Players, Please Board the Train

The players split off in different directions. Xu Huo, Guan Sheng, and Qian Xuwen followed behind a few black-cloaked players. After passing through a narrow passage, a small garden appeared before them. Surprisingly, flowers were in full bloom even in this season, and a rich fragrance filled the garden. A masked person in a gray robe walked over and announced that the prayer would officially begin.

A pair of double-snake bronze statues stood in the center of the garden. A crowd gathered around, and the gray-robed person raised both hands to salute the statues before beginning a halting recitation of prayers. Midway through, they would pause to remind everyone how to pray or to speak their requests to the statues, as if what stood there wasn’t a cheap bronze sculpture but an all-powerful wish-granting machine.

This rather meaningless activity didn’t last long. When it ended, the gray-robed person announced that free trading could begin, saying players could either trade in the garden or leave to find other players, then vanished into the flowers.

There were quite a few people here too. The players weren’t in a hurry to leave. The black-cloaked people brought food and drinks, and everyone started chatting in this friendly atmosphere, exchanging small items or holding impromptu auctions for rare or strange things. The process was fairly pleasant.

Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen stood behind Xu Huo. The two of them checked the food and drinks but found no issues. During this time, people also came to sell them items, but Xu Huo refused them all. He stood silently in a corner, as if waiting for something.

Halfway through the trading, a player asked the black-cloaked people if the Double Snake organization would sell potions and items to outsiders.

”The Double Snake organization only accepts barter,” a black-cloaked person said. ”If anyone wants to trade items, they can go to Mr. Ding’s lounge. But only one person can trade at a time, and it’s limited to invitation players. Accompanying players cannot go.”

This made some players reluctant, but a few still agreed. The black-cloaked person led that player out of the garden, and about ten minutes later, the person returned, called their two companions, and hurriedly left.

”Did they get something good and are afraid of getting mugged?” the other players said, their curiosity piqued. Soon, a second and third person followed. The difference was that some returned to the garden, while others didn’t. When the black-cloaked people informed them that these players had already left through a different door, the players who had come along without invitations all stormed off in anger.

”Are we going?” Qian Xuwen asked Xu Huo.Xu Huo left the other two behind and stepped forward alone. Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen hurried to follow but were stopped by the black-cloaked people. Guan Sheng quickly called out to Xu Huo, but Xu Huo just nodded at them and walked straight ahead.

Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen waited outside for over ten minutes before a black-cloaked person came out to tell them that Xu Huo had left on his own, so they should do as they pleased.

As soon as they heard this, the two knew something was wrong. They pushed past the black-cloaked people and ran out of the garden. There were several rooms behind the garden. They kicked open the doors one by one, searching, but to their surprise, every single room was empty. Looking out through the windows, they couldn’t see a single person in the vast resort either.

By the time they returned to the garden, the players who had been free trading were also leaving one after another. The black-cloaked people paid them no attention either, instead directing the other players on how to leave, making it clear that no one would escort them out.

Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen watched the players coming and going, not knowing what to do. They were responsible for cooperating with Xu Huo but didn’t know whether Xu Huo had genuinely left on his own or if there was another reason. They wanted to find him but were afraid of shouting and ruining things in public. They thought about looking for Sima Xiao Er and Zhou Ning, but everyone in front of them was wearing black cloaks and masks, making it impossible to tell who was who, let alone if they were in the garden.

Being on someone else’s turf, they didn’t dare cause trouble, so they hurriedly left the garden to check other prayer halls.

The people in the garden had mostly dispersed. A black-cloaked person who had come from outside walked up to their companion and said, ”They went to other prayer halls. Will that cause trouble? Should we finish them off while we have the chance...”

”They’re from the Special Defense Department,” the gray-robed person suddenly appeared in the garden. ”There’s no benefit in falling out with the Special Defense Department.”

”Mr. Ding,” the black-cloaked person said respectfully, walking behind them.

”Lure them to the living room,” Mr. Ding continued. ”Don’t let them out until things are over.”

The black-cloaked person nodded and left the garden.

Meanwhile, just as Guan Sheng and Qian Xuwen left the garden, they ran into another batch of praying players. They were grabbed the moment they approached. A white-masked player tried to sell them potions.

”Which number prayer hall is this?” Guan Sheng quickly asked.

”Number three,” the player said.

Qian Xuwen looked around and said, ”There are a lot more people now.”

”Players from other numbers have been coming over to trade too,” the white-masked player said. ”This whole floor is a trading area. Everyone’s mixed together.”

Now that the wristbands could no longer show numbers, with so many people, it was impossible to tell who was originally from number three. This made the two men, who had been hoping to find Yan Jiayu, extremely anxious. They couldn’t leave, and while being jostled around, Guan Sheng accidentally knocked off another player’s mask. He was immediately grabbed and a fight broke out.

People from the ”number two” prayer hall had gone out for private trading with the gray-robed person, and naturally, others from different halls had done the same. Some left, some wandered around. The players on this floor quickly became as chaotic as a schoolyard after morning exercises.

In this kind of situation, no one would notice if twenty or thirty people went missing. Amidst the noise, the Double Snake organization members who had been mixed in with the crowd gradually retreated, disappearing into the dim, shadowy corners.

At the same time, two floors down, the door to the activity room at the end of the leisure area was wide open. Black-cloaked people and masked players were busy coming and going, dragging corpses out of the room and pushing them through a nearby hidden door panel.

These corpses were also wearing black cloaks, but their masks had been removed. Most had their heads twisted and slumped to one side, while a few were covered in blood, with wounds from sharp weapons on their necks or chests.

The movable door panel flipped open. A masked player tossed a corpse down, and two seconds later, the sound of a heavy object hitting the bottom echoed up. A nearby black-cloaked person looked at the blood on the floor and said impatiently, ”How many times have I told you? Don’t make such a mess. How are we supposed to clean up all this blood?”

The masked player dragging the corpses hurriedly apologized, ”Dark Envoy, these people were on guard. The anesthetic didn’t fully take effect, so we had to kill them with blades. Otherwise, if they had gotten out and ruined the Double Snake’s good work, that would’ve been worse. Don’t worry, we’ll clean it all up in a bit!”

The black-cloaked person snorted coldly. ”Nearly messing up over a dozen people. If those above find out, you won’t get any benefits this time!”

The dozen or so masked players bowed their heads and took the scolding. Only when the black-cloaked person was satisfied did they throw the last corpse into the movable door, clean up the traces on the floor, and leave through another passage.

The door to a small venue not far from the activity room opened silently. A masked player peeked out from behind the door, looked around to make sure no one was there, then slowly stepped out. They pushed open the movable door panel and jumped down the hidden passage.