People in Yu-Gi-Oh! The hyper-converged audience is also integrated

Chapter 443 Arrival at the Dream Collapse Realm
Through the crack in the door, Qi Mengsi turned her head slightly and met Li Guanqi's gaze from outside.

Li Guanqi stood frozen at the doorway, unsure whether to go in or back out.

He was caught peeping, and by four women no less.

In all his years of life, this was the first time he felt that he didn't have enough skin to back it up.

In the living room, Victoria and Binaire, as if unaware of anything amiss, continued to eat heartily with their heads down, completely unsuspecting in this apartment.

Only Qi Mengsi gracefully put down her chopsticks, gently wiped her mouth with a napkin, and looked at him with a knowing smile in her beautiful eyes.

"It's windy outside, why don't you come in?"

Binaire and the others stopped eating and turned to look at the door. When they saw the person outside, the red-haired woman's temper flared up instantly, and with the help of chili oil, her face turned excessively red.

"Uh." Li Guanqi gave an awkward laugh, his mind racing.

He took a deep breath, and all he could smell was the domineering, alluring aroma of the spicy hot pot.

Fifteen days of decadent music tormented him to the point of shattering his Dao heart, and the culprit was right before his eyes.

How can I face my shattered Dao heart if I don't eat a meal?

With that thought in mind, Li Guanqi steeled himself and actually walked in without hesitation, even closing the door behind him.

"Then I won't be polite."

"Come, come." Seeing this, Binael beamed and moved a chair over from the side, along with a clean set of bowls and chopsticks, and enthusiastically handed them to him: "Aqi! Try this!"

As she spoke, she kept putting food on his plate.

After spending half a month together, she changed her way of addressing Li Guanqi from the slightly teasing "fiancé brother" to the affectionate "Aqi".

Wow, that works!

Li Guanqi sat down calmly, took a bite of the food that Bi Naier had picked up, and expressed his heartfelt appreciation.

There were four women and one man at the table, with a pot of red oil bubbling around, but only he and Binaire were showing off their fancy.

The red-haired woman stared at Li Guanqi, put down her chopsticks, and her resentment was about to overflow. When Victoria saw this, she didn't dare to pick up her chopsticks either, for fear of upsetting the red-haired woman.

Qi Mengsi broke the awkward silence, picked up her chopsticks and dipped them into the pot, a playful smile on her lips: "You really have the nerve to come in and sit at the same table with the four of us women."

"When it comes to hot pot, there is no distinction between men and women."

Li Guanqi calmly picked up a slice of fatty beef and dipped it in the scalding red oil, his movements fluid and effortless, showing no sign of unease.

His gaze swept across the food section, and he even spotted a plate of onions sliced ​​as thin as cicada wings.

Strange.

Besides him, who else likes to eat onions?
"Ah Qi is right!" Bi Nai'er immediately chimed in, dumping a whole plate of pig brains into the pot with a "plop," exclaiming with heroic spirit, "If we're going to die, let's die with a full stomach!"

Qi Mengsi clicked her tongue and nudged her with her elbow: "Speak more auspiciously."

“Hehehe—” Binair let out a silly laugh, managing to get away with it.

The silly laughter was infectious; the red-haired woman's tense face relaxed, and she followed with a tinkling laugh: "Hehehe, what silly humans."

One laugh leads to another, and Victoria and Qimengsi join in the laughter.

Seeing them smile, Li Guanqi smiled faintly as well, for some reason.

A hot pot meal before a battle can help to resolve past grievances with a smile.

This time, he was assigned to the administrative team of the Spirit Control Division. He did not sign up for the secret operations and did not need to compete for the top spot. He just needed to observe from the sidelines and do some logistical support.

The administrative team is like the shield of the Prisoner's Office, and its normal duties include patrolling, riot control, and medical work.

The Purgers, or the Dark Guard, must be at the forefront, charging ahead until they reach their destination. That destination is not only the final location of the operation, but also the location of the Calamity Blood Crystal and the Doctor's position.

"If I'm going to die, I'll die with a full stomach..."

Li Guanqi put the last piece of pig brain into his mouth, savoring it carefully, muttering Binair's words indistinctly.

This is the truth.

But where are my onions?! I added so many, who's going to take them all?!
After waving his chopsticks for a while, Li Guanqi finally swept the last piece of thinly sliced ​​onion into his bowl, and with a sip of iced drink, he felt completely comfortable from the inside out.

In this hearty hot pot meal, all barriers evaporated with the sweat and heat.

Seeing that everyone had stopped eating, clutched their stomachs, and closed their eyes to enjoy themselves, Xi'er took the initiative to start cleaning up the mess on the table, stacking the empty plates one by one.

The atmosphere was just right when a series of urgent beeps sounded at an inopportune moment.

A crisp electronic sound emanated from the wrists of everyone present, one after another, like a death knell, shattering the brief tranquility.

Everyone knew it was time to depart.

Qi Mengsi leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and her long eyelashes cast a shadow under the light, obscuring her expression.

"I'm not coming this time, so you all need to take it easy."

No one answered.

Bina tilted her head back and drank the last sip of her drink. Seele paused in her tidying up. Victoria stared silently at the table. The red-haired woman didn't understand birth, aging, sickness, and death. She just rubbed her stomach. Li Guanqi didn't react.

Silence fell over the apartment again, broken only by the continuous beeping of the supercomputing ring.

a long time.

"Snapped!"

Binaire slammed the cup down on the table, stood up abruptly, and straightened her back.

She quickly manipulated the supercomputing ring on her wrist, and a black data stream surged out of the ring, rapidly forming a wide black robe on her body.

She pulled her hat up, covering her pale, bloodless face, leaving only a shadow.

"gone!"

Two words: decisive and efficient.

Li Guanqi, Victoria, and the red-haired woman also got up and silently followed her toward the door.

Four people, standing a dozen meters apart, made their footsteps particularly clear in the quiet apartment.

Just as Binaire's hand was about to touch the doorknob, Li Guanqi paused, his gaze falling on the red-haired woman who hadn't given him a friendly look from beginning to end.

He couldn't help himself and asked, "What's your name?"

The woman turned her head to the side, her tone anything but friendly: "Alice."

Upon hearing this, Li Guanqi laughed instead.

"Okay, easy to remember."

He said no more, followed Binaire, reached out and turned the lock, and pushed the apartment door open.

Outside the door, the sky was clear and the clouds were heavy. Bina pulled her hat down to shield herself from the sunlight.

Not far away, Le Tong and her group were sitting in a hovercar. When they saw them come out, they immediately stood up straight and waved vigorously in their direction.

"Guanqi, over here—!"

Li Guanqi said a brief goodbye to Binaier and the other two, and got into Shen Wubu's car.

There were three people in the car, but only one of them was 'human'.

Le Tong sat in the driver's seat, while in the passenger seat was Qi Qi, who was fast asleep. This one was alright; she looked peaceful and cute when she was asleep.

"How can you sleep like this in broad daylight?"

Li Guanqi went around to the back seat, and just as he was about to open the car door, he saw that useless photographer lying sprawled out in the back seat.

"Guanqi, can you drive for a bit?" Le Tong waved to him weakly, slumped limply on the steering wheel, her eyelids drooping. "I need to sleep. I just finished a duel with Qiqi all night until dawn."

A duel until dawn? It's rare to see Qiqi so energetic.

"alright."

Li Guanqi didn't ask any questions, readily agreed, and got into the driver's seat.

The interior of the hovercar was quite spacious, but it felt a bit cramped with the two sleeping gods occupying it. He skillfully connected to the system, set up the semi-autonomous driving mode, and was just about to start it when he suddenly remembered something.

Where is Tang Xin?

"Oh, she's at her rented apartment." Le Tong's voice was thick with nasal congestion and unclear. "I've sent you the location for navigation. Go pick her up first."

After saying that, she tilted her head to the side and became completely still, her breathing quickly becoming steady.

Li Guanqi looked at the newly displayed coordinates on the navigation screen and repeated them in a low voice.

"Rental room..."

He suddenly felt a little ashamed. Come to think of it, he didn't seem to care much about Tang Xin's life.

Because they weren't in the same task force and didn't interact much, he had no idea that she had a rented apartment outside.

The dormitories of the Bureau of Spirit Control are excellent, comparable to a five-star hotel.

People who choose to rent a place outside do so either for personal privacy, or... for some other reason.

The hovercar silently glided into traffic, and ten minutes later, the navigation system indicated that it had arrived at its destination.

The car slowly pulled over to the side of the road. Li Guanqi looked up and surveyed the scene before him, his brows furrowing.

This is the famous "ant nest" area of ​​Hengetsu-taki.

The buildings were so densely packed they resembled pigeon coops, the walls were mottled, and exposed pipes and wires were tangled like spider webs. The air was filled with a complex smell of dampness mixed with cheap food.

The navigation was pointing to one of the dilapidated tenement buildings, with "For Rent" signs posted downstairs.

Single room, 1500 gold points per month, one month's rent as deposit.

One thousand and five?

He remembered clearly that the base salary for a Spirit Control Division agent was 30,000 gold points, not including mission points bonuses and various subsidies.

Even if Tang Xin is very frugal, she wouldn't rent a place like this, would she?
The rent was less than a fraction of her basic salary.

Li Guanqi leaned back in his chair, his fingertips tapping lightly on the steering wheel.

An indescribable emotion spread through my heart.

In order not to interfere with Tang Xin's privacy, he did not go into the [Ant Nest], but only sent her a message to remind her.

Time ticked by, and five minutes had passed on the navigation screen, but Tang Xin still hadn't replied.

The car was eerily quiet, with only the steady breathing of two sleepyheads.

Li Guanqi's heart sank, and he stopped tapping.

Without further hesitation, he turned around, leaned over to the back seat, and patted Le Tong's shoulder forcefully.

"Wake up, Tang Xin might be in trouble."

Le Tong mumbled a "hmm" in her sleep, without even lifting her eyelids.

Li Guanqi emphasized, "She didn't reply to the message."

"...What?!" Le Tong suddenly opened her eyes, all sleepiness gone.

She sat up straight and slapped Mickey across the face with her backhand, making a crisp "smack" sound.

"Wake up! Something's happened!"

Mickey yelled and woke up from his sleep. Before he could figure out what was going on, he saw Letong push open the car door and rush out. Li Guanqi followed closely behind, and the two of them rushed into the dilapidated tenement building.

The hallway was dimly lit. The two of them ran quickly up to the second floor, to room 205.

The door was ajar, leaving a crack the width of a finger, and the two stepped quietly into the room.

The small single room was a mess.

The bedside table was overturned, the lamp on it was broken into pieces, cosmetics were scattered everywhere, a chair was shattered, and cotton wool and wood chips were flying everywhere.

Li Guanqi and Le Tong exchanged a glance, their hearts pounding in their throats, and ventured deeper into the room.

Before they could even push open the door, a suppressed, frantic scream came from inside, piercing their eardrums.

"not good!"

Li Guanqi's expression changed, and without any further hesitation, he quickly pushed open the door.

"boom!"

The door was violently kicked open, and the sight inside made both of them gasp.

A green-haired girl in pajamas was rolling around and screaming wildly on the bed, clutching her head and banging her head against the wall repeatedly with dull thuds.

Tang Xin stood by the bed, pale-faced and at a loss, wanting to step forward to stop her, but afraid of getting hurt.

She froze when she saw Li Guanqi and Le Tong burst through the door.

"You...why are you here?"

"I messaged you, but you didn't reply." Li Guanqi stared intently at the crazed girl on the bed, his voice low. "What's wrong with her?"

He recognized the green-haired girl; she was the puppeteer, Xiaomi.

He hadn't paid attention to the little girl's situation since she was purified by the Winged Dragon of Ra in Granitea, but he never expected that Tang Xin had been taking care of her all along.

Tang Xin is still too soft-hearted.

No wonder she rents a place like this; she probably spends most of her salary on this hot potato.

"I don't know." Tang Xin's voice was tight. "She was fine this afternoon, but she suddenly became like this just now, like she's gone crazy!"

Xiaomi's screams on the bed became even more shrill. She suddenly raised her head, her eyes bloodshot and her pupils dilated, staring intently at the ceiling as if she had seen something extremely terrifying.

"Get away...get away! Don't come any closer!"

Her voice was no longer a simple scream, but filled with extreme fear.

Li Guanqi frowned; something was wrong.

This doesn't seem like a simple case of mental instability.

Without hesitation, he activated the Curator's skill - [Hyperfusion], releasing the energy of the Chronicles' indicator, which could fuse with something, whether it be physical or mental.

A faint orange-blue light flashed deep within his pupils, and the world before him instantly changed.

In Xiaomi's spiritual world, an intense, infernal flame, like a maggot clinging to her bone, relentlessly entwines her soul.

Others might not understand the flames, but Li Guanqi was very familiar with them.

Hellfire Machine - Tiera!

Li Guanqi frowned and withdrew his super fusion ability. This time, he consumed 10,000 points of indicator energy, and the chronology process stopped at two fruit light spots.

After much deliberation, he took out the medical kit from the supercomputing ring.

The medical kit opened with a "click," revealing rows of neatly packaged injections and medications.

"I'll handle this, you two hold her down!"

As Li Guanqi spoke, he took out a tranquilizer from the box, broke open the ampoule, extracted the liquid and removed the air bubbles in one smooth motion, as calm and collected as an experienced old doctor rather than an agent.

Le Tong immediately reacted and, together with Tang Xin, struggled to hold down Xiao Mi, who was still struggling on the bed.

"Don't touch me! Get away!" Xiaomi was incredibly strong, screaming and twisting violently.

"Hurry up! I can't hold it down any longer!" Letong shouted through gritted teeth.

Just then, Mickey, who had just rushed upstairs, saw this scene and was startled awake.

"Holy crap, what's going on? Is this some kind of exorcism?"

"Stop talking nonsense and come help me massage your legs!" Li Guanqi shouted in a low voice.

Mickey exclaimed "Oh!" and rushed over to pin down Xiaomi's kicking legs, nearly getting a groin injury.

Li Guanqi seized an opportunity, located a vein in her arm, and inserted the needle steadily and accurately.

The medicine was slowly injected.

A few seconds later, Xiaomi's struggles visibly weakened, her shrill screams turned into low whimpers, and finally her eyelids drooped, and she fell completely silent.

Only the heavy breathing of a few people remained in the room.

"Phew...that scared me to death." Tang Xin slumped onto the edge of the bed, her back already soaked with cold sweat.

Li Guanqi put away the syringe, his expression serious: "This is not a simple mental problem. She must be transferred to the medical department of the Soul Control Division for systematic mental purification."

When the "medical department" was mentioned, Tang Xin's face paled, her eyes darted away, and her lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Li Guanqi noticed her unusual behavior: "What's wrong?"

Le Tong whispered in his ear, in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Brother, about the medical department's fees... Tang Xin seems to be saving up to buy something very important, so she's probably very short on money."

One sentence was enough to enlighten Li Guanqi.

He truly never cared about Tang Xin's personal life. He didn't know that Tang Xin had compressed her life to the extreme in order to take care of Xiao Mi, and he didn't know that she had other very important things to buy.

It turns out that not every girl is like Qi Mengsi, possessing sufficient status and wealth.

After living in an apartment for half a month, I've almost forgotten what it means to be an ordinary person.

After a moment of silence, Li Guanqi carefully spoke: "The hospitalization expenses... I'll pay for them for you first."

He deliberately spoke in a calm tone, afraid that his words might hurt the other person's self-esteem.

"no!"

As expected, Tang Xin's reaction was even more intense than he had imagined. She waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "This is my own business. It's my decision to take care of Xiaomi. How can I let you spend money!"

Her refusal was decisive and straightforward, with a stubbornness typical of ordinary people.

The more ordinary a girl is, the less she has, and the less she has, the more she cares about dignity.

Seeing her stubborn expression, Li Guanqi was at a loss for words.

Tang Xin took a deep breath, as if to encourage herself, and her eyes became firm.

"The money..."

She looked at Li Guanqi and said, word by word, "Once this mission is completed, we'll have the money; the department gave me a lot of points."

She stopped herself as soon as she said it, a blush of embarrassment rising on her face.

She insisted on participating in the mission, not because of any lofty ideals or mission, but simply because she was short of money.

What mission does everyone have? It's just to make her look more noble and cooler.

Li Guanqi and Le Tong stood awkwardly in place, unsure of what to say.

"Can we get on the bus now?" Mickey asked, looking confused.

The air suddenly felt much calmer.

"Thank you, you idiot." Le Tong breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Tang Xin. "Let's get in the car first. The other two teams are urging us to get in."

The Fifth Department dispatched three teams in total: Team A, Team B, and Team C.

Tang Xin followed the steps, her voice barely audible, like a mosquito's buzz: "Uh, okay."

She lowered her head and quickly followed Le Tong, not daring to look Li Guanqi in the eye. Her cheeks and ears were burning hot, as if she had been slapped twice in public, and it hurt terribly.

She wished she could shrink into a dot and disappear from this world.

So embarrassing.

It's so embarrassing.

What mission, what responsibility... why should I pretend to be so high and mighty?

The place was a mess, dirty and chaotic. Her most embarrassed, most wretched and most wretched side was laid bare and unguarded in front of the people she least wanted to see.

In the corridor, two white medical robots had arrived. They extended their steady mechanical arms, lifted the unconscious Xiaomi from the bed, and secured her to a stretcher.

Tang Xin paused, her gaze fixed on the two robots.

"After completing this mission, we'll have money."

The four returned to the car.

Li Guanqi got into the driver's seat, and Mickey naturally sat in the passenger seat.

Tang Xin opened the back door of the car, crawled inside, and tried to shrink into a corner. Only then did she notice that on the other side of the back seat, a little girl in a blue and white dress was curled up asleep, breathing evenly.

It's Qiqi.

She was sleeping soundly and looked so cute that you felt an overwhelming urge to hug her.

Le Tong squeezed into the back seat and handed Li Guanqi a bottle of water: "Have some."

"Thank you." Li Guanqi took the water and started the hovercar.

Tang Xin rested her head against the car window, watching the street scene rushing past outside. The apartment building grew smaller and smaller until it became a blurry black dot.

The car drove out of the city and merged into the highway leading to the wilderness area.

The sea of ​​neon lights outside the window was swallowed by the endless darkness, with only the car headlights illuminating a small patch of road ahead.

Time slipped away slowly amidst the monotonous sound of the engine.

Mickey soon began to snore softly, and Letong also drifted off to sleep. Qiqi never woke up.

The only two people in the car who were awake were Li Guanqi and Tang Xin.

The two remained silent throughout the entire conversation.

Tang Xin would steal glances at Li Guanqi's head from time to time.

Li Guanqi gripped the steering wheel firmly with both hands, focusing intently on the road ahead, occasionally glancing at the back seat through the rearview mirror.

They remained silent in tacit agreement.

The sky changed from pitch black to pale white, and then from dawn to noon.

The view outside the window gradually changed from a barren Gobi Desert to a strange, crystallized forest.

The trees seemed frozen or assimilated by crystal, refracting bizarre and colorful light under the sun.

[Beep - You have arrived near your destination]

[Please note, the area ahead is a level 7 fortress: Dream Collapse]

The cold, electronic voice of the car navigation system woke the sleeping group.

(End of this chapter)