The world has turned into Hell's Game, why should I stay human?
Chapter 49: Like a fish in your lotus pond

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Like a fish in your lotus pond

"Name: Heart of the Ocean (Enhanced)"

"Type: Equipment"

"Quality: Fine"

"Effect One: Increase movement speed in water by 50%, and allows free breathing underwater."

"Effect Two: Absorb the soul of an aquatic creature killed by a player, and obtain corresponding effects. After absorbing a new soul, the old soul will be released."

"Note: I’m like a fish, in your lotus pond."

"Can be taken out of the instance: Yes"

An additional effect had appeared, which seemed quite practical.

Liu Zheng wondered what effect he would gain if the Heart of the Ocean absorbed the soul from that Frog Fish.

Would it increase the volume of his voice by 500%?

He thought with an odd expression on his face.

"Please help me attract their attention for a while; I need to escape."

The mermaid princess’s voice rang out again.

"Fine."

Without saying much, Liu Zheng agreed directly.

If he were a kitchen staff member, helping the mermaid escape would surely be suicide.

But as he was from the delivery department, let Niu Ma worry about the sky falling down.

Besides, if Liu Zheng hadn’t gotten tough, this deal would have been busted anyway.

"Big brother, where is that inn you mentioned last time?"

He looked for a topic to discuss.

"Why, you still plan to use that sick leave slip?"

Niu Ma looked at him.

"I have no choice, I’m just short of a hat. I can’t get over it without giving it a try."

"Moreover, I don’t plan to change jobs like you. If I can complete the Legendary delivery man set, it would make my work much easier."

Liu Zheng shrugged.

His logic was sound, so Niu Ma didn’t suspect anything.

"I know of quite a few inns, but they’re all too dangerous for you. If you stayed there, you wouldn’t survive the first night,"

it shook its head and said.

"Isn’t there an inn that caters to humans?"

Liu Zheng asked.

He felt that the status of humans in this world was pretty much the same as that of black people.

He had once seen a movie called "Green Book," which mentioned that in the American South, there were inns specifically for people of color, where it was much safer to stay.

There must be similar places in this world, right?

"You’re quite sharp, kid. Indeed, there are such inns, but they probably wouldn’t let you stay,"

Niu Ma said.

"Why not?"

"Why not?"

Niu Ma looked at him strangely.

"Don’t you have any idea just by looking at yourself? You’re afraid of being eaten by others, but others are also afraid of being eaten by you,"

it commented.

"Alright then,"

Liu Zheng said helplessly.

It looked like now he was in a situation akin to Zhu Bajie looking at himself in the mirror - not quite fitting in.

Suddenly, he could relate to the feeling of being an undercover operative during wartime.

"By the way, do you play any instruments?"

Niu Ma suddenly asked.

"No, but I’m pretty good at singing. I was even in a choir once,"

Liu Zheng said.

"Then there’s an inn you might want to try. They’re relatively friendly towards music lovers,"

Niu Ma said.

"How do you know that?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Humph, you’re looking down on me. Don’t judge me just because I deliver food now. I used to be a bass player in a band,"

Niu Ma said proudly.

"Uh..."

Liu Zheng looked at its hooves, which could only play rock-paper-scissors with paper, and found it hard to imagine how it played the bass.

"So why didn’t you continue with the band?"

To stall for time, he asked casually.

"City Hall said our songs were vulgar and violent, which was not conducive to establishing a positive city image, so they banned the band. Moreover, they strictly prohibited us from engaging in related professions."

"Oh, and the lead singer of the band was Black Claw,"

Niu Ma said nonchalantly.

"How vulgar could you guys have been?"

Now Liu Zheng was truly curious.

From what he had seen and heard since entering the instance, this world seemed to have almost no limit to its vulgarity.

Niu Ma, compared to that bunch of damn things, was already considered morally noble.

"He was just singing some stuff about racial equality and how all intelligent beings should have civil rights,"

Niu Ma said.

"That... is indeed quite vulgar."

He opened his mouth and said.

Niu Ma heard the sarcasm in Liu Zheng’s voice, but he didn’t swear at him, just scoffed coldly.

"Actually, big boss, you could start a band, you know. I could be your lead singer."

Liu Zheng suggested.

"Forget it, I want to live a few more years."

Niu Ma rejected the idea without hesitation.

"You should quit entertaining such thoughts about me. I’ve long since stopped believing in that crap. Equal rights, my ass. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. I’m not just going to eat people, I’m going to gorge myself."

"Like your flesh, for instance, would be a real treat. I’m just waiting for your transformation to be complete so I can have a good meal."

Liu Zheng showed his saw-toothed sharp fangs just as he had when they first met.

"Aren’t you all set to move to Heaven Island? Still fixated on my little bit of meat?"

Liu Zheng wasn’t flustered at all.

Those wanting to eat him would have to queue up from the Bloody Restaurant to the black market; Niu Ma might be closer, but he still had to wait his turn.

"The main course is important, but you can’t neglect dessert. Besides, you, my friend, are renewable meat. I could ration it and have enough to eat for decades."

Niu Ma licked his lips.

"Boss, do you know how to drip that hot wax, Garcia style?"

Liu Zheng asked with a smile.

"Nope, why?"

"Well, if you don’t know how to, then where do you get the courage to think about eating me?"

He pulled out a chew toy and idly tapped at the tentacles with it.

"Hey, it’s all just banter, man. Takes the fun out of it if you take it seriously."

Niu Ma quickly replied.

"Really now?"

"Really, really."

Niu Ma nodded furiously like a pecking hen.

"Then I guess I lack a sense of humor,"

Liu Zheng stowed away the chew toy.

Niu Ma wiped away a cold sweat.

This kid, god knows where he finds all this weird shit. If he doesn’t want to live anymore, he drags them down with him.

"Hey, are we done here? I’m running out of things to say,"

Liu Zheng asked in his mind.

"Almost there, almost there, just help me stall for one more minute,"

the mermaid replied.

Still dragging it out for another minute; they’re about to enter the instance.

Whatever, you take someone’s coin, you do their bidding.

Liu Zheng thought for a moment and pulled out a map.

"Boss, where’s that inn you were talking about?"

"You seriously thinking of going?"

Niu Ma took the map and pointed at it.

"There, right here."

"Pretty close to Chaos Club, huh?"

Liu Zheng focused on the spot Niu Ma was pointing at.

"Buddy, it’s a scaled map; it only looks close but it’s at least several hundred meters away, okay?"

"Huh, does seem fairly close actually,"

Niu Ma murmured to himself.

"These two places shouldn’t have any connection to each other, should they?"

he asked.

"Shouldn’t be. Never heard of Chaos Club having that kind of side hustle. They hardly ever do business with the public,"

Niu Ma hesitated.

"Forget it, let’s look for another place,"

Liu Zheng shook his head.

Even the kitchen staff got screwed over by Chaos Club, and he was just a delivery man.

"Up to you. Anywhere else, you’re dead meat. This inn might give you a fighting chance,"

"What’s the name of this inn?"

he asked.

"Rock and Roll Will Never Die."

"Nice name."

Liu Zheng nodded.

The name itself sounded full of life.

"Success!"

The voice of the mermaid princess, full of surprise, suddenly rang out.