The Chess-Playing Old Men

The Community Center leisure plaza is located at the North Gate entrance of the residential area. It is a fairly large and extensive activity and leisure area.

There are stone platforms for the elderly to play chess, exercise and fitness equipment for physical activity, and a children's playground nearby with a tunnel slide, rocking horse, seesaw, and more.

There are still some fishing spots along the artificial lake, but now these spots are mostly occupied by elderly people selling vegetables.

They would sit on the ground or on benches, with a cloth in front of them that was no longer recognizable as its original color, and lots of vegetables, fruits, and even bread, desserts, and meats that shouldn't be there in Winter.

The entire square was deserted, with only the vegetable stalls showing any signs of life.

Tao Yuan stood there watching Lin Nieran and an old man engage in a strangely skillful conversation. She thought to herself that it was fortunate that she had information about Lin Nieran, otherwise, how could anyone who didn't know the place possibly find it, given how well hidden it was.

This message needs to be shared with the team members as soon as possible.

Seeing Lin Nieran get busy, Tao Yuan also went to browse the surrounding stalls.

This mobile stall was set up around the artificial lake, and there were quite a few people around. Tao Yuan asked about the prices, and the meat was five yuan per jin, while the vegetable prices were also normal.

She checked her phone; it had a balance of over 100,000 yuan. She had a job, but Tao Yuan didn't dare leave the neighborhood to go to work, so she simply sent a message asking for leave and then ignored it.

Based on her current balance, it seems she should have no problem living a normal life here.

Relieved, Tao Yuan found Lin Nieran, Lin Nieran had already skillfully bought the vegetables she wanted, and the two walked back side by side.

On the way back, there were many more strange things along the road, and even the stone table where people were playing chess by the roadside looked rather eerie.

Seeing them pass by, two strangely elderly men with graying hair waved enthusiastically. "Young lady, and that boy from the Lin family, come join this old man for the next round?"

Lin Nieran walked over with a smile, approached the chessboard, and said, "Oh, why are you guys playing Gomoku today?"

"It's good to clear your head sometimes. You know how to play Connect Four, right? You can't refuse me again, okay?"

Tao Yuan also stepped forward to take a look, and his expression changed drastically.

[What kind of chess game is that? It gave me goosebumps!]

[This is disgusting, this is disgusting!]

[I was just remarking that these two old men were similar to the chess-loving grandpa downstairs... I'm really afraid that next time I see them playing chess, they'll be holding eyeball chess pieces.]

The round chess pieces on the chessboard of the two old men are like pairs of eyes, and these eyes are different colors, some blood red and some ashen white.

They were flattened, about the size of chess pieces, and smoothed and rounded by the pressing.

What distressed Tao Yuan even more was that she could sense that those eyeballs were still alive; it was as if human consciousness was imprisoned inside them.

"Grandpa, Xiao Lin doesn't have time to play chess today. He's in a hurry to go home. Look, he's already bought the groceries." Tao Yuan knew she absolutely couldn't agree to the old man's request, so she quickly said.

Lin Nieran looked at her in surprise. Although he had also planned to use this excuse to avoid playing chess, he did not expect Tao Yuan to speak up for him.

"Oh, is that so? Don't keep your mother waiting, go back quickly." The old man didn't make things difficult for him, waving his hand with a smile.

If he were to use the repairman Old Lin's child as a chess piece, Old Lin might just smash his precious chessboard and pieces with that wrench tonight.

"Okay, goodbye, grandpas. It's cold outside, please take care of yourselves."

After seeing off the two living fathers, the group saw several strange children flying down the children's slide from afar, their laughter reaching their ears.

Before the children could even come up and invite them to play games, Lin Nieran delivered a devastating blow. "Have you finished your homework or are you playing? Go tell your mom."

"... Brother Lin is so naughty!"

"You annoying older brothers! I'm never playing with you guys again!"

The children left with strange, angry expressions, their eyes filled with deep resentment.

"Is it alright for you to say that?" Tao Yuan asked. "Those kids' eyes looked a bit off."

"It's alright, I'm heading back now. Be careful on your own." Lin Nieran waved his hand. "If your teammate needs anything, feel free to come find me, but think of a good excuse, otherwise we might get eaten by those weird parents."

"Okay, Boss Lin."

The two weren't very close, but after Tao Yuan dispelled her doubts, she quite approved of Lin Nieran. After all, this boss was truly capable, and the Weird Artifacts he made were very useful.

The Authorities forces once tried to recruit him as a repairman in the team, offering him a very generous reward, but he refused, and in the end they had to give up.

Lin Nieran returned home at ten o'clock in the morning.

"Mom, I'm back," Lin Nieran called out loudly.

The Weird Mother peeked at him and said, "How much did you spend on groceries? Go get them yourself."

"Oh, can I take more as pocket money?"

Here's five extra dollars for you.

Lin Nieran's current identity should be that of a thirteen-year-old child. Five yuan is not much, but it's not a small amount either.

Go do your homework later!

"Good."

Back in his room, Lin Nieran opened his notebook and wrote for a while before summoning the system.

[System, do you do homework assignments?]

007 [Host, the system does not have this function, politely declining]

"It's no use."

007: After being scolded so much, it seems like you get used to it and it doesn't bother you anymore.

"System, check your Fame balance."

[Current balance: 191,200 points]

The numbers are rising rapidly, and by tonight they will definitely have enough for the 200,000 needed for the upgrade. Thinking about Moonlit Night's current state, Lin Nieran couldn't wait to upgrade the system.

Currently, he's short over 30,000 Points. He remembers that the spying, perverted, and eerie creature living in Unit One, Building 7, was B-Rank eerie creature, and the Weird Object it left behind after its death should be enough.

Flower Language is currently stuck in a special area and can't leave. Moonlit Night can accompany him to kill the monsters. The Protagonist Group outside are still the same; let Bai Yang handle the contact.

Lin Nieran didn't want his Vest to get too close to these Protagonist Group, because the deeper the relationship, the stronger the bond. But he had no choice; he didn't have many cards available right now, so he had to work hard.

After parting ways with Lin Nieran, Tao Yuan found Qin Rang in front of Building Two. Qin Rang had just tried to knock on the door of 406 and meet with Wang Ding. Unfortunately, they only chatted for a few words before Wang Ding's mother urged him to go back to his room to study, and he was forced to leave.

"But I've already told Wang Ding we'll meet downstairs at 1 a. m. tonight," Qin Rang said. "The other three haven't made a sound yet. I've been walking around here for so long and haven't seen them come downstairs."

Tao Yuan said, "It's not realistic to search one by one. Everyone has different Rules, and they might be stuck right now. I see there are some public places around; let's go check there."

"Good."