Chapter 36 The Infinite Boss Invites You to "Eat Melon" 36. In Love...
Pei Yanzhi did not go to open the door after all; instead, he used his spatial power to roll the clothes from Lu Yu's hands and bring them in.
This wasn't because he didn't trust Lu Yu, but because he didn't trust himself.
The underwear was originally soft and cool, but perhaps due to the steam in the bathroom or the heat of the man's palm, it became a little too hot when it was lifted onto Pei Yanzhi's body, as if it were being wrapped in familiar large hands from front to back, and with the slightest movement, it was an unusual caress.
Pei Yanzhi, wearing a bathrobe, stood by the sink for a while before washing his face with cold water, opening the door and stepping out.
Lu Yu had already sat back down on the cushion next to his suitcase and had almost finished unpacking. They hadn't brought much stuff, so packing was relatively simple.
When Pei Yanzhi saw that his underwear pocket was open and the clothes inside had obviously been folded again, he felt a jolt in his back, causing him to stop and land at Lu Yu's feet.
"So many options... why choose this one?"
His bare feet gently moved forward, stepping on the corner of Lu Yu's shirt as he swept the floor.
Lu Yu's movements were restricted. He paused, looked down, and then followed the white light upwards into the young man's downcast eyes: "You look very good in this color."
"Does that mean I wouldn't look good in other colors?" Pei Yanzhi smiled, pressing his feet slightly to twitch the hem of his shirt.
But it seems to be more than just the hem of a garment.
Because his spatial power was activated.
Lu Yu's brow twitched, and his fingers, which were straightening the clothes, tightened instantly: "...Baby, stop fooling around."
Pei Yanzhi remained silent, only moving a little closer. A faint, post-bath fragrance wafted over, soft, clear, and almost imperceptible. Lu Yu's senses were instantly captivated.
He stretched out his shoulders and leaned back against the edge of the bed, tilting his head back and looking up at Pei Yanzhi's face, his eyes growing deeper and deeper.
After an unknown amount of time, Pei Yanzhi's feet grew tired and sore. He finally let go of the pitiful hem of his clothes that lay crumpled and unrecognizable on the floor. Lu Yu's muscles, which had been taut to the extreme, slowly relaxed. The air conditioning was set low, but he was still drenched in sweat and couldn't wait a moment longer; he had to go into the bathroom.
While Lu Yu was taking a bath, Pei Yanzhi was even more unceremonious, but unfortunately Lu Yu bathed very quickly, and he didn't have time to do anything.
It was indeed getting late. After washing up, the two turned off the lights and began their pre-sleep routine of playing on their phones. Pei Yanzhi started watching a documentary to help him fall asleep, while Lu Yu habitually checked his messages. To his surprise, the gossip group had received over a hundred new messages.
Lu Yu jumped to the first post and was immediately struck by a colleague's exclamation: "This smells like gossip!"
A bad feeling rose in Lu Yu's heart.
Sure enough, the second headline was: "A Couple in Love in Disguise, Ultimately Different in Spirit; A Daoist Alliance Marriage: Sleeping in the Same Bed but Dreaming Different Dreams? Welcome to this hilarious team-building juicy gossip segment, 'The Secret Behind Lu Pei's Romantic Relationship'!"
Lu Yu: "..."
These people are really bored.
Lu Yu skimmed through the text, quickly recognizing that it was all Sherlock Holmes-level analysis from his colleagues.
Leaving aside the disagreement about choosing a room, some people are digging up details about how the two of them never slept with their heads together on buses and planes, never held hands while walking, never kissed when looking at each other, never hugged while talking, and never sat in a corner... etc. Is this what a midnight movie is like? Even if there were no problems between them, they couldn't possibly do *that* in a corner, could they?
Lu Yu was speechless.
The first thing my colleagues did when they arrived at Hiroland Island in the middle of the night wasn't to post on social media or rush to sleep, but to dig up details of their interactions along the way, which was really quite creepy.
In conclusion, under Sister Liu's guidance, they concluded that Lu Yu and Pei Yanzhi either lacked a certain depth in their relationship or had encountered problems that needed to be resolved. As Lu Yu's good colleagues, they felt obligated to do their part to help them.
Lu Yu: "..."
Brothers and sisters, don't mess around!
His eyelids twitched, and he was about to speak up to stop them, risking his alternate account being exposed, when he heard Pei Yanzhi from the next bed say, "I turned off the light?"
"good."
Lu Yu responded, hesitated for a moment, and then decided not to continue typing. Instead, he switched to Do Not Disturb mode and put his phone aside. His colleagues might be gossipy, but they were all adults and knew their limits, so there was really no need to worry too much.
The room fell dark, and Pei Yanzhi's voice rang out softly: "Have you thought about what this fragment of divinity might be?"
“No,” Lu Yu took off his glasses and lay on his side facing Pei Yanzhi. He could vaguely see that Pei Yanzhi had also turned around and was looking at him. The two were less than half a meter apart. “Based on the situation when we were looking for the first fragment of the divine core, I felt that it was quite difficult to predict using common sense.”
Pei Yanzhi seemed to recall the scene of the portable toilet collapsing earlier, and chuckled softly, saying, "Exploration points can confirm whether there are any awakened divine fragments within the current area at the moment of detection. However, this area isn't very large; there are limitations. For example, I can't directly use one exploration point to explore the entire Heirolan Island. And even if I could, it would be wasteful, because we're already here, so we know that the divine fragments are most likely here. What we need is a specific area."
"When I arrived tonight, I had already used two exploration points, the airport and the resort, but there were none, at least not tonight."
Now that their three teams are working together, they have a considerable amount of exploration points, and they are not as reluctant to give them up as they were in the first phase.
Lu Yu knew this and sighed inwardly, realizing that it was indeed difficult to pinpoint the location.
“I’m also planning to make a shield this time,” Lu Yu said, “I’ll use the team building badges that were just handed out.”
Pei Yanzhi quickly understood Lu Yu's meaning and realized that this man was really good at tricking people: "Last time it was a work badge, and this time it's a name tag that looks like a work badge. Whether it's a false alarm or not, they're going to have a lot of trouble. As long as there's even the slightest suspicion, they'll have to spare some energy to test it. If they have more energy here, they'll naturally have less energy elsewhere."
"That's terrible."
Pei Yanzhi gave Lu Yu a harsh critique.
Lu Yu readily accepted the assessment and smiled, "Every little bit we can hold back other players is a good thing. The two goals in our plan are those that can be achieved more smoothly with less interference."
Pei Yanzhi agreed, but also hesitated.
He paused for a moment, then said, "Actually, dealing with Ji Chengchuan now is probably a bit premature. If it's because of me, then..."
“Now is the best time to deal with Ji Chengchuan,” Lu Yu interrupted Pei Yanzhi. Without his glasses, his deep black eyes gleamed brightly in the night. “If we still manage to get the second fragment, the Smiling Game will never give up. We need to weaken its power as much as possible before that happens. Moreover, I have a feeling that this final battle might come much sooner than we expect.”
"It will not let me recover, nor will it let you get rid of pollution completely."
Lu Yu's voice was deep: "I know your concerns, Yanzhi. You have failed before, and even almost paid the price of death for it, so you are worried about me, but I have long since broken free from the Smiling Game, and I have the power of purification, so I will be fine. Trust me, trust yourself."
Pei Yanzhi stared into Lu Yu's eyes, as if he could see in them the figure in that incomplete file, that blurry image, the figure who failed time and time again, and then rose again and again in despair.
"good."
His slightly tense back finally relaxed, his head sank into the pillow, and his hair gently spread out.
The two fell silent and stopped talking.
A moment later, Lu Yu heard Pei Yanzhi's breathing become long and steady, a sign that he was gradually falling asleep. He carefully applied some of his power to make him sleep even more soundly, then silently got up and crossed that half-meter distance.
As I pulled aside the silk yukata, I touched skin that was even smoother and softer than the yukata itself.
Lu Yu let out a satisfied sigh, tore away the obstacles on his body, and began to experiment with some new purification methods.
The gossip-eating system that secretly observes: [...]
Something feels off. The host seems to be getting more and more skilled.
Perhaps because most players had not yet arrived or had not yet recovered from the long voyage, Lu Yu's first night on the island of Hailuolan was exceptionally peaceful.
The next morning at 8:30, the team-building group gathered at the resort's restaurant. After having a buffet breakfast, they split into two groups according to the itinerary.
Those who hadn't had a proper rest during their journey stayed at the resort, soaking in the pool and enjoying a spa treatment to rejuvenate before setting off for a jungle adventure in the most lush rainforest on Hiloran Island. In the afternoon, the two groups reunited and took a boat out to sea to watch the sunset.
Since the resort had confirmed that there were no fragments of divine power, there was no point in Lu Yu and Pei Yanzhi staying. Naturally, they chose to go on a jungle adventure.
Of the more than one hundred people, only thirty or forty made the same choice as them. The rest all said that a vacation should be a vacation, and things like jungle adventures are not suitable for working dogs like them who suffer from cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation, tenosynovitis, and whose knees are filled with unknown amounts of fluid.
Lu Yu: "..."
He also longed to collapse by the pool, bask in the sun, drink coconut juice, and while away the time with Pei Yanzhi! That was life! But... sigh, never mind, for the sake of the bigger plan.
Lu Yu wiped his face, picked up his and Pei Yanzhi's backpacks, and sadly boarded the bus to the rainforest.
On the way, the intelligence gathered by Jiang Yan and her team also arrived. Of the top 200 players on the leaderboard, only 78 successfully made it to Hailuolan Island. Most of them were from the top ten guilds, with very few independent players, including dozens of people from the top ten teams.
Among these players who traveled across the ocean to catch up, those worth noting, besides familiar faces like Ji Chengchuan and Dream Catcher, include Zeng Ming, the guild leader of Tianyuan Guild who moved here after excluding Baishan, known as "Hand of Time," and a very famous random player known as "Heart-Slaying Sword," Qian Yue.
One of them has the ability to manipulate the power of time, while the other is rumored to possess a terrifying sword that can pierce the heart; both are also Ji Chengchuan's lovers.
This long document contains relatively detailed information on 87 players, including their physical characteristics, special abilities, and iconic artifacts. It also marks which players are worth recruiting and turning against them, and which are beyond redemption. It is very efficient, concise, and easy to understand.
As Lu Yu read, he sighed with admiration. Intelligence is such a wonderful thing. Knowing yourself and your enemy is a completely different experience from being completely in the dark.
After a half-hour drive, despite feeling carsick, Lu Yu finished reviewing the intelligence data and gained a clear understanding of the situation.
A little after ten o'clock, Lu Yu and his group arrived at the entrance to the rainforest.
A row of pavilion-like buildings has been built here, with signs for many local travel agencies, as well as a small supermarket and public restrooms, indicating that the business is already well-established.
The travel agency that organized the group meeting sent someone to meet them. Speaking in English with a strong local accent, the person explained the precautions and informed them of the essential items for the jungle adventure. If they were missing anything, they had to buy it within half an hour, as it was available in the small supermarket. After half an hour, they would split into groups and be led by guides into the mostly pristine rainforest.
Lu Yu and Pei Yanzhi had already reviewed the team-building itinerary and made plans, so their preparations were fairly complete. They only went to the small supermarket for a quick look before retreating amidst the exorbitantly priced trinkets.
The guides assigned by the travel agency were all locals who spoke basic English and had years of experience trekking through the rainforest. Lu Yu and his group were divided into seven or eight teams of five, each led by a guide, and entered the rainforest one after another via a small path.
Lu Yu and Pei Yanzhi were naturally in one team. The other three people in the team, two men and one woman, were also from Xiaoxi Media and were avid hikers. They were familiar faces that Lu Yu often encountered when he went to the public fitness area on the rooftop of the office building during his lunch break. After exchanging greetings, the five-person team was led by a guide wearing an orange hat and with dark, shiny skin, into a lush green world.
"The boss has been caught on the network."
In a corner of a pavilion, someone leans against the shadows, communicating with someone using a strange object.
“Very good,” came Ji Chengchuan’s roguish chuckle from the monster. “Let’s get started. Don’t be afraid, he’s just a paper tiger, he can’t do anything. I’ll handle Pei Yanzhi. Perform well, and those who come back alive will be rewarded.”
Amidst the laughter, a soft sound came, like a kiss from afar.
The person in the corner of the pavilion twitched, and a hint of excitement and infatuation surfaced in their eyes.
He and many others answered in unison, "Yes, Vice President!"
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