Chapter 92

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Chapter 92: Awakened One

“Shouldn’t we discuss this somewhere else?” Choi Jeon-eun rubbed her hands together. “Can we leave this cemetery now?”

“This is not a cemetery but the basement of Yeni Cathedral,” the host corrected her. “If you don’t feel any problems with your bodies, you can climb up the ladder in front of you and leave. As for you…” he turned towards Zhang Zhiyuan, “the points from the last game have been calculated. Let me enter the results now.”

A big “+2200” immediately appeared in his field of vision. This time, the score screen not only featured a zoom-in effect, but also special effects of exploding fireworks.

However, because Anthony’s score was so low last time, everyone else had to chip in to help him get the equipment he needed. That’s why his total score is now only 2500 points now.

“And what about our mission this time?” Zhang Zhiyuan continued to ask.

“You’ll understand after you meet up with the others.” With that, Chaoyang faded away while adding, “Oh, by the way, this place has become Paradise’s new base.”

After receiving the mysterious warnings along the way, Chaoyang had decorated to temporarily abandoned their hidden residence on Jade Street and moved the players’ meeting place to Yeni Cathedral. As an ancient building as old as the Glorious Fortress itself, the cathedral naturally had many secret rooms and a rather complex underground storage area. When there were too many corpses, the nuns would occasionally used them as a temporary morgue. This actually made things easier for Chaoyang. This time, when he summoned Zhang Zhiyuan and the others over, he didn’t even have to wait for Jeanne to deliver the bodies, he could just use the existing ones in the cellar after some repairs.

Of course, if outsiders saw what was happening, they’d think it was absolutely evil behavior, so Chaoyang was very careful about what he did. First, he made major changes to the facial features of the corpses. Then, he covered up their natural corpse smell with thick layers of scented powder. And finally, he set aside a separate part of the underground space, claiming that it was for conducting various medical experiments and asking the nuns not to enter without a reason. This arrangement was later received by Jeanne, who also gave her consent.

In short, the underground area of the cathedral temporarily became a “restricted zone”, accessible only to the players.

“Well… shall we go?” Zhang Zhiyuan looked at his two companions.

“Mm-hmm.”

The trio reached a spot where sunlight was streaming in, and climbed up a wooden ladder to find themselves in an even larger room thay still seemed underground. The light came from the four corners of the room—slightly raised above the ground, as if intentionally designed for natural lighting. Combined with several copper mirrors placed throughout the chamber, it made the area appear not overly dark.

“This place must have been built a long time ago,” Xue Quan observed as he walked over to a wall and gently touched its surface. “The stone is eroded by moss, similar to some underground mausoleums I’ve seen from the 20th century.”

“Look, there’s a sign over there,” Choi Jeon-eun pointed out.

Following her directions, Zhang Zhiyuan actually saw a wooden post standing on the ground with the words ‘Command Post’ written in large letters, along with an arrow pointing down at the bottom.

“Wait, this world also uses Chinese?” Xue Quan exclaimed, in surprise.

“Uh… well, not necessarily. I guess it’s for secrecy.” Suddenly, Zhang Zhiyuan slapped his forehead. “Right, how many points do you currently have?”

“How do I check?”

“In the top left corner, if you keep your eyes fixed there; a string of numbers should pop up.”

Xue Quan concentrated for a moment before nodding. “There’s ‘1000’ written there. Is it projected directly onto the retina or something?”

“Don’t worry about how it works, it’s beyond comprehension,” Zhang Zhiyuan said, and summoned the host. “They should be able to exchange points for items, right?”

“Correct,” Chaoyang responded telepathically.

“You two should go ahead and get a Translation Tofu,” he turned and advised his companions. “ It only takes 200 points.”

“Choi Jeon-eun waved her hands dismissively. “Are you saying that this thing will make us understand a foreign language instantly? Ha… come on! This isn’t Doraemon.

Xue Quan, however, didn’t hesitate and willingly followed his advice and exchanged points for a piece of tofu.

Immediately , his eyes widened as a block of tofu materialized out of thin air in his hand.

Although they had heard about Paradise’s ability to create objects, they were still deeply astonished to see it firsthand.

“Well, I’ll eat it then.” Xue Quan took a deep breath and swallowed the tofu whole.

In an instant, he felt as if new set of memories had flooded into his mind, seamlessly integrating as if they’d always been there.

“Mr. Zhang, hello. Have you had lunch yet?” He tried to form sentences with the new language but realized that it was unnecessary. The moment he thought something, the words came out automatically.

Zhang Zhiyuan smiled and replied in the local language, “Not yet, let’s eat together later.”

Now it was Choi Jeon-eun’s turn to stare in disbelief, “Hey… you’re telling me this is real?”

“Sometimes I really have trouble telling the difference between the two,” Zhang Zhiyuan admitted. “But I also believe that there will be come a day when we will figure it all out.”

“Host… I’ll trade for Translation Tofu as well.” She shrugged, indicating that she was giving up on trying to make sense of things.

Following the signpost, they turned into another underground room where Zhang Zhiyuan finally saw his familiar companion, Zhou Zhi.

It wasn’t because his name was hanging above his head or anything like that. It was just that he looked young and was male. According on the Paradise’s matching choices, there was no doubt that it had to be Zhou Zhi.

“Brother Zhang! You’ve finally arrived!” The other guy also recognized him right away too. Earlier, when Zhang Zhiyuan looked at himself in the copper mirror, he noticed that he hadn’t changed much since the last time. He guessed that the host must have made some adjustments.

Next there was another round of introductions since there were newcomers.

When Zhou Zhi heard that the other two were also from China, he visibly relaxed. “Everyone else is busy outside, while I haven’t had much to do, so it’s my responsibility to stay back and welcome you all. Additionally, I can also give you an update on the current progress of our mission.”

“Why did the Paradise summoned us separately this time?”

“I’m not sure. When I got here, Ms. Asahara was already here. Maybe Paradise communicated with her separately beforehand?”

“Why do you say that?” Zhang Zhiyuan asked sharply.

“Because everyone’s actions are quite clear… We all know that we’re are here to help Miss Jeanne rebuild the cathedral. As soon as Miss Asahara arrived, she got right to work. She hired a middleman to find potential partners for her in Glory Fortress, focusing mainly on metallurgical manufacturing companies. The Russian is in charge of the commercial negotiations, and from what I have heard, he’s very good at driving down prices. Additionally, Mr. Tyler also plays a crucial role. He was in charge of supervising and inspecting all the equipment assembled in the workshop.”

Zhou Zhi pondered as he spoke, “In short, it seems like everyone had their roles set before they even came here. This suggests that they must have planned it beforehand. These two people you brought with you… they probably have some special skills as well, right?”

Zhang Zhiyuan couldn’t help but remember his close encounter with Paradise earlier that day.

Could they even predict my thoughts beforehand?

“We don’t really have any ‘special skills’, but we should be able to help you,” Xue Quan said modestly. “Can you tell us about your current situation in more detail?”

Zhou Zhi pointed towards the desk behind him, which was piled high with scrolls. “Sure, this is the only thing I can do right now.”

***

Chaoyang stopped listening to the conversation further because he felt someone was approaching him. He withdrew his consciousness, and recognized it was Zhu Di.

The fire on Oak Street had been quickly extinguished, causing little damage except for the building where it started at No. 375. The incident made it to headlines in major newspapers, but was only mentioned in passing and did not attract much attention. Zhu Di managed to successfully blend into the city and eventually met up with everyone in the cathedral, escaping unharmed overall.

The only unfortunate part was that they weren’t sure who exactly had issued the warning or which group was pursuing Zhu Di.

To be on the safe side, Zhu Di not only temporarily stayed in the Yeni Cathedral, but also donned a nun’s attire. With the black veil hood covering her head, she resembled virtually any of the hundred sisters in the cathedral, making it difficult to distinguish her by appearance alone.

However, Chaoyang was able to recognize her immediately among them.

“Miss Zhu Di,” he nodded in recognition.

“Forgive the interruption, Mr. Chao,” Zhu Di said. “Miss Jeanne asked me to inform you that the man you had brought back from the foggy region… has awakened.”

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