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Chapter 541 - Five Hundred and Thirty-Eight: "Here Comes the Meat Soup!

Chapter 541: Chapter Five Hundred and Thirty-Eight: "Here Comes the Meat Soup!

"Are you the real Su Ming’an?"

Lu, who had entered through the small door, was very cautious. After all, someone among them had been replaced.

"Of course, are you Lu himself?" Su Ming’an said.

Lu raised the red candle in his hand, lighting up Su Ming’an’s face.

"I certainly am. But I’ve been thinking, would the mole who replaced us have access to our memories?" Lu said.

"Hard to say," Su Ming’an said.

"...Then, we need to consider issues relating to the ’World Game’ mechanics," Lu said. "I believe—the World Game cannot read our memories."

Ming’an’s mind stirred discreetly as he replied, "Why do you say that?"

"From the perspective of game mechanics," Lu said. "If the World Game could read our memories, then the mole would possess exactly the same way of thinking, emotions, memories, ability... We would be completely unable to distinguish whether they are the original players or not."

"Your judgment seems somewhat one-sided," Su Ming’an said.

"Of course, if the game could indeed read our memories, but intentionally make the mole act differently to let us distinguish, that is also a possibility—but in that case, we’re still like blind cats running into dead rats unless by chance we notice something off, and we still wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the mole and the player; we can’t act in a targeted way—I believe the World Game, which is good at guiding players to think, wouldn’t do that; it must leave us ample room to ponder over the term ’memory’—Ming’an, although my words may have a hint of putting the cart before the horse, you should be able to understand my point," Lu said.

Upon hearing Lu’s words, Su Ming’an’s eyebrows relaxed slightly, finding it convenient to exchange clues with a smart person.

If he were not facing the top player Lu but an ordinary player, these words would not be spoken by Lu to him, but by him to the ordinary player.

Top players are indeed entirely different from ordinary players; their thinking is not on the same wavelength. Only those who adapt to the unique thinking style of the World Game can smoothly reach this point.

In the World Game, [adaptability] is the most important aspect, with emotional intelligence and intelligence following behind. Ming’an never considered himself particularly smart or good at speaking; it had always been his adaptability and acuity toward [game mechanics], which allowed him to detect many hidden messages.

Now, the live streaming rooms were no longer unified; in his stream, floating comments were all saying: "What are these two talking about?" "I played it backwards three times and still didn’t understand..." "Lu’s point seems sophistical, I don’t agree..." and other such sentences.

"So, thinking under the premise that ’the World Game cannot read the players’ memories’, the mole should not know what we’re thinking. Even if they could know our past, it’s probably in the form of an [Observer], like reading memories from a USB drive, not being able to simulate our inner thoughts," Lu said. "For example, the mole could know all the instances I’ve gone through, know about my childhood experiences, but they can’t know exactly what I was thinking at that time."

"I agree," Su Ming’an said.

"Then, do my words convince you that I am indeed Lu?" Lu smiled.

"It’s not clear yet," Su Ming’an said. "After all, I’m not familiar with Lu, and I’m not certain that Lu would say something like this under these circumstances."

"I’m sad to hear you say that," Lu sighed.

Even while sighing, he still had a smile on his face. This top player with a great deal of popularity seemed to maintain his optimism under any circumstance.

Su Ming’an turned around; Clue Insight was giving him hints.

He approached a dark corner and astonishingly discovered a walkie-talkie. He wiped it off and saw a simple drawing on the walkie-talkie of a purple-haired girl smiling.

A line of text popped up.

[You have found (Walkie-Talkie)]

[By triggering other clues, you can communicate with Yuan Shuangshuang.]

[You have unlocked Ancient Castle Story · "Goodnight"]

...

"Yuan Shuangshuang?" Su Ming’an murmured to himself.

He began checking other items, some specific things that could be placed into the newly appeared "item bar". There were four slots in the "item bar", and he also found a used syringe.

...

[You have found (Used Syringe)]

[(Used Syringe): A syringe remaining with some liquid. Will you throw it away?]

He threw the syringe into the trash bin nearby, and a line of text jumped out.

[Well done, this will prevent you from being infected with the virus.]

...Virus?

Su Ming’an’s brows furrowed slightly.

He suddenly heard a violent buzzing sound.

"Rumble—rumble—rumble—"

A huge, pitch-black shadow seemed to be approaching him.

"Bang!"

A massive claw suddenly burst through the door, emanating a thick curse aura.

"It’s a Curse Black Beast!" Lu immediately retreated, "Not just one—our escape route is blocked as well."

While searching for clues, they also had to escape the Curse Black Beast’s attack, or else they would die midway.

This could also explain why they were in a cooperative mode, because the final death toll wouldn’t be low.

[Please find a hiding place as soon as possible!]

A system prompt popped up.

Lu had already taken the lead, hiding inside a metal cabinet next to him.

Su Ming’an, however, didn’t retreat but advanced instead, teleporting away and when he landed, he saw the cloaked figure standing atop a Curse Black Beast, looking down at him.

The enthusiastic and hospitable host of the ancient castle was actually pursuing his guests who came from afar.

Seeing Su Ming’an teleport out, the cloaked figure immediately shifted his attack target. The Black Beast’s large claw swooped down with the wind, bringing a violent whistling sound.

This was a windowless corridor, narrow in space, the Black Beast was squeezed into a long strip, and Su Ming’an had almost nowhere to land. Even a touch from this thing would trigger a curse, let alone the fact that his san value was only at 50 points.

He cast a Judgment that landed on the head of the cloaked figure, controlling him.

However, in the next moment, the Black Beast extended several claws out of nowhere, protecting the cloaked man thoroughly.

...It’s the same trick again.

This person is really like a tortoise shell, using the fact that others dare not touch the Black Beast, always protecting himself upon seeing others.

Su Ming’an didn’t want to tangle with him. He burst through a wooden door beside him and ran towards other rooms.

The cloaked man did not catch up. The passages of the ancient castle were very complex, virtually interconnected. Almost every room had small doors that could be opened.

...Su Ming’an?

As he opened a door, someone turned their head warily and then relaxed their brows upon seeing him.

"...I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time," the person said with a smile.

"I am not very eager," Su Ming’an said.

The man in front of him, dressed in a pitch-black priest’s robe, was Anger, one of the renowned madmen among the top-ranked players.

Ordinary players had mixed feelings about him because Anger appeared to be a saint, willing to lend a hand to the weak and even actively protect others. However, if he suddenly judged someone as "evil unworthy of salvation," one might just be burned to death by him out of the blue.

This was a fellow of unpredictable mood.

"Sir, may I disturb you for a moment? I’d like to talk to you about my holy god Gaiel..." Anger said smilingly.

The next moment, his body shook violently, teleporting several meters away.

The spot where he had been standing was smashed into a large depressed area by Su Ming’an’s Spatial Vibration, turning even the table beside it into scattered sawdust.

"Why attack me so suddenly..." Anger said softly, "I thought you were someone who could listen..."

"Because you did not doubt whether I am an internal traitor," Su Ming’an said, flicking his wrist, a flying sword piercing the retreating Anger.

Behind Anger, a holy light shone, as if a pair of angel wings were unfolding. However, as the Judgment Skill fell on his head, the angelic glow disappeared in an instant, the flying sword penetrating his chest and pinning him harshly against the wall.

Crimson blood spilled all over the floor, and Anger coughed out a mouthful of blood, closing his eyes.

Su Ming’an glanced over and saw that his SAN value had increased by 10 points.

He heard a noise suddenly, turned his head, and saw the slender, slightly timid-looking SS-level Luck Player Sherry peeking out.

"Are you, are you Su Ming’an?" Sherry said softly, as she was quietly stepping back.

Su Ming’an didn’t answer; his hand was shining with a flickering light.

He had made up his mind to kill all the players he encountered, as they were competitors after all. He couldn’t tell if these people were the actual players or the inner traitor. Given the circumstance, he thought it better to kill them all, lest the traitor destroyed all the feathers in the ancient castle over time.

He hadn’t killed Lu just now because Lu’s thought process was very similar to his own, not like that of an NPC playing the role of a traitor.

Seeing the light in Su Ming’an’s hand, Sherry already showed a look of fear.

"Sherry, I issue you a High Tower Invitation," Su Ming’an said.

A deep blue shield spread out in an instant.

"I, I’m really not the traitor..." Sherry backed away.

This player, who had always had an easy path thanks to her SS-level Luck, now showed her fear completely. With one Judgment followed by Spatial Vibration, Su Ming’an took care of her.

His SAN value reached 70 points, a relatively safe number.

He picked up the Red Level Mage’s robe that Sherry dropped and continued to search. After a while, he found a piece of clothing.

[You have found a (Beak Protective Suit).]

[You have gained Feathers (20 pieces).]

[In certain special rooms, you need to wear a protective suit to act, otherwise, you are highly likely to die.]

...

It was a pitch-black, floor-length gown with a long cloak trailing behind, with a bird beak mask hanging at the collar, its sharp metallic beak like a blade.

In the first slot of the item grid, Yuan Shuangshuang’s walkie-talkie suddenly began to tremble.

He took out the walkie-talkie, and a line of text appeared, like in a pixel game’s black dialogue box.

[Yuan Shuangshuang: Wow, you’ve found a protective suit, that’s great. This way you can avoid being exposed to the outside virus.]

[Su Ming’an: Xiao Ai?]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: I’m not Xiao Ai, I’m Yuan Shuangshuang.]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: ...I’m so tired, those people wearing bird beak masks, they always cut open my body, muttering some chemical terms I don’t understand.]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: It seems like they’re extracting something like a virus? I heard, they seem to want to take the virus out and invade other countries...]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: My grass-woven bracelet seems to have been lost, it was from my mom...]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: That’s enough, I’m so sleepy, so tired...]

After that, Yuan Shuangshuang’s dialogue box faded away.

Su Ming’an suddenly felt a bit hungry.

—Ever since the game world began, he had never felt this sensation of hunger, at most it was a sense of weakness from hidden stamina values.

Feeling hungry at this time should be a game mechanic guiding him to the kitchen.

He found the kitchen next to the hall on the first floor.

To his surprise—Lu’s Guide, Mocha, was inside.

Su Ming’an peered through the crack in the door and saw the pots and pans and the meat in the kitchen.

"Lord Bai Shen?"

Mocha suddenly turned around and spotted him at the door.

"I felt hungry, so I came to the kitchen," Mocha said. "Are you hungry too? Come have a bowl of meat soup."

He ladled out a bowl of meat soup and passed it over.

Su Ming’an stared at the meat soup for a while.

"This meat soup is very precious," he said. "You drink it first."

Mocha’s expression stiffened a little.

"Lord Bai Shen, there’s nothing wrong with the meat soup..." Mocha said.

Su Ming’an reached out his hand.

...

When Lu had finished wandering around the first floor of the ancient castle and came to the kitchen, he saw the scene of Su Ming’an forcing Mocha to drink the soup. Su Ming’an was holding Mocha down with one hand and pouring with the other, making the scene appear very brutal.

Shortly after, Mocha fell to the ground with a bluish-purple face, foaming at the mouth.

"There seem to be quite a few traitors," Lu said. "Apart from Mocha, I also killed Cain the Falconer who tried to attack me.

Su Ming’an turned around and looked at him.

"I wonder," Su Ming’an said. "Why don’t you guys suspect that I’m the traitor?"

"If you were the traitor, we’d have no way of playing," Lu said. "One-on-one, you could kill any of us."

"True," Su Ming’an’s expression unchanged as he saw the remaining soup in his hand had turned into [Poisonous Meat Soup], which could be placed in the item grid.

On a whim, he dragged the soup into the slot with Yuan Shuangshuang’s walkie-talkie to see what would happen.

The next moment, the soup vanished.

Black text appeared in a new dialogue box.

[Yuan Shuangshuang: Did you make meat soup for me? That’s great! You’re such a nice person!]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: Glug glug...]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: ...]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: Ugh.]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: You’re so mean, you gave me poisonous meat soup!]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: But it tastes okay, better than nutrient solutions... It hurts, it hurts so much...]

[Yuan Shuangshuang: Now that you’ve found the protective suit, hurry and come to the lab to save me...]

The next moment, the dialogue box disappeared.

"The plot here should be related to Qiongdi," Lu said. "But I’ve found some needles and bird beak masks, and it reminds me of the Black Death in the Middle Ages."

"There must be a laboratory here." Su Ming’an wanted to find Yuan Shuangshuang.

The walkie-talkie was probably a means for her to communicate with the outside world; he needed to find her quickly.

They continued to search and found quite a few feathers in the process, and later on, they discovered a cramped room.

On the table, there was a calendar, with the date stopped on April 1223, all the dates before the 13th of April crossed out.

...

...

[Number of survivors: 13]

...