Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Two-Way Method
This was a basement arranged like a warehouse, without windows, the air murky, and cluttered with debris, giving one an uncomfortable feeling at first glance.
Here, it seemed as if it had been forgotten by the world, enveloped in a sense of decay.
On the east side of the room, a dust-covered shelf held transparent crystal jars, each containing spherical objects emitting faint glimmers of various colors.
“Clang—!”
Suddenly, a crystal jar in the center of the shelf shook, and the pale gold sphere inside began to glow more intensely, vaguely outlining the features of a handsome face.
Then, the pale gold sphere spoke, “Stop sleeping! I say, everyone stop pretending to sleep, I need to discuss something with you!”
As the voice fell, all the crystal jars on the shelf began to sway slightly, making a series of tinkling sounds.
Following that, a deep purple sphere spoke from the corner, “Old Lu, save your breath, huh? I guess you want to incite everyone to rebel and escape again, right?”
“You’ve already tried more than one hundred thirty times and failed every time; when will you give up?”
“Hey—!” Above, a bright green sphere sighed, “I don’t plan to join your nonsense. If you think about it carefully, you’re fighting so hard because there are still people waiting for you outside, but I have nothing. Even if I escape, it’s just switching to a bigger prison.”
“There’s no difference!”
“You bunch of bastards!” the pale gold sphere scolded, “How long have you been locked up? And you just accept your fate like this?”
As he got agitated, the pale gold sphere actually flipped open the lid of the crystal jar, transforming into a streak of light, gracefully floating out and landing on a small table facing the shelf, condensing into a human-shaped outline about the size of a palm, waving its arms excitedly, trying to inspire morale.
“Cheer up, brothers! I’ve calculated it; that old man should encounter a problem soon and won’t have the time to deal with us. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; if we don’t run now, when will we?”
“Xiao Huohuo, what happened to your ambition to turn the sky upside down with just a finger?”
“Jia Sanshao, what happened to your courage to face the Solar Eclipse Association President with just one hammer?”
“And you, Xiao Zou, didn’t you say you wanted to be the key to a new world? How can we create a new world if we’re locked up here?”
“Once upon a time, I thought all of you were remarkable figures, capable of making great achievements, but I never expected that in such a short time, you’d become this demoralized?”
“…”
The pale gold sphere spoke passionately, and perhaps because of his highly stirring words, the extinguished flames in their hearts were reignited. One by one, the spheres on the shelf started to glow, exerting themselves to unleash their brightest light.
Suddenly, the entire wall shone brilliantly in a riot of colors.
“For freedom, break into the Lime Gate! For freedom, break into the Lime Gate!”
Just as the spheres reached the peak of their excitement and shouted in unison, the door of the small room was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
A middle-aged man, looking physically drained as if his body had been emptied many times over, stepped in from outside, placed his briefcase on the small table, and slowly took out a steaming takeout box and began to eat leisurely.
Thus, the cries came to an abrupt halt.
Seeing this, the man frowned slightly as he looked at the shelf filled with crystal jars and said flatly, “Sorry, did I disturb you?”
The spheres, “…”
It couldn’t exactly be said they were disturbed, but…
It was like a group of prisoners discussing a prison break when the warden suddenly arrived, sat down beside them, and started eating takeout quietly, continuing the discussion felt a bit disrespectful.
At this moment, the pale gold sphere that had somehow returned to the crystal jar suddenly spoke, “Hmph! You ungrateful bunch, don’t recognize kindness!”
“While we are officially prisoners, the president has always treated us fairly well, even often helping to take care of our families outside. You’re thinking of rebelling and escaping?”
“I know some of you are influenced by power and have become a bit paranoid, but we can’t be completely heartless, can we? Don’t make it hard for the president!”
“President, actually I tried to stop these ungrateful ones just now, but it was hopeless. Sigh! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely take care of them for you later.”
The spheres, “？？？”
Wait, weren’t you the one who started this? Lu Ming™, you really are a dog!
The man put down the half-eaten takeout box and stared expressionlessly at the soul sphere Lu Ming for a few seconds, then said calmly, “Mr. Yunshen, you’re overthinking. I won’t get angry with them.”
“That’s good, that’s good!” the soul sphere Lu Ming said repeatedly, “They’ve been locked up for too long, feeling bored and just venting their emotions this way; they won’t actually escape.”
“Moreover, this Lime Gate has always been a one-way street for core members of your organization; they can’t escape, right?”
The man didn’t reply but internally agreed with Lu Ming’s statement.
The spiritual ability users and urban legend remnants imprisoned here once had spiritual energy fluctuations of at least A-Class, up to Calamity level. Although they now only remained as remnants and couldn’t maintain their peak power for long, they still possessed considerable combat capability.
And it was this terrifying power that had unsuccessfully attempted to escape countless times over the long years. To this day, only one special calamity-level urban legend had successfully escaped during the chaotic moment when the Black Emperor attacked Lime Gate over a decade ago.
However, there was only one Black Emperor, and he couldn’t come and attack Lime Gate every day. Therefore, the chance of escape now was almost zero.
“Mr. Yunshen, I’d like to talk to you about Lu Yibei.”
“Oh?” The soul sphere Lu Ming feigned calmness and asked, “What’s wrong with that kid? Did your plan succeed? Has he really been charmed by the girl you sent?”
“If that were the case, I’d have no choice; that kid has always been lecherous. When I took him out for a walk as a child, he’d freeze in place when he saw a big sister in a short skirt, always trying to sneak into their arms whenever he had the chance…”
At this point, the soul sphere Lu Ming paused, then scolded, “That little brat, even if he sneaks into their arms, he could at least think of a way for his father to get a taste of sweetness too.”
“…”
After a moment of speechless silence, the man spoke up, “Mr. Yunshen, do you still remember the name Hua Zhuozhuang?”
“Who?”
“She lives in Dawn City, in Fragrant Lady Cave. Her father’s name is Huo Qianli. Eight years ago, when the Haze God attempted to incite the Hundred Demons Walk in Dawn City, it was her father who stopped it,” the man reminded.
“Oh—!” At this reminder, the soul sphere Lu Ming seemed to finally recall a not-so-familiar friend, elongating his tone as he lightly exclaimed, “Are you talking about her? I have a bit of an impression.”
“From what I know, although Huo Qianli is an A-Class spiritual ability user, he is no match for a Haze God avatar with seventy to eighty percent power when it appears in Dawn City. I’m curious about how he managed to stop the Haze God… Do you have any clues?” the man asked.
“How would I know?” the soul sphere Lu Ming shrugged off, “There are at least eight thousand special spell formulas in this world capable of short-term explosive bursts; he could have just used one of them.”
“Then, where do you think he learned that special spell formula?” the man pressed, pausing briefly before adding, “There is intelligence showing that you had been near Dawn City at that time.”
“…” After a brief silence, the pale gold sphere flickered with light.
Then, the soul sphere Lu Ming said in a slightly impatient tone, “Tsk, you guys always like to beat around the bush when talking; it’s annoying!”
“Since you already know everything, just say what you want to ask directly, alright?”
He had indeed been to Dawn City before, having made a deal with Huo Qianli, where he would teach Huo Qianli a special spell formula to boost power temporarily while Huo Qianli would ‘sell’ his daughter to him.
In truth, if that day, Hua Xieyu hadn’t run out in a panic or if Lu Ming didn’t know to let her grow up alone in the Fragrant Lady Cave, that would have been the best choice. Lu Yibei would have had a “child bride” living together with him eight years ago.
Unfortunately, Lu Ming had a vague awareness that he truly took Hua Xieyu away from the Fragrant Lady Cave. Now, after eight years, it would have dozens of children from the Fragrant Lady Cave wandering homeless, starving, dying on the streets, or even becoming playthings for local gangs and cults.
Everyone comes into this world with their own mission; perhaps saving those children is Hua Xieyu’s mission.
“So I’ll say it plainly,” the man continued, “For this plan, I recently traveled across the ocean to stay for a few days at the Grey Forest Cabin.”
“To my surprise, although the elders were unable to interfere with my plan, Hua Zhuozhuang gradually fell out of control. After some investigation, I discovered that her falling out of control was related to you.”
“Wait!” Upon hearing this, the soul sphere Lu Ming interjected, “I take it you’re saying your plan failed, you can’t find someone to pin the blame on, and you plan to extort me, right?”
“Not so,” the man shook his head, “I initially thought you violated the contract and meddled in this matter, but then I thought about it, you’re currently in the depths of Lime Gate and cannot contact the outside world. Besides, I checked your contract with the former president when I came, and it wasn’t damaged.”
“Given this situation, there’s only one possibility left: you already knew I would use Hua Zhuozhuang as a pawn, so you had a countermeasure prepared in advance, even…”
“She could very well be the catalyst you used to contact me regarding Lu Yibei. Am I right? This time, you really played me.”
“…” The soul sphere Lu Ming fell silent for a moment, “I don’t know what you’re talking about; how could I have anticipated what would happen now eight years ago?”
“If I really had such ability, would I have turned into this ball of a shape?”
“…”
Turned into this shape?
To allow you to turn into this shape, the predecessor paid a price more tragic than life itself!
One could only say, as expected, he was the most dangerous spiritual ability user aside from Zhang Hainan in the Siye Society.
The man chuckled grimly and thought, “You don’t have to admit it; it’s fine. I already have a rough idea in my mind. I came here to see you just out of curiosity—how did you predict all of this?”
“Since you’re unwilling to reveal it, then I’ll take my leave.”
After saying that, the man didn’t leave but picked up the remaining half of the takeout box on the table again and quietly continued eating.
In the midst of the faint sound of chewing, the soul sphere Lu Ming couldn’t help but ask, “Wait, why aren’t you leaving? Didn’t you say you were leaving?”
“Uh…” The man was taken aback, raised the takeout box in his hand, swallowed the food in his mouth, and continued, “I’ll leave after I finish eating. I thought I should add some formality since I came to see you today, so I splurged and bought a $48 premium takeout box. I can’t waste it.”
The soul sphere Lu Ming, “…”
“EMMM…” As the man continued eating, he asked in a mumbling manner, “Mr. Yunshen…”
“You’re the one chattering too much; can you finish eating before you talk?” the soul sphere Lu Ming replied irritably.
Hearing this, the man indeed quieted down, chewing slowly until he finished the entire box of takeout before speaking again, “I’ve never understood, since you agree and acknowledge the claim that this world has reached its end, why can’t you cooperate with us?”
“…” The soul sphere Lu Ming fell silent for a few seconds and replied seriously, “Because I believe there are two ways to achieve everything, and Lu Yibei can do it.”
Upon hearing this, the man nodded thoughtfully, “Understood, but unfortunately, I don’t believe it.”
————
Slightly after two o’clock in the morning, Liao Zhai Tavern.
Like most taverns, Liao Zhai Tavern’s business fluctuated, and today it was obviously not good. Just after midnight, guests had already left in droves.
Hu Boss, who had been running Liao Zhai Tavern for many years, figured that no more customers would come today, so he closed the tavern’s main door, leaving only a small door ajar for Ying Ningning to stay behind alone, instructing the other waitstaff and kitchen staff to go home early.
After arranging everything, he led Lu Yibei back to the kitchen, preparing to teach her the cooking methods of Hell on Earth.
As they walked, Hu Boss suddenly asked Lu Yibei, “By the way, Miss Calamity, have you ever encountered alchemy?”
“A little,” Lu Yibei nodded, “Why do you suddenly ask this?”
She spoke truthfully; her level of alchemy was limited to the basic processing of materials for the Complete Potion, still somewhat far from mastering it.
Of course, if modifying alchemical grenades in various ways counted, then she could barely call herself a master.
“Have you heard of alchemical techniques that use emotions and intent?” Hu Boss smiled as he pressed for the answer.
“……” Lu Yibei was taken aback for a moment, then quickly came back to her senses, surprised, “Could it be that the cooking method of Hell on Earth is similar to alchemy?”
“Very smart!” Hu Boss praised, “The principles are indeed similar, just with some subtle differences.”
“If you have a foundation in alchemy, you might learn faster, so follow me! Today, I’ll make an exception and show you a thing or two after a long time.”
Saying this, Hu Boss quickened his pace, and Lu Yibei focused her gaze and followed closely, taking the elevator into the kitchen.
