Survey Corps branch, cafeteria.
Yin Shuang seldom eats in the cafeteria because she doesn't like crowded places, especially being stared at by too many people.
Female members account for about 30% of the Survey Corps, which is actually quite a lot, but every time Yin Shuang appears, she is definitely the focus of the crowd.
Bai Wu originally didn't like eating with a lot of people.
But the nutritious meals didn't matter. After all, he always believed that this kind of thing could not be called food. Every time he ate it, although he didn't have any negative emotions, it was very slow.
Looking at a group of people eating, and thinking that these poor guys have been eating this since they were young, Bai Wu felt a lot more balanced.
It was certainly no coincidence that these two people met in the cafeteria.
"Come out of the tower with me this afternoon." Yin Shuang's tone was like that of a domineering female CEO.
The white fog is strange:
"You? Voluntarily apply to leave the tower?"
"What's wrong? Is it weird? Besides, aren't you the one who has been pestering the captain to leave the tower recently?"
Seeing that Bai Wu was silent, Yin Shuang changed her usual taciturn nature and started gossiping:
"Could it be that you and the captain have some unspeakable secret? So much so that you have to find the captain to leave the tower together?"
Big sister, your character has collapsed? Bai Wu did not respond to Yin Shuang's statement. He and Wu Jiu did have a little secret, which was to defeat Cain.
"The captain and I both had legitimate reasons for leaving the tower. What's your reason for wanting to leave the tower?"
"As a member of the vanguard of Team 7, I can't leave the tower to look for another captain. And you are the strongest person in the entire Team 7. Since I'm leaving the tower, it makes sense for me to look for you. Besides, those three men are busy with a lot of things."
Bai Wu always felt that something was wrong with Yin Shuang, and he suddenly thought of something.
"Are we going to select a new captain this afternoon?"
Yin Shuang frowned slightly, surprised at Bai Wu's extremely good observation skills.
Looking at Yin Shuang's reaction, Bai Wu was sure that he had guessed correctly:
"It seems the captain has spoken to you. He plans to give you the position of the next captain of the Survey Corps' Seventh Squadron?"
"Yes."
"We should be able to take a few elderly people there this afternoon."
"You have a feeling that others will support the captain's choice, so you plan to leave the tower with me and decline the opportunity to be the captain?"
"You are really smart. Sometimes I wonder how someone like you could be caught by the casino and then exiled out of the tower by them. You love to go out of the tower so much, how could you not go out once before?" Yin Shuang answered Bai Wu's question with a question.
"We all have our own secrets. Don't you have one too? Come to think of it, you found me because I know your secret, right?" Bai Wu still had a good impression of Yin Shuang.
Although this beauty lacks some charm compared to the feminine lady like Ai Sao, her cool temperament also makes people feel very comfortable. It has nothing to do with certain desires, it's just comfortable to look at.
In the previous casino exploration, what surprised Bai Wu the most was not that his teammates gave everything to him without hesitation, but that Yin Shuang gave him the refractive shield.
He still remembers the description his eyes gave to Yin Shuang when he first saw her - Avenger.
Where did the refractive shield come from? Is this why Yin Shuang is an Avenger
No matter what, it is a very happy thing to be given this kind of trust by others.
Without waiting for Yin Shuang to speak, Bai Wu said:
"Actually, I chose to go out of the tower with my captain because I am... How should I put it? My luck is very strange. Remember when we went to the white area to rescue the miners? When we came back, it became the red area. We went to the manor in the blue area and encountered a special evil that was integrated with the scene. The last time we went to the casino, it became the red area again."
Bai Wu sighed:
"I feel like I've been cursed by someone outside the tower. The first time was just an accident, but it always feels weird. I looked through books and didn't find any similar cases, so so far I can only count my situation as a physical condition with difficulty +x. The reason I brought the captain with me is because he's very strong, strong enough to offset the danger of overflow."
"You think I'm weak?"
"No, I'm actually telling you something. It will be very dangerous if you go out of the tower with me." Bai Wu said seriously.
"You may not realize that you have become the pillar of the Survey Corps without knowing it. Even if it is dangerous, I believe you have the ability to overcome it. I don't want to be a captain, but I want to improve myself."
Yin Shuang can face her shortcomings calmly:
"At least compared to you, I am not a qualified auxiliary team member. My analytical ability and emotional control ability are far inferior to yours."
Bai Wu wanted to be modest, but really... No one he had met so far could make him modest.
After a silence of nearly a minute, Bai Wu stirred the soup-like nutritious meal with a spoon. It looked like he was stirring a ball of sticky mud. He said:
"Okay, let's go out of the tower together this afternoon. But do you really not want to be the captain? I really can't figure out who will be the captain if you don't. I think you probably can't escape."
"Four o'clock in the afternoon." After leaving the time, Yin Shuang left the cafeteria.
Her nutritious meal was barely touched; it was obvious that after the trip to the estate, the beauty's taste had become more discerning.
Especially... She didn't forget the recipes of the dishes in her mind.
…
…
Four p.m.
Bai Wu and Yin Shuang came to the eastern square on the ground floor. It was the time when many miners working at night were taking turns with those working during the day.
When Bai Wu was alone, Yin Shuang's desire to talk was slightly higher than when she was with the team:
“The search for white areas has been taking longer lately.”
Bai Wu understood the meaning of this sentence.
This means that the area available for these miners to mine is getting smaller. The outside world is vast and the white area has always accounted for a high proportion.
But from the perspective of previous travelers, the number of white areas is slowly decreasing, while the number of blue areas, purple areas and even red and black areas are increasing.
"I wonder if there will be a day when there are no more mining areas in this world? People in the white area can't mine... The stock of blue grass is running low, and the people in the tower can't even get nutritious meals. If that happens, will the evil ones use this method to break through the tower?"
Although she was talking about something that seemed far away and was about the end of the world, Yin Shuang's tone was calm.
Bai Wu shook his head. He didn't think this future would come.
"The existence of the tower is not necessarily a refuge for us. Humanity will not be destroyed. At most, it will be forced to adapt to the blue zone, resulting in a large number of casualties, and entering the era of scavenging from the mining era. But these are very distant and illusory things."
"I have always believed that it is a long way off for a person's companion power to reach the sixth level."
Yin Shuang hinted at something, but Bai Wu ignored her.
He and Yin Shuang came to the blue stone tablet, which made Bai Wu a little worried:
"I've already told you that my physique is very special. How about we choose the white area?"
Yin Shuang said:
"If you hadn't won all the way last time, but were content to stop after winning a little, there wouldn't be any danger in that area. So I don't think it's a problem with your physique. If it is, then prove it once."
"You are... quite crazy at heart." Bai Wu didn't expect Yin Shuang to be so wild.
Although he gives people a cold and aloof impression, he is extremely ruthless when doing things.
"This sentence should describe yourself." Yin Shuang's hand touched the stone tablet.
A blue light emerged from the stone tablet.
Bai Wu looked up at the ceiling, because a familiar note popped up in his eyes again - it gave these stone tablets the power to break through space, but their use was actually to block the guy at the top of the tower.
Who is it? Who is that guy at the top of the tower
There was no time to think about this question. Soon, Bai Wu went out of the tower through the number generated after Yin Shuang left.
…
…
Bai Wu just felt as if he had returned to the deep sea, and there was no feeling of suffocation, just because the surroundings were blue.
But soon, the blue color began to fade away, and the quiet deep sea also instantly dissipated because of some familiar sounds.
Awake.
Bai Wu opened his eyes and found himself and Yin Shuang walking on a very long street.
The layout of buildings on this street is strange.
A road so long that it seems to have no end. It is like walking on a main road in a downtown residential area. You can see many stores, buildings, and even road signs and street lights.
There were no living people, and the doors of all stores, residences and buildings were closed.
When Bai Wu looked at these places, the information in his eyes was meaningless—
Each area has a scene background, nothing to see, these doors can't be opened unless you choose to become evil and open them with violence, but I can tell you - there is nothing inside. All you can do is keep walking along this street.
There were no living people or animals, not even a single movement of the wind or the grass, and no city streets with the rumbling sounds of evil. Such an area should have been very quiet.
But ever since Bai Wu and Yin Shuang appeared on this street, the sound in my ears has never stopped.
These are seemingly ordinary streets, if you ignore the telephone booths that appear every ten meters.
The biggest weird thing about the whole street, apart from the fact that you can't leave from either side and can only walk straight along the street, is the endless number of telephone booths.
No other city has so many telephone booths on its streets.
The sound that echoed in Bai Wu and Yin Shuang's ears was composed of telephone ringing sounds from different distances.
"Where...is this place?" Yin Shuang was stunned.
Bai Wu didn't say anything.
There was no one in this place, but there were telephone booths as far as the eye could see, and some of them were ringing.
The whole scene gave Bai Wu a very strange feeling.
Yin Shuang slowly walked forward a few steps, looking at the buildings, trying to find some clues.
Although she didn't have a similar talent with her eyes, these regularly distributed telephone booths looked suspicious at first glance.
"These things are telephone booths." Bai Wu looked at the telephone booths, and the remarks in his eyes were the same.
Congratulations, you have come to a street full of stories. In a sense, there is no evil here, and you will not encounter any danger. But not answering the phone will make you unable to move forward. Before Xiao Shuangniu commits suicide, quickly ask her to stop. Only after answering a "super-sensory call" can you move forward freely within seven minutes. You may receive calls from different time and space, and from these messages, slowly piece together the truth of this area.
Bai Wu reacted very quickly. Although he had not yet fully understood the rules of this area, he immediately shouted when he saw Yin Shuang's body about to step over the phone booth:
"Yin Shuang, stop!"
Yin Shuang was about to stop, but one foot had already crossed the phone booth. She responded to Bai Wu and said:
"I know telephone booths. I read about them in textbooks when I was a kid. They were a product of the pre-tower era, but they fell into disuse after the rise of mobile phones. How come there are so many of them here..."
Yin Shuang's voice stopped abruptly. She wanted to ask why there were so many telephone booths here and why the phone was ringing in the booth in front.
But as her body passed the first phone booth, she immediately felt her life slipping away.
Bai Wu looked at Yin Shuang, and there was one more message in his eyes:
Oh, this poor girl, she is infected with a negative attribute - blood thirst. She must kill once every six minutes, otherwise she will continue to lose health. But there is no evil in this place for her to kill, which is really difficult~ But how can the omniscient eyes not have a solution? You can save her by letting her answer the phone, or you answer the phone and get an "immunity privilege". But I have to remind you that answering the phone may cause "pain"~
The sudden onset of negative attributes shocked Yin Shuang.
She subconsciously looked around, and the sixth-order companion force could not sense any evil, which meant that this exploration was over.
"What's going on? Why am I suddenly infected with a negative state?"
Bai Wu already had a preliminary understanding of the rules of this area:
"Listen carefully. The telephone booths are distributed on both sides. We are on each side. We answer whichever phone booth rings. After answering the call, we can move forward normally. You can think of this as a game. Because you did not follow the rules of the game, you ignored the incoming call and passed the telephone booth, so you were infected with negative attributes. The area you encountered this time may have special area rules like the manor."
Yin Shuang was very curious about how Bai Wu knew all this. Could such a rule be deduced out of thin air
Bai Wu seemed to know what Yin Shuang was thinking and said:
"I've read about this in a book called Telephone City. The city is full of various communication tools, and only after answering a phone call can you get a chance to move forward. This place may be such a rule. You still have six minutes. Try it as I say. After answering the phone, the negative attributes on you should disappear."
"Also, you may receive a call that is not limited to auditory perception. If the first call lasts more than six minutes, I will force you to activate your return wheel and send you back."
Of course this book does not exist, and the rules of this area are not recorded in any story. Everything was made up by Bai Wu, but Yin Shuang believed it.
She didn't have much time, so she could only choose to trust Bai Wu decisively.
She walked into the telephone booth on the left. The phone had been ringing for a while. Yin Shuang took a deep breath, feeling that if she answered the call, something terrible would happen.
Her spirit watch began to fluctuate, and after hesitating for a few seconds, she began to answer the call.
At this moment, Yin Shuang's eyes suddenly shrank because of something the voice on the other end of the phone said. She looked at Bai Wu in disbelief.
Soon... her entire consciousness seemed to be sucked into the microphone, and she was in a sleepwalking state.
Bai Wu looked at Yin Shuang's expression. It should be that Yin Shuang was frightened by the voice on the phone. This scene itself carried a certain horror atmosphere.
He didn't choose to take another call.
Instead, he waited for Yin Shuang to come back to her senses. If Yin Shuang did not wake up from the call, he would start the return roulette.
No matter what state Yin Shuang is in due to the power outside the tower, Bai Wu is sure that as long as she returns to the tower, Yin Shuang will be safe.
Then he and Yin Shuang can slowly explore the area and find out the mystery of the area through the various information on the phone.
This was Bai Wu's plan, but what he didn't expect was that the joint exploration with the beauty encountered big trouble right from the start.
Yin Shuang's body suddenly collapsed and she lost consciousness.
Bai Wu supported Yin Shuang and took the receiver, only to find that there was only a busy tone...
The person on the other end has hung up the phone.
Bai Wu noticed that after Yin Shuang answered the phone, the negative attributes on her body did disappear, but the whole person... seemed to have been extremely frightened and fell into a coma.
Her watch read 144.
Fortunately, there is no evil in this area, otherwise Yin Shuang would be a living evil attractor.
Bai Wu suddenly remembered something strange. The scene of the world outside the tower cannot be changed. The Eye of Prell mentioned that the surrounding buildings were scenes, but did not mention that the telephone booth was a scene.
It is impossible for any city to have so many telephone booths.
So what has happened to these phone booths
There was not much time left, and Bai Wu quickly sorted out his thoughts. He had to answer three calls in a row and stay conscious before he could continue moving forward with Yin Shuang.
He placed Yin Shuang in the middle of the road and went to the telephone booth opposite.
At this time, Yin Shuang was still in some kind of shock. Even though she fainted, she was still having painful nightmares.
A sentence echoed in her mind. It was the first sentence she heard after answering the phone.
Hello, my name is Bai Wu.
(Anti-theft word count 4240, main text 4849 words)