Vol. 2: You Made Your Choice

Saladin Pass is the first stop on the way to the Elf Holy Land and one of the important land transportation hubs of Mimir Hot Spring Market.

There are no railways here, only a constant stream of freight trucks. Two intercity highways are the lifeline connecting the rare animal hunting area, supplying the area with essential goods.

The supply depot of the Guangling Zhixi assault team could only be built up to this point; beyond that lay a vast, Unmanned Zone, scattered hunter camps, and nameless villages.

You might wonder why there are still traces of human life in such a dangerous, desolate place.

--During their previous journey in the Shinto City, many food carts and traveling merchants followed the VIP's pioneering progress, pushing the settlement forward together. The same applies to the Elf Holy Land, especially since this is the territory of the Mimir Hot Spring Market. The brave Red Stone People are never afraid of challenges.

Desiring a new ecological niche, a secluded corner, and a new livelihood, they ventured to the vicinity of the Elf Holy Land to hunt for treasures. Over time, various trades related to clothing, food, shelter, and transportation developed, transforming the area into a new village and market.

As for the more remote and secluded hunting camps, they were like tents set up by fishermen when they were fishing. Natural cliff caves were carved out by humans and became temporary dwellings. Everywhere there were traces of civilization.

In a small room on the third floor of the Yak Inn in Saladin, a group of troublemakers were having an internal struggle, trying to stir up some trouble.

"Big B, I know you'll draw lots. People in the Red Jack Circus love to gamble with their lives."

This quote comes from the guest Tyrannosaurus Warrior, from Andro--

Like Bei Chen, Andro was released from prison after his vacation in Hedland and prepared to return to his old ways.

The day this remnant of the war gang walked out of prison, he found that the whole world Heaven and Earth Turning.

The news, television programs, and online streaming media constantly convey the undeniable, surreal truth: the Madness Butterfly Sect is finished.

Andro was a big shot at the Blackland Royal Hotel, the leader of the Tyrannosaurus Warrior Gang. But after being released from prison to atone for his crimes, he couldn't even find a job. Few reputable security companies would dare to hire someone like him.

Wherever he went, he had to undergo extra security checks. Ordinary people feared him, cursed him, and treated him like a pest or a rat. Even the lucky ones in the War Gang who weren't guilty enough to die didn't get a friendly look from this big brother.

We haven't mentioned areas outside the civilized world, like Saladin Town, which is far from the railway and serves as a retirement activity center for the Madness Butterfly's war gang leaders.

It was previously stated that Lieyang Fort was still under the jurisdiction of the railway because a railway line connected the city, and Guangling Zhixi could seize control of the city by force at any time.

Saladin Town has no railway access. This land originally belonged to a type of ladybug called "Spuantong." The ladybugs couldn't compete with Homo sapiens, so they ceded part of their territory and have lived in harmony with Homo sapiens ever since.

"It's a lottery; it's all about fairness."

Andro sat at the mahjong table with his back to the blinds, talking about the rules with three old friends.

"But you've forgotten about the War Gang's background, Big B —I've been to jail in Hedland and betrayed many brothers. But I had my reasons, my own hardships."

At this point, the thin man dressed as a clown, who was the host, immediately interrupted—

"--You draw last. We're all in the same boat now. Whether we can achieve great things and make a comeback depends on the team. Keep your grievances to yourself. Andro, your release from prison was entirely due to the lives of your fellow gang members."

Andro wasn't stupid either. The story about the lottery was that it was a spur-of-the-moment idea from several gang leaders who wanted to rob a hospital.

The person who wins the lottery has to be the vanguard to take hostages, while the others are responsible for keeping watch and collecting money. This unlucky person who won the lottery has to use violence to subdue the people in the medical station. He is also a scapegoat who has to face the security forces of Saladin's post.

The reason Andro is so bothered by the idea of "drawing the last number" lies in probability theory.

A seasoned veteran like him from FF14 would never believe in his luck, and what seems like a 25% probability is actually not the case at all.

Putting aside whether these three competitors will cheat, the odds of winning the lottery will definitely not be 25% when it comes to the last person.

For the first one, it's 75% independent events.

For the second person, that's 66 percent of the independent events.

For the third person, it became a 50/50 gamble.

For Andro, if it were his turn to draw the lots, it would be a losing proposition.

If you don't understand, try thinking about it another way. For example, if there's only one prize of 100 yuan in the prize pool, and the first 99 people have a chance to win, and you're the last person to draw the prize, do you really think you can win that 100 yuan? Often, the later someone is drawn, the slimmer their chances of winning become.

The conditions seem fair and just, with everyone having a 1% chance of winning. However, for those who are drawn later in the lottery, it's not the same story.

"A Jie, aren't you going to help me?" Andro turned to his colleague in the westerly position and asked, "You also think Big B is right?"

A Jie wasn't a member of the Tyrannosaurus Warrior Gang. His association with these three gang remnants was purely for money. The team lacked start-up capital, and all he cared about was getting the money. Andro, with his burly physique, was perfectly suited to be the "leader" in a robbery, so A Jie said—

"--You're a hero of Hedland, with the highest accuracy rate in confessing!"

Andro: "You'll encounter armed employees."

A Jie: "You'll always run into them if you start something. You've won so many times, you're surrounded by beautiful women outside, and you're eating steak and king crab in jail. Plus, you have a Final Fantasy social group to support your mental world. You've won so much, aren't you afraid of putting pressure on your guild brothers?"

Andro shrugged it off, laughing dismissively, "Is this how cruel the world is? You won't let me choose? I could have chosen before?"

"Yes, you're pathetic!" Big B immediately revealed a sinister and terrifying smile, "Pathetic enough that you went out to eat KFC with a girl born after 1950 as soon as you got out of prison! You fought with the Nameless One? Do you know that if the Big Sister doesn't eat three Madness Butterfly a day, this old witch of Baba Yaga will starve to death!"

"But what about me?!"

At this point, Big B's mocking expression turned into one of rage.

"What about me, Andro? Have you even thought about me?!"

"How did CC die?! He was just tweeting about the new gacha banner! The drop rate was so high! And then he was gone in the blink of an eye!"

"I didn't want to draw this lot either! But I had no choice! You like MMOs! I play Genshin Impact! I play Genshin Impact!"

"You don't need to scheme against the nameless one, you don't need to think about fighting to the death. I barely escaped with my life! Today you'll be the vanguard; the draw was a huge favor to you! Lady Luck is on your side, hero!"

At this point, Big B patted Andro's face.

"The thought of having an 18-year-old girl with you while eating KFC..."

Do you know how envious, jealous, and resentful I am of you?

Do you know what I've been through these past five years?

Five years! A full five years!

"You seem to have achieved your goal in Hedland, but why can't that person be me!?"

With red eyes, Andro listened to Big B's grievances, but he couldn't bring himself to explain.

"Big B, what if we had switched places five years ago?"

Before he could finish speaking, Big B's clown hat practically stood on end in anger. "What if it were you? You'd be dead already! A twenty-five-year-old gunsmith, you think you can escape? What are you going to use to shield yourself?"

"I'm sorry," Andro said dejectedly, clapping his hands. "You decide."

"Let's start signing!" shouted the cadre from the south, who was watching the commotion with great enthusiasm. His name was Schopenhauer, a former subordinate of the CC Clique. He missed the good times of serving Pellegrini and could only come to Saladin Town to make a living.

What followed was simply going through the motions, reciting from the script.

Big B drew a lot, but didn't win.

A Jie drew a lot, but still didn't win.

Schopenhauer still didn't succeed.

Everything went as planned, leaving Andro with only the worst possible outcome. He was to become a shield for his brothers, to attack and injure people at Saladin's infirmary, and to cover for his brothers' escape with the money.

Nowadays, the gang can only do these petty thefts, and they have to hide in remote border areas to commit their crimes. They can't even afford four guns; they only have one R45 Rhino as their weapon, which they stole from the pockets of passing travelers.

The R45 is a welcome gift from Mimir Hot Spring Market to every traveler, provided that the traveler gets off at the bus station and has a legal identity in the underworld. Even the four brothers have to steal to get their hands on such basic weaponry.

"Let's go!" Big B gave the order, and A Jie followed closely behind.

Andro stared at the gun in his hand, momentarily lost in thought, seemingly overwhelmed with grief.

Schopenhauer was walking at the very back, was quite old, a man in his forties.

He patted Andro on the shoulder, shoved the bullet into the Tyrannosaurus Warrior's hand, and asked a question in a low voice.

"Can you really meet girls born after 2015 by playing FF14?"

Before Andro could answer, Schopenhauer immediately spoke.

"Promise me you'll teach me how to play this game, okay? I want to eat KFC too."

Andro: "Huh?"

Walk 200 meters from the southwest street of Saladin town toward the Hunters' Guild, and you'll reach the terminus of the intercity bus station.

Jun got out of the car with his family, settled Xue Ming and Jamie in, and then immediately took his two younger daughters to a restaurant to order food.

Xue Ming was also very curious. It was his first time visiting Saladin, and he wanted to tell in detail about the story of the expedition. The cities along the railway were his main battlegrounds, and he had never set foot in these remote towns.

No matter where you are, large cities that have undergone modernization all seem to be the same, just like commercial streets in the mortal world, where it seems like you can never find more than a few shops. You can find Haidilao in the south of the city, and there are branches in the north and east of the city. It's like you've come to a series of cloned streets, and in the end, even the layout is almost the same.

The situation was different in remote satellite towns like Saladin. There were few people in front of the inn, and you could see many yellow- Wool Sheep flying low overhead. These porters carried large crates to deliver supplies to various hunting groups and to the deep valley settlements of the Elf Sanctuary.

The atmosphere was ancient and absurd. The old buildings next to the inn were covered with signs; the fourth floor housed a foot massage parlor, the third a fortune-telling shop, and the second and first floors combined to form a restaurant. The restaurant owner was a wild boar-man, and the sign was quite interesting too.

--The name is "Conscience Meat," and the slogan is. "Pig-headed man sells pig-head meat, honest and fair to all, young and old."

Walking into the hotel's small corridor, on the left is the cashier counter, displaying local Saladin drinks and alcohol. On the right is a room display, which looks quite trendy upon closer inspection.

The top row has rooms for two people playing e-sports together, rooms with waterbeds for couples, and a separate anime-themed room for socially awkward otaku.

The next row is interesting; it's a catalog of female entertainers who are hybrids of monsters and calamities, and there's a story behind the top courtesan.

For Hui Stone Currency, you can buy the special services of a beautiful black cat hybrid woman who is said to possess the bloodline of the Ming De. If you trace her ancestry back six generations, you can find evidence of her lineage.

Xue Ming couldn't help but laugh out loud, thinking to himself that the hybrid beasts in Saladin were rather interesting.

--If the boss really had such a great-great-great-granddaughter, he wouldn't have been reduced to selling himself into servitude.

As for this special service, the explanation in the last line states that it is simply a game companion and a guide for hunting groups, without any sexual content. Perhaps a few years ago, this would have been a key target of anti-pornography and anti-illegal publication campaigns, but things are different now.

"What are you looking at? What are you grinning about, Doctor Zhang?" Benni suddenly had an idea. She only knew that Doctor Zhang was staring blankly at the small advertisements on the wall, but she didn't know what the bilingual (Chinese and English) text on the wall meant.

The little girl couldn't read and simply believed that the doctor had evil intentions.

"Shameless!"

Xue Ming didn't explain anything, he just found it amusing.

When Oscar, along with his wife Lani and their two children, came in and handed the food to Jamie and his daughter, the big wolf squeezed next to Xue Ming and began to comment on the Jiali on the wall.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Don't be fooled by how good these photos look. Let me tell you, they're all lies! They're awful in real life!"

Xue Ming asked curiously, "Brother, did you order this?"

"Of course," Oscar said, tilting his head back.

The eyes of Lani standing beside her, immediately turned blood red.

Oscar: "Of course not! But I just think these hybrid monsters don't know how to keep themselves clean! They're despicable! How could I do such a thing? Dr. Feng, you can't frame a good dog for no reason!"

Xue Ming didn't press for further questions and immediately changed the subject.

"Jun-ge, you're taking your family with you, and you're still going to explore unknown lands? What's your wife thinking? Aren't you afraid of the danger?"

As Oscar led the guests to the restaurant on the second floor, he casually explained, "She was worried, saying that a woman should follow her husband wherever he goes, even if I told her not to come. She insisted on coming and wouldn't listen to reason."

Xue Ming helped Jamie and his daughter to their seats, while he and Oscar's family found a window seat.

"Is there anything you're worried about? This is a matter of life and death!"

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lani, who was standing beside her husband, immediately replied, "He changed his nationality to Arab, thinking I didn't know."

"Oh," Xue Ming immediately realized, "Brother Jun, are you planning to marry a few more?"

"Hehe." Oscar Jun immediately wilted, his spirits dampened. "I just saw how hard she's been working, so I wanted to find her a concubine to take care of her. She had a severe hemorrhage during childbirth and her health has been poor ever since. With my family's population increasing, it's like her life force has been depleted by the child, which is just bad luck."

According to the customs of some countries, this set of rules also applies to the underworld. If Oscar can get his wife's consent, he can indeed marry another wife, but he must meet the following conditions.

First, the applicant must be a widow, a woman without care, or a family that has lost its ability to work and needs assistance.

Second, all gifts given after marriage, including property and gifts between relatives, clothing and jewelry, should be prepared in duplicate to treat both wives equally.

Mrs. Lani knew that Jun was a womanizer. In organizations like theirs, where blood donation was conducted, people rarely followed human morals and etiquette. It was common for them to use various rules to form different families.

To keep an eye on her husband, Mrs. Lani even took her children and followed Jun all the way to Saladin, a remote and inaccessible place.

Xue Ming asked, "What about the children's education?"

Mrs. Lani, however, was very generous, praising her husband's erudition. "He's a good teacher, he's very knowledgeable! Even better than Galahad's teachers!"

As they talked, the group began to chatter, especially Jun, a talkative man who, while eating with his hands, told Dr. Zhang Congfeng about how to marry a good wife.

Within ten minutes, Xue Ming noticed several furtive figures heading towards the clinic on the dark street.

His eyesight is excellent; he can see someone who looks familiar.

The problem is, there aren't many people Xue Ming recognizes anymore; they're either sitting in the VIP carriage or kneeling in the Gongdelin Temple.

"Brother Jun, are there any other VIPs here?"

"No," Oscar replied, "It's just me."

After much Xue Ming decided to follow and see what was going on.

"I'm having some stomach problems due to the change in environment; it'll probably take me a long time to go to the toilet."

Jun-ge immediately tensed up. "Could it be because of that new drink I gave you? I feel so bad about that."

As Xue Ming headed towards the restroom, he peered out the window.

He finally became certain that the man was the Tyrannosaurus Warrior Andro.

"No, no, no, I just have a sensitive stomach."

With that, he went into the bathroom, took off his coat, put on a mask, climbed out of the window, landed on a trash can on the first floor, jumped back onto the street, lit a cigarette to cover up the smell of sweat and pheromones on his body, and followed closely behind Andro and his group.

He had no weapons, only a Bible and a cross in his arms.

"What exactly do these war gang members want to do?"