Black Gate Mist Incident

"Yang Jia is a doctor?"

Having just experienced the dangerous events at the docks, Xiao Xiao was somewhat shocked to hear Yang Jia's words.

He was almost blankly led by Yang Jia into an empty office. Yang Jia fetched alcohol and tweezers, disinfected him, and then stitched up his wounds. Ruan Ruan sat on the desk beside them, her shapely legs swinging idly. Only after the wounds were completely stitched did Xiao Xiao finally shake off the strange feeling, frowning and saying, "What's going on?"

He had many questions he wanted to ask: What was happening with the mutated workers at the docks?

And who was that Red Eyes guy?

"Obviously, you were attacked. To be honest, I didn't expect you to survive."

Yang Jia washed her hands and leaned against the window, looking at Xiao Xiao. Her white coat had a special brightness in the sunlight.

"I recognized that person… although it was hard to tell."

Yang Jia looked at Xiao Xiao and said softly, "His code name is Ghost Man. He's a veteran about to cross the 1,000 Points threshold, and a member of the Red Eyes Club. Like us, he's an Outsider. We even followed the same mentor once."

"So, he really is an Outsider…"

Xiao Xiao frowned, catching the key phrase in Yang Jia's words: "Once?"

"Yes."

Yang Jia said, "We originally belonged to the same organization, but now we've gone our separate ways…"

Xiao Xiao felt even stranger and looked at Yang Jia seriously, waiting for her to continue.

"Humans are creatures that like to band together, especially in a strange land. Not only in Black Gate City, but in other cities, and even in the Mist Sea outside the cities, those Outsiders who have survived have come together because of beliefs, interests, or even just survival, forming organizations of all sizes. I mentioned it to you before, we are one such organization."

"..."

"Right, so you are…"

Xiao Xiao had already judged from the relationship between Yang Jia and Ruan Ruan that they were also an organization, or rather, a team.

He was just a newbie, but he had long hoped to join them.

However, he was indeed worried at first about being bullied because he was a newbie.

"As you can see, we are an organization representing the Outsiders of Black Gate City. Me, Ruan Ruan, Little Four, Mr. Ye, we all are…"

Yang Jia answered seriously, and Xiao Xiao listened attentively.

But just as he felt he was getting somewhere, he suddenly saw Yang Jia stop talking, and his eyes widened in surprise: "And then?"

Yang Jia said, "That's it. It's just us."

"?"

Xiao Xiao was dumbfounded: "Isn't that ridiculous?"

He subconsciously looked at Ruan Ruan: "Didn't you say before that you were a very powerful organization?"

Ruan Ruan caught Xiao Xiao's gaze, felt a little guilty, and swung her short legs, stubbornly saying:

"Yeah!"

"..."

Xiao Xiao's expression was strange: "So this powerful organization, including Yang Jia, is just four people?"

"Plus you, that's five, isn't it?"

Ruan Ruan stubbornly said, her eyes drifting to the ceiling: "And very powerful."

"Yeah, so powerful you could have a substitute left over when playing mahjong…"

Xiao Xiao felt it was very bizarre, thought of this vast and boundless city, and then of the Red Eyes Club, and looked at Yang Jia again.

He could guess that things were not that simple.

"Right now, there are only four of us, and even I only just came back three months ago."

Yang Jia said calmly, "But it definitely wasn't like this before. Black Gate City is a big city, and the number of Outsiders who have awakened in this city is not small, there are still over a hundred. Just half a year ago, the Black Gate City Outsider organization was once considered a powerful force. All the Outsiders followed the old chairman, exchanging information, assigning tasks, training newcomers, and exploring the city."

"And I, too, awakened in this city four years ago, was discovered by them, and was taught how to survive and strengthen in this world. However, after awakening, I quickly went to other cities and found new companions."

"..."

Thinking of four years ago, which in real-world time was when he was about to graduate from high school, when Yang Jia transferred away.

Xiao Xiao didn't expect that this would be connected to the affairs of the Outsider organization.

And in his heart, a strange thought suddenly arose: If Yang Jia had already awakened four years ago, when he hadn't started having headaches, then to Yang Jia, would he just have been an ordinary native?

If the will of the city affected him, would he also turn into a Shedding Skin monster in front of her?

"At that time, Black Gate City was first-rate in terms of both unity and average strength."

At this time, Yang Jia continued, "Until the Black Gate Mist Incident occurred half a year ago."

"Black Gate Mist?"

Xiao Xiao was taken aback.

He had heard of this incident. At that time, he had not fully learned to control his attention, but he often browsed the news online.

It was said that due to weather deterioration and environmental pollution, an extremely serious fog appeared in Black Gate City. The fog lasted for a whole day, and even during the day, it was like night. The news also said that there were a lot of substances harmful to the body in the fog, and people were not allowed to go out.

He was immediately curious, "Is this also a distortion event?"

"No, this was an attack."

Yang Jia turned to look at Xiao Xiao and said softly, "The Hell Organization, leading those pirates from the Mist Sea, took advantage of the great fog to invade Black Gate City. My teacher, and many others in the Outsider organization in Black Gate City, were killed by them."

"The survivors, due to fear or other reasons, fell apart and acted independently."

"The Red Eyes Club is one such group."

"..."

"Mist Sea pirates? The Hell Organization?"

Xiao Xiao was encountering this kind of information for the first time, and he felt inexplicably strange, repeating it in a low voice.

"Yes, a bunch of lunatics. They don't believe in the will of the city, but in the mysterious sources of unknown origin outside the city. You can think of them as demons, a group of people who roam between cities in the mist, wantonly plundering and killing."

Yang Jia said softly, "But their power is undeniable. Many people died on the day of the Black Gate Mist Incident."

"After that, even those who survived were afraid."

"They clutched their heads and hid in every corner of the city."

"The Red Eyes Club is one group, then there's the Silver Bullet in Seventh Street, the Serpent Sisters in the Old City, Old Zhou in the East District..."

"..."

Listening, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but ask, "Does the city's will just let them be killed?"

"The city?"

Yang Jia didn't expect him to ask that. She smiled faintly and said, "The city's will protects the natives, but not the Outsiders. After all, to this city, we are always outsiders. Our relationship with the city is purely transactional."

"The city's will almost completely ignores the struggles between Outsiders."

"And that's why Outsiders need to find people they can trust, to bring each other a little pitiful sense of security."

"..."

Yang Jia's words made Xiao Xiao suddenly fall into thought.

Outsider...

This term already explained a lot. Outsiders are, after all, incompatible with the city.

No matter what they have done for this city, everything is reflected in the Points, and nothing else matters.

This realization made him feel a little down, but his face remained impassive, and he continued:

"So, why did the Hell Organization invade Black Gate City?"

"..."

"It is said that it was for something, but I still haven't confirmed the existence of this thing."

Yang Jia's face looked a little cold as she said, "However, it wouldn't be strange for the Hell Organization to invade any city."

"We are all Outsiders, but they have their own understanding of what it means to be an Outsider."

"They don't believe in the existence of a homeland, but believe that they have already come to hell, and the whole world is hell. The cities are huge cages, and the Outsiders are people who have made mistakes in the past, so they need to suffer here for all eternity."

"They need to spend eternity in fear and despair."

"..."

Xiao Xiao was surprised by this description. "Wouldn't that be very painful for them?"

"No..."

Yang Jia gave Xiao Xiao a strange look and said, "They're having the time of their lives."

Xiao Xiao was dumbfounded. "Hell? Having the time of their lives?"

"The entire Hell Organization is a group of hedonists, and unrestrained indulgence is their only creed."

Yang Jia sighed and said, "They believe that since they are already in hell, and the people around them are all monsters, what's the point of caring about so-called morality, decency, laws, and constraints?"

"They are convinced that they may be severely punished tomorrow, so they must indulge madly today."

"Unrestrained indulgence, even if the sky falls, they'll party first..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao felt shocked by Yang Jia's words.

This feeling of not caring about anything and indulging in everything because they discovered that the world is fake is really...

...Damn, doesn't it seem like I've been there too?

He originally wanted to condemn them, but Xiao Xiao felt guilty for a moment and didn't say anything for a long time.

Yang Jia didn't seem to notice and continued, "In short, the Hell Organization's creed makes them have no bottom line, or even principles. Invading cities and plundering Points are things they often do, and even take for granted."

"The Black Gate Mist Incident half a year ago was their largest operation in recent years."

"My teacher died in that attack, and others also..."

"..."

"It's not just the old chairman."

At this moment, Ruan Ruan, who was swinging her short legs nearby, suddenly spoke in a low voice, "They also killed many people, Big Dog, Jun Jun, Auntie Meng, Mr. Lang... We clearly hadn't offended them, but they suddenly appeared. A thick fog shrouded the entire city, and huge black ships appeared in the sky above the city. They jumped down from the ships and then started killing people..."

"The old chairman died, and those who were willing to follow the old chairman were all killed by them."

"They were completely unreasonable, killing anyone who resisted. Even me, the reason I was able to survive..."

After a pause, Ruan Ruan continued, her voice seeming to contain endless suppression:

"Was because they laughed at me, saying I was just a child..."

"I'm not that small..."