On March 13, Qisi got up early.
I don't know if it was because of the influence of the copy of "Carnivorous", but he found that his appetite became much stronger - he woke up from hunger.
Considering that there was no food without minced meat at home, he had to change into a white shirt and reluctantly went out. Within five minutes, he got into the crowded morning market.
The smog was still serious, and the reverberation of the noise was as usual a headache. The old radio was full of noise, and it muttered one message after another:
"The federal government plans to pass the Curfew Bill. No one is allowed to go out between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. without special circumstances."
"The Public Security Bureau has launched a severe crackdown on the Tianping Church and has recently destroyed all of its strongholds in Jiangcheng."
"After investigation, the 'strange arrival incident' circulating on the Internet is a rumor, and the communicator has been arrested for promoting feudal superstition."
"..."
Qisi put on his headphones and walked into the breakfast shop on the corner of the street in a familiar way. The smell of oil smoke and sweat was immediately carried by the heat and hit his face.
The proprietress stood behind the frying pan, her hair tied back by a plastic cap, and her mask covering most of her face, only revealing a pair of red and swollen eyes. She carefully looked at the passing diners, and it seemed that if she just asked her a few questions about how she was doing, she would be happy. You can get a large basket of bitter water.
Qisi had no intention of understanding other people's lives, so he walked over and said succinctly: "An egg pancake."
"Okay!" The proprietress neatly put a piece of dough into the pot, cracked an egg on it, and added a piece of sausage.
"I don't eat meat," Ziss said.
The landlady obviously didn't believe it and kept chattering: "Why do you, a young man like you, suddenly stop eating meat? I still remember the last time you came here, the last time you came here, and the previous few times you came here. All are 'egg-filled pancakes'."
"Egg-filled cake" has one more word "guan" than "egg cake". In actual terms, it means one more sausage, which is three yuan more expensive.
Qisi raised his eyelids and repeated: "I don't eat meat."
"Hey, you young people spend all day digging for rations. Let me tell you, your body is your capital. You can't save food by saving anything..."
"Something happened to me, and now I feel sick when I see meat."
"What can happen?" The proprietress wrapped up the dough in her own way and wrapped the sausage in it. "I won't charge you more, so I treat you as a treat. We are all regular customers. Why are you still like this with your aunt?" Raw points? Next time you come to eat, I will give you a half discount!"
"..." At this point, Qisi realized that his protest had no effect, and he could only stand aside with a look of sadness.
The landlady thought she had done a good thing and kept talking: "My aunt's unlucky son is as old as you. His favorite food is egg-filled pancakes. He eats it every day and never gets tired of it."
"Oh, it's not easy for you young people. It's hard to find jobs..."
Qisi now knew that the boss's wife regarded him as an unemployed vagrant who could not find a job, and his motherly instincts overflowed for a while.
Indeed, I only go out every few days, and most of the time I wake up at noon. It doesn't look like I have a serious job.
Qisi was thinking about whether to read out the report about his specimen exhibition and resolve the misunderstanding in time. The boss's wife had already bagged the egg cake and handed it over.
Qisi gave up the nonsense, took out his mobile phone and scanned the nine yuan, then picked up the plastic bag, turned around and walked out of the breakfast shop.
"Hey! Six yuan is enough! I won't charge you more!" Behind me, the proprietress shouted at the top of her lungs.
As if he didn't hear anything, Qiss continued to walk forward, almost disappearing into the crowd filled with smoke and smoke as if to avoid the plague.
Turning the corner, there was an overturned trash can. A black dog with sparse hair was lying on the edge of the bucket, lowering his head and picking up the overflowing leftovers with his mouth.
Qisi threw the egg-filled cake in his hand into the trash can, and it landed right in front of the black dog's mouth.
The black dog didn't know how to twist and turn, but just thought it was a kind donation, wagging its tail and picking up the meat and cake in its mouth.
Qisi looked down for a while, sneered, and said to himself: "What's the use of showing kindness to a person like me? If I don't get gratitude and reward, it will make me disgusted."
"If you are really overflowing with compassion, you might as well throw a few pieces of meat to the dog - at least you will be able to wag your tail to show others, right?"
The black dog didn't understand the human words, so he thought they were compliments. He raised his head and swallowed the hard-earned food, wagging his tail even more cheerfully.
…
At six o'clock in the evening, on the outskirts of Jiangcheng, in the assembly hall of a hidden base.
Mu Dongxu, director of the Jiangcheng Branch of the Weird Investigation Bureau, stood in front of the big screen and read out the document in his hand with a solemn expression:
"Last year, a total of five strange intrusions occurred in Jiangcheng, with the highest being Class A and the lowest being Class D. There were two more incidents than the year before, and the overall level of danger has gone up to a higher level."
Someone whispered: "There were only five cases. I remember there were eight cases in 2023."
Mu Dongxu seemed not to have heard, and continued with a stern face: "We have eradicated the power of the Silas Guild in Jiangcheng and cut off the largest source of strange pollution. Why do the number of strange invasions increase instead of decreasing?"
The serious question was raised, and no one dared to make fun of it. Everyone put away the joking on their faces and waited for the answer.
Mu Dongxu took a long breath and said: "The further decline in the support rate of the 'Jiuzhou' Guild can reflect the degradation of cooperative thoughts and the rampant zero-sum game thinking."
"More and more players are leaning towards the law of the jungle in weird games, and their psychology has become twisted and crazy. Soon, we will have to deal with more than just weirdness."
A young investigator raised his hand. After receiving approval, he stood up and asked: "Director, are you too pessimistic?"
"Basically all the players on the list have certain psychological problems. If they want to survive, they must adapt to the survival rules of the weird game."
"Weird games don't have a mechanism to strengthen the player's body. No matter how powerful they are in the game, in reality it's all something that can be solved with a single shot of a gun."
"Furthermore, it is not easy to extradite Weird and have an impact on reality; it took the Silas Guild thirty years to solve the technical problems..."
Mu Dongxu raised his hand, made a stop gesture, and interrupted: "Last week, the image of 'door' appeared in the prediction of Tingfeng Guild. The biggest weird thing in history has arrived, and it will be played in the weird game A door opens between us and reality, triggering an unprecedented disaster.”
"Headquarters and Tingfeng Guild unanimously suspect that the strangeness is related to the Twilight of the Gods twenty-two years ago." Mu Dongxu took a deep breath and exhaled, his deep eyes slowly scanning everyone in the venue.
After looking at a corner, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he asked helplessly: "Chang Xu, are you listening?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone's eyes were focused on one place.
In the corner of the venue, I saw a young man in a black sweatshirt sitting upright on a chair, holding a huge chicken drumstick in both hands, and munching quietly and religiously.
"Chang Xu." Mu Dongxu called again.
The young man raised his head suddenly, his black eyes as deep as pool water, and it seemed that his soul was no longer here.
Mu Dongxu sighed and said: "Xiao Chang, please be careful. It is said that TE has cleared the copy of "Rose Manor", but he doesn't know the specific solution. Don't help count the money when you are sold!"
The young man said "Oh" and continued to chew on the chicken leg in his hand. After chewing the shreds of meat clean, he sucked the marrow juice from the bone.
Mu Dongxu couldn't bear it anymore and raised his voice: "Look at the stone tablet in the game hall. Where do you rank on the comprehensive strength list? Only by keeping your seat on the list can you have a chance to get access to the final copy!"
"Um."
"Now that you are like this, anyone with a little bit of intelligence can fool you, and I don't know how you will die in the future..."
Hearing the word "death", the young man's expression finally became serious, and his dark pupils also had a frightening luster.
He turned his head, stared into Mu Dongxu's eyes, and said seriously: "Within half a year, I will be on the list. At least for now, they can't beat me."
