Life Game In Other World
Chapter 734: I Ask, You Answer (Extra long - , seeking monthly pass.)

Chapter 734: Chapter 734: I Ask, You Answer (Extra long Chapter, seeking monthly pass.)

"The vines seem to be getting sparser over this side."

Feiya was shining her flashlight along the inner side of the corridor.

There were still many vines inside the corridor, covering the walls and the floor, but compared to the number of vines inside the elevator area, there were indeed fewer.

"These vines seem to all extend from one ’Main Vine.’"

Feiya raised her flashlight, following one particularly distinct vine and ultimately found an extra thick vine clinging to the top of the corridor.

One could vaguely make out several branches extending from this Main Vine, then spreading into other areas of the corridor.

He Ao also looked toward that vine, then he turned on his flashlight and shone it backward, revealing the unmistakable trace of the Main Vine in the pitch-dark corridor.

It didn’t extend from the elevator area, but came directly from the corridor on the other side, namely, the one leading to the second floor’s main space, without any detour.

"This Main Vine, perhaps, is the oldest vine in this vicinity,"

he said, pondering as he observed the vine.

From the first floor, where he had come, the vines on the ground grew haphazardly, simply stretching toward areas without vines; only this Main Vine showed a clear purpose in its growth.

Feiya, too, was looking thoughtfully at the vine.

The two of them continued to move forward. By now, they had traversed the majority of the corridor, and their flashlights lit up a half-open sluice gate up ahead.

"Wait a second."

Just then, He Ao suddenly spoke up and halted.

"What’s wrong?"

Feiya paused, taken aback.

In that instant, He Ao swiftly raised his bone sword, thrusting it towards something behind Feiya.

Bang—

With a crisp sound, the blade blocked venomous fangs that had appeared out of thin air.

Feiya immediately turned around and shone her flashlight behind her, revealing the silhouette of a huge green python within the enveloping darkness.

Seeing its first strike fail, the python did not linger, instead retreating with its mouth open, blending back into the darkness.

"Disappeared?"

Feiya was taken aback.

"Some kind of invisibility ability,"

He Ao placed his flashlight on his shoulder, holding the sword with both hands, silently watching the night.

The python was not particularly strong itself, just barely exceeding the C-level limit, but its ability to blend into the darkness and ’become invisible’ reminded He Ao of the Nightwalkers.

"Can you influence its actions?"

Without turning, He Ao whispered to Feiya.

"No," Feiya shook her head, "I ’can’t see’ it, and it might be a purely biological creature without any machinery inside."

That meant, she needed the creature to have non-purely biological machinery inside and also be visible to influence it.

In battle, this ability did not seem to be very handy.

"Be careful with the vines on the floor."

He Ao gave Feiya a look, and they began retreating slowly.

The large python, with its considerable size, had to have formed some kind of ’symbiotic’ relationship with the vines to move amongst them without being attacked by the vines.

Meaning the vines were not safe, and the snake might be hiding under one of their leaves.

This was not only a reminder for Feiya to be careful not to step on the vines but also to be wary of threats that the vines could pose.

Feiya quickly understood He Ao’s warning and nodded slightly.

They both retreated slowly, and all seemed to fall back into silence.

After its unsuccessful strike, the python had submerged once more into the darkness, apparently seeking another opportunity to attack.

In this manner, the two of them took a couple more steps backward, and throughout, He Ao’s attention was wholly on Feiya.

The python could clearly distinguish their relative strength levels and therefore targeted Feiya, appearing weaker and easier to overcome, first.

At that moment, the two of them were actually only a dozen steps away from the gate.

"There seem to be no vines behind the gate,"

Feiya said in a low voice as she turned to shine her flashlight on the gate.

If the giant python truly lived in symbiosis with the vines, leaving the vines’ growing area should mean they would be leaving its territory.

Once they passed the gate, they should be safe.

"Turn around and go ahead first,"

He Ao whispered, gesturing for Feiya to turn around and go through the gate first.

Feiya glanced at He Ao, nodded gently, and said, "Okay."

He Ao shifted slightly to the side, his full attention seemingly on Feiya.

It was in this instant that an emerald phantom appeared behind him and lunged violently at his right shoulder.

Feiya saw the phantom and opened her mouth to warn He Ao, but before the sound could escape her throat, a white sword light cut through the darkness under the illumination of the flashlight.

The massive snake’s head was severed in that split second, its yellow vertical pupils wide with disbelief, a humanlike expression of incredulity as it was flung into the darkness.

By then, He Ao had already sheathed his sword, stepped back half a step, and dodged the splattered blood.

Blinking her eyes, Feiya was aware of He Ao’s intelligence and strength, yet it seemed that with every passing moment, He Ao managed to surpass her expectations anew. She stared blankly at the emerald body of the python on the ground. "You predicted its actions? How did you do it?"

"This snake lives in this corridor. It’s unlikely that it would only move in a small area near the gate. Plus, we weren’t attacked in the first half of the corridor, so it’s highly likely that this whole corridor is its territory. It’s been following us all along,"

He Ao glanced at the corpse on the ground and casually said, "It must have been lurking in the darkness, waiting for our most relaxed moment to strike.

"From this perspective, the snake possesses a bit of intelligence. Since it’s intelligent, setting a trap and showing a flaw is enough to wait for it to take the bait."

That’s why He Ao had pretended to focus all his attention on Feiya, giving the green python the impression that he had let his guard down.

Then, as Feiya turned around—at what should have been the moment He Ao was ’most focused’ on her—the snake found its opening and launched its attack.

It thought it had predicted He Ao’s actions, but in reality, everything was a trap set by He Ao, even the ’vulnerable’ right shoulder he had deliberately exposed was part of the ruse.

It thought it was striking covertly, but all its actions were on the track that He Ao had carefully laid out.

However, this strategy was only particularly effective against exotic beasts with a small measure of intelligence. If the snake had been one of those brainless creatures that attacked purely on instinct, it would have instead required considerable effort to break through its invisibility ability.

"Oh!"

Feiya nodded as if she understood but didn’t quite grasp the concept.

At the same time, she glanced at the snake’s head and saw the detached body, hidden in the darkness, at least ten-odd meters long.

For ordinary C-levels, and even for those in the first echelon of powerful C-levels, such a monster would be a hellish BOSS.

Invisible and smart, immensely strong, and possibly even venomous.

Yet such a BOSS hadn’t lasted even a minute before it was struck down.

She realized their teamwork was truly commendable.

We are really strong.

He Ao wasn’t paying attention to Feiya’s random thoughts; his focus, like Feiya’s, was on the severed heads and body of the snake on the ground.

Yet what he was focusing on wasn’t the head or body of the snake but the vines that had been splashed with blood.

The blood that had stained the vines slowly faded and lightened at a speed visible to the naked eye, merging into the vines’ pulsating emerald green corpus.

Following that, He Ao watched as the vines trembled. Some arched slightly, curling around the snake’s body and head on the ground.

There was a hissing sound as if sharp spikes penetrated the flesh. The previously plump snake flesh shriveled at a visible and rapid rate, then was wrapped by writhing vines.

In a brief period, the remains of the C-level exotic beast had been drained dry, leaving only a thin skin wrapped around the elongated snake bones.

Soon, even these bones and skin were torn and entwined by the coiling vines, and amid grating sounds that set one’s teeth on edge, the sturdy bones ground into fine white powder that merged into the green vines.

After feasting, the vines seemed even more lush and vibrant.

As the last of the bone and skin were devoured, all the vines slowly stretched out once more. Besides the splashes of blood that had not yet dried on the ground, the dark corridor bore no trace of the giant python, as if it had never existed.

He Ao had sensed that the vines were dangerous from the outset, but only now did he witness their true ’power.’

The hide and bones of a C-level exotic beast, impervious to assault rifles and unmarked by sharp bullets.

Yet they were easily pierced and ground down like thin paper, leaving nothing behind.

He Ao turned back and glanced at Feiya.

This girl had also just witnessed the movement of the vines, and it seemed that all of her whimsical thoughts had vanished, her eyes behind her glasses looking somewhat dazed.

She seemed to have finally understood deeply why He Ao had emphasized to her so many times, "Be careful where you step," "Watch out for the vines."

He Ao was about to tidy up and continue forward when, at that moment, a white glow appeared before the two of them.

"What is this?"

Feiya stared at the white light, asking subconsciously.

"It should be a ’door’."

He Ao mused.

The glow quickly formed into a white doorframe, revealing the chaotic streets beneath the night sky.

Shadows of tumultuous pedestrians appeared ’inside the door’.

——

Newland City-State·Core Island

"Hahaha! Open the door! Why won’t you open the door!! Come out and see the outside world!"

A ragged figure holding a buzzing chainsaw that was rapidly spinning split open an old wooden door on the side of the street; with a forceful movement, he yanked open the door and then, without hesitation, charged towards the next house’s door with his chainsaw.

Boom—Boom—

The roaring sounds of the chainsaw on the street mixed with the incessant screams of people inside the houses.

"Where the hell did these bastards come from?"

In the center of the street, Kodo, with a black longsword in hand, cleaved a beast resembling a mix between a lizard and a spider in two, then turned his head towards the man who was using a chainsaw to break through doors.

At that moment, the chainsaw man’s tool seemed to have run out of power, stuck in a resident’s door, and he immediately drew a short-handled axe from his waist and struck forcefully along the slit made by the chainsaw.

With wood chips flying, he split a grin, looking through the gap at a little girl who was watching him in horror, "Hey kid, come out and play~!"

"Play with your own head!"

An abrupt kick came flying from the side, sending the man flying.

"You like to play so much, go play in jail, a 200-pound strong man can play with you all he wants."

Kodo dusted his trousers and gestured for the people beside him to come and secure the man.

He turned his head to look at other parts of the street.

At the moment, some people were still wandering the streets, with eerie smiles on their faces, knocking on doors one by one, persuading those inside to come out.

"What in the world is going on with these guys?"

Kodo sighed.

"It seems these people are the first batch that ’went out’,"

a subordinate whispered beside him, "For some reason, they gradually turned into this... Deputy Minister, we should..."

"Control them first."

Kodo, holding his greatsword, walked towards those people.

...Half an hour later...

Whooshing water jetted out from the tap, having spent almost half an hour dealing with them, Kodo finally managed to clear the streets of those people.

But the bad news was that the gendarmerie’s barracks no longer had enough space to detain them.

At the moment, he stood in front of a washbasin in a public restroom, with his black greatsword leaning against the wall.

The somewhat dim light shone on the toilet mirror, reflecting the somewhat haggard face of the person in front of it.

Kodo stretched his hands under the tap, scooped up a handful of water, splashed it on his face, and raised his head to look at himself in the mirror.

The situation was becoming more and more complicated, and he even felt now that even if He Ao and Feiya, those two C-levels, were still in Newland City-State, they would be powerless to do anything about the current events.

The entire city along with the sea surrounding it seemed to be sliding towards a chaotic and mad abyss.

At that moment, Kodo suddenly felt that the ’him’ in the mirror seemed to have some kind of ’change,’ no longer appearing ’harmonious.’

The ’him’ in the mirror also seemed to be staring at the ’him’ outside, but it wasn’t like looking in a mirror; it was as if ’another person’ was sitting inside the mirror, watching him.

Just as Kodo had not yet realized what had happened, the ’him’ in the mirror slowly curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.

Kodo immediately grabbed the black knife by the wall and took two steps back unconsciously, increasing the distance between himself and the mirror.

Yet, the reflection still stood in front of the washstand, hands propped upon it, without any sudden moves. He lifted his head, looking out of the mirror at Kodo, his voice like the whisper of a demon,

"Are you afraid? Are you resentful?"

—

Newland City-State·Wenlan Island

A red-haired man wandered aimlessly through the streets, looking somewhat helpless as he observed the chaotic and noisy crowd.

He didn’t know how he had spent the last two days.

He had taken that ’Lunke’ to see the ’boss,’ and then the boss died.

He reported about ’Lunke’ to the boss’s boss, and within a day, the boss’s boss was also dead.

The Church of Chaos, snap, just like that, quickly, was no more.

The person who used to coordinate with him was dead; those who were still alive were either caught or had absconded with money, and suddenly, he was without an organization.

Just when he thought he was going to be caught, suddenly, the sky darkened and the entire city seemed to be enveloped in a kind of mist.

People were everywhere on the streets, wandering like ghosts with masks, persuading everyone at home to open their doors and come out.

He didn’t know what had happened, he only felt fear.

After the destruction of the Church of Chaos, the twisted chaos that the church had longed for seemed to have finally descended on the city.

But he didn’t feel any joy.

He wasn’t truly loyal to the doctrine of chaos; he was just scrounging for a living.

He had come out of his house on his own, encountering a monster at the door. Perhaps because he had opened the door early, the beast was weak and he killed it with a stick.

He didn’t know what he should do, but blending into the chaotic crowd seemed like a good choice.

Sometime later, strange ’thoughts’ began to echo in his mind, urging him to open other people’s doors, to unlock those invisible passages.

He didn’t know where these thoughts originated from, nor why he had them. His mind felt as if it was recovering from a hangover, caught between reality and illusion.

He wandered through the streets, not knowing when he would start following the ’thoughts’ in his mind, becoming one of those deceivers wandering the streets, tricking people into opening their doors.

Some doors on the street had already been ’tricked’ open, but inside these opened doors, the inside of the house was not visible; instead, they had opened passages to an unknown, dangerous world.

Each door here seemed to lead to a different area, even if the adjacent doors connected to entirely different places.

His gaze drifted past door after door, and he quickened his pace towards an alleyway on the side.

He knew well that dangers lurked behind those doors, or at least until his thoughts were completely under control, his primary priority was survival.

In his hasty run, his gaze glanced over door after door.

Amongst them, he caught sight of two blurry figures, still unformed, standing in the darkness of a forming doorway.

But quickly, he ran past this doorway and into the lanes of the street.

The images of those two figures constantly flashed through his mind.

Who were they? Why were they on the other side of the door?

Could people survive in that dangerous world?

Or were those just two shadows, hallucinations emerging from his chaotic mind?

How could there be people in such a dangerous place?

Leaning against the wall of the alley, he breathed heavily.

Amidst these crazy thoughts, he felt his thoughts becoming increasingly chaotic.

It was at this moment that a figure approached him from behind and gently patted his shoulder.

A jolt as if infiltrating his soul made him sober up considerably in an instant.

He turned his shaking head to look at the hand on his shoulder. Through the haziness, he remembered to whom the garment on the arm should belong. His voice hoarse and trembling, he began, "Lunke..."

But the figure behind him did not give him a chance to beg for mercy, instead, it quickly and succinctly cut off his speech,

"I ask, you answer."