Free Web NovelChapter 65: Chapter 65: Eat and Be Eaten
Ming Che understood the art of transaction very well.
The key to all transactions in the world isn’t actually about an equal exchange, but about catering to the other’s preferences.
He had already assumed that Bai Wu was a person greedy for beauty, and what he needed to verify next was Bai Wu’s grasp of the case.
However, Ming Che was very patient, he went straight to the point in trying to win over Bai Wu, demonstrating his high regard for him, and then arranged for a beauty that Bai Wu’s persona couldn’t possibly refuse.
But after that, Ming Che’s pace slowed down.
He made occasional conversation with Bai Wu about women, gradually building some sort of trust with him.
At the same time, he was making his final observations to see if Bai Wu really was lustful.
Bai Wu played his part to perfection, especially since he also knew how to talk about what the other person enjoyed:
"Young girls are green and pretty but not very practical. Some are too skinny, and bumping into them feels like hitting bones. The truly comfortable ones are the slightly plump housewives – physique, touch, experience, all top-notch. Especially the thrill of using someone else’s belongings, tsk tsk~"
As long as you also like housewives, then we are friends. Ming Che now believed that Bai Wu wasn’t just pretending to be a lecher; he was a true lecher.
He felt much more at ease, drank a few glasses with Bai Wu, promised to take him to a few high-end places, and got Bai Wu quite looking forward to it before starting on the main topic:
"Bai, this case, our two organizations are actually cooperating. What have you found from your investigation?"
Bai Wu still hesitated for a second or two, but holding something soft in his hand, he quickly made a choice:
"The target Yan Jiu should be about 1.65 meters tall, weighing around 49kg. She’s mischievous and a night owl but can’t laugh. She often practices facial expressions in front of the mirror because she doesn’t know how to smile, so her expressions seem very stiff."
"She has more than once expressed through surveillance or directly to some inmates in the Asylum her desire to leave the Tower. She tried to talk to you about Evil Fallen, but unfortunately, you couldn’t be bothered and just gave her some books to appease her."
Ming Che was inwardly surprised; there was no surveillance footage, yet this young man had gleaned so many clues just by a few quick glances.
Bai Wu didn’t mind revealing this information; after all, it was all useless information.
But since the other party liked to be presumptuous and assume they knew everything, he just needed to share some of it, and they would definitely think he held some key clues.
"Her emotional control is very problematic. She’s the type that absolutely shouldn’t leave the Tower. But after she disappeared, you investigated the Asylum’s entry and exit records, yet found no clues. She vanished into thin air."
"And in the written records she left, you found she had wanted to escape the Asylum for a long time, and even detailed some outside conditions of the Tower. Still, you found no useful leads. You also tried to decode the information, but to no avail."
After saying all this, Bai Wu kissed the beauty Ming Che had brought, who blushed and was coquettish, undecided whether to accept or refuse. Bai Wu lecherously said:
"Actually, you’re going in the wrong direction. I’ve got some clues, but still need some corroboration. If Captain Ming is willing to show me the materials Yan Jiu left behind, we could exchange some clues, and maybe then the case will be solved."
Ming Che’s eyes sparkled:
"But these clues, won’t you tell Wu Jiu?"
Everybody in the Garrison Corps knows about the nickname ’Wu Jiu’... Seems like there’s no need to envy the captain’s strength; he got it in exchange for his height.
"I haven’t yet, I planned to gather all the clues before solving the case in one go. But since Captain Ming has come to me, the clues might as well have been delivered to my doorstep."
Bai Wu’s gaze was full of intrigue, his hands kept moving:
"Solving a case is like a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes we don’t need to complete the puzzle to imagine the original picture, but sometimes we can’t be missing a single piece. This time it’s the latter. Based on my understanding of Miss Yan Jiu, she might have left some key information. If I could examine the materials she left behind, I’m confident I could solve the case in one day."
If he could undermine the Investigation Corps while solving the case, that would be killing two birds with one stone. Ming Che suppressed the excitement in his heart:
"Bai, I’m a businessman. I value integrity and substance, and I’ll just say it straight. If you’re willing to help our Guard Army solve the case first, I can help you get rid of that ’junior’ title."
Bai Wu feigned surprise.
This was indeed a surprising matter; he had not expected Ming Che to possess such great power, even being able to directly promote the access level of the lower-class residents.
If it turned out later that he had been played, there would probably be plenty of trouble ahead.
However, Bai Wu compared and found that although Ming Che had a star’s face and was very approachable, very good at doing business, and absolutely not stingy towards his subordinates,
Even if it was all an act, as long as everyone believed it, it was still a skill.
This was someone worth making connections with, even worth pleasing.
But in Bai Wu’s heart, without even needing to compare, Dwarf was obviously more adorable.
He nodded and pretended to agree,
"Sure, sure, I would like to learn more from Captain Ming too."
Ming Che laughed, and the conversation with Bai Wu turned back to women, occasionally discussing the case details. Bai Wu also gave out information like squeezing toothpaste from a tube,
But always with the demeanor of having more cards up his sleeve, keeping Ming Che on the hook.
Ming Che was not in a hurry; the more he interacted with Bai Wu, the more he felt that this person was talented. He didn’t want his utilitarian motives to be too obvious and actually started to consider making a connection.
After a few bottles of liquor, Ming Che gave Bai Wu an address, telling him to rest well for a day and to handle the situation with Wu Jiu carefully, not to arouse their suspicion, and then to find him at the given address the next day.
After everything was arranged, Ming Che left reluctantly.
Bai Wu also found an excuse to get rid of the beauty that Ming Che had brought with him.
The bait was on the hook, as the saying goes, ’we don’t have guns or cannons, our enemies will create them for us.’
Even though the case files had been taken by the Garrison Corps, they could also be requested back from them.
Bai Wu planned to return to the Asylum, there were a few places he needed to recheck.
Walking on the streets of the third layer, this place was considered the entertainment district, busier at night than during the day.
At this moment, it was quite deserted, with only a few scattered people on the streets.
Even before Bai Wu had entered the bar, he knew someone was following him, those were Ming Che’s people, but they had pulled back after the deal with Ming Che was struck.
But now Bai Wu noticed someone on the street still watching him, his right arm covered in some kind of tattoo.
With a menacing expression and eyes staring straight at Bai Wu without any evasion, unlike Ming Che’s people, this person didn’t mind at all being discovered.
[Don’t stare into his eyes!]
Previously, the notes would also remind Bai Wu not to do this or that, but it was always in a joking tone; this time, Bai Wu could feel that it was a very serious warning.
But it was too late, Bai Wu just felt his whole body could not move.
Having the strength of Second Order, Ninth Sequence, he was definitely considered a master; but after locking eyes with the stalker, he felt completely powerless.
His legs felt as if they had been filled with lead, especially with an unbearable heaviness pressing down upon him.
Thump, Bai Wu fell to the ground. He could have remained standing for a while longer, but laying down was obviously more comfortable, and it also allowed him to appear weaker.
The man, holding a phone with a cold face, hoisted Bai Wu up. Bai Wu felt the gravity still clinging to him, but the weak feeling had been lifted.
At the same time, feeling the other person’s arm as hard as iron, various thoughts whipped through his mind, and in the end, Bai Wu decided to stop resisting.
"I’ve found the ’merchandise,’ Madame." The strange man was talking to someone on the phone.
Bai Wu was very calm, he had a premonition that he would soon be knocked unconscious.
Before the other party executed this step, he struggled to focus his last gaze on the person’s cell phone.
"On the other end of the phone, connected to a high-ranking member of a certain church, is an organization with quite a history with you. Your adventure began with this organization, and you’d better figure out a way to escape. I have to remind you, trash-talking won’t work on these believers. Think carefully about what other cards you hold, or else we might truly dispatch the living to the world of the dead."
The casino.
Bai Wu looked at those strange tattoos, initially assuming they were related to Cain but, upon further consideration, it didn’t seem quite right.
Cain’s main target was Dwarf, but if he truly wished to confront Dwarf within the tower, he wouldn’t have waited until now.
He was testing Dwarf, wanting to challenge him outside the tower.
Therefore, it was very likely not Cain, but the casino.
The note mentioned believers... It seemed that the casino was also part of some religious organization.
Bai Wu had thought of being on guard against the casino when he entered the third level of the High Tower.
This attack was not due to his carelessness, but rather he had never imagined that the casino’s people would be even more audacious than the Garrison Corps, daring to plunder openly on the streets.
Especially since the assailants possessed such a terrifying Sequence.
But with religion involved, it was not so strange. The behavior of some fanatical believers cannot be inferred using normal logic.
Religion in the apocalypse is quite common. Bai Wu used to think that only the weak believed in religion, but later, when he delved into history, he found the concept of religious faith very perplexing...
Before he could think any further, Bai Wu’s consciousness descended into chaos, and he passed out.
...
... freewёbnoνel.com
On the third level of the High Tower, within an unknown space.
Bai Wu slowly woke up, the air thick with the smell of blood and a slight stench of decay, causing him to instinctively frown. He snapped to full alertness almost immediately.
But he didn’t lift his head or open his eyes wide; instead, he maintained the pose of being unconscious, breathing evenly, squinting his eyes, and watching the ground without any other movement.
"The ground is slightly damp, and judging from the shadows, there seems to be something hanging from the ceiling... Wait, could this be a slaughterhouse?"
In his previous life, some pork shops would have hooks hanging pork meats. Bai Wu roughly judged from the shadows on the ground that this room might have a similar arrangement.
But in this world where even rice does not exist, and human food is all standardized into nutritional meals, why would there be a slaughterhouse?
So with a bit of deduction... Bai Wu guessed that what was hanging in this room was not pork.
"It seems that if I don’t escape, my fate will be to hang in this room and slowly rot?"
"While I’m unconscious, they have left me here, which means there is nobody else in this room right now. This indicates that they are not worried about me escaping, or it means that the guard is very strong, likely the one who knocked me out."
"I must have been influenced by Evil Gaze. They didn’t kill me, which suggests they might want to interrogate me when I wake up. I can’t rule out other possibilities, but this is my only chance to escape."
"The note mentioned that trash-talking is useless against these believers. Which means... these people have been brainwashed; reason won’t work on them..."
"It looks like I haven’t been searched yet, proving that this incident indeed has nothing to do with Cain. Otherwise, he would’ve made sure to take that ring back."
A preliminary plan was already forming in his mind.
Bai Wu recalled his trump cards; aside from various non-combative items, only one thing remained:
"Taotie."
Being hung up like a dead pig essentially meant being food ready for the slaughter.
The disaster that suddenly befell Bai Wu made him realize that he might need to step out of his comfort zone and do something unorthodox.
"But how exactly should I carry it out?"
The information about Taotie was vague, it could absorb some traits of its prey by devouring them.
Even with possession of Taotie, Bai Wu had never used it and thus did not know the effects of Taotie.
How much would he need to devour to trigger it? What kind of abilities would he gain from his adversary? Would the effects of absorption be immediate, and would the devoured lose their abilities...
Bai Wu was clueless about all these things.
"There’s only one chance... If I fail, then it’s game over, the end, throw the flowers."
After roughly outlining a plan, Bai Wu slowly raised his head to survey his surroundings.
Everything was as he had imagined: what hung from the hooks were corpses, frozen stiff.
There were both male and female corpses in the sizable room, spaced 1.5 meters apart, but there were as many as eleven rows of them, each row holding twelve or thirteen bodies.
This place was not simply a slaughter room; it was a slaughterhouse... or rather, a corner of hell.
Countless corpses were suspended from hooks on the ceiling, each wearing an expression of unbearable agony.
The entire slaughterhouse seemed like a purgatory on earth, or perhaps a devil’s kitchen.
All the notes regarding the corpses were the same.
[Some corpses would die outside the tower and be devoured by the Evil Fallen, but if they weren’t devoured, the faithful would try to retrieve the bodies, believing them to be favored by the tower deity. Oh, and there’s good news, if the cargo happens to survive, they would consider it a gift from the tower deity, and they do not worry about the infectious disease.]
"The infectious disease, humans devouring humans could potentially contract this thing, so the note means... I’m going to be eaten?"
As the operator of the gambling den for so long, Bai Wu’s predicament did not rattle the gambling den’s popularity.
In their eyes, this was the tower deity manifesting, presenting them with the finest ingredient.
Bai Wu observed for a while, confirming there were no surveillance devices.
"But who exactly wants to eat me... At this moment, I’m not faced with a self-cooking pot scenario... Clearly, the other party places importance on ritual, and such people often hold high status. This as well is a favorable situation for me."
The top brass of the gambling den, also the upper echelon of some mysterious cult. Bai Wu’s mind became agile, viewing everything from the perspective of a game:
The condition for victory in this game: devour your opponent.
The condition for defeat: be devoured by your opponent.
"I didn’t expect my journey on the third floor to involve so many forces, Yan Jiu hasn’t been found, all kinds of monsters and demons came first... and Cain has yet to make a move, Wu Jiu, coming to the third floor, would surely not miss the chance if he knew about it, this situation turns out to be interesting."
After repeatedly simulating and deducing many times, Bai Wu did not have absolute confidence he could survive.
He now knew that his inability to fight back was due to being suppressed by a sequence similar to the Evil Gaze.
But the true strength of his adversary remained unknown, and he could only take one step at a time.
Meanwhile, footsteps echoed through the slaughterhouse.
(I’m going to check on my neck this afternoon, so I’ve combined two Chapters into one and released it first, please vote!)
