It was a cold and slippery feeling, and the touch of my hand felt like I was touching the slippery skin of a flounder, which was elastic and concave...
However, what he touched was probably just glass.
When this concept emerged in his mind, Shuichi Akai suddenly felt his heartbeat stop for a moment, and the world seemed to be turned upside down and reversed in an instant. Everything rushed forward at a rapid speed, converging into an endless river of colorful light.
"bite--"
Something trembled slightly.
In the air where Shuichi Akai could not be seen, the bullet screen was jumping wildly. It was obvious that the interaction between Shuichi Akai and Xiao Chou attracted the audience's extraordinary attention.
[Shuichi, this is, lost sanity]
[Hey guys, I'm starting to believe what the guy said before. Wuyouzhixiang is really weird. This is the nth time someone has gone crazy and lost his sanity.]
[I feel like something is wrong. Is Akai Shuichi okay? This doesn't look good.]
[It should be fine. Isn't Xiao Chou still sending him invitations? He won't kill the audience before the Clown's Banquet begins.]
Just as the barrage said, Xiao Chou's arm was passing through the glass little by little.
The hard transparent glass seemed like nothing to Xiao Chou. It did not pose any obstacle and allowed him to pass through it easily.
An eager and exaggerated smile outlined the ugly little man's pale face. The dwarf stretched out his arm and smoothly stuffed the envelope into the man's pocket. All this was not only not noticed by the other party, but also by the guests and waiters walking around in the restaurant.
As if this level of provocation was still not enough, the pale Xiao Chou took off the invisible earphone hidden in the man's ear, smiled nervously and said something inaudible.
After doing all this, Joestan Jared withdrew his arm, exhaled happily on the glass, wrote something on it, and quickly left the live broadcast room.
By the time Shuichi Akai came to his senses, the feeling under his hands had turned into the cold and hard feeling of ordinary silicate.
But when he suddenly looked out of the window, the little ugly guy wearing the donkey-ear hat outside the window had disappeared, and only the bustling crowd passed by outside.
I don't know when the glass was covered with a layer of mist, and a stick figure smiling face was drawn on it, which proved that the ugly boy he saw before was not an illusion of Shuichi Akai.
The man turned his head with a gloomy face, but this slight change in movement made him feel something and his brows wrinkled slightly.
There's something extra in my pocket.
The man paused for a moment and reached into his pocket, where an exquisite invitation letter was placed.
Shuichi Akai's brows were furrowed tightly, then quickly smoothed. The well-trained FBI quickly restored his disguise and his facial expression returned to its previous state before the waitress brought him coffee.
The target has disappeared, but now there is obviously something more concerning to him, something that is enough to make the FBI immediately divert its attention.
What made Shuichi Akai most alert was the earphones that were taken out. He paused for two seconds before putting them back on. It seemed that no one around him noticed his small action.
As expected, the anxious and puzzled voice of the operator came through the earphone: "What happened over there?"
"Mission terminated, return immediately." Another voice interrupted, commanding calmly.
"No," Akai Shuichi glanced at the invitation letter he had placed on the table and said in a calm voice, "I received the invitation."
"An invitation to the Ugly Banquet from the Land of Nothingness."
*************
Without caring about what was coming from the earphone, Shuichi Akai decisively terminated the call and walked out of the restaurant quickly. He had already understood the previous intelligence, and the FBI contact might not be able to help him anymore.
As for the order to recall him, Akai Shuichi
He decided to take a risk, and this puzzle itself was worth the risk. An inexplicable sense of excitement suddenly spread through his blood.
Akai Shuichi was really shocked and angry about his condition just now. The feeling of having his thoughts and consciousness toyed with was extremely terrible for him. For any agent who pursued privacy and secrecy, the experience of having his soul read through by another person was not a good thing.
In his final subconscious, there seemed to be some impressions of Xiao Chou. That smile and the strange and ethereal ringtone made him feel torn.
The direction in which Xiao Chou disappeared seemed to be the circus. He didn't know why he was so sure. After receiving the invitation letter, he developed an inexplicable yearning for this banquet. He had to shift his eyes away from the envelope with great difficulty to overcome it.
This feeling itself is very psychedelic and strange, but it is indeed what Shuichi Akai is extremely wary of and rejects.
After quickly passing through the ticket gate, we immediately arrived at a place similar to a large market. The circus was in the center of the market, and surrounding the circus tent were a number of large and small, scattered stalls. There were kirtana girls telling fortunes for people, and there were also some vendors selling souvenirs or amulets.
Shuichi Akai tried to find some traces of Xiao Chou in the crowd, but found nothing. However, this was indeed within his expectations. He had undoubtedly witnessed Xiao Chou's ability to appear and disappear at will before, but he always felt that the mysterious Xiao Chou would come looking for him again.
Xiao Chou, who was clinging to the window, looked as if he wanted to say something to him.
And in fact it was just as he guessed.
Just like a drop of ink suddenly dripping on a white paper, the dwarf dressed in a blue and yellow striped ugly costume really caught Akai Shuichi's sight at a certain moment.
Bright and conspicuous, pale and strange, it is like an invading virus that is incompatible with the world, or like an abandoned corner abandoned by the world.
"You will come." The short little ugly boy raised his head and said firmly in a shrill voice.
Akai Shuichi did not answer, but looked at the little Chou in front of him with an emotionless gaze.
"You may call me Joestan, Joestan Jarde, or Fool, or Clown, or whatever you like, my dear guest."
"There are no rules for Xiao Chou. The Lord's rules do not apply to Xiao Chou. The Lord is the Creator, but Xiao Chou is nothing."
Xiao Chou was not angry because of his cold attitude. Instead, he introduced himself politely with a strange emphasis.
However, the information revealed in his words is particularly interesting. Akai Shuichi almost subconsciously began to explore what the so-called lord is and what kind of meaning is hidden in Xiao Chou's crazy words.
Having said that, the pale and inhuman little Chou continued to let out a shrill and thin laugh as if no one was around. As he moved exaggeratedly, the bells tied to his clothes kept jingling.
But Akai Shuichi's face turned even darker. It must be said that he definitely wanted to go there of his own will. Even from the perspective of the FBI, they would never let go of such an opportunity to intervene in the activities of the Utopia.
The Black Organization has not made any major moves since Gin took back the target from Roald Dahl's candy factory, but Shuichi Akai is sure that the distillery will remain so honest after obtaining the so-called elixir of life, and they are definitely brewing a bigger conspiracy.
Obviously, such a conspiracy is inseparable from the Utopia, but he can't get any clue from it now. The invitation of Xiao Chou, who is also a member of the Utopia, may be able to provide him with help.
And from the FBI's perspective, even if Xiao Chou did not take the initiative to find Akai Shuichi, they would definitely find an opportunity to get involved.
The failure to reach a cooperation agreement with Fitzgerald last time resulted in the FBI's serious lack of intelligence on the Dahl Candy Factory, which had already caused dissatisfaction among the higher-ups, and they would certainly not allow such a loophole to happen again.
"bite--"
The familiar ringtone brought Akai Shuichi out of his thoughts.
Zhong called back.
Only then did he realize that he had been more absorbed in thinking about this problem than ever before under such circumstances. Invisibly, his thoughts seemed to be guided, influenced, and controlled.
danger.
Akai Shuichi's pupils constricted.
Xiao Chou's pale face was suddenly within reach. He didn't even see clearly when Xiao Chou approached, let alone being able to react. All his movements and nervous impulses seemed to go against his instinct and fluctuate with the ethereal bell sound.
Something was looking down upon him.
strangeness.
This ugly guy who called himself Joestein Jared was so short, but Shuichi Akai felt as if something cold and sticky was staring at him with malicious intent, like a mixture of starch and water invading him from top to bottom.
Just when his calm mind, which he was always proud of, was about to fail in this kind of suffocation and high pressure, and when he could hardly suppress the urge to draw his gun, Xiao Chou suddenly moved away from him.
Xiao Chou, who was standing three steps away, curled his lips silently, but this was not much more polite than his previous shrill laughter. He was still so pale and disgusting, like a dying squid caught on shore, cold and deformed.
"What suit of poker cards do you like?" Xiao Chou chuckled, and the bells were shaking wildly, like a small storm.
But as if he didn't care about Akai Shuichi's answer, he quickly and decisively defined it: "Clubs, of course it's clubs, my dear Mr. Clubs!"
"How fitting!"
Akai Shuichi's face was stern. The Xiao Chou in front of him seemed to be caught in an inexplicable frenzy, shaking violently. A distorted smile was the main theme of Xiao Chou's facial expression. His inaudible mumbling sounded like a curse or praising something loudly in vulgar language.
He did not leave. At this moment, Shuichi Akai became calmer than ever before. He needed to appreciate the interesting "game" that Xiao Chou was going to bring him.
Xiao Chou took out an old bottle from behind with shaking hands.
Shuichi Akai noticed that there was some liquid inside that looked like a melted rainbow, flowing restlessly in the glass bottle.
When Xiao Chou opened the bottle and took a swig, he smelled the scent of whiskey mixed with ripe mangoes, and maybe something else, but he couldn't tell what it was for a moment.
"Pick a card, my dear guest, my precious child."
After taking two gulps of the unknown drink, Xiao Chou's voice suddenly became hoarse, as if he was sobbing.
The ugly yellow eyes were filled with tears, but Akai Shuichi saw almost crazy happiness in them.
Xiao Chou lifted a quarter deck of poker cards in front of Akai Shuichi like a magic trick. Xiao Chou's body was still shaking, but he held the poker cards in his hand very steadily.
Shuichi Akai did not refuse nor did he take any action immediately, and the little Chou who had been acting crazy before now seemed unusually patient and waited quietly, without even the bells on his body that always made noise making a sound.
After a while, a card was taken from Xiao Chou's hand, and Akai Shuichi grabbed the card that belonged to him.