Chapitre 2: Chapter 2: My Sworn Enemy - Gambling and Drugs
At the end of the road, a hydrant by the roadside spurted out a stream of water. Bai Wu found two points about this odd.
"A place that hasn't been inhabited for seven hundred years, yet there are still devices that work. Theoretically, these things should have been scrap after just a decade or so. It seems this city is not without inhabitants... or should I say, not without some form of life."
"In sixty-four-degree weather, this liquid is actually ice-cold. The water comes from underground, but why is the temperature so low? In such a high-temperature environment, even underground water would definitely be warm.
Not right, the note suggests it's heating up at a rate of 0.2 degrees per minute, which means the original temperature could have been very low, and the change in temperature extremely rapid. The water from below hasn't had time to warm up yet."
Bai Wu grew increasingly curious about this world. It must be a world with extreme temperature differences between day and night.
Previous notes mentioned that no one has lived here for seven hundred years, and indeed, the environment does not seem suitable for human life, so where do humans live?
"Forget it, I need to survive first. Another five minutes in the sun and I'll faint from dehydration."
He already had a plan.
If the water underground was so chilly, then at least the temperature in the sewer wouldn't be so extreme.
Near the hydrant, by the edge of the road, Bai Wu quickly found an entrance underground.
The manhole cover had already been pried open.
"Someone has explored this place before."
Bai Wu did not dwell on it, as this body was already reaching its limit, and he needed a place to rest where the temperature wasn't so extreme.
After entering the sewer pipes, he surprisingly did not smell any foul odor.
The light became dim, Bai Wu tried to focus his vision in a mass of darkness:
[Oh my old chum, I can't analyze if I can't see. For God's sake, can you evolve Talent Sequence 929: Enhanced Vision? If not, you'd better walk slowly in such an environment, otherwise I'll kick your ass with my boots, I swear I will.]
It seems the content of the notes must be about something tangible and visible. In complete darkness, it cannot provide any help to me.
What is the Talent Sequence?
Bai Wu did not slow down his pace because after being completely enveloped in darkness, the handcuffs began to emit light.
This was not strange, he had guessed that he was probably some kind of performer, and at this moment there must be so-called nobility watching him.
If that was the case, then these handcuffs naturally needed to have the ability to illuminate at night.
The notes were right; it was not advisable to destroy it prematurely.
With the light, Bai Wu could see the situation inside the sewer pipe clearly.
Some unknown plants, with roots entwined, covered all the surrounding walls. Upon closer inspection, one could see purple liquid flowing within the roots of the plants.
On the ground were some unknown creatures' skeletons, with skeletal structures of six-legged beasts that he had never seen before.
In the middle of the passage was a waterway, the surface of the water very still, and the quality of the water was surprisingly clear, vastly different from what he knew of sewer water.
The temperature in the sewer, due to the cold water channel, was far from being as hot as the outside. Looking around, Bai Wu was convinced that he was temporarily out of danger, so he focused his gaze upon the surface of the water.
By the light, his own reflection emerged on the water's surface.
[A beggar from the bottom of the High Tower with a nine out of ten in looks— I admit your face is very relatable. If I were human, you would surely be the enemy of my life.]
Information was limited, just like the things he'd seen before; he could see some notes, but the content was not comprehensive.
High Tower, bottom level.
"High Tower... humans have moved into the tower... it's dangerous outside the tower, uninhabitable."
The original host's memory was like a squeezed-out tube of toothpaste, impossible to extract more from; Bai Wu could only speculate macroscopically based on what he had just witnessed.
His mind quickly pieced together fragments of information, soon reaching a conclusion close to the truth.
"The note mentioned four tiers of nobility and bottom-level beggars. It seems High Tower is clearly hierarchical, the higher the level, the more prestigious the status of the person."
"And I've become the nobles' plaything; this handcuff is clearly recording how I survive. Perhaps this is a bet about how long I can stay alive? Indeed, I am at odds with gambling."
"The note mentioned Evil Fallen, which must be some kind of monster outside the tower... More likely, the real inhabitants of this abandoned city."
"No matter how lucky I am, it's impossible to survive here for long, at least not with my current capabilities. The real way to break the game is to find the way back to the High Tower. Only by returning can I grasp the basic common knowledge of this world in the shortest time."
All these were conjectures, impossible to verify for now. The immediate priority was to find a way back inside the tower.
Looking at the handcuff, Bai Wu had a bold idea.
"The notes didn't mention whether the handcuff has the ability to transmit voice, and I don't know what language people in this world use."
Without the original host's memory, he naturally couldn't grasp the original host's language.
So Bai Wu made a middle finger gesture, and his expression changed too, no longer absolutely calm, but with scorn and challenge.
Probably meaning something like: That's all you got?
...
...
On the fourth floor of the High Tower. A commotion filled the room.
"What a defiant slave... Are you sure he's not a Talent User?"
"Actors, absolute actors! This gambling game is rigged!"
"I want to see him die, where's the Evil Fallen? I want to see him die, die!"
"Heh, unexpectedly interesting, I didn't think my bet on the long shot would actually win. This kid has lived this long."
The gamblers were in an uproar.
They had placed their bets, the vast majority wagering on the slave dying within an hour, and they had all been looking forward to the slave's struggle before death, or the high-level Evil Fallen monsters in the blue zone.
But so far, they had seen none of that.
And these self-proclaimed superior nobles were actually being challenged by the lower-class riffraff.
Bai Wu hadn't guessed wrong, international gestures were still universal even in the Otherworld, they could rise to the status of universal gestures.
Also on the VIP stands, a red-clothed noblewoman with half a bronze mask took up her telephone, clearly scolding a subordinate for not inspecting the merchandise properly.
But on the other end of the line, the person responsible for this gambling game was also in panic, continuously emphasizing to the noblewoman that the merchandise was indeed from the beggars on the bottom rung.
After hanging up the phone, the noblewoman reined in the anger on her face.
She gradually showed an incredulous expression.
Outside the Tower, people instinctively feared, even generating all sorts of negative emotions, and any negative emotion could attract an attack from the Evil Fallen.
They were the most terrifying hunters outside the Tower, able to sniff out the scent of emotions.
But that young man had been calm from start to finish, which was why he hadn't been attacked by the Evil Fallen until now.
This was unheard of… it was like he was faced with the world outside the Tower with no emotional fluctuations whatsoever.
...
...
What to do if you're being bullied?
Bai Wu's style was definitely to find every way to make those who bullied him suffer more. At the same time, he seized every opportunity to fight back from a hopeless situation.
He wasn't the least bit angry, but he also didn't want to accept death internally.
You don't have the right to choose the script in life. Whatever script you receive, you have to play it out in the best way possible.
After disturbing the surface of the water, Bai Wu gazed into the shimmering depths once again.
"The water might upset your stomach, but don't worry about its level of contamination causing you to drop dead on the spot. The Evil Fallen don't need to excrete or drink water, so they don't come into contact with the water source. Drinking water won't be a Laoba behavior."
The fact that the water was drinkable came as a surprise to Bai Wu. Ignoring the pain, his rotting hands scooped up the water repeatedly, drinking his fill.
Having been exposed to extreme heat and then suddenly drinking water, there was a noticeable revival of vitality.
Next, Bai Wu began to explore the terrain.
"In the current hypothesis, the gambling game is the most logical explanation. Since it's a gambling game, the house must have control."
There is no such thing as a casino that truly lets patrons gamble on luck alone—that would be no different from a charitable institution.
"So my survival time will definitely be interfered with by the house. After the provocation just now, they should be looking for a way to deal with me."
Without a hint of panic, Bai Wu even showed a strange smile.
Perhaps the house's methods wouldn't stand a chance against him. But staying here would also get him frozen to death.
A do-or-die situation can greatly increase the secretion of adrenaline.
This state of excitement fascinated Bai Wu. He began to earnestly scan his surroundings.
"I definitely can't handle the house's methods, but I'm not the only one here."
After walking through the sewers for a while, Bai Wu, who had been focusing on various tunnels, finally fixed his gaze:
"A twenty-year elite Evil Fallen, only three hundred meters away from you. Within this range, any slight negative emotion could draw it towards you. How about playing 'Good Fortune Comes' now?"
Evil Fallen.
The content in the notes made Bai Wu feel rather lucky; out of time, place, and harmony, he at least had place and harmony on his side now.
He wasn't panicked at all; in fact, the addictive melody of 'Good Fortune Comes' began to play in his mind.
"It's difficult to survive outside the Tower, partly due to the environment, but if there weren't terrifying creatures, human technology shouldn't be unable to overcome these challenges."
"The buildings mentioned in the notes from seven hundred years ago are similar in style to the buildings from my previous life. The existence of slaves indicates that the social system might have regressed, but it doesn't mean that technology has fallen behind."
"Negative emotions can attract the Evil Fallen, and the Evil Fallen have a pretty wide hunting range. I haven't encountered any Evil Fallen yet... I must be quite the positive-energy boy."
Bai Wu faced his first challenge.
Because sadness, fear, anger… and other negative emotions were extremely foreign to him.
In other words… the Evil Fallen couldn't sense him.
"Does pretending to be afraid count as being afraid?"
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone