Chapter 1 Company Task

Ding.

The elevator doors slowly parted.

Xindela was talking to a tall, thin man with an asymmetrical haircut. They were both standing at the elevator entrance, seemingly ready to leave.

Seeing Li Cheng颐 and the other two, Xindela’s expression relaxed.

“Xiao Yi, you’re just in time. Hurry, we need to rush to Zhaoshan immediately.”

“Zhaoshan?” Li Cheng颐 was completely bewildered. That place was at least three hundred kilometers away from Suiyang. What were they going there for?

“A young lady I recently signed got stuck in a dead corner over there and needs our help,” Xindela said quickly. “Put on your glasses, I’ll send you the information.”

Li Cheng颐 didn’t waste any words. He turned to make space for the two to enter, then put on his AR glasses.

Soon, lines of data were transmitted to his device.

‘Company mission: Help Zhong Ying escape the ‘Mist Street Dead Corner.’

‘Mist Street Dead Corner – A dim street shrouded in mist. The different storefronts are all closed and deserted. At the end of the street, by the roadside, is a powered-on slot machine.’

‘Danger point: The slot machine must be pulled regularly, or unknown dangers will be encountered.

After the slot machine spins, three symbols will appear.

When the three symbols are of different types, the player will lose a part of their body.

If two similar symbols appear, an unknown reward will be obtained. So far, the dead corner occupant has obtained a dagger with special functions and a bottle of special medicine with unknown effects.

If three similar symbols appear, the result is unknown.

If two or three identical symbols appear, the result is unknown.’

While reading the information, Li Cheng頤 followed Xindela, Song Ran, and Sima Gui into Xindela’s special vehicle, a Mist Flag city SUV.

Song Ran was driving, Xindela sat in the second row, and Li Cheng颐 and Sima Gui sat in the third row.

The six-seater configuration was perfectly arranged in a 112 distribution.

After the muffled sound of the doors closing, the car slowly accelerated, moving with the dense traffic.

It was late afternoon, and the rush hour traffic was heavier than usual. The car moved slowly, step by step.

Seeing how slow they were moving, Li Cheng颐 decided to ask about the situation.

“Boss, is the key to this Mist Street Dead Corner the slot machine?”

“It should be. That little girl has already left it twice. The danger isn’t as great as yours. For now, she’s the only one inside,” Xindela replied.

“For now?”

“Yes, there was someone else before, but they suddenly disappeared while interacting with the slot machine. So now she’s the only one in there.”

“So what can we do now that we’re going there?” Li Cheng颐 asked.

“I’ve preliminarily figured out what this Mist Street is. We need manpower to investigate the details,” Xindela replied. “You’re more familiar and adapted to dead corners, and people with strong mental power might experience memory flashes when approaching a dead corner. This can add details, so I’m giving you this mission to try. Don’t put too much pressure on yourselves. It’s fine if you can’t find any clues.”

“What happens if you don’t play the slot machine at all?” Sima Gui, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked.

“Zhong Ying didn’t say. That little girl is named Zhong Ying, but the time she spends inside is increasing each time, and by a large margin. According to the inertia of the dead corner, she might be trapped inside forever on the third time,” Xindela sighed.

“How did she get out the first two times?” Sima Gui asked.

“Once was when the person with her disappeared, and the other time, she played the slot machine and got lucky, even winning two things,” Xindela replied. “Of course, it’s also possible that the slot machine has a high probability of paying out.”

“Is there a dead corner profile?” Li Cheng颐 asked.

“I’ll send it to you and create a small group to share it,” Xindela replied.

Soon, he added all three of them to a small group with only two people.

The three of them, plus the two in the group, made exactly five people.

The two people originally in the group were Xindela and the newly signed Zhong Ying.

“This is the profile scene picture,” Xindela quickly sent a picture-like image.

It was a hazy, dim gray mist.

Inside the mist, a straight street could be vaguely seen, stretching from their feet to the front, into the endless mist in the distance.

The street surface was paved with old concrete, with many cracks.

On both sides, there were old-fashioned concrete pillar streetlights, and behind the streetlights were sidewalks and storefronts along the street.

The entire street was dimly lit, the street was empty, all the shops were closed, and everything was silent.

The group carefully examined the image and found a dilapidated slot machine at the end of the street in front of a children’s goods store.

The slot machine screen was powered on, flickering with a faint colored light in the gray mist.

It was the only splash of color in the entire gray district.

“That’s the slot machine…?” Li Cheng颐 didn’t need anyone to tell him, he could feel that there was something wrong with the machine.

Everything else was gray, but the slot machine was colorful. That in itself was abnormal.

“After you arrive, investigate the specific situation based on the memory flashes of the dead corner. Memory flashes generally depend on mental strength. The stronger the mind, the more and clearer the flashes, and they might even affect reality along with the dead corner,” Xindela suggested.

“So, memory flashes are very similar to omens?” Li Cheng颐 suddenly realized.

“They are very similar. But there is a fundamental difference. Omens will definitely pull you into the dead corner, and you will be harmed in the omen. But memory flashes will not. They are merely images, remnants of scenes, traces of the dead corner. Unless you are extremely strong mentally, they generally won’t hurt you,” Sima Gui calmly explained.

“Then, for those with strong minds, is there a way to distinguish between the two?” Li Cheng颐 frowned.

“No, you have to judge for yourself.” Sima Gui glanced at him, “According to my personal experience, omens will pull you into the dead corner no matter where you go. Memory flashes, on the other hand, will not affect you with the flashes of a specific dead corner as long as you leave a fixed location.”

Li Cheng颐 suddenly recalled the two times at the university and the rice noodle shop.

Those two times, in retrospect, were likely memory flashes rather than omens.

“I heard you want to become a Mechanist?” Sima Gui suddenly changed the subject and looked at Li Cheng颐.

“Yes. What do you want to ask, Mr. Sima?” Li Cheng颐 was confused, wondering what this guy was trying to do by suddenly bringing this up.

“With so much money, wouldn’t it be better to enjoy yourself? Why run into that bottomless pit?” Sima Gui shook his head.

“It’s always right to strengthen oneself,” Li Cheng颐 replied.

“Anyway, people like us won’t live much longer. Why not do more of what we want to do, things we didn’t dare to do before? For example, do you have a girl you like? A sport you want to play? Or try a new type of hallucinogen?” Sima Gui said disdainfully.

“This…”

“What this? Anyway, we’re all dying, so do whatever you want. It’s the same whether you die in the dead corner or outside,” Sima Gui said indifferently. “I even know a few people who specifically bombed several shopping malls when they were about to go in for the last time.”

“Why would they bomb shopping malls for no reason?” Li Cheng颐 couldn’t understand.

“Annoying, I guess.” Sima Gui smiled. “They live day to day, and might die at any moment. Seeing so many people in the shopping malls laughing so happily. It’s normal to do something out of line.”

“Those kinds of people are still a minority,” Xindela interjected.

“Actually, I think that way a lot of the time,” Sima Gui said with a smile.

Xindela didn’t say anything. Dead corner people hovered on the edge of life and death, and there were too many neurotic ones. He had seen many while searching for his son.

Even his own son was a similar type.

“Live one day at a time, and try to experience what you want to experience as much as possible. There’s nothing to worry about. Whoever pisses me off, I’ll piss them off,” Sima Gui said with a smile.

Li Cheng颐 pondered upon hearing this.

Indeed, when you’re about to die, who would care about the usual formalities, what politeness, rules, all thrown aside.

Just like when he was in the Gelius parking lot, when the people from Ace Real Estate caused trouble, he didn’t hesitate and took action at full speed to solve everyone.

At that time, his mentality was as Sima Gui said, ‘Anyway, I might die at any time, so I’m too lazy to think too much about what to do. Just do it first!’

For a moment, the car fell silent, seemingly depressed by Sima Gui’s words.

The car finally left the city and headed towards the suburbs.

“So that’s why Zhong Ying didn’t want to go to the official organization and came to us,” Xindela said slowly.

“Yeah, if the official organization catches people like us, they’ll definitely lock us up first, to avoid us going crazy and causing trouble,” Sima Gui nodded.

“The more it’s like this, the more people don’t want to be discovered by the official organization,” Xindela said.

Li Cheng颐 silently watched the scenery flashing past the window.

He suddenly realized something.

If these dead corner people didn’t have status, they might really be pitiful worms. Highly unstable terrorists of society.

*

*

*

Yongnian Town.

Ace Real Estate Headquarters.

The scene had already been surveyed by the police, the bodies had been removed, and the bloodstains had been cleaned up.

At night, crickets chirped one after another, and the entire Ace Building was silent.

After so many people had died in succession, it had been regarded as an absolutely ominous building by the surrounding people.

Just getting a little closer seemed to make them smell the faint scent of blood wafting out.

At night.

A tall woman wearing a gray-white trench coat and a black scarf around her neck slowly came to the iron gate of the Ace Building and looked inside.

In the dark night, the only source of light was the bright moonlight of Bai Xing.

But the woman seemed to be able to see in the dark, her gaze sometimes moving, sometimes fixed.

Each time her gaze stopped, it was at the place where Li Cheng颐 had killed the Ace security guards.

“Did you find any clues?” a voice asked in the woman’s ear.

The voice came from a tiny earpiece in her ear.

“Found a little. I’ll go in and take a look,” the woman replied in a low voice.

“I’ve found out that recently, the only company that had a conflict with Ace Real Estate was a newly established pharmaceutical company in Suiyang City,” the man’s voice continued in the earpiece.

“What’s the name?”

“Hongjin. There should be some connection. Go back and check it out,” the man said. www.

“Okay. I’ll go in and observe first. This guy… his strength and speed are not bad. Looks like an experimental modified body created by some private capital or a small country.”

The woman looked left and right, then gently rushed forward, her hand gently grabbing the closed iron gate, and she crossed the two-meter-high iron gate like an ape.

Then she landed gently, without stopping, and followed the route Li Cheng颐 had taken, rushing straight into the hall.