Chapter 58
Chapter 58
There was no telling what kind of twisted relationship this was. The Longhu Society’s Incense Master chose an inopportune moment to speak. “Huh. Sounds like…”
“So you really aren’t having some undying human-anomaly romance with Zhao Xiuming.”
Blame Huang Jinsheng’s taste for men, and Zhao Xiuming’s looks. It wasn’t surprising that others got the wrong idea.
The players, however, were considering Huang Jinsheng’s relationship with the anomaly. So Huang Jinsheng was a human pet kept by an anomaly?
It clearly wasn’t an equal partnership. It looked more like the anomaly was using Huang Jinsheng.
They had seen situations like this in previous instances. That meant they could win Huang Jinsheng over to help deal with the anomaly.
The only problem was that Huang Jinsheng himself couldn’t be certain of Zhao Xiuming’s identity.
Number Three offered a quiet reminder. “Captain, in that case, killing Huang Jinsheng might not establish Zhao Xiuming’s identity either.”
Number One disagreed. “That depends on why the anomaly helps Huang Jinsheng, and whether he still has something it wants.”
With the lie-detection item’s last moments remaining, Number One asked, “Huang Jinsheng, do you know how to draw out the anomaly behind you?”
“Why did it choose you in the first place?”
Huang Jinsheng didn’t know why the anomaly had attached itself to him either. His childhood memories were somewhat hazy.
He answered, “Behind the dark green door are the negative emotions produced by the factory’s merchandise. It’s a nest that feeds and nourishes the anomaly.”
“Attacking the anomaly’s foundation works better than attacking a human like me. If Zhao Xiuming appears when the factory beneath Xiuli Palace is destroyed, then he’s the anomaly’s incarnation.”
“As for why the anomaly attached itself to me, maybe it’s because I’m bad. I’m filthy inside, and I deserve to die.”
Huang Jinsheng came from the very bottom of Zimu City. His father seemed to have been a gang thug, his mother perhaps a streetwalker in the red-light district. His birth was probably an accident.
From childhood, Huang Jinsheng had never had enough to eat or enough clothing to keep warm. He was often beaten.
His abnormal sexual orientation, too, had come from exposure to too much sordid information far too young.
In his memories, sickening filth was everywhere.
Not just in his surroundings, but in everything that happened. Back then, Huang Jinsheng didn’t feel he was human. He often thought he was an animal.
Living in a primitive world of raw flesh and blood, rather than a human society.
Huang Jinsheng couldn’t recall the memories that were too painful. Perhaps it was his brain protecting him. He always felt something veiled his past, keeping him from seeing it clearly.
“The factory beneath Xiuli Palace isn’t new. It only moved underground in recent years, after economic development divided the city into eastern and western districts.”
“Before that, these man-eating businesses operated openly. If you came to Zimu City for dog meat a dozen or so years ago, you might end up eating two-legged sheep.”
Huang Jinsheng only remembered falling ill. Then, he seemed to have been sent to the factory. And after that…
He couldn’t remember. He seemed to have met someone who helped him escape the human-skin drum factory.
What came next? What had happened?
Huang Jinsheng knocked his head against the table as though kowtowing. He couldn’t remember.
The lie-detection item’s time ran out. Huang Jinsheng genuinely had no recollection.
Number Six dutifully recorded the background information. The factory beneath Zimu City could probably be made into a distinctive feature of a Grotesque Game instance.
As for Huang Jinsheng, keeping him as a story NPC would be worthwhile if possible. If not, the game wouldn’t lose anything.
At that moment, Huang Jinsheng looked distinctly unwell.
Agitated by the item and his memories, he asked the Longhu Society’s Incense Master, “How do you know I’m from Zimu City?”
The Incense Master answered as though looking at an idiot. “Didn’t you give an interview to a reporter yourself?”
“Oh…” Huang Jinsheng stared blankly. “Did I give an interview to a reporter?”
“Ah, yes. I did give an interview.”
“What time is it now?”
The Longhu Society’s Incense Master glanced at the black night outside. “Around eight or nine in the evening. Are you sure you want to go to the factory beneath Xiuli Palace now?”
The players exchanged looks. They weren’t planning to go now. But the anomaly detector’s red light remained on. The anomaly was right beside them.
According to Huang Jinsheng, Zhao Xiuming might well be in the factory, beneath their feet.
The Longhu Society’s Incense Master spoke of his own accord. “From that conversation, I think I understand what you’re after.”
“You’re looking for the anomaly behind Huang Jinsheng.”
“Well-equipped, unafraid of sacrifice… You don’t look as though you’re doing this for Huang Jinsheng’s little bit of money.”
At some point, the Longhu Society’s Incense Master had secretly loosened the ropes around his wrists. Normally, he ought to conceal the fact that the ropes were broken, pretend to remain bound, and wait for a chance to fight back.
But then he discovered that the players’ lie-detection item didn’t simply judge truth and falsehood by heart rate. It directly forced Huang Jinsheng to speak.
The Longhu Society’s Incense Master clearly had a plan now, and was showing as much sincerity as he could.
“Perhaps we can discuss cooperation.”
“I’m not like Huang Jinsheng, with his uncertain loyalties and his history of receiving an anomaly’s help. Quite the opposite. Anomalies and I are sworn enemies.”
“Whether or not Zhao Xiuming is the anomaly helping Huang Jinsheng, he attacked my gang members. We’re enemies.”
Realizing that alone wouldn’t persuade the mysterious people with their advanced technology, the Longhu Society’s Incense Master offered something concrete.
“I can’t guess what country is behind you, and I don’t want to know.”
“I see things more clearly than that fool who leads the Tianding Society. I’m more ambitious too. So I know Zimu City is bound to disappear.”
“The gangs’ businesses went from operating openly to being divided between east and west, then moving underground.”
“All of that was inevitable. In the future, the gangs will have to go legitimate and truly get out of this place.”
“I want the political forces behind you to protect my interests.”
The three players: “…”
The Longhu Society’s Incense Master continued. “This chaos isn’t ordinary.”
“You have the means to stop it. I don’t know what medicine you fed us just now.”
“Perhaps it’s some kind of psychiatric medicine, but it restores people’s sanity. If you can give me more of it, I can promise you this: the gang members who regain their reason will obey me.”
“And I’ll obey you. We can go to the underground factory together.”
Most importantly, the underground factory was a business built up by the two gangs and Huang Jinsheng.
If the Longhu Society’s Incense Master was willing to help, the players would be playing on easy mode.
The three players considered whether it would work. They could spend points redeeming shielding and cleansing items to restore the factory NPCs’ reason.
Then, if the NPCs obeyed their boss, the Longhu Society’s Incense Master, the two sides wouldn’t have to fight at all.
It was certainly better than charging into a contaminated, rioting factory now. As for whether the Longhu Society’s Incense Master was willing to give up the profits from the underground factory…
His plans for the gangs’ future made it clear that the Longhu Society wanted to sell up and go legitimate.