The King of Black Fog

Where in front of her was anything like a subway station? It was entirely a high-speed train station!

A spider lady, her lower half being a spider and her upper half a woman, sipped on a Coke as she strode past the trio on the wall with her eight legs.

A minotaur, his body wrapped in chains with hammers attached, struck up a conversation with a winged lizard as they walked into a shop named "Identity Purchase."

Just then, two players exited (one in a Daoist robe, the other in a monk's attire), and they immediately recognized each other and started chatting.

The lizard took out a pack of cigarettes, handing one to each person, and the one in the Daoist robe rubbed his fingertips together to conjure a flame, eagerly lighting up everyone's cigarettes.

A group of half-human, half-ghostly figures gathered, puffing smoke clouds into the air.

"Get lost!" A man-sized cannibalistic chub (recognized by Yang Qinglan), swimming within a floating bubble of water, scolded the pair and two animals blocking the way.

The monk pursed his lips, clenching the cigarette between them, and pulled out a blunderbuss, ready to bring on a Western-cowboy-style fight.

The minotaur quickly held him back, tugging him aside.

As the cannibalistic chub swam by, it spat a mouthful of water at the two men and two animals, acting very arrogantly.

An official with long braids (possibly a zombie), who was reading a newspaper, frowned in their direction, seemingly annoyed by the noise.

"This place is... what's going on?" Li Qianxia was utterly dumbfounded.

"Interesting," Li Changzhou got excited.

Yang Qinglan also looked around with great interest.

"It's you guys!" A person dressed as a Daoist made his way through the crowd.

"Master Huang?" Li Changzhou stepped forward to meet him.

Master Huang was all smiles, still sporting his goatee.

"Did you also breakthrough?" he asked.

"Yes," Li Changzhou responded, "Oh right, Master, if you have time, please tell us about the general situation here."

He subtly gestured with his eyes towards this place, more like a high-speed train station than a subway station, and the strange array of people and fairies around it.

"No one really knows why this is the case, I'm afraid," Master Huang said with a bitter smile, "but as for clothing, they're either props or just in case, since no one knows what world they might enter or what culture they'll encounter."

Li Changzhou nodded thoughtfully: "The basic styles of Daoist robes and monk's attire indeed wouldn't be too out of place in any dynasty."

"That's right."

"Master, your robe," Li Qianxia examined Master Huang's flowing robe, "doesn't seem so basic?"

Master Huang grinned slightly, stroking his goatee with a hint of pride:

"This is the Daoist robe of my sect. If I go to an era where my sect still exists, I might not be able to return to the sect, but at least I will have a certain status in the eyes of the ordinary experts."

"I'm so envious; I wish I could join a sect too," Li Qianxia said with envy.

"With your talents, it's only a matter of time," Master Huang said with a touch of envy.

"Master, what about those general stores?" Li Changzhou asked again.

"Those? They're run by the game officials, selling all sorts of things. For instance, that one there is for upgrading instance identities and comes with clothes and basic memories, but it's just too expensive;

"The one on the left sells train compartment tickets, which give you your own room on the subway for easier interaction and rest among teammates, but again, expensive;

"The one on the right allows players to consign items. Players can sell their unwanted items, and the store takes a commission, more expensive than official rates in various countries, but the advantage is that the platform is open to all players;

"Next door, you can buy information. They're all newspapers, 1 Game Coin each, detailing some of the players' performances in the instances. Much of what's in my book came from there; look."

Master Huang reached out his left hand, which had been behind his back, holding a rolled-up newspaper.

Li Changzhou took it, unfolded it, and Yang Qinglan and Li Qianxia came closer to his side.

Yang Qinglan, though close, hadn't touched it yet when Li Qianxia directly pressed her face against his arm, resting her hand on his shoulder in a boneless fashion.

The first thing that caught their eyes was the huge headline.

[Exclusive Analysis: No Taboos! Player 'No Taboos'!!!]

[Subtitle: The Second Stage task is to change history, regardless of whether history is changed or not, No Taboos will still receive rewards.]

[Text: Once again becoming unmatched was inevitable, if a player possesses 'No Taboos' for a long time...]

Li Changzhou read throughout the article, which, between the lines, all but enticed players to hunt the 'Master' and take over the 'No Taboos' identity.

"This is the latest hot topic," Master Huang said, twirling his goatee, "'The Master' was unmatched in the First Stage, and then in the Second Stage 'No Taboos', we Black Card players are no worse than the White Card ones."

The outside world unanimously believed the 'Master' to be a Black Card holder.

"Is there no news of this player?" Li Changzhou asked, casually handing over the newspaper to Yang Qinglan.

Yang Qinglan skipped the intel about the 'Master', collecting anecdotes from other players' instances in the corners of the paper.

There were also various interviews, mostly with the best players from the last week, who would also get a cut of the newspaper sales.

The reason there were 'best players' was because Black Card holders changed history, but that didn't mean that all Black Card players received the same rewards, which varied greatly depending on the effort exerted.

Even for 'No Taboos', the rewards depended on the evaluation, although there was always a guaranteed minimum.

Master Huang mused, "The 'Master' seems to have appeared in Italy and was defeated by a Cardinal."

"Defeated…" Li Qianxia seemed shocked, but in reality was mocking someone.

"That's the rumor, but nobody believes it," Master Huang said, "According to intelligence from the Special Warfare Bureau, that Cardinal only recently maxed out three attributes, no way he could be a match for the 'Master'. A Martial Saint even wants to challenge him directly to see if he is worthy of being the second player to survive an encounter with the 'Master'."

"The second?" Li Changzhou was momentarily stunned.

"He encountered the 'Master' in the game, wasn't a match but survived," Master Huang explained.

Was Martial Saint among the three who had fled back then? Li Changzhou realized.

No wonder he wasn't killed, turns out the opponent was just too strong!

"Besides that, there's no other news about the 'Master'. The Special Warfare Bureau specifically sought many players with bizarre instincts who run shops, including fortune tellers, but found nothing. There's also a rumor that one fortune teller knows but won't tell."

"Since the 'Master' broke through a week ago, a lot of Second Stage players have emerged, all looking for him, not just White Cards, but many Black Card holders also want to hunt the 'Master' to obtain 'No Taboos'."

"Master, are you thinking the same?" Li Qianxia curiously asked.

"Of course," Master Huang laughed and nodded, "You know my background; without taking a gamble, I have no hope in this lifetime."

"But you can't beat the 'Pig' (Master), right?" She purposely used the word that sounded like 'pig'!

"Ha ha!" Master Huang laughed out loud, "I have no intention of going it alone; over there is my team."

He gestured behind him, where a group of elderly men and women appeared to be a senior tour group.

After some small talk and introducing the general situation, they agreed to look out for each other if they ended up in the same instance, and then Master Huang went on his way.

"This Master Huang is pretty good at rallying people," Li Qianxia, sharp to human nature due to a life of poverty, noted.

Master Huang took the initiative to approach them, perhaps out of genuine goodwill, but the underlying purpose was still to leave an impression, to have them lend a hand at the crucial moment.

This was indeed useful, both siblings disliked owing favors to others.

As for his goal of hunting the 'Master', that was a minor issue; the 'Master' didn't care. Besides, the 'Master' hoped these people would bring along their skillful friends, for he would make their journey great together.

The trio circled the lobby, which was unimaginably large, yet it wasn't crowded with people and monsters—just a few dozen.

But the game had just started; even the largest halls would be used eventually.

They purchased a triple room train ticket, costing 300 Game Coins.

Yang Qinglan spent 10 Game Coins to collect all of the 10 newspapers to date—there weren't too many, since the game hadn't been going on for long.

Just as they left the store, an announcement suddenly echoed through the hall.

"Hello, everyone, do you recognize my voice?"

"That's right, it's me, the world's number one most beautiful girl, your Xiao Yue! Have you all been missing... huh? Wen Zi! A Wu! It's you guys!"

From the broadcast, Xiao Yue's breathy excitement could be heard, as well as the sound of her swallowing.