Translator: Sigma Editor: Sigma
"Yes," answered Feng Bujue.
The other nodded. "Alright, it’s okay. Go through the passage to do the filter." Then, he told the other four who were with him to refill the fuel and do the maintenance for the spaceship with their gears.
Hank led Feng Bujue and Wild Trace Sword Shadow out of this platform. They didn’t take the lift but instead descended a staircase nearby. The lift was only for the ground handling team.
Once they reached stairs, Wild Trace Sword Shadow couldn’t help but ask, "Don’t you think it’s weird?" He looked at Feng Bujue. "You just said that we hadn't retrieved anything and he believed you right away." He turned to Hank. "You didn’t need to be checked or something? To see if you stashed the items for yourself?"
Hank was astounded. "Stash? What are you talking about… Who will do that? Once you got busted, you will receive a death sentence!" He paused for a while and continued, "And, what’s good on stashing away items?"
Wild Trace Sword Shadow was dumbstruck seeing the other’s reaction.
"We shouldn't discuss the ownership of private properties with the slaves. To them, even money has no meaning. The only valuable thing that is enough to be stashed away is food. But under the circumstance that they aren’t starving, taking risks just for a little more food is not worth it." Feng Bujue smiled.
"Slaves…" Hank muttered, "What do you mean? And… What is ownership of private properties?"
"There’s something you shouldn't know as it’s better for you, Hank." Feng Bujue shrugged.
The three of them went all the way down to the bottom, where there was a passage. This passage didn’t look very solid since the walls weren’t metal, but rather a mix of rocks. The illuminating devices above their heads were also simple. This channel looked like a mine with a pretty low safety factor. It wasn’t a surprise if it would collapse at any time.
After having walked for around 300 meters, they arrived to a place that looked like a security booth. It was a hexagonal metal checkpoint with a window just like a toll fee on the highway, but the shape was different.
They stopped by the window. The officer inside was using a formulaic tone to speak to them, "Numbers, names, time when you left the village."
"Scavengers Squad number 24. Hank, Javie, Joy," answered Hank. "We left the village this morning."
The other read the document in his hands and scrutinized the three of them. "Lost two men?"
"Yes," answered Feng Bujue.
"So sorry," the man said, "you didn’t lose the locker room’s key, did you?"
"Nope," answered Hank. Usually, Scavengers Squads put the locker room’s keys inside the Shark Cabins, so no one would bring it along.
The man lifted his head to check the time (People in the Deity Guarded Village divided a day into 10 periods of time, and they had a special clock for it), then jotted something on his documents. "Get in. Please keep the locker room clean. When receiving ‘filter’, you should stand still to prevent damage to your own bodies." The man was a bit absent-minded when saying so. The words he spoke seemed to be the prescribed terms that he had repeated too many times that he almost spat them out as quick as possible.
The three of them continued walking forward. Standing in front of them was another channel, which was made from metal wholly. This section wasn’t long, only around 100 meters. Moreover, the space there was gradually expanded where the door at the other end was taller than five meters. The area behind the door looked pretty much like a fan-shaped station, around one mu (unit of area, equal to one-fifteenth of a hectare – TL). The ceiling was at least seven or eight meters of height. There were many metal pillars standing in the area with numbers written on them.
Under Hank’s lead, Feng Bujue and Wild Trace Sword Shadow crossed through this area. They now faced a fan-shaped lobby, which was the curve part of the fan, where the numerous metal doors stood together like a dense forest. Each of them was around 1.9 meters tall and 1 meter wide. Those doors were close at the moment, and inside, of course, was the locker room.
Hank used the key to unlock a single door, then he entered one of the rooms. The space inside was narrow, more than what they had thought. Standing in front of them were five stalls like five telephone booths. Those stalls were the ‘filter’ of the Scavengers.
"Get in there and sit for a while," explained Hank.
Feng Bujue nodded, throwing a tacit glance to his teammate. Wild Trace Sword Shadow now had a reaction of a dead pig who wasn’t scared of boiling water, as he felt that the Killing Game he was playing had turned into a Multiplayer Survival Game. His hands were tied. Anyway, what Feng-Ge said, he would follow… In some aspects, now Apocalypse Assault was no different from a dead person, thus, Wild Trace Sword Shadow’s feeling was indifferent.
By the way, he used to think that Feng Bujue’s words, "We have to be serious and kill the other two, so as they can see what real competences are", meant that they would have an earth-shaking battle, which both Gods and Demons had to fear, to compete between fighting competences with the opponents and the true hotshots would win at the end. He had never thought that…‘Serious’, ‘Competences’ and ‘Kill’ that came out from Feng-Ge’s mouth had totally different concepts.
There’s a saying that ‘no war but still can subdue the soldiers’. However, the way Feng Bujue was conducting now was ‘no war but still delivering death to the enemies’. Eventually, Wild Trace Sword Shadow understood that Feng Bujue was worth the man who ‘Smile and see a thousand arms destroyed in the vast sea—planning to decide the fate of heaven and earth, releasing karma to the world’. To a player who wasn’t specialized in fighting class, fighting was the worst strategy and the worst choice. Under the circumstances that one could achieve his goal without taking risks, that was when he revealed his true competence.
Without Feng Bujue, Wild Trace Sword Shadow would never think that he could win a match in a Killing Game this way. He felt both lucky and wary recalling the time he had singled out with Feng Bujue. If he and Feng Bujue hadn't met each other alone, but in a multiplayer Killing Game of 2 versus two or 3 versus 3, he was afraid that his consequences wouldn’t be too different from that of the two guys of Saber Corpse, which was useless even if he was still resisting.
During the time when the scenario was developing, Wild Trace Sword Shadow gradually felt Feng Bujue’s prodigious value more and more. In some other games, the basic assessment on a superstar player was all about his fighting capacity. But in Thriller Paradise, players like Feng Bujue could possibly bring benefits more than the top 10 players in the combat competence ranking list.
Regrettably, it was impossible to invite Feng Bujue to join the Martial World. Although Wild Trace Sword Shadow wasn’t good at seeking talents like his leader [Smile and Ask the Firmament] (last time the author named this guy Smile and Greet the Common – TL), his instinct was precise. He understood that in this world of online games, players like Feng Bujue would never submit to other people. Even if he had to be someone’s henchman, it wouldn't be for long.
This sort of players sought for freedom, liberty, and joy. What they hated the most was to be assigned by others. Of course, they didn’t like to begrudgingly work for others. Wild Trace Sword Shadow himself was also this sort of people. [Smile and Ask the Firmament] and [No Sword Warrior] were his buddies in real life. Moreover, the three of them were the ones who had established the Martial World Studio; that’s why he still stayed. If some other studios wanted him to work for them with better benefits, he would rather work alone. This was also why the Order’s plan of head-hunting the three Saber Sword Smile failed.
To players like Feng Bujue, Wild Trace Sword Shadow quite appreciated them with a little interest. Although it was hopeless to invite them, cooperating could be considered. Young Master Sword had remembered the badge of [Hell’s Front Line]. No matter how big this union was, as it had someone like Feng-Ge, it shouldn't be a gang of stupid people and slags with a fighting capacity of 5. Even if they couldn't cooperate, at least, they should try their best to avoid conflicts with them.
In short, he had formed a concept that under the favored situations, the best case was not to mess with people like Feng Bujue…
...
The three of them separately entered the stalls. There was only one seat inside of it. After they had taken the seat, what happened next was extremely nasty.
The chair where Feng Bujue was sitting began to sink. After it had reached the elevation of the ground, it started to slowly move forward.
He had a feeling that he was a car on a conveying belt which was being washed in the carwash. Although the surroundings were pitch black, his body still felt the water and air washing him all over.
It was said to be the disinfection process; in fact, it was like considering people a hanger so as they could wash the protection suit thoroughly.
Fortunately, this process wasn't relatively long or painful. The ‘filter’ was done after not more than one minute. A metal plate in front of them automatically rose up, and light flooded the path ahead of them. What stood in front of them was literally the true ‘Locker Room’.
Feng Bujue stood up and got out of the stall. The metal plate behind him closed again. The room he was standing now was around 20 square meters, which had a row of lockers leaning against a wall and a long bench fixed in the middle of the room. The four walls were made of metal, and the light shining from the ceiling could be said to be adequate.
Hank and Wild Trace Sword Shadow almost came here at the same time. "There are clothes for changing in the lockers. You can put your protection suit in there," said Hank. He didn’t know that the other two players couldn’t change their clothes in the scenario. They could put on the protection suits because this item was deemed as an item related to the plot; moreover, it covered the players’ real costumes. When they put the protection suits on, their own costumes didn’t change. But among the clothes in the closets, there was nothing they could wear.
Feng Bujue didn’t say anything as he stepped forward and opened a locker. As he had assumed, those lockers weren’t locked. Moreover, he immediately figured out that all the garments were the in the same styles.
Wild Trace Sword Shadow also opened a locker, took out the piece of clothing and said, "This is the first time I’ve found ‘clothes’ in a scenario." He smiled. "If we were still in Closed Beta now, wearing those suits outside, people would consider us Gods."
"Yeah... too bad it’s not the Closed Beta anymore," said Feng Bujue. "This ugly costume, even if we can bring it out of the scenario, I guess it won’t have a good price."
He was right. Standard clothing and accessories of villagers in the Deity Guarded Village were of the simplest design: long-sleeved collarless shirt accompanied with trousers. The garments were brown-grey and had no patterns while the style and position of the pockets were pretty regular.
"What should we do now? We can’t adjust the clothing in the scenario," asked Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"Continue to wear the protection suit," said Feng Bujue with his natural tone.
Having heard that, Hank said, "But inside the residential area, we all wear…"
Feng Bujue swung his sleeve and interrupted Hank, "I have plans. It’s okay if only you change your clothing."
Translator: Sigma Editor: Sigma
"Yes," answered Feng Bujue.
The other nodded. "Alright, it’s okay. Go through the passage to do the filter." Then, he told the other four who were with him to refill the fuel and do the maintenance for the spaceship with their gears.
Hank led Feng Bujue and Wild Trace Sword Shadow out of this platform. They didn’t take the lift but instead descended a staircase nearby. The lift was only for the ground handling team.
Once they reached stairs, Wild Trace Sword Shadow couldn’t help but ask, "Don’t you think it’s weird?" He looked at Feng Bujue. "You just said that we hadn't retrieved anything and he believed you right away." He turned to Hank. "You didn’t need to be checked or something? To see if you stashed the items for yourself?"
Hank was astounded. "Stash? What are you talking about… Who will do that? Once you got busted, you will receive a death sentence!" He paused for a while and continued, "And, what’s good on stashing away items?"
Wild Trace Sword Shadow was dumbstruck seeing the other’s reaction.
"We shouldn't discuss the ownership of private properties with the slaves. To them, even money has no meaning. The only valuable thing that is enough to be stashed away is food. But under the circumstance that they aren’t starving, taking risks just for a little more food is not worth it." Feng Bujue smiled.
"Slaves…" Hank muttered, "What do you mean? And… What is ownership of private properties?"
"There’s something you shouldn't know as it’s better for you, Hank." Feng Bujue shrugged.
The three of them went all the way down to the bottom, where there was a passage. This passage didn’t look very solid since the walls weren’t metal, but rather a mix of rocks. The illuminating devices above their heads were also simple. This channel looked like a mine with a pretty low safety factor. It wasn’t a surprise if it would collapse at any time.
After having walked for around 300 meters, they arrived to a place that looked like a security booth. It was a hexagonal metal checkpoint with a window just like a toll fee on the highway, but the shape was different.
They stopped by the window. The officer inside was using a formulaic tone to speak to them, "Numbers, names, time when you left the village."
"Scavengers Squad number 24. Hank, Javie, Joy," answered Hank. "We left the village this morning."
The other read the document in his hands and scrutinized the three of them. "Lost two men?"
"Yes," answered Feng Bujue.
"So sorry," the man said, "you didn’t lose the locker room’s key, did you?"
"Nope," answered Hank. Usually, Scavengers Squads put the locker room’s keys inside the Shark Cabins, so no one would bring it along.
The man lifted his head to check the time (People in the Deity Guarded Village divided a day into 10 periods of time, and they had a special clock for it), then jotted something on his documents. "Get in. Please keep the locker room clean. When receiving ‘filter’, you should stand still to prevent damage to your own bodies." The man was a bit absent-minded when saying so. The words he spoke seemed to be the prescribed terms that he had repeated too many times that he almost spat them out as quick as possible.
The three of them continued walking forward. Standing in front of them was another channel, which was made from metal wholly. This section wasn’t long, only around 100 meters. Moreover, the space there was gradually expanded where the door at the other end was taller than five meters. The area behind the door looked pretty much like a fan-shaped station, around one mu (unit of area, equal to one-fifteenth of a hectare – TL). The ceiling was at least seven or eight meters of height. There were many metal pillars standing in the area with numbers written on them.
Under Hank’s lead, Feng Bujue and Wild Trace Sword Shadow crossed through this area. They now faced a fan-shaped lobby, which was the curve part of the fan, where the numerous metal doors stood together like a dense forest. Each of them was around 1.9 meters tall and 1 meter wide. Those doors were close at the moment, and inside, of course, was the locker room.
Hank used the key to unlock a single door, then he entered one of the rooms. The space inside was narrow, more than what they had thought. Standing in front of them were five stalls like five telephone booths. Those stalls were the ‘filter’ of the Scavengers.
"Get in there and sit for a while," explained Hank.
Feng Bujue nodded, throwing a tacit glance to his teammate. Wild Trace Sword Shadow now had a reaction of a dead pig who wasn’t scared of boiling water, as he felt that the Killing Game he was playing had turned into a Multiplayer Survival Game. His hands were tied. Anyway, what Feng-Ge said, he would follow… In some aspects, now Apocalypse Assault was no different from a dead person, thus, Wild Trace Sword Shadow’s feeling was indifferent.
By the way, he used to think that Feng Bujue’s words, "We have to be serious and kill the other two, so as they can see what real competences are", meant that they would have an earth-shaking battle, which both Gods and Demons had to fear, to compete between fighting competences with the opponents and the true hotshots would win at the end. He had never thought that…‘Serious’, ‘Competences’ and ‘Kill’ that came out from Feng-Ge’s mouth had totally different concepts.
There’s a saying that ‘no war but still can subdue the soldiers’. However, the way Feng Bujue was conducting now was ‘no war but still delivering death to the enemies’. Eventually, Wild Trace Sword Shadow understood that Feng Bujue was worth the man who ‘Smile and see a thousand arms destroyed in the vast sea—planning to decide the fate of heaven and earth, releasing karma to the world’. To a player who wasn’t specialized in fighting class, fighting was the worst strategy and the worst choice. Under the circumstances that one could achieve his goal without taking risks, that was when he revealed his true competence.
Without Feng Bujue, Wild Trace Sword Shadow would never think that he could win a match in a Killing Game this way. He felt both lucky and wary recalling the time he had singled out with Feng Bujue. If he and Feng Bujue hadn't met each other alone, but in a multiplayer Killing Game of 2 versus two or 3 versus 3, he was afraid that his consequences wouldn’t be too different from that of the two guys of Saber Corpse, which was useless even if he was still resisting.
During the time when the scenario was developing, Wild Trace Sword Shadow gradually felt Feng Bujue’s prodigious value more and more. In some other games, the basic assessment on a superstar player was all about his fighting capacity. But in Thriller Paradise, players like Feng Bujue could possibly bring benefits more than the top 10 players in the combat competence ranking list.
Regrettably, it was impossible to invite Feng Bujue to join the Martial World. Although Wild Trace Sword Shadow wasn’t good at seeking talents like his leader [Smile and Ask the Firmament] (last time the author named this guy Smile and Greet the Common – TL), his instinct was precise. He understood that in this world of online games, players like Feng Bujue would never submit to other people. Even if he had to be someone’s henchman, it wouldn't be for long.
This sort of players sought for freedom, liberty, and joy. What they hated the most was to be assigned by others. Of course, they didn’t like to begrudgingly work for others. Wild Trace Sword Shadow himself was also this sort of people. [Smile and Ask the Firmament] and [No Sword Warrior] were his buddies in real life. Moreover, the three of them were the ones who had established the Martial World Studio; that’s why he still stayed. If some other studios wanted him to work for them with better benefits, he would rather work alone. This was also why the Order’s plan of head-hunting the three Saber Sword Smile failed.
To players like Feng Bujue, Wild Trace Sword Shadow quite appreciated them with a little interest. Although it was hopeless to invite them, cooperating could be considered. Young Master Sword had remembered the badge of [Hell’s Front Line]. No matter how big this union was, as it had someone like Feng-Ge, it shouldn't be a gang of stupid people and slags with a fighting capacity of 5. Even if they couldn't cooperate, at least, they should try their best to avoid conflicts with them.
In short, he had formed a concept that under the favored situations, the best case was not to mess with people like Feng Bujue…
...
The three of them separately entered the stalls. There was only one seat inside of it. After they had taken the seat, what happened next was extremely nasty.
The chair where Feng Bujue was sitting began to sink. After it had reached the elevation of the ground, it started to slowly move forward.
He had a feeling that he was a car on a conveying belt which was being washed in the carwash. Although the surroundings were pitch black, his body still felt the water and air washing him all over.
It was said to be the disinfection process; in fact, it was like considering people a hanger so as they could wash the protection suit thoroughly.
Fortunately, this process wasn't relatively long or painful. The ‘filter’ was done after not more than one minute. A metal plate in front of them automatically rose up, and light flooded the path ahead of them. What stood in front of them was literally the true ‘Locker Room’.
Feng Bujue stood up and got out of the stall. The metal plate behind him closed again. The room he was standing now was around 20 square meters, which had a row of lockers leaning against a wall and a long bench fixed in the middle of the room. The four walls were made of metal, and the light shining from the ceiling could be said to be adequate.
Hank and Wild Trace Sword Shadow almost came here at the same time. "There are clothes for changing in the lockers. You can put your protection suit in there," said Hank. He didn’t know that the other two players couldn’t change their clothes in the scenario. They could put on the protection suits because this item was deemed as an item related to the plot; moreover, it covered the players’ real costumes. When they put the protection suits on, their own costumes didn’t change. But among the clothes in the closets, there was nothing they could wear.
Feng Bujue didn’t say anything as he stepped forward and opened a locker. As he had assumed, those lockers weren’t locked. Moreover, he immediately figured out that all the garments were the in the same styles.
Wild Trace Sword Shadow also opened a locker, took out the piece of clothing and said, "This is the first time I’ve found ‘clothes’ in a scenario." He smiled. "If we were still in Closed Beta now, wearing those suits outside, people would consider us Gods."
"Yeah... too bad it’s not the Closed Beta anymore," said Feng Bujue. "This ugly costume, even if we can bring it out of the scenario, I guess it won’t have a good price."
He was right. Standard clothing and accessories of villagers in the Deity Guarded Village were of the simplest design: long-sleeved collarless shirt accompanied with trousers. The garments were brown-grey and had no patterns while the style and position of the pockets were pretty regular.
"What should we do now? We can’t adjust the clothing in the scenario," asked Wild Trace Sword Shadow.
"Continue to wear the protection suit," said Feng Bujue with his natural tone.
Having heard that, Hank said, "But inside the residential area, we all wear…"
Feng Bujue swung his sleeve and interrupted Hank, "I have plans. It’s okay if only you change your clothing."
