TTGOL CH100

Chapter 100: Human World (3)

Regardless of the dust covering his body, Tang Cuo immediately inspected the grave. As expected, there was no corpse inside the coffin. Instead, a pale blue orb of light rose up, floating quietly directly above the grave.

The Soul Cemetery naturally buried souls.

Did Yong Ye City consider the color of souls to be blue? Or did everyone have a different color?

Tang Cuo tentatively reached out a hand toward the orb of light. The moment he touched it, the orb was automatically absorbed into his body. What followed was a rush of memories and emotions flooding his mind, originating from the owner of this orb of light.

It was a teenage high school student. Tang Cuo had roughly understood his life when checking his cell phone tombstone. He had no major worries, just that he liked a certain internet streamer and had been caught by his parents tipping the streamer, resulting in a scolding. The final image displayed on his phone was him continuing to sneakily watch the game stream, with an unsent comment sitting in the input box.

[6666666666666]

A pale blue soul. Although it was slightly gray, not entirely clean and transparent, it still looked relatively refreshing. Tang Cuo then opened his character panel to check his stats—

[Character]
ID K27216: Tang Cuo
Character Points: 10
Force: 125
Intelligence: 66
Charm: 35
Rating: A
Health: 85%
Soul Turbulence Index: 3

Survival is not easy; please keep up the good work.

His Intelligence point increased by one.

What did the Soul Turbulence Index refer to? Did absorbing someone else’s soul orb cause his own soul to become unstable? Tang Cuo pondered for a moment, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed the memories and emotions the orb had brought him.

If the mind was an ocean, then at this moment, the owner of the soul orb popped his head out of Tang Cuo’s ocean, shouting loudly that he wanted to watch a stream, that he wanted to play games.

It was a willful child. His shouts stirred up waves, causing slight turbulence in Tang Cuo’s originally calm and tranquil mental sea. The impact wasn’t major, but it still wasn’t a good sign.

Tang Cuo remained expressionless and tried to manipulate his own ocean. After trying a few times, he found he could indeed affect the flow of the seawater. So, he spent ten minutes condensing the seawater into a massive hand, slapped it down, and sent that noisy, screaming child headfirst back into the ocean.

The child struggled, still trying to pop his head out. Tang Cuo slapped him again.

The world went quiet.

Looking back at the character panel, the Soul Turbulence Index had returned to “0”. It was very simple, posing no difficulty; he practically got an Intelligence point for free.

Perhaps it was because the owner of this soul orb was too weak. Otherwise, if the only damage brought upon him by an exploding tombstone was this minor and he could even earn points, then there was no need to solve the case at all. He could just wait for all the screens to explode—or so Tang Cuo thought.

However, Xiao Tong, who was sitting in the monitoring room drinking coffee and quietly admiring the show, couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow slightly. He stared intently at Tang Cuo’s thoughtful face; the longer he looked, the more interesting he found it.

The Zone G instance was, in fact, still within Zone G. It hadn’t detached from this area, so Xiao Tong knew exactly what was happening inside the instance. At this moment, the situations in all four stages were displayed on surveillance screens before him. With a tap of his finger, Tang Cuo’s screen was enlarged.

Tang Cuo patted the dust off his body and went on to inspect the next cell phone tombstone as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Tong tapped his knuckle lightly against his cup and said, “His soul seems exceptionally strong. This level of attack is barely a scratch to him. He might even be a bit stronger than Jin Cheng was back then.”

There was clearly no one else in the room, yet he spoke as if conversing with someone. A few seconds later, a crow appeared on the bookshelf behind him, ruffled its feathers, and said, “You seem very interested in K27216, even putting him in a separate stage. Are you trying to prove your eye for people is better than the great Mr. Crow’s?”

Xiao Tong swiveled his chair, looking at him with a relaxed posture. “Since he came in with negative points, you should have penalized him straight to Zone G from the start.”

“You fickle, indecisive Warden! Weren’t you already eyeing K26404? You’re too greedy; the great Mr. Crow will not allow you to do this!”

“He’s someone on your blacklist anyway; you don’t like him either, do you?”

Mr. Crow seemed to be choking. Even though you couldn’t tell if a black face was flushed with anger, he was truly infuriated. But then his eyes darted, and he said triumphantly, “He’s with G79081. 79081 rejected you back then, and he won’t agree to you either. The romantic relationship humans speak of is like bound equipment—you can’t rip it off, hmph.”

Xiao Tong: “Since when do you know about romantic relationships?”

Mr. Crow puffed out his chest proudly. “This Mr. Crow is omniscient and omnipotent.”

Xiao Tong set his coffee cup down, turned back to Tang Cuo, and narrowed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head with regret. “What a pity. Rather than following Jin Cheng, he’s much more suited to staying here and becoming a qualified Warden.”

“You said the exact same thing two years ago when you faced 79081.”

“Heh.”

Mr. Crow seemed to have found the joy of mocking Xiao Tong. Clearing his throat, he paced back and forth on the bookshelf with his wings behind his back like an old master. “You still have a year before you leave. During this year, you can slowly look for your successor. The kind-hearted Mr. Crow will also help you keep an eye out. Don’t you still have K26404? Don’t tell me 26404 rejected you too, heh.”

Xiao Tong shot him a cold glance. Mr. Crow immediately turned his head, held his head high, and pretended he hadn’t seen or said anything.

For a long while, Xiao Tong didn’t speak again. His expression held a half-smile, and his eyes sometimes flashed with cold glints, other times deepening like the dark night—unpredictable and moody.

Looking at him, Mr. Crow finally couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you want to leave?”

Xiao Tong smiled abruptly. “Because it’s time.”

Mr. Crow tilted his head. “You can stay even if it’s time. You are the Warden of Yong Ye City; unless Yong Ye City forces you to leave, who else can make you go? Besides, what’s so good about reincarnation? Humans are stupid, ignorant, and overly sentimental. The human realm isn’t exactly a great place to be. Who knows, you might just die and end up back here in a dozen years. Heh, and then you’ll run into me again!”

But you won’t remember anything, and I’ll be able to torment you to my heart’s content!

Thinking of this, Mr. Crow felt that letting Xiao Tong reincarnate wasn’t a bad idea either. Really not a bad idea. But then he worried that the Xiao Tong who returned might not be the same Xiao Tong as now—weak and boring—and that wouldn’t be any fun.

Humans were truly an unfathomable species.

“Have you never thought about going to the human realm to take a look?” Xiao Tong asked in return.

“The human realm?” Mr. Crow couldn’t help but look at the four surveillance screens, seemingly entirely uncomprehending why he would ask such a question. “This doesn’t look pretty at all. It’s ugly and boring.”

Finally, he cheered up again. “I still have to wait for Him to return here. One day, He will return.”

“Him.” Xiao Tong knew he was referring to “That Being.” The legendary God who created Yong Ye City, the God in The Song of the God, Lambs, and the Crow. But where had He gone?

How long had it been since He left the human realm, left Yong Ye City?

At least, there was absolutely no trace of Him left in this world.

While Xiao Tong was lost in thought, he suddenly heard Mr. Crow looking excitedly at the surveillance screens, saying, “Look at this little cutie 26404. Now this is the person most suited to take over as Warden!”

Inside the psychiatric hospital, a slaughter had already commenced.

Zheng Yingying wandered alone in the corridor. The wind blowing in from the broken windows lifted her cloak, revealing a body that was far too slender and frail beneath it. Her ankles looked as if they would snap with a single bend.

She indeed didn’t look strong, but her cloak and cape were very peculiar.

“The clever Mr. Crow thought you would favor 27216 and 79081 more, but you didn’t give ‘Myriad Forms’ to them. Instead, you gave it to 404.” Mr. Crow felt he was extremely smart. He only liked 404 because she was more ruthless than Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo, possessing an incredibly intense, undeniable craving for survival. Such a person made one highly anticipate just how far she would go in the end.

But compared to Jin Cheng, her own strength was still very weak.

“Myriad Forms” referred to that red cloak. It possessed a certain camouflage effect and incredibly strong defense. Among all defensive equipment in Yong Ye City, it could easily rank in the top ten.

“I made a bet with her,” Xiao Tong smiled. Sitting elegantly in the armchair with his legs crossed, he raised a hand to rest against his chin and said, “She wants to live. She wants to rely on herself to live, to fight, to snatch, and refuses to just stay in Zone G. So I let her out. Within three days, no matter what method she used, as long as she could get a hundred points, I would give her Myriad Forms.”

“Since when did the terrifying Warden start doing charity? You humans call this charity, right? Right?” The crow hopped around the bookshelf, extremely curious.

Three days, a hundred points, in exchange for god-tier equipment like “Myriad Forms”—in Mr. Crow’s eyes, it was no different from charity. Furthermore, Zheng Yingying now also possessed the “Nameless Dagger.” Myriad Forms plus the Nameless Dagger, combined with Zheng Yingying’s temperament—what kind of monster would that forge?

But Mr. Crow could also guess that when Zheng Yingying left Zone G, she must have been on her last breath. Even if the Warden was doing charity, it wasn’t something just anyone could take. He asked again, “How did she do it?”

Xiao Tong merely gave a mysterious smile and said, “Right time, right place, right people.”

At that time, all the players’ attention was focused on the Special Instance in Zone E, busy fighting over the Twelve Movements. No one noticed an unknown nobody like Zheng Yingying. Even Mr. Crow, who claimed to have three thousand clones, didn’t spare her a single glance. That was the right time.

Jin Cheng had single-handedly established the East Cross Street Safe Zone. As a new player with no blood on her hands yet, Zheng Yingying could perfectly hide there. That was the right place.

She was supposed to die because her points were stolen by Meng Yufei. She didn’t even have the money to buy a potion, let alone earn those a hundred points. But she ran into Jiang He before she even left Zone G. That was the right people.

Jiang He took her out of Zone G. Believing in seeing things through to the end, he not only gave her a healing potion but also provided a method to earn points—K at the Ruby Tavern.

Using a piece of intel regarding Warden Xiao Tong, Zheng Yingying exchanged it for exactly a hundred points. Then, using those a hundred points, she got the Myriad Forms cloak from Xiao Tong with empty hands.

Xiao Tong should have strangled Zheng Yingying to death, but he admired that she was a ruthless person. Only by being ruthless enough could one survive in Yong Ye City. Besides, as far as Zheng Yingying was concerned, she hadn’t violated the rules of the bet.

He had said “no matter what method,” which meant absolutely no taboos.

As for K, with Jiang He present, Zheng Yingying had definitely disguised herself when selling the intel. However, K was seasoned and sharp. Whether he noticed anything, or whether he chose to keep it a secret if he did, was none of Xiao Tong’s concern.

He was highly anticipating the aftermath of all this.

Tang Cuo and Zheng Yingying, two people who arrived in Yong Ye City on the exact same day, walking two completely opposite paths. He wondered who would ultimately emerge victorious, and what path they would lead Yong Ye City down.

It makes one very curious, doesn’t it?