Adventure for the Sake of Gain

All night, Feng Xue squatted in a corner of the prison reading. Although, according to the information provided by the [Gatekeeper] Tag, he had become a normal flesh and blood body after coming to the Real World, eating and sleeping were still not necessities. At least in the dead of night, when even the patrolling prison guards seemed listless, he could still faintly hear gurgling sounds.

Although she couldn't understand it, Feng Xue figured it was probably some kind of random cursing or shouting.

However, Feng Xue was in no mood to pay attention to his fellow travelers. He quietly flipped through the dictionary, writing down the words he might use on pieces of cardstock cut to the thickness of a thumb, making a small vocabulary book like the ones often seen in Japanese Manga. Then he tucked away the useless pages in a corner, intending to tear them out later as material for refining Phantom Object artifacts.

As for why they're not practicing now, that's a very simple question—this is a prison, a place to detain criminals. Even if there wasn't any surveillance before, it must have been set up here after they came in.

Judging from the middle-aged man's proficiency in using Smart Phone, the technological level of this world should have reached the level of the early 21st century. Although it cannot be definitively concluded that it is the same world as Chen Xiyao's, it at least shows that something is being monitored.

While creating a Phantom Object on the spot would help him prove his abilities, it also meant taking risks.

This is similar to why he didn't demonstrate the creation of Phantom Object in front of that middle-aged man. If he had left the other person with the impression that "this Wu can create Phantom Object at will," then the surveillance and control he would face would likely have reached an unacceptable level.

Conversely, by presenting complex demands such as "requiring many conditions," "requiring materials," "requiring specific time," and "requiring certain preparations," Feng Xue could significantly reduce the other party's vigilance, thus giving her a chance to catch her breath.

After all, the Danger Coefficient of someone who can pull out a bomb anytime, anywhere, is completely different from that of someone who needs a sophisticated chemical system and raw material supply to craft a bomb.

The night passed quickly, Feng Xue still didn't feel hungry. However, the rapidly depleting [consciousness] made him feel a sense of urgency.

Five days—that was the deadline he set for himself. If not enough changes occurred within five days, and if he couldn't gain enough [knowledge] from the real people in these prisons, he would activate the resurrection method and commit suicide.

Although the subsequent effects were a bit disappointing, as long as the Golden Finger is still there, it can eventually make a comeback. In any case, it's better than disappearing completely.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but want to reach out and touch his left rib, but then he forcibly stopped himself from doing so.

"Bang bang bang..."

The sound of batons striking the fence grew louder as the fat, big-eared jailer stopped and uttered words that were clearly malicious. Even though Feng Xue couldn't understand most of what he said, he could still understand the words that started with "f" and ended with "k".

As the prison guard walked by, a pair of fully equipped bodyguards and several researchers came up behind him. They dragged a thing that looked like it was no longer human and threw it into the cell where Wu, who had been taken away the day before, was located. Then, after the people in white coats pointed and gestured, they fired several shots at Wu in a cage.

As they watched Wu being carried away on a stretcher, wrapped up like a piglet, a strong sense of powerlessness began to spread through the hearts of the prisoners. Feng Xue noticed, however, that among the people in white coats, three others had not left.

They arrived at Feng Xue's cage, and one of them said in a very awkward voice:

"Han Meimei first rope, boss Xiangjian mud."

"What the hell is this Mr. Han Meimei..." Feng Xue grinned, suppressing the urge to complain lest he accidentally summon Salt. He didn't pursue the matter of address, but simply got up and flipped through his vocabulary flashcards, which he had done all night, picking out one to show the other person. It only had one word on it—

"Clothing."

The man glanced at Feng Xue, who was completely naked, and immediately understood his meaning. He also seemed to think it was a bit strange to walk around the prison with a naked man like that, so he said a few words to the prison guard.

The jailer nodded, picked up the walkie-talkie and made a call. A moment later, a set of classic striped prison uniform that didn't quite fit and had a faint musty smell was delivered to Feng Xue.

"Wow, clothes are truly a treasure of human civilization!"

Feng Xue quickly put on the prison uniform, feeling a surge of satisfaction and peace of mind. However, the other party's actions immediately dashed her good mood.

"Please, put your hands here, and your feet, stick them out from here." The man read the sentences in his notebook with difficulty, looking at the handcuffs and shackles that the jailer brought over. Anyone who wasn't stupid knew what was going to happen.

Although Feng Xue outwardly showed dissatisfaction, he was actually quite happy inside, and even hoped that once he put it on, he wouldn't take it off.

It wasn't that he was a masochist, but rather that there were two more items that could be used for Reforge.

Having obtained the silver bracelet and the 25,000-carat anklet, Feng Xue, a young woman who looked no different from any other prisoner, was finally able to leave the prison.

Wearing five kilograms of shackles on your feet is a completely different experience from carrying five kilograms of weight. The intense sense of imbalance makes it difficult to even take a quick step in such a situation.

However, Feng Xue didn't care much about these things, since he didn't plan to run away with this thing. In comparison, he was more concerned about the pain in his ankle from the chafing.

"I heard that high-ranking big shots get the treatment of having towels wrapped around their feet in shackles. I can ask that not-so-bright guy to get me two more."

At this moment, Feng Xue even had the leisure to recall the prison-themed movies she had watched before, since she had already come to this point and was unlikely to die anytime soon.

The only thing to worry about is Fran suddenly jumping out and shooting him, and whether these five days will be enough to establish a Tag of him.

Obtaining Tag from real people is much more difficult than obtaining them from the Infinite City. This is because the Infinite City can accurately distinguish the differences between each "nothing," but real people cannot. For example, this time, more than thirty "nothings" were captured at once, and Feng Xue was just one of them. Even if the perception of "prisoner" is generated, it will be evenly distributed among more than thirty "nothings," and the condition of "point-to-point" perception cannot be met.

This is why many Wu (a type of being) accumulate [knowledge] quickly through killing. Although there may be many Wu who kill, each person killed is unique. Even if for most people it is just a name, as long as they have family and friends, they can provide the Wu with point-to-point knowledge such as "the murderer who killed someone," thus generating Tag.

Another reason Feng Xue chose to surrender was to try and see if she could obtain the "craftsman" Tag from these people.