Chapter 664: Choosing your fate (1.5 in 1)
Translator: Radiant Translations Editor: Radiant Translations
Other than the little girl, who had a confused look on her face, the other people had already realised that this Cao Hong was clearly engaging in the flesh trade within the black market. Perhaps the matter that led to her being tossed her wasn’t as simple as it seemed; most people in that industry were smooth talkers, and wouldn’t easily offend others.
The man in the suit, Gong Yi, gave a faint smile and asked. “How did you manage to cast your Heroic Soul, big sis Hong? Do you have some special abilities?”
” I used to be engaged to an old man from an aristocratic family, and we almost ended up getting married. Before he died, he gave this old lady a Heroic Soul casting medicine. It really was a pity for that old fellow, as he treated me pretty well…” Upon mentioning it, shades of nostalgia and longing appeared on her face, before quietly fading away. “I don’t have any special abilities, but I’ve received some private training, so I’m barely capable of holding my own. I should be able to deal with 1-2 low or middle-rank mutated beasts, though I’m not clear about this place.”
While explaining her situation, she continued to ma.s.sage her waist and back, a clear indication of her not being the type who would spend time training bitterly in a training room. As a result, the intense gravity here was making her feel uncomfortable.
Low or middle-rank most probably referred to 3rd to 4th rank mutated beasts, which was around the standard of an ordinary Heroic Soul Stage soldier.
Gong Yi nodded his head, before looking at the little loli by his side.
“I, I’m called little Xin.” The little girl’s voice still betrayed a slight sob. Nevertheless, after being intimidated by the callous words from the scarface, she did not cry anymore, though her small face was still filled to the brim with terror and sorrow. “My papa and mama have been murdered, and those people forced me to transfer my wealth to them via signature, but I didn’t sign the papers…” Speaking to this point, the little loli looked hastily at everyone: “Uncles and aunties, could you bring me out of this place? I’ve got a lot of money, and I can give it all to you! I won’t hand it over to those bad men who killed my papa and mama!”
“Don’t be afraid, little sister. You’ll follow this big sis from now on.” Big sister Hong had a tender expression as she rubbed little Xin’s head. If they were able to escape from this place, this la.s.s would definitely have the potential to be nurtured to reach greater heights, as could be seen from the number of people still attempting to break into the Heroic Soul Stage.
Gong Yi did not say a word as he looked at little Xin. Although no one mentioned anything, everyone knew that the little girl had consumed some kind of medicine to break into the Heroic Soul Stage, which meant that she wouldn’t possess much combat strength. As for the rest of her words, he had just treated them lightly. Nevertheless, he had noticed a trend: the people here had offended others, and those people wanted them dead, but they couldn’t be killed directly.
However, Gong Yi was clearly unconcerned with this matter. He waited for the little girl to calm herself down before speaking out with an indifferent tone. “If you don’t have even a bit of strength, you’ll find it extremely difficult to make it out alive.”
People who were useless to the group would get eliminated.
Sister Hong raised her eyebrows, and was about to say something before being interrupted by the little girl.
“I can fight, uncle.” The little girl said as she fumbled about, retrieving a small knife from her bosom. The little knife had an extremely small edge, appearing no different from a nail clipper. “Furthermore, I… I can run very fast! I won’t drag everyone down, so don’t throw me away, please?”
Her eyes were filled with the desire and anxiety, hoping that she could receive recognition for her abilities. If she was really tossed away in this desert, she knew that it would definitely be a death sentence for her.
Hearing her plea, the suit-wearing guy laughed before looking at the scarface. Nevertheless, the other party still remained apathetic and did not give any reply.
Pus.h.i.+ng his gla.s.ses up, Gong Yi gave a self-introduction. “I’m called Gong Yi, and I can be considered as a financial investor. Although I’ve used medicines to achieve my Heroic Soul, I’ve also trained in unarmed and armed combat, so I can fight. Of course, I’m not very strong, while my special ability is the development of my mental sphere.” He pointed towards his head. “My memory’s really good. I can remember anything as long as I’ve seen it once. Furthermore, I’m extremely sensitive to patterns and numbers.”
“There’s no need to point. One look and I can tell that you’re a smarta.s.s,” said sister Hong in contempt. “This old lady dislikes people like you the most. All of you are loaded with money, have the gift of the gab, and yet are stingy like hungry ghosts. Accompanying people like you for a night is just a loss for us. A lot of girls have scammed by you people to go into investing; f.u.c.k those “investments” of yours, their hard-earned money had all been squandered because of your tricks! Not only lecherous but also criminal, you guys aren’t human!”
Gong Yi could only rub his nose in response. Indeed, people like him regarded playing with people as a pastime.
Sister Hong moved on to look at w.a.n.g Zhong, sizing him up as though he was a strange fellow. “What about you, little brother?”
She had only asked him due to scarface not wanting to say anything. Clearly, within this group of people, w.a.n.g Zhong was the only fellow who had yet to cast his Heroic Soul. Being the weakest chicken in their eyes, they were all wondering how he had managed to get mixed into this matter.
“I’m called w.a.n.g Zhong. They’ve sent me here for training to cast my Heroic Soul… however, I feel that I’ve been set up.” w.a.n.g Zhong replied while giving a helpless shrug.
Everyone was dumbfounded by what they heard, before bursting out in uncontrollable laughter. Even little Xin could not help but laugh, her flowery smile instantly causing her to look even cuter. Even the scarface could not help but let a smirk appear at the corner of his mouth. From the looks of it, everyone was rather unlucky to be sent here. Nevertheless, everyone had a backstory, and w.a.n.g Zhong appeared rather pitiful in comparison.
Obviously, the 4 people didn’t have any other reaction to w.a.n.g Zhong’s name. On one hand, they did not pay much attention to the CHF. On the other, they had already been locked up while the CHF was ongoing.
“Looks like you’ve offended people from the aristocratic families, little brother. That’s why you’ve been sent to this amazing place. Tsk tsk. If you’re able to survive, you’ll definitely be able to cast a pretty good Heroic Soul. In fact, you might even be able to condense a Dharma Idol.” Sister Hong could not help smiling as she said those words.
Even Gong Yi was smiling as he shook his head. What w.a.n.g Zhong had described was actually a very common matter for many aristocratic families, who would use this method to discard some of their unwanted members. “So, when the armed forces sent you over, did they tell you anything about the situation here?”
“No.” This was precisely what w.a.n.g Zhong was planning to ask. “I was originally filled with antic.i.p.ation for this place. However, it seems like I should be feeling some bit of despair.”
w.a.n.g Zhong’s frankness and black humor had caused everyone’s mood to become more relaxed. Since everyone was already here, and with a Casted Soul Stage being this calm, how could they remain nervous?
“This is the Hyperdimension. You’re no longer on Earth, little brother.” Gong Yi replied with a smile. “The Federation’s control over the information of the dimensional worlds is extremely tight, for ordinary people. However, since you’re a student from a Heroic Soul Academy, and now that you’re actually here, you should know something about this place.”
w.a.n.g Zhong nodded his head and replied, “I’ve got the gist of the situation. However, I don’t have a single clue about this place.”
Contrary to expectations, Gong Yi was extremely patient in his explanation. From the looks of it, he appeared to show considerable care to each and every person present here. To him, only when everyone was able to come together to form a complete team, would it form the basic requirement to make his life more comfortable. Indeed, this w.a.n.g Zhong student was quite weak, and was still a Casted Soul Stage. However, being able to adapt this 7 times gravity indicated that there was a possibility of w.a.n.g Zhong being a capable fighter. At the very least, he wouldn’t be a burden for this team. Furthermore, in some special scenarios, a person like him who was able to follow instructions would be very useful…
“…the cursed lands are a projection world that the armed forces have tried very hard to dominate, but are still unable to. According to its cla.s.sification, it should be a projection of h.e.l.l. The dimensional life forms found here are extremely strong. Furthermore, they come in many different forms, and their numbers are insanely high. The expeditions that the armed forces have sent here had resulted in numerous casualties. In the end, they were only able to scout and survey some fringe areas. Due to the death toll being too horrendous, the higher-ups of the Federation were forced to pull the troops back. It’s said that the centre of this place connects directly to the doors of h.e.l.l. Naturally, no one has personally witnessed it, though there will occasionally be top-notch Heavenly Soul Stage experts nearing the end of their lifespans who come here to find a chance to break through.”
After a pause, Gong Yi looked towards w.a.n.g Zhong before continuing, “As for us, we’re given the glorified t.i.tles of redeemers who can fulfill a mission in exchange for freedom. However, they’re frankly just using a suitable reason to get rid of us.”
There should be some things present here that the Federation needed. However, there were too many of these vast and mysterious dimensional worlds present in the Hyperdimension. Therefore, using “criminals” like them to obtain those required items wasn’t a loss for the Federation.
“So what’s the mission given by the armed forces?” asked w.a.n.g Zhong. From the looks of it, the people who had set him up really didn’t want him to return, as they did not even mention anything related to a mission.
“Evil Demon Blood.” said Sister Hong as she b.u.t.ted in. “They aren’t difficult to harvest from the fringes of the cursed lands. After 3 months, they will send some troops over to receive us. As long as we can harvest sufficient Evil Demon Blood, we can regain our freedom.”
Hearing that, Gong Yi gave a faint smile and said, “Do you really believe that the armed forces will uphold their 3-month promise?”
Sister Hong gawked slightly.
“Everyone sent here has to die. What do you think they will do when you get back?” said Gong Yi. “Regardless of whether we finish the mission or not, we will definitely die.”
“At the very least, I’ve never heard of anyone that managed to survive from this death row prisoner mission. Allowing us to leave this place alive is just an empty promise, they just want to make use of us before eliminating us. Since the armed forces have left us here, they definitely have no plans on letting us live.”
“This… is this for real?” The little girl’s voice shook as she asked. Being so young, she really didn’t want to die. Furthermore, she has yet to take her revenge!
At this moment, Sister Hong’s face had already changed completely. No longer did she have her usual gangster-like expression; it had been replaced by a solemn and furious one. Of course, she had already considered the points that Gong Yi had mentioned, though she really wanted to leave a bit of hope for herself. As for the promise of returning? Promises would only be effective if their statuses were of a similar level.
What Gong Yi said made a lot of sense. This was absolutely the style of the aristocratic families and the armed forces. In fact, Sister Hong could even imagine that if she bet her own life to complete this mission and left this place, she would still have to face that malevolent face as well as her enemies from the powerful Gui family.
She had originally believed that she would have a glimmer of hope to survive after selling her life to the armed forces. Although it was rather bleak, the hope still existed. However, upon hearing Gong Yi’s explanation that regardless of what they did, everyone was guaranteed to die, no one could remain calm. Even the little loli was now hugging Sister Hong’s hand tightly.
“If you’re going to say these words, that means that you definitely have another way to escape this place.” All of a sudden, scarface, who had remained silent all this while, spoke out.
With a smile, Gong Yi replied. “I won’t keep you in suspense. Before coming here, I’ve done a detailed investigation of this place. Indeed, a death row prisoner that had previously been sent to this cursed land, had managed to find a hidden pa.s.sageway. It was a shattered spatial coordinate that allowed him to directly escape the Hyperdimension and go back to Earth. That person was able to escape through this method.”
Everyone focused their eyes on him, while Sister Hong seemed to have seen a sliver of hope from him. Nevertheless, she felt even more doubtful. “When did that happen? Can you guarantee that the spatial coordinate still exists? These things dissipate extremely easily. Furthermore, even if we find this spatial coordinate, how do we use it? There can’t be any transmission array present, right?”
“That happened quite a few years back. There’s no need to worry about the issue of transmission. If we can find it, I naturally have a way to leave this place.” Gong Yi hesitated a bit, before continuing. “Naturally, that was a spatial coordinate that was discovered a few years ago, so I don’t know if it has dissipated or not. We don’t even know if we can find it. That’s why we should start by harvesting some Evil Demon Blood. If you’re not willing to take the risk, you can just stay here and wait to get received by the armed forces. Naturally, your life will then be in the hands of those aristocratic families and armed forces. This is your decision to make.”