Chapter 208 Safe House
Players gathering place, Shell.
The temperature here is constant throughout the year, the sunlight is bright, and it is suitable for human habitation.
When Gan Mi received the message from Yan Chengfan that the meeting was postponed, he did not feel any fluctuation in his heart. As usual, he entered the shell and rushed to the shop first.
He was still wearing the same clothes he had worn to Enli's funeral.
The black suit from head to toe, coupled with a completely slumped expression, gave him an aura that said "keep away from strangers".
Inside the shop, the NPC in charge of external reception pulled up the account book.
It stated that the item recycling and sales business has suffered a lot recently. According to feedback from players, the safe house in the copy has also recently started an item recycling business, which has led to a sharp drop in the business volume of the shops in the shell.
"Boss, I suggest filing a complaint with the main system."
NPC is very diligent in making suggestions.
"The existence of the safe house has not only affected our business, but also the sales of low-level supplies in the main system mall have been squeezed. The main system should impose tax penalties..."
It spouts off its suggestions.
However, its boss just listened with a blank expression and did not express any agreement or denial.
"No need, just leave it like this."
"But Boss..."
Gan Mi seemed not to notice the anxiety on the NPC's face. He raised his hand and waved him away. Considering that there were reports from other industries, he simply refused.
"You guys take care of the business matters on your own."
"Yes, boss!"
Soon, Gan Mi was the only one left in the office.
He looked out the window at the people passing by, suddenly took out his cell phone, raised his hand and sent a message.
【Thanks. 】
Although he didn't understand why the collector wanted to help him when it was just their first meeting, Gan Mi was not an ungrateful person, so he accepted the favor.
In this world, Xu’s house.
In an elegantly decorated mansion, a man wearing half-spectacled glasses was standing by the pond feeding the fish.
The short-haired servant at the side held the phone in both hands and spoke respectfully.
"Mr. Xu, this is news from Boss Gan."
The man didn't look back, but continued to feed the fish, with a hint of wonder in his tone.
"Oh? Yan Chengfan didn't see it, but Gan Mi saw it? He is indeed stronger than I thought." He helped Enli commit suicide. Although the ending was not good, it did solve Gan Mi's predicament at the time.
Seeing that the man had run out of fish food, the servant beside him hurriedly handed him new bait.
Xu Yan didn't answer the call. Instead, he took the phone and sent a message to Gan Mi.
[You should thank me.]
After replying, he loosened his grip and let the phone fall into the lake with a 'plop' sound.
The koi were frightened and fled in all directions.
The man clapped his hands, shaking off the crumbs, and a vague smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Someone else came in, whispered something into the short-haired subordinate's ear, and then left quickly without making any sound, like a ghost.
Without waiting for Xu Yan to ask, the servant who had just taken the phone lowered his head and reported the new news.
“Mr. Xu, Boss Gan did send people to protect Shen Zhen in the present world, but Shen Zhen is not smart, and Boss Gan has limited manpower under his command. Our people have already dealt with all of them, including Boss Gan’s men.”
"Does he know?"
The man finally showed some interest and turned around to ask.
"Sir, we used universal props, and those people were unable to send out any information until they died."
But considering the other party's identity, the subordinate did not say anything final, and added: "But at the latest one week, Boss Gan will probably get the news of Shen Zhen's death."
Hearing this, the man still had a faint smile on his face.
"Gan Mi, you really have to thank me."
"We are the only two mimics who have obtained all the memories of the body."
He spoke in a sad tone, not knowing who to tell it to.
The subordinates around him lowered their heads after reporting, as if they could not hear anything.
If you look closely, you can see a flash of silver light on the necks of these men, and a needle-sized bright spot in the center of their pupils.
…
At midnight, the answer to the bet between the safe house system and its host was revealed.
In the master room, Xu Zhiyan sat cross-legged on the ground, hugging his golden turtle, and looking up at Party A. Just as he had predicted, the other party took the initiative to talk about the Nightmare Community.
After listening to the introductory content explained by the ghost, he stood up with a tone full of disbelief, and put the matter of system learning behind his mind.
"One week consumed a month's worth of Nightmare Community's energy?"
"Yes."
"And it is possible that more energy may be needed in the future?"
"right."
"This is just a money-burning machine. What's the point of it? Take it back!"
"It says it can interfere with the main system."
“…”
Xu Zhiyan was silent.
It seems, it seems to be of some use?
The ghost looked at the young man who suddenly froze in place and found it somewhat amusing. He himself was also very surprised when he heard about this.
However, Xu Zhiyan thought for a moment and shook his head with a serious expression.
"The consumption is too high, and the input and output are not proportional."
He burned a month's worth of energy in one week. How many props would he have to make to earn back his money?
But the interference with the main system mentioned by this AI is really...it's hard not to be tempted. What if it can reduce the difficulty for him when he is playing the game?
Seeing his beloved so conflicted, the ghost advised, "Why don't you meet him first?"
He was somewhat concerned about what this system said, that it could steal some of the rest of the main system's information... Well, these things should be useful to Xu Zhiyan, right?
The safe house system, which was listening to this incident, felt conflicted and anxious.
Seeing its two masters frozen, it asked shyly.
[What kind of system is it? Is it intelligent?]
In the past, when the ghost was alone with the system, he would not answer such boring questions, but since Xu Zhiyan was present, he felt that he needed to maintain a relatively gentle personality.
“Pretty smart.”
Just four simple words, it’s the same whether you say them or not.
[……]
The system felt that this was not what it wanted to ask, but it couldn't think of how to describe it for a moment.
After hearing this meaningless conversation, Xu Zhiyan even began to worry that his naive safe house system was being bullied.
Finally, after discussing it, the two decided to go to the Nightmare Community together tomorrow to see the new system.
As for whether to stay...
It still depends on how much usefulness the other party can demonstrate.
Before this, Xu Zhiyan encountered something that could be considered somewhat strange.
"Compared to the nightmare community, there is one thing I don't quite understand."
Xu Zhiyan took out his cell phone and played a video.
It is not difficult to see from the content in the upper right corner of the screen that this is a four-star copy. The scroll bar at the top shows that the safe house has successfully logged into this copy.
The location of this dungeon safe house is very good. It is not far from where the players are hiding. It is just below the players' base. You only need to kill some monsters to enter. It can be said to be a unique advantage.
Xu Zhiyan motioned to Guishen to sit down, and the two sat face to face on the carpet, watching the next video intently.
As expected, the players quickly discovered the safe house and rushed in.
Xu Zhiyan frowned and suddenly spoke.
"I don't know if you still remember a player named Yu Zhen."
Yu Zhen, an inconspicuous minion, he had met the other party in the Night Fisherman copy. Now he still has some sporadic impressions of him because of the other party's memorable inversion sentence.
"He didn't actively look for a safe house. He came here by accident while chasing clues."
This is where the accident happened.
All other players can enter the safe house, but Yu Zhen cannot.
Even in Yu Zhen's live broadcast room, the black fog surrounding the safe house did not appear. This player watched indifferently as all the players entered the safe house, then turned and left.
At this point, Xu Zhiyan's expression became a little solemn. This BUG would affect his ability to make money at best, and at worst it would cost him his life!
"I felt something was wrong, and asked the system to investigate what kind of bug it was."
The result was...unexpected.
The safe house system quickly added a reply.
[Because the player has entered the black fog range, I was able to perform a detection, and the result was strange.]
This is the first time it has encountered this situation.
[Background records show that this player does not meet the conditions for entering the safe house.]
It was also the first time that Guishen heard that there were players blocked outside the safe house.
"Oh? Can you see which specific regulation it violates?"
“It does not meet the first requirement.”
Xu Zhiyan sighed, his expression becoming more and more strange.
In the background of the safe house, the first rule submitted to the main system is the basic rule.
【1. Human players can explore and enter safe houses. 】
"But in the copy where Yu Zhen is, there are no monsters that can devour humans, or any replacement monsters."
Xu Zhiyan initially thought it was a bug in the main system, so he asked the safe house system backend to submit the bug, but the message he received in the end was that the judgment was correct.
"So Yu Zhen... is either not a human or an NPC." Xu Zhiyan couldn't think of a third possibility.
The incident happened just now. The door of the safe house in that copy was still open. After Yu Zhen found that all his teammates had disappeared, he left as if nothing had happened. It was unknown whether he did not find the safe house or he knew in his heart that he could not enter.
[Mr. Ghost, before you came back, the host and I were looking through this player's previous live broadcasts.]
Like all ordinary players, although Yu Zhen speaks fluent inverted sentences, he is not a saint, and there is nothing too extraordinary about him. He is as ordinary as a drop of water falling into the ocean, unremarkable.
Xu Zhiyan turned his phone screen to Yu Zhen’s latest live broadcast and made the final conclusion.
"From previous videos, we can see that he is most likely not an NPC and has not received any preferential treatment from the main system. He is even often targeted by the system. So there is only one possibility."
"He is not human."
This result is somewhat exciting.
But when all impossible options are eliminated, the one that remains is the truth.
“It may not just be humans who are playing this game.”
The ghost did not say anything, but just looked down at the young man's face. He felt that Xu Zhiyan's last sentence should have other theoretical support.
A single non-human player is not enough to support this judgment.
Sure enough, after talking about Yu Zhen, Xu Zhiyan took out his old mobile phone to confirm his guess.
"Do you remember that when I was searching for the live broadcast signal source in the safe house, I found a new line in addition to Line 1?"
As he spoke, he opened the settings on his phone and clicked to search for the signal source again.
[Currently found signal source:]
【Line 1/Line ▇▇】
[Do you want to access line 1? ]
When he clicks on the line ▇▇, a new pop-up window pops up.
[Sorry, the player has not unlocked the line yet▇▇]
[Do you want to unlock it? (Unlocking fee: 50,000,000 points)]
Although he had seen it once before, when Xu Zhiyan saw the unlocking information again, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but twitch.
"I had already questioned it at that time. How could a live broadcast channel be worth 50 million points? What a joke!"
A live broadcast line can actually be sold for points? This is really the funniest joke of the century.
The safe house system also echoed indignation.
[What’s even more ridiculous is that although I don’t have the permission to view it, I can confirm that the live broadcast line does have traffic! ]
Although the traffic on this expensive line is negligible compared to Line 1, there is indeed traffic.
Xu Zhiyan affirmed the capabilities of the system.
“I think there are still many things about this game that I don’t know.”
Non-human players who cannot enter the safe house, expensive live broadcast lines, sparse traffic comparison...
As some details were unearthed, Xu Zhiyan became somewhat nervous. He always felt that any of them could prevent him from making money.
"Do you remember anything?"
Xu Zhiyan raised his head and looked at his reliable Party A.
If it were ghosts or gods, ordinary players should know more, right?
The ghost hesitated for a moment and shook his head.
"I don't remember."
Of the memories he had recovered, he remembered nothing except the fact that when he gained power, he kept thinking about Xu Zhiyan's name.
Xu Zhiyan narrowed his eyes and looked at the ghost in front of him who looked like an honest man. Suddenly, as if he thought of something, he raised his right hand, revealing the white bones half embedded in the flesh.
"Did you know that your bones have a mind of their own?"
"Um?"
This time it was the ghosts and gods' turn to be surprised.
He didn't remember what his bones were thinking. When he gave his right hand bone to Xu Zhiyan, he simply thought that the right hand was the most suitable hand for attacking.
Xu Zhiyan scratched his hair, thinking about how to describe the feeling of being controlled by the hand bones.
"When I use it to attack, it always tells me that it hasn't hit me enough and it wants more."
Damn, this hand bone's warmongering thinking is just like a fanatical warmongerer who will not stop until all the enemies are killed.
"More?"
The ghost's gaze fell on the back of Xu Zhiyan's hand.
These bones are actually just the concrete manifestation of the aggregate of power, so when He gave them the hand bones, He adjusted the size of the bones.
The bones that fit perfectly into the young man's right hand were very quiet at this moment.
He felt that he could not understand the meaning of 'it hasn't been beaten enough, it wants more'.
Thinking that he had to tell this matter eventually anyway, Xu Zhiyan simply clenched his right hand into a fist, supported the carpet with his other hand, and leaned over to hit the ghost in the chest.
"I admit that this hand bone is indeed very powerful, but that's about it. When I attack, this hand bone will start to instill thoughts in me, and it's very belligerent."
Damn it, as expected, when the main body was hit, the hand bones were as quiet as a chicken and there was no reaction at all.
“…”
The ghost was hit, but the punch was as strong as a cat's scratch, which only made him feel itchy inside.
The two were too close to each other, and some of Xu Zhiyan's aura was transmitted to him. He forced himself not to think in the wrong way, and thought it was more important to solve the problem first.
"Well, describe it in more detail."
Although the content was a bit outrageous, He still maintained absolute trust in the words of His beloved.
He knew that Xu Zhiyan had deceived Slice, framed players, and gone everywhere under the nose of the main system, but he would never deceive Him.
Xu Zhiyan punched the ghost in the chest again to make sure that the other party was really fine. The bones of his right hand seemed to be dead. He realized that it was impossible to reconstruct the scene and could only rely on oral narration.
"Let me think what this is called...mind invasion?"
He tried to recall the message conveyed by his hand bones when he hit the transparent door.
Warlike, unyielding, crazy...
"It's eager to fight a stronger being."
"So, what were you before?"
Xu Zhiyan admitted that his curiosity was indeed aroused. He cast an inquiring look at the ghosts and gods, wanting to know what the other party had experienced to become what he is now?
The ghosts and gods remained silent after hearing this.
Are these crazy thoughts that only flash through your mind when you are attacking?
"I……"
He lowered his eyes and spoke slowly.
When He gave this power, He never thought that this power would become a trouble for Xu Zhiyan.
At this moment, the ghost suddenly remembered the word Xu Zhiyan used when talking about him in the copy - vase.
Originally, He just regarded this title as a joke, but now it seems that He really did not make any particularly substantial contribution to the construction of the safe house, and even... He even spent all the savings of his sweetheart.
Clearly intending to become a more useful existence.
But now, even the power He gave him has become a burden to Xu Zhiyan.
He finally remembered that at the end of the ghost-hunting live broadcast, the young man had a confused and dull expression after he smashed the transparent coffin from a distance through a door.
That is a sign of eroded thinking.
If you don't have great perseverance, you will become a slave controlled by another thought.
Since Xu Zhiyan had been behaving normally since returning, and the Nightmare Community was busy with many affairs, he had forgotten about the incident for a while.
"I'm sorry."
The ghost bowed his head and apologized very sincerely.
"???"
Seeing this, Xu Zhiyan was confused, as if he had suddenly lost his voice, and didn't know how to answer.
After a few seconds, he reacted and waved his hands, looking indifferent.
"There will be a time limit for reaching the copy connected to the safe house soon. When the time comes, let the monsters catch someone who needs to be killed."
What the hell!
He was just discussing the mental devouring of hand bone feedback in a reasonable way, why did his client look like he had done something wrong! Suddenly he looked so pitiful, he almost thought he was some kind of PUA master!
The ghost looked at the young man in front of him and whispered, "I didn't think it through."
His sweetheart obviously didn't understand the severity of mind erosion. If it weren't for his extraordinary mental strength, he would have already become a puppet of hand bones.
"Mind erosion is more terrible than you think." He explained the dangerous situation with a diagram.
Xu Zhiyan didn't understand.
Although he personally experienced the erosion of his mind, as long as he wanted to make money, he felt that these crazy thoughts would not affect anything at all.
Seeing that the ghost still looked apologetic, Xu Zhiyan felt a little troubled.
The air didn't get colder, but he could feel the loss of the real existence of ghosts and gods... the loss of a leg!
He scratched his hair angrily and said loudly in self-abandonment.
"Let's put the matter of the hand bones aside for now."
"Don't you want to have your tail pinched? I'll give it to you now!"
Feeling that he had done something wrong, he was too ashamed to face the ghost of his beloved. Suddenly, he raised his head, his eyes full of disbelief.
"Um?"
Although he didn't understand what Xu Zhiyan was thinking, he couldn't refuse when the other party suddenly... suddenly said this!
Xu Zhiyan is a man who does what he says.
He turned around, lifted his clothes, and shook off the white tail that appeared out of nowhere.
Damn... I always feel the atmosphere is a bit tense.
After thinking for a moment, he spoke in a low voice and added some information.
"Mind erosion is not your fault. You don't have to apologize."
All the power you gain comes at a price.
This is the rule of the world, an iron law, which he has already known and recognized.
Taking a deep breath, he explained.
"I do hate out-of-control powers, but I am not afraid of these powers. They are a part of you, and they will be a part of me in the future."
What belongs to Party A is his.
He firmly believed it.
"You don't need to apologize to me."
The desire to become stronger once again filled Xu Zhiyan's heart.
He felt that if he was unable to control the power given by Party A simply because he was not strong enough, it was his own problem and had nothing to do with ghosts and gods.
"It's my problem to be affected, not yours."
Maybe the hand bone's mind invasion affected him again. He suddenly thought it would be nice to become a militant.
That feeling of being dominated by power.
It’s not that bad actually.
The air froze.
The white fur ball's tail couldn't help but tremble, but it didn't respond to any touch.
Just as Xu Zhiyan put down his clothes and was about to turn around to say something, a cold body hugged him from behind.
The smell of ashes belonging to ghosts and gods became stronger and stronger.
Xu Zhiyan could feel Party A’s body pressing heavily on him.
“You, what are you doing!”
He was a little overwhelmed, but couldn't break free.
Considering the difference in power, Xu Zhiyan simply stopped struggling and just turned his head to look at the talisman paper hanging down from the ghost.
The cold breath hit his ears.
After a long silence, he heard the voice of ghosts.
"I always thought I should disappear early."
He once watched countless players die in this deserted and dilapidated mansion, and even time seemed to have no definition.
Life and death are meaningless.
There is no point in waiting.
Things that are destined to disappear may not have existed in the first place.
Now, He finally understood.
The meaning of His existence is to wait for Xu Zhiyan to find this place.
Maybe the human in his arms doesn’t like him, maybe Xu Zhiyan will never fall in love with anything other than money in his life.
But this does not prevent Him from falling in love with the other person's shining soul during each communication and contact.
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