Chapter 384: Rusty City Strange Stories
If you think about it carefully, as the only place in the factory that is not covered by the rules, it is normal for it to be closely monitored. It would be abnormal if there was no monitoring.
Qi Shanren stood by the window for a full ten minutes before finally calming down.
It’s not like he hadn’t watched Xu Zhiyan’s live broadcast before, but when he saw Jiang Huaique and others firmly carrying out their mission, he envied them for being able to cling to such a rich man. Now it seems that not everyone can trust someone wholeheartedly.
As if he had made some kind of decision, Qi Shanren put away his glasses, turned around and nodded slightly at Xu Zhiyan.
He also has to become a player that Boss Xu can trust!
"The factory director is here, but he seems to be injured. He was pushed here in a wheelchair. He doesn't look well and doesn't have much hair left." He imitated the others and reported the information.
“…”
Xu Zhiyan was confused.
Wait, he just wanted the client to be quiet, why did this guy steal all his props?
Xu Zhiyan showed a rare confused expression, and the audience in the live broadcast room laughed loudly.
[Hahahahahahaha Qi Shanren you are a hidden talent! ]
[I am dying of laughter. Look at Xiao Baiwan's expression. Hahahaha. I am numb.]
[If I didn’t know Qi Shanren’s character, I would have thought he was acting! ]
[Help me hahahaha, after he put the props in his pocket, he looked at Little Million seriously hahahaha]
[A small player might become the first player to get a small million-dollar item, hahaha]
[This pair of glasses is a prop for the safe house. It is not cheap. Even after the discount, it still costs more than 20,000 yuan.]
Xu Zhiyan wanted to get his glasses back, but he didn’t know if his luck was too bad or too good. Before he could stand up, he heard a slight noise coming from his side.
"who!"
Qi Shanren spoke first, frowning and staring in the direction of the voice.
After a while, the outline of a small door gradually appeared behind the messy items.
A woman pushed open the narrow door and came out to look at the two people in the room. She was wearing a red dress and had black hair tied up behind her head. Her high nose bridge and blue eyes indicated her mixed-race identity - she was Miss Lil.
While Xu Zhiyan and Qi Shanren were staring at the woman who suddenly appeared, she was also looking at them.
Lil obviously didn't take Qi Shanren seriously. She just glanced at the player standing stupidly by the window, and then her eyes fell on Xu Zhiyan who was sitting on the stool.
The young man with a delicate face was leaning loosely against the back of the chair, his long legs casually crossed as he sat, his elbows resting on the armrests so that his right hand could support his chin. This was obviously a lazy posture, but when he met those silent and dark eyes, a faint sense of oppression from a superior suddenly came over him.
Lil subconsciously took two steps back, and the fingers that were loosely resting on the door just now tightened instantly.
He...he wants to kill someone!
The next second, Lil saw the young man smile.
The gentle and soft smile dissipated the majestic aura that was present even when he was not smiling. The difference between the two was so great that she was dazed for a moment and thought she had seen it wrong.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
Xu Zhiyan, who had already restrained his expression, spoke in a gentle voice.
Damn it, Qi Shanren's act of stealing the props almost made him lose his temper.
Fortunately, his brain reacted quickly. Xu Zhiyan immediately put on a gentle mask, stood up and looked at Lier with a worried look on his face: "Ms. Lier? Don't be afraid, we are not bad people."
Hearing the call, the woman at the door widened her eyes, as if she didn't expect that the two of them knew her name.
"You...are you...from the rescue team?" She showed a surprised expression, her face full of excitement and nervousness.
Xu Zhiyan nodded with a sincere look on his face, while Qi Shanren was still a little confused.
Without caring about anything else, Lil hurriedly opened the door as wide as possible and waved to the two of them: "Come with me quickly, there are surveillance cameras everywhere here, my father has already found you two, and he is bringing people to arrest you, I will take you away from here, and I will explain the rest on the way."
Qi Shanren quickly waved his hand to stop him: "No, we are safe here."
There are no rules to protect them here. Even if the factory director brings people to arrest them, they can fight back and protect themselves. If the factory director comes to them personally, that would be even better. He can just arrest them all. He has confidence in Xu Zhiyan's ability.
"But what exactly happened to Miss Lil? What happened in this factory and this city?" He asked calmly, imitating Xu Zhiyan's behavior.
When the woman heard this, she looked happy, but then she thought of something and her expression became conflicted.
"The rescue team said the same thing before, but in the end..." She pursed her lips and quickly talked about what happened before: "This city has been ruined for a long time. We are just hiding here to survive. My father did many wrong things in order to survive."
The changes in the city began quietly decades ago.
“It started out as some inexplicable disaster.”
“The heavy rain that only covered a certain neighborhood, people dying of heatstroke on the roadside in the cold winter, and deceased relatives reappearing at the dinner table…”
The memory made Lil close his eyes in pain.
She recounted in detail what happened when the city lost its normal rules.
"No one realized at the time that it was the city's rules that came to life."
Rules are supposed to be solid, stable, and regular.
But the rules of Rust City no longer protect the city as before, but instead become the culprit that pushes the city into the abyss.
"…I have never seen what the rules of this city look like, but it does have its own thoughts and has become a different existence. It uses the rules to kill people and likes to devour living things to allow itself to continue to evolve. We call the rules themselves 'it'."
After she finished speaking, Miss Lil's mood gradually calmed down.
She walked forward a few steps with her high heels on the rusty ground and sighed, "My father had no choice but to sign an agreement with it in order to keep the factory employees alive."
It loves gold and living souls.
In order to keep some people alive, the owner of the factory had to sacrifice others. They processed them into handicrafts with the breath of living people and offered them to the beast of rules that was gradually taking shape in the middle of the night.
"This is also a helpless move, but the more living people it devours, the more rules it can absorb..."
The woman lowered her head and bit her lips hard.
"I know what he did was wrong, so I don't want anyone else to die."
Miss Lil burst into tears as she spoke of the rescue team members who were left behind in order to look for her.
After saying that, she seemed to have made up her mind. She walked forward and pointed at the small door she came from. "It's not safe here. My father has a way to make the rules cover this place again. They will be coming up soon. If you don't leave now, you may be caught too!"
The woman's eyes were full of pain. She had been tortured by this sin for so many years and tossed and turned, unable to sleep at night.
Qi Shanren panicked after hearing this.
"Boss Xu, shall we go? Shall we go?"
He wanted to say that they were different from other rescue team members. They had props and skills, but if the rules really covered this place, they couldn't hurt people in the factory area, and they might even be mentally controlled! Just like the buyer controlled him just now.
...Who can guarantee that the rescue team members who died in this city before were not other players?
His wavering look caught the eyes of the other two.
Before Lil could say anything, she heard the faint sound of a lock being unlocked outside the room. She hurriedly ran to the door and locked it from inside, trying to buy some time.
But as the footsteps gradually grew louder, she could no longer hide the fear on her face. She quickly returned to the small door, lowered her head and half of her body went in, her breathing quickened a little: "I, I...I'll go down first. I have to delete the surveillance before Dad comes back. If you don't come over, don't tell anyone that you just saw me."
The woman was trembling, and when she lifted her leg, part of her calf was exposed, her smooth skin was covered with scars.
"Actually, I plan to send away the last batch of rescue team members we found earlier today."
She was so scared that she almost tripped over a box while speaking.
At the moment when the scream appeared, Xu Zhiyan had already walked over and supported the woman who was about to fall.
He let out a long sigh, turned to Qi Shanren and said seriously: "Why are you still standing there? Let's go!" After that, he took out a square biscuit box from his pocket and threw it near the gate.
"There are explosive props hidden inside. If someone damages the box, even just a corner, it will trigger an explosion."
Xu Zhiyan sighed and said, "The appearance of this thing is just a disguise. In fact, it is very powerful. Even I don't dare to use it normally. Fortunately, the explosion range is relatively small."
Hearing this, Lil looked up at the young man who was holding her up, and a smile appeared on his face: "That's great. I was worried about what would happen if you didn't believe me and my father caught me again. I don't want to see anyone die because of me again."
She turned around and walked quickly into the narrow passage without stopping. Xu Zhiyan and Qi Shanren followed her.
The passage is very narrow and is in the style of a spiral staircase.
The only light source was a row of dim light strips attached above the head.
Xu Zhiyan and Lil were fine and could barely move normally, but it was much more difficult when they got to Qi Shanren. They could only walk sideways and their movements were much slower. He looked at Xu Zhiyan's slow figure and the NPC that had already run away, and his heart was filled with warmth.
"Boss Xu! Can I join your guild after we get out this time?" he said earnestly.
“…”
Xu Zhiyan rubbed his temples, turned around and gestured to keep quiet.
He somewhat understood why Qi Shanren was chosen by the Pantheon to die. This kid was naturally reckless and stupid...
Luck is also part of strength.
In a sense, this person must be very lucky to have survived to this day.
The height of the steps became smaller, the passage became wider, and the rust marks changed from covering the entire wall to growing only in the corners.
After walking for about ten minutes, the light strip above my head was finally replaced with a bright bulb, and the rust spots completely disappeared.
Finally, the two of them stepped down the last step.
At the end of the clean and white corridor was a half-open door. Miss Lil's words came out from inside, echoing back and forth in the rather empty passage.
"Come here quickly, the train is about to leave."
Qi Shanren breathed a sigh of relief and said happily: "That's great, Boss Xu. Our mission is to find the missing team members. I didn't expect that we have accomplished it in one go!"
Xu Zhiyan also smiled.
But as he walked forward, he faintly heard the sound of metal colliding in his pocket.
The two walked forward together, and before Lin entered the door, Qi Shanren was quick to push open the door first.
“Squeak—”
“Snap—Snap—Snap—”
Along with the piercing sound of the gate came countless huge searchlights.
In an instant, beams of dazzling light locked the two people in place.
The change happened so suddenly that the two of them subconsciously raised their hands to block the light, and noisy breathing sounds appeared in their ears.
After a few minutes, they finally got used to the glaring light and could see the scene clearly.
This was a much more spacious place than the room upstairs. Opposite them stood dozens of NPCs in black and gray uniforms. In the center of the NPCs, Miss Lil in a red dress and a white-haired old man in a wheelchair were surrounded like the moon surrounded by stars.
There was no trace of the concern on the woman's face that she had shown upstairs. The way she looked over here was as if she were looking at two dead people.
On the other side, the old man in the wheelchair had a dull look in his eyes, looking like a puppet.
She snorted and spoke.
"I don't want to risk turning you into raw materials."
The power that Xu Zhiyan had displayed on the top floor previously frightened her, so she temporarily changed her plan and decided to get rid of these two uncertain humans as soon as possible.
"You should feel honored. This room is full of rules. You players cannot escape. Anyone illuminated by the light cannot use any props or skills." Although she said these complacent words, Miss Lil's expression was serious.
Qi Shanren's eyes almost popped out of his head.
After hearing the explanation, he immediately stretched out his arms and stood in front of Xu Zhiyan, trying to block the light for him, and urged him in a trembling voice: "Boss Xu! You! You you you hide behind me... There is no light behind, run!"
Miss Lil giggled as if she had heard some great joke.
“Pah—”
There was a sudden sound in the passage we came from, and a huge beam of light shot out from behind.
The two had nowhere to escape.
The gray-clothed NPC carefully brought over a biscuit box, which was the one Xu Zhiyan had just left upstairs.
"You should keep this for yourselves."
After Lil finished speaking, he picked up the box and threw it with all his strength into the center of the spotlight, landing right in front of the two of them.
I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but the box landed neatly without any damage.
The cookie box was intact and the expected explosion did not occur.
Qi Shanren was sweating profusely from nervousness. He moved his lips and shook his head back and forth, thinking of other ways: "Xu, Boss Xu! How about we run separately..."
Having fallen into the enemy's net, he could think of no other means of escape.
As if he had made up his mind, Qi Shanren clenched his fists and said tremblingly: "I...I will cover you, you just need to run away."
Beads of sweat the size of beans slid down his forehead.
Qi Shanren never thought that one day he would become the person who protects others.
The timidity in his bones made him tremble so much that he could hardly stand, but the courage that was vaguely sprouting in his heart made him grit his teeth and force himself not to retreat.
Lil took out his gun and pointed it at the cookie box.
The air almost froze.
Everyone present felt like they were almost suffocating.
Suddenly, Xu Zhiyan's voice sounded like thunder, causing everyone present to look behind Qi Shanren.
"Ahem...please make way first."
He reached out and patted Qi Shanren on the shoulder, with mixed feelings: "Well done."
Forget it, considering that we’re here to protect this kid when he’s in danger, I’ll just give him an 20% discount on the props worth more than 20,000 yuan.
Xu Zhiyan walked past Qi Shanren and slowly approached the box. He could feel Lil's gun turned towards him, but he did not panic. Instead, he sighed, "He actually knows about the players. It seems to be more complicated than I thought."
In full view of everyone, he picked up the biscuit box, slowly opened it, took out two packs of biscuits, tore open the packaging and took a bite.
In the huge space, the only sound was the young man's 'crunching' sound of eating biscuits.
Qi Shanren was stunned, as if he hadn't realized the current situation yet, but Lil immediately realized that he had been tricked. She was extremely tense and the people she brought with her also drew their pistols.
Xu Zhiyan finished two cookies and threw the rest into Qi Shanren's arms, whispering, "It's a bit dry, be careful not to choke."
“…Ah? Oh.”
Qi Shanren didn't understand what was going on, but at this moment, holding the biscuit box, he felt particularly at ease.
"Miss Lil, have you calmed down...well, or should I call you, it?" Xu Zhiyan asked with a smile.
Lil nervously replied, "When did you discover the problem?"
"Let's start from your appearance." Xu Zhiyan frowned and said, "My original plan was to catch those monsters roaming around the factory first, but then a buyer showed up right away and new information came pouring in... Don't you think your arrangement was too coincidental?"
Someone was trying to stop him from finding out more about what was happening in the factory.
Some people didn't want him to find out where the monster came from.
The factory did not strictly restrict players from leaving, so it was easy to walk out. Lier did not take action against Gan Mi and Xinan, so their success was unbelievable. It was more like the factory wanted to get all the players out rather than wanting to keep them.
This is very different from the feedback from other teammates.
The rest of the rule areas will restrict players from leaving in various ways. Dou Hongshan and Jiang Huaique have not been able to leave their locations so far. Even if Jin Sheng wants to go out, he must be confined to the car and cannot leave at will. Only the handicraft processing factory area...
"Let me guess what you are... um, a rule? You and that man-eating guy in the city are both living rules, right?"
The fact that this place has become a replica must have been caused by some kind of contamination or mutation.
The rules of the entire city are alive, and it doesn't make sense that the rules in a small area would be directly swallowed up by the big rules. That's why the rules in small areas are different, but occasionally there are one or two similar rules.
"You should be one of the better ones, right?"
The rest of the area has long been lifeless, only the factory area is still thriving. Although the superficial harmony is torn off, there are bloody sacrifices behind it.
The monster in woman's skin did not refute.
"Hehe, you can guess so much, why are you still following me? Do you want to see a joke?" Perhaps because it had suffered losses at the hands of players, fear flashed in its eyes when it spoke, and it had completely lost the desire to attack.
"Because this is my sincerity. I want to know who is in charge of this place."
Xu Zhiyan smiled and reached into his pocket.
A dazzling gold coin appeared in his hand.
"Although you have banned my skills and items, my money is more powerful than anything else."
The current rules cannot be completely eradicated, otherwise all creatures living in this area, including himself, will be in danger of extinction. What's more, Gan Mi has set the rules for him. Who knows what will happen to him when the factory rules disappear? To be on the safe side, Xu Zhiyan chose to start plan B.
"There are still rules in the city that can be used. You have been trying to find loopholes. I have money, a lot of money. My wealth is beyond your imagination. We can cooperate temporarily..."
There was so much gold in the safe house that the monsters used it to make chairs, and the gold coins were stored in the package as a backup supply.
“I can afford more area.”
"I can also provide you with living things for sacrifice."
Xu Zhiyan didn't expect that the gold mountain given by Bai Jin could be used in advance.
Thinking of his client, he reached out and gently stroked the horn pendant through his clothes.
This 'Miss Lil' was indeed well prepared. The spotlight fell on him, and the ghost consciousness that had been integrated into the skill was directly stuck back into the prop.
The pendant was now incredibly hot, burning and making his heart itch.
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