Chapter 150 Prajnaparamita: Rhinestones, branches among jewelry...
The ability box was limited to one purchase. Xue Chao didn't choose any player's ability, only took the item, climbed over the wall to leave the store, and disappeared into the gang district.
With purchase limits, players won't go to such extremes, but everyone wants the best superpowers, so competition is inevitable.
Moreover, superpowers have become commodities and can be used now. With this setup, getting 60 points isn't difficult. While we can still see the camera positions, we can remotely gather intelligence and find the secret to clearing the game first.
Using gadgets he bought from a store, he pretended to be a neurotic young man trying to escape the slums after finding a bargain, gathering information amidst veiled sarcasm and ill intent.
The most enthusiastic were the brothels that ran the sex trade. From the moment he entered, the madam's electronic eye never left his body, and she boasted that as long as he nodded, she would immediately make him the top courtesan.
Xue Chao glanced at the mechanical feet behind the curtain and guessed that there was an armed robot. Even if he didn't nod, he would still have to play the lead role today.
There are many robots in the Pure Land. In the wealthy area surrounding high-tech buildings, apart from a few human controllers of cutting-edge technology and pharmaceuticals, everyone else is a robot. They call it the "Saha World".
The Saha world is the world in which ordinary people live. In other words, apart from monks who practice Buddhism, only humans and robots living in wealthy areas can be called "humans," and the rest are called "animals."
So you won't see robots in the slums, but you'll find some in the chaotic neighborhoods occupied by gangs, where they either source them through connections or modify scrap metal to make weapons.
This pimp has one, so his connections and methods must be similar; he hoped it was the former. Xue Chao's demonic phoenix eyes coldly swept over him: "Do you know where this came from? The method is fully open, there's a truck..."
"There are plenty of people who are desperate to sneak into this 'pure land,' and every time a bunch of cars squeeze in, who knows which garbage truck you sniffed out and jumped into..."
"There was only one pattern on the truck, three overlapping ovals."
The shop owner paused slightly as the red dot in the black background of the electronic eye shrank, indicating that it was a Shenzhou company vehicle.
He didn't speak, but the boy slowly recounted the scene, including which forces were involved, how many people were involved, and what the situation was. He also checked the small spinning top with the device in his palm, and it was indeed made up of good parts. He had a good idea of what was going on and it was probably genuine.
He stared at Xue Chao for a while, then changed his mind: "Kid, what do you want? A gang referral, equipment, currency..."
Xue Chao: "I need some information."
"Oh, this sounds more expensive than I said." The shopkeeper's eye darted around. He was in a good mood after getting a good item, and kindly reminded him, "Curiosity doesn't just kill the cat."
“It’s cheaper than you said.” A hint of madness crept into Xue Chao’s eyes. “I just want to find a place to relax, you know, the biggest entertainment venue.”
Oh, yet another little bastard driven mad, trying to unleash the bitterness of his past life in one night. The shopkeeper, somewhat bored, said, "You have no money."
"I can steal it."
"Excellent, you're now a qualified gang recruit."
“When it comes to savagery, the slums have a better talent than your gangs.”
"So you escaped the garbage dump just to use your methods to break into a decadent, cannibalistic world, little lamb?"
Xue Chao chuckled: "You can only call yourselves 'human' when you're talking to a homeless man from the slums like me."
They all knew that in the wealthy neighborhood, there were even higher-ups than the "Buddha." The shop owner scoffed, pulled the small spinning top away, gave him an address, and told him to get lost.
Before leaving, he told him with ill intent, "Have fun, and hopefully you won't end up in the clinic's parts recycling bin after tonight."
Xue Chao followed the address and found out where it was; the players who had started playing later had spawned there.
It wasn't some lawless, low-class place; the owner was simply playing a trick on him because the place offered no excitement whatsoever, but was instead overly elegant and even somewhat solemn.
It was a theater, and the five characters "Baoxiangyuan Theater" on the emerald green plaque above the gate shone with a light pinkish glow. The electronic screen next to the gate displayed silhouette posters of the actors in the play, and even the shadows had the charm of famous actors.
The garden was planted with crabapple blossoms, and their fragrance wafted through the air. Xue Chao reached through them and realized it was a holographic projection, and the fragrance was probably just a chemical imitation.
After passing through the first welcoming courtyard, there is a three-story opera stage in the open courtyard. It is open on three sides and connected to two dressing and backstage buildings behind it. The black tiles and red pillars, painted beams and purlins, and lotus reliefs are exquisite. The intricate craftsmanship made Xue Chao mistake it for the Forbidden City. However, upon closer inspection, he found that it was not made of stone or wood, but a special metal imitation of oil paint effect.
The plaques on the three floors read “The Five Aggregates are Empty”, “Enlightenment of Mind and Realization of Nature”, and “Ultimate Nirvana”, respectively. A red silk electronic drum was placed in the center of the top floor, and a couplet was lit on the two pillars on the ground floor. The first line reads “Sentient beings come to sow seeds, and the fruit will grow from the ground”, and the second line reads “Without sentient beings, there are no seeds, and without nature, there is no birth.” [1]
In front of the opera stage is the audience seating area, and on the left and right are open verandas, which also serve as seats for watching the performance.
Many players have sneaked into the theater.
One hundred players, representing various factions, and as more and more servers are opened, Xue Chao can see the pure land in the eyes of each faction, including the theater. The only exception is Wuliang Temple.
The main storyline of the large-scale dungeons is similar to the early stages of the investigation missions. Starting from different factions, the main focus is on exploring the world. There is no clear general direction, and players need to find and trigger them.
Wuliang Temple is already dazzling and unique enough, and it is also the only blind spot, so it must be the core of the dungeon.
So the direction is clear: entering Wuliang Temple is the first step.
However, the intelligence they gathered told them that Wuliang Temple was indeed difficult to enter. The NPCs were very secretive about the place, as if Wuliang Temple was the big brother and the Pure Land was full of surveillance cameras set up by the evil monks to monitor their every move.
When asked, they received the opposite answer: Wuliang Temple didn't care about them at all; it was just that the place was no different from a forbidden area, and they couldn't just enter it casually.
Some players who had sneaked in earlier did indeed disappear, never to return. The remaining players became more cautious, preparing to gather more information about Wuliang Temple.
The famous actor "Zhaoying Tang" of Baoxiangyuan Opera House had a falling out with Wuliang Temple. He once cursed the group of bald monks at the entrance of Wuliang Temple, saying they were self-righteous control freaks who opposed the monks' use of "precepts, concentration, and wisdom" to establish an invisible rule in the Pure Land.
This theater was built on the site of an abandoned temple. In Tang's words, "We sang about love, separation, and joy while stepping on the relics of those bald donkeys."
As the saying goes, the one who understands you best is your enemy.
Moreover, the most important weapon that was stolen from Shenzhou Company tonight was replaced by an inside agent within the gang's theater, and it's probably still inside the theater.
Players infiltrate the theater for two reasons: intelligence and weapons.
Boss Tang did not disappoint. After the trucks of Shenzhou Company were divided up, she announced that she was going to put on a big show.
She felt that any bad thing that happened at Pure Land Temple was a slap in the face to Wuliang Temple, and she would always make a big fuss with gongs and drums and sing all night long.
Getting into the theater was difficult. In this age of technological explosion, it was too easy to verify if someone was the real person. So Xue Chao didn't fabricate an identity or impersonate anyone. He simply used his good looks to get a rich woman to cut in line and take him into the theater, where he even managed to get a VIP seat.
The players, whose disguise had been exposed, witnessed his skillful maneuvers and fled in disbelief as the robots pursued them.
Xue Chao remained calm as the robot brought him snacks and tea. They smelled delicious, but he suspected they were mass-produced frozen products.
He tactfully poured wine for the wealthy woman first, noticing that she was constantly looking around the theater, estimating its value like an investor. He casually asked, "You want to discuss cooperation with Boss Tang? What do you need me to do?"
He certainly didn't choose someone randomly.
The rich woman's gaze returned to him, admiring him for a while before she asked with a smile, "Can't I just like your face? Oh, and your figure too?"
“A person’s ‘parts’ can be replaced at will, so what’s so special about my face? I suppose there are handsome men and beautiful women everywhere in this world. Whatever style you want, you can just customize and assemble one. So I must have some other use.”
“That’s how it was during the era of the destruction of the Dharma, but you’re wrong about one thing.” The rich woman touched his smooth skin, and the slightly cold touch made him realize that this was a mechanical arm, just wrapped in simulated skin. “In the Pure Land, someone as natural as you is truly noble.”
She wasn't referring to "precious," but rather "noble." But don't even the most noble monks wear prosthetic bodies?
“I already have a business relationship with Boss Tang. I was in charge of repairing part of Baoxiang Garden. I want to take our cooperation to the next level, so I need to show some sincerity.” The rich woman lowered her voice. “Someone is going to cause trouble tonight.”
The gang's prize slipped away, so of course they wouldn't let it go. They were determined to reclaim the main weapon, and there were others hiding here taking advantage of the chaos.
From his observation at the camera position, it was indeed bustling.
The wealthy woman twisted the ring on her ring finger, and a small section of her fingertip was twisted off, revealing a tiny, extremely thin, transparent syringe: "My biological sample can unlock some locks for you."
Xue Chao accepted the offer: "You seem to have no shortage of trusted confidants or tools. Do you need him?"
"Because she doesn't know that my genetic code also has authority in the theater. If she gets angry, you'll bear the brunt of her anger, and of course, whatever you get is yours too."
"make a deal."
Side Quest 1 "The Show Is About to Begin" is now available.
[Mission Details: Clear out the troublemakers and ensure the main event proceeds smoothly.]
Xue Chao left the VIP area and went up to the second floor of the left corridor. Huang Haitao greeted him warmly: "What kind of work requires the young boss to do personally? My dereliction of duty!"
There were five or six other players around him, some watching Xue Chao openly, some secretly, some with curiosity, some with apprehension. One boy was particularly enthusiastic, excitedly stepping forward to shake Xue Chao's hand as if he were meeting an idol: "You must be Xue Shen... Oh my god, I can even play your dungeon now, my life is worth living! Um, how did you manage to beat it...?"
"Hey, alright, don't scare them." Huang Haitao had seen Xue Chao's terrifying appearance before, and he didn't know who he was talking to. He pulled the boys aside and smiled at Xue Chao, "Don't mind them, they're just excited to see the great god."
Xue Chao raised an eyebrow, his gaze lazily sweeping over every corner of the theater: "It's nothing. Haven't you been watching ever since I walked in?"
The players who had been secretly observing him in the theater immediately looked away as if nothing had happened after their eyes met.
"[Zhou Ziliang] Hahahaha, when people are embarrassed, they pretend to be busy."
"【Holly】I knew it, as long as we're in the theater, I can see him no matter which camera I look at. Turns out everyone was secretly watching him, hahaha."
“【Song Zhe】His eyes were practically screaming ‘Finally, I’ve seen one alive!’ Hahaha.”
It's a foregone conclusion that Xue Chao will become the new boss of the chronic disease, but Holder hasn't retired yet. The divine weapons in this instance also obey Holder's orders. Only Huang Haitao is eager to please and intends to surrender. Xue Chao doesn't mind being polite and asking, "Take it?"
"I've taken it, I've taken it," Huang Haitao whispered. "It's my own superpower, I'm not greedy."
Xue Chao rested his elbow on the green railing of the second-floor stands, taking in the entire view of the first-floor seating area: "When will they make their move?"
"That theater is like a giant puzzle box. They don't want people to go on stage, but they also want to buy time for the people backstage. It's very likely that they're trying to time the opening."
Everyone guessed the weapon was backstage, and Boss Tang's private room was the most suspicious.
Xue Chao, with his position, certainly knew better than him whether players had infiltrated the backend. Huang Haitao couldn't quite figure out his meaning: "You want to go yourself?"
"I don't want to think about it now." Xue Chao had just seen a player who used the "chameleon" ability get caught. Using mimicry to blend into the environment can only fool the naked eye. It can't even pass the temperature detection and biological activity detection in the back-end channel. Some abilities are not as useful as local smart gadgets.
He wasn't interested in weapons. He originally wanted to find recordings of these actors singing to find the voice from the records, but listening to the live versions was the same.
The boy leaned closer with starry eyes: "Master, what should we do next? Do you have any ideas?" He seemed to hope that Xue Chao would pull off another amazing move so that he could witness it firsthand and have some fun.
Of these people, only Huang Haitao was a member of the "Stubborn Disease" group; he didn't know the other players. Xue Chao: "You might have a misunderstanding about me. You can treat me as a player."
Boy: "Player?" Does that mean the player and the host are similar, quite close? Sure enough, even the death rate at Xibei Mountain is extremely low...
"It means that I'm just like you... I have my own agenda, and I'm harboring my own secrets." Xue Chao patted the boy's shoulder lightly and walked past him like a cold wind, making the boy shiver involuntarily. He could only hear his lazy voice fading away, "Do whatever you want, but you'd better not interfere with the start of the show."
Only after he had walked away did the boy finally exhale, "Did I upset the master...?"
"On the contrary, he gave us a reminder." Huang Haitao put his arm around his shoulder and grinned. "The plan is canceled. We're not getting involved in this mess. We'll just stay out of the way for now. This show is going to go on."
"Why? The Green Dragon Gang and the Razor Gang are both coming, and so is the Vajra Monk..."
"Because he needs this play to start, there won't be any other outcome."
As the countdown to the start of the show began, the stage lights flickered on briefly, then suddenly went out, and the gang went into full firepower in the darkened venue, with only the sparks of gunfire and flashes of laser light.
Xue Chao waited for his chance, using the mini flying device released by the player to swing to the top floor of the opera house. He inserted the biological sample into the interface of the electronic opera drum and then smashed the drum with a hammer.
A black electronic drumhead spun out a circle of ice-blue code, revealing a lotus flower pattern. Then, like a virus, it spread throughout the theater's equipment. The theater roof tiles stood up in rows, revealing cold gun barrels that precisely locked onto the uninvited guest in the darkness.
Xue Chao clicked on the control screen on the back of the drum, sending away several troublesome NPCs, and the venue indeed became quieter.
Just then, a beam of light shot towards him. He flipped down to the second floor, and with his last click on "reflect," the beam was swallowed by the drum and shot back the way it came.
Some monk's robe was flung at him by the wind, and in the darkness, the bas-relief of the lotus flowers on the beams glowed, illuminating his figure hanging from the second-floor railing. The gang leader, whose two mechanical legs had been blown off, mistook him for a lay Buddhist and cursed angrily, "You, you call yourself a monk! Buddha above, how could you..."
"Buddha doesn't save idiots." Xue Chaosong swung his hand forward, stepping on him, then bent down and stabbed the remaining biological sample into his electronic eye, plunging this "heavy metal" gang member into a state of factory reset tranquility.
The robots released from backstage at the theater had already dragged away the troublemakers, and the smart chairs cleaned up the scene in the blink of an eye, leaving everyone unsure whether to leave or sit down.
Xue Chao, standing in the quiet audience, stared at the door on the left side of the theater that was lit up with the words "General's Appearance": "Aren't you going to come out yet, Your Excellency?"
The peony flowers slowly closed and disappeared, but the theater lights did not come back on. Suddenly, the empty stage was transformed into a scene of an ancient mansion's courtyard, like the start of a movie. The theater went dark, and the screen lit up.
On the table, a lone plum blossom blooms in a jade vase, while incense smoke curls from the burner—a holographic projection.
Huang Haitao, who had been hiding behind the veranda, finally peeked out and whispered with his temporary companions who had narrowly escaped disaster, "What do you think they're going to sing? Such a grand spectacle, how about 'The Six Kingdoms Conferring Prime Ministers'?"
On the left side of the stage, through the electronic door with brocade floral wallpaper, a person slowly walks out, like a breeze brushing past a stream and flowers drifting with the water.
She wore a light pink embroidered shawl and a one-piece cape with a front opening. A large lock of her long hair hung down her back, while two smaller locks of her long hair were the same length as the shawl and fell to her knees. The white skirt with colorful embroidered horse-face pattern under the shawl swayed gently with her steps. She took a few steps and stopped, making an appearance.
“The warbling of orioles echoes in my dreams, scattering the fleeting years, as I stand in the deep courtyard…”[2]
As the eerie female voice began, she slowly walked into the realistic light and shadow, revealing herself little by little from bottom to top. Her collar was adorned with auspicious cloud patterns, soft green silk flowers adorned her temples, her hair was styled in a large style, and small curved hairpins were attached. Then came the magnificent red rhinestone headpiece, paired with red tassels, phoenix ornaments, and other jewelry, shimmering with fragmented light... The branches between the rhinestones and jewelry were all transparent tubes with metal heads, through which a blood-like fluorescent red liquid flowed, converging at the large red rhinestone in the center of her forehead, shining with neon light.
Another girl, presumably playing the role of a maid, had already entered the stage. However, Xue Chao was still staring at the young lady's head and face, which were covered with metal tubes and had a cold, mechanical feel. As everyone held their breath, she slowly turned her face to face.
Her face was fair and rosy, her eyebrows were long and willow-leaf-shaped, her eyes were captivating and her appearance was stunning... and there were two fine mechanical creases on her cheeks.
“At dawn I gazed until I lost sight of Meiguan Pass, my makeup from last night still wet on my face…”[2]
As the sentence stretched out, Xue Chao suddenly realized that there was no one around, and the crabapple blossoms in the garden had changed their appearance, with the elegant plum blossoms blooming in the cold.
He looked back at the stage, but the maid who had come on stage later was gone. Only he and... he met the eyes of the person on stage.
She stared coldly into his blue eyes, her wrists moving incessantly.
“It cannot be cut, it cannot be untangled, it is inexplicably frustrating…”[2]
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