Beneath the cloak, Lu Chuan tilted his head and studied Qin Guan with great interest. The corners of his eyes lifted slightly, and his gaze held a faint, subtle sharpness. It seemed to pierce straight through the mask covering the other man’s face, and in an instant he made an expression identical to Qin Guan’s.
A wave of revulsion suddenly surged in Qin Guan’s heart.
“What are you doing?”
Lu Chuan kept his eyes fixed on him, not missing the slightest shift in expression as it passed across his face, whatever it might be.
He seemed almost to cherish those emotions as he tasted and mulled them over, like an outstanding gourmet enjoying dinner, or like a wolf king crossing the wilderness and stepping into the human jungle, carefully imitating the laws of the human world.
“You humans… are really interesting.”
Lu Chuan smiled.
“What do you mean, ‘you humans’ and ‘we humans’?”
Qin Guan was wrapped up tightly from head to toe, with only a pair of eyes exposed. Yet even so, just from that cool glance, Lu Chuan could still feel a strange hunger.
What was this feeling?
He touched his chin and thought it over seriously.
Qin Guan tugged him around the densest part of the cheering crowd and onto a small path that drew little attention.
“If you want to blend into human society, then act like a human for me. The Atrium does not allow Grotesques to enter, and 701 has plenty of groups that specialize in hunting Grotesques and earning points. I suggest you keep your tail tucked and not cause trouble for me here.”
Qin Guan warned him.
However, whether it was an illusion or not, he could not shake the feeling that after he said that, the invisible big tail behind Lu Chuan seemed to wag even more happily.
“Alright, I promise.” Lu Chuan smiled.
“But come to think of it… why are you wrapped up so tightly? Afraid someone will find out you’re G?”
Qin Guan tugged at his cap brim. “They don’t know. My livestream room has always used paid anonymity. Not only is my identity hidden, but my face is also blurred the entire time.”
Lu Chuan asked in surprise, “Then why dress like that? Did you offend someone?”
Qin Guan shot him a vicious glare. “…Don’t ask what you shouldn’t.”
As the two were talking, a group of people in matching uniforms, walking hurriedly, suddenly turned the corner onto the path ahead. Their clothes were neatly printed with several large words…
Foundation Survivor Alliance Special Vanguard Team.
They were actually from the BM Foundation.
One of them said, “Boss! I heard something happened to Third Brother?”
“How could this be?! That psychiatric hospital instance’s difficulty wasn’t very high. With Third Brother’s level… it shouldn’t have happened!”
“I watched that live stream. It was especially bizarre. There wasn’t a single Grotesque in the footage, but everyone still died inexplicably!”
“All of them died?! Not a single survivor?!”
“Didn’t you see the announcement? They happened to be grouped with that legendary G… and only he cleared the game.”
“Could it be… that G was behind it?”
The few of them looked at one another.
They were all old hands who had spent time in the Filth Room, and more or less had heard of G’s name. They knew he was notorious for bizarre behavior and an unpredictable personality, but to say he would deliberately sabotage things and kill people…
The man in the lead had a dark expression. “It was definitely him.”
“…Big Brother?”
“Hmph, you just joined the Foundation not long ago, so you don’t know. We came into contact with this G a long time ago, but he has always refused to cooperate with us for all sorts of reasons.”
They all gasped. “What?! We went through so much trouble and passed so many evaluations just to join the Foundation, and he actually refused to cooperate with BM?!”
“Ridiculous! He just got lucky and cleared a few instances, and now he’s acting so arrogant. Does he think he can clear the entire Filth Room by himself?”
“Crazy! The environment in the Filth Room changes constantly. So many people beg for the Foundation’s protection and never get it, and he actually refused it?”
The man nodded darkly. “Because of this matter, the Foundation has always had quite a lot to say about him internally. Especially our Captain Lin Xiao, who has always been at loggerheads with him.”
“This time, Third Brother ran into trouble. It was probably G taking the opportunity to deliberately get back at the Foundation.”
The group exchanged cautious glances.
“But Boss… even if we know he was behind it, G’s identity has always been kept secret. Nobody knows who he is…”
By this point, the Foundation group had already come very close to Qin Guan and Lu Chuan.
Hearing their conversation, Lu Chuan gave Qin Guan a meaningful smile.
Qin Guan could not help recalling what had happened in the elevator just now, when Lu Chuan had deliberately drawn the nurse’s attention. He immediately became wary and stomped hard on the kid’s foot, warning him not to cause trouble.
“Mmph… !!”
Qin Guan had used all his strength on that stomp. Lu Chuan’s face twisted slightly, and his body swayed a few times.
Seeing this, one kind-hearted Foundation member quickly supported him and asked with concern, “Are you alright?”
On the other side, the gloomy boss was just saying, “…I went to find Captain Lin Xiao earlier, and I happened to see G in his room. Although I couldn’t see his face clearly, I can be sure…”
“That G has a very rare pair of extremely light-colored eyes.”
As soon as the words fell, Qin Guan and the others’ gazes met.
Everyone stopped in their tracks.
For a moment, the scene was extremely awkward.
Lu Chuan gauged the distance, stepped back to leave the attack range of those long legs, and stood at a distance neither too near nor too far, shouting at him from afar.
“…This time it really isn’t my fault.”
The man in the lead looked at Qin Guan and said through gritted teeth, “…You killed our Foundation members.”
Qin Guan calmly pointed at Lu Chuan. “It wasn’t me. It was him.”
Lu Chuan put on an innocent expression. “I didn’t appear in the livestream footage at all.”
“Exactly! You were the only one there. Don’t tell us you still want to argue!”
“…”
The man in the lead pressed forward step by step. “You killed our people inside the instance. That seriously violates the Foundation’s principle of ‘equality and mutual aid’… Normally, according to the rules, you should have to pay with your life…”
“But,” the man grinned, revealing a mouthful of foul-smelling yellow teeth, “luckily for you, you ran into me today. How about this? Let’s make a deal. As long as you hand over the hidden item you got from the last instance, we’ll call it even. How about that?”
This was exactly why he disliked the BM Foundation.
Qin Guan’s eyebrows did not move at all. He looked at the other man expressionlessly. “Anything else?”
“Anything else?”
The group opposite froze for a moment. They exchanged glances and then tried again, “And… 200 points?”
“Anything else?”
Apparently not expecting Qin Guan to be so easy to talk to, they were overjoyed.
It seemed the legendary G was nothing more than a soft persimmon that would fold at the slightest squeeze!
“And a week’s worth of water and food!”
“Anything else?”
“And an instance-clearing guide!”
“Anything else?”
…
After listening to this bunch of people rattle off a pile of random demands, Qin Guan felt like he was about to turn into the turtle in a wishing well, and could not help but sincerely sigh.
“You really have no imagination.”
“What are you talking about? These are already outrageous conditions, okay!”
“Exactly, exactly! Even within our Foundation, aside from Captain Lin Xiao, hardly anyone can do all of that!”
In truth, they were not wrong. Although the Filth Room had been open for a long time, most players still struggled on the edge between life and death at every moment. Merely ensuring an instance clear rate was hard enough, let alone saving up points and items.
Someone like Qin Guan, who could pull out a large pile of points and supplies at any time, was absolutely an anomaly among anomalies.
That said, Qin Guan did not want to expose his wealth directly at the moment. After all, wealth should not be flaunted. If these people really set their sights on him, that would be trouble.
On the other side, the group had clearly already finished making their demands and were sitting there leisurely, waiting for Qin Guan to start handing over money.
“Well? Hurry up and take it out.”
Qin Guan smiled. “When did I say I was giving it to you?”
“What?! You dare play us?!”
Blade-like eyes swept across all their faces one by one. If Qin Guan remembered correctly, the Third Brother they mentioned should be the same person from the last instance who had suggested releasing Lu Chuan, and who later tried to take his life in the basement.
Qin Guan said each word clearly.
“You really are just like him, cut from the same mold. Equally stupid.”
“Setting aside the fact that he died by his own hand, even if I really did kill him, what could the few of you here do to me today?”
“The rule that you cannot attack other people in the Atrium was set by the Foundation, wasn’t it? Are you trying to lead the charge and violate it now?”
“And besides,” Qin Guan smiled slyly, revealing two sharp little canine teeth at the corners of his mouth, “even if we do fight, just the few of you… really think you can beat me?”
Qin Guan took off his cloak and looked directly at them. That exquisite, handsome face had sharp, distinct edges, radiating an icy, blade-like sharpness that no one could trespass against.
The few of them looked at one another, and for a moment none of them dared step forward.
Qin Guan curled his lips coldly, put his cloak back on, and tossed back a line without turning his head: “I’m leaving.”
Seeing that the other man was about to leave, the Foundation boss finally could not hold himself back any longer.
Ridiculous! He had finally gotten the chance to extort a bit out of the legendary G. How could he let him go so easily?!
And from the look of him… he was definitely hiding plenty of good stuff on him.
The boss stared at Qin Guan’s departing back and quietly pulled out a short knife.
This was an instance item he had spent a great deal of money to trade for from someone else… the Unblinking Dagger. Its effect was that as long as he launched a sneak attack from behind, the attack power would increase tenfold.
If he used this… even if it was G, there might still be a chance…
No sooner said than done, the man gripped the knife and stepped forward, stabbing hard and fast toward Qin Guan’s back!
However, just as the dagger was about to touch Qin Guan, his wrist was seized by a large hand with ruthless force, stopping all movement on the spot…
A sinister, smiling voice came from above.
“Do you think I don’t exist?”