When Song Zang opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting inside the cafe.
Employee No. 1 smiled brightly as she personally brought a deluxe mocha-cocoa cream frappe to Song Zang’s table.
The base contained a double shot of espresso, strong and rich. The fresh cream on top was covered with cocoa powder and chocolate shavings, and a little walking stick made from butter cookie had been inserted into it.
Every part of it was exactly what Song Zang liked best. Employee No. 1 explained that this was a special drink the cafe had prepared to celebrate his successful clearance and promotion to elite player.
If Song Zang liked it, then every year on his birthday he could return to the cafe and claim another cup. He could also DIY different snack decorations, invite friends over for a party, and join free activities for making cakes and desserts by hand.
Song Zang listened with great interest. He had not expected the cafe to have so many little tricks.
He politely saw Employee No. 1 off, bit down on the straw, and took a large anticipatory sip. The slightly bitter coffee frappe mixed with delicate cream, dense and distinctive in texture, extremely refreshing.
Perhaps he drank too much in one gulp. Song Zang stiffened from the cold for a moment, and a faint ache appeared at his temples. He had not rested well and felt strangely sleepy.
Song Zang slowed down, scooped several spoonfuls of fresh cream dusted with cocoa into his mouth, and waited patiently.
Perhaps the system was malfunctioning. This instance’s reward settlement lagged for a very long time before finally arriving.
The point values for rewards were exactly the same as Journey Through Tianhai, and there was no all-members-survived bonus. For Song Zang, who had accumulated a fair amount by now, it honestly was not very impressive. No wonder Xie Chun Ye had not cared about the side mission at the time and only wanted to leave the instance early.
Once the ordinary instance points finished being distributed, special notifications glowing gold appeared one after another.
【Congratulations, Player Song Zang. You have completed the advancement assessment and become an honorable elite player. You are the idol of rookies, a dashing hero, and the hope of humanity!】
【Assessment successful. Rewards are being calculated…】
【Unlimited cafe privileges unlocked. Special Points Shop coupons issued. One-month vacation redeemed…】
【Error. Error!】
【Following a secondary system review, Elite Player Song Zang voluntarily surrendered his one-month vacation slot today at 2:34 and chose to continue dedicating himself to the exciting experience of game instances.】
【The Infinite Game world thanks you for your support and affection. We will continue striving to provide you with an even better gaming experience in the future.】
What?
Why did he have absolutely no memory of that last part?
Song Zang stared blankly for a moment, then hurriedly waved toward the counter and asked in confusion, “Employee No. 1, when did I voluntarily give up my vacation? Wasn’t this vacation supposed to be a mandatory system reward? How could I voluntarily surrender it? Did the game system bug out?”
Employee No. 1 stiffened when called. Without hesitation, she crouched down and hid her entire body behind the counter, with no intention whatsoever of appearing.
Only the trembling tip of half her baseball cap remained visible as she answered in a tearful whisper, “Player Song Zang, I am only an ordinary cafe employee who also serves as a beginner-player guide. You are no longer within the scope of my consultation services. I really don’t want to become Employee No. 2. Please spare me. I will kneel down and beg you not to ask me anything, Grandpa, Ancestor, Dad, Father…”
Song Zang: ??
He still wanted to ask something else, but just as he opened his mouth, Employee No. 1 suddenly dropped flat onto the ground with a smack, covered her face, rolled around, and began wailing.
The crying was fake. The point was simply to refuse communication. She would rather die than give Song Zang any chance to ask another question.
So Song Zang silently took another sip of coffee and began wondering whether he was still dreaming.
Everything had become completely chaotic. What exactly was going on?
“Ask her? You might as well ask me.”
At that moment, Yin Chen’s voice unexpectedly came from a four-person booth not far from Song Zang.
Song Zang immediately released the straw and turned aside to cough twice. He nearly choked to death on cookie crumbs.
He would swear to heaven that before hearing the voice, Yin Chen absolutely had not been sitting there.
Yin Chen had appeared out of nowhere and deliberately startled him.
Huge bastard!
Song Zang said nothing. He picked up the chilled frappe cup covered in condensation, stood quickly, rushed over, and threw himself into Yin Chen’s arms.
He pressed one knee hard onto Yin Chen’s leg, set the drink down along the way, then slid his cold, wet right hand straight beneath Yin Chen’s thin shirt and viciously twisted the hot, firm abdominal muscles without holding back.
“Hiss.”
Yin Chen curled his lips and cooperatively wrapped his arms around Song Zang. Warm lips brushed Song Zang’s earlobe in a kiss and rubbed lightly there. Seeing that Song Zang’s expression still looked unpleasant, Yin Chen continued kissing him in apology and murmured, “Don’t be angry. I was wrong.”
This kind of close, ambiguous intimacy had truly not happened in a long time. It felt like another lifetime.
Song Zang relaxed his strength, buried his face against the warm side of Yin Chen’s neck, and sighed softly. He realized how intensely he had missed this… vivid, tangible human shell.
“Kiss me. Hurry. Forehead, ears, then kiss my cheeks too. But you’re not allowed to kiss my mouth.” Song Zang bit Yin Chen’s shoulder and issued the demand with complete confidence.
Yin Chen cooperated perfectly. Restrained yet forceful kisses landed one after another everywhere Song Zang liked, until Yin Chen finally pressed against the side of Song Zang’s neck and rubbed there repeatedly. “Why can’t I kiss your mouth?”
“What exactly happened?”
“Hm?”
Yin Chen’s chest vibrated. His warm breath brushed the side of Song Zang’s face. The thin black shirt clung to the elegant lines of his shoulders and neck, carrying a clean sun-warmed scent mixed with a thread of cool mint.
Infuriatingly attractive.
Song Zang secretly breathed it in several times. He desperately wanted to kiss Yin Chen senseless, but deep down he was still a little angry. Conflicts should not be left overnight. Song Zang forced himself not to continue clinging to Yin Chen and immediately pulled away.
Before more kissing and hugging, they had to have an argument first.
He raised a hand against Yin Chen’s chest and seriously picked a fight. “Wait. I’m in a decent mood now, so I won’t hold your deliberately frightening me against you yet. But Yin Chen, don’t treat me like an idiot. You were definitely the one who canceled my mandatory vacation, right?”
“Mm. I did all of it.” Yin Chen raised his eyes. He did not deliberately pretend ignorance and admitted it very quickly.
Song Zang frowned. “How could you do that?”
Yin Chen continued smiling faintly. A dark, obscure coldness flowed through his phoenix eyes, his gaze quietly settling on the pale-pink kiss marks along Song Zang’s neck. His voice, however, became extraordinarily gentle, carrying a faint seductiveness. “Song Zang, don’t you want to see me? For an entire two months, you wouldn’t want to see me?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’d gladly live inside your ass.” Song Zang grew hot all over under his stare. He endured it and continued speaking fiercely. “You can make decisions for me, but before acting on your own, why can’t you tell me first?
“Don’t forget the harm Xu Ming caused you. I still don’t even know whether he’s dead, and you’re not planning to tell me that either, are you? Yin Chen, you already lost your memories once, and now you’re forcibly altering system rules for me. What if in the next instance you forget everything between us again? What am I supposed to do?”
Yin Chen listened quietly and patiently. Holding Song Zang’s wrist, he rubbed it every so often and slowly guided the hand deeper beneath his shirt.
“Xu Ming and Xu Qing are both dead. Anyone who stands in our way will die. Don’t worry. I absolutely will not forget you again.” Yin Chen held Song Zang inside his arms and answered each question slowly, his attitude toward communication exceptionally good, until the very end when it abruptly turned.
“But Song Zang, I simply don’t want to discuss things with you. What about it? Angry? If you’ve got the nerve, □□ me.”
Elio’s Notes: The source itself contains □□ here and again later in this chapter. I’m preserving the missing characters exactly rather than guessing what was censored or lost.
Wait. What exactly was going on…
Song Zang froze, his waist firmly locked by Yin Chen’s strong arms until he could barely move.
He was not stupid enough to become angry because of the words. He realized Yin Chen was genuinely acting strange today.
Yin Chen’s gaze toward him was warm, burning, sticky, and scorching. It plainly carried an open invitation and seduction, yet wrapped around it was a trace of indescribable… killing intent.
Song Zang did not particularly want to understand him too deeply, but unfortunately he understood Yin Chen extremely well. Even now, Yin Chen still had not completely given up on the idea of killing him.
This bastard had absolutely spent time secretly planning different dark ways to kill him.
“Time waits for no one. Anything else you want to ask? Song Zang, I want to do it once.”
Song Zang knew he would not get anything more out of him, so he spoke darkly. “First promise me that you absolutely won’t die and won’t put yourself in danger.”
“I absolutely won’t die.”
Yin Chen promised only half of what Song Zang asked. Then, refusing all objections, he lifted Song Zang horizontally and carried him toward the rear of the cafe.
Leaving through the back door opened onto the endless entertainment street.
Yin Chen carried him into a fully enclosed private cinema equipped with a hot-spring bath and an overnight bedroom suite. The door plaque read 【VIP Exclusive】 and required retinal verification to unlock. According to Yin Chen, it was reserved solely for him through an expensive long-term points rental, and no outsider had ever stepped inside.
Song Zang had to admit he was tempted. He liked it very much. Nobody could disturb them, making it perfect for bullying Yin Chen.
The icy fresh-cream frappe was also deliberately used by Song Zang somewhere inappropriate.
This particular game was fairly novel for both of them. Song Zang had learned the trick only after secretly reading Yin Wu Xue fan fiction.
Yin Chen was clearly unaccustomed to it but cooperated very well.
Song Zang tormented him until the corners of his eyes reddened, his voice went hoarse, and his wet Adam’s apple moved rapidly, leaving him almost unable to speak.
Song Zang was satisfied. After considerable effort, Yin Chen’s gaze finally became pure, burning, and damp when he looked at Song Zang, with much less of the inexplicable hostility from before.
“Baby, help me lick it clean, okay?”
Song Zang’s lips curved, his voice soft yet openly malicious.
The delicate fresh cream had already melted quietly with body heat and slowly flowed along his pale, slender wrist.
Yin Chen remained silent for a moment before giving a low “Mm.”
…
“See you in the next instance, huge bastard. You’re not allowed to bully me again.”
Before being teleported away, Song Zang confidently reversed blame and successfully saw a trace of speechlessness appear in Yin Chen’s lazy phoenix eyes.
He wanted to argue a few more points with Yin Chen, but unfortunately Song Zang could not linger. Time inside the cafe was currently moving at the same speed as reality.
In reality, he had already gone a full day and night without eating. If he kept clinging to Yin Chen, even Yin Chen would throw him out.
After a brief moment of darkness, Song Zang climbed from the familiar soft bed looking thoroughly satisfied.
Helin Estate was peaceful and calm.
Song Zang had slept for a full day without causing any trouble.
He wanted to speak with Chi Yan face-to-face, but she was the only person absent from the villa. According to Xie Chun Ye, she had been unbelievably busy these past two days.
Apparently, as soon as she returned from the instance, the research institute received urgent information.
Detection instruments had discovered an unfamiliar large-scale fluctuation signal completely different from Codename X’s energy. After reading the waveform-analysis report, Chi Yan boldly suspected it might be a unique signal originating from the Infinite Game itself.
It had caused considerable harm. The first researcher who checked the equipment died suddenly on the spot, and when other employees rushed over to help, they too fell into deep unconsciousness one after another.
Only after the signal completely disappeared were employees able to remain conscious and rapidly pass the explosive news to Chi Yan.
Chi Yan truly had tremendous nerve. Without offering any explanation, she directly redeemed special psychiatric medication from the Points Shop and tried using it on the injured staff… The treatment worked extremely well.
Within half an hour, every deeply unconscious employee woke up. Their mental state became extremely excited, and they restlessly worked overtime from their hospital beds through the night.
The research institute was still cautiously investigating the abnormal signal data. To ensure no employee suddenly died by accident, Chi Yan brought bedding directly into the institute and moved in with them, eating and sleeping there while supervising every possible danger.
They should have preliminary findings next month, enough at least to characterize what the signals fundamentally were. She had not dared reveal the specifics to other players in case the game system truly decided to erase her and dragged innocent people into it.
Song Zang understood the danger and did not continue asking.
Instead, he changed the subject and told Xie Chun Ye about Chen Jing Sheng.
Xie Chun Ye had a fairly good impression of Chen Jing Sheng. A veteran soldier with genuine training foundations would almost certainly become an excellent player if he survived the early stages. More importantly, Chen Jing Sheng had weaknesses and had people he cared about.
So Xie Chun Ye made the decision: Chen Jing Sheng could temporarily become an auxiliary member. He could be given a luxurious detached employee residence at the villa and participate in daily player training, as long as he did not touch core secrets for the time being.
Once permission was granted, Song Zang immediately sent the invitation.
Chen Jing Sheng arrived alone by plane, travel-worn from the journey.
Ye Xiao Xi was doing very well. The child had not been blocked by the game system, and she was quietly resting through pregnancy at her employer’s home. She had already discussed everything with the woman of the household. If the child was born safely, the baby would be registered under the woman’s name.
Song Zang did not deliberately pry. He simply brought Chen Jing Sheng around Helin Estate and showed him the living conditions, training programs, benefits, and treatment.
Chen Jing Sheng remained silent for a long time. Standing in front of the small bomber Chi Yan had secretly brought to the back mountain, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
“Brother Song, thank you. Seriously, thank you. What do you want to know? I’ll give you my employers’ information and contact methods, and the mainland contact points too.”
“That’s enough.”
Song Zang curled his lips, his manner much gentler than inside the instance.
He stopped worrying about Chen Jing Sheng’s arrangements and handed everything over to the enthusiastically helpful Ning Yan.
As for Song Zang, he was about to travel a thousand kilometers to kill people.
Song Zang disguised himself somewhat, used □□ to buy round-trip tickets, and followed the mercenary contact address Chen Jing Sheng had given him.
Yangcheng was a warm southern city more than a thousand kilometers from Luocheng.
Spring there was hot and dry. Everyone wore short sleeves.
Song Zang quietly disappeared into the crowd. Following the clues, he took a rattling unlicensed three-wheeled taxi and arrived at a… sugarcane refinery on the outskirts of town.
It was the end of sugarcane harvest season, yet tall, dense sugarcane still covered most of the fields.
Song Zang had sharp eyes. He saw only two elderly farmers wearing straw hats slowly harvesting cane inside the sealed “forest,” their technique not particularly skilled and their movements careless.
The factory stood beside the fields. Several towering smokestacks poured out black fumes with an extremely pungent odor mixed with chemical scents that did not belong there. Nearby residents were long accustomed to it and hurried past while covering their noses.
Song Zang silently entered the sugarcane and, moving at maximum speed, knocked both elderly farmers unconscious before checking their bodies.
No disguises. Beneath plain short-sleeved shirts, their muscles were extremely developed, while the web between thumb and forefinger, the sides of the index fingers, and the shoulders all carried old calluses from wear.
These were dangerous men who had used firearms for years. They looked elderly, but in reality they were extremely dangerous.
Song Zang exhaled.
Chen Jing Sheng’s address was correct.
He had found the right place.
Half a day of travel, ten minutes of killing.
With no burden and fighting alone, the task was extremely simple for Song Zang.
He did not even disturb the little sparrows resting on the roof before knocking down everyone inside the factory. He did not break a sweat.
The so-called sugar refinery, from planting to processing to wholesale distribution, was nothing more than a cover visible to the public.
Only after Song Zang reached the depths of the facility did he discover that greenhouse lights remained on day and night over rows of poppies, while the production line was covered in foul, pungent chemical products.
This was actually a hidden drug-production site in a village town, as well as a base where mercenaries accepted overseas assignments and received payment. The mercenaries did not only kill for money. They also consumed their own narcotic products and spent their time intoxicated inside the filthy den.
He had conveniently carried out one act of justice for society. Song Zang was in a good mood.
He deliberately smelled the finished chemical products and broke some open to inspect them, discovering an exceptionally familiar aura escaping.
It somewhat resembled the energy his brain had absorbed after devouring Xu Qing. Song Zang could never forget the bizarre creature that had appeared inside his mind: the overwhelmingly powerful Collective that plundered and fed across the universe.
Why had the mercenaries been trying to kill him?
Song Zang received part of the answer today.
He must have crossed paths with the Collective before, and perhaps had become its enemy.
The Collective’s main target, however, was probably still Yin Chen.
Using mentally vulnerable humans on Earth to relentlessly hunt Song Zang down was a perfect way to achieve both goals while adding fuel to the fire.
Yin Chen could develop agents in reality. Naturally, the Collective could do the same.
Song Zang personally dissected several brains and discovered that the brain tissue inside these people was riddled with holes, like dense honeycombs, long since thoroughly corroded by that strange power.
And yet it was also the Collective’s power that allowed them to keep living in this bizarre form while maintaining healthy bodily function. Their only flaw was that at any moment they could be completely corroded and become drooling idiots.
Song Zang selected several brain slices and studied them closely. Then his mind suddenly went hazy.
He had the persistent feeling that very recently, he had seen something equally capable of triggering trypophobia.
But when he tried to remember carefully, he could recall nothing.
Had his brain really been injured again?
Song Zang immediately became vigilant. He took a pure, translucent tooth-shaped soul vessel from his system space and used it to lure every trace of strange power remaining inside the factory, nourishing whatever part of his brain might have been injured.
His brain was telling him: I’m missing a piece. Nothing major, but I seem to be missing a piece.
Nothing had gone wrong when he absorbed Xu Qing’s energy. Nothing had happened when he crushed that strange cocoon either.
Song Zang truly could not understand when he had inexplicably lost part of his brain tissue.
Could something else terrifying have happened after he left the instance but before he reached the cafe, something he himself remembered nothing about?
Who possessed the ability to approach closely enough to attack his brain?
There were perhaps only two or three suspects.
And the most suspicious was Yin Chen, whose behavior had seemed somewhat strange.
Is he insane? Why dig out my brain?!
Song Zang could not make sense of it, but fortunately the tooth-shaped soul vessel still had some effect after leaving the instance. It could no longer attract ghosts, but it could attract 【mysterious energy already present on Earth】.
After devouring the residual energy hanging throughout the sugarcane factory, Song Zang became slightly dizzy, but very smoothly recovered an entire year of memories.
The process was so smooth it surprised him. Seamless, completely seamless, as though that year’s memories had never been locked at all, merely forgotten in a corner.
Song Zang had been extremely powerful then, at least somewhat stronger than he was now.
The official-version Infinite Game instances still contained many dangers, but they already included emotional-interaction elements and structured game rules.
The closed-beta instances, on the other hand, had wildly unbalanced difficulty. Anyone could die unexpectedly. If a player accidentally took one bite of food a false god disliked, there was a chance a gigantic hand would descend from the sky and crush them to death.
Song Zang’s combat strength at the time had probably reached the peak of all players. He could easily seize that false god’s terrifying hand, drag the entity forcibly out of its indescribably twisted space, and beat it as casually as a dead pig.
It was also during that year that the closed beta underwent a massive update. The Points Shop became increasingly complete, adding an online casino and point-transfer functions. Players could obtain more permanent skills and items inside instances, and an item-enchantment feature was added as well.
Relying on his own strength, Song Zang collected a large quantity of useless items and sold them to the Points Shop. He also robbed many players who had tried to rob him first… accumulating more points than he could ever spend in a lifetime.
As for item enchantment, Song Zang poured every resource he had into 【Mask】, raising the good companion who had grown alongside him until it became sleek and glossy and quietly developed more vivid flesh and intelligence.
He also remembered that he had always wanted to take Mask away with him and leave the game, ideally transforming it into some kind of small animal acceptable in human society so it could continue accompanying him in reality.
It was difficult because, under the system’s definition, Mask did not belong to any redeemable category of animal. It was only a sheet of skin.
Song Zang studied the problem for more than half a year. At the time, it was his only obsession.
The memory broke off there.
Song Zang organized those old events several times and found himself filled with questions.
Forget his weakened combat strength for the moment… Where had the enormous fortune of points he had painfully accumulated gone?
Why had his remaining friends and partner simply vanished, leaving only the lonely Mask title behind, insubstantial and drifting beside him?
Carrying a stomach full of questions, Song Zang destroyed the bodies, cleaned the scene, anonymously mailed a paper report, then flew back to Luocheng overnight.
Xie Chun Ye saw that Song Zang had actually gone out for once and said nothing. He merely pushed his glasses up meaningfully. “You’ve contributed greatly to the Future Research Institute project. Good work. I opened a payroll account for you. It includes bonuses and public medical insurance.”
Song Zang froze but did not refuse. He accepted readily.
He connected the account to online banking and secretly checked the balance.
Sixty-six million!
Chi Yan said that this time she could not return to mix cocktails, so six million was a small compensation.
Song Zang was shaken by her absurd wealth. He lay in bed restless and distracted, tossing and turning for a long time before finally falling asleep.
The screen appeared at just the right moment, seeming to lag for less than half a second on the way.
【Game Name: “Project: Raising Roses”
Role: Disabled Alpha from the Zone C Slums
Clear Requirement: Do you know how to grow flowers? (0/3)
Side Mission: Eliminate your natural enemies】
【Roleplay Requirement: Escape the slums and rise above everyone else】