The world has turned into Hell's Game, why should I stay human?
Chapter 185 - Can You Cure My ALS?

Chapter 185: 185 Chapter Can You Cure My ALS?

"Under what circumstances can a male African American long-distance runner achieve his best performance?"

The Sphinx asked.

"This question..."

Liu Zheng fell into thought.

Theoretically, the more significant the competition, the more it could inspire an athlete’s potential and push past their limits.

But many perform better in a relaxed state, such as those whose results at the Asian Games are better than at the Olympics.

After all, one can’t generalize about people’s physical conditions.

So, "competing in the highest-level event in Metropolis" was clearly the wrong answer.

If considering external forces, then the answer would be using doping or being chased by a jeep.

Considering this was Metropolis, it would be either being caught by border control while smuggling or being pursued by the Security Bureau for assassinating the top legislator.

But these answers were not unique, and he could fail or succeed with any of them.

"30 seconds left."

Red Dragonfly suddenly spoke up to remind him.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t remind the contestant of the time.

But Liu Zheng was too involved, and it felt badly about not offering any help.

However, the Dragonfly Captain is always fair, impartial, and transparent, so it could only give such a reminder without breaking any rules.

seconds.

Liu Zheng frowned.

There wasn’t enough time to rule out distracting factors.

But what if all the answers were distractions?

After all, the answers to such riddles often aren’t straightforward but more akin to brain teasers.

If he considered it from that angle...

"Male African American athlete..."

Liu Zheng seemed lost in thought.

"10."

"9."

"8."

...

Red Dragonfly began to count down.

"When he learns his girlfriend is pregnant."

He blurted out the answer.

"Answer correct."

Red Dragonfly hit the timer, making a gong-like celebratory noise.

"So you see, you were just wasting time."

The Sphinx curled its lip.

It hadn’t come for Liu Zheng’s "meat" and hadn’t intended to play any tricks when asking its question.

"I was mistrustful and underestimated you."

Liu Zheng criticized himself.

He wasn’t actually worried about the Sphinx cheating, as he was more focused on trying to win Red Dragonfly’s favor.

Plus, what if he could get another Golden Champion Medal?

"How many times do I have to say it, I am not a cat!"

The Sphinx bared its teeth at him.

"My mistake, my mistake."

"Next, it’s the delivery guy’s turn to ask a question."

Red Dragonfly interrupted their conversation.

"My question is about the mountain..."

Just as Liu Zheng was about to speak, an invisible force silenced his vocal cords.

"Please, delivery contestant, do not ask questions outside the other party’s knowledge base."

As he wondered what was going on, Red Dragonfly said.

"I see."

Liu Zheng suddenly understood.

His original question had been, what should Shan Shang’s assassination attempt on Xiao Quan be called, if described in the ancient style of a small daily life?

There was a trap in this, for those with a bit of understanding of small daily life culture might call it "Iron-Cannon Foot Soldier Single Cavalry Pursue the Grand Regent."

Because the Grand Regent was equivalent to the ancient Prime Minister of Hua Country, and also akin to the present-day Prime Minister in a small daily life.

But actually, Xiao Quan was a retired Prime Minister, so he should not be called Grand Regent, but Taiko (retired Grand Regent).

Therefore, Shan Shang’s action should be called "Iron-Cannon Foot Soldier Single Cavalry Pursue Taiko."

It seemed that this matter exceeded the Sphinx’s knowledge reserve; as with the Three Kingdoms, Metropolis’s understanding of the real world was not perfectly synchronized.

"Then..."

He swirled his eyeballs and had another idea.

"My question is, which President of Beautiful Country had the wildest imagination?"

"Franklin Roosevelt."

The Sphinx answered without hesitation.

In the world’s largest capitalism country, adopting socialist national policies, isn’t that imaginative enough?

"Incorrect answer. The deliveryman contestant wins the match."

Red Dragonfly announced the result of the competition.

"What is the correct answer?"

The Sphinx didn’t care much about winning or losing, but was a little curious.

"The correct answer is John Kennedy."

Red Dragonfly answered for Liu Zheng.

"Uh... I thought my question was cold enough, but yours turned out to be even colder."

The Sphinx shuddered.

"Just so-so, I was merely standing on the shoulders of giants."

Liu Zheng said modestly.

"Your wit is eye-opening, and your satire on celebrities is wittily amusing."

"This competition was very exciting, so I will award you the Golden Champion Medal."

"I hope you will continue to do your best and contribute more exciting matches to the city."

Red Dragonfly said almost the same line as last time, and once again awarded him a Golden Champion Medal.

With this one, Liu Zheng now had two championship medals.

It was a pity he didn’t compete in the cooking competition, or he might have won another one, which would have brought him closer to the goal of ten.

"Dragonfly Captain, can you reveal what effect assembling ten Golden Champion Medals has?"

He asked tentatively.

"How do you know it’s ten?"

Red Dragonfly asked back.

"I have some special methods."

"You’re now a third-class citizen, and that’s all I can tell you."

Red Dragonfly thought for a bit and then said.

"That’s quite enough, thank you very much."

Liu Zheng said politely.

So, collecting ten Golden Champion Medals actually improves one’s citizen rank?

Going from third-class to second-class citizen — that would mean Niu Ma and his wife could become second-class without having to save up the "household registration tax."

If Niu Ma knew this news, he would be ecstatic beyond measure.

He would tell him when he got back; whether it could be achieved was up to Niu Ma’s own abilities.

"Please, Sphinx contestant, redeem your prize."

Red Dragonfly looked towards the Sphinx.

"Open your mouth."

The Sphinx said bluntly.

"Uh."

Liu Zheng hesitated, but still opened his mouth.

The Sphinx also opened its mouth, and its long, thick tongue shot out, directly stuffing into his oral apparatus.

The barbs on the tongue stood up one by one, deeply embedding into Liu Zheng’s upper palate.

Once the barbs were fixed in place, the Sphinx started to move its tongue.

The long tongue danced rhythmically inside Liu Zheng’s oral apparatus, and the barbs scraped out wounds one after another, forming mysterious characters.

A few minutes later, the Sphinx withdrew its tongue.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey."

The Sphinx disdainfully spat a few times.

"Blegh."

Liu Zheng felt an even stronger urge to vomit.

Being French-kissed by a non-human was bad enough, but the key issue was that the creature didn’t care about hygiene—its tongue tasted barely better than a sewer.

"If you dare to spit, I’ll stuff your tongue into your windpipe."

The Sphinx said with a menacing look.

"It feels amazing, so fragrant and soft, I want to do it again."

He quickly said.

"Ptooey, you humans are truly disgusting."

The Sphinx said with revulsion.

"So how do I use this ability?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"All you have to do is point at your target and shout, ’Androsphinx,’ and the ability will take effect,"

the Sphinx replied.

"The contest is over, see you next time!"

Seeing it had made good on its prize, Red Dragonfly immediately let out a hearty laugh, then took to the air, disappearing into the depths of the clouds.

"All right, we’re even. Don’t come looking for small talk with me anymore."

The Sphinx lay down again.

"Do you dislike humans that much?"

Liu Zheng asked.

Had it been hurt by humans in the past?

"I don’t just dislike humans, I disdain all races,"

the Sphinx said.

If it didn’t need a job, it wouldn’t even bother with Doctor Nile.

"So, are you still eating those dried fish?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"No,"

"How about fresh fish? A special variety from the sewer?"

"...No,"

the Sphinx said after an internal struggle.

"Then..."

"No, no, I don’t want any of it, just go inside already!"

The Sphinx, with a flick of its tail, directly whipped Liu Zheng into the clinic.

"Tsk."

He lay on the ground, shaking his head in disappointment.

With an ability as powerful as the Riddle Curse, he’d have liked to get a few more.

No wonder it’s a big cat, just a bit harder to handle than those poultry and livestock.

But the more the Sphinx resisted, the more excited Liu Zheng became.

One day, it too would succumb to his charm.

"This is the first time I’ve seen someone enter a clinic like that."

Dr. Nile, holding a clay pot, looked down at him from above.

"Perhaps that’s the Sphinx’s way of showing affection,"

Liu Zheng said earnestly as he got up.

"My brain might not work as well as it used to, but I know they don’t have such customs,"

Dr. Nile said bluntly, bursting his bubble.

"Then it’s just going with the local customs. I’m here to tell you some good news, Doctor,"

Liu Zheng changed the subject.

"Did you find that local specialty?"

There seemed to be a flicker in Dr. Nile’s murky eyes.

"No, but I’ve found two backers for you and Sasha,"

he shook his head and said.

"I don’t think Sasha and I need any backers,"

"The restaurant will target you again one day,"

Liu Zheng said.

"That issue has been resolved; otherwise, I wouldn’t have opened a clinic so close to the restaurant,"

Dr. Nile claimed.

"But you dare not stray too far from the clinic, do you?"

he pressed on.

Dr. Nile fell silent.

"You might have grown used to living in seclusion, but what about Sasha? Before becoming a mummy, she was just a young girl, wasn’t she?"

"She doesn’t have the concept of being accustomed to anything now,"

Dr. Nile said indifferently.

"But what about when she recovers her intelligence?"

"So, what do you propose?"

After a long silence, Dr. Nile asked.

"Do you know about the sewer and the Fire Mage?"

Liu Zheng inquired.

"I know."

Dr. Nile nodded.

Though his movements were restricted, his patients were a good source of information.

"If you do one thing, you can gain the protection of both the sewer and the Fire Mage,"

Liu Zheng told him about helping the sewer get rid of hemorrhoids and showed off the silver finger for good measure.

"Of course, the risk is still high. Whether you do it or not is up to you to decide."

"Alright, I’ll do it,"

Dr. Nile said after pondering for a while.

If successful, even if he couldn’t find that special product, he could just move the clinic directly into the sewer.

While the environment there wasn’t great, at least there’d be security.

"Good, then let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll arrange a time,"

Liu Zheng nodded.

"If I fail, I hope you can look after Sasha for me,"

Dr. Nile said.

"I can’t do that,"

he shook his head.

He was bound to leave Metropolis one day.

"Then help Sasha recover her senses, and after that, find a reliable guardian for her,"

Dr. Nile suggested.

"I can do that,"

Liu Zheng nodded.

Whether it’s as the sole heiress, Nightingale, or as a novelist, either should have the capacity to shelter a small clinic.

"Thank you. What compensation do you want?"

"No need, I’m also doing this for myself,"

he shook his head.

"You should still get compensation. Let me see what I can do about your illness,"

Dr. Nile offered.

"No need, I’m not sick,"

"Yes, you are,"

Dr. Nile asserted firmly.

"I really don’t have..."

Liu Zheng suddenly widened his eyes.

"Could you possibly cure my amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?!"