Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Seeing Ms. Jiang’s reaction, the expert panel had to admit that the Young Man with Glasses’ deduction was correct.

“Xiao Wu, as expected of the younger generation, your mind works a bit faster than ours,” Xia Guofeng said, giving a thumbs up with genuine admiration.

The young man surnamed Wu reached out with his right hand, gently adjusting his glasses with a modest smile. “I wouldn’t dare claim that.”

Sitting in his wheelchair, Elder Fan couldn’t help but tease, “Xiao Wu, if you were to face off against Jiang Li, who do you think would win?”

Hearing this, Xiao Wu quickly waved his hands. “No, no, no. Jiang Li has sacrificed so much for our country; how could I possibly be compared to her?”

Elder Fan gave a dry chuckle and looked down, glancing at his phone.

On the screen was a ‘read’ email.

The sender’s avatar was a Death Skull.

It was an Invitation Letter sent by the Ghost Face Organization.

The content of the email invited Elder Fan to enter the game with generous terms.

Elder Fan could use this Invitation Letter to enter the Aberration World.

However, the role he would have to play would be in direct opposition to Jiang Li.

Elder Fan had nearly poked a hole in his screen trying to hit the ‘decline’ button on that Invitation Letter.

Betraying his country for personal gain was something Elder Fan would never do.

Not everyone had the opportunity to receive such an email.

The email had provided some information.

The targets for this round of invitations were either adventurers who had previously cleared three levels, like Elder Fan, or selected young talents-the best and brightest among the youth.

Speaking of clever young people, Elder Fan raised his eyes to look at Xiao Wu.

Wasn’t there a perfect candidate right here…

“Xiao Wu, I heard that some time ago, your wife and child were killed by a Strange Tale. What if the Ghost Face Organization offered to resurrect them?”

Elder Fan was intentionally joking, testing Xiao Wu’s stance.

Xiao Wu was an orphan who had struggled hard to get where he was. It hadn’t been easy for him to marry, have a child, and build his own family, only for them to fall victim to an Aberration.

Now, Xiao Wu was alone once again.

Therefore, resurrecting his wife and child would likely be the most tempting offer for him.

Perhaps not expecting Elder Fan to bring this up, Xiao Wu’s expression became slightly strained.

Seeing Xiao Wu lower his head in silence, the atmosphere in the meeting room fell into a brief, awkward lull.

“Elder Fan, you really know how to joke. Look at how you’ve scared our Xiao Wu into silence!” Xia Guofeng was the first to break the tension.

He gave Xiao Wu, who was sitting to his left, a comforting pat on the shoulder to bail him out.

Elder Fan must have touched a nerve regarding Xiao Wu’s grief, as the young man kept his lips pressed tight and didn’t say a word.

“Alright, alright, Xiao Wu, don’t be angry! I’m just an old prankster; that joke went a bit too far. I apologize!” Elder Fan quickly apologized to smooth things over.

Xiao Wu didn’t want to disrespect his senior, so he softened his expression.

After a long moment.

Xiao Wu pulled out his phone, found an email, and handed the device to Xia Guofeng with both hands.

“Director, Elder Fan is actually right. I did receive such an email.”

As soon as he said this, the expressions of every expert present froze.

Xia Guofeng gave Xiao Wu an uneasy look before reaching out to take the phone.

Seeing the suspicion on the faces of the entire expert panel, Xiao Wu felt a sting in his heart.

He defended himself, “The moment I received the email, I clicked ‘decline.’ I would never do something so despicable!”

Xia Guofeng brought the phone closer and took a careful look.

The ‘decline’ button had indeed been pressed.

“I can vouch for Xiao Wu. He isn’t lying; he rejected the Invitation Letter.”

As Xia Guofeng spoke, he held the phone up and showed it to everyone in the room.

The suspicion among the group dissipated significantly, and the heavy stones weighing on their hearts finally dropped with a thud of relief.
At Xia Guofeng’s signal, Xiao Wu took back his phone.

Everyone continued watching the livestream.

At that moment, a new email notification popped up in Xiao Wu’s message bar.

“Sender: [Blank]

Email Content:

Comrade, it’s truly shocking. How could they distrust you so much?

Since they don’t believe in you, why continue risking your life for them?

Why not join us? We can grant your wishes.

You should seriously consider the offer we made last time.

To show our sincerity, we will provide you with inexhaustible wealth.

We cordially invite you to enter the Strange Tale World.

Please select [Accept] or [Decline].”

Attached to the email was a video of Xiao Wu’s wife and son smiling brightly.

It was a synthesized video.

His wife was smiling through tears, but as she spoke, her mouth moved in an eerie, distorted way:

“Xiao Wu, are you doing well? I’m not doing well at all. I want so badly to come back to life, to hold you.”

His son also began to cry even as he smiled. “Daddy, please just say yes, okay? Don’t you love me the most?

It’s just one game. If Big Sister Jiang Li loses, there will be other Chosen Ones to take her place. It’s okay…”

As his wife and son continued to prattle on, Xiao Wu pulled the wireless earbud from his right ear and turned off the screen, refusing to look another second.

Seeing Xiao Wu’s actions, which almost looked like he was slamming his phone down, Elder Fan’s eyes darkened as he watched him for a moment.

Then, Elder Fan feigned nonchalance, picking up his thermos of goji berry tea and taking a sip to hide the emotions flickering in his gaze.

On the large livestream screen.

After entering the Hot Spring Room, Jiang Li ignored the Long-Haired Woman in the blood-colored Hot Spring Pool and conducted a “carpet search” of the massive room.

She had expected to find dry clothes hidden here, but there was no sign of them at all.

After emerging from the broken glass, the Mirror Person had been confined to the Hot Spring Room.

However, the Mirror Person didn’t seem bored.

It was sitting comfortably in the Employee Pool, eating fruit and soaking in the hot spring.

“Jiang Li, what are you looking for? You’ve been searching for ages,” the Mirror Person asked, poking its head out of the water.

Jiang Li pulled a new model of a lady’s mechanical watch, left behind by a previous member of the Service Staff, out of a cabinet.

She strapped it directly onto her wrist. “I’m looking for dry clothes. Have you seen any in this room?”

Jiang Li glanced at the time on the watch; only 2 minutes remained.

Only 2 minutes.

Yet she had no lead on the clothes at all!

Was Jiang Li really going to meet her end here today?

The Mirror Person looked somewhat regretful in the pool. “Oh! If you had said something sooner, I could have given you my uniform. It’s a pity you’re too late…”

The Mirror Person stood up, showing off its clothes, which were completely soaked from the hot spring.

Jiang Li’s expression grew increasingly anxious.

If she had known they would be this hard to find, she would have asked the Mirror Person for help earlier.

She had truly miscalculated this time!

“There’s only a minute and a half left. Get out of the water quickly and help me look,” Jiang Li shouted to the Mirror Person.

The Mirror Person agreed readily. “Alright! Wait for me to get out.”

The Mirror Person walked through the Hot Spring Pool toward Jiang Li.

Jiang Li didn’t just stand there waiting; she continued searching every nook and cranny.

It truly seemed like a dead end.

She had already checked every possible place where dry clothes could be stored.

Clothes needed to be kept dry and hidden-where else could they be?

“Ow!” Just as the Mirror Person reached a corner of the Hot Spring Pool and prepared to climb out, it suddenly tripped.

“What happened?” Jiang Li asked.

The Mirror Person complained, “One of the floor tiles in this pool is uneven. Honestly, I almost killed myself tripping on that.”