Turn into a Pig

Chapter 42: Turned into a Pig

"What's the situation now?" Nie Xuan hurried back to the research institute and asked the others for an update.

Although Red Hair hadn't said a single word after the call connected, it was enough to alarm the institute personnel. They immediately dispatched people to seal off the building.

"Forty-six people have gone missing so far. The entire 28th Floor is wiped out, half the personnel on the 27th Floor are gone, and the Instance Entrance has now closed." Team Leader Wu, the person in charge, explained the situation to him. "The only player of ours who got in is Xiao Er, who was originally on the 28th Floor."

"I remember Sima Xiao Er was supposed to go to Happiness Residential Area today. How did he end up in Golden Light Building?" Nie Xuan said while looking over the files of the missing persons, but before Team Leader Wu could answer, he looked up. "They went to make an arrest?"

Team Leader Wu nodded and pulled up a photo. "We received a report this morning. General Manager Zhu Tao of Karen Building Materials Company reported a Cannibal Player. Xiao Er brought twelve people and coordinated with the Criminal Investigation Unit to make the arrest. This is the person they were after."

The moment Nie Xuan saw the photo, he stood up. "Xu Huo? He's a player, and someone I've been trying to recruit."

"I know that, of course." Team Leader Wu gestured for him to calm down. "With so many missing persons cases lately and the need to investigate Instance Entrances, the matter of arresting Evolvers never reached my desk, so I wasn't aware of it before."

"But this is actually good news. Take a look at this."

He handed over a document. "Fresh out. Based on the leads Xu Huo provided, Luo City caught the Cannibal Player Liu Mei. Liu Yuanyuan was a fake name."

Nie Xuan flipped it open and said in surprise, "A B-rank evaluation, and he even obtained an item from the instance boss?"

"That's not all. According to Liu Mei's confession, Xu Huo was the first to find the stranded players, and he deduced that Hot Spring Villa might have been a non-closed instance before. That matches the documents issued by Capital City." Team Leader Wu said.

"In other words, the Dimension Rift game really did exist long before Evolvers appeared." Nie Xuan slowly sat down.

"The Head Chopper Demon instance is supporting evidence." Team Leader Wu's tone was heavy but tinged with relief. "So Xu Huo stumbling into the game by accident is an opportunity for both us and the missing persons."

"On Train 301 Preliminary, where you were, only one player survived from the Third-Class Seats, and he's still lying in the ICU. From the First-Class Seats, you and one other came out. The Premium Seats were completely wiped out. Only the Second-Class Seats—not only did four people survive, but they also saved a player from the Third-Class Seats."

"Although Han Ming, Liu Jia, and Wang Xiaohui aren't willing to talk much right now, since you were on that train, it's easy to lock onto Xu Huo. Given his performance on the Preliminary Train, if conditions allow, he'll save people."

Nie Xuan still frowned deeply. "What I'm worried about is that hothead Sima Xiao Er. He got through his Preliminary Train by bribing the chef. He has zero instance experience and he's young and reckless. I'm afraid he'll mess things up."

Team Leader Wu patted his shoulder. "For now, all we can do is wait."

*

Everything went dark.

The moment the Special Affairs Personnel disappeared, Xu Huo knew he had run into an instance. The instant he jumped from the window, his vision went dark, and then it felt like a layer of airtight fur wrapped around him. His entire body rolled down a slanted ramp.

His nose was filled with the stench of animal hide. His arms were stiff, his legs bent backward, his limbs bound and unable to move. His mouth and eyes couldn't open either. In the complete absence of light, he tumbled for several minutes before finally stopping.

When he landed, more than a dozen heavy objects came crashing down on top of him. They were all crammed into a narrow space, struggling and letting out muffled whimpers.

Unable to open his eyes or mouth, trapped in such a small space, Xu Huo ignored the kicking and shoving around him and focused on listening to the sounds nearby.

About fifteen minutes passed before footsteps approached. Then someone opened a door and let out a hoarse laugh. "The goods are pretty fresh this time. Let me count... forty-six in total."

"Can't use them all in one day. Let's keep them for now."

Then came the sound of dragging. Amidst the rising and falling sobs, the noise of a blade cutting through leather rang out in a steady rhythm—three cuts per set. And with each set, one voice, whether crying, angry, or pleading, became clear. No longer muffled, but sharp and bright—though it sounded more like the howl of a beast than a human voice!

There was a pause in the middle. The man took away everyone he had already processed, then came back after a while to continue.

Finally, it was Xu Huo's turn. He was lifted up by one hand. Swish, swish, swish—three sounds, and a chill spread across his eyes and mouth. He could open his eyes!

What came into view was a tall, muscular Red-Nosed Foreign Man. He held Xu Huo up with one hand, shook him, muttered "mute," and tossed him aside.

With his legs bound behind him, Xu Huo had no choice but to land on his knees. His line of sight dropped to below the foreign man's waist. He looked up and watched as the man grabbed a fat pig, swiftly slashed its eyes and mouth, and then the pig could open its eyes and make sounds before being thrown back to the ground.

Only then did Xu Huo see clearly that he was in a place that looked like a warehouse. Above them, there was a square pipe opening—everyone must have fallen through there.

All the people who had fallen were wrapped in a layer of pigskin, penned inside a fence, with their eyes and mouths sealed shut. Only after the Red-Nosed Man cut open their eyes and mouths could they see and make sounds again. But they couldn't speak normally—they howled, howled like pigs!

Had wrapping them in pigskin really turned them into pigs?

Xu Huo saw the words "Good Taste Fresh Meat Supply Factory" printed on the foreign man's blackened apron, and his eyelids twitched:

Not only had they been turned into pigs, but they were about to be slaughtered!

In that brief moment, the Red-Nosed Man had finished his work and started driving everyone out.

Xu Huo followed the panicked, directionless crowd forward. As soon as they got out, two people tried to flee. But wrapped in the skin, they crawled on the ground with their front ends long and back ends short, unable even to stand—how could they outrun a fully capable man?

"Full of energy, huh." The Red-Nosed Man laughed heartily, chased after them, and smashed their pig heads with two punches. Without waiting for the red-and-white liquid to spill out, he grabbed one in each hand and hung them on hooks.

"Fresh brains. Adding a dish tonight."

Two people in the crowd vomited. The Red-Nosed Man furrowed his brows. "Don't tell me these are sick pigs. Nobody buys sick pork."

Everyone froze. Even those who had been vomiting instinctively held their breath. Just as they were at a loss, a pig next to Xu Huo collapsed to the ground, moaning pitifully, looking like it was about to die of illness.

From the voice, it was that General Manager Zhu.

Two more people followed his lead and lay down. Under their pigskin, the others' eyes lit up, as if they saw hope:

If no one buys sick pork, could they escape this disaster?

But before they could act on it, the Red-Nosed Man dragged the three out. "I'll butcher you first today. Can't let you die of sickness and go to waste."