Chapter 313: Arrest! 'The Creator's Game!

Chapter 313: Chapter 173: Arrest! ‘The Creator’s Game!

“See that dog?”

“Heh heh, guess how old he is?”

Extracting a substance…

‘It really is for longevity!?’

Li Jianye’s eyes narrowed.

Xu Huo wasn’t surprised. The explanation sounded a bit like science fiction or metaphysics, but…

‘But what if the “substance” being extracted was organs?’

Organ transplants were one way to slow down aging, something unthinkable centuries ago.

It was just a concept that was difficult to accept at first.

“Does it need to be extracted while they’re in a state of fear?”

Xu Huo asked.

“I don’t know.”

Zhou Hou shook his head.

“What were their methods of torture?”

“Was it simply Life Collection and Cutting?”

Zhang Liang frowned and asked aloud.

He needed to gather clues for the investigation.

“Life Collection and Cutting… I haven’t heard that phrase in a long time.”

Zhou Hou seemed to drift off into his memories.

As someone from the world of the Lower Nine Professions, he understood what those words meant. It was similar to the environment he came from, but…

“But they called it ‘the Creator’s Game,'” Zhou Hou said.

“The Creator’s Game?”

Li Jianye’s brow furrowed.

“What does that mean?”

After he spoke, Zhou Hou fell silent. An image from the past, from before his eyes had gotten so bad, surfaced in his mind.

His hand trembled slightly, but the expression on his face grew more and more savage.

“Have you ever played with clay, molding little figures?”

“Ever made crickets fight?”

“Ever caught grasshoppers and strung them together on a blade of grass?”

These were all children’s games.

Cricket fighting might be used for gambling by some, and even the old folks in the Capital City might play.

As for grasshoppers… usually in the spring or fall, you’d use a blade of grass to pierce through the unique structure of their heads and string them together.

Most kids from the countryside have done it.

Not to mention molding clay figures. Even if you haven’t used real mud, you’ve probably played with modeling clay.

But…

“But they weren’t molding clay figures.”

“Instead, they’d pick someone they liked the look of and, following their own whims, mold that person into a deformed, crippled, twisted shape.”

“That was their version of ‘molding clay figures.'”

“Then they’d throw them to me, make me ‘fight crickets,’ make me be the performing monkey… Heh heh… You’ve never seen a scene like that. You’ve never seen it…”

“You don’t know how miserably a person can cry…”

“You don’t know how crisp the sound is when you break a person’s bones!”

“Have you ever heard the sound of sulfuric acid eating away at skin?”

“And you’ve certainly never seen those high-and-mighty people sitting on either side, watching with great interest as two deformed humans fight each other!”

“That’s what’s called ‘the Creator’s Game.'”

Zhou Hou was on the verge of a breakdown. His thoughts became extreme and frenzied, his voice growing louder and louder.

Li Jianye was completely stunned.

His mind went blank; he even forgot to take notes.

The Creator’s Game…

‘This is the Creator!?’

‘This is clearly Hell…’

‘No, Hell is better than this.’

‘Calling this Hell is an insult to Hell!’

“Celestial Kingdom…”

Xu Huo murmured. Hearing those two words stirred something within him.

Zhang Liang, on the other hand, made no effort to hide the killing intent that radiated from him.

“Do you remember how many people were there?”

“I don’t know. The Celestial Kingdom seems to have many locations… The place I was in might not have been the Celestial Kingdom? Was it? Or was it not…”

“How did you escape?”

“They started a new game, so the old ‘save file’ had to be deleted. We were supposed to die, but Sima Kong got greedy. He wanted us to become beggars, to make money for the Beggar Gang… Heh, you should know about this.”

“And then?”

And then…

Zhou Hou let out a sinister, cackling laugh.

“Heh heh.”

“They never expected Xiao Bao to be able to pick locks!”

“He had a wire hidden in his collar and picked all the locks while we were in the vehicle.”

Xiao Bao… was the monkey.

That monkey was truly clever—he could fire a gun, steal money, and even pick locks.

“After that, you should know the rest.”

After that, they wanted to die.

When they wanted to live, those who deserved to die wouldn’t.

Only when enough of them wished for death could the damned finally die.

They wanted to die, so they all found a way to scrape together money.

They sold their lives.

With the money they got, they bought guns, bombs, and rented a boat.

But unfortunately, they couldn’t find them.

“You were transported by boat, then transferred to a vehicle on land?”

“Yes, I remember the feeling of being on a boat.”

“How long did it take?”

“I don’t know.”

“What about hunger?”

Xu Huo narrowed his eyes and asked.

Sometimes, if you’re not sure how much time has passed, you can use physical signs to guess, like the level of hunger. If you’re very hungry, it’s likely been one or two days.

If not…

“I didn’t feel hungry at all.”

Zhou Hou paused for a moment before answering.

He didn’t feel hungry…

Xu Huo paused. After a moment of thought, he said:

“One last question.”

“In that so-called Celestial Kingdom, have you ever seen… a ‘golden triangle?'”

“Or a Stone Token depicting a hand holding up the Blue Star?”

Hearing this, Zhou Hou thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“I’m half-blind. If what you’re describing is small, I wouldn’t have been able to see it.”

Xu Huo nodded, not surprised.

He stood up.

“Thank you for your cooperation. The police will inform you of any developments as per procedure.”

With that, he, Li Jianye, and Zhang Liang got up and walked out.

「A while later.」

In the office.

Chu Linhai stared at the notes Li Jianye had written, listening to the recording.

He smoked one cigarette after another.

Zhang Liang, Xu Huo, and Li Jianye stood before him.

After a moment…

“The Creator’s Game…”

“Heh… heh…”

Chu Linhai took a ragged breath.

He tried to use the cold air to suppress the fire raging in his chest.

He tried to use nicotine to quell his agitated body.

But he found it was like a wind fanning the flames, making them burn ever hotter.

“BANG!”

Chu Linhai slammed his hand on the desk, sending ripples through the water in his cup.

“What a ‘Creator’s Game’!”

His face was ashen, and the look in his eyes could no longer be described as mere anger.

A vengeful ghost!

He looked as ferocious as a vengeful ghost!

“We’ll handle this.”

Zhang Liang took a deep breath and responded in a low voice.

‘It’s too depraved…’

‘They don’t see people as human lives at all!’

‘They probably don’t even see ordinary people as their own kind…’

‘No, even cats and dogs aren’t treated like this!’

‘A fight to the death…’

The thought echoed in Zhang Liang’s mind.

‘As long as they exist, this case must be pursued to the very end!’

“How do we handle it?” Xu Huo looked at him.

“Report it up…”

Zhang Liang took a deep breath.

“Report it to the Capital City!”

The Capital City…

Xu Huo smiled.

‘That’s exactly what I was waiting to hear.’

The case might have overseas connections, far beyond the reach of the local police.

But if Zhang Liang reported it to the Capital City…

…then the problem wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

“I’ll go make the report!”

With that, Zhang Liang left without another word.

Xu Huo paused. He didn’t follow him.

Instead, he headed back to the holding cells.

The holding cells were crowded, but there was a very special individual inside.

No, rather, it was a monkey.

The only monkey in their group with good eyesight.

Standing outside the iron cage, Xu Huo slowly took two items from his pocket.

They were two card-like Stone Tokens, with patterns embroidered in gold.

The moment he took them out…

“CHITTER! CHITTER! CHITTER!!!”

The monkey in the cell instantly became frantic, baring its teeth in a ferocious snarl.

Xu Huo put the items away, a thoughtful expression on his face.

…

…

「At the same time.」

In the Capital City.

A phone call rang out.

And a report, submitted by Zhang Liang of the Special Fifth Bureau, was placed before everyone.