CHAPTER 1148: CHAPTER 884: OBSERVING THE GIANT TOWER WITH ONE’S OWN EYES

Putting aside her sadness, Xu Cheng put on her black smart glasses, found from a deceased assassin, which were a bit too large for her small head, but fit well over her ears.

She pressed a button on the temple of the glasses, and with a "beep" sound, she looked around, seeing that the entire scene was filled with many entries. Once she focused her attention, she could see many hidden details.

"Wow..." Xu Cheng stared at the half-empty glass on the bar, poured by Bai Jiayi for herself, miraculously surviving the whole gunfight.

——Scanning——

Name: Glass

Capacity: 200 milliliters

Notes: Standard glass, with slight signs of wear on the surface. Contents are brown liquid, detected alcohol and woody aroma, judged to be whiskey

Material: Glass

Threat Level: None

——End——

Just by staring at the glass, relevant information quickly popped up on Xu Cheng’s glasses, making her very curious. Xu Cheng hadn’t used this kind of product before; in the post-catastrophe era, technology had undergone multiple innovations, with more and more new things emerging.

Then Xu Cheng turned to the two new mercenaries that joined her, using her glasses to scan Lianhua the younger of the Yishen sisters.

——Scanning——

Name: Why are you scanning your dad? Speak (Target intentionally hiding real name)

Identity: Mercenary (Female)

Age: Appears approximately 20-35 years, but true age cannot be determined

Height: 175 centimeters

Heart Rate: 65 beats/min

Body Temperature: 36.5°C

Visible Weapons: One smart gun, one dagger, a string of shabby bracelets (possibly with other functions), lots of fake jewelry, ten rings, used as a weapon for hitting people.

Past Criminal Record: No evidence of criminal record (target may have cleared relevant records)

Notes: Skin is laced with toxic compounds

Affiliated Organization: Indeterminable, target deliberately hides this information

Threat Level: Medium-High (identity unknown but armed and proficient in deception)

——End——

Xu Cheng blinked, feeling that Lianhua was quite formidable.

"Is the scan finished?" Lianhua stretched lazily, "Now let’s talk about the main topic, the ’one billion bounty,’ quite daring to mention!"

"Quack." Xu Cheng adjusted her new tactical glasses, which resembled black sunglasses, giving her a mature feeling. She sat on the red sofa at Dropping Dog Bar, leaned back against the sofa cushion, and took a deep breath.

Grandma Bai Jiayi hung her golden shotgun in a prominent place in the bar, then busied herself cleaning the tables, fixing the broken door, and hurriedly making several phone calls to find trustworthy people to help repair and reinforce Dropping Dog Bar. Xu Cheng thought she was a really cool old lady.

Then she invited Xu Cheng and the others to sit in the sofa area for a while.

"I really should trouble you, you helped me a lot by getting rid of those rascals, I was so afraid I would have to be hospitalized again." Bai Jiayi thanked repeatedly.

"It’s what we should do! But, is there a reward?" Lianhua asked greedily.

"You two love money so much, you’ll definitely be successful in the future. But I don’t have any money, just sit here, I’ll make dinner for you! Tonight’s meal is on me, make yourselves at home." Grandma Bai Jiayi smiled and pointed at the Lianhua sisters, wiped her hands, tied her hair, took a fashionable new coat from under the counter, and went back to Dropping Dog Bar’s kitchen to get busy.

The old lady entered the kitchen for about a few minutes, from there came the sizzling sound of deep-frying wontons, along with the enticing aroma of satay sauce. It was so alluring that Xu Cheng’s little stomach was interested, and Bubble, who had only drunk a glass of orange juice, now craved a hearty meal.

"Let’s talk about money," Lianhua rubbed her hands, her eyes excited, "In this world, only money is reliable, even the straightest spine will lie flat when starved!"

"We are a pair of envoys." Bubble calmly explained, her voice smooth and soft, "We transport goods from different safe zones, unlike those official envoy convoys, we are independent envoys, or postmen, freer and unrestrained. Our mission is to deliver an unknown cargo from Jialong Slope to Taixi Continent, pick up the package tomorrow, the route is long, as you know, so we need to find two trustworthy and brave mercenaries, like you! Please, introduce yourselves."

"I’m ’Malady’ Yishen Lianhua, this is my sister ’Disaster Star’ Yishen Shahua." Lianhua casually introduced, "We’re both witches, my magic power is to make people sick and poisoned."

"Like the ’Poison Master’?" Bubble asked curiously.

"A bit different, the Poison Master’s magic power, I know, is to create a colorless, odorless, antidote-less magical poison. But my epidemic and poison magic power is entirely offensive, I can release powerful toxins, create corrosive liquids, emit poison, and even create hallucinogenic poisons with neural stimulant functions, I can even use poison to heal others... Hmph, quite impressive, right?" Lianhua boasted arrogantly.

Bubble wasn’t very afraid of toxins and diseases as she had green hair and eyes because she herself was infected with crystallization syndrome.

"What about you?" Bubble turned to Lianhua’s sister Shahua.

"I... my magic power is the magic of misfortune." Shahua said weakly, although she was the older sister, her temperament was completely different from her aggressive younger sister.

"Misfortune?" Bubble didn’t understand.

"I’m sorry! It’s... it’s... making others unlucky..." Shahua said, her voice trembling, while she kept glancing at Lianhua, as if she needed her approval to speak.

"How unlucky?" Bubble felt strange.

"It’s just... very unlucky... People hit by my magic power seem to become... very unfortunate, as pitiful as my own life," Shahua said in broken phrases.

"Alright! Hurry up and explain! Otherwise, the assignment we’ve got will slip away!" Lianhua urged.

"I’m sorry! So, so my magic power is the ’misfortune’ magic power. As long as I wave my hand or target someone, they will become... extremely unlucky, or suddenly fall into a sewer while walking; or suddenly get hit by a truck on the road; or even... have a stroke, sudden death, brain infarction. Whoever is bound by my magic power will... will become very miserable... super unlucky and tragic..." Shahua said.

Bubble really needed to stay away from Shahua now.

"In short! This is us, the ’lawless’ duo. We are very interested in the job you mentioned. As long as you pay enough, we will set off," Lianhua introduced her and her sister’s evil magic powers to Xu Cheng and Bubble without reservation.

"We don’t have money now, but once this assignment is completed, we’ll have endless money," Bubble said.

"What? We won’t work without any advance funds. At least give us something," Lianhua stood up.

"We still need to pay 80,000 funds to redeem our shuttle machine, we are saving money now... please don’t worry. Oh, we’re going to pick up the goods tomorrow, you all can come with us," Bubble quickly said.

"Then..." Lianhua wanted to say something, but Grandma Bai Jiayi came over with food, letting them have a big feast.

The table was filled with satay beef, white-cut chicken, roasted pork, fragrant scallion soup, barbecued pork pastry, pineapple oil chili biscuits, small pot cakes, and green papaya salad, along with Jialong Slope-style milk tea and beer, enough for them to eat and drink to their heart’s content and get a good night’s sleep!

"Let’s eat!" Bubble, Xu Cheng, and the Yishen Sisters clasped their hands together, closed their eyes, and said in unison around the small table.

"Are you all from the Northern Archipelago?" Bai Jiayi was very curious, feeling that only people from there would pray to food before eating.

"I was born in Shangjing," Bubble said.

"Eh, we were born in Ooka City. Being born in Shangjing must be great, probably had a good life before the Great Catastrophe," Lianhua said enthusiastically, with a bit of envy.

"Now everyone has to work hard, or the world will be destroyed," Bubble held a piece of cake, slowly eating. Xu Cheng drank milk.

The Yishen Sisters stayed in the hall to help Grandma Bai Jiayi clean up the aftermath, while Xu Cheng and Bubble returned to the upstairs room where they had previously placed waterproof cloth and a video player to lie on the floor and prepare to sleep.

"Phew." Xu Cheng was full and ready to sleep.

"The Yishen Sisters’ magic powers are scary, right? The elder sister’s magic makes people unlucky, and the younger sister’s magic is about making toxins. Are we really going on a mission with them? What if they turn against us and kill us on the way?" Bubble asked nervously.

"Gua." Xu Cheng lay on the ground, with her left hand under her head, and her right hand raised in the air, forming a "5" with her five fingers open.

"You mean we’ve decided to set off with five people, so there will be a fifth person joining us, and they can help us?" Bubble asked.

"Gua." Xu Cheng closed her eyes, happy that Bubble understood what she wanted to say.

"Mmm..." Bubble was still uneasy. Especially considering that Shahua’s magic causes misfortune, bringing such a witch onto the shuttle machine was too dangerous. If their shuttle machine encountered turbulence in the air or if a starry monster in a restricted area suddenly went berserk, wouldn’t they all perish in the sky?

"Guabu." Xu Cheng sensed Bubble’s unease, reached out a hand to hook Bubble’s arm, and instantly melted Bubble’s tense heart. Probably things wouldn’t be so bad with Xu Cheng around.

"Then let’s sleep." Bubble closed her eyes.

Sleep came swiftly, as if a hammer had fallen, quickly knocking both Xu Cheng and Bubble into dreamland.

For the 2081st time in six years, Xu Cheng had a strange dream, keeping count.

She found herself in a thick fog of stars, the mist like slick tendrils lurking aside, trying to wrap around her, seep into her pores, and seize her thoughts.

"Are we setting off again?" Xu Yang’s voice sounded beside her. Sometimes Xu Cheng heard her father’s voice, most of the time she didn’t. She didn’t know if it was really her father or a figment of her imagination.

"Gua." Xu Cheng said yes, she was going to find that white giant tower again.

It was the most mysterious thing in her dreams, and Xu Cheng wanted to find out what it really was.

"Even I don’t know what it truly is, but it appears in many people’s dreams. You can find it every time because you remember the way," Xu Yang said.

"Gua ye." Xu Cheng felt a slight pride in this; she always remembered, she was patient, knowing neither failure nor frustration.

She stumbled through the twisted maze-like alleyways, with the boundless expanse of a cosmic deep space overhead, whispers and screams eerily echoing through the mist.

Some malevolent presence lurked all around, which she could sense, like an illness in her stomach, with claw-like skeletal talons, strange and profound.

Thinking about the vast expanse beyond the universe gave Xu Cheng a tremendous sense of emptiness. Her existence seemed nothing more than the result of mathematical probability, unrelated to her own inklings, heavenly tribulation included.

The illusion and voice of Xu Yang also guided Xu Cheng forward, and she arrived at her destination for the 2081st time, an elongated white marvel moving swiftly before her.

It looked like a shapeless blank structure, most physical laws losing effect on it, twinkling with enchanting halos under the scattered brilliance, with overlapping halls that might not seem complex from higher dimensions but were truly a vast labyrinth to Xu Cheng.

The white giant tower constantly undulated with countless transformations and kept changing, proliferating back and forth before her in some pattern.