Life Dungeon Game

"You gave me this bracelet?"

He Ao exited the software interface and looked at Thorne.

"of course."

Thorne was a little confused as to why Heo asked him another question. When he handed over the bracelet, he hadn't really expected to get it back.

There wasn't any crucial information on that bracelet, and he had a habit of cleaning it regularly.

When was the last time the mysterious person contacted you?

He Ao put away the bracelet and continued to ask.

The night before last,

Thorne watched as Heo put away the bracelet. Heo's movements were slow and the range of motion was small.

Although Thorne wasn't very strong, he still had a basic understanding of things. He knew that this meant Heo had a wound on his back, and that the injury was not minor.

Although He Ao was dressed in clean and tidy clothes that looked brand new, his physical injuries were not lessened by the change of clothes.

It seems that the person in front of me paid a considerable price last night in order to escape from those mercenaries.

His thoughts raced, but Thorne's expression remained unchanged. He naturally looked away and continued, "The mysterious man asked me to cooperate with those mercenaries to set up a trap."

Around what time did he contact you?

He asked slowly.

Around 11 p.m.

Thorne replied.

At 11 p.m., which was roughly the time He Ao finished dealing with the mercenary squad the night before last, he used the C-level bracelet he had killed to answer the mysterious man's call.

It seems that after hanging up the phone, the mysterious man immediately began to plan the next step in his plan to kill him.

He leaned back in his chair, staring at Thorne in front of him.

Thorne's gaze was calm, as if he had accepted his fate and was waiting for Heo to finish asking his questions so that he could have a chance to leave.

However, Heo knew very well that Thorne had noticed some of the physical movements he made.

He pondered for a moment, looking at Thorne, "As a qualified middleman, you wouldn't easily trust a client, even if they can produce a large amount of wealth in a short time. So how did the mysterious person gain your trust?"

Although Thorne was greedy for money, he was also afraid of death.

Accepting a commission from someone whose background you don't know is very dangerous, because the middleman doesn't know whether the money paid by the client is a commission or money to kill them.

Eve had previously collected some information about Thorne, who also paid considerable attention to selecting his clients.

“Of course,” Thorne said with a smile, seemingly confident in his role as the middleman.

"Any qualified middleman would not accept a commission from a stranger; that's a mistake only a novice would make. The reason I chose to accept the mysterious man's commission is because..."

At this point, he suddenly stopped speaking.

In that instant, Heo caught a glimpse of panic deep in Thorne's eyes.

From the moment He Ao entered until now, Thorne's expression has remained stable. He has always been confident that the situation is under his control, and although there have been some setbacks, it will eventually return to his control.

But the panic at this moment indicates that Thorne has recalled some memories that are beyond his control.

His body was slightly hunched, his muscles tense, as if he was trying hard to recall something.

Then, somewhat bewildered, he looked up at He Ao, fine beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. "I don't know, I don't know why I trusted him..."

In this crucial commission, which was extremely lucrative and pushed Thorne to the brink of death, Thorne knew nothing about his client and didn't even know where his trust in his client came from.

He so easily embarked on a path that could lead to death, making the mistake that only a novice middleman would make.

It's impossible that Thorne suddenly lost his mind and forgot his past experiences when facing the mysterious man.

He Ao's hand rested on the armrest of the metal chair.

He recalled a capability called 'cognitive change'.

The extraordinary item he obtained in the last dungeon, the 'Bracelet of the False Master,' was previously owned by an extraordinary individual whose cognition had been altered, ultimately leading to madness due to cognitive distortion.

Although the mysterious person's abilities at this moment were not as terrifying as cognitive manipulation, they were still clearly a kind of ability that could influence people's thinking.

The "Easy Thinking" of Hypermemory is also a kind of ability that can forcibly modify a person's thinking.

Perhaps the mysterious man also possesses similar abilities. He Ao gazed at Thorne, who was somewhat panicked and still lost in thought, and asked slowly, "What did you feel when you were with the mysterious man? Did you think he had anything special about him?"

"What's special about it?"

Heo's question pulled Thorne back from his confusion. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, seemingly lost in memories again. "He was very perceptive, so perceptive that he seemed to know what I was thinking and could always give me what I wanted."

At this moment, Thorne finally came to his senses, as if some kind of mental fog that had been obscuring him had been lifted, and he saw something he had never noticed before: "He must have some kind of mind-reading ability."

Heo stared at Thorne, who was still lost in thought, and suddenly said, "You once said that the mysterious man looked somewhat familiar, which proves that you may have seen him somewhere before."

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Thorne paused, as if some long-buried memory had been unearthed, and he suddenly realized something.

Remembering something, he looked up at He Ao.

“I have indeed met him before. He came to me a long time ago to do a commission, back when I was just a middleman. But when he first came to me, he didn't verify his identity. I shouldn't have trusted him so easily afterward…”

Heo stared at Thorne. Thorne himself knew that the mysterious man looked familiar, but he just couldn't remember him. This proved that his memory of this man was 'covered up' by some kind of force.

While pondering, He Ao realized something and continued to ask, "When was the first time he asked you to do a commission? What was the commission about?"

"About twelve years ago,"

Thorne's initial panic gradually subsided. He realized that his panic was futile; what had happened couldn't be changed. He had embarked on a single path, with no other choice. He gathered his thoughts and continued...

"He commissioned me to set up an explosion, but I couldn't find a suitable person to take the job within the stipulated time, so the job was canceled."

Twelve years ago, the year Jess's father passed away, the incident that led to his death was a chemical plant explosion.

"Did he tell you the location for the explosion was a chemical plant?"

He Ao took a deep breath and pressed for an answer.

"I don't know. I haven't found a suitable agent, and I haven't received any details about the commission."

Thorne looked at Heo's face and said slowly.

He had seen 'Jace's' family information and knew that Jess's father died in a chemical plant explosion twelve years ago, but he did not take on that commission back then and did not know whether the mysterious man was the mastermind behind Jess's father's death.

He's already said so much, there's nothing left to hide now.

He Ao knew that Thorne most likely hadn't hidden anything; he just didn't know it.

After all, Thorne was just an ordinary middleman back then.

Heo took a deep breath and then continued to ask Thorne for clues about his parents, but all he got were negative answers.

Thorne's only contact was with Jess. The commission he ultimately didn't accept twelve years ago was the closest he had ever come to Jess's parents.

He Ao also noted this information down.

Although there are no specific details, things can't be that coincidental. Around the same time, the mysterious man wanted to create an explosion that would kill Jess's father.

Therefore, this clue might be a small breakthrough in finding the truth about Jess's parents' deaths.

Next, He asked Thorne some other questions, most of which received negative answers. Although Thorne had met the mysterious man many times, he did not know much about him and was just an ordinary executor on the outer layer.

During the handover process, Thorne repeatedly raised his own conditions, which became increasingly unreasonable.

He began by demanding that all his men leave with him, and that they be provided with vehicles and heavy weapons.

They also demanded that Heo escort them away.

He Ao rejected some conditions and modified some of them.

He let Thorne leave, and Thorne and

His men could come along, and Heo could also escort them away.

However, equipping them with vehicles and heavy weapons is impossible; if they had heavy weapons, they would have the ability to harm Heo.

But Thorne persisted, insisting on needing vehicles and weapons for self-defense.

Finally, after some haggling, Heo said he could provide the vehicles and weapons, but they would have to be purchased with money, through a cryptocurrency transaction.

Then came the bidding process. He Ao quoted a very high price, clearly trying to discourage Thorne. In the end, the two bargained again and settled on a price that Thorne could barely accept.

After everything had settled down, He Ao left the warehouse, opened the warehouse door again, and sent a message to Hai Xi.

After a while, Hai Xi came over.

"How's your question?"

She glanced at He Ao, then at the dark, deep warehouse, and asked softly.

She knew very well that Heo had gone to such great lengths to capture Thorne because he wanted to know something from Thorne.

"I've learned some information,"

He Ao nodded slightly and looked at Hai Xi, "Do you have an off-road vehicle and a G-05 mini laser cannon here?"

“We have off-road vehicles,” Hayes pondered. “But the G-05 laser cannon isn’t easy to get. Under extreme conditions, this laser cannon can already damage C-class enemies.”

"Does the G-04 have one?"

He Ao continued to ask.

The G-04 is a simplified version of the G-05, with lower output power and equipment strength. It is generally used to deal with Class D alien beasts and is one of the most common small laser cannons on the market.

Generally speaking, the G-04 is also the most powerful weapon possessed by many large urban gangs.

“How many G-04s do you have?” Hayes looked at Heo. “What do you want to do with them?”

Are G-04s for sale?

He asked in a low voice.

"If you need it, just take it and use it."

Hai Xi readily agreed.

“No need,” He Ao shook his head, “I’m going to resell it, so I have to buy it.”

He pondered for a moment and continued, "The official suggested retail price of the G-04 is 208 million Federal Credits. It's not very rare, and the black market price is usually only 15% higher, which is about 240 million Federal Credits. So, I'll round it up to 300 million. You give me four off-road vehicles and some heavy firearms. How about that?"