Chapter 17 Let's set sail, ███! Remember to tell those scoundrels outside for me...
Wang Song felt a tightness in his chest.
Tap, tap, tap-tap, tap...
--welcome
After those two simple sentences, it ended, like a silent trap.
Wang Song didn't understand why he didn't speak, but he carefully followed the indigenous people's practice and gently knocked on the iron bars.
He wanted to ask "Who are you?", but the other person completely ignored him, and before he could finish typing, continued speaking to themselves, this time at a long length:
—You won't be staying long.
—Remember to say hello to those bastards outside for me, darling.
"..." Wang Song's anger immediately reignited. Where did this lunatic come from? He hated it when people interrupted or stopped him, acting as if they were superior to him.
He immediately wanted to regain the initiative and started typing in Morse code again:
—Let's be friends. You don't want to stay here forever, do you?
The other party replied after a while, with great interest:
——No fish
What? Wang Song didn't understand at all.
But no matter how much he pressed for an answer, there was no response. The man was like an arrogant fellow who was most skilled at rhetoric, casually toying with the agonizing pauses and saying ambiguous things to make him anxious. He was simply playing with him!
He kicked the wall hard, the falling plaster nearly burying him. He dodged awkwardly, his anger now directed at the strange man, mentally tearing him to pieces: "Who the hell are you—"
Just then, the warehouse door opened, and the guard returned, impatiently dragging him out: "Hey, you're pretty arrogant, but I don't have time to deal with you today. Don't let the appetizer take the place of the main course. Get lost. Odin has indeed been kind to you."
The door slammed shut again with a loud "bang".
As the eccentric lunatic had said, Wang Song was released quickly, but instead, another long, rolled-up object was sent in.
Wang Song saw half a hand fall out from the gap, its bluish-purple veins bulging menacingly, like centipedes and maggots buried in blood, writhing its dying, mangled body—it was a person.
The guard gave him a cold look: "Don't be curious."
"Who's locked up in that cell at the end?" Wang Song asked, his eyes flashing with malice, recalling the fitting phrase "the lowly people." "He told me to say hello to you."
The guard cursed, "These idiots who can't even rest in peace when they're about to die, the gods won't listen to their dying curses!"
Wang Song frowned. It wasn't unusual for the people in the warehouse to be in danger of dying, but the guards mistook the greeting for the last hurrah of a desperate person.
He understood this. When he brutally ripped flesh from others, they would stare with wide, hateful eyes, blood streaming from their mouths, and scream madly, "I'll haunt you even as a ghost!" "I curse you!" and other such ridiculous things.
But that person was different; he was absolutely rational and clear-headed, even maliciously so, toying with him with an arrogant attitude that he loathed.
On the other side, a guard urged loudly, splashing water from his bucket: "Stop dawdling, it's time to feed the piglets!"
There was a bucket of water and another bucket full of fish. It was unclear whether the fish were dead or alive. Some of them would suddenly twitch a few times, as if they were having a final burst of energy before death. The fishy smell wafted far and wide; it was the food for the prisoners in the warehouse, and the guards avoided it with great disgust.
Wait... a fish?
He suddenly pulled a pack of "Flowering Crane's Crest Red" cigarettes—a brand-name cigarette he'd swiped from the pocket of a nobleman on the second floor—from his trench coat, stuffed it into the guard's pocket, and patted it: "The fish looks good, shall I help?"
*
Although Xue Chao's consciousness returned to his body, it was more like it was connected to the mother body.
His consciousness was no longer fragmented, but like water or stretched jelly, without a fixed shape, able to slip through any gap and flow into other passable carriers.
The tentacles of the sea of consciousness stretched out from his body and touched Pu Fengchun's watch; artificial intelligence became an extension of his original consciousness.
As the warehouse door opened again, Xue Chao closed his eyes.
The uniformed guards, carrying two buckets with their hats covering half their faces, methodically filled them with water and released fish, everything proceeding as usual.
Xue Chao counted in his mind, three, two, one... Sure enough, the man lost patience, put down the fish bucket that was only filled with one row of cages, carried the water straight to the end, but did not take the next step. Instead, he secretly observed, as if he was not sure which cage it was.
He tapped the metal sheet lightly with two fingers, and the "guard" was indeed attracted and locked onto his iron cage.
Wang Song looked up, but the cage was too high, and he could only see a person lying flat. He subconsciously tried to figure out what the person was typing, but he couldn't come up with a single letter for a long time. He realized that the person in the cage was just typing randomly, and that the son of a bitch was playing tricks on him again!
...I absolutely have to tear him to pieces.
Wang Song contorted his face, climbed the ladder, and knocked on the iron fence: "The water you want."
He poured water into the bowl and slipped it into the crevice. The person lying there looked like he was dead. His clothes were wrinkled, his wet, curly hair was scattered on the ground, and his profile was like a plaster sculpture, sharp and stiff. Wang Song couldn't even hear him breathing.
After a while, the man seemed to rise from the dead, reaching out towards the bowl, but suddenly grabbed his wrist with his own, and with a flick of his long, slender fingers, pulled a razor blade from inside his sleeve.
Wang Song reacted quickly and retreated. The gleaming blade grazed his forehead, his hat was torn and fell off his head, spilling water into the cage and splashing him all over.
He tried to grab the fence, but the anticipated blade sliced across the cuff of his black trench coat, forcing him to fall.
A low laugh came from inside the cage.
Wang Song clutched his leg, furious. A curse was already on the tip of his tongue when he heard the man speak his first words, low and melodious, with a natural arrogance. This guy seemed to know how to provoke people from birth: "You shouldn't have come back."
"Take care of yourself first. Even the dead laugh at the living," Wang Song said grimly. "Even the chickens and ducks in the slaughterhouse like to squawk like you before they're dragged onto the chopping block."
"So you put on an apron to feed the chickens and ducks? How obedient."
Wang Song angrily retorted, "Do you think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"
“I’m a dying man, and so are everyone here. When you’re alive, you’re just waiting to die, so you won’t be afraid of death.” Xue Chao peered down at Wang Song through the gaps in the iron bars, his eyes as sharp as his words. “Are you investigating those missing guys?”
What do you know?
"What do you want to know?" Xue Chao asked back, playing with the sharp blade without any attempt to hide it. The blade spun between his fingers like a magician's ever-changing cards. "Curiosity killed the cat. If they find out you did something unnecessary, you'll have to stay and share a single room with someone else."
[Wang Song] I'll get straight to the point: Hi, husband!
"[Wang Song] What a magnificent face, what a magnificent physique! Everyone else is just a passerby. From now on, you are my favorite NPC!"
"【Wang Song】Husband, why are you lying on the ground? Even though you're only wearing a wet vest, lying on the ground looks both tattered and sexy, husband, why are you lying on the ground? Please lie in my arms!"
"【Wang Song】Can I sleep with my head on his chest muscles? prprpr"
"【Wang Song】Get out of here, I don't like sleeping in the same bed with other people."
Wang Song was a little confused by the notification sound of his contribution points suddenly increasing, but at this moment all his attention was on the man: "Didn't you call me here?"
"Did you only come here for me?" Xue Chao sneered. "Weren't you locked up here specifically because of what you found out?"
Ty. Sergeant was itching to make a move: "Looks like you know quite a bit."
“Dead men always know a lot.” Xue Chao ignored his threat and suddenly said, “Do you have a cigarette?”
Wang Song was taken aback. Important NPCs usually have their own personalities and preferences, which are often the points that players can "break through". So the keyword for this man is "smoke".
He suspiciously took out the last remaining cigarette, "Flowering Crane's Crest Red." Xue Chao rolled his eyes without ceremony, turned around, and prepared to continue sleeping. Unexpectedly, with a "click," he turned around, and the door lock fell into Wang Song's palm, like a flat cigarette box. The cage opened: "Perhaps you will like this box of 'cigarettes'."
Xue Chao tilted his head and looked at him.
"Stop your damn rambling. People either care about themselves or are stupid enough to do things for others. Only when they're powerless do they 'wait to die.' If you really had the guts to die, you would have already banged your head against a wall to benefit humanity." Wang Song, as if he had finally found his fatal weakness, revealed a hint of malicious smugness. "Or is it that you're only safe hiding here, and someone outside wants to kill you?"
Xue Chao's smile faded slightly, but it was precisely this slight chill that seemed to confirm Wang Song's judgment, giving Wang Song a sense of pleasure in regaining control.
"[Wang Song] Smoke, and there are people looking for him outside the dungeon. Family members, do you have any thoughts...?"
"[Wang Song] has a strong sense of déjà vu..."
"[Wang Song] I know who it is now..."
"[Wang Song] So why did that abruptly canceled host seek him out? Did he obtain some important clue? Is this NPC a key figure?"
“I’ll take this as an invitation to cooperate. Those missing people are probably at sea.” Xue Chao climbed down the ladder. “The guards are investigating this matter, but it’s not just about this.”
"And for what else?"
"You should ask 'What's the point?'" Xue Chao shrugged irresponsibly and headed straight for the door. "Aren't we going to investigate? The most important thing right now is to get out of this hellhole. You were prepared before you came in, weren't you?"
“I added something to their drinks,” Wang Song said smugly, considering himself a detail-oriented person.
Xue Chao pressed his ear against the door, and after confirming that it was quiet outside, he casually grabbed the key from Wang Song's waist and opened the door.
"Although our alliance is fragile and easily broken, I hope you..."
Before Xue Chao could finish giving his "order," he was suddenly pushed out the door, which slammed shut behind him. The lights in the corridor above him turned on one after another, and two pale-faced guards rushed over, raising their guns and surrounding him.
His eyes were wide open in anger, and he was full of energy; he didn't look like he had been drugged at all.
"It's already broken." The door's vibration felt like it was against his spine. Wang Song had been holding back his arrogant grandson for so long, just waiting for this moment to vent his anger. "Who the hell do you think you are? Go reunite with those 'bastards'!"
"Ah... I really want to cooperate." Xue Chao feigned regret, but his heart remained as still as water—he had finally come out.
He took a breath of the not-so-fresh air, raised his hands in surrender, and walked toward the guard.
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