The King of Black Fog

Practicing boxing to fight and sword fighting to kill, indeed, weapons are essential, thought Li Changzhou.

He glanced at the corpses of the four men, confirming that their Identity Cards had all properly popped out of their heads, before turning his attention skyward, where the drone had ceased firing.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

"Pick up the Identity Cards," he instructed Bi on his back.

Putting himself in others' shoes, he knew that if he wanted to feign death, the most crucial part was to eject the Identity Card from his head.

The Princess was engrossed in examining a pot lid, but at Li Changzhou's words, she listlessly flicked her fingers, and the four Identity Cards whooshed into her hand.

Yang Qinglan then took them all from her.

Only then did Li Changzhou feel at ease to speak with the drone.

"Wang Donghua, I admire you," he said, "and as a fellow Xia Countryman, we should be united as one and stand together to win this survival battle, don't you think?"

"The skinny man at your feet was also from Xia Country, but you killed him," said Wang Donghua, his voice calm and objective.

"I can't get along with people who read porn magazines."

"That's just a photo album, and it's been reviewed and published domestically."

...Impeccable logic, as expected of an electronic brain.

Li Changzhou looked down and saw that the man was indeed clutching a photo album. He had caught a glimpse of something big and white earlier and had jumped to conclusions.

Was it his fault? Not really, it was the fault of a voluptuous figure.

"Sorry," he said, nodding towards the magazine, before raising his head to the drone and asking, "What about now?"

"You are sincere, good. But you will have to follow my orders."

Li Changzhou smiled helplessly, "True Xia Country style, preferring punishment over toasting."

After a pause, he added, "I'll take your Identity Card."

The drone buzzed and shot up into the night sky, disappearing from sight.

Yang Qinglan removed herself from his embrace.

As she rolled up her long hair, turning the Emerald Bee Sword back into a hairpin, she asked, "Hasn't your intelligence recovered yet?"

"Six points is enough to deal with them," Li Changzhou said, pulling Bi's leg off from around his waist.

Maria Yafelona cautiously stepped out of the warehouse, feeling frightened but also a rush of excitement at the sight of the corpses.

As a player, she reasoned, only the mighty Black Mist was worth following. What Mafia boss? Once she returned, she'd wipe him out.

Right, she could take over the Mafia's power and serve Lord Black Mist even better.

Li Changzhou scrounged through the equipment, then left the scene of the train derailment with Yang Qinglan and the others.

In the night, Taoli's body suddenly twitched, and a squirrel scrambled out from underneath it.

Its shiny eyes were filled with fear, and it scurried away in the opposite direction of Li Changzhou at breakneck speed.

On this side, Yang Qinglan gave Li Changzhou a meaningful look.

"Stay safe," Li Changzhou whispered to Li Qianxia on his shoulder.

The owl nodded and soared into the dark night sky.

"What are you talking about?" asked the Princess, studying the pot lid, looking up at them with curiosity.

Li Changzhou didn't answer but instead used "Photo Transmission," vanishing from the street with them.

The place they reappeared was not the previous loft apartment but an empty house whose owners were away traveling, fully equipped and ready to move in.

Li Qianxia had found many such houses in the last few days.

They would not return to the original apartment. Wang Donghua already knew that the white owl was with Li Changzhou. Since the owl had been coming and going from the loft apartment, it was very likely to have been captured on camera.

"Please make yourselves comfortable," said Li Changzhou, playing the hospitable host, then rubbed his hands together like a fly, looking expectantly at Yang Qinglan.

Seeing his expression, Yang Qinglan knew his intelligence was down to five points.

She handed him the four Identity Cards.

"Hey!" Bi shouted discontentedly, "You haven't answered me. What were you just talking about? Where did Xia go?"

"Didn't you notice the squirrel that didn't die?" Yang Qinglan asked, looking down at her.

"Ah?" The Princess paused, "Why not kill it?"

"If we killed it, would you take us to Wang Donghua?" Yang Qinglan tilted her head and asked.

Bi: "..."

"At first I did want to kill it, letting a player unaware of their instincts and skills live is dangerous," Li Changzhou said while examining the first Identity Card. "But since we didn't kill it, we might as well make use of the situation."

Bi decided to ask a question that would make her feel foolish: "What... what are your intelligence levels?"

"Aside from intelligence, there's also life experience. You're still young, you can read more books, it's not too late." Yang Qinglan's gaze shifted toward the Identity Card in Li Changzhou's hand, and they began looking at it together.

The Czar Princess felt scorn but she never admitted defeat, at least not verbally.

She snorted, pretending the earlier conversation didn't happen, then condescendingly praised Li Changzhou, "Young man, you did well just now, the princess admires you."

Young man? What kind of translation is this? Why is it so vivid?

Maria Yafelona, who hadn't spoken, looked admiringly at Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan, thinking they were a good match, in both looks and intelligence.

Before this, she had been unconvinced by the legitimate wife of the Mafia, thinking she was neither as beautiful nor as smart as herself. Now, she was thoroughly convinced by Yang Qinglan.

[Nickname: Chocolate Cookie] (10)

[Name: Taoli Adams]

[Value: 0]

[Instinct: Wooden Pot Lid (Weapon)]

[Skills: "Soothe" (E-rank), "Unlearned", "Unlearned", "Unlearned", "Unlearned", "Unlearned"]

Such few skills, players who participate in the game as crazily as they do are after all a minority.

Yang Qinglan examined the pot lid's information closely.

[Name: Wooden Pot Lid]

[Type: Weapon]

[Quality: C]

[Special Effect: Defends against a certain level of frontal attacks]

[Minimum Use Conditions: Complete trust in the wooden pot lid]

[Introduction: It can only ward off 'attacks.' If a teammate cares about you, they can take the pot lid away at any time, handing you a bulletproof shield that can only block bullets.]

[Remarks: As a child, when cooking, Taoli saved her face from a sudden oil splatter using the pot lid. Since then, she had a special trust in pot lids—believing as long as this wooden lid is in her hands, she would be safe.]

Trust, huh, Yang Qinglan mused to herself.

The pot lid can only defend against frontal attacks to a certain degree, but how much is this 'certain degree'?

Once doubt creeps in, the trust falls apart, and the pot lid is nothing more than a pot lid, useless for any other purpose.

She glanced at the Czar Princess who was clinging to her pot lid, feeling that she could probably achieve complete trust—as long as she didn't show her the specific information on the Identity Card.

She and Li Changzhou probably wouldn't need it anymore, as both of them were filled with doubts about the world.

Yang Qinglan withdrew her thoughts and gaze, noticing that the card at the top of the pile in Li Changzhou's hand was still Taoli's.

She looked up at Li Changzhou.

He was lost in thought, his gaze occasionally revealing flashes of regret, annoyance, and conflict.

"What's up?" she asked softly.

"Qing Lan, before the game started, Taoli might have been just an ordinary housewife, kind to neighbors and caring for the family, never having broken the law; and I killed her like that..."

After a moment of silence, he said, "I should have made her turn over the Identity Card, waited for the event to be over, let her leave."

Yang Qinglan listened seriously to Li Changzhou's words, then surveyed him even more earnestly.

The him with seven points in intelligence was calm and composed, in control of his emotional fluctuations;

The him with six points in intelligence looked down on everything, arrogant and bold;

The him with three points in intelligence, more crazed than the wildest buffalo, more ferocious than the fiercest lion;

Now, he was as soft as a maiden, like a child.

Yang Qinglan, just like Lev Tolstoy, believed that people have multiple facets: they could be a dog, or a cat, sometimes a fierce tiger, occasionally as cunning as a fox, and also have the side of an ostrich burying its head in the ground.

She didn't look down on Li Changzhou's current weakness (hoping for the Identity Card but regretting killing someone afterward) in the slightest; on the contrary, she was pleased to see such a side deep within him.

But still.

"Then wait for her to kill you? Wait for her teammates to kill Qian Xia? Do you know her teammate's instinct? It could be very dangerous," she said softly yet firmly.

Li Changzhou sighed internally.

He said, fraught with conflict, "I understand the principle very well, but I still can't help thinking—is there no other way? Must it be this cruel? Can't good people unite, help each other out?"

Yang Qinglan stretched out her hand and gently pressed it on his hand tightly gripping the dead person's Identity Card: "In this game, there's no right or wrong, it's survival of the fittest, everyone is just trying to stay alive."

Her hand was soft and fair, as flawless as she was.

She was all cool, delicate fragrance at the tip of his nose, and in his sight were her peach-like breasts, causing Li Changzhou's heart to beat wildly.

"Miss Yang," he couldn't help saying, "I'm your lapdog, I'll listen to everything you say!"

"..." Yang Qinglan withdrew her hand and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "Let's continue."