Life Dungeon Game

He Ao turned his gaze from his personal attributes interface to the light at the end of the darkness ahead.

The cold sound of footsteps echoed in the dark space, getting closer and closer with each step.

······

"Boss! Boss!"

Thorne, who was already somewhat drowsy in the electric chair, was awakened by the shouts around him. He looked up and around.

Haishi's men are injecting his subordinates with anesthetic drugs and then taking them away one by one.

Soon, he was the only one left in the dark, empty space.

"Hai Xi, come out here! What exactly are you trying to do? Are you willing to accept my suggestion or not? Give me a straight answer!"

He looked at the darkness around him and couldn't help but shout.

Just then, he heard footsteps slowly approaching from the depths of darkness.

"Hai Xi?"

He looked up into the darkness, but then felt something was off about the sound and shook his head slightly.

And in his slightly puzzled gaze, a tall and imposing figure emerged from the darkness, the endless darkness receding like water along his sides, like a king emerging from the night.

The tall figure lowered his head, looked at Thorne before him, and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Thorne."

"you······"

Thorne stared blankly at the man dressed in casual clothes, froze for a moment, and then spoke in a dreamlike murmur, as if asking himself, or perhaps the person in front of him, "Are you Jess?"

"right,"

He Ao smiled and nodded, looking at Thorne. "Mr. Thorne, can we talk now? Talk about everything you know about me."

"So it was you..."

Thorne looked at Heo in surprise and dejection. At this moment, he finally understood everything. He collapsed like a punctured balloon, leaning back in his chair. "You actually didn't die last night."

"I will indeed reach the end someday, but not last night."

He smiled, glanced around in the darkness, and saw the chair that Thorne's subordinate had been sitting in. He lifted the heavy alloy chair, weighing several hundred pounds, with one hand, placed it in front of Thorne, and calmly sat down opposite him.

“Mr. Thorne, may we begin now?” Heo spread his hands. “I think with your experience, you won’t be so surprised.”

Thorne stared at Heo's face, a face he had seen countless times in photographs.

Having seen her face countless times, seeing her true face for the first time now evoked an indescribable sense of disconnect.

In the photo, 'Jes' is smiling, appearing gentle and kind.

At this moment, although Jess was also smiling and even had the same gentle and kind temperament, Thorne could clearly sense that beneath that gentle and kind exterior lay a twisted madness and chaos.

Jess has gone mad; this was information Thorne had received beforehand.

This was part of the plan, and he was even one of the executors, but when he actually saw the crazed Jess in front of him, he had some strange feelings.

This strange feeling was not pity or remorse, but fear—fear that I had created such a monster.

He looked at He Ao and sighed softly, "I'm just a nobody, I don't know anything. Just give me a quick death."

“Mr. Thorne, although this is our first meeting, you should know that I am a law-abiding citizen and I would never commit murder on my own initiative.”

Heo looked at Thorne and smiled as he corrected the mistake in Thorne's language.

Thorne looked at Heo, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say for a moment.

Jess's commission was the one he handled the most time for.

This commission is different from the previous ones, which required speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, such as murder, theft, and silencing witnesses. This commission takes a long time, requires very detailed information, and of course, the reward is also very considerable.

Although this was Thorne's first time meeting 'Jace', he had already come to know 'Jace' very well during the planning process.

He knew that 'Jace' was indeed a good person, even if he was insane, he was still a good person who maintained basic principles.

In order to create a good space for Heo to question him, Hai Xi removed everyone from the warehouse, leaving only Thorne and Heo in the entire warehouse at this moment.

After Thorne fell silent, the whole world seemed to quiet down.

After a brief silence, Thorne leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "Even if you're a good person, do you think you'll let me go if I tell you what I know?"

"I won't let you go."

He Ao said calmly.

Thorne's expression froze.

His words were actually a test for He Ao. Although in his memory 'Jes' was a good person, people can always change, especially after experiencing major setbacks.

So he loosened his grip a bit, wanting to test He Ao's attitude.

Ever since he met He Ao, he knew that whether he survived this time depended not on Hai Xi, but on He Ao.

Hai Xi alone certainly couldn't pinpoint his location or catch him, so she must have had help this time.

Furthermore, with 'Jace' drawing away all the mercenaries around him, the identity of this helper became self-evident.

Strictly speaking, it is actually Hayish who is Jayce's accomplice, not the other way around. Jayce's hatred for him is definitely greater than the conflict between Hayish and him.

So this time it was Hayes who helped 'Jace' capture him.

After identifying the enemy's main body, he realized that if he could take down 'Jace,' he would have a high chance of surviving.

escape.

That's why he used that phrase to test He Ao after hearing him claim to be a good person.

If 'Jace' retained even a shred of his former kindness, then he would be confident of defeating Jess and being able to leave this place alive.

He just didn't expect that He Ao would so decisively reject his words.

But just as his mood was sinking, he heard He Ao continue, "But I can get you out of this warehouse. Whether you can leave or not is up to you."

"no,"

Upon hearing this, Thorne was overjoyed, his emotions soaring like a rollercoaster. Even so, he maintained his composure and quickly rejected Heo's proposal.

Heo's plan is not important; what Thorne needs is simply a statement from Heo.

Since Heo has shown relenting, it proves that 'Jess' still retains his former kindness.

Based on Thorne's understanding of 'Jace' over the years, this means he can push his luck and continue to demand even more favorable terms.

Taking a step back and taking a hundred steps back are actually very close.

He looked at He Ao and continued, "I'm leaving this area. None of you can follow me, and you must get me out safely."

Although he is not strong in combat, he is very good at negotiation and manipulating people's hearts.

“Mr. Thorne, I think we should present our bargaining chips before discussing terms.”

Heo didn't continue the discussion on this topic, but calmly looked at Thorne and asked again.

I've become smarter...

Thorne looked at Heo, and for some reason, he felt relieved, thinking that this was the normal reaction 'Jace' should have.

Having gone through so much, I'm bound to learn something from it. If I were so easily led astray, I wouldn't have been able to so easily control myself.

However, he was still very confident, as he had already found 'Jace's' Achilles' heel: kindness and benevolence.

As long as he maintains the right pace, even if Jess hates him to the core, he can still make 'Jess' obediently take him away.

Once he returns to his stronghold, he can use the power of the conglomerate to completely eliminate these two threats.

The advantage is mine!

His mind raced, but Thorne's expression remained largely unchanged. He looked at Heo and slowly said...

"I don't know much either. Didn't you already contact Norbeck?"

He was testing He Ao's bottom line.

"Mr. Thorne, there's no point in negotiating like this."

He Ao slowly got up, patted his clothes, and turned to leave.

Thorne remained unmoved. He assumed that Heo wanted to know information from him because Heo needed his help; otherwise, Heo wouldn't have gone to such lengths to bring him here. Therefore, Heo was definitely bluffing him.

But He Ao seemed to have truly lost faith in him and walked into the darkness without hesitation.

At this moment, Thorne's resolve wavered.

He Ao is currently the person he is most confident he can persuade. If he falls into Hai Xi's hands, Hai Xi is not so kind and easy to fool, and he will most likely die at Hai Xi's hands.

Silence reigned all around, darkness enveloped the dim, hazy light, and an invisible fear crept into his heart.

After a difficult struggle, he finally succumbed to the fear of death.

Then, he looked in the direction where He Ao had disappeared into the darkness. "I'll tell you whatever you want to know! But you have to let me leave!"

"You speak first."

Heo's figure reappeared from the darkness, staring at Thorne.

This is a psychological game, a game of who will back down first. In this round, Thorne lost.

He let out a long sigh and said slowly, "Which part do you want to hear?"

This statement was a test to see what part of the information He Ao knew, and what intelligence he possessed.

Heo sat back down in his chair, not following Thorne's lead, but saying directly, "From the very beginning when you accepted the mysterious man's commission about me, I have to listen to everything."

"good······"

After the fight, Thorne's momentum had weakened. He pondered for a moment and then slowly said...

"About seven years ago, I wasn't yet the second-best middleman in Westland; I was just a middleman with a good reputation in the West End."

“One day, a mysterious man who looked somewhat familiar came to me and said that he had a commission for me to do. He asked me to find a reliable detective agency first. He was very generous and gave me a deposit of one million federal dollars on the first occasion.”

Seven years ago, around the same year Jess began researching life-saving potions.

That year, Jess was 33 years old. In the same year, his wife's teacher, the old professor in Kaya City, was murdered, and Jess met the mysterious man.

"The mysterious person commissioned you in the second half of the year?"