Free Web NovelAfter Tang Erda lowered his gun, Liu Jiayi unhappily withdrew her poison at a signal from Bai Liu’s eyes, then turned to look at him.
“I’ve gathered a group of refugees to come over. They’re preparing to dig up the god-level NPC.”
“Are you sure of the location?”
Bai Liu swept a glance toward Liu Jiayi.
“Not one hundred percent. Maybe eighty or ninety percent.”
Liu Jiayi said, “Based on the information you told me, I’ve already marked the locations in the flower fields. But there is one very serious problem—”
Liu Jiayi looked around at their surroundings and spread her hands.
“How are you going to deal with these Rose Factory employees who are stopping us from acting?”
Previously, because of the enormous commotion caused by the fight between Tang Erda and Bai Liu, the processing workers originally had not dared to come over.
But now that the commotion had stopped, and they saw Bai Liu’s group destroying the factory on a large scale, the flower pickers and processing workers in the factory looked at them with ill intent as they surrounded them in a circle.
They held all kinds of steel tools and flower-picking pliers, closing in on the place where Bai Liu and the others stood.
Bai Liu looked around.
As more and more processing workers woke up for work, the number of people surrounding them continued to grow, densely crowding into a circle.
Qi Yifang warily raised his wind vane, and Liu Jiayi once again took out her poison.
Driven by their long-term sense of cooperation, the two of them instinctively stood back-to-back, surveying the situation around them.
“The combat power of these employee NPCs isn’t high. They aren’t hard to deal with.”
Qi Yifang gave a bitter laugh.
“But there are too many of them, and they’re very likely to transform into monsters under the catalyst of an intense battle. Making enemies of them on such a large scale... if the hatred value locks onto us, it won’t be good for what comes later.”
Liu Jiayi looked up at Bai Liu.
“My view is the same, but I’ll remind you—if you want to dig that thing up, you have to deal with these employees guarding the flower field first. Otherwise, there’s no way to play.”
“But the four of us have no way to deal with this many...”
Qi Yifang could not help adding.
Bai Liu thought for a moment.
Then he suddenly turned his head and looked at the silent Tang Erda, asking him very seriously:
“Can you handle them?”
Tang Erda, who had suddenly been called on, froze for a moment and did not answer immediately.
But Bai Liu still did not shift his gaze. He only watched him very calmly.
Under Bai Liu’s level gaze—a gaze with no suspicion or scrutiny, one that could almost be described as complete and utter trust—Tang Erda did not hold out for long. freewёbnoνel.com
He averted his eyes with some embarrassment, turned his face away, and opened his mouth as if he wanted to answer.
But in the end, he did not say a single word.
...This was truly too strange.
Across so many world lines, he and Bai Six had faced each other in all kinds of postures.
Angry, mocking, fighting to the death, hating each other to the bone—
—But this situation was the only one that had never happened.
Bai Liu actually... was not worried at all that he would kill him.
He seemed to be handing the defense of his rear over to him without hesitation.
If Tang Erda deliberately dropped the ball from the rear, it would be very simple to screw Bai Liu to death.
This made Tang Erda, who had always wanted to kill Bai Liu, feel a sense of absurdity, as if Bai Liu had personally stretched his neck into Tang Erda’s hands and politely invited him to kill him.
The goal he had been pursuing all this time had become reachable in such a bizarre way.
But Tang Erda suddenly... lost his killing intent.
To be honest, Tang Erda felt quite disgusted right now.
Bai Liu’s... in any case, his appearance was very subtle.
Although the circle around them was gradually closing in, Bai Liu was not in a hurry at all.
He took a step forward, drawing closer to Tang Erda. He looked at him closely with that kind of gaze, his tone becoming increasingly gentle as he asked again:
“Captain Tang, dealing with this many people alone—can you do it?”
—It was as though he were worried that fighting alone would be dangerous for him.
Tang Erda broke out in goosebumps.
He took a large step back uncomfortably, turning his entire face away to avoid looking at Bai Liu. He pushed Bai Liu away and quickly replied:
“I can handle this many people completely by myself!”
Bai Liu kept his hands behind his back and leaned forward with a beaming smile, continuing to draw closer.
“Really? Then can I trouble Captain Tang?”
Tang Erda finally could not bear it anymore and sternly rebuked Bai Liu:
“Stand properly! Speak properly!”
—If he still could not see that this guy Bai Liu was deliberately being nauseating and teasing him to disgust him, then there really was something wrong with his brain!
Bai Liu obediently straightened.
He restrained the overly gentle smile on his face, his expression becoming peaceful, and calmly gave the order:
“Captain Tang will guard this place and hold off these NPCs. Liu Jiayi and Qi Yifang will come with me to the flower field. Any problems?”
Liu Jiayi nodded.
Under Bai Liu’s questioning gaze, Qi Yifang involuntarily replied:
“I don’t have a problem either.”
Then, after he finished replying to Bai Liu, Qi Yifang felt as if something was not quite right.
Only then did he react.
Wait.
Something’s wrong.
What did I just agree to?
What does this have to do with me?!
Why did I suddenly start cooperating with you?!
I’m from the Kings Guild, someone from your opposing camp!
No.
Qi Yifang’s brow furrowed as he discovered the root of the problem.
The Hunter is too!
So why was Bai Liu commanding the Hunter just now?
After thinking for several seconds, Qi Yifang finally discovered where the problem lay.
How does this guy use people from the enemy camp so naturally?!?
But Bai Liu did not leave Qi Yifang much time to think about what was wrong.
After giving the order, he pulled out his whip and flicked it into a “Z” shape, cleanly sweeping down a group of employees blocking their path and clearing a route straight to the main gate.
Then Bai Liu took the lead and ran over.
“Quick, go!”
Liu Jiayi turned and shouted to Qi Yifang.
With that single sweep, Bai Liu had firmly pulled the hatred of a large group of NPCs.
If they stayed where they were, they would become targets.
Qi Yifang swallowed the protest of “I’m not on your team!” and followed along, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Just what kind of person is this!
The attacked NPCs’ anger reached its peak. They followed closely behind Bai Liu, wanting to chase him out of the main gate.
Tang Erda’s eyes were steady as he pulled a silver revolver from his waist, extending one arm horizontally to block the crowd.
The blood under his eyes had not yet been wiped clean, making his deep blue eyes look somewhat terrifying.
His hands moved extremely fast as he changed bullets.
Flick open the cylinder.
Fill the bullets.
Close the cylinder.
Spin it to load.
The silver casings fell at his blood-stained feet, bouncing twice in the shimmering sunlight.
Tang Erda stood alone before the bustling entrance, watched by everyone’s hateful gazes.
Amid the dark, frenzied crowd and the drifting remnants of processed waste roses, the Hunter leveled his firearm without moving.
The clamorous, rampant employees were naturally crazed for the roses.
Reflected in the Hunter’s eyes were the evil light and shadows of black flames.
Tang Erda adjusted his posture, slightly tilting the revolver in his hand.
At the instant his finger clicked onto the trigger, the silver exterior of the gun cast a bright halo around the outer edges of Tang Erda’s deep blue pupils, illuminating the over-bloomed rose at the very center of them, a rose on the verge of withering.
“Kill the thief who stole the roses!”
“Kill the criminal who destroyed the roses!”
“Kill the murderer who caused the roses to die!”
“Kill Bai Liu!”
The pursuing employees shrieked and wailed. Their skin split open in the rich rose fragrance as they transformed into dehumanized monsters.
“What are you screaming for?”
Tang Erda whispered to himself, exhaling a breath of turbid air.
“Bai Liu also killed my rose. I want to kill him more than any of you.”
But in the next moment, he pulled the trigger without the slightest hesitation.
A trace of a determined, relaxed smile appeared on his face.
Tang Erda raised his head, his eyes filled with unwavering firmness.
“But before I truly find the evidence to convict him—”
“—I will not allow any person, or any monster, to kill him before I do!”
“Bang—!”
The silver casing hit the ground with an incomparably crisp sound.
Bai Liu stepped on the roses in the flower field.
At the moment he heard the gunshot, he looked back toward the distant factory, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Qi Yifang stared in disbelief.
“What is going on?! Why is the Hunter actually doing things for you?!”
“It’s due to my personal charisma.”
Bai Liu first replied solemnly to Qi Yifang, then joked:
“I charmed his soul out of his body, so he’s willing to work for me.”
Bai Liu lifted his eyelids, sweeping a half-smiling glance toward Qi Yifang.
“If you don’t work hard for me, I’m going to charm your soul away too.”
Qi Yifang: “????”
Qi Yifang covered his chest with both hands and retreated dozens of steps with a terrified expression.
Bai Liu watched Qi Yifang rapidly distance himself in his field of vision until he became a small dot. Then he heard Qi Yifang screaming from over there:
“My body and soul are all reserved for the Queen of Hearts! Don’t come over here!!”
Liu Jiayi: “... =_= Stop teasing Qi Yifang. He’ll actually believe it. He was so infatuated with the Queen of Hearts that he trained like crazy just to join the Kings Guild.”
Because of the commotion that morning, most of the flower pickers had been drawn into the factory.
Now, they were all being blocked single-handedly by Tang Erda.
There were not many flower pickers left in the fields, so dealing with them was much simpler.
After tying those flower pickers off to the side, Liu Jiayi clapped the dust from her hands and let in the refugees who had been too afraid to enter.
Then, after showing them the specific coordinates, a massive excavation began.
Liu Jiayi and Bai Liu also helped dig, while Qi Yifang used wind to help carry away the rose roots and soil they dug up.
The progress of the excavation was faster than they had imagined.
But soon, an accident occurred.
Some refugees, in the process of digging, seemed to be influenced by something. They began heterogenizing uncontrollably and going mad.
After using rose perfume to restore that refugee, Liu Jiayi and Bai Liu looked at each other.
They both understood what had happened.
—Liu Jiayi’s deduction was correct.
They had dug close to the location where Tawil’s body was buried.
That was why these refugees were being affected, their mental values dropping as they began to heterogenize.
Covered in mud, Bai Liu stood up.
He clapped his hands to draw the attention of the refugees helping him, then said:
“Everyone, pay attention. If any refugee shows signs of heterogenization during the digging process, please inform me in time and let me handle the rest of the digging.”
“I won’t be affected too much.”
Bai Liu bowed slightly to the refugees who had come to help, now filthy from digging.
“This should actually be considered my personal matter. I can do the rest myself. Thank you for your trouble.”
Whenever a refugee in a certain spot of the flower field heterogenized, the refugees at that spot would stop digging as Bai Liu had said.
Soon, in the entire flower field, only Bai Liu and Liu Jiayi were still kneeling on the ground and digging.
But when Liu Jiayi could not help swaying for the third time, Bai Liu supported her and stopped the hand she wanted to keep helping with.
“That’s enough.”
Bai Liu looked at Liu Jiayi and smiled.
“The influence you’ve taken is already heavy enough. Helping me this far is more than enough. Let me do the rest myself.”
“But...”
Liu Jiayi bit her lower lip.
She raised her dirt-stained little face and looked at Bai Liu for a while, appearing as though she still wanted to persist.
Bai Liu patted her head. His eyes curved into a smile as he thanked her very seriously:
“You’ve already done very well. But you have to let me, the adult, have something I’m better at than you, right?”
“Don’t worry too much about me.”
Bai Liu whispered into Liu Jiayi’s ear:
“It won’t hurt me.”
Liu Jiayi was silent for a while.
Then she stood up shakily and was pulled out of the excavated pit by the refugees and a nervous Qi Yifang.
In the entire flower field, only Bai Liu was left.
Silent, he knelt alone in the messy, mud-covered field, digging toward the underground.
The refugees who had helped did not leave after finishing what they could do.
Although Bai Liu had said this was his personal matter, those refugees still stood silently at the edge and watched Bai Liu dig down alone, maintaining a distance that would not cause contamination.
Liu Jiayi also stood at that edge.
She stared blankly at Bai Liu as he lowered his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and dug carefully, step by step.
The expression on Bai Liu’s face made Liu Jiayi fall into a daze.
She had never seen Bai Liu like this before.
No longer lazy and indifferent.
No longer acting as though he could toy with everything in the palm of his hand.
Instead, he was focused to a degree that made her feel somewhat strange.
Back when she was rescuing Bai Liu, Liu Jiayi had realized that they knew nothing about this guy.
At that time, she had thought that Bai Liu really was too shrewd.
He knew their backgrounds inside and out, yet he revealed nothing about himself to them. He had a thousand masks to deal with any kind of person.
But until this moment, Liu Jiayi suddenly felt that she had touched the self Bai Liu kept hidden.
—A Bai Liu who was alone, covered in mud, drawing close to another person buried underground.
No one could help him.
No one could approach him.
Everyone could only serve as Bai Liu’s spectator, voluntarily or passively standing behind the safety line at a distance, watching him approach the monster underground calmly and stubbornly.
During the ten or so minutes Liu Jiayi spent spacing out, Bai Liu seemed to dig something up.
The surrounding refugees all clamored in excitement, and Liu Jiayi was also jolted back to her senses by the noise. She peered down into the pit.
Bai Liu had dug out a snow-white, well-defined right hand.
Liu Jiayi breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she had not guessed wrong.
Just as she was about to speak and tell Bai Liu to throw the thing up, to avoid being too heavily affected by the mental influence, one of Bai Liu’s actions suddenly made her freeze.
She saw Bai Liu lower his eyes.
Then he suddenly reached out and grabbed that right hand, tightly interlocking their fingers.
“Finally...”
Bai Liu’s breathing had not yet steadied from the digging.
On his face, which was covered in mud from the excavation, there appeared an utterly cunning smile.
A simple, mischievous smile, like that of a fourteen-year-old Bai Six after winning a game.
“—Caught you.”
Liu Jiayi did not know whether she had seen it wrong.
She thought she saw that severed hand buried among the roses grip Bai Liu’s hand in return.
