Chapter 44.3
Tang Mianmian looked at Xiao Tangqiu but the latter merely grinned, “No, but thank you for your invitation.”
“Rejected again huh?” Su Manluo didn’t seem surprised. “You’re still thinking of joining Shen Yuan’s team?”
Xiao Tangqiu bit his lip and didn’t answer her question. “Tang Mianmian and I are both weaklings. It would be bad if we ended up getting you in trouble instead.”
Su Manluo didn’t insist, “Then, forget about it. If you change your mind, you can contact me any time… After completing an S-level mission, you won’t be forced to enter another mission for a year, but my advice is not to waste an entire year or else the next mission you go on will probably be your last.”
Although Xiao Tangqiu still didn’t know what Su Manluo’s motive was, he knew that she had said this out of kindness. He nodded, “We understand, thank you, senior.”
Su Manluo smiled, “It’s good that you understand. I’m leaving. You should also go back earlier. This is Newbie Village. You better be careful.”
As soon as her words fell, Xiao Tangqiu noticed several suspicious-looking people nearby. They were poorly dressed, thin and emaciated, with hostile gazes, and seemed to be on the move.
“That’s right, with your points, you should be able to enter District D now,” Su Manluo paused. “Not only District D, it should be enough for other districts as well. It’s best if you leave here as soon as possible.”
Xiao Tangqiu nodded, “Thank you, senior.”
As soon as the two entered their house, they quickly closed the door. Someone had already reached out a hand to grab them but was caught in the door.
The man desperately tried to squeeze his way in but Tang Mianmian snorted coldly and took a bite out of his arm. The man immediately let out a cry and retracted his hand.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian took the opportunity to close the door, leaving those hostile people out in Newbie Village under the heavy rain.
Xiao Tangqiu panted heavily and fell to the ground with his back against the door, holding the door firmly shut with his back. The men who were chasing them still tried their hardest to smash the door, as if they wanted to break in.
Bang, bang! Bang, bang!
Under the fierce impact, the flimsy wooden door shook and creaked like it was about to collapse.
“What the h.e.l.l do they want?!” Tang Mianmian’s little face turned white as he rushed to block the door with Xiao Tangqiu. The two men propped their backs against the door to prevent the people outside from breaking the door.
Fortunately, although this flimsy wooden door looked fragile, in fact it was extremely strong and unbreakable. As long as the owner of the house wasn’t willing to open the door, the people outside couldn’t enter no matter what, even if they used violence.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian fearfully leaned against the door for a long time until the people outside realized that the door couldn’t be broken and the banging gradually disappeared… Those people seemed to have left.
They breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Tang Mianmian’s face was filled with shock. “What did those people want?! Rob us? But we don’t have any money!” Even if they had money, there was no way to circulate and use it here ah!
Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, “Maybe they want our points.”
Tang Mianmian immediately understood. Although there was no currency in circulation in the city of the abyss, they could use points as currency. The group of malicious people must have wanted to rob them after seeing them trade with Su Manluo earlier.
“Newbie Village is too unsafe. I think Su Manluo is right. Let’s move to District D as soon as possible! The security there should be better, right?” There was fear lingering on his face.
Xiao Tangqiu nodded his head. He also felt that it was time for them to leave Newbie Village. After what happened earlier, they were probably being targeted.
“Let’s fill our stomachs first. Then, we’ll move.
They didn’t have any luggage either, all they had to do was leave.
“Good, good! Let’s have a good meal! After eating, we’ll move!”
The two men stood in front of the vending machine and studied it for quite some time. This looked good, that looked good too. Although they wanted to eat everything, they didn’t dare spend too much. They looked and looked and finally chose an ordinary Chinese meal.
When Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian tasted the steaming hot rice and stir-fried dishes, they were almost moved to tears. Both men cried as they ate. After eating, they casually tidied up and were ready to move.
At first, they were worried that the men would crouch outside and wait for them. They grit their teeth and specially bought a crossbow and a multipurpose Swiss Army knife to protect themselves.
Xiao Tangqiu held the crossbow while Tang Mianmian held the Swiss Army knife as they carefully opened the door only to find that the men had already left. However, they didn’t dare to take it lightly and cautiously held onto their weapons as they studied their surroundings.
At this time it was already dark, and Newbie Village seemed particularly chaotic and dangerous under the cover of the night. There were only a few pedestrians on the street. They were dressed in rags and had blank expressions on their faces. There were others hiding in the dark behaving secretively.
Aside from that, the whole of Newbie Village also resembled the slums. Everything was broken and in ruins and there wasn’t any light at all, only a darkness that pervaded. Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian were very alert. When they finally crossed the run-down streets to the junction between Newbie Village and District D, they both let out a sigh of relief at the same time.
The difference between Newbie Village and District D was very obvious. The houses in Newbie Village were all dilapidated and the residential building in District D that was separated by a wall looked very regular. Not only that, the street lamps on the roadside and the light from the windows of the residential buildings separated District D and Newbie Village into two completely different worlds of light and darkness.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian didn’t dare to delay any longer. They quickly walked towards the checkpoint between Newbie Village and District D.
The checkpoint was unguarded but when the two approached, a transparent screen suddenly popped up in front of them: “1000 points are required to enter District D. Please confirm payment.”
After clicking on the confirmation b.u.t.ton, Xiao Tangqiu looked at his watch, and 1000 points was indeed deducted. They finally entered District D smoothly.
Compared to Newbie Village, the public security in District D was obviously much better. There were more pedestrians on the streets and their clothes looked much neater. At first, the two were still confused like headless flies, but they didn’t dare to casually ask someone. It took a long time for them to finally find a vacant apartment to live in. Unlike Newbie Village’s simple but free accommodation, the apartments in District D also needed points – no more, no less, 1,000 points.
Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian each paid 500 points, and with that, they owned their first place. The apartment wasn’t too small. It had two rooms and a living room, which was the bedroom and another room.
Tang Mianmian suggested, “There’s only one bedroom, so shall we take turns sleeping?”
“Up to you,” Xiao Tangqiu had no problem with that. Although they could own their own apartments, it was obviously safer for them to live together at this stage. “…But it’s a little strange. Why would they design it this way?”
Tang Mianmian shrugged his shoulders, “Who knows, I’ll go in and have a look.”
When he entered the room, he suddenly cried out, “Oh my G.o.d! There’s actually a computer! “
“Computer?” Xiao Tangqiu also got a fright. There were computers in the city of the abyss?
He rushed into the room. Sure enough, there was an old-fashioned computer on the table. It was one of those bulky old machines… Could they still access the Internet in the city of the abyss?
Tang Mianmian turned on the machine at once, shouting excitedly, “f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k! Can we still access the Internet in the city of the abyss? Then I can play games?”
Xiao Tangqiu’s intuition told him that it wasn’t that simple. If they could really access the Internet here, what did that imply?
A minute later, the old machine was successfully turned on. However, the computer desktop was different from all the computer desktops they had seen before. The wallpaper was red and there was only one icon on the desktop – a black tail-biting serpent.
Tang Mianmian opened the black tail-biting serpent icon in bewilderment. Soon, a webpage popped up -“Welcome to the Abyss City forum.”
“Abyss City forum? What the h.e.l.l?” He suddenly found something, “Wait a minute! There’s no search engine, and there isn’t a place to enter a web address. There’s no way to open other websites!”
Xiao Tangqiu’s heart sank, “I’m afraid this is the local network inside the city of the abyss.”
Tang Mianmian nodded, his face looking depressed. “I think so too. We were too naive. If we can really access the Internet, people outside would’ve long known about the city of the abyss…”
Xiao Tangqiu frowned slightly, “You can try logging into the forum.”
Tang Mianmian nodded. “If we want to log in, we’ll need to register first. It looks like we have to enter an ID first. It should be a string of numbers.”
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly remembered something. He quickly pressed a b.u.t.ton on his wrist.w.a.tch. Soon, a transparent screen appeared in front of him. A string of numbers were displayed on the screen. “Try entering this number.”
Tang Mianmian entered the numbers according to the instructions. Very quickly, the word “pa.s.s” was displayed on the screen. Then, he was asked to fill in his forum username. He simply entered “Small Sugar Ball”.
The registration was successful.
“It worked!” Xiao Tangqiu’s heart was delighted. The next second, the page automatically changed and entered the forum.
The forum was divided into five sections – the Wuhua gate, tips section, help section, trading section… There was even the divination section, emotional exchange section, etc. It dazzled the eye.
“Abyss City Player Ranking?” Tang Mianmian entered the divination section and casually clicked on the sticky post in red. He laughed, “Will great G.o.d Shen Yuan be on this…”
When Tang Mianmian opened the post, sure enough Shen Yuan was on there, and he was the first.
Xiao Tangqiu’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly pushed Tang Mianmian aside, “Let me have a look.”
Tang Mianmian, who had been pushed aside by Xiao Tangqiu, teased faintly, “If I didn’t know any better, I might think that you have that sort of thoughts towards great G.o.d Shen Yuan!”
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly shook his hand, “Definitely not.”
Tang Mianmian said, “Although I know it’s because great G.o.d Shen Yuan looks like your friend, but you being like this… makes me think there’s more to it ah!”
Xiao Tangqiu’s mouth twitched, “No way.”
Tang Mianmian blinked innocently, “Have you been secretly in love with your friend this whole time, and take great G.o.d Shen Yuan as his subst.i.tute?”
Xiao Tangqiu, “Shut up.”
~~~
P.S. Guys I’m back! Pardon the long absence. I have an allergic reaction to G.o.d knows what and I’ve been to the hospital but they still can’t figure out what it is so I’m on a detox from everything. I’ve been miserable and I look like a red puffer fish Anyways, I’m better now that I’m being super careful!