They hadn't walked far before arriving at a stretch of ruins. Looking at the nearly leveled rubble with zero storage space, Cheng Shi's brow rose in surprise.
"Mister Pro To, please don't tell
these chanical constructs are in the..." He watched the scavenger's reaction. When those thin eyes widened slightly, Cheng Shi snapped his fingers. "Underground pipes?"
"You... you know about the pipes?" Pro To flinched, suddenly afraid he'd "sold" a worthless bit of intel.
"Just learned. But relax — it won't affect our deal. Your unspoken condition still carries weight. Though I do wonder: why is there such a massive underground pipe system here?
Given San Dales' surface footprint, even a large city shouldn't need subterranean infrastructure this sprawling. It's clearly overkill — wastefully extravagant."
The question was also one Zhang Jizu wanted answered, though the Death Chosen wasn't looking at Pro To. His peripheral vision had drifted to Ai Si.
He sensed the War Supervisor might know the answer. Sure enough, the instant she heard Cheng Shi's words, a flicker of unease crossed her face. She hefted her great sword, stepped two paces forward, and pretended to scan the area — clearly not wanting to betray her thoughts.
Pro To shook his head and whispered, "Those aren't pipes. According to Well Si, what's down there is a Tower of Logic experintal observation station."
"?"
'An observation station? Built beneath an experintal-waste dump?'
'Observing what? Garbage price fluctuations?'
Cheng Shi was stunned — but quickly realized the "observation" in question wasn't about the present. It was about... San Dales' past!
Before being abandoned, this place was likely no ordinary abyss suited for dumping trash. It had very possibly been one of the Tower of Logic's experint grounds!
'That does sound like sothing the Tower of Logic would do.'
Reasonable enough, but doubts lingered. How did this timid-looking scavenger know so many of Well Si's secrets?
Back at the stronghold, Pro To's position had been clearly distant from Well Si and Ber To's "love nest." Standing that far away ant he was almost certainly not part of their inner circle.
So how had a marginalized nobody learned what the bosses' own lieutenants didn't know?
Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. He was about to make a move — but soone was faster.
Zhang Jizu's scalpel materialized at Pro To's throat, nearly sending the scrawny scavenger toppling straight into Mi Laozhang's arms.
Zhang Jizu held him by the shoulder with one hand, blade pressed close with the other, and asked calmly:
"Who are you?"
Pro To was on the verge of tears. "I'm... just a scavenger, my lord. Don't kill . I don't want to be boss anymore. I take back my condition."
"Is your na really Pro To?" The scalpel pressed a fraction harder, drawing a thin red line across the scavenger's goose-bumped neck.
As a hot droplet of blood traced the cold skin of his throat and soaked into his collar, Pro To was nearly struck mute. He clawed at Zhang Jizu's wrist, choking out: "Yes — I'm Pro To!"
"Tell
a lie?"
Just as Pro To was about to pass out from fright, Cheng Shi gently tapped Zhang Jizu's hand, signaling him to ease up. He pulled the limp scavenger upright.
"What lie should I tell... please don't kill , I'll say whatever you want." The man was begging for his life with everything he had.
Cheng Shi's lips curled into a loaded smile.
"Simple. Four words:
'I am Zhen Xin.'"
Both other Players shot Cheng Shi looks of genuine admiration.
It was, in fact, the perfect thod for confirming identity.
Their concern was the vanished teammate who resembled Zhen Yi. As long as they could verify that the person before them was neither Zhen Xin nor Zhen Yi, they could safely follow the scavenger's lead.
The key: Zhen Xin could borrow Zhen Yi's talent to scramble her identity, achieving the effect of "a Master of Deception who can speak lies." So if the person was truly Zhen Xin, that statent would have to register as true.
And if it ca out false, it ant the speaker was neither Zhen Xin nor Zhen Yi.
The question sealed every possible escape route!
All three watched Pro To's reaction like hawks. In truth, the answer barely mattered — just the speed of cooperation would tell them whether this was one of the Zhen sisters.
Obviously not.
The instant Cheng Shi posed the question, the scavenger blurted "I am Zhen Xin" as fast as his mouth could move, terrified that a half-second delay would an dying in this frozen wasteland.
A lie. Definitely a lie.
That effectively ruled out Zhen Xin and Zhen Yi. Ai Si exhaled softly. Zhang Jizu's squint relaxed a fraction. But Cheng Shi wasn't satisfied — because those other two impostors were just as capable of disguising themselves as NPCs.
Without running into them again, nobody could guarantee they were still behind.
So he continued: "Now say: 'I am Li Jingming.' 'I am Long Jing.' 'I am Zhang Jizu...'"
"?" Zhang Jizu twitched. Face darkening, he glared sideways at Cheng Shi. "Having fun?"
"Not really. But if any of those statents co out true... then it'd be very fun."
Cheng Shi bead, eyes expectant on Pro To. Unfortunately, all three statents ca out false.
"Alright, ga over. Let's continue, Mister Pro To — how exactly does an ordinary scavenger co to know so many of Well Si's secrets?"
Pro To, realizing he'd narrowly escaped death, collapsed onto the ground. Clutching his neck, gasping, he answered:
"Once I was slacking off in the snow... basically digging a snow hole and burying myself underground. It kept
warm and hidden from everyone.
That ti, I accidentally overheard two people approaching. The voice was unmistakable — one was Well Si. The other I'd heard before too: Ye Nuoli, the eastern district scavenger boss.
They... rolled around together in the snow near . During their 'fight,' they ntioned the plan. Well Si swore up and down to Ye Nuoli that he had a new plan, already in its final stages, and wanted Ye Nuoli's help.
I heard every word. After that, I never dared show my face near Well Si's house again, afraid I'd give myself away with an unnatural reaction...
That's the truth. I didn't lie. They nad the exact location, and I know this entire area by heart..."
"Why do you know the area so well? You don't look like a veteran scavenger." Zhang Jizu squinted.
"Because I... frequently slack off in different spots. Finding good hiding places is my specialty. Over ti..."
"..." Cheng Shi couldn't hold it in. He laughed out loud. "See? Laziness is the number-one driver of productivity.
Well done. But I still have one question — this Well Si... was he always so keen on charging head-on into n?"
The pun sailed clean over Pro To's head. He thought hard, wondering when the hesitant Well Si had ever charged head-on into anything.
Watching the scavenger's befuddlent, all three shook their heads and grinned.
'As expected — NPCs don't appreciate homophone humor.'
"Stop spacing out, Mister Pro To. Lead us down. I want to see what treasures Well Si dug up in this junkyard."
...
At the sa ti, elsewhere — the southern stronghold received another visitor. Only this one slipped in under cover, alerting no one.
He saw crowds wrestling over loot in a warm building. Scavengers squaring off in shouting matches outside. Stragglers fleeing with armfuls of food. A frozen-stiff corpse lying by the building entrance.
Order here had clearly collapsed.
The visitor frowned, followed an unnoticed path straight to the barbed wire, and felt the boiling fog beyond. He paused.
"Smoke?
Why does the dark gray rolling inside this fog look so much like... smoke?"
No sooner had he spoken than his ears twitched. Expression sharpening, he stepped aside and reached through a small gap under the wire, pulling out a naked, skeletal young man buried in the slush beneath it.
The youth was rail-thin, rigid, practically dead from hypothermia. The visitor slled conspiracy on him. He fished out a potion and poured it down the young man's throat, dragging him back from the edge of death.
When the youth opened his eyes, his pupils dilated with shock. He scrambled backward in horror.
The visitor blinked, intrigued. "Who are you?"
The youth was terrified. Through sobs: "I already told you everything! Please don't kill
— I can leave!"
"I asked who you are."
"I'm... I'm Pro To. A scavenger."
"Pro To?" The visitor frowned. "Who buried you here?"
At that, the scavenger bolted like a startled animal. Scrawny as he was, he was surprisingly quick — but the visitor was quicker. His arm stretched like rubber, extending nearly double its length, and snatched the fleeing man back.
Seeing no escape, the scavenger surrendered to despair.
"It was you! The one who interrogated , knocked
out, and buried
— all you! Please just let
go! I don't know anything else! I confessed everything!"
The visitor raised an unsurprised brow and pushed back his trench-coat hood, revealing — in the driving blizzard — a face that was...
Cheng Shi's.
"Interesting. The '' you're talking about — which ?"
...
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