A simple sentence focused the entire room’s attention on Cat-Nian in Xu Xingyuan’s arms.
Xu Qing rolled her eyes. The dungeon mission had just started.
It would be a pity if Wang Zhen died because of testing for poison.
Using a useless cat for trial and error was obviously the most cost-effective option.
“Right,” Xu Qing chimed in. “It’s just a cat anyway. If it dies, it dies.”
Seeing Xu Qing take a side, Deng Ming immediately followed suit, pressuring:
“I know this cat might be important to you, but can a cat’s life be more important than the seven human lives present?”
Seeing two veteran players willing to stand on her side, Wang Zhen felt like she had found a lifeline and quickly agreed:
“Exactly! Human lives are at stake! At a time like this, don’t be so selfish.”
“If the cat dies, it dies. You can raise countless cats in the future, but once we humans die, we’re dead for good.”
“You’re just a newbie. Us taking care of you through the dungeon is already very selfless!”
They spoke one after another, emphasizing the importance of humans everywhere and telling Xu Xingyuan not to be selfish.
Every word they spoke dripped with disgusting selfishness.
“Hey! You guys are going too far!”
Shi Shu immediately shielded Xu Xingyuan, his expression angry as he condemned loudly:
“It’s his cat! How to decide is up to him! You have no right to dictate!”
Hearing this, Xu Qing rolled her eyes and retorted:
“Since you don’t want the cat to test the poison, you eat it then. You have such a sense of justice, why don’t you eat for us?”
Deng Ming slammed the table and stood up directly. His tall, strong, muscular build brought intense pressure.
“We don’t want to be ruthless, but lives are at stake, and everyone wants to live.”
His gaze landed precisely on the black cat in Xu Xingyuan’s arms, issuing a final ultimatum.
“You have your reasons, but we have our right to survive.”
“You’d best hand over the cat obediently, or we’ll take necessary measures!”
If Xu Xingyuan resolutely refused, they would forcefully snatch the cat and stuff the food into its mouth to test for poison.
Shi Shu was red with anger. He hadn’t expected these people to unite and lose all shame just to survive!
He slammed the table too, standing up and rolling up his sleeves, ready to argue—
“No need.”
Xu Xingyuan grabbed Shi Shu’s wrist and shook it gently twice.
“Xingyuan?”
Shi Shu looked down in surprise, thinking Xu Xingyuan was afraid, and immediately comforted him:
“Since I said you’re under my care, I’ll cover you no matter what happens in this dungeon!”
Hearing this, Xu Xingyuan gave a very faint smile.
He pulled Shi Shu back down to sit, actively picking up his fork.
“I’ll test the poison.”
Before anyone could react, Xu Xingyuan speared a piece of steak and stuffed it into his mouth.
After chewing twice, he swallowed it directly in front of everyone.
“You kid!” Shi Shu was frantic, reaching out to dig into Xu Xingyuan’s mouth.
“Why do you stuff everything into your mouth? What if it’s really poisonous!”
Xu Xingyuan turned his face away. “Don’t worry.”
The others hadn’t expected Xu Xingyuan to test the poison himself.
Seeing someone step up to take responsibility, they were no longer anxious. They shed their ugly faces from before and pretended to be good people.
“We just wanted to use your cat, we didn’t want you to test the poison yourself. We were just saying.”
“Who knew you’d be so obedient, acting fearless of death for a cat? Don’t know if you’re really stupid or faking it.”
“Anyway, we didn’t force you. You volunteered!”
Xu Xingyuan kept his face expressionless, neither happy nor sad, showing not even a ripple of emotion.
He just lowered his eyes quietly, slowly stroking Cat-Nian’s soft ears.
Seeing Xu Xingyuan so calm, like an emotionless doll, the others gradually stopped talking.
Silence reigned eerily for three minutes.
Seeing Xu Xingyuan in good condition with no mishaps, the others felt reassured and picked up their forks.
Just as Shi Shu was about to spear a large piece of rotten rose petal and stuff it into his mouth, Xu Xingyuan quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist.
“Hmm?” Shi Shu blinked in confusion, then quickly realized.
“Xingyuan! Do you also really want to eat my super invincible delicious red wine steak?”
He happily tried to pass the forkful of rose petals over, muttering:
“With our relationship, just tell Bro if you want to eat. No need to be shy!”
Xu Xingyuan, who hadn’t been shy at all, sighed helplessly and pushed Shi Shu’s hand away.
“My stomach is small, I can’t eat this much. I’ll share half with you.”
He took an empty plate and split his portion with Shi Shu.
In the eyes of the others, the food on Xu Xingyuan’s plate was exactly the same as theirs.
Plus, Xu Xingyuan looked thin and weak, seemingly having a small stomach.
Seeing him share food with Shi Shu, they didn’t think much of it and buried their heads to eat large mouthfuls.
The rotten rose petals, still stained with dirt and maggots, were stuffed desperately into their mouths by Xu Qing and the others.
Chewing on maggots, they wore expressions of intoxication.
Lin Feng even praised, “The food is pretty good.”
Chu Xiu, however, didn’t touch a bite, sitting in his chair with eyes closed to rest.
Big shots were always loners; there must be a reason he wasn’t eating.
The others didn’t overthink it, assuming Chu Xiu just didn’t like steak.
After finishing his portion, Lin Feng licked his lips unsatisfied, looked at Chu Xiu, and asked carefully:
“Are you not eating your portion?”
Seeing Chu Xiu shake his head, Lin Feng boldly asked for it and shared it with Xu Qing.
As the only human who could see the truth of the scene, Xu Xingyuan almost vomited from disgust.
In the end, he didn’t even finish his own portion; it all went into Shi Shu’s stomach.
Dinner time ended.
The butler appeared on the dot like a ghost.
“Everyone must be tired after dinner. I have prepared four guest rooms on the fourth floor. Please rest early.”
The butler led them to the fourth floor.
The seven people discussed. No one among Xu Qing’s group wanted to stay in the room marked “444.”
Finally, Xu Xingyuan pulled Shi Shu and actively walked in.
Only then did everyone quiet down.
For Xu Xingyuan, an NPC, it made no difference where he stayed.
Inside the room, Shi Shu patted his chest and chose the dangerous bed near the door.
“Xingyuan, what’s your Talent?”
Hearing this, Xu Xingyuan froze, not speaking immediately.
It turned out that every player pulled into an Infinite Flow dungeon would be detected by the system and granted various initial Talents.
“My Talent is called [Fortune], so my luck is pretty good.”
Shi Shu grinned foolishly at Xu Xingyuan, giving off a “dumb luck” vibe.
His luck was indeed heaven-defying.
Not only did he enter the same dungeon as the cheat-code Xu Xingyuan, but he also precisely picked Xu Xingyuan as an ally from the crowd.
As long as Xu Xingyuan was by his side, Shi Shu couldn’t die even if he wanted to.
“My Talent…” Xu Xingyuan was silent for three seconds, then lifted the black cat in his arms.
Sorry, Senior Gu Nian!
Xu Xingyuan held Cat-Nian high above his head and said super seriously:
“This is my Talent.”