounced forward, and Ji Yang pushed Jiang Yang aside before drawing his sword to meet it.

The bounty has been opened in the Jiangyang observation room.

An observer, tasked with "killing the bats," climbed to the top of the bounty list after several throws.

This round of bidding lasted five minutes. All the other competitors who were competing with him gave up decisively when the price was too high. Just as the countdown was about to end, an observer with a mission called "Protect the Bats" quietly appeared and spent a fortune.

One observer complained, "It's not that I don't understand, but at a time like this, are they still planning to stage a scene of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature?"

There were many similar comments, but those advocating for bat protection didn't reply; instead, they were distracted and pulled up a replay of an observation.

The player in the video is from the tank squad. The moment he kills the bat, it's as if all the blood in his body has been instantly drained by something, leaving his flesh taut against his skeleton, making him look emaciated.

Observers have neither absolute goodwill nor malice.

But there is only one possibility for issuing such a vicious "kill" mission: someone is deliberately targeting them from other observation rooms.

The sword pierced the bat's wing, and the bat let out a shrill and piercing cry. Ji Yang took a step back, holding the sword hilt, and the sword tip cut through flesh and blood. The bat began to frantically flap its wings in place, as if to relieve the pain.

Jiang Yang's heart, which had been pounding, eased slightly. The bat, like a trapped beast, was about to take flight again. At the same time, the bounty auction ended, and the first side quest popped up on the panel.

Kill the bats

Protect bats

Faced with two diametrically opposed choices, Jiang Yang had to make a decision within one minute.

It turned out that the countdown ended as a barrage of comments condemning the killing of the bats appeared on the screen.

According to the system's statistics, the soul weights thrown in the two tasks miraculously reached the same number, so the system gave the decision-making power to Jiang Yang.

The barrage of comments paused for a moment as all observers awaited Jiang Yang's choice.

The young man shifted his feet slightly. Ji Yang had clearly gained the upper hand in this battle against the giant bat. It could be said that even without this mission, it wouldn't have changed the outcome of its death. So if death wasn't the point, could it be... the person who killed the bat?

Is it that Ji Yang cannot kill the bat, or is it that he absolutely must kill the bat?

Jiang Yang stared intently at the 60-second countdown on the panel, struggling with his decision.

Kill...or protect...

The question is, why would it be protection?

If you don't want him to kill the bats, you can simply set the task to have a straightforward requirement like "don't kill the bats".

Furthermore, if you don't want Ji Yang to kill the bats, the mission can also be set to "prevent Ji Yang from killing the bats".

But... it's about protection...

!!

Jiang Yang understood!

Preventing Ji Yang from killing the bats does not affect Jiang Yang's ability to kill them.

Whether they stop Jiang Yang from killing the bat or stop Ji Yang from killing the bat, the bat's death is inevitable, and one of them will have to bear the consequences of killing the bat.

The intention behind protecting the bats was to prevent not only him from taking action, but also Ji Yang from doing so.

He suddenly shouted, "Ji Yang, do you believe me?"

Ji Yang answered earnestly and firmly, "Jiang Yang, I will always believe in you."

Then let's die together!

A carefree smile spread across the young man's face; whatever the consequences, they would bear them together.

He pressed the "Protect the Bats" button, and the mission took effect.

Jiang Yang rushed between the man and the bat. Ji Yang's face was covered in bloodstains from the bat's scratches. Jiang Yang grasped the man's sword-wielding hand. Ji Yang was puzzled but still sheathed his sword to avoid accidentally injuring the other.

Before the bat could react, the man was dragged along by the young man as they fled frantically through the city.

Protection was out of the question, and Jiang Yang reasoned that rather than waiting for that unknown outcome, the chances of the two of them escaping were relatively high.

The bats relentlessly pursued them, showing no sign of stopping even after they left. They chased each other for almost ten minutes, until the two of them finally found their way back to the pancake shop.

With the bats no longer obscuring the interior, the pancake shop was revealed. Jiang Yang glanced back and immediately decided, "Let's go in!"

After the two entered, Ji Yang closed the door again. The thin wooden door isolated their presence. The bat, having lost its target, folded its wings and stood in front of the shop window. Ji Yang and Jiang Yang hid behind the cashier to avoid its sight, but it seemed to have identified the intruders as being there and remained outside the shop, unwilling to leave.

The pancake shop was small, and the two of them were cramped in the small space. After a while, Jiang Yang felt a sore and numb discomfort in his calves. Ji Yang reached out and helped him up, and Jiang Yang took the opportunity to change his position and kneel down in front of him.

There was a small note attached to it, with a symbol drawn on it that Jiang Yang couldn't understand.

To cover his embarrassment, Ji Yang took the note and immediately recognized its contents.

"It's the Hanged Man."

"ah?"

"He left it there, and he must have attracted the bats outside as well."

As Ji Yang explained, a wisp of fire shot from his fingertips, igniting the paper.

Jiang Yang peeked out from behind the counter, and the bats guarding the window suddenly disappeared as the note burned out.

He turned to Ji Yang incredulously and asked, "Is the Hanged Man also in Blackrock City?"

"It's possible that it's in a convoy of tanks."

The appearance of the bats meant that they were more than one step behind their opponents.

Seeing Jiang Yang's eagerness, Ji Yang patted his hair reassuringly, "Work first, don't rush."

Without an interview or any hints, the two found a work log on the table. The first page of the log was a blank scoring sheet, with only one field for their names to fill in.

They guessed that these were probably the procedures required for onboarding, so they picked up pens and signed their names.

The log then automatically flipped to the next page, revealing new content.

[Part-time Job Information for Bat Pancake Shop]

Business Hours: 10:00-16:00

[After joining the company, employees must not be late or leave early, must close the store as soon as possible at night, and must not work overtime.]

[We offer takeout service. Orders must be delivered within 15 minutes of being prepared. Please do not keep your customers waiting.]

No! I want! A bad review!

Ji Yang's fingertip landed on the last item and tapped it, then he turned his head and tentatively asked, "Um...can you cook?"

Jiang Yang shook his head back and forth forcefully, his desire to deny it was very strong.

"Then I'll do it," Ji Yang sighed, resignedly walked to the control panel and put on an apron.

The worktable was further inside the cashier area. After entering, Ji Yang first examined the tools placed on the table. The batter and egg liquid were prepared, and he judged that he only needed to wait for the electric griddle to heat up and cook the batter.

After confirming there was no misunderstanding, he gestured to Jiang Yang, who nodded and walked towards the door.

Once the door is opened and a sign with the word "open" is hung up, the Bat Pancake Shop is officially open for business.

Jiang Yang, unsure of the diners' identities, was understandably on edge, but by noon, no customers had entered the restaurant.

He sat at the cashier's counter, listlessly leaning on the table. A sudden sizzling sound made him sit up like a startled beast. The aroma of burning food wafting to his nose led him to look in Ji Yang's direction.

Ji Yang only added a thin layer, and after one side turned golden brown, he quickly flipped it over with a spatula. His movements weren't clumsy, but Jiang Yang inexplicably noticed his habit of holding a sword.

As the pancakes were cooked, Ji Yang carried the still-steaming plate to Jiang Yang and said, "Try it," with a hint of barely perceptible anticipation in his eyes.

"tasty!"

[Black Rock City Observatory - Ji Yang's Perspective]

"??? Have we switched to the wrong channel???"

"This storyline is so boring! What kind of vampire would come out to eat pancakes during the day? Even bats don't eat them!"

"Yeah, I don't understand the point of this trial. It's not difficult at all."

...

It's not just the observers who find it boring.

When Nan Ke and Xie Lu entered the clothing store, they also encountered bats. They thought it would be a thrilling battle, but the bats were so frightened when they saw Xie Lu that they flew out of the store and disappeared.

The two then completed their onboarding process.

An hour later, Nan Ke was so bored that he went through the clothes on the shelf with disdain.

Finally, pointing to Xie Lu, the conclusion was drawn: "It seems that vampires have very poor taste."

"The vampires have a strong sense of class distinctions. Judging from the style of clothing here, we should still be on the outskirts of Blackrock City, which is the slums."

Nan Ke leaned close to Xie Lu, stood on tiptoe, and tilted her head back so their noses almost touched.

The boy's sharp teeth grazed his lips. "If I had known you were this boring, I would have caught that bat to play with earlier."

"Then I'll catch it for you later."

"I'll catch it myself!"

Nan Ke sat back down, the drawer of the cash register rattling as he pulled it open.

The business card that was stuck in the gap fell out.

The business card reads, "Bat Pancake Shop Takeout Phone Number".

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Author's Note: Today, our Ji Yangyang is the apron-wearing husband, hehe~

Question! Has Ji Yangyang opened his screen today?