Pretending To Be A Boss

On the way back, the two of them tacitly remained silent. Qiao Shanshan was planning to feign ignorance for a little while, waiting for Tang Xian to bring up certain topics.

Then she would pretend to decline before reluctantly agreeing in the end.

Tang Xian was simply too lazy to talk, mainly because Qiao Shanshan had already shown her attitude.

When they returned to the treehouse, the fish wasn't cooked yet. Tang Xiaojiu was beside them, drooling uncontrollably, guarding the pot as if waiting for years.

Qiao Shanshan felt like the wine was still warm, but the enemy's head had already fallen.

After repeating the necessary steps to cook the meal several times and carrying Tang Xiaojiu away, Qiao Shanshan couldn't help but ask:

"What about your other teammates?"

"They haven't shown up yet," Tang Xian said, timing the cooking and watching the fish soup.

"They haven't shown up? Wait, how many people are in your team now?"

"Including you, three. We're short of three more, but it doesn't necessarily have to be six."

"But only teams of six can participate in the hunting festival," Qiao Shanshan said, her eyes widening. It was unreasonable for a team with such strength not to participate in the hunting festival.

"Do you really want to go?"

"I was hoping to get a good ranking; I had already made plans with my teammates."

"Well, that has nothing to do with me, you'll have to find another way to persuade me."

Qiao Shanshan was silent for a few seconds, pondering the way Tang Xian thought, then said:

"The prize is said to be a fifth-level citizen ID card, and the corresponding residential rights, you know."

Tang Xian raised his eyebrows slightly, finding the prize somewhat dull.

"Not very impressive, there's nothing good on the fifth level."

"You haven't been there, that's why you say so. Although the living environment from the first to fourth levels gets increasingly better, the luxury on the fifth level is completely different."

"If we find them, we'll join; if not, then we won't. Moving from this cage to another doesn't seem very meaningful." Tang Xian pointed towards the sky.

Qiao Shanshan was puzzled.
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"Even if it's the seventh level of the Pyramid, you can't see the sky, but it's different here. You can see the sky; if you can ride on the back of a nine-tailed fox, and it leaps into the air, you might even get the feeling of flying."

Opening the lid of the pot, he slowly stirred the milky white fish soup with chopsticks, and Tang Xiaojiu immediately perked up. Tang Gazi also came over.

Qiao Shanshan couldn't understand the feeling of soaring through the air on a nine-tailed fox and thought Tang Xian had too much imagination.

But what Tang Xian said was, in fact, all true.

It included his attitude towards the hunting festival.

"It's just a bunch of people competing in a hunting ground to see who can catch more prey. Usually, the strong teams will hunt along with the smaller team's game. What really goes on there is actually a kind of human-eat-human drama. Do you really want to join that?"

Qiao Shanshan froze.

This wasn't like what she had imagined. Although the Scorched Blood Group had a fair ranking, they had not participated in the hunting festival before.

This was considered a young team.

Seeing Qiao Shanshan's expression, Tang Xian decided that the other team members he needed to find should either have experience or, even if they hadn't participated in the hunting festival, have experienced the dangers of the human world.

"Enough talk for now, let's eat and celebrate your joining," he said.

"I haven't agreed to..."

"If you don't join, I'll throw you out."

"You're so violent," Qiao Shanshan exclaimed. Tang Xian always spoke indifferently, giving the impression he could truly do such a thing.

Thinking of the last time he made her wait for death, Qiao Shanshan felt a bit of resentment. Couldn't he invite her to join more gently?

...

...

In the mining area, Red Lotus Hell.

This is a legendary region mentioned in human literature, the red of the red zones.

Legend has it that there is a massive devastation-level boss creature here, unknown by name, code-named Cleveland, a creature as huge as an ancient city itself.

In the texts that mention Red Lotus Hell, it is described as being the back of Cleveland.

In those descriptions, it is a turtle carrying a volcano.

But Red Lotus Hell is not hot; it is extremely close to the Arctic, so it is an exceedingly cold region instead.

Perhaps when that creature sleeps, this place becomes a world of ice and snow. But no matter how long the ice and snow accumulate, when it awakens, or even occasionally when it awakens, everything turns into a sea of fire.

Whether Cleveland truly exists remains a mystery in the field of human exploration.

Akasi didn't come here to seek evidence of this creature's existence; he was simply leading Tang Suoye to this place to hunt a perfect-class creature mentioned in their assignment.

The target was a White Rock Giant Bear.

Something akin to a cousin of the polar bear, its fur couldn't be skinned to make clothes, as it was far too tough.

The giant bear floated helplessly at an altitude of seven thousand meters, cluelessly gazing at the bird's-eye view it had never seen before.

High in the sky at seven thousand meters, it found that Red Lotus Hell really did resemble a turtle shell.

But its mind had no time to ponder over these things, as its ascent had ceased, and it began to plummet at an alarming rate.

Even faster than what would be deemed normal.

A terrifying force of gravity was exerted upon this poor perfect-level creature.

Among the known hunters, none had officially killed a perfect-level creature on their own, and Akasi was merely the subject of rumors.

He now watched the bear in the sky, imagining it would turn into a pile of mush in a few seconds, his expression calm but with a hint of envy.

"So this is your awakened ability, huh? Looks pretty good," said Tang Suoye, as his silver hair fluttered in the chilly wind, seemingly feeling a bit cold, he tightened his clothes.

A few seconds later, a thunderous roar echoed throughout Red Lotus Hell. A colossal pit emerged from the snowfield.

As Akasi had imagined, the perfect-level creature was slammed to death.

"Telekinesis is truly a terrifying power. Quite handy, but next time you just need to keep it bound, that commotion was a bit too much. If the legends are true, the gigantic creature beneath our feet might wake up," he said.

"Nagging. How come the moment you arrive at the mining area, you become so talkative, even your tone has changed?"

Tang Suoye was small in stature, and feeling even colder after tightening his clothes, he snuggled into Akasi's embrace.

Akasi gave a wry smile and wrapped his immense cloak around Tang Suoye's small frame.

"Inside Pyramid, we were merely test subjects, tools required to wear a somber expression. Here in the mining area, no one watches over us. You could try smiling for a change."

Smile? Tang Suoye thought about it and really wanted to muster a smile, but he couldn't manage it, and it looked uglier than crying.

"Ah, forget it, don't smile. When you come across something that makes you happy, you'll naturally smile. That expression is really ugly though."

Tang Suoye felt somewhat defiant, stretching his mouth into a grin, his small face frozen stiff.

Akasi, however, was amused.

"Did you take your medicine?" Akasi asked.

"Lately, it seems I don't need medicine anymore," Tang Suoye shook his head.

"Can you see ten types of data now?"

"Yes, just a few days ago," Tang Suoye turned his head away.

"That memory must not be pleasant. But now you've withstood it. Congratulations, you're one of the chosen now. In any other Pyramid, you would be someone many admire."

Tang Suoye felt uncomfortable and said, "Are we still human?"

Akasi froze, then after a few seconds, he chuckled and said,

"We should... still count as human, right? Ah, this question really is uncomfortable."

"I want to live aimlessly, to settle in a forest, to think only of what to eat every day, without dwelling on burdensome thoughts, to leave that fortress. Akasi, let's run away, shall we?" Tang Suoye's voice carried a tone of yearning.

Akasi stroked Tang Suoye's head gently, with a tender gaze.

Tang Suoye didn't shy away but stared into Akasi's eyes with wide eyes.

"How about it? After all, among that group of comrades, only the two of us survived. Let's run away."

"Where would we escape to? Every Pyramid has their people," Akasi asked.

"Then let's go outside the Pyramid!"

Akasi paused, stunned.

That was quite a heroic answer.

"I don't want to live this way, killing various creatures for those people in the mining area, or killing my own kind inside the Pyramid," Tang Suoye said, his expression pained.

Just a few days prior, everyone was still together, laughing and talking, but suddenly it was just him.

"They were not killed by you. These things would still happen even if we refrained, as there would be many hunters willing to bring back blood serum from mining area creatures for money. We are experiment subjects who survived. Just remember that," Akasi replied.

Akasi rubbed Tang Suoye's frozen face, smiling,

"But I promise you, once I find a way to leave, I will bring you the life you want, where every day you only have to think about what to eat, without considering anything else, living in a forest within a mining area."

Tang Suoye said,

"Really? Then you can't die, okay?"

"I promise you," Akasi replied.