Chapter 6: So exciting, so thrilling!
The night was thick, and the windows were fogged up, but Chen Mi could still see the scene inside the room at a glance.
Dan Heng was standing in the bathroom, looking up slightly. Water streamed down his hair, meandering along his Adam's apple and neck, past his well-defined collarbone, and down to his lean and muscular chest and abs.
He didn't have the typical muscular build; rather, he resembled a razor-sharpened blade, its edges smoothed away, every muscle perfectly defined. His skin was fair, gleaming like snow under the cold white light, a stark contrast to the desolate, yellow sand of this deserted planet.
However, just as her gaze unconsciously slid downwards, Shen Mi suddenly realized what she was seeing.
Somewhere between the legs, in that hidden place shrouded in mist and shadow.
"..."
Shen Mi's face flushed red instantly, and her heart pounded wildly as if it would burst out of her chest. She quickly turned her head away, but her ears felt like they were on fire.
But almost at the same moment, Dan Heng in the bathroom seemed to sense something. He paused slightly, raised his gray-green eyelashes, and looked coldly out the window.
Chen Mi's heart tightened, his mind went blank, and his hands and feet went numb.
Oh no, we've been discovered! Shen Mi covered his mouth and quickly squatted down.
The next second, Dan Heng reached out without hesitation, took the dagger from the side, quickly put it back on his face, and resumed his cold and calm "Manager Mei" expression.
He wasn't wearing any clothes, just a towel casually wrapped around his waist, his wet hair still dripping water. He picked up his gun and strode from the doorway to the back of the house.
Shen Mi's heart pounded like a drum. Before he could turn around and run away, he was hit on the neck with Ji Yun.
"6013? Is that you?"
A deep, calm voice rang out, carrying the chill of someone whose vigilance had just been broken.
Shen Mi froze on the spot, looking up to meet Dan Heng's cold and stern eyes. Just then, a familiar electronic voice suddenly rang in her ear.
[Main quest completed: Get Danheng to remove his mask.]
Chen Mi: "..."
Wh...what?
That's it?!
Shen Mi's pupils contracted sharply, and she almost instinctively took a step back, but Dan Heng was faster. He moved the spear aside, and with his other hand, he precisely grabbed her neck in an instant, pinning her against the wall. The force was not strong, but it made her feel a suffocating feeling that she could not resist.
Water droplets still clung to his hair, sliding down his skin. His lean frame was outlined in the dim light, his skin pale yet radiating coldness. However, colder than the water at this moment were his eyes, deep and dangerous, like a desolate night sky, devouring everything.
Shen Mi knew that Dan Heng really wanted to kill her.
The system's voice calmly sounded at this moment:
[Host's life has been detected to be in danger. Emergency response mode activated.]
Immediately afterwards, a string of information rushed into Chen Mi's mind, exploding like an electric current along her nerve endings, and a cold, hard notification echoed in her ears:
"Persuasion Strategy 1: Eliminate Motives. Point out the potential chain reaction of murder, making the enemy rationally consider the risks."
"Persuasion Strategy Two: The Exchange of Benefits Method. Emphasize your own value and demonstrate the potential for cooperation to ease tensions."
Shen Mi's back was pressed against the cold wall, her fingertips slightly numb. She felt as if her neck was hanging over a blade, and if Dan Heng tightened his grip even a little more, she would be completely deprived of her breath.
She knew she had to persuade him immediately.
She can't die here.
"Are you... going to kill me?"
Her voice trembled slightly in the darkness, but she forced herself to suppress her fear, maintaining a barely perceptible calmness in the way each word reached Dan Heng's ears.
He didn't answer, but just stared at her, his eyes as cold as a blade, as if he were weighing the cost and benefit of killing someone.
Shen Mi felt her scalp tighten from that gaze, and her heart pounded as if it were about to tear her chest apart. However, she knew that the worst thing she could do at that moment was to expose her vulnerability.
"But are you sure... there won't be any other trouble after you kill me?"
She stared intently into Danheng's eyes, trying to make her tone sound rational and restrained: "Here, people can die from overwork or from fighting. But this afternoon's mine collapse means that many people, even if they don't know me, will remember my face."
Yes, she rescued the indigenous girl this afternoon in full view of everyone.
There was a fleeting tremor in Dan Heng's brows, though it was extremely slight, but Shen Mi still caught it.
it works!
She clung tightly to this sliver of evidence, her voice growing increasingly calm: "Even without direct evidence, someone will always have doubts. If even the slightest clue points to you, is it really worth taking this risk to kill me?"
She held her breath, her heart pounding in her ears.
—Danheng is a very cold person, but he will not kill innocent people indiscriminately.
Shen Mi is gambling; he is now like Dan Heng on the train—cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
[Enemy reaction has slowed, and part of the strategy is working. We recommend switching to strategy two.]
The system's voice rang in her mind, like a nail firmly driven into her nerves on the verge of collapse.
Shen Mi's heart pounded like a drum, but she forced herself to hold her breath and tried to keep her tone calm: "Besides, would killing me really do you any good?"
Dan Heng's eyes remained cold, but his fingers loosened almost imperceptibly.
Shen Mi gritted his teeth and continued to approach: "You helped me and Shavalei, and I know you're not Manager Mei. I'm not interested in your identity and won't ask, but I can help you."
She stared at Dan Heng, her heart pounding in her throat, but her tone remained calm: "I can do things that are inconvenient for you. For example, gathering information, or covering your whereabouts."
—Keeping me alive is more useful than killing me.
Shen Mi caught a glimpse of wavering in Dan Heng's eyes and pressed his advantage: "We can cooperate. I won't ask you why you're here, and I won't tell anyone. As long as you let me live, I'll do anything for you."
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Shen Mi could feel a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead. Every second felt like dancing on a knife's edge, and the slightest mistake could lead to total defeat.
Finally, Danheng slowly released his grip, put away his Strike Cloud, and took a half-step back to create a safe distance.
Shen Mi staggered slightly, looked up and saw water droplets sliding down his collarbone from under the bath towel. His face looked sharp and indifferent in the dim light, as if he had been weighing the pros and cons from beginning to end, and even her life or death was just the result of a rational calculation.
He took a step back, looking down at her with a cold, commanding voice: "How can I trust you?"
Shen Mi's heart tightened, but her expression had already returned to calm.
She whispered, "You helped me during the day, and I won't repay kindness with enmity."
She offered no explanation or defense, but instead laid out Danheng's indifference and her last bargaining chip, letting him weigh the options himself.
— Bet on his rationality, and also bet on his bottom line.
Dan Heng's brows furrowed slightly, his eyes deep and unfathomable.
A moment later, his voice trailed off calmly: "I hope you remember what you said. If I hear even a whisper of it—"
His gaze slowly swept over Shen Mi's neck, his tone eerily calm: "I will deal with you myself."
Shen Mi's fingertips felt cold, but he still nodded.
Shen Mi turned and started walking, trying to find her way back to the dormitory in the darkness. However, after only a few steps, she suddenly stopped and reluctantly turned back.
Dan Heng narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of impatience in his voice: "What is it now?"
Shen Mi opened her mouth, a blush of embarrassment rising on her face: "...I'm lost."
Silence fell between them once more.
Dan Heng stared at her, as if trying to confirm whether she was playing some trick. But Shen Mi's expression was so embarrassed, even a little pitiful, that in the end, he just sighed and said nothing more.
He turned and went back into the house, quickly changed his clothes, and put the cold, rigid mask back on, as if the lean, fair-skinned body he had just seen was an illusion and had never been seen by Shen Mi.
"Come with me."
Dan Heng said coldly, taking a long stride and walking towards the labor camp.
Shen Mi followed closely behind him, her heart pounding uncontrollably. Their shadows stretched long against the backdrop of the yellow sand and the night.
During the silent journey, Dan Heng suddenly spoke, his voice low: "What are you doing out so late?"
Shen Mi was taken aback, then remembered the purpose of her going out, and quickly replied, "I... I hid the water bottle you gave me this afternoon. But when I went to look for it just now, I found it was gone."
Dan Heng tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping across her face like a blade: "Where did you hide the kettle?"
“A corner of an abandoned mine… I thought it was a secluded place…” she murmured, her voice growing softer and softer.
The moment she finished saying those words, she realized how naive she had been.
In this place, so-called "concealment" offers no guarantee whatsoever. Everyone is like a wild animal, foraging, stealing, and waiting for their chance to strike. How could she naively believe that as long as she hid well, no one would find her?
Sure enough, Dan Heng sneered, "What do you think?"
Shen Mi's face flushed slightly, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.
The night wind carried dust, and the only sound was the footsteps of the two. After a while, they finally approached the labor camp, the dilapidated yet imposing buildings looming in the darkness.
Shen Mi thought Dan Heng would ignore her, but just as they were about to part, he suddenly stopped, took his water bottle from his waist, and casually threw it at her.
Caught off guard, Shen Mi hurriedly caught the kettle, her palms sweating slightly from nervousness. The cool touch of the kettle penetrated her skin, causing her to feel momentarily disoriented.
"Be smarter next time," Dan Heng said calmly.
His tone was as calm as a cold wind, sweeping through Shen Mi's heart. It was devoid of emotion, yet it gave her a sudden jolt.
She gripped the water bottle tightly, paused for a moment, then cautiously looked up at him, her voice barely audible: "...Thank you."
She knew that in this place, any "thank you" might seem too fragile and superfluous. But she said it anyway.
Danheng did not respond.
He simply took a step, his lean figure disappearing into the night like a folded blade, swirling up dust.
System notification: [Crisis resolved, system level upgraded to version 1.1, world view loading... Main quest loading...]
Immediately afterwards, that familiar electric current surged forth again, like an invisible pulse piercing through her consciousness.
A moment later, the system's voice calmly sounded:
[World setting loaded. Current time: Amber Era 2156 / Immortal Ship Calendar 7640, Current plane: Desolate Star Labor Camp.]
I. Identity and Order
— The people in the barren planet labor camp are divided into three categories: native laborers, gray-listed individuals, and fugitives.
Indigenous workers receive meager wages and fixed work quotas; they are not allowed to flee without permission, or they will be placed on a gray list.
— The gray list personnel are mostly interstellar exiles who rely on labor for food and live without security.
— Fugitives, as the name suggests, are people who escape from labor camps, and they are to be killed on sight.
[Host identity loading—]
Shen Mi, a person on the gray list, has worked on the desolate planet for 120 years. He has no criminal record, no merit record, and no other records.
[Additional Information: From 9 PM to 6 AM the following day, the Wilderness Star Labor Camp is under curfew. No one is allowed to remain outside during this period; violators will be considered missing.]
One hundred and twenty years?
Shen Mi stared at the file, which was so concise it looked like a shriveled loaf of bread that had been sitting out for three days and three nights. For a moment, he didn't know whether to complain about the useless system or to mourn for his long corporate life ahead for three seconds.
[Complete the main quest to return to the real world. The quest involves simultaneously pursuing three characters from Honkai Impact 3rd: Dan Heng, Jing Yuan, and Ren.]
[Note: Beware of the labor camp commander, Kulen.]
A note from the author:
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[Crying][Crying][Crying][Crying] I forgot to update!!! I woke up in a fright!!!
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