Native Perspective

Yang Jia had a bad feeling.

Especially after seeing Xiao Xiao's gloomy face after communicating with Night's End City and Lin Bo secretly laughing, she carefully considered the matter and realized that she couldn't stop anything. After all, the Fourth Element that Xiao Xiao needed was indeed in Night's End City. After communicating with Mister Ye, even though she was somewhat worried, she no longer intended to stop anything.

The Old Chairman may have been hiding something, and Xiao Xiao also had some things he hadn't expected.

However, from any perspective, the Noah Project needs to be attempted, and the desire to take everyone away is not wrong.

Therefore, when she saw that Xiao Xiao had already begun to consider how to go to Night's End City, she only put forward three conditions:

First, try to avoid using force to solve problems.

Second, if we must resolve the issue by force, we must avoid causing deaths.

Third, if someone dies, do not destroy the entire Night's End City.

Lin Bo was a little confused when he first heard Yang Jia's three suggestions, but after thinking about them carefully, especially when he thought about how Xiao Xiao had detonated the bomb with a blank expression and killed hundreds of members of the Hell Organization, he agreed with them.

I only wanted to teach Night's End City a lesson, I didn't intend to destroy the city...

Now Xiao Xiao is the new president of Black Gate City. Although he sees himself as a puppet, at least Mister Ye. Ye and Yang Jia, who are qualified to pull the strings behind the puppet, have given Xiao Xiao a lot of respect in many ways. So, now that Yang Jia has expressed his approval, Mister Ye will never interfere with Xiao Xiao's decision for no reason. Therefore, the business trip is settled.

Even without Xiao Xiao's knowledge, Mister Ye set up a file on this matter and kept it.

[Event Definition: Friendly exchange between the Black Gate City and the Strangers organization of Night's End City, a city of similar size]

[Purpose of the exchange: To obtain the Class A special item Unquenched Heart]

Danger Level: Class A (relative to the target)

[Participants: Xiao Xiao (President), Little Four (President's Secretary), Lin Bo and his subordinates (non-staff support)]

[...]

The selection of personnel for this business trip was the result of discussions between Xiao Xiao, Yang Jia, and Mister Ye.

For Black Gate City now, the victory in the confrontation with the Hell Organization is actually a very important period of development. This defeat of the Hell Organization has given Black Gate City a lot of resources and a very stable environment. A large number of new people will also appear. The outsiders in Black Gate City need to find and guide these new people, so that they can become the fresh blood of the outsiders.

Therefore, the Knight Pact of Black Gate City, including Ruan Ruan, were all busy.

Now, Ruan Ruan has officially become a true enhancement mentor and will soon have her own people under her command. The Serpent Sisters and Old Zhou Under the Bridge also need to cultivate more newcomers to create a good foundation and conditions for the further development of Black Gate City.

As for Yang Jia, she needs to stay in Black Gate City to provide military support for its stable development.

Of course, that wasn't her initial plan; she was even preparing to pack her things and go on this business trip with Xiao Xiao.

However, after Mister Ye talked to her once, she was persuaded to stay in Black Gate City.

Xiao Xiao didn't know what the two of them were whispering about. When Yang Jia first returned to Black Gate City, she had a good relationship with Mister Ye. However, she was tricked by Mister Ye once and was so angry that she didn't even want to answer his calls. But after the Hell Organization's invasion incident, their relationship seemed to have been repaired. Many times, she could be seen talking to Mister Ye on the phone with a serious expression, discussing many things.

As for Mister Ye, some necessary investigations and preparations need to be made regarding the Old Chairman's Noah Project.

Of course, these investigations overlap with Xiao Xiao's investigations to some extent.

At this moment, everyone tacitly agreed to conduct their own investigations for the time being, and whether there was a need to exchange information afterward would depend on the specific circumstances.

After all, Mister Ye also understood that when Xiao Xiao returned, it would probably be the time when the Noah Project would officially begin.

Therefore, only Xiao Xiao and Little Four were booked for the business trip.

It seems a bit small that only two people went to the Night's End City, which is not very friendly to outsiders. Even Mingming Yang Jia and Ruan Ruan couldn't help but say during their conversation, "Our Chief Attendant is only at the third stage of enhancement and seems to lack the ability to fight. So why are we worried about the Night's End City during this conversation?"

As for Xiao Xiao, he made several preparations before going on his business trip.

The first preparation involves arranging the daily operation and security of the bar under one's management.

After realizing his special circumstances, Xiao Xiao had to consider that he could no longer be so indifferent to money in the future.

If things prove that you are also an indigenous person, you will need a source of income when you return to your normal life.

This isn't difficult. Firstly, the bar already has the backing of a powerful force like the Pink Maiden Gang. Secondly, he now has his own direct manager, the underground boss who was willing to wear a pink girl outfit to follow him, who can help him run the bar.

Another thing is my own special items.

Special items are actually a type of Enhancement Element within the city, only more specific.

However, depending on the carrier, the Enhancement Element can be divided into three categories:

Firstly, there are intangible elements, such as Violence Factor and insightful eyes.

These kinds of elements often only need to parasitize outsiders, and can be used whenever they want, according to their own whims.

Secondly, it may have parasitized a certain special item.

Just like Little Four's belt, the Ruan Ruan whip, and Xiao Xiao's Bloodlust Pistol.

These kinds of items can be carried around at all times and taken out whenever needed, which is quite convenient.

But the third category is a bit special; from the city's perspective, it consists of living things.

Xiao Xiao's majority falls into this third category.

Just like the three Thorn Hound and the Hellbringer, from the perspective of a stranger, they are also living beings. Although they are absolutely centered on their owners, they also have their own will. Xiao Xiao can summon them to his side at any time when he is in Black Gate City, but if he leaves Black Gate City and encounters a problem, Xiao Xiao is not sure if they can appear in front of him in time.

Xiao Xiao had spoken with Yang Jia about this and confirmed that no one else had encountered this problem.

In my heart, I vaguely confirmed something:

"Perhaps this is evidence that summoned special things are actually fantasy creatures in essence?"

"Only things that exist in one's own spiritual world can disregard spatial distance and be summoned to one's presence anytime, anywhere!"

"..."

Of course, this is just a preliminary guess at the moment; we'll only know for sure once we try it ourselves.

Of course, the most special one is the Record Player Miss.

Xiao Xiao was certain that this mysterious thing was anything but simple, and might even be related to his past.

She was a more special case, since her true form was on the second floor of her neighbor's house. Xiao Xiao couldn't enter her house to take the record player with him to Night's End City, nor could he summon it to his side remotely like the Thorn Hound or the Butcher. So, Xiao Xiao was quite helpless with her and could only think that he would try it after arriving in Night's End City and see how it went.

There has to be an explanation, so after thinking it over, he could only silently give her one instruction. "Work hard."

"When I return, I hope to see that you have completed your enhancement."

"..."

"..."

"President Xiao, we've been friends for over 100,000 points, and this time we're helping you find the Fourth Element on a voluntary basis. Furthermore, once we reach Night's End City, we'll generously share all our intelligence and Dante's connections with you..."

Before leaving, Lin Bo seriously approached Xiao Xiao: "So, you're covering all the travel, accommodation, and food expenses for this trip, right?"

We are preparing mystical elements related to the fourth phase of the Insightful Ones.

We were prepared for negotiations to break down and even a fight to resolve the issue with outsiders in a city...

... And now you're coming to talk to me about food and lodging expenses?

"Don't worry, Little Four has arranged everything..."

Left with no other choice, Xiao Xiao agreed.

Little Four is my personal assistant, so it's reasonable to entrust him with things like booking tickets and paying the bill, right?

However, Xiao Xiao was genuinely curious about the Dante Organization's style. Mingming could such a large organization be so poor in resources? The Hell Organization was much more generous than them... Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of that bet. Everything was Lin Bo. If he hadn't been so poor, he would have earned hundreds of thousands of points.

I probably won't have to go all the way to Night's End City to find it myself just because someone is asking for an exorbitant price.

Of course, although he appeared relaxed, it was his first business trip after all, and Xiao Xiao was also very curious.

He had seen how indigenous people, after leaving the city, were thrown into light rail cars covered in blood and flesh, and carried to another city in a drowsy state. He was also very curious about whether he, as a stranger in a foreign land, would also be thrown into blood and flesh like them.

"Traveling between cities is a very dangerous thing."

When Xiao Xiao asked this question, Lin Bo displayed a sense of pride and confidence, as if he had hit the nail on the head. "Because for strangers, the city is the closest place to their Mysterious Source, and also the safest place. Outside the city, however, lies a vast, endless Mist Sea, filled with all sorts of bizarre and distorted things, and a Mysterious Source of unknown origin..."

"If the city is our god, then outside the city there are a large number of evil gods and unknown spaces."

"For strangers in a foreign land, every step we take must be cautious, as if walking on thin ice. One careless move, and..."

"... may get lost."

"..."

Hearing him say that, Xiao Xiao also became serious. "Then what should we do?"

Lin Bo said with a serious expression, "Obey traffic rules."

"?"

At this moment, Xiao Xiao looked at him as if he were a fool.

Lin Bo, however, was unusually serious and said, "I'm telling the truth. The movement of indigenous people between cities is like a kind of material exchange, following strict rules and balance. We outsiders wander between cities, which is not part of this material exchange, but following the principles of this material exchange will also help us avoid getting lost and protect ourselves on our journey."

Xiao Xiao had no choice but to agree.

Soon, Little Four booked six high-speed train tickets to Night's End City, all of them hard seats.

Xiao Xiao had originally planned to change to a soft seat himself, but after listening to Lin Bo's advice, he decided to be more careful and decided not to separate from them. He could only sit with these poor guys in the narrow and cramped light rail.

Things are going very smoothly, and everything is ready.

The day before his departure, Xiao Xiao had a meal with his mother and told her about his business trip.

Now that Xiao Xiao's mother knows he's changed jobs, Xiao Xiao's shocked that he can earn so much money working at a bar. She's even questioned Xiao Xiao seriously several times about whether he's doing anything like being a hostess or something similar, and she's been earnestly advising Xiao Xiao: "A person can be poor, but they can't be without integrity. We respectable kids don't do that kind of work..."

Xiao Xiao explained several times, but his mother wouldn't listen. So, the day before he left, Xiao Xiao simply confessed:

"I'm not some kind of male escort or anything like that."

"To tell you the truth, I've started working in the underworld now..."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the mother was momentarily horrified, but after a moment's thought, she breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, this job is much more respectable..."

"..."

"..."

The next day, Xiao Xiao, carrying his packed backpack, left home on time.

As soon as they arrived at the street, Little Four was already waiting for them in a van that he had picked up from somewhere. Lin Bo and his three men, along with several large packages, squeezed into the back seat, while the passenger seat was reserved for Xiao Xiao.

Let's go!

Xiao Xiao sighed and gave the order.

Soon the car passed through the city and arrived at the light rail station. Little Four parked the van anywhere without even locking the door.

Xiao Xiao was somewhat surprised. "Aren't you afraid of it being stolen?"

"What's wrong with that?"

Little Four glanced at Xiao Xiao curiously and said, "I stole it too..."

"..."

"It's fortunate that the City Will doesn't seem to care much about theft-related crimes, so the points deducted are minimal..."

Xiao Xiao thought he would give Little Four a moral education lesson when he got back, so they entered the station together.

The group of people sat in the same carriage, next to each other. After sitting down, Xiao Xiao kept looking at the local residents around him. They were completely unaware of what was going on. They carried their luggage into the carriage and sat down in a crowded manner. Some people were chatting and laughing, while others leaned their heads against the windows to prepare to sleep. The workers on the platform were also carefully checking the surrounding conditions until the sharp whistle sounded several times.

The vehicle slowly started moving, gradually approaching the edge of the city.

Xiao Xiao didn't miss the opportunity to observe the city from this angle. He stared wide-eyed at everything, watching as the scenery outside the car window rushed out of the city. Everything around him, real, was also rapidly becoming thin and flimsy, gradually transforming from real city streets into something half flesh and blood and half real buildings. Then, in the instant he left the city, everything suddenly turned blood red.

The real city has completely disappeared.

Xiao Xiao saw his train suddenly plunge into a vast expanse of viscous, twisted flesh and blood, interwoven with thick blood vessels and nerve tissue. Looking out the window, everything turned dark red, filled with a thick fog, and even the earth had disappeared. All he could see were strange, writhing bones in the distance and a huge heart beating incessantly in the abyss.

It was as if the air had been suddenly sucked away; he felt extremely suffocated, and the surrounding silence was as if he had entered a state of complete death.

Looking around, all the indigenous people were now asleep, no, not just asleep, but more like dead, or rather, shut down. A living person had suddenly stopped all mental and physical activity.

He just sat there, motionless, leaning back in his seat.

Through the Eye of the Seer, Xiao Xiao observed the entire train and discovered that even the driver and the service staff had stopped all their activities and were sitting quietly in some place as if they had turned off their devices. But perhaps not all of them were the same, because Xiao Xiao saw the corners of their mouths and could sense that they had slightly different moods, some happy and some longing.

"Is it because they are experiencing different journeys in their dreams?"

Xiao Xiao pondered silently, then turned to look at Lin Bo in the back seat. "Will they be like this throughout the entire journey?"

"Right."

Lin Bo smiled wryly, "They are much more comfortable than us. No matter what they discover, there will be someone to take care of them on this train of flesh and blood. Even if they need to transfer or make a temporary stop, they don't need to wake up. In their own beautiful dreams, there will be all sorts of different travel details. Interestingly, at the end, these details can even be compared."

"But we are different; we have to stay on edge the whole time."

"We must pay attention to any changes on the train to ensure that we are not affected by unknown dangers and that we are not left behind."

"So, the journey was the most arduous, and it was also too dangerous for us!"

"..."

Xiao Xiao wrote it down and slowly turned around.

Looking at the deathly silent carriages around me, with the occasional flashing red lights, and at the indigenous people with their various expressions, all seemingly in a state of shutdown.

He suddenly felt a slight stirring in his heart, Eye of the Seer slowly emerged from his body.

One, two, three...

It floated eerily in the deathly silent carriage.

Xiao Xiao pondered deeply, his Eye of the Seer beginning to overlap, as he tried to see clearly what was going on.

He succeeded once when fighting against the Hell Organization.

This time, he tried his best, and after making several subtle adjustments, everything around him began to change layer by layer in the vision of the three Eye of the Seer. He saw the huge, mountain-like, strange flesh and blood in the distance outside the car window, the dark starry sky and the dark red mist, and the rhythmic writhing at the junction of this huge flesh and blood.

But it wasn't until he used his insightful abilities to the fullest that everything became clear.

Xiao Xiao suddenly woke up and looked around.

The sun was shining brightly, and the place was clean and tidy. He saw the passengers around him, sitting neatly in the carriage. Some were chatting and laughing quietly while holding their children, some were looking down at their phones, and some had ordered beer and roast chicken from the dining car, preparing to have a drink with their friends.

"Sir, are you alright?"

A female flight attendant passing by seemed startled by Xiao Xiao's sudden awakening and politely inquired about his whereabouts.

"Fine..."

Xiao Xiao slowly shook his head and looked out the car window, but all he could see were rolling mountains and distant fields, with occasional villages scattered in clusters, looking like neat squares from afar. He saw that the clouds in the sky seemed to change shape slowly with the train's progress, and he saw cars occasionally rushing past on the intersecting highways outside, happily heading into the distance.

"I just think the scenery along this road is quite nice..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao tried hard to control himself, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Turning his head, he saw Little Four next to him, Lin Bo in the seat behind him, and several of his members.

They all had their eyes tightly closed and had fallen asleep sometime during the night.

Even in their sleep, they still pursed their lips, furrowed their brows, and held their hands loosely.

It felt like being in a bizarre dream, constantly on edge and on guard.