Chapter 786: Calamity Ghost
“Sure. I’ll do anything you want!” When Big Sin slowly opened its maw, the fatty became a lot more honest.
“You sure change fast.” Han Fei didn’t expect this. Perhaps he had underestimated the effect Big Sin had on people.
“This casino is on the sixth floor, so it operates by Red Alley’s rules.” The fatty looked at the open maw. The Soul Poison dripped on his face. “Can you tell it to stay away from me? I’m scared that it might accidentally injure me.” Han Fei raised his hand, and Big Sin took a step back. “Firstly, you need to tell me everything you know about this building; secondly, I need your help to make sure Red Alley operates normally; thirdly, if you hear anything from the casino, I need to know.”
“Of course! No problem!” These are nothing for me.” The fatty curled up like a giant cocoon. “The casino is like the blind merchants that we have our own channel of communication. As long as a price is paid, you can know everything. In fact, you can also get ‘special items’ and ‘citizens’ from other floors. Just tell me what you need.”
The fatty was so cooperative that Han Fei felt suspicious.
“I need you to eat this heart, and then we’ll continue this conversation.” Han Fei took out a pig’s heart Xu Qin cooked. After Xu Qin became a Pure Hatred, her cooking contained strong curses. Other than Han Fei, no one dared to eat them, not even Big Sin. Of course, everyone still praised her for her cooking.
“What’s this?”
“Food my family prepared for me.” Han Fei saw the fatty eat the pig’s heart. After the curse was triggered, he had Big Sin inject the fatty with Soul Poison. The two toxins formed a balance inside the fatty.
Everyone following behind Han Fei saw everything. They saw Han Fei as the real demon. He was an ambitionist crazier than the owner of Red Alley. Thankfully, they were on his side.
The fatty’s face wrinkled as he felt the two toxins react inside his body. “I might have forgotten some details earlier. You need to trade something of equal value to get anything from the casino. Even if I sell everything, I can’t get anything for you. The real owner of the casino resides above floor 50. I’m just a guard dog actually.”
“Pay attention to the news. If I die, you will suffer a fate worse than death.” Han Fei used Soul-depth Touch and picked up the fatty’s chin. He felt the fatty’s fear.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve discovered a unique citizen—Fatdog.
“The owner of the Casino is a dog kept by God. It fed on the victims’ souls and forced them to the betting table. They eventually became the casino’s Sustenance, coins, and animals.
“Fatdog (Strength empowered): He used his former memory and humanity as chips to exchange for strength that would keep growing.
“Memory is the most useless thing. Remember you, and the feeling of failing to protect you is too painful. I’d rather forget you and retain the instinct to protect you.”
Han Fei pulled back his hands. “Fatdog. Quite a nice name. I hope the person you want to protect hasn’t been killed by you.”
The fatty was stunned. His brain was confused.
“Sister Hong, are there any other dangerous places on the sixth floor? We want to clear away all the hidden dangers.” Han Fei took out Rest in Peace and saw it shining brighter. Completing the mission in the skyscraper could grab Han Fei double EXP, he could find citizens with humanity, and capturing fugitives could empower Big Sin. This place was perfect for Mad Laughter.
“You’ve cleaned up all the dangerous rooms on the outer layer, but they might come from the other floor, like a wandering Deviant or a room turning into Mausoleum.” Sister Hong reminded Han Fei.
“Are there no other forces worth noting on the sixth floor?”
“There are some cleaners, people from the Rusted Stairs.” Fatdog crawled up from the ground. Perhaps he really wanted to help Han Fei. He stood beside Han Fei with difficulty. “Those people do not respect us and the rules at all. They are so rude.”
“Don’t listen to him. The cleaners are very dangerous. They can use the elevators freely and frequent any floor. They have collected a lot of cursed objects and enslaved many strong monsters.” Sister Hong interrupted, “Think about it. How can people who could move freely through the different floors be weak?”
The cleaners were a powerful force. That was something Han Fei didn’t expect.
“They are not to be offended. If they think we’re easy to bully, they might purposely send some large trash to our floor and turn this floor into a dump site.” Fatdog bowed to Han Fei, but his attitude to Sister Hong was bad.
“What does that mean?” Han Fei frowned.
“In the past, the owner of Red Alley would give Rusted Stairs some benefits. He persuaded them not to send the big monsters here. Since they were not sent here, they were probably sent somewhere else.” Sister Hong shared her thoughts. “We don’t need to fight the cleaners. We only need to give them some coins and blood cigarettes. They should leave us be.”
“We should go and meet them first.” Han Fei led Fatdog, Sister Hong, and Li Rou out of the casino. Fatdog and Sister Hong walked beside Han Fei. They had lived so long in the skyscraper that they’d do anything to survive. The red lights in the corridors faded, and the temperature dropped. The trash slowly accumulated in the corridors. The rooms were abandoned.
“Every floor has its zone that is suitable for living and otherwise. The zones which are not suitable for living are normally dominated by the Night Police, Deviants, and Mausoleums. Rusted Stairs is mainly responsible for cleaning up these places. However, they are cowardly and vicious. They will not risk their lives to clean up the rooms. This means that the skyscraper has fewer and fewer habitable zones.” Sister Hong hid behind Li Rou. She felt that her limbs were getting chilled. “We’ll reach Rusted Stairs’ zone as we walk down this corridor. I have never been there, so I have no idea what we’ll encounter.”
Fatdog stood on Han Fei’s other side. His fatty layers meant that he wasn’t cold. He was anxious. “I also haven’t seen the cleaners on the sixth floor for a long time already.”
Han Fei moved away the trash that blocked the road and shone the flashlight down the corridor. The corridor was lined with abandoned rooms. A horrible stench lingered in the air. Tracks of heavy objects being dragged could be seen on the ground.
“It feels like a very scary monster lives here.” The elder hid at the back.
“This is where the cleaners should be, so where are they?” Han Fei knelt down and examined the fresh blood in the trash. “Come. Let’s go in further.” Following the blood trail, Han Fei came to the first corner. He saw two Disciples being forcibly twisted together like party balloons.
“The Disciples were killed just like that?!” Fatdog and Sister Hong stopped. “This is not done by the cleaners. An accident has happened here!”
Blood flowed out of the red raincoats. Han Fei examined the bodies. The two Disciples’ inner organs were crushed. “Is there another who could twist two bodies together with their bare hands?” Han Fei started to examine the crime scene. There was no visible wound on the Disciples’ skin.
“This is strange. It doesn’t seem like they were attacked, but they voluntarily twisted and bound their bodies around each other!” Han Fei had seen similar power in Fu Sheng’s memory world. The doctors at the plastic surgery hospital could control the patients to do strange maneuvers. Han Fei summoned both Nine Lives and the black snake. More blood appeared in the corridor. A lot of trash was bent, and the walls became uneven too. There were cracks everywhere.
“Sister Hong, has this happened before?”
“Every floor is protected by God. Even if some parts collapsed, the people from Rusted Stairs would come to fix it.” Sister Hong sensed the severity of the situation. “How about we retreat? What if we run into Taboos? Then we won’t be able to run!” Perhaps hearing Han Fei and Sister Hong’s conversation, a weak plea came from the trash heap about 10 meters away. Han Fei had the snake take a look first. He only approached after confirming there was no danger. They moved away the trash together and saw a man who only had his upper body left. He was wearing the cleaner’s uniform. His innards and skin were twirled together like a rope.
“There’s a Calamity Ghost. 10th floor…” Once the cleaner spoke, black blood flowed out. His only movable left hand held a severely-damaged elevator card.
“What is a Calamity Ghost?”
“10th floor. Night police with the camera. Run…” The cleaner’s teeth started to fall. Han Fei wanted to pull him out of the trash heap. But once he did, Han Fei had a bad feeling. Something cracked in his ears. Han Fei turned to look and saw Nine Lives had its arms bent and twisted. Han Fei told everyone to retreat. He didn’t even know where the killer was.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered a Grade E High Difficulty Random Mission—Calamity Ghost!
“There is only one random high difficulty random mission on each floor. The trigger chance is five percent. The mission is highly dangerous. Please consider whether to accept it or not!”
“Yes!” Han Fei naturally wouldn’t give up on a mission.
“Mission Requirement: Kill the Calamity Ghost.”
Han Fei didn’t even know what a Calamity Ghost was. He didn’t have the time to think. He ran all the way from the sixth floor’s cleaner zone.
“The ghost in there will eventually come out. It’s not safe on this floor anymore.” Han Fei didn’t think he’d leave the sixth floor so soon, but his heart had not stopped beating. Han Fei used masterful acting to trace the source of his anxiety. There was a bloody shadow slowly approaching Han Fei. It had entered the skyscraper.
“The monster I summoned from the blood sea is still alive? It managed to survive both the boy and Listen?”
Han Fei was connected to the creatures he summoned. He quickly led everyone to the elevator booth on the sixth floor.
“I’ve already completed one mission. Now I only need to survive for another three hours.”
