Chapter 62: Do You Mind Riding a Truck to Work?
Before leaving the God Realm Prototype and returning to the rundown motel, Luxianbei “personally experienced” Qing Ji’s Spirit Energy simulation of the White-Armed Giant’s power a full thirty times.
Whether it was because Qing Ji was increasingly using Luxianbei as a “practice subject” or due to the recovery of his late-life memories, his control over Spirit Energy seemed to have become much more refined. Or perhaps it was to allow Luxianbei to repeatedly and clearly sense the subtlety of the White-Armed Giant’s power simulated by Spirit Energy fluctuations…
In any case, every strike from Qing Ji was precisely controlled to avoid injuring Luxianbei.
However.
Wasn’t this torturing him? It would have been better to make it quick! That reminded Luxianbei of the thin bamboo strips in his father’s hand; compared to the deadly “Seven Wolves,” those thin bamboo strips, which only hurt without inflicting real damage, were even more fearsome.
As he opened his eyes and vaguely saw the dirty ceiling of the motel, he felt a lingering pain in his limbs and joints.
After a while, he struggled to sit up.
Just as he got up, the little notebook of Nanling Yaohua appeared in front of him.
Your Zhipianxian is here, waiting at the door of your room. It seems he wants to talk to you about something but doesn’t dare to enter.
“Did that guy already finish work?” Luxianbei muttered to himself, glancing toward the door while slightly furrowing his brow.
As everyone knows, during the making of a Zhipianxian, in order to better control it, the creator usually incorporates their own fingertip bl**d as an important material.
So, in a certain sense, there is indeed Luxianbei’s bl**d flowing within the Zhipianxian.
The presence of this bl**d not only allows Luxianbei to accurately sense the Zhipianxian’s position but also enables the Zhipianxian to return to him smoothly.
Of course, before being completely turned into the calamity’s “prisoner,” this special resonance was used by the Zhipianxian to escape.
That’s right, just run in the opposite direction of the sensation… Following the special guidance, Zhipianxian found Luxianbei by his side, standing in the corridor of the motel on the second floor, looking at the tightly shut door, Zhipianxian was puzzled.
He sought Luxianbei to inform him of his findings about the vigilantes he encountered last night.
Yet at the door, he lacked the courage to push it open.
God knows what calamity is doing inside. What if she’s up to something unspeakable, and I suddenly crash in on her?
The terrifying thoughts of m*rder, memory erasure, and factory reset flashed through Zhipianxian’s mind, and he seemed to see that woman’s hideous smile in a daze.
Although that woman wouldn’t smile…
In the next moment, the door before him quietly opened.
A pale hand reached out from the gap, grabbing the frightened Zhipianxian and “whoosh,” pulling him into the room he regarded as an abyss.
The room was very dark, with no lights on and the curtains tightly shut.
When Zhipianxian was pinned to a chair, the light from the desk lamp suddenly illuminated his face, transforming the darkness into brightness, and his vision naturally became momentarily blurred.
It was like suddenly falling into a terrorist’s interrogation room.
In a daze, an alluring curved figure entered his sight, and then he heard a familiar voice:
“Go ahead! What were you sneaking around for outside my room?”
“Let me guess, you probably stirred up some trouble while working last night, couldn’t handle it yourself, and wanted me to take the blame, right?”
I’m telling you, don’t even think about it! Although we’re both Yu Yinchuan now, we had an agreement: I get the benefits, and you take the blame; that’s part of the deal!
Upon hearing this, Zhipianxian hurriedly shook his head, throwing out a series of denials: I’m not, I didn’t, don’t say that! I just wanted to tell you that while helping them transport goods last night, I discovered something unusual.
“Oh? Something unusual?”
Luxianbei responded with surprise.
After that, she concluded her “interrogation” of Zhipianxian, turned on the light, pulled a chair over, and sat across from him.
Tell me, what was unusual?
“Last night, while accompanying Miss Annie, I ran into those vigilantes in the north of the city.” Zhipianxian said.
As expected. Luxianbei nodded, “Since the leader of the Hailake Community warned you to be cautious of those guys, that means the likelihood of encountering them is quite high.” Just like in a good story, if a g*n is mentioned at the start, it will definitely play a significant role at a critical moment, with at least a two to three percent chance! Otherwise, you think I would give you explosive items?
“Then what? You blew them up with the explosive items and wanted me to take the blame, right?”
“No.” Zhipianxian’s expression became peculiar as he explained, “What I want to tell you is that I did take care of those meddling guys, but I didn’t use the explosive items.”
At this point, Zhipianxian slightly recalled last night’s situation.
Those three vigilantes were indeed very flashy in their outfits, it was clear they spent a lot of money on them; their entrance and lines appeared to be meticulously designed, but… they were truly weak.
“Those guys are very weak, with Spirit Energy fluctuations that don’t match their combat power at all. Even stranger, I sensed that the source of their Spirit Energy was not something like Spirit Patterns or the core of urban legends, but some kind of item.”
Hearing this, without waiting for Zhipianxian to finish, Luxianbei had already roughly guessed the situation at that time.
If Zhipianxian fought against those whose Spirit Energy came from some item, they must be something akin to a final BOSS level entity. But what does this mean? Luxianbei thought.
She vaguely felt that the information Zhipianxian provided was very important, but the related intelligence was too sparse, making her feel confused and unable to grasp the essence of it.
After a slight hesitation, Zhipianxian revealed a piece of information that made Luxianbei’s heart tremble, “And there’s one more thing I’m not too sure about… Actually, when I triggered the malfunction of those items, I detected a hint of something similar to the Pink Fluffy Rabbit, but not entirely the same.”
This was the real reason Zhipianxian, breaking from his usual behavior, actively conveyed his discovery to Luxianbei.
Compared to being tormented by the calamity, he was actually more afraid of the Pink Fluffy Rabbit.
Falling into the calamity’s hands would at most be a fate worse than d*ath, but if the Pink Fluffy Rabbit breaks free from its confinement and awakens completely, he would probably first revert to being an “item.”
After experiencing the feeling of a racing heart, he no longer wanted to be a cold, lifeless “item.”
In simple terms, being with the calamity meant living a miserable life, but it was barely tolerable, whereas if the Pink Fluffy Rabbit awakens, he would only become a slave.
A hint akin to the Pink Fluffy Rabbit… flashed through Luxianbei’s mind, a group of figures with pink fluffy rabbit ears on their heads and wearing extravagant bodysuits.
What rabbit universe is this?
No, no! I shouldn’t be thinking about such strange things. With that in mind, Luxianbei shook his head fiercely, trying to rid himself of those bizarre images.
After waiting a few seconds, observing the silent Luxianbei, Zhipianxian tentatively asked, “The Pink Fluffy Rabbit shouldn’t have a chance of escaping, right?”
“Of course not.” Luxianbei replied without hesitation.
But to be really sure, he would need to confirm with that old man Zhang Hainan…
What is going on in this Free City? Why are there all sorts of weird things?
I wonder if the Wordless Book senior did any proper research before sending me here… To escape the situation of being hunted, did he send me to such a cursed place to fight fire with fire? Luxianbei mused.
“Then I can relax.” Upon hearing Luxianbei’s words, Zhipianxian sighed in relief, casting his gaze toward the distant electronic clock, and changed the subject, “It’s almost time. Should I go with Miss Vivienne or will you?”
“I’ll go.” Luxianbei said expressionlessly, “I can’t let you do everything for me, right?”
You pursue your romance, I’ll gather my intelligence; we’re two unrelated parties. Isn’t that reasonable?
“Be careful, and if you happen to encounter those vigilantes again, try to collect as much information from them as possible. If worse comes to worst, just capture one and we can treat him well!”
Zhipianxian: Treat him well? I don’t know about that, but are you sure it’s not ab*se?
Ten minutes later.
After changing his appearance to look like Yu Yinchuan, Luxianbei hurriedly arrived at the street outside the Hailake Community center. He was late.
After learning from Zhipianxian that there seemed to be a hint of the Pink Fluffy Rabbit’s presence in the Free City, he immediately contacted Zhang Hainan to reconfirm that the seal on the Pink Fluffy Rabbit was intact, without any signs of breaking free, and by the time he arrived here, he was already nearly half an hour late.
However, to his surprise, Vivienne had not shown up. All that welcomed him was an empty street and the faint silhouettes of people shrouded in fog in the distance.
“…Luxianbei tilted his head, speaking to Nanling Yaohua floating beside him, “Xiao Hua, do you think that guy might have waited until the agreed time, didn’t see me arrive, and left early?”
“Most likely. Generally speaking, if a girl waits too long, she’ll definitely get upset… If you want to get closer to her and even gain her assistance, you’ll need to apologize properly,” Nanling Yaohua wrote down and handed a note to Luxianbei.
After reading it, Luxianbei furrowed his brow, “But since there are signs indicating that the Pink Fluffy Rabbit might be active in the Free City, I can’t just go without informing that old man Zhang Hainan, can I?”
“Huh? Inform what?”
A somewhat unfamiliar voice rang out from behind.
Turning around, a strong smell of alcohol hit him. Looking at Vivienne, whose face was flushed, eyes dazed, and one hand holding a half-empty bottle of wine, Luxianbei’s eye twitched, “What are you doing?”
“Sorry, I got drunk after returning home last night and accidentally overslept, making you wait so long.” Vivienne explained, rubbing her brow with one hand, “But it’s still fine; we still have over an hour until we finish.”
“We still have an hour until we finish, and yet you’re going to work…” Luxianbei tilted his head, “Will they really not dock your pay?”
Only working for an hour each day? What kind of divine job is that? If that man found out, he would probably cry on the spot! Luxianbei thought, glancing alertly around to ensure there were no heavily-eyed passersby before letting out a slight sigh of relief.
“Ha…” Vivienne’s lips, slightly numbed from drinking, curled up a bit as she raised herself on her tiptoes, wrapped her arm around Luxianbei’s shoulder, and slurred, “Dock your pay? Who would do that? In this job, it’s 30% skill and 70% luck; being early or late doesn’t make a difference.”
“30% skill and 70% luck?” Luxianbei was puzzled. “Exactly!” Vivienne nodded vigorously, “This job is like opening a blind box; how much you earn mostly depends on your luck.
I’ll admit you have good luck, but if you end up partnered with a calamity, how would you deal with it?” Luxianbei quipped, then asked, “So the 30% skill refers to…?”
“Hehe.” Vivienne flashed a knowing smile. “Aside from luck, it also depends on whether kind people took out a few respectable folks last night and tossed them into the Grand Canal… After all, to pull something good from a blind box, you need to have something in the prize pool, right?”
“Let’s go. I can’t explain it all to you here. Once we reach the place, you’ll see the scene, and you’ll understand.”
After saying that, Vivienne dragged Luxianbei toward a vintage Harley motorcycle parked on the side of the street.
“Wait, wait!” Seeing this, Luxianbei strained to shout, “You’re not seriously thinking of riding, are you? In my hometown, you can get your license suspended and be detained for fifteen days for this kind of behavior.”
Vivienne thought for a moment, then casually tossed a large bunch of keys into Luxianbei’s hands and waved the half-empty bottle of wine at him, “Then how about you drive? I can finish this off.”
Luxianbei “…”
In silence, he looked at the keys in his hand, then at the nearly intoxicated Vivienne, silently sighed, and expressionlessly said, “I don’t have a driver’s license.”
“What’s wrong with not having a driver’s license?” Vivienne shrugged, “In our southern city, you never need a license to drive!”
“Oh?” Luxianbei’s eyes lit up as he proposed a bold guess, “Based on what you’re saying, if a car doesn’t have a license plate and you don’t have a license, what would happen?”
That shouldn’t be a big problem… Vivienne pondered and replied, “If you run into someone checking, just speed past them; as long as you’re not caught, it’s fine.”
How exciting! I suddenly want to tell those friends still waiting for “to receive love,” that they can experience the real-life version directly from the Free City. Luxianbei thought, looking at Vivienne, “So, do you mind riding a truck to work?”
Vivienne, “???
She couldn’t shake the feeling that she suddenly sobered up halfway…
