Chapter 71 - Your Face is Black

“The poison has been cured, so you should let me go now, right?” Cao Yan looked at Xu Huo with bloodshot eyes.

Only after confirming that Huang Junjie’s condition had improved did Xu Huo turn to her, “Information about the Holy Sword Society.”

“Can you let me down first?”

Xu Huo silently stared at her.

Cao Yan seethed with silent resentment, but it didn’t show on her face.

She said, “I’ve only joined the Holy Sword Society recently, so don’t expect me to reveal any important secrets.”

“You start.”

“The Holy Sword Society has sixteen players in Ting City, most of them are Cannibal Players.

The boss is a man called Old Eagle; all of the Society’s players were recruited by him, and the props were also provided by him.”

“Is he a high-level player?” Xu Huo asked.

“I’m not sure about that; I’ve never seen him take action.

Everyone listens to him because he has support behind him.

We’re just a branch; there must be big shots above us, otherwise where would he get so many props?” Cao Yan said with a hint of mockery, “Maybe someone is nurturing him from behind.”

“How did he find these players?” If this were before, Xu Huo might have suspected the organization had the backing of national powers, but now he first suspected Old Eagle had players from other worlds behind him.

“Online postings.” Cao Yan curled her lips, “You wouldn’t expect it, right?

He just posted online, saying he had game props for sale, welcoming players to buy.

So many people believed him.” Searᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“They didn’t believe him,” Xu Huo interrupted her feigned profundity, “They wanted to steal the props, just like how Zhou Xiao was hooked by a phishing post.”

“Apart from the Cannibal Players, how many normal players are in your ranks?”

“Just a few,” Cao Yan said.

“Some normal players have pockets as clean as their faces.

Even if they are brought in, it’s just to meet their death.

At least six normal players have been eaten by them.

Zhou Xiao was about to die too, but I said that the Holy Sword Society should nurture some normal players, who have great potential for the future and are much more useful than simple-minded, brawny Cannibal Players.

That’s why he survived.”

“You do have some smarts,” Xu Huo nodded slightly, “but not very bright.”

Cao Yan was about to retort when she heard him continue, “You became a Cannibal Player on the preliminary examination train, right?

The venom is your feature.”

Cao Yan suddenly fell silent, her lips tightly shut, her eyes brimming with regret and hatred.

“She wasn’t originally a Cannibal Player?” Huang Junjie was more surprised than anyone, “Then why would she eat people?

After eating the food provided by the train, you wouldn’t want to eat people again.”

And she didn’t seem short of money.

“That’s why I say her brain isn’t very sharp,” Xu Huo said indifferently.

“It could be that she was deceived, or maybe she realized how powerful Cannibal Players are and wanted to take a chance to survive.”

Whether he guessed it or not, Cao Yan said expressionlessly, “I’m very strong now.

In terms of physical strength, normal players can’t compare to Cannibal Players.

Once you enter the game, you will understand, those who survive the most are still the Cannibal Players.”

Xu Huo laughed.

“What’s so funny!” Cao Yan became agitated, “Don’t think I haven’t figured it out, you are also a Cannibal Player; a normal player should be like that person behind you!”

Xu Huo looked at her with pity, “Then why did you keep Zhou Xiao?”

Cao Yan’s voice stopped abruptly, and her eyes almost seethed with blood, “Don’t be so smug!”

Ignoring her hostility, Xu Huo stroked his chin, “Have you ever tried fasting after you got off the preliminary examination train?”

Cao Yan looked at him, puzzled.

“I want to see if there’s still hope for someone like you.”

Cao Yan swallowed, “I’ve tried, but I can’t hold back for more than three days.”

“Is your first choice, when you catch ordinary players, to eat them because players are more nutritious to you than normal people?”

“Yes.” Cao Yan hesitated, then stopped herself.

“Have you tried other kinds of meat?”

“Neither red meat nor white meat works.”

“Aliens?” Xu Huo said, “On the preliminary trial train, there was a kind of monster that mutated from Cannibal Players.

They’ve eaten humans, their physical strength is greater than that of players, and they still retain human characteristics.

They ought to be human too, just without reason, incapable of thought.”

Cao Yan was stunned for a moment.

She had only heard about the monsters on the trial train by ear, since most who had witnessed them firsthand were dead.

If it was as Xu Huo said, these Aliens might even have evolved beyond ordinary players.

Surely they would be more beneficial for their own evolution than players.

It was just meat after all; whether it had sentience or not did not matter.

Moreover, if it could replace living humans, she wouldn’t have to endure the torment of her conscience!

Seeing the hopeful glint spark in her eyes, Xu Huo continued, “My guess is that Cannibal Players need to consume flesh to supplement the energy required for evolution.

Cannibalism might even be more effective than Potions.

Since ordinary players are superior to normal humans, Cannibal Players might only need certain genetic elements produced in the bodies of Evolvers after evolution.

Mutated humans and animals in the game world should possess these.”

He smiled as he spoke, and with a flick of two fingers, the strings that had trapped Cao Yan flew back into his hand and then disappeared.

“It seems that fate hasn’t completely blocked the path for Cannibal Players.”

Cao Yan knelt on the ground, looking at Xu Huo with complex eyes.

“You’re not a Cannibal Player.”

Xu Huo didn’t speak but instead handed his clothes to her.

The oversized short sleeve was just right to cover her important parts.

Cao Yan slowly stood up, kicked off her high heels and lightly leaped onto the balcony.

She paused before turning her head back and saying, “Old Eagle is on the third floor of Guangde Mall.

He has the ability to turn invisible.”

Having said enough, Cao Yan flicked her burnt hair tips and, holding the clothes about her, slowly revealed a smile, “Whether what you said is true or not, I will come back to find you.”

The light of the lighter flickered.

Xu Huo watched her for a couple of seconds before saying, “Your face is black.”

Cao Yan grimaced and flipped onto the third floor.

“She’s gone,” Liu Jia’s voice came through the earpiece.

A layer of white frost covered Huang Junjie’s face as he stepped beside Xu Huo, “If I remember correctly, Aliens carry an unknown toxin.

Aren’t you afraid she’ll come back for revenge if you deceive her like this?”

“It’s just a possibility.

Success and failure both have a fifty-fifty chance.

What does it have to do with me?” Xu Huo paused slightly before adding, “She carries toxins herself, so perhaps there will be unexpected gains.”

“Admirable,” Huang Junjie thought, genuinely admiring him.

Whether or not his logical deductions held up, at least one Cannibal Player had been tricked away.

And to be honest, among the Cannibal Players he had encountered, except for the exceptionally brutal ones, the rest were teetering on the edge of madness, yearning physically, resisting mentally, bound to go insane eventually.

He clearly felt that the woman was in much better shape when she left, and at least for a short while, she would be freed from her madness.

“Next,” Xu Huo pressed the earpiece, “Liu Jia, where did the other player on the second floor go?”