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Chapter 45: An Wujiu, you are the one who likes men, right?
The two of them confronted each other for a moment.
Shen Ti’s expression changed, and his gem-like eyes flickered slightly under the bright light, showing surprise and disbelief on his face.
Perhaps he was startled by the unreasonable request An Wujiu made.
An Wujiu looked pleased, raised an eyebrow, and was about to mock when, in a brief moment, the surprise on Shen Ti’s face turned into a smile that spoiled the moment.
“Where do you want to kiss?” Shen Ti hooked his lips, and the red dot between his eyebrows added a seductive charm to his smile.
Failed.
An Wujiu felt a hint of displeasure in his heart.
Sure enough, he wasn’t really an innocent guy.
But he also smiled, adopting a serious look as if contemplating. He scanned Shen Ti from head to toe, saying, “Yeah, where should I kiss you?”
His gaze finally landed on the totem at Shen Ti’s throat, with an eye hidden at the center of the sun.
An Wujiu tilted his head slightly and leaned toward Shen Ti’s neck. His lips were only inches away from Shen Ti’s throat, and the warm air from his breath slid across his skin.
Looking up, An Wujiu gazed at Shen Ti, only to find him staring back, calm and composed, without a hint of embarrassment.
“An Wujiu,” Shen Ti said calmly.
“It seems you’re the one who truly likes men.”
Upon hearing this, An Wujiu, who was just about to succeed, moved away. He straightened his body, turned around, and cast a glance at Shen Ti, a smile playing on his lips.
“I like beautiful people.”
An Wujiu walked away without looking back, heading toward the others. He didn’t turn around, leaving only a parting remark, “It’s not the right time today. I’ll save this benefit for next time.”
Shen Ti watched his retreating figure and chuckled softly.
After resolving the lingering question in his heart, he felt an unexplainable sense of peace. So, at this moment, Shen Ti reverted to his previous state, full of curiosity and a desire to understand An Wujiu even more than before.
He wanted to unravel this person layer by layer, to see through him completely, to find his most vulnerable and sensitive parts. But that also meant having control in his hands.
So, he quickly learned from An Wujiu a peculiar calmness and reverse satisfaction, then used it to counter him.
If he wanted to see panic, he wouldn’t show panic.
If he wanted the pleasure of teasing, he wouldn’t allow himself to be teased.
Shen Ti raised his hand and touched his own neck.
None of them were good people, so it was better to fight evil with evil.
“Did you guys open the door already?” An Wujiu stepped forward quickly, placing his hand on Wu You’s shoulder with a friendly smile, “Well done, Xiao You.”
“Because it was related to the Rubik’s cube,” Wu You replied simply. Compared to the others, he was relatively more accepting of An Wujiu’s current demeanor, considering he had been the puppet master behind the scenes in the previous game and was familiar with this state.
But others were still somewhat uncomfortable, especially since they were entering a new floor, inevitably adding tension to the atmosphere.
“Why is everyone being so serious?” An Wujiu followed behind, casually reaching out and touching the handle on the door.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded.
[A02 No Access Permission for this floor, information reporting.]
No permission?
An Wujiu frowned, attempting to grab the handle again, but just as he did, a second feedback came, but this time it was not an alarm.
[Access has been forcibly opened.]
The voice spoke again.
[You do not have permission to view.]
[You do not have permission to view.]
The warning was repeated many times.
Why didn’t A02 have access to this floor? Wasn’t he supposed to have a level similar to management personnel?
And now the permissions have been overridden.
Not wanting to deal with it for now, An Wujiu put his hands behind his back and walked inside. There was a row of darkened screens and several sofas. He chose one and leaned back into it.
This room was different from the previous ones. The space wasn’t small, but the floor was shaped like a triangle, with one corner of the room having an angle of almost 30 degrees, like a slice of pizza.
With this layout, there were probably only three rooms on this floor. From the middle of the south wall, which stopped at the northwest corner, a passage led left, stopping at the southwest corner. It separated the ordering room on the right from the returning goods room on the left. In the middle was a large, complete trapezoidal room, which they couldn’t access yet.
Shen Ti was the last one to enter. He glanced at An Wujiu sitting on the sofa, then looked around, focusing on the darkened screens.
Yang Erci helped Zhong Yirou to one of the sofas. At this point, she had lost much of her mobility, and even speaking had become a difficult task.
Nan Shan was in a similar state, but he managed to pull out a piece of paper, wrote some unreadable characters on it with his fingers, and then placed the yellow talisman in his palm. He pressed his palms together, and the talisman burned in his hands, with flames seeping through his fingers. He opened his hands, and the talisman burned until not even the ashes were left.
“What are you doing?” Wu You didn’t really want to ask. He hesitated for a while before finally voicing the question.
“Strengthening my body,” Nan Shan said intermittently. “I feel that the situation ahead will get worse. I’m conserving my energy now so that I won’t completely collapse later.”
Yang Erci turned her face and looked at An Wujiu, her expression serious. “There were no key fragments from the last floor. Did you take them?”
An Wujiu, leaning on the sofa, pressed his slender index finger against his temple.
“Yeah,” he admitted without any concealment of his selfishness and self-interest. “I took three.”
“You’re not planning to share them, are you?” Yang Erci asked, “At least tell us the words written on them.”
An Wujiu dismissed it with a laugh, finding it rather amusing. “This is a personal battle. To be clear, each of us is in a competitive relationship. The fragments appeared inside the glass case that trapped me, so naturally, I took them.”
“Moreover…” he chuckled again.
“Without me, you would have died on the second floor.”
Although his words weren’t pleasant to hear, they reflected a harsh reality. Josh spoke up for reconciliation, saying, “The matter of the fragments… it might not be that important. Let’s first figure out how to leave this floor.”
“You’re right,” An Wujiu shrugged. “The purpose of this game itself is not to waste time on these useless things but to find a way out of this building. Don’t forget, there’s a time limit.”
His words, along with the countdown in front of them, reminded everyone.
While it heightened the tension in others, An Wujiu himself casually yawned, “I’ve been playing for over ten hours straight; I’m exhausted.” He tilted his head back, leaning against the back of the sofa, closing his eyes for a nap.
Yang Erci remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at Zhong YrRou on the sofa. Seeing that she, too, had her eyes closed, she walked over to check on her.
“Zhong Yirou is unconscious.”
Wu You glanced over, but, seeing that someone was already taking care of her, he turned back to deal with the screens in the room.
He tried each screen one by one and finally managed to turn on the last one; the others seemed to be damaged.
The screen lit up.
[Please enter the service purpose.]
Wu You’s fingers hesitated for a moment.
Service purpose? How would he know what the purpose here is?
Shen Ti, who had been silent, spoke up casually, “The man in the previous video kept repeating a sentence.”
Wu You then remembered and entered a sentence.
[All for humanity.]
The input box disappeared, and feedback appeared.
[Welcome C04, ordering mode activated. Please lead the customer for personalized ordering.]
Hearing the synthesized voice’s response, the rest of them gathered around the screen. Three circles appeared on the screen, each in black, white, and bright yellow.
[Please choose the color the customer prefers.]
Wu You hesitated for a moment, feeling that black and white might not be auspicious, so he clicked on yellow.
After making the selection, a new set of choices appeared on the screen.
[Please specify the quality level you prefer: 1. Low-end, 2. Mid-range, 3. High-end]
“How about selecting high-end?” Josh suggested. “High-end should be better, right?”
Wu You nodded and chose high-end. Then, another question appeared on the screen.
[Please specify the mode you prefer: 1. Natural, 2. Artificial]
Wu You chose natural.
An hourglass icon appeared on the screen. They expected some results, but in the end, only unfavorable feedback appeared.
[Out of stock, awaiting supply…]
“After all that, it’s out of stock?” Josh was puzzled. “Then what’s the point of all this?”
As he spoke, suddenly, an inexplicable wind blew behind them. Wu You hadn’t had time to turn around when he heard Nan Shan’s voice.
“Miss Zhong—”
An Wujiu, who had closed his eyes, opened them in an instant and raised his head. Two giant mechanical arms had already clamped on Yang Erci and the unconscious Zhong Yirou.
[Supply replenishment, supply replenishment…]
Wu You’s eyes widened, and he rushed over with Josh, but they were too late. Shen Ti grabbed Zhong Yirou’s arm, but a folding blade suddenly appeared on the mechanical arm, popping out in an instant.
Shen Ti reacted quickly. At the same time, another hand stretched out from behind, pulling him away. However, the long blade could unfold a second time and ultimately cut through his leather glove, leaving a large gash in his palm.
Blood flowed faster than the pain. Drops of blood connected into a line, flowing down to the fingertips and finally dripping onto the floor.
But at this moment, the mechanical arms retracted, taking the two of them into the inclined wall. They watched in horror as Yang Erci and Zhong Yirou mysteriously disappeared before their eyes.
“Hold tight.” An Wujiu’s tone was somewhat annoyed. He muttered under his breath, pressing his hand firmly on Shen Ti’s bleeding palm.
He didn’t know why he was annoyed or what he was struggling with. He had promised not to show mercy to unrelated people, but the sight of the blade flashing in front of Shen Ti made him react faster than his thoughts.
Completely prompted by instinct.
“What… what do we do?” Josh was completely dumbfounded.
People had been taken away.
An Wujiu looked coldly at the wall.
He struggled internally but didn’t understand why he was struggling. Wasn’t the Altar a hell where people are devoured without leaving a trace? He should never have been a hero, and he didn’t need any companions. They would only become a burden.
His head hurt a lot, as if there was a power drill boring into it relentlessly, never stopping.
Shen Ti, sensing his pain simultaneously, squeezed his bleeding hand hard, his expression extremely fierce.
“Damn it,” An Wujiu cursed, turning to leave.
Seeing his appearance, Josh felt a bit scared and hesitantly called out his name, “Wujiu…”
“Don’t you understand yet?” An Wujiu sneered coldly.
“The items ordered here are not goods at all; they’re live babies! The supply source is women capable of childbirth.”
He finished speaking and directly held Shen Ti’s hand, quickly stepping out.
Wu You suddenly realized.
The so-called color choices represented different races, and the selection of high-end didn’t just refer to the quality of the goods; it was actually a choice of the quality of the mothers.
The appearances, heights, intelligence, and education levels of Yang Erci and Zhong Yirou were rated as “high-end”, and they were forcibly recruited when the supply was scarce.
What they were doing was customizing the production of babies.
On the way, Shen Ti could feel An Wujiu’s grip tightening, not letting go for a moment. He didn’t know the other’s attitude, thought about it for a moment, and said, “I’m fine, this injury is nothing.”
“Any man would say that.” An Wujiu didn’t pay any attention to his words.
Seeing this, Shen Ti had to change his approach. He frowned and deliberately sighed, “It really hurts a lot.”
An Wujiu almost rolled his eyes at him and loosened his grip. “I can see you’re fine.”
After coming out, he didn’t see any trace of the mechanical arms.
Wu You and the others caught up, “Were they taken away?”
An Wujiu didn’t stop walking, speaking quickly.
“One side is “Ordering Service”, and the other side is [Returning Service”. If they really consider women as a source for baby production, Yang Erci and Zhong Yirou couldn’t possibly appear in the Returning Service area.”
Shen Ti pressed his hand, “There must be another place here.”
“The production area,” An Wujiu sneered, “The structure here is different from the previous floor’s structure. The west and east sides are triangular rooms, and in the middle, there’s a double-sized inverted trapezoidal room.”
He had been wondering what the final room would be.
It seemed like there was only one possibility.
But when they returned to the previously arranged staircase, the door on the opposite side of the third floor was still just a wall.
[Do you want to enter the returning area?]
The robot asked.
“Open the door to the production area for me.” An Wujiu’s tone was calm, appearing somewhat controllable.
The robot paused for a while, seemingly processing An Wujiu’s request that exceeded its designated range.
[Sorry, A02 does not have access to this floor.]
An Wujiu lowered his head to quickly open his game panel.
The robot’s head turned slowly, aligning with Wu You’s face.
[C04, you need to enter the return area first…]
With a loud bang, the robot’s head was directly blown off, its mechanical skull shattered, and splinters flew, eventually falling to the ground along with the steel base.
Wu You stared back in shock, witnessing An Wujiu suddenly wielding an XM1014 shotgun on his shoulder, with the shell ejected landing at his feet.
Everyone was shocked by this unexpected display of firepower. An Wujiu, however, was being choked by the smoke from the muzzle and waved his hand while coughing a couple of times.
The room fell into a strange silence, as if the echoes of the gunshot were still lingering.
An Wujiu glanced down at the robot on the ground, casually kicked away a piece of mechanical debris at his feet, and explained to the others with a nonchalant tone.
“It’s nothing; I just got a headache from his noise. I just exchanged it casually, but it’ll do.”
He held the gun, flashing an elegant smile at the rest.
“Don’t be so nervous; I don’t eat people.”
The sliding door on the “Returning Service” side also opened. An Wujiu nodded toward Wu You, “Kid, go in and take a look.”
Originally still immersed in the shock of close-range firepower, Wu You nodded after hearing his words and walked in first.
The others followed, almost running to find the room doors in order to quickly obtain clues to open the door to the production area.
Wu You found the main door in the innermost part of the passage. As he grabbed the doorknob, he saw the prompt about the destruction of the access system. Nevertheless, he still opened the door.
The moment the door opened, he was stunned.
In the so-called “Returning Service” room, rows of shelves neatly held countless incubators.
Inside were babies.
Shen Ti did not move and stood beside An Wujiu.
He did not press on the wound, as An Wujiu had requested. It was perfunctory, but surprisingly, the blood on top had already solidified.
An Wujiu raised the gun, aiming with his one eye.
Several consecutive shots rang out, but the wall did not change. This gun wasn’t just something An Wujiu randomly found; in fact, after Shen Ti saved him from the water tank, out of curiosity, he wanted to see how many different kinds of lollipops there were in the exchange area. So, he took a good look around and eventually noticed this XM1014, a close-range firepower suppression weapon.
Amidst the smoke, Shen Ti looked at An Wujiu. “You bought this, probably not just for violent decryption, right?”
An Wujiu turned to look at him, his cold-shooting face revealing a smile.
“What are you saying? Of course, I bought it to protect you.”
He turned the long and heavy gun around, pointing the muzzle at Shen Ti.
But it was only for a brief moment; soon, An Wujiu placed the other end of the gun on Shen Ti’s shoulder.
“Could it be used for killing people?”
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