The Fourth Element (5,500 Words)

They were Mingming the same age, and he was even a few days older than Yang Jia.

Why does she always seem so reliable?

Xiao Xiao unconsciously wondered if it was because Yang Jia had been in the world of strangers for a longer time.

From the perspective of the indigenous people, all outsiders are crazy.

So, Yang Jia's madness lasted longer than his own?

However, after that long period of time, his depressed mood when he came down from that building had eased a lot. In particular, Yang Jia clearly knew that he was different from her, but she did not ask too many questions or even be wary of him. Instead, she took the initiative to agree to help him take a look at the core of the city, which made Xiao Xiao feel a little more at ease.

The emptiness in my heart is still there, but for some reason I don't feel so powerless anymore.

"So..."

He considered it carefully and said, "How should we view this?"

There are many methods.

Yang Jia looked into Xiao Xiao's empty eyes and saw that they seemed to have regained some vitality. She felt a little relieved and said:

"But we need to discuss this carefully."

"For you, you are now the Lord Pact of the city, and within the scope permitted by the City Will, you have the highest level of authority among all the outsiders in Black Gate City. But this also means that you are subject to more constraints than other outsiders."

"As for me, I don't really belong in Black Gate City."

"Now, in Black Gate City, I can do some things and communicate with the City Will, but I'm more like a temporary worker."

"If I were to investigate the city's core, it would easily arouse the city's vigilance and could be seen as an invasion."

"Perhaps, before I've even found anything, you've already received orders to expel or hunt me down."

"..."

Xiao Xiao listened, his eyes flickering slightly, and suddenly asked, "What about Mister Ye. Ye?"

"Can he help us find anything?"

"..."

Upon hearing Xiao Xiao mention Mister Ye, Yang Jia was slightly taken aback, noticing something in Xiao Xiao's eyes.

For Xiao Xiao, this was a very simple matter.

Why did Yang Jia suddenly realize the problem with his identity?

Yang Jia was undoubtedly unaware of this before. Otherwise, given her reckless nature, she couldn't have disguised herself so well that she could remain completely oblivious to him, the discerning observer. Therefore, there is only one possibility that she knew these things: during his meeting with his father and his inquiry about these matters, someone else had told her these things, which is why she immediately called him.

Judging from the current layout of Black Gate City, Mister Ye is undoubtedly the most suspicious.

"He's still got a good head after all..."

Yang Jia sighed inwardly.

Strangely enough, after hearing Mister Ye's account, she thought she would be nervous or wary. After all, Xiao Xiao's condition was something she had never heard of before. Every stranger was chosen and had no choice in their own destiny, but there was one who entered the stranger circle under the influence of external forces. This was as conspicuous as a duck in a chicken coop.

But after actually getting to know Xiao Xiao, she couldn't muster that same enthusiasm.

The reason Mister Ye told me those things was to prepare me mentally in advance. Even if he discovered some problems with Xiao Xiao, he wanted me to not report it to Dante for the sake of the Old Chairman, and to ensure the progress of the Noah Project in Black Gate City.

I was already wary, but now that we've met, I can't be wary anymore.

Perhaps... no matter how you look at it, this guy has a more twisted aura than other outsiders?

"Mister Ye does know some things, but he probably doesn't know much more than you do."

Yang Jia thought for a moment and then slowly said, "What is certain is that the Old Chairman is involved in the Pioneer Project."

"However, even Mister Ye. Ye doesn't know the extent to which the Old Chairman was involved. At that time, Mister Ye hadn't yet become deeply involved in the Old Chairman's research and plans. All he knows now is that the investigation into the core of Black Gate City started back when the Old Chairman was in charge. Of course, the Old Chairman's investigation was not pleasant, especially before his death, when he was deeply confused."

"..."

"The Old Chairman?"

Xiao Xiao was also slightly startled upon hearing this, and his brows furrowed instantly.

Immediately, many thoughts came to mind, such as the old butler he saw in that small building. He was originally a researcher from the Black Forest. Since the Old Chairman bought him as his butler, it certainly showed that the Old Chairman might have had connections with the Black Forest long ago.

Moreover, many of the materials inside the building are the Old Chairman's summary and record of the indigenous world.

From this perspective, the Old Chairman was indeed the first to begin researching the core of Black Gate City.

However, until now, I haven't had the time to start learning about things outside of the Old Chairman's Noah Project.

It seems I'll have to go to that little building a few more times...

"I have a feeling that the things involved in Black Gate City may be much deeper than I thought before."

Yang Jia nodded gently and sighed, "My teacher, the Old Chairman, was always a stubborn person. He was also very intelligent. Moreover, I had less contact with him before he passed away, so I don't know what he researched in his last few years. Perhaps, all these questions can only be answered by us figuring out what he left behind, little by little."

Xiao Xiao.

He vaguely sensed that this would be a very difficult task, but Yang Jia's willingness to help him put his mind at ease.

"Of course, besides what Mister Ye and the Old Chairman left behind, there is another person who can help."

Yang Jia thought for a while, then suddenly smiled and spoke.

Xiao Xiao surprised. "Who?"

Yang Jia uttered a name that surprised everyone. "Lin Bo!"

"That poor bastard?"

Xiao Xiao was somewhat surprised. "He hasn't left Black Gate City yet?"

"..."

Yang Jia really wanted to say that before receiving the bet from the Hell Organization, you two were roughly on the same level.

But seeing that Xiao Xiao had recently suffered a heavy emotional blow and now seemed to be forcing a smile, she swallowed her anger and simply said with a smile, "After all, I just helped out, there's no reason to kick him out so quickly..."

Xiao Xiao shook his head and said, "Alright, why are we looking for him?"

"He belongs to the Skeptic School of Dante Organization, which is also known as the Deity School among foreigners."

Yang Jia said, "One characteristic of the Deity School is that it starts from the perspective of the natives to understand and explore all the irrational forces in this world. Moreover, Lin Bo may have performed only so-so in Black Gate City, but don't underestimate him. He is one of the three divine messengers of the Deity School Dante Organization. His understanding of this world is even far beyond mine and Mister Ye's."

"If you want to investigate the Black Forest, he should be able to offer a lot of advice."

"..."

"Oh well..."

Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement, but he had a vague feeling that this guy might not be reliable.

The two then stood up from the bench, walked across two intersections, hailed a taxi, and left. It was only then that the police officer who had been crouching at the nearby intersection finally arrived, conducting a serious investigation while loudly reporting to his superiors:

"No one's here, they've already fled..."

"I know. The person who called the police just said there was a madman here with a gun, and he was firing randomly into the air. We came right away."

"But they ran too fast; by the time I got there, there was no one left."

"..."

"..."

When Xiao Xiao and Yang Jia arrived at the hotel where the Dante Organization support team was staying, Lin Bo was squatting in front of a small coffee table, eating the braised pork trotters rice that his subordinates had packed for him, while silently listening to their complaints about him.

Suddenly he heard a knock on the door. He looked up abruptly, paused for a few seconds, and then darted back to lie down on the sofa.

"Where is the messenger of Lin Bo?"

Xiao Xiao and Yang Jia walked in, glanced at the unfinished boxed lunches on the small coffee table, and asked helplessly.

The woman, her messy hair held back with a clip, glanced disdainfully at the sofa and said, "There."

"He's still unconscious!"

"..."

Xiao Xiao glanced at it and couldn't help but frown: the pig bone was still in his mouth.

Not to mention that he had already seen everything in the room before he even entered...

... Didn't we ask Little Four to entertain them before?

How do you see this boxed lunch? Their food is actually quite good.

"It's not good to stay in this dazed state all the time..."

Xiao Xiao sat down on the sofa and said to the members of the Hell Organization, "These things always happen in our Black Gate City. We can't just stand by and do nothing. Should we send him to the hospital and have an autopsy to find out why he's been unconscious for so long?"

The members of the Hell Organization were stunned for a moment, then suddenly said in unison, "I have no objection."

"Isn't that a bit too harsh?"

Lin Bo sat up abruptly from the sofa, sucked on the bone in his mouth a couple of times, and spat it out.

With a pained expression, Xiao Xiao, "It's just a few dozen points, you can take it if you want..."

"But this time we came to provide support, that Mysterious Guidepost..."

"..."

"I didn't come here to talk to you about the bets."

Xiao Xiao shook his head and said, "A few dozen points are nothing, who would really care about that?"

"I came here to ask about... the logic of this world from the perspective of the indigenous people!"

"..."

"Consult?"

Lin Bo paused for a moment, then slid off the sofa and squatted down in front of the small coffee table to eat, feeling somewhat curious:

"Why would you from Black Gate City suddenly ask these questions?"

"..."

Xiao Xiao thought for a moment and smiled, "Being in this city, you should always try to understand it better, shouldn't you?"

The newly learned "Pioneer Project" is the biggest secret. Although the impact of this secret is not yet apparent, after learning about it, Xiao Xiao and Yang Jia both had the same thought: they couldn't tell anyone. So they could only gloss over it. Fortunately, Lin Bo and his team members didn't seem very bright, so they shouldn't think too much about it.

"Do you know your city?"

Lin Bo, as expected, didn't think too much about it and instead laughed, "You guys want to cross the line too?"

"Crossing the line?"

Xiao Xiao glanced at Yang Jia subconsciously.

"One of the worst aspects of human nature..."

Lin Bo laughed, his eyes sparkling with confidence. "Strangers all live under the watchful eye of the Mysterious Source, born with their own responsibilities and limitations. Logically speaking, as long as they live well under the will of the Mysterious Source, they can walk outside the safe boundary. But whenever someone becomes powerful enough, they subconsciously try to break through their original limits..."

"The Mysterious Source relies on outsiders in many ways, but it also has many forbidden zones that it doesn't want outsiders to touch."

"You said you wanted to learn more about this city, which means you already have ideas that cross boundaries."

"Because you don't need to know, everything this city allows you to know is already laid out before you."

"..."

Xiao Xiao had heard similar words before, and a slight thought stirred within him as he asked, "Then how can one... transcend the boundary?"

"To cross the line is to offend the city!"

Lin Bo smiled and said, "Logically speaking, our three-stage enhancement as outsiders is the most comfortable distance from the city. Because we are too weak, there may be many problems that this city cannot solve. If we are stronger, it will arouse the city's vigilance to some extent. Of course, even if it arouses the city's vigilance, there are different situations."

"At least for now, if you want to know things that a city doesn't want you to know, you have to learn to offend it."

"Of course, the prerequisite for offending him is that you must have the ability to offend him."

"..."

He swallowed the last mouthful of rice from his lunchbox, then downed a large bowl of soup, and said with a smile, "A third-stage outsider, no matter what path you take, has absolutely no ability to defy the city. He can easily eliminate you, or rather, even if you risk being eliminated, you can't cross the forbidden zone and learn what he doesn't want you to know, so..."

"If you want to cross the line, the first thing you need to do is..."

"... The Fourth Element has been found!"

"..."

Something stirred within Xiao Xiao, and he quickly turned his gaze to Lin Bo: "Explain in more detail!"

"Does this even need explaining?"

Lin Bo rolled his eyes at Xiao Xiao and said proudly, "It's just common sense!"

Xiao Xiao couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

Lin Bo hurriedly said, "The Fourth Element is the key element that allows the stranger to complete the four stages of enhancement..."

"Each city has a different enhancement path, with varying abilities and systems. However, they all share one characteristic: the Enhancement Element for the first three stages can be easily obtained in the city with enough points. But beyond the third stage, these Enhancement Element become scarce, even if you possess... hehe, 100,000 points!"

As he said this, his tone became strangely strained, as if he were gritting his teeth. "It's not necessarily possible to buy it."

Xiao Xiao in surprise, "Then what do we need to do?"

"Search!"

Lin Bo said, "Go to other cities, or even search in the Mist Sea, either go find it yourself or offer a reward based on points."

"Of course, you need to be aware of one issue."

"Once you find the Fourth Element and even enhance yourself, your personal power will actually threaten the city. The city will start to dislike you and even become wary of you. If you find and exchange for the Fourth Element in your own city, it will be a little better. If you exchange for it in other places, this wariness will be especially severe."

"You can think of it this way: you were in a great honeymoon phase with the city, but you took advantage of the information gap to cheat them, causing them to lose a huge bet... So, even if they can't theoretically punish you, they'll still be unhappy."

"..."

Xiao Xiao completely ignored his analogy.

Thinking back to when I chatted with Little Four before, I heard that he was accumulating points to exchange for a special element called "Ghost Princess".

Xiao Xiao wasn't entirely unfamiliar with what Lin Bo was talking about.

However, a question was raised with some concern, "So, where should we find the Fourth Element of the Insightful Path?"

"That's a more difficult problem..."

Lin Bo chuckled and said, "The Fourth Element is limited, but there are quite a few outsiders who have reached the third stage of enhancement. Therefore, not all outsiders at the third stage can easily find the Fourth Element, especially the Insightful Ones. There aren't many who have reached the third stage on this path without going crazy, and I've only seen one who successfully found the Fourth Element to enhance their abilities..."

"... She is a special researcher for our Dante Organization, surnamed Wu. She has a bad temper and is very difficult to get along with!"

"..."

"?"

Xiao Xiao was stunned for a moment. Why are you saying this?

Lin Bo seemed to see through his thoughts and said, "You want to find the Fourth Element? It's that simple..."

"Either we do whatever it takes to find other Fourth Element, or we find a fourth-stage Insightful Being and kill her!"

"By stealing her Fourth Element, I've completed it myself..."

"..."

"What is this guy saying..."

Hearing him so serious, Xiao Xiao was a little confused.

Yang Jia, who was standing nearby, couldn't stand it anymore. She coughed and said, "Don't take this opportunity to frame your colleagues."

He winked at Xiao Xiao, then looked at Lin Bo and said, "But that's why we came to find you."

"The Fourth Element is a very rare thing. Unlike us Branders, who are born with the Fourth Element, many third-stage Outlanders don't actually not want to find the Fourth Element to help them continue to strengthen themselves, but they simply don't know how to find it."

"Or perhaps Mingming have found their Fourth Element, but are unable to exchange for it."

"There are many more who know what their Fourth Element is, but don't know where to find it."

"This has led to many outsiders having to exchange for more and more powerful special items as weapons to enhance their strength, based on the third stage."

"However, for some people, finding the Fourth Element is not a difficult task."

"..."

"Like you guys."

At this point, she looked at Lin Bo and said, "I know that you have many clues about the Fourth Element in your hands."

"Just say it!"

"..."

Hearing these words, Lin Bo was already quite pleased with himself. He cleared his throat and said, "That's certainly true..."

"However, about this matter, shouldn't we..."

"..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Xiao could tell that he was putting on airs and even trying to negotiate.

He was initially a little anxious, but then he thought of something else and leaned back on the sofa. He said calmly, "Unlike some people who only have a few dozen points, I have over a hundred thousand points. From the perspective of a native, that's enough to own a nightclub that makes a fortune every night, and I have a lot of people helping me make money. So I believe I can find the Fourth Element."

"Of course, I'm asking you for convenience, but if you really don't want to talk about it..."

"..."

He paused slightly, not continuing, but simply smiled at Lin Bo with a friendly expression.

Lin Bo suddenly felt uncomfortable all over, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

Being stared at by that cold gaze, the terrifying shadow behind Xiao Xiao during the invasion of the Hell Organization suddenly appeared in his mind.

A smile quickly spread across her face, and after a moment's thought, the smile became more ingratiating as she cautiously said:

"Just kidding..."

"You... can't be so unable to take a joke, can you?"

"..."

"A joke?"

Xiao Xiao smiled at him in a friendly manner and said, "I actually really like to joke around."

Do you want to continue driving?

"..."

The temperature in the room plummeted, and everyone couldn't help but shiver.