Life Game In Other World
Chapter 1327: Fire (Super Long - Asking for Monthly Votes)

Chapter 1327: Chapter 1327: Fire (Super Long Chapter Asking for Monthly Votes)

"Old Liu is sometimes like an old pedant,"

Wu Ganglie walked ahead, the cold light elongating the shadow of his body, and he slowly spoke, his calm voice echoing in the narrow staircase, "He doesn’t like to make things clear, leaving something for you to guess on your own."

He scratched his head and sighed, "Old Li can often keep up with his pace, but I can’t, and this old guy often makes fun of me."

"You guys have been friends for so many years, it’s normal for Director Liu to joke around."

He Ao followed behind Wu Ganglie, descending the stairs, speaking slowly.

"Hahaha, they say the future belongs to you young people," hearing this, Wu Ganglie chuckled, "You are much more articulate than we were when we were young."

He waved his hand, "Old Liu is a stubborn old bull, he speaks boastfully, and always has a cold face as if people owe him two million, Old Li looks quite like a leader, but that’s from years of learning, in the beginning, he was a taciturn guy, wouldn’t say a word, just fiddled aimlessly with those extraordinary materials."

He descended the stairs slowly, his footsteps making crisp sounds on the stairs,

"When we first established the Research Institute, it was just a few of us, back then we were just a small mutual aid group,

"It was very chaotic at that time, many people gained extraordinary abilities and committed crimes at will, even robbing others’ items.

"Several groups valued Old Li’s talent in researching extraordinary items and wanted to recruit him, if persuasion didn’t work, they turned to force,

"Old Li hated that behavior, but had to protect himself, so he gathered a few extraordinary friends he knew and formed a small self-defense group, including me,

"Old Li graduated from a prestigious university, he’s clever and full of ideas, he could always find ways to use dangerous extraordinary items, and he’s reliable, everyone trusted him.

"I didn’t have much skill, didn’t even get into college, was a doorman at a luxury hotel in my teens, mingled with the lower rungs for years, later worked as a thug and security guard, learned to deal with different kinds of people,

"In the real world, I roped in people from the periphery, found reliable helpers, when relics opened, I negotiated with others and organized a team, barely managed to get the team together,

"Of course, besides me, we had several capable people, not many, but barely anyone dared to mess with us."

His voice was long, with a tinge of nostalgia.

Listening to his words, He Ao asked softly, "Director Liu wasn’t in your original team?"

"Old Liu is an old pedant," hearing the question, Wu Ganglie smiled, "He’s different from the rest of us, who were originally struggling in the lower ranks, he’s a professor, with high status, high income, dignity, and his family isn’t short of money,

"If it weren’t for him accidentally being sucked into the relics and gaining extraordinary abilities, our paths might never have crossed in this lifetime."

He paused for a moment and continued, "At first, he didn’t want to join any group, later he encountered the same issue as Old Li,

"When you display your talents without enough power to protect yourself, decisions are often not yours to make.

"At that time, two large extraordinary organizations wanted to absorb him, he refused, both sides fighting over him, and the two organizations eventually got ruthless, deciding if they couldn’t have him, they’d destroy him.

"His house caught fire, when we found him, he was gravely injured and barely hanging on,"

He took a slight breath, "I actually didn’t want to keep him at the time, because keeping him meant offending two strong enemies, but Old Li insisted on keeping him, and I couldn’t argue with him."

He lifted his head, looking at the not-so-long corridor ahead and sighed, "But, it’s fortunate we kept him."

He walked down the last step, his footsteps landing on the corridor floor, "And because of that event, Old Li thought we couldn’t just protect ourselves, we had to change that chaotic situation,"

He clapped his hands and moved forward, "and thus, the current Research Institute was born."

"So Director Liu gradually integrated into the early Research Institute group," He Ao followed Wu Ganglie, glancing at the tightly closed metal doors on both sides of the corridor and said, "and gradually became the Research Institute’s number three?"

"You could say that, of course, you could put it another way," Wu Ganglie paused, sighed lightly, "Since Old Liu joined, only three of us from that first group are still alive."

"Hmm?" He Ao was slightly taken aback.

"Do you know how the two groups that initially hunted Old Liu were finally destroyed?" Wu Ganglie spoke softly, "During a relic opening, their main forces suffered heavy casualties, some died in the relics, some touched or consumed the wrong extraordinary materials and turned into mad monsters,

"We seized the opportunity to help Old Liu complete his revenge, took over their territory and remaining people, achieving our first accumulation."

He continued forward, his footsteps making crisp sounds on the ground,

"This extraordinary world is sometimes so bizarre and surreal.

"At the beginning, the opening of relics wasn’t all that regular; it was random and frequent. Those who entered weren’t always Transcendents, but ordinary people. Of course, those who had once entered a relic or gained Transcendence also had a high chance of being chosen.

"You never know if one day when you open your eyes, you’ll see a monster eating your intestines.

"It’s like a series of mad trials, countless people are chosen and sent into the trial grounds; those who succeed gain promotion or become Transcendents, and those who fail die or turn into monsters.

"When I first ascended, I thought I was going to die. The wolf and I bit each other’s necks, sucking each other’s blood. Neither of us knew how long the other could hold on or who would survive until the end.

"When I woke up, I was first grateful, then fearful,"

He paused slightly in his speech, standing in front of the metallic door at the end of the corridor, gazing at the cold metallic patterns on the door, looking at the number 9992 marked on the pattern, "because I knew from then on, I would live this kind of life endlessly."

He raised his hand, placing it on a palm print recognizer next to the metal door. Accompanying a crisp sound, a light on the recognizer lit up.

Ka ka ka—

The heavy metal door made dense noises, as if some bolt was being retracted into the door.

Once the sound completely stopped, Wu Ganglie pressed his hand against the door and gently pushed it open.

The sharp creaking sound echoed in the silent corridor.

At the same time, Wu Ganglie continued to speak,

"Li truly is a talent; the Research Institute is the first organization globally to master the systematic containment and utilization of extraordinary items.

"While others still worry about being killed by their own potent extraordinary items, we can make limited use of these extraordinary powers, reducing the research institute’s casualty rate significantly."

He fully opened the heavy metal door, propping it with his body, and gestured for He Ao to enter first.

He Ao looked up, glancing behind the door at what seemed to be a not-so-small ’large room.’ There was no lighting inside, enveloped in darkness, it was unclear what was stored there.

He Ao reached out to touch the doorframe and under Wu Ganglie’s gaze, examined the metal door frame closely.

The door frame and its connected walls were pure metal, roughly half a meter thick, with faint silver patterns shimmering within, seemingly interspersed with Mithril.

Then he looked up at Wu Ganglie, who was propping the door, and went straight ahead, entering the space.

The same creaking sound echoed from behind, likely Wu Ganglie closing the door, and simultaneously, his slightly sighing voice was heard again,

"But even if we learned to contain extraordinary items and harness extraordinary power, death still doesn’t cease. Many of our comrades died in the brutal fights within the relic or in erroneous promotion.

"As long as the base is large enough, there actually are quite a few lucky ones in this world. Those lucky enough to obtain B-level extraordinary materials, or even Incomplete Angel-tier items, exist; the spearhead of Andaville’s Spear was brought back by a moonlight lucky one.

"But they either died or fell completely into madness. Even reaching C-level doesn’t escape this fate. Fortune and misfortune have always been correlated,"

Ka—

The old door fully closed, and Wu Ganglie’s footsteps sounded behind He Ao, "Of course, we too cannot escape. As long as enough people die, there will always be a few lucky enough to barely stay sane as they reach B-level.

"And when facing madness, there isn’t much difference between B-level and F-level."

The voice from behind took a deep breath, "So I am truly grateful to that ’K’ who brought the Talent Sequences Periodic Table; it made Ascension in this world of the extraordinary much simpler, no longer needing to risk life to experiment aimlessly or gamble with fate."

"Even if," He Ao stood in the middle of the room and softly spoke, "you believe ’K’ harbors complete malice?"

The voice behind fell silent, slowly moving to He Ao’s back, whispering, "When did you find out?"

"Could you introduce the extraordinary items in this room to me?" He Ao glanced around, "It seems the information about this room isn’t in the research institute’s system."

"According to Li’s idea, today I happened to bring you to know the extraordinary items in the research institute; the information on this floor’s extraordinary items isn’t recorded in the database, because knowing their information could possibly cause contamination."

He looked up into the surrounding darkness, where one by one, glowing orbs emerged from it.

They swayed like glowing headlamps in the night, gazing at the two standing in the room.

"The ’Weaving Puppet Lock’, it was originally an extraordinary material obtained by a leader of a small organization at the edge of the Western Lands. That leader tried to use this material for promotion but failed, turning into this B-level extraordinary item,"

Wu Ganglie’s voice continued, "Its ability is very simple, it can forcibly control a person’s soul and body, reducing the opponent’s mobility, and it can work for a while even on B-level people,

"A controlled B-level person cannot leave this room unless he completely breaks free from the control of the Weaving Puppet Lock. Its drawback is that it cannot move, so one needs to actively bring people into its range of influence."

He looked at He Ao, remained silent for a moment, and said in a low voice, "He Ao, we all think you’re a good kid, but we can’t watch you be deceived by the Evil God. Quietly wait here for a while, when everything is sorted out, I’ll come for you, and then you can do whatever you want with me."

"How are you handling things?" Upon hearing these words, He Ao took a deep breath, "You want to eradicate K’s influence and traces? How will you eradicate it? Have you ever thought whether your method can truly achieve your desired effect?"

"It’s a method I got from the ruins, there will be no problem."

Wu Ganglie said slowly.

"A method from the ruins in your memory, right,"

He Ao took a deep breath, turned around, and looked at Wu Ganglie, watching his firm gaze, "You and ’Director Liu’ have been hesitant to act because of concern about the dean’s interference. Now that the dean has gone to the ruins and taken ’Hao Yi’, you can conveniently carry out your plan?

"Your fierce opposition on that day was essentially performed for me, ’Hao Yi’, and the dean to see?"

"We also didn’t want Li to take the risk, He Ao, please believe in me. I know you’re very angry now and unable to understand," Wu Ganglie said gently, "But Li has been too influenced by the Evil God, and you have gained too much ’Favor’, it’s impossible to peel it away. Both Liu and I will find a way. Once everything is settled, I believe both you and Li will understand me."

He Ao opened his mouth slightly, staring dazedly at Wu Ganglie with resolute eyes before him.

Finally, he lowered his gaze and chuckled bitterly, "I can understand you."

"He Ao, I know you are definitely with us," Wu Ganglie raised his hand, "but I still ask you to stay here—"

Before he finished speaking, he felt a tremendous force seize his shoulder.

He turned back, noticing that the young man who had been standing in front of him was now somehow behind him.

He tried to struggle but found the force behind him to be exceptionally strong. He increased his force while shouting out,

"He Ao, don’t be deceived by the Evil God. He gives you benefits only to make His advent in this world. He is the source of this series of disasters we are experiencing. Don’t believe He is a savior just because He puts on the guise of one."

He Ao listened quietly to his words, remaining silent.

And in that instant, Wu Ganglie broke free from He Ao’s control and immediately turned to raise his hand, trying to control He Ao.

His movements were swift, aiming at He Ao’s vulnerable joints.

But before he could fully extend his hand, it was firmly grasped by another hand.

He Ao held Wu Ganglie’s hand, gazing at Wu Ganglie, fell into a brief silence, then slowly said, "Director Liu is already out of control. I found a way to stabilize his condition, and the last ’message’ he left me was ’be careful’,"

Hearing him mention Liu Zhengyun being ’out of control’ stunned Wu Ganglie, and for a moment, he forgot to exert force on his hand.

"There are only two targets I need to be careful of; one is a powerful external enemy, and the other is a ’companion’ who might affect me."

He paused, looking at Wu Ganglie in front of him, and hoarsely added, "It is also possible to be a companion influenced by a strong external enemy."

"So, in your memory," He Ao took a deep breath and looked at Wu Ganglie, "Am I just a lackey nurtured under the Evil God’s Favor?"

"I believe you’ve just been influenced, you’re not a lackey, you’re our companion,"

Wu Ganglie gazed at He Ao, looking into He Ao’s eyes, chuckled bitterly, "You might think that I’m the one who’s been influenced, but please believe me, I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll help you break free from the influence. If anything happens to Liu, I can still save you."

Listening to his words, He Ao’s heaving chest calmed down slightly.

Then before Wu Ganglie could utter another word, he raised his hand and gently pushed Wu Ganglie toward the center of the room.

The eight spheres in the darkness suddenly lit up with brilliance, and an invisible force wrapped around Wu Ganglie’s torso and limbs like chains.

"What is this?" Wu Ganglie widened his eyes, looking at the light binding his body. He tried to break free, but found his body and soul tightly controlled, "How did you control the ’Weaving Puppet Lock’? When you touched the door just now? How did you do it?"

"Now, I need you to wait here for me for a moment."

He Ao took a shallow breath, turned around, and walked toward the door.

"He Ao, don’t be stubborn," came Wu Ganglie’s shout from behind, "You don’t understand the Divine Being named ’K’ at all! Let me go, I can save you!"

He Ao’s steps did not stop amid his shouts.

He placed his hand on the metal door, manipulated the divine sense that had long been imprinted on the door frame to turn the lock cylinder, and unlocked the door.

These divine senses had also entered the room before him and engraved a control array on the extraordinary items in the room.

Accompanied by the creaking sound, he forcibly pulled open the heavy metal door from the inside.

The voice from behind continued to shout relentlessly.

A sliver of cold light shone on the youth’s cheek.

Soon, the entire metal door was completely open, and the dim light outlined the youth’s body into a dark silhouette.

He Ao lifted his foot, stepping toward the outside of the door.

"He Ao!?" Wu Ganglie stopped struggling, shouting loudly, "What about Liu...?"

"His condition has stabilized for now,"

He Ao paused, gazing ahead, his hand clenched tightly, with a crisp crack from the collision of his knuckles, "It’s okay, I can solve it. Your problems can all be solved. Wait for me to come back."

Wu Ganglie seemed about to say something further, but the creaking sound already resonated in the space, overshadowing all light and shadow.

The young man stepped into the light.

······

"Teacher?"

Ye Ying, standing by the hallway edge, looked up at the young man quickly walking out of the dim shadows, momentarily dazed. She glanced at He Ao’s side, "Did you come back alone?"

"Yes, Dean Wu will wait for me downstairs for a moment."

He Ao looked at the girl in front of him and nodded lightly.

"Are we coming back afterward?"

She asked softly.

"We will," He Ao looked back at the shadow behind him, "We will come back."

Ye Ying watched He Ao’s face, realizing something seemed off about the teacher’s emotions, "Teacher, did someone upset you?"

"Hmm," He Ao took a shallow breath, lowering his voice, "A bastard who likes to toy with fate."

He lowered his head, looking at the cautious Ye Ying before him, "I need your help with something."

"Ah?"

Ye Ying widened her eyes, not knowing what value she could offer to help this incredibly powerful teacher.

"Let’s leave here first and talk about it later," He Ao glanced at the secluded hallway and said softly.

"Where are we going next?" Ye Ying looked up at He Ao, "Are we flying too?"

"By train."

He Ao took a deep breath.

Woo—

The whistle of an old-fashioned train sounded in the void behind him.