Global Collapse

Chapter 593 "Golden Goose Sheds Its Shell"

“We know that too,” Mike said with a smile, turning to look at the others and nodding his head. “There are bound to be a few mentally unstable people among so many lowlifes. Don’t take his words to heart.”

Indeed, the probability of developing mental illness is very high under this worldview.

Gu Mian nodded in deep agreement.

“Alright,” Mike glanced at Gu Mian and said to the others, “Let’s continue upwards.”

Gu Mian had already climbed several flights of stairs with the children, and the next step would take them to the rooftop.

He calculated the height while looking up at the stairs above.

Looking up through the gap in the stairwell, it was clear that it was indeed just a few more turns to reach the rooftop.

Meanwhile, 007 was still in the preparation room behind the velvet curtains.

The carnival has five programs, with five groups of people performing on stage.

They were probably divided into batches according to the order in which they boarded the bus. She saw someone lead a group of people to the other side of the velvet cloth, which was where the stage was located.

Not long after the first group of people were taken out, cheers and applause, along with cheerful music, rang out from the velvet area.

The host's voice occasionally broke through the noise, but the cheers were so loud that they almost completely drowned out the host's voice, and 007 couldn't hear what he was saying.

"So happy?" 007 stared at the velvet cloth with a strange look. Could watching the performance of the lower classes make the upper classes so happy? Performances by the lower classes should be common in this world, so why are these upper classes acting like they've been injected with stimulants today?

Or is what's happening over there not just a simple performance?
007 grew increasingly confused. Noticing that the snake-head mask hadn't been brought onto the field, she gently leaned closer to him and asked, "Do you know what's going on over there? Don't you have people in your base who participated in the carnival before?"

Although he had worn the snake-head mask for a long time in the circus, he still didn't know what was happening on stage. He shook his head: "Those who went back didn't tell me the specifics, they just said it was an impromptu performance."

"I see," 007 nodded slightly. "None of the people who went back have said what they're supposed to do on stage."

This is really suspicious. Is it some kind of shady program?
007 pondered seriously: "Those upper-class people might come up with some kind of perverted program. It seems that Gu Mian going with those kids isn't such a bad thing after all. At least she won't be at a disadvantage in a fight. But speaking of those kids..."

As she pondered, she looked at the snake-head mask: "You know those children from earlier, you know their methods, so you were afraid. But many of you were only brought here today, and this is the first time you've seen those children. Why are you also afraid when you see those children for the first time?"

In this world, the lower classes are usually very afraid of the upper classes, but the fear that this group of lower classes showed towards the strange child just now seemed excessive.

Upon hearing this, the snake-head mask suddenly turned its head towards 007, its two eyes behind the hole staring at her without moving, as if scrutinizing something.

Seeing this, 007 felt a little panicked.

Did I say something wrong?
She clenched her fists slightly, maintaining a calm demeanor.

The scene was somewhat eerie at this moment.

The strange atmosphere lasted for several seconds before the snake-head mask finally spoke.

He asked in a questioning voice, "Which area are you from?"

007 froze, completely unaware of the different regions in this world. But after a moment, she remembered a dungeon Gu Mian had previously encountered in this world, as well as the location Gu Mian had mentioned to her.

"I was in the restricted area not long ago." She clenched her fist, her tone relaxed, but she was very nervous inside.

"Ah!" The snake-head mask uttered a single syllable. "No wonder there shouldn't be many children over there in the restricted area; it's very dangerous there."

It seems like he got away with it? 007's clenched fist loosened slightly, revealing several red marks on his palm from his fingernails.

The snake-headed mask continued, "It's probably because you haven't had much contact with children before, so you don't know. The children of the upper class are the most dangerous. They are full of curiosity and have endless energy. They will come up with a thousand ways to torture us, making them more terrifying than adults."

"Adults sometimes lack energy; they're busy all day and don't have the energy to pay attention to us. But kids are different. They torment us, and they enjoy it even if it takes all day. They come up with bad ideas that adults wouldn't even think of. When you're around them, you never know what terrible thing will happen next."

"That's why we're afraid of and avoid the children of the upper class."

It turned out to be the case.

Children are indeed energetic creatures; they never feel tired when doing things they are interested in.

Adults have very few things that interest them, and they can't be as tireless as children.

This is the same as in the real world.

At this moment, the audience's loud cheers came from behind the velvet cloth, and their cheers seemed to have never stopped since the start of the performance.

Ignoring the noise, 007 began to consider Gu Mian's safety.

"Although there were five children in total, Gu Mian shouldn't be unable to defeat five kids, especially since he has a saw. Besides, the adults should all be in the stands right now, so the adults shouldn't see Gu Mian beating up the children..."

The snake-head mask beside him obscured 007's face, but some faint sounds could be heard coming from beneath it.

He asked in confusion, "What are you talking about? Hitting a child?"

“It’s nothing,” 007 looked up at him, “I haven’t really had much contact with children before, so I didn’t know how powerful they were…”

Speaking of this, she remembered the ghost of the little girl in the red dress that she had seen with Gu Mian earlier.

She remembered that the little girl was lying on the back of the person in front of her.

That little girl might be closely related to this instance. Thinking of this, she tentatively asked, "You said those children often go to the circus base. Are there any other upper-class children who frequent it besides them?"

Upon hearing this, the snake-headed mask shook his head, but as he shook his head, he suddenly seemed to remember something and stopped shaking his head.

"What did you remember?" 007 looked at the person in front of him.

But the snake-head mask didn't give 007 the answer he wanted. He stopped shaking his head, remained silent for two seconds, and then dryly uttered, "No."

(End of this chapter)