That unfortunate thing…
So Mr. Pot has not been taken out of the inn by that man. If it’s still in the inn, is the person in Room 408 deceiving me, or what is going on?
Standing before the worn wooden counter, Yang Zicang certainly didn’t believe that an immobile pot—true to that man’s claim—had come to talk to him about the ownership of rooms in the inn on its own.
Is there a reason for such an absurd scheme, that the damn thing demanding a sky-high price couldn’t have just negotiated directly with me through the door panel?
Yang Zicang, who had been simultaneously looking at the inn’s roster and pondering in his mind both the mental communication between a parasitic nightmare and its master and the issue concerning Room 408’s ownership, looked up and asked Manager Mus:
“Is this matter known to everyone who possesses a parasitic nightmare? “
“If they try, they should be able to figure it out easily, ” Mus said calmly but unhurriedly. “But most people who own a red model probably wouldn’t realize their unique nature towards beings like you. “
So this is also a piece of information that wouldn’t have been particularly emphasized.
Yang Zicang’s eyes moved slightly, and he offered his thanks, “Thank you, Mr. Mus. “
-｛July, the distributor, has marked a new node for the glorious prelude nourished within me now.｝
This is considered a “glorious prelude ” as well?
Oh. Yang Zicang realized that this must have something to do with discovering hidden information regarding the Divine Inn. That’s why July, the distributor, has his eye on it.
It’s just that the other few distributors don’t seem to be paying much attention to what’s happening here.
Perhaps they simply don’t share Mr. Rye’s taste for this kind of experience.
But these were only his own speculations. The youth, who had just come from Distributor Di’an, still had lingering within him some conjectures about the Radiance stemming from the matter — stewing yet unsettled since his visit to the supply station at the lighthouse out at sea — where that specific distributor took note of a unique milestone.
With a loud clatter, a train appeared out of thin air behind him.
Yang Zicang turned to look. The train, which was currently able to move in its mental form, came to a steady stop and solidly materialized a single carriage. Li Aimin, holding a fire ax, jumped down from the doorway.
{I’m about to have a name! }
A gruff, muffled voice shouted with a hint of excitement.
{Does this mean I can immediately move into a big house? }
The train glided forward, its massive head emerging out of thin air, gradually materializing like ink shifting from emptiness to solidity, appearing from the hall and moving toward the counter. It drew closer alongside Li Aimin as he ran to the counter.
{You probably can’t. } The Nightmare Train buzzed.
Li Aimin placed it on the counter with a thud.
“What do you plan to call yourself?“
{Xi… } The voice began, brimming with excitement, then suddenly paused, {Calling it Fire Ax sounds wrong… Hmm… }
While it was thinking, Li Aimin dipped his brush onto the register paper, “How about… Nightmare Slayer? That’s a good name, domineering!“
{Good! }
The manager watched quietly. Li Aimin’s brush landed and had just written the character “Night” when the object beside his hand hesitated and piped up: {Wait, didn’t you also say I am a nightmare? }
Li Aimin’s brush came to a halt.
The Nightmare Train said: {The people here call us servants of the Science Demon. }
{Really? } The gruff voice on the counter pondered for less than a second, {Is it still possible to change it to Science Demon Slayer now? }
“Hurry up; we don’t have much time, ” Yang Zicang said from the side.
“Then let’s call it… Little Demon Star. ” Li Aimin quickly added the three flowing characters “Demon Little Star ” after the character “Evil ” with a flourish.
“Little Demon Star, perfect. “
Under the gaze of the four pairs of eyes from Yang Zicang, the Strange Manager, the Science Demon Train, and the axe with red eyes on the counter, Li Aimin, with a smile on his face, pinched the left and right edges of the name list with both hands, then read it again with a bit of hesitation.
“Little… Demon Star? “
“It’s fine. ” Yang Zicang patted him on the shoulder. “A name is just a code. ” He turned to the Demon Nightmare Train and said, “Take Little Star back to the room later. Then we’ll head back to the sea in a bit. “
Then Yang Zicang turned back to Li Aimin, who had let out an ‘uh,’ and said, “Quick, come upstairs with me and help me run an experiment. “
“What? “
“Just come on up. Also, let me introduce you to some of my friends. “
They packed up quickly and, one after the other, stomped up the stairs. “Do you have the glimmering brilliance prompting for the Deliverance Emergence yet? “
“It’s a bit strange. There are indeed two prompts. And it seems one has already been completed, ” Li Aimin said.
This remark caught Yang Zicang off guard, as the connection between Li Aimin’s companion evil spirit and himself made him realize some unspoken rules of the hotel. That is, if the information about the companion evil spirit marked by Mr. Lai were to be confirmed next by Xue Qi and her companion evil spirit Xiangxiang, would it also cause Li Aimin to give birth to a radiance.
Because for Li Aimin himself, this was just an ordinary matter. The exchange between him and the manager was also slightly avoided by me due to my subconscious self-preservation awareness.
Yang Zicang, quickly ascending the stairs, thought for a moment, “Then… if we confirm it in two steps, it would be more detailed. “
The only option was to split the experiment of entering another room to communicate directly with “Little Devil Star ” into two parts: first, confirm it now in the hallway, and then later change to Ms. Xue Qi for confirmation inside the room.
“Let’s do it here. ” Yang Zicang, who had reached the corner between the third and fourth floors, paused his steps, glanced at the open space there, and said to the man following behind him.
Li Aimin gently set his footsteps down.
Standing near the brown-black carved stair railing, Yang Zicang steadied his breathing and said, “Quickly, confirm with your companion evil spirit whether we can connect via telepathic communication? “
“Oh? ” A faint blush, the size of a ring, lit up on Li Aimin’s chest, and then his face slightly changed as he stared at Yang Zicang.
“That’s terrible! There’s really no response! “
Bang! Yang Zicang slammed his fist onto the wall in frustration.
He then breathed out a sigh, took a prepared mask out of his pocket, and handed it over: “Forget it, this is normal. Don’t go back, saving time is important. Hurry up and put it on, then follow me.“
“……“
Is it really that urgent?
Li Aimin took the soft-textured mask, pulled it open, and glanced at it.
And that name list from earlier, along with this mask…?
Letting out an “ah,” the young man felt he couldn’t treat these matters with the same seriousness as this “Chairman.” Humming a tune, he pressed the mask onto his face, shook his head, and followed the youth’s swift footsteps up the stairs.
……
Yang Zicang twisted open the door to Room 405 with a click, stepped inside, and stood waiting with his hands in his pockets as Li Aimin leisurely walked over.
Inside the room, three figures exuding a deep, abyss-like aura of ethereal flames turned their heads to look at the young man standing by the wall just outside the suite.
“Chairman Yang has arrived,” a deep voice uttered.
Yang Zicang nodded slightly.
Sensing the unusual aura, Li Aimin slowed his pace and peered into the room from the doorway with some curiosity. Then, his eyes sharpened as if rooted to the spot, staring at the figures inside radiating wavering shadowy presences.
Eyes gleaming with rings of light—three or four layers—scanned over him. Under a gaze that felt capable of probing both inside and outside his body, Li Aimin’s breath tightened.
At the end of the corridor.
Within Room 408, the door was slightly ajar, and Semis, pressing tightly against the crack to spy on the commotion down the hall, sharply inhaled a breath of cold air before forcing his mouth shut, holding in the exhale.
Only after both individuals had fully entered Room 405 did he carefully hold his breath, timidly yet tremblingly turn the doorknob, retracting the lock to gently close the door.
Semis immediately turned and leaned his back against the door, as if recovering from suffocation, gasping heavily twice.
With a look of bewilderment lingering on his face for a long moment, he thought, “Those guys… how are there so many? ” Then the man, with his sallow, wrinkled face and high cheekbones, stroked his empty, growling stomach and figured, That should be the last of them leaving by now.
……
At this moment, in the average-sized hotel room, Li Aimin, who had just perceived a touch of elegance, had already reverted to his usual boisterousness. After all, this was at least a big association.
“Let’s get out of here first, ” Yang Zicang said. “My three friends, we’ll trouble you again shortly… “
Before he could finish saying “just turn around, ” his words were cut off by someone else’s voice.
“President Buchen, ” said the man with a stern expression, wearing red jade earrings:
“Are you aware? Just now, Ms. Connie has resolved the trouble with the World Ark. “
“Oh? ” Yang Zicang, who was waiting for the Demon Train to arrive before making his move, looked up to meet the speaker’s gaze. He calculated in his mind that it had been several hours since he received the pledge and the enticing lure of the signal source.
Keruen did not hastily reclaim the airship in such a short time. Instead, by sending an inquiry letter, they notified the World Ark side about the news of a competitor. But the other party was not easy to deal with either. The constant pressure they applied was also an attempt to force him to respond.
Now, this gentleman before him said that the trouble had been resolved by Conney.
That definitely could not be any form of response that they had concluded during their brief discussion at that time.
“Conney? How on earth did she do it? “
Amid Yang Zicang’s inquiry, a faint whisper of conversation drifted over.
The three people in front of him had a hint of joy on their faces, and the gentleman a few steps away continued.
“Finally confirmed by Keruen City Hall through a dedicated telephone line. After the first attempt to communicate failed, Lady Conney, unable to delay any further, took it upon herself to urgently formulate an auction plan. “
“Auction? “
In the room, someone pointed a finger playfully at the floor as their friend explained beside them with a smile.
“We can’t get into the details here. Anyway, President, just go over there and you’ll find out. “
Li Aimin had just reached out to scratch his head when Yang Zicang grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him onto the train.
……
At sea, after coming out of the small cabin, Li Aimin felt somewhat bewildered, experiencing the sea breeze from the early morning hours.
Yang Zicang had already run down towards the front cabin passage. Li Aimin looked back at this place, and confirming it was a wooden sailboat floating on the sea, he gradually showed an expression of baffled confusion.
Before long, Li Aimin, who had walked alone to the narrow passage ahead near the ship’s railing, heard faint laughter, like cheers, coming from somewhere below in the cabin.
Thump, thump, thump—that figure ran back up, holding a piece of paper in hand.
“Li Aimin, ” Yang Zicang ran over and said,
“Sorry, but I’m really pressed for time. I need to go back to the hotel now to find a friend and confirm some things. So, in a moment, the train will take you back. Let Cheng Yunze go with it back to the hotel instead. “
“Hey, you trust me that much, hahaha! ” Li Aimin twisted his akimbo waist, as if only now savoring the moment.
“Where exactly did we just go? “
“Don’t mention that place from now on. ” The sea wind brought a hint of solemnity to Yang Zicang’s face. “Neither the hotel nor the list of you joining our association should be leaked. Otherwise, there will be trouble. “
“Someone has their eye on that place? “
Yang Zicang nodded. “Although many people may already know that we have the ability to enter and leave that hotel, it still needs to be kept secret, especially to newcomers like you. So, even if you return in the future, it’s best to wear the mask I just gave you, or some other disguise. “
Li Aimin immediately became aware of the implication in the words of the Chairman of the Unified Lodging Association standing before him. “No way, is there a traitor in our Unified Lodging Association? “
Li Aimin thought for a moment and then continued, “Could it be, could it be… that inn, it… “
The young man turned around to look. In his field of vision, apart from the cabin and the dim cyan sky behind it, along with the distant full moon, he could make out the outline of nothing else.
“Does it… not exist in reality? “
Yang Zicang, leaning his back against the ship’s railing, let out a soft sigh. “We’re not sure yet. “
Lowering his voice as he signaled to the train, he said, “In any case, the people inside have diverse and complex backgrounds. Since you’re a new member, from now on, it’s best not to reveal your true identity when you appear in there. “
“Wow. How can I say this… I’m getting this strange feeling. Chief, all those brothers we fought with just now, they were really strong, right? From now on, can we go to some places that are really worth venturing into together? “
Then Li Aimin, somewhat puzzled, sensed the atmosphere around him grow a few decibels quieter.
-｛The distributor May Valkyrie is currently observing my life experiences.｝
Yang Zicang rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, they’re not from our association, either. “
“Huh, what do you mean? “
“What I mean is, they’re not from the Inn Association. But they are working alongside us to save this world. “
Hands in the pockets of his newly changed, clean clothes, Yang Zicang gazed toward the direction of the distant land and said,
“You may not be aware yet, but right now, this world is on the edge of doom. “
“Huh? “
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