"True story! True story!"
Under the dim streetlight, the voice of a doll emerged from the notebook, echoing eerily on the deserted street.
This scene was somewhat creepy.
Even the powerful beings in each video window were getting restless.
Many who were originally just watching now showed a solemn expression and stared seriously at Wu Xiaode.
Since it was the truth,
how strong was this guy really?
And his enemy—
the one with a Corpse Mountain, how terrifying was he?
"Wait—was it confirmed to be true just now? I could only be eaten in front of that guy?"
The man wearing the gray rhinoceros mask asked unwillingly.
The doll sharply said, "He didn't lie at all."
"He slapped that guy and still came back alive?" the man with the gray rhinoceros mask asked, not giving up.
"It's true, I guarantee with all the evil curses," the doll said.
The man wearing the gray rhinoceros mask fell silent.
Who would have thought—
A simple question and answer had set the limits of strength.
Was this a threat from the other party?
Since he was no match for him, and he was threatening, what could he do?
But Wu Xiaode didn't want to let him go, whispering to him, "It seems like you have a lot of dissatisfaction with me, huh?"
The man paused for a moment, and suddenly burst into hearty laughter from behind the mask, loudly saying, "Truly, a hero comes from youth. How can my meager skills compete with yours?"
Let him join the team!
The team prohibited mutual killings, which was a form of protection for himself!
"Weren't you quite brave just now? How about we fight, discussing the outcome with life and death, so the living can be at peace, and the dead too," Wu Xiaode said.
The man wearing the gray rhinoceros mask waved his hands repeatedly, smiling apologetically, "I dare not, I dare not. You are magnanimous, do not hold it against me. Just command me if you need anything in the future."
Wu Xiaode decided to let it go and didn't push any further.
After all, he had no idea what abilities these people possessed, and if a real fight broke out, he could only immediately turn into a crow and fly away.
—And that might not even be successful.
Little did Wu Xiaode know, the people felt a fondness for him seeing that he let the man with the gray rhinoceros mask go.
—After all, he was just a rookie being reviewed.
Targeting a veteran right from the start?
Others were somewhat displeased, but now that Wu Xiaode no longer pursued the matter, it not only proved his own strength but also showed the demeanor of a master.
Everyone was sort of satisfied.
"One last question, may I ask it, any objections?" Xiao Baihong raised his hand.
No one spoke.
—That was support.
"Go ahead," the shadow nodded.
Xiao Baihong smiled and said, "Wu Xiaode, you fully demonstrated your strength—"
He glanced at the dejected man with the gray rhinoceros mask and loudly said, "Would you like to team up with me? From now on, for various missions, we'll be a fixed team, how about that?"
An easy point.
"Of course, I feel like we get along well," Wu Xiaode responded without hesitation.
As soon as Wu Xiaode had finished answering, the doll immediately spoke,
"True story! True story!"
"Hahaha, good, from now on, we are brothers!" Xiao Baihong laughed very satisfied.
A sudden change occurred!
Bang—
A brilliant light burst out of the void, quickly turning into half a starburst, appearing above Xiao Baihong's head.
The Book of the Dead then opened:
"You have won some praise from Xiao Baihong."
"Current level of approval: Half a star."
"The book has resonated with Xiao Baihong once and, according to the level of approval, drawn something valuable from him."
"You have gained Xiao Baihong's skill: Sidestep (Right Step)."
"—This is a movement technique skill, allowing you to dodge from your original position at the fastest speed to evade stealth attacks and firearm-type strikes."
"You now have the (Left Step) and (Right Step)."
"Now, this move is complete."
Yes, just like that!
Draw all their things over!
Wu Xiaode secretly clenched his fist, feeling life was becoming wonderful again.
"Well, let's leave it at this for now, it's almost midnight, let's survive first, and we'll gather specifically later," the shadow said.
The notebook turned pitch black again.
Click!
Xiao Baihong closed the notebook, smiling, "It's not far from midnight now; I'm going to help a friend, see you later?"
Wu Xiaode was stunned for a moment.
He suddenly remembered what the head of the Defense Bureau had said.
"Every night at midnight, we can stick together to face it, I believe you also want an extra hand."
The owner of the S-class club had said the same thing just now.
What did this all mean?
Wu Xiaode was eager to ask, but instead asked another question, "Yes, it's almost midnight. Do you guys have any manual or something to deal with this?"
"We don't have that thing, but there are some precautions pinned in the group files—by the way, let's add each other as friends, I'll pull you into the group."
"All right."
Wu Xiaode quickly took out his phone.
After some operations, Xiao Baihong added him to a group.
The group had a pink rabbit icon, looking quite cartoonish and cute.
Is this the team's group?
Wu Xiaode wondered.
But the group name was still quite normal, named: "S-Class Club."
As soon as he joined, a greeting message immediately popped up:
"Welcome to the S-Class Club, we are the pinnacle of the industry."
The group was rather quiet, with only a few people's avatars showing a (Busy) status, only one person displayed a (Newbie) status.
—It was himself who had just joined.
Everyone was busy, and no one spoke for a while.
"I'm leaving first, PM me if you need anything," Xiao Baihong waved.
"Right, goodbye," Wu Xiaode said.
Xiao Baihong retreated into the shadow of the corner, and her entire figure disappeared rapidly.
Wu Xiaode opened the "S-level Club" group files and saw a small note:
"A brief summary regarding the matter at midnight at twelve:
"1. Those who awaken Soul Power will be pulled into that world at midnight;"
"2. People with a soul power value of 1 need to kill one monster to return, those with 2 need to kill two monsters, and so forth;"
"3. Do not stand with ordinary people, or they too will be brought into that world, and their fate will almost certainly be death unless you take care of them and bring them back with you;"
"4. That world is constantly approaching ours; it has triggered earthquakes, tsunamis, and various other phenomena, but it has also stimulated the potential of humanity, allowing humans to obtain Soul Power; the limit of Soul Power was 5 six months ago, now it is 10, and it might increase further in the future;
"5. The widely accepted conclusion is: one day it will descend upon our world, and as this process unfolds, the strength of humanity is also continuously improving;"
"6. Given that more and more professionals are dying, the universally recognized sole action principle is: survival."
"—Do not harbor any illusions; this is a feast of darkness and fear."
Wu Xiaode sighed with relief.
After the head of the Defense Bureau had spoken such words, he made it a point to heed them, always wanting to figure out the whole situation.
Now, joining this team was indeed worthwhile, not only for the future skills but also for some intelligence about what happens at midnight!
As for being scared—
Fear was useless, he might as well resign himself to his fate.
Suddenly, a woman's voice arose:
"Little Wu, I see that person has left, is everything alright now?"
Xia Huilan.
She came back, dragging her suitcase, and asked with concern.
"It's all right now," Wu Xiaode had just finished speaking when he suddenly realized and looked at his phone.
The phone screen displayed the current time:
"0:00."
It was midnight.
Xia Huilan was still by his side, it was too late to ask her to leave.
According to the third item in the group file—
"No."
Wu Xiaode groaned.
Lights flashed all around.
Wu Xiaode felt as if the world had suddenly vanished.
In an instant.
Another world sped from an extremely distant place, sweeping him and Xia Huilan into it.
The surroundings also gradually became clearer.
Ya stayed on Wu Xiaode's shoulder, anxiously saying, "This place is very dangerous, you must be careful."
"I know."
Wu Xiaode responded, positioning Xia Huilan behind him.
Yet Xia Huilan pushed aside his arm, standing in front of him.
"Sister Lan, this place is very dangerous," Wu Xiaode said.
"I knew it when I saw them pulling you, your earlier talk of joining some powerful forces was a fib—you must have just become a professional today," Xia Huilan said.
Wu Xiaode exclaimed in surprise, "Eh? You—"
"I eavesdropped a bit."
Xia Huilan pointed at her ear.
She wore a delicate, small silver earpiece that was flashing a deep blue light.
"Indeed, I have just become a professional today," admitted Wu Xiaode.
"Which means you have never encountered another world," Xia Huilan said.
"That's right," Wu Xiaode said.
—Did Death Demon Cave count as another world?
But if it were a place like Death Demon Cave, probably no one could escape from the hands of the One-eyed Giant.
He was also just lucky, having just awakened a Spiritual-type ability, enabling him to borrow the power of all spirits and Heroic Spirits.
And he had only delayed his fate by seven days.
He still had to go after seven days!
Xia Huilan looked at Wu Xiaode tenderly, gently shaking her head.
She seemed to have made some decision and began to speak:
"Little Wu, I am the lead Battle Armor designer at Bright Mechanical Union Technology, overseeing the entire department, so naturally I've had early knowledge of some matters; I used to think that humanity was hopeless, so I wanted to go back to the countryside to take refuge, to live as long as we could."
"But now that even you have been involved, I cannot just abandon you..."
"Sister Lan, you are a professional too?" Wu Xiaode asked in surprise.
"No, I am just an ordinary person, but I know this place is extremely dangerous, according to statistical data, 71.635% of Awakeners don't survive past their first midnight," Xia Huilan said.
"Why?" Wu Xiaode did not understand.
The S-level Club's files were just a simple reminder.
This team did not have a specific file to explain things to those who had just awakened their Soul Power.
"According to the data we have, when Awakeners first enter that world, the fluctuations on their bodies are particularly evident and attract countless monsters," Xia Huilan explained with an increase in emphasis and a more solemn tone. "Under such harsh conditions, two-thirds of the Awakeners can't make it."
She crouched down and opened her suitcase.
Inside the suitcase was one entire silver rectangular metallic block.
Xia Huilan pressed her hand on the metallic block.
A cold voice emerged from the metallic block:
"Identity verified."
"Killing program No. 92024 loaded."
"Xia Ni is about to awaken."
The metallic block began to rise and take shape.
It shaped into a human female form, then the surface of the metal slowly gained color and texture, from the face, shoulders, waist, legs, gradually transforming into somebody Wu Xiaode recognized.
Xia Huilan!
This robot was designed by Xia Huilan based on herself!
Upon closer inspection, however, she appeared to be around sixteen years old, much greener than Xia Huilan.
"I am Xia Ni, hello Little Wu," the girl said playfully in her blouse and skirt.
Her voice was timid and also carried a few nuances unique to a youthful girl.
It was exactly like Xia Huilan's voice at sixteen!
Exactly identical!
Wu Xiaode turned his head to look at Xia Huilan.
Xia Huilan had already entered working mode, swiftly typing various commands behind the robotic girl, and said:
"Little Wu, this is your first night; I'll give you a hand."
Little Wu was already astounded.