Chapter 7: Cooperation

The room was dead silent, far removed from the blood and slaughter outside.

Seeing that Xie De had already closed his eyes, Hu Wei took the initiative to assume the night watch duties. She crossed her arms, maintaining constant vigilance.

But after only a short while, Hu Wei saw the man, whose breathing had just leveled out, instantly open his eyes. His dark green pupils were clear, as if he hadn't been sleeping at all.

It wasn't that he hadn't slept.

It was just that Gibberish's shrieking had woken him up.

"Bzz— Ahhh! Host, something is coming. Quickly, block the door!"

Before his mind could react, his body had already started moving. Xie De slammed his hand against the door, but he was too late. The entity outside quickly squeezed in. The long stick in Xie De's hand swung out viciously on instinct. The person let out a muffled groan but reacted extremely fast, expertly grabbing the stick and directly pinning Xie De against the wall.

"It's me."

Wei Yanchi?!

The main door was shut. Wei Yanchi's features were picturesque, his eyes like starlight. He looked a bit battered. Leaning against Xie De, he said in a low voice, "You guys better not move."

Hu Wei sensed that there was still something outside the door. She glared indignantly at Wei Yanchi and slowly even held her breath.

The entity outside exerted a strong, oppressive presence. An icy aura seemed to seep through the crack in the door. It paced outside, roaring, screaming in despair, mixed even with the cries of a child.

Xie De stiffened again. What the hell kind of thing had this damn protagonist provoked?!

Wei Yanchi, however, had zero self-awareness. He quietly played with a strand of Xie De's silver hair. Under the man's icy gaze, he hooked his lips into a smile that seemed both placating and playful.

The two were very close.

Wei Yanchi could clearly smell the faint scent of tobacco mixed with highland cedar on Xie De's body. It carried a subtle sweetness and had a very pleasant smell.

They waited until the entity outside finally, slowly disappeared.

Xie De forcefully pushed the protagonist away. Still feeling a lingering trepidation, he lit a cigarette for himself to calm down.

He didn't inhale it into his lungs. His thin lips exhaled white smoke, making his gaze beneath the haze as piercing as an eagle soaring over the tundra.

His voice was low and hoarse, "You'd better explain."

Wei Yanchi's gaze followed him the whole time. He didn't answer, just blinked, and actually reached his hand out, shamelessly asking him for a cigarette.

Smoke it, smoke it, you greedy brat!

Xie De, impatient and feeling the pinch, gave the protagonist one. He only had this one pack of cigarettes on him. Every cigarette smoked was one less, and this pack was very expensive!!

In the end, Wei Yanchi didn't even smoke the cigarette after taking it. He just put it under his nose and sniffed it. Looking at Xie De with great interest, he said, "Does Mr. 39 like smoking women's cigarettes?"

"None of your business."

He didn't like them. Women's cigarettes tasted too mild and had a sweetness to them, they weren't satisfying at all. This was especially true for the brand of women's cigarettes he currently had on him. The tar content was ridiculously low. After smoking, his mouth was just full of a faintly sweet cedar flavor. Plus, they cost 2500 yuan a pack, and a pack only had 20 cigarettes. It was so expensive it made his heart ache.

He smoked these not because of a nicotine addiction, but because Gibberish didn't like the smell of tobacco. After much persuading and compromising, they had both taken a step back and settled on this brand.

Xie De pondered.

This must be one of Gibberish's tactics to make him quit smoking.

Hu Wei, equally full of wariness, watched Wei Yanchi. Holding a ceramic tile in her hand, she stood behind him with a ruthless look in her eyes. With just one signal from Xie De, this girl would really dare to bust the protagonist's head open.

But Wei Yanchi stood there very relaxed, unconcerned by the danger of his surroundings. He smiled and said politely, "I already have a rough idea of the storyline happening in this factory. Next, I'm guessing the scenario will design some challenges for us related to human nature. So, how about cooperating with me?"

Hu Wei snapped back.

"Why should we trust you?"

"I can lead you out of here more easily." Wei Yanchi tilted his head to look at Hu Wei and said politely and gently, "Ms. Hu Wei, you surely know of my abilities."

Hu Wei shivered and immediately looked at Xie De.

The man held a cigarette between his fingers and didn't speak. His gaze held a half-smile.

"Gibberish! What's the situation now? Is the protagonist trustworthy?"

Gibberish let out a shrill shriek that made his ears hurt.

"Bzz— Host, I knew we had a bit of luck on our side! I knew those three months of ours weren't wasted! Agree to him quickly. From what I've seen of previous book-transmigrators, this is how they hug the protagonist's thigh and then win effortlessly. Even though the protagonist in this book is a lunatic, but, but, he treats his own people pretty well."

"Look at how cheap you're acting. Weren't you just ambitiously saying we had to rely on ourselves to clear the level?"

Gibberish paused. A stream of data ran an analysis within the phone before it let out a long sigh.

"But Host, I underestimated your level of fear of ghosts. With things like this, even with Hu Wei around, our clear rate is only 20%. Our only option is to rely on the protagonist to clear this scenario first. Once we get out, we'll do a proper wave of training targeted at this aspect."

That made too much sense.

Xie De was powerless to refute, so he had no choice but to helplessly compromise. He said softly to Wei Yanchi, "I agree to your cooperation."

Big shot, please carry me.

A hint of surprise flashed in Wei Yanchi's eyes. Smiling, he said, "Then here's to a happy cooperation, Mr. 39."

Hu Wei obediently sat back down on the bed.

Wei Yanchi began to look around the room.

Ignoring how Wei Yanchi and Hu Wei were getting along, Xie De also leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. His whole body exuded an aloof and noble aura that said 'strangers keep away'.

The night passed in silent stillness.

The next day, when Xie De woke up, he unsurprisingly felt his head was groggy.

He silently looked at the others. After discovering that those two were more energetic than each other, he silently retracted his gaze.

"Gibberish, these two big shots you mentioned, they're both quite young, right?"

Gibberish slowly booted up.

"Yeah, Hu Wei is only 17, not even an adult yet, and the protagonist is just 20. What's wrong?"

Xie De felt struck down.

"If melancholy is a talent, then I must be extraordinarily gifted."

Gibberish: "... Do I need to catch that reference?"

"No need."

Xie De strode melancholically to the door and opened it. Then, he couldn't be melancholic anymore.

A female corpse with a face full of blood was standing right in front of the door. Half of her face was rotted and chewed by maggots, and the other half was pale white bone, densely packed with corroded holes. She was very close to him, almost touching him.

A sharp shriek was blocked in his throat. Xie De realized that because he often spoke to Gibberish in his mind, he surprisingly couldn't open his mouth to scream at that moment.

Only his mind was racing wildly.

Before Gibberish even had time to scream first, a wave rippled through its data.

"Ahhhh!! Gibberish! I want to go home! Holy shit! What the f*ck! Scared the hell out of me!"

"Host! Bzz—"

Gibberish released an electric current again, forcing Xie De to calm down.

"Host, calm down!! Look, this thing hasn't hurt you! It just looks a bit scary! Besides, you have two young people behind you. Hold steady! We are adults! This isn't scary at all!"

"Bullshit..."

Xie De frowned from the shock. He looked slightly down, avoiding that face. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, but the thing in front of him stood in the doorway, blocking the path, making it impossible to even leave.

Gibberish suggested: "You could kick it away."

"Is that okay?"

"It's fine. I remember ghosts are afraid of wicked people. The less afraid you act, the less likely you are to be haunted."

Xie De gritted his teeth and kicked out viciously. Did it carry a bit of personal vindictiveness?

He kicked the female corpse so hard that she slammed against the corridor wall with a smack.

Xie De walked out with a cold expression.

The movement was so fast that Hu Wei, trailing behind, hadn't noticed what happened ahead. When she came out and saw the female corpse lying on the ground, her expression went blank for a moment.

Wei Yanchi was the same. He thought about it. This seemed to be the thing that had been chasing him yesterday. Although it fell into a deep slumber during the day, it still looked terrifying. It was just kicked away like that?

The two of them had the exact same thought.

As expected of Mr. 39. Also, to dare treat an NPC of the scenario like this, what exactly is his identity?