The King of Black Fog

"Hmm," Yang Qinglan nodded, "Gu She Fairy purchasing beautiful, elegant, or ethereal skills can get a 50% discount."

"50%?! Li Changzhou despaired, "What's there for me as 'No Taboos'? Even those 'Noble and Pure' are faring better than me!"

"Each time your value upgrades, you gain more Ability Points, and you also receive the dual rewards of Black and White Cards," Yang Qinglan went through the benefits of 'No Taboos' all over again.

"Forget it!" Li Changzhou feigned a sigh, "But this time the evaluations aren't high, only B+."

"Because of the unexpected, right? Qian Xia being discovered while gathering intelligence, Li Bichang suddenly got killed; Chun Emperor had to kill Li Xinghua ahead of time to save us."

After a brief thought, Yang Qinglan suggested, "Let's look at the redemption list first. You should directly buy the 'Divine Fire Map,' let's talk about the rest later, we should discuss and prioritize the allocation of Game Coins to those who need them most."

"I'll follow your lead." Li Changzhou's gaze returned to the menu.

[Name: Divine Fire Map]

[Type: Visualization Map]

[Quality: A]

[Special Effect: Unlocking potential]

[Minimum Use Conditions: Two attributes at full value during the First Stage]

[Introduction: Divine Fire descends from the heavens, the Earth shatters, Divine beings attract fire to burn their bodies and undergo Divinity Transformation]

[Remarks: First Level—fires ablaze at your behind! Second Level—self-immolation! Third Level—a handful of ashes!]

Li Changzhou was now very curious about the remarks for the "Thunder Map."

"The Divine Fire Map actually costs ten thousand!" Li Qianxia sat up in shock, "That's robbery!"

She threw off the covers, got out of bed, and walked over to sit by the window, facing it.

No wonder that back then, the B-rank 'Thunder Map' had Old Master Huang and his group of elders scraping together their life savings as if it were some kind of treasure.

Compared to the price, it was actually even harder for a Visualization Map to appear on the redemption list.

"How many Game Coins do we have in total?" Yang Qinglan asked the two.

"We gained 1150 this time, had 1600 left over from last time, totaling 2750," Li Changzhou replied.

"I only have 750 this time, 30 left in the card, totals up to... 780," Li Qianxia calculated.

"I have 800," said Yang Qinglan. "That makes it 4330 all together."

The three fell into contemplation.

"Should we sell the seized Identity Cards?" Li Changzhou inquired.

"Let's try," nodded Yang Qinglan.

The buy-back price for Identity Cards had increased from the original 10 Game Coins to 50.

But even so, after disposing of all the Identity Cards they could, they only accumulated 5230 Game Coins; it was still far from ten thousand.

"I was actually thinking of buying a new Skill for fun, but now we don't even have enough for the 'Divine Fire Map.'" Li Qianxia leaned forward, her chin resting on the table, folding the menu into a toad (she learned it in kindergarten and still remembered it).

"We'll go to Chun Emperor!" Yang Qinglan stood up. "It's unreasonable to make us the only ones paying."

"I think Miss Yang, you're absolutely right!" Li Changzhou stood up, agreeing with her.

"Hey, wait, I'm not done folding my toad yet; if you press its behind, it will even hop forward, don't you want to see?" Li Qianxia followed with the half-finished toad in her hand.

When they left the private room, the players inside the carriage were indeed not the same ones who had boarded earlier—no more Minotaurs, Daoists, Monks, or Spider Spirits were seen.

Most were Human; there were only a few animal players. No octopuses, squids, or whales were to be seen, but there was that mermaid, with whom they exchanged simple greetings.

Li Changzhou even saw Liu De sitting with some dockworkers, enjoying a meal from 1928, drinking wine from 1928, while discussing which Skill to buy.

"...Is the water in the instance that deep?" Li Changzhou was startled, feeling completely out of his element.

He had completely misread Liu De and the others!

Could they be high-level extras from Hengdian, paid a thousand a day? The way they drank wine—it was just like chugging beer, it looked so.

"It's good that Sister Chun Emperor ended the instance ahead of time." Li Qianxia couldn't help but sigh slightly. "By the way, do you think they know our real identities?"

"Can you find them?" Yang Qinglan inquired.

"Er, with so many people, plus all the hidden skills, probably not," she replied.

"They would have the same problem," Yang Qinglan concluded.

"I hope they can find us," Li Changzhou said, another way of saying 'I'm broke, come and bail me out.'

While talking, they had already found Chun Emperor, whose white hair was very noticeable.

Little Radish and Butterfly were there as well.

"I knew you guys would come looking for me," Chun Emperor smiled, still in her cheongsam, revealing an astonishing length of astonishingly white leg from the slits in her dress.

Across from her, a small radish sat at a special little dining table, looking at the small menu.

A butterfly rested on a cup of nectar, sipping the sweet liquid while using its antennae to sense the information on the special menu.

"We still need 6540 for the 'Divine Fire Map'," Yang Qinglan got straight to the point.

"I'll give 3000," Chun Emperor said.

"Chun Emperor sis, we really are short by 6540," Li Qianxia hugged Chun Emperor's slender arm.

Li Changzhou: "?"

When did their relationship get so good?

"Well—" Chun Emperor, like a coquettish big sister, pursed her lips and looked at Li Qianxia before speaking like a doting sister, "Alright, I'll give 3500."

"It's not about bargaining, we're really short by 6540," Li Changzhou said.

"I know I've been tricked, but since it's you who's asking, 6540 it is, I'll give it," Chun Emperor tilted her head, propping herself up with her hand, her white hair slightly lifted by her fingers and a bit disheveled, like the beauty of being freshly awoken.

"How about this Skill for 300?" The radish bit its nail and pondered, its little brows tightly knit in a significant struggle, appearing as if it were preparing for a 30-year mortgage on a house.

"Woo~" the butterfly responded.

"Miss Yang, she's trying to sow discord," Li Changzhou pointed at Chun Emperor and said to Yang Qinglan.

"Give the money," Yang Qinglan took out her Identity Card, letting Chun Emperor make the transaction.

Chun Emperor didn't insist on receiving Li Changzhou's Identity Card and happily transferred 6540 Game Coins to Yang Qinglan.

"So rich," Li Qianxia said, envious.

"Ever heard of 'a beauty's laugh that overwhelms the world'?" Chun Emperor's beautiful eyes landed on her, "If it weren't for the station's ban on players attacking each other, I could make everyone transfer their Game Coins to me right now."

While the two chatted, Yang Qinglan transferred the Game Coins to Li Changzhou.

That's a total of 11770. After deducting 10,000 for the "Divine Fire Map," the remaining 1770 could be used to buy one or two B-grade Skills (prices for B-grade Skills range from 500 to 1500).

Of course, some had to be saved since the Second Stage didn't award tickets, and they had to purchase tickets themselves.

"Keep the item with you guys," Chun Emperor said, "I'll come to Ming City to find you, then you can give it to me."

"What if we need it after giving it to you?" Li Qianxia asked.

"I have a plan, and I'll tell you about it when we meet," Chun Emperor said with a smile.

She stood up, ready to leave, but then glanced at the struggling radish: "Stop agonizing, I feel sorry just watching you struggle. Here's 1000, go buy something you like."

"Wow!" The radish's eyes brightened, echoing a phrase learned from Li Qianxia.

"And for you," Chun Emperor turned to the little butterfly, "you've worked hard pulling my rickshaw. Here's 200 for you."

"Woo woo!" The butterfly vigorously flapped its wings twice.

After the transaction, Chun Emperor took another deep look at Yang Qinglan, sneered disdainfully, and strode away with her long legs.

"It's okay, Qing Lan!" Li Qianxia took hold of Yang Qinglan's hand, "It doesn't matter if we have no money, we can cheat her!"

"Having no money is quite normal for Gu She Fairy," Li Changzhou also comforted.

"You two, we're going Dutch on meals from now on," Yang Qinglan said.

"No, don't, we—"

Before Li Qianxia could finish shouting, a broadcast sounded again. No, it wasn't a broadcast, it was the voice of the game Value.

[Game Announcement: The Second Stage October test is complete, certain rules have changed]

[-In view of "Host" White Card players and "King of Black Fog" Black Card players and others similarly delaying time, displaying passive and lazy behavior, exploiting time to develop potential, and thus causing low game intensity, the game duration will henceforth be shortened]

[-During each instance, each Player will have one exclusive main quest *1, Side Missions are triggered on their own, and players must return within ten minutes after completing the main quest (after returning, players may choose to exit early or stay in the carriage waiting for teammates, with time inside the carriage flowing at a normal rate)]

[-Black Card players will be hunted by three White Card players who failed their main quests in the real world, after failing their main quest, until one side is dead, or otherwise, the next game cannot be started]

[-Mission notifications are now online, players can receive real-time mission prompts in the past]

[-The waiting room now offers 'Designated Duel Tokens' for purchase, after buying, players can enter an ID (for example, "Host"), to encounter a designated player in the instance, both players will get a prompt, initiating a half-hour 'duel' period, the winner takes all the loser's Game Coins and a random skill]

[Announcements complete]

Huh?

What does this mean?

It's "Host" again, and "King of Black Fog" from the Black Card players, and it's not just me who's delaying time, why only mention me?

That's not too bad, it could help hide my identity, but what does this last sentence, "For example, 'Host'", imply?

Li Changzhou loves the game Value to death.