Chapter 61: The Arousing Wine
Ghost Town, D1 Zone.
The currently named cataclysm zones were actually just the peripheral areas bordering normal cities. In the more distant, low-altitude regions, there were more lands that had been contaminated and submerged, unrecorded by the humans of the Poseidon Era.
Ghost Town was a relatively large cataclysm zone, with a total of eleven Undeveloped Zones surrounding it. The management was very strict, and the various facilities were excellent.
Due to the abrupt end of the “Great Cleanup Operation” four years ago, the Undeveloped Zones here were a little smaller than those around other cataclysm zones, making it easier to deploy firepower, and the personnel were also relatively dense.
On this day, the underground tavern in the D1 zone was more than half full.
“The cataclysm zone boundary line has been changing frequently recently. It’s not just expanding outward, but also shrinking inward. It would be great if we could encounter something like that here. The space for free exploration would become larger.”
“That kind of thing is so rare. For people like us who specifically wander in the remote areas, we can never hope for something that requires great luck. We’d be thankful if the boundary line didn’t expand while we were exploring and resting.”
“If you encounter an expanding cataclysm zone, you really can’t escape. A friend of mine was left behind like that.”
“After this drink, we brothers are going into Ghost Town. I hope we can bring something useful out, so at least we can rest a little longer.”
Before the Cataclysm, Ghost Town was a vibrant frontier town. Although its technological development was mediocre, it had become a popular tourist destination for nobles and commoners alike due to its picturesque scenery. The sturdy, low, and characteristic houses were everywhere, providing convenience for the construction of today’s outposts.
It was the end of the “Great Cleanup Operation,” a dangerous place where many elite Sentinels and Guides had perished. And those strange rumors had prompted batches of people who didn’t value their lives so much to enter it, looking for supplies left over from the old days and suppressing the expansion of the cataclysm zone itself.
The expansion of a cataclysm zone was often caused by an excessively high concentration of cataclysmic factors on the boundary line. If one could continuously clean up the cataclysmic creatures within a certain range and at the same time maintain a good ecological environment, the concentration of cataclysmic factors would be kept at a relatively low level, and even decrease.
The soldiers of the Undeveloped Zone outposts and the wandering squads had been doing such things. The frequent changes in the boundary line thus seemed unusual.
The people in the underground tavern were talking in low voices, the clinking of cups and saucers occasionally sounding. The atmosphere was not very lively.
When two unfamiliar faces appeared outside the door, the Sentinels with sharp senses began to observe them without a change in expression.
The two who came were also Sentinels, both looking relatively young. It was just that one was walking in front, his gaze steady, his aura strong, while the other was following behind, his eyes unfocused, looking left and right.
In any case, they were both wearing the most advanced combat gear of the Poseidon Era, unlike the bottom-tier citizens who lived a life of licking blood from the blade’s edge, with their heads on the line every day.
A few murky gazes became greedy, looking at the two of them as if they were two fat sheep that had just come out of an ivory tower.
Some people’s expressions also tensed slightly, and then they shifted their gaze.
Finally, it was unknown who whispered to their companion.
“That’s Zhu Hui.”
A commotion broke out among the Sentinels in the tavern.
In this tavern, the owner was a Sentinel, and the vast majority of the customers were also Sentinels.
The owner needed strong means and combat power to suppress the fights that could break out at any time, while the customers—the ones buying alcohol were generally low-level Sentinels with sensory overload and accumulated stress.
Many low-level Sentinels with underdeveloped abilities had difficulty finding a position in the Imperial Capital, so they simply went in and out of the cataclysm zones many times, exchanging old-world supplies for the various resources of the current Empire.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford Guide pheromones, it was just that suitable Guide pheromones were too expensive. How could they compare to the cost-effectiveness of alcohol?
These low-level Sentinels and the young high-level Sentinels who had just come out of the White Tower had always had some friction.
“Having to stay in the Undeveloped Zones” and “coming from the Imperial Capital to explore and carry out missions” were fundamentally different.
The former had also come from the White Tower, but because they couldn’t secure enough resources for themselves, they had to make a living with their lives. The latter could make their own choices.
As time passed, although the former’s combat power was weak, they could accumulate experience by entering and exiting the same cataclysm zone for a long time and become local tyrants. The latter, however, were fluid. They could win, but it was unnecessary.
When the two sides gathered together, it wouldn’t lead to fights and riots, but they also couldn’t achieve a harmonious coexistence.
“At this time… Chief Zhu should have graduated from the Sentinel Academy. Why isn’t he working in the Imperial Capital, but has come to this broken place instead?”
In a corner of the tavern, the bald Sentinel who had been drinking and chatting with his companion slammed his wine glass down with a bang.
He didn’t hold back his strength, and the sudden loud noise made some of the Sentinels around him frown.
Yi Chengli, who had almost fainted from the smell of alcohol when he entered the door, glared at the bald man.
As a direct bloodline that had been carefully cultivated by his family for many years, since he was a child, except for being beaten up by Zhu Hui in the Sentinel Academy for a few years, who hadn’t been polite and respectful to him? Even though he had recently lost importance, it was still a family matter. It was not for someone who wasn’t even an officer to say such things.
Although he was not the one being provoked at the moment, and these Sentinels who often stayed in the remote areas might not even know him, joining a team meant that they were linked in honor and dishonor.
This was the consensus of the Imperial soldiers.
Besides, he might be provoked next.
Yi Chengli had never been to such a crowded and chaotic environment before. He had almost fainted when he first entered the door. Now that he had calmed down a bit, he had to take a deep breath to gather his strength before he could start cursing.
But Zhu Hui, who was walking a few meters ahead of him, seemed to have eyes on the back of his head and gently waved his hand at him.
It was just a gentle wave of his hand without even turning his head, but Yi Chengli shuddered and had a vision of the other dragging him on the ground with a cold expression, saying, “Either follow my orders or get lost.”
“…”
Yi Chengli closed his mouth.
This was not a large-scale collective mission, and there was no aircraft. The car ride from the Imperial Capital to the Ghost Town D1 zone took a full three days. The few of them had become more familiar with each other on the road.
He had been watching Zhu Hui and Guide Xu go back and forth every day, and he was beginning to suspect that this guy was deliberately showing off his affection, so much so that he and Yu Yuan had exchanged a look and had both seen the complex meaning of “I shouldn’t be in the car, I should be under it” in each other’s eyes.
Now, Yi Chengli had completely realized how wrong he had been before.
God knows how much he had wanted to dig out his own ears when he had personally heard Zhu Hui call him brother.
This person was really not shy at all. He had to drink from the cup his brother had used, he had to hug his brother’s unused jacket when he took a nap, and when they sat together, he even had to have his brother hold his hand…
Tsk tsk, what a master of changing faces.
And Guide Xu really indulged his antics. It was probably true that they had had a mental soothing on the first day, as Zhu Hui had said.
In short, after three days of torture, he had almost forgotten what kind of ghost personality Zhu Hui had when Xu Xunyue was not around.
He was quiet, could fight, and his attitude toward most things was that he couldn’t even be bothered to give them a glance. When he was at the Sentinel Academy, Yi Chengli had always been ignored by him like this.
But once he got annoyed, he would directly solve it with his fists and not talk to people.
Yi Chengli knew that the current Zhu Hui was in the stage of being too lazy to give a glance.
Zhu Hui walked straight to the center of the tavern, stood in front of the tavern owner across the bar, and tapped the counter with his bent finger.
“Map.”
“You’re looking for me?” the owner behind the bar asked, but there was no surprise in his expression. “You can buy it from them. The people here are all my regular customers. They are all excellent warriors who have returned alive from Ghost Town.”
This was a tactful refusal. Zhu Hui was not in a hurry.
“I have something to trade,” he said.
“What is it?” The owner’s eyes instantly became shrewd, and he looked him up and down. “I have indeed been running this underground tavern here for many years. I know many explorers who are still alive and those who are already dead.”
“News from the military headquarters in the Imperial Capital.”
“Deal!”
The owner’s face broke into a smile, the wrinkles on his face unfolding in the dim yellow light.
“This place of ours is a poor, remote area, too far from there. We’re most in need of news about the changes up there. You’re truly worthy of being the youngest Chief Sentinel in the Empire’s history, to be able to get this.” And he was willing to use it as a bargaining chip for information exchange.
For these low-level Sentinels who had been outside for a long time, the title of “Chief Sentinel of the Empire” had no deterrent effect. The most noteworthy thing was what was right in front of them, what they could get their hands on. But they would also subconsciously believe that the Chief Sentinel of the Empire was completely loyal to the Empire.
They all said that the Chief was a benchmark for a country, a role model for all Guides and Sentinels. Naturally, they would go through fire and water for the country. How could they leak news from the central organs of the Empire?
But there was one right in front of them.
Although it was unexpected, they couldn’t be happier.
After exchanging information through their personal terminals, the owner gave a thumbs up, feeling that he had made a great deal. He then said he would give Zhu Hui a glass of wine—no, a bottle of wine.
When a businessman was in a good mood, the nice words would flow out like they were free.
“Although my tavern is small, it has been open for many years. We have all kinds of wine here. If you want something freshly mixed, that’s fine too,” he opened the transparent cabinet door and said with a smile. “This one is very fragrant, limited edition, brewed before the Cataclysm, my treasured collection. This one, well, it reduces stress. That one over there can reduce resistance to Guide pheromones.”
“Do you need this? I heard you’re married, but your compatibility—”
“I don’t need it.”
Zhu Hui said.
“Do you have any wine suitable for a date?”
A deal was a deal. He was not interested in freebies, and he had never drunk alcohol before.
Alcohol could relieve stress to a certain extent, but it was ultimately an external object, a stimulant. His stability coefficient was high, so he didn’t need to resort to this kind of thing at all.
He had originally wanted to refuse the owner and leave directly.
But the other had mentioned the effect of the wine, and had even implicitly, thinking he was considering it for him, reminded him of his brother.
Then, he could get the wine and give it to his brother.
“Wine suitable for a date?”
The owner’s eyes rolled, a gossipy look on his face. He was a little off, and not quite sure. He asked with a knowing smile, “Are you with…”
As soon as he asked, he felt that his words were inappropriate and regretted it, stopping himself.
The other wants this kind of wine, I should just introduce it. How can I ask such a thing?
But he didn’t expect Zhu Hui to say, “Of course it’s for my partner.”
He seemed very happy to answer this question and continued to say carefully, “It has to be delicious, have a certain mood, a beautiful color, and the bottle can’t be bad either… Is there any blue wine like that? Preferably ice-blue.”
The owner was stunned and couldn’t even be surprised for a moment. He said with a wry smile:
“Uh, well, I can mix a color like that, but if you want to put it in a bottle and take it away for long-term storage, the color probably won’t be able to…”
Seeing Zhu Hui frown, he hurriedly said, “Hey, hey, but there is one with the color of your eyes… and it has that effect!”
“What effect?”
“Well… hehe, a little bit of an aphrodisiac component.”
Seeing Zhu Hui stop and ask, the owner knew he was interested. The matter was settled, and the big stone in his heart also fell. He took out the wine and packaged it while saying:
“It seems you two have a very good relationship. It’s really rare in this world. This wine is a perfect gift for you.”
The amber liquid was in a black and gold bottle with very low transparency. The bottle was then put into a well-made tote bag. Yi Chengli watched as Zhu Hui took the tote bag, still dazed.
What map? They sell maps here?
What news from the military headquarters in the Imperial Capital? Do I know the news Zhu Hui was talking about?
What kind of military news is it? The kind that outsiders need to bribe their way into, or internal…
His mind was a mess. As Yi Chengli thought, he shivered again.
At this moment, he truly realized that he, a noble scion, had really seen too little.
It was no wonder that the low-level Sentinels in the remote areas would look down on the young high-level Sentinels from the White Tower. A large part of the good qualifications were monopolized by the nobles, and more than two-thirds of the high-level Sentinels were nobles.
Since Zhu Hui had said these things in front of him, he was certainly not afraid of him knowing, let alone him getting any leverage.
Besides, he didn’t know what information Zhu Hui had exchanged. If he dared to threaten him, he might be killed in a cataclysm zone.
From the moment Zhu Hui and the tavern owner started their transaction, the tavern had become much quieter. Now that they were going out, it could almost be said that all eyes were on them.
I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t see anything… chanting in his heart, Yi Chengli walked out of the underground tavern with stiff steps.
Then he saw the Sentinel walking in front of him walking faster and faster, his steps becoming more and more unsteady, and in the end, he even started to run.
The taut string of his heart was plucked. Yi Chengli thought something had happened and almost started to run after him in a daze.
Fortunately, Zhu Hui’s pace was too fast. By the time his body was ready to “run,” the other was already standing on the side of the large modified car they were riding in.
Looking at the Sentinel who had suddenly shot over, Xu Xunyue felt that if he didn’t open the car door immediately, Zhu Hui would probably climb in through the window.
After all, they had been separated in the Undeveloped Zone for five minutes.
Due to the weather, the tavern in the outpost was built underground, and the car could only be parked on top. But the car couldn’t be empty either, so they had simply split into two groups.
Xu Xunyue maintained his persona of being injured and in a wheelchair. He, Yu Yuan, and Cheng Tao were in the car, checking the equipment and measuring the cataclysmic factor concentration here, doing a risk assessment themselves. Zhu Hui and Yi Chengli went to the dim little tavern to collect information and exchange materials.
Zhu Hui had actually been prepared to go alone, and Xu Xunyue didn’t think he would have any problems. But at that time, Yi Chengli had insisted on going with Zhu Hui, saying that he was here to gain experience, that two Sentinels in the car was a bit redundant, and that he could help with everything.
Zhu Hui found him noisy and was about to use force to shut him up, but was persuaded by Xu Xunyue. The two of them quickly communicated through their mental link and finally decided to use the news from the military headquarters in the Imperial Capital for a transaction, and then to pull Yi Chengli, a member of the Yi family, to their side during this trip to Ghost Town.
Yi Chengli didn’t even know that he had just avoided a beating.
But because of this, he was drawn into the plan of the two, or rather, more people.
Now, Xu Xunyue opened the car door and said with a smile to the Sentinel who had climbed onto the high-chassis modified car in a few moves, “Thank you for your hard work. What are you holding in your hand?”
“It’s wine.”
Zhu Hui had run over just waiting for his brother to ask this. He said happily, with his tail wagging:
“A gift for you. The owner said this is delicious, and it’s the color of my eyes. We can try it when we get home.” And then brother can logically use me.
Xu Xunyue took the tote bag, not in a hurry to open it. He kissed the other lightly in the series of movements as Zhu Hui passed by, turned around, and prepared to sit next to him.
He kissed very quickly, and the kiss ended almost at the same time as Zhu Hui sat down.
The Sentinel with amber eyes was stunned.
His face immediately turned red, his upper body leaned over slightly, his lips pursed, looking as if he were poised to kiss back.
Xu Xunyue pinched his hand, but began to look down at the tote bag with a serious expression.
[No.]
He said righteously through the mental link, as if he weren’t the one who had just kissed him using his position.
[Didn’t we agree before we set off? It’s not just the two of us this time. We have to hold back.]
[Our companions are sitting in the back row watching. We can’t do this in a public place.]
[Be good, little Hui.]
Zhu Hui immediately stopped his leaning body, but his expression was very aggrieved.
“…Brother!”
He begged in a small voice.
“You can interfere.”
Yi Chengli, who had just walked to the car door, slipped and fell face-first into the snow.
