Life Dungeon Game

"fine."

Li Cheng smiled, slowly got up, and walked towards the open carriage door.

His feet stepped onto the stairs leading to the entrance and onto the floor of the carriage.

click -

Immediately afterwards, the carriage doors slammed shut, the entire train sprang into motion, and the surrounding light dimmed in an instant.

The car appeared to have entered some kind of dark 'tunnel'.

In the silent darkness, Li Cheng felt the ground beneath his feet twitch.

From the roof of the car above, a twisted, sticky sound seemed to be coming from above.

At this moment, the car no longer resembles a steel construct, but rather a living 'life'.

boom--

It seemed someone had flipped a switch, and a dim light illuminated the entire carriage.

"Sorry, there are no lights in this carriage."

A human-shaped shadow was outlined in Li Cheng's eyes, and the flickering light shone on the seemingly ordinary face of the figure.

Li Cheng looked down and saw that the figure was carrying an old-fashioned lantern. In the area illuminated by the lantern's light, the floor remained solid and the roof of the car remained sturdy.

Steel is still steel, as if everything Li Cheng had just felt and heard was an illusion.

But in that dark shadow, in a place where the light couldn't reach, Li Cheng could still hear that sticky, gooey sound, like the wriggling of limbs.

"Li Cheng."

Li Cheng turned his gaze back to what was in front of him.

He introduced himself with a smile on his face.

"Hao Yi".

He Ao, carrying a lantern, turned around and walked forward along the aisle between the two dining tables.

The dim yellow light illuminated the surrounding dark glass.

"Your lamp looks quite old,"

Li Cheng's gaze swept over the lantern in He Ao's hand. Through the frosted glass, he saw the flickering flame inside, which seemed to be an old kerosene lamp. "Is this a prop that came with this vehicle?"

"No, I bought it from a shop that sells fake antiques. I thought it looked good, so I bought it."

He Ao reached out and placed the lantern on the table where he had just been sitting. The flickering firelight cast a faint shadow on his cheek.

"What was that switch-on sound just now?"

Li Cheng looked at He Ao with some curiosity, "Isn't it some kind of starter switch?"

"lighter."

He Ao placed the lighter he had been holding on the table and pressed it gently. With a soft sound, a faint flame ignited.

Li Cheng glanced at the lighter, then at the slowly burning flame in the lantern, and blinked.

"Want something to drink?"

He Ao turned over the two cups with saucers and spoons that were hanging upside down by the window, placing one in front of Li Cheng and the other in front of himself.

"It will be all right,"

Li Cheng looked at He Ao, seemingly curious about where He Ao took out the drinks. "Are there any to choose from?"

He Ao pulled out a large, old-fashioned thermos from the corner, uncorked it, and a faint wisp of smoke drifted out. He poured himself a glass of plain water. "Plain water, or coffee, or milk."

Then he looked up at Li Cheng and asked, "Would you like some hot coffee?"

"can."

Li Cheng glanced at the water bottle in He Ao's hand and felt something was off, but it also seemed to fit the environment of the car.

It seemed that He Ao used this kind of kettle to store drinks, but just when he thought He Ao would put down the kettle to get the thermos containing coffee, he saw He Ao simply lift the kettle up and pour a glass of water into his cup.

"Regular coffee or cappuccino?"

As He Ao put the kettle away, he asked softly.

Li Cheng glanced down at the glass of plain water in front of him and chuckled, "Is there any difference?"

He Ao took a packet of instant coffee powder from his pocket and placed it on the table. "Regular coffee,"

Then he took out a packet of instant milk powder, placed it next to the coffee powder, and pushed both packets of instant powder toward Li Cheng, saying, "Put both of them together, cappuccino."

Li Cheng blinked, looking at the instant milk powder and instant coffee powder on the table. He paused for a moment, picked up the instant coffee powder, opened the package, and poured it into a cup.

"Actually, when I'm in the lab, I often drink instant coffee powder myself,"

He slowly picked up the instant milk powder, opened the package, and poured it into a cup. He picked up a spoon and gently stirred the solution in the cup. "I just haven't tried mixing milk powder and coffee powder together before."

Then his gaze swept over the packaging of the instant coffee powder. "Vedeske? This brand of instant coffee is actually quite good, but I remember it's a small brand that's only sold within the Tia Empire."

"I

have no idea,"

He Ao took a packet of milk powder out of his pocket, poured it into the cup in front of him, and stirred it clockwise with a spoon. "I just grabbed it from the supermarket shelf."

Li Cheng looked up at the young man in front of him. He would not conclude that the young man lived in the Tia Empire based on this one detail.

For the Verola, traveling around the world is an easy thing.

However, Hao Yi's series of actions made this mysterious and unknown B-level entity more down-to-earth and approachable.

At this moment, Hao Yi did not act like a mysterious visitor from the ruins, but rather like an ordinary young man living in the city.

The invisible barrier between the two disappeared a lot with these actions.

Of course, Li Cheng would not underestimate Hao Yi because of this.

From the moment he got into the car, the other person effortlessly created an air of mystery, and then personally dispelled it, thus eliminating the barrier between them.

This method itself implies a strong ability to control the situation.

Just now, without anyone noticing, the situation had completely fallen into the young man's control, and Li Cheng could only speak in accordance with the other party's rhythm.

"About to arrive."

Just then, He Ao put down his spoon, glanced at the dark car window, then looked back at Li Cheng's face and pointed to his chest.

Li Cheng pulled off a black button from his chest and crushed it with his hand.

This button is a miniature camera, directly connected to the communication equipment of the moonlight, the World Tree, and the research institute headquarters.

Seeing Li Cheng's actions, He Ao smiled, bent down, blew out the flame of the lantern, and then slowly stood up.

In that instant when the flames dimmed, the train burst out of the 'tunnel,' and bright sunlight instantly streamed into the entire carriage.

The dazzling light shone on the young man's swaying hair and sharply defined profile as he raised his head, outlining a radiant and sacred silhouette.

"So, is there something you need from me?"

He Ao lifted the cup and brought the microwaved milk to his lips.

Outside the window lies a lake as clear as a mirror, with distant snow-capped mountains reflected on its shimmering surface. An old-fashioned train, carrying a gentle breeze, glides across the water, passing over the mountains beneath the lake and creating soft ripples.

A leaf drifted down from a tree by the lake in the gentle breeze, landing on the rippling water and rising and falling with the swaying reflection of the snow-capped mountains.

This scenery wasn't found by He Ao, but rather randomly selected by the Verola from nearby locations.

The Verola always manages to find the most beautiful spots nearby.

Li Cheng turned his gaze away from the beautiful scenery outside the window and looked at He Ao's face. "Theoretically speaking, the reason I'm looking for you is to thank you for your help in the coma incident in Ellen City, and to thank you for saving so many people."

"No need to thank me, I was just doing my thing,"

He blew on the scalding hot milk. "They were just lucky to get help, and I happened to get involved in this."

Then he took a sip of milk and looked at Li Cheng, "So the real reason is the spacetime anchor point of the ruins passage? The spacetime anchor point is indeed here with me, but what can you offer?"

Hearing 'Hao Yi' directly admit that the spacetime anchor was in his hands

Li Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. If even 'Hao Yi' didn't have it, this matter would have been troublesome.

Moreover, the other party was very clever; since they directly pointed out the problem, there was a possibility of making a deal. He looked at He Ao and tentatively asked,

"According to the previous agreement between the major organizations, the organization that possesses the spacetime anchor can obtain most of the entry slots for the ruins."

"You know, this doesn't matter to me."

He Ao put down his milk glass, smiled at Li Cheng, and said, "Besides, there shouldn't be my signature on your agreement."

The implication of this statement is that I am not within your rules.

The worst thing about negotiation is being drawn into someone else's rules system. Under someone else's rules, even if the other party doesn't change the rules or cheat, a novice can't outmaneuver a veteran who has been immersed in them for many years.

Li Cheng naturally knew this. He also knew that the quota for the ruins passage was of no use to a lone B-rank like Hao Yi who had no organization. After all, Hao Yi was a B-rank, so he couldn't enter the ruins and had no subordinates who needed to go there.

“We can provide you with extraordinary items,” Li Cheng replied after a moment’s thought. “If you need them, given the importance of this relic, we can provide you with two C-grade extraordinary items.”

This was the bargaining chip he had discussed with World Tree and Moonlight before coming here.

Of course, this price is negotiable.

"Right now, it seems I don't lack extraordinary items,"

He picked up the milk and said calmly.

Li Cheng stared at He Ao, knowing that the mysterious young man before him probably had his own price to offer. He asked slowly, "What can we offer?"

"information."

He Ao took a sip of milk and spoke slowly.

"information?"

Li Cheng was stunned.

"I need your access to all my research materials and intelligence regarding the ruins. I can sign individual contracts with each of you to ensure that your information is not leaked to other organizations. Of course, you can choose to trust me or not."

He Ao spoke slowly and deliberately, his tone calm, "Besides that, I need all the animals or plants that contain extraordinary power but have not formed extraordinary items. I don't need any specific herbs or materials; you can keep those for yourselves."

"I only need animals or plants that contain supernatural powers. Supernatural powers have been increasing in the main world for so many years, you should have plenty of these in your warehouses."