Chapter 25: Each with His Own Agenda
Qu Liuyun instantly felt like he was facing a formidable enemy, and immediately pulled Miao Zhen back: "Why are you here!"
Xiang Liangyu glanced inside the tower and walked up the stairs: "I am your system, it is natural for me to follow you."
Jiang Yu sat on the stone steps, looking down at Xiang Liangyu with a pointed look: "We are not sure whether your system will do something strange."
"Okay," Xiang Liangyu turned around, ignoring Jiang Yu on the stone steps, and looked down at the four people below, "Whether you believe it or not, the system cannot leave the players, but I can guarantee that I will never hurt you."
"I apologize and make amends for my previous behavior. You can ask me a question about the mission. I will tell you everything I know."
Ignoring the warning from the main system, Xiang Liangyu turned his attention to Miao Zhen.
Qu Liuyun exchanged glances with the three people behind him and said, "Let's keep a good distance for now."
Having said that, in the end it was still the four of them who retreated. Duan Sen was the most active in retreating, and Xiang Liangyu could no longer see the others.
Jiang Yu did not take the stairs, but jumped directly down from the stone stairs without guardrails. His thin figure landed lightly in front of Xiang Liangyu.
Thinking back to what she had done, Xiang Liangyu naturally didn't bother to look at her. Just as he was waiting for her to walk to the door, she suddenly turned around. When their eyes met, the emotions hidden in their eyes were naturally difficult to guess.
Jiang Yu smiled, took something out of his pocket, and handed it to Xiang Liangyu: "Return it to its original owner."
Xiang Liangyu glanced at it, didn't take it, and smiled back: "There's no reason to take back something you've given away."
Jiang Yu was not annoyed. He withdrew his hand and walked to the door.
With the gate as the boundary, Xiang Liangyu stood inside the tower, and the five people stood outside the tower. The two sides were deadlocked for a moment, and Miao Zhen spoke: "Why did you tell the natives about our whereabouts? Does the system also have tasks? What is your task?"
Xiang Liangyu: “?”
She was confused for a moment, looking at the players' vigilant faces, and a thought came to her mind: Didn't they realize that she was the island owner?
Xiang Liangyu probed: "Are you sure you want to waste your time on this? Don't you want to ask about the tasks that bother you?"
Miao Zhen: “There is no problem that I cannot solve.”
Xiang Liangyu was silent for a moment, and a collection of "Nonsense and Nonsense", commonly known as a series of nonsense, automatically emerged in his mind.
She sighed, "This tower can effectively shield our conversation. Come in. I don't want anyone else to hear me."
The five people looked at each other, obviously not believing what she said. After hesitating for a long time, they entered the tower one by one. Duan Sen leaned against the iron door with his hands behind his back, but he was actually holding the door handle tightly, ready to rush out immediately if he noticed something wrong.
Xiang Liangyu: "My mission is to follow you and issue missions based on your whereabouts and explorations. As for what I did before, I was forced to do it."
Next, she used language to prove that a person can tell lies with open eyes, and do it effortlessly, with such eloquence and moving words that people can't tell how much of what she said is true and how much is false.
"Besides, if I really wanted to kill you, he would be the first one I would kill." Xiang Liangyu pointed at Duan Sen.
Duan Sen shuddered: "Then why did you lock Miao Zhen in the culture tank? He was almost drowned by the liquid inside."
Xiang Liangyu shrugged: "I can't help it. They will force me to decide which one to hurt first. Miao Zhen is so smart, they are afraid that he will guess something, so they have to get rid of him first."
She changed the subject and looked at Jiang Yu. Although she was smiling, she still looked sharp. "Jiang Yu is very perceptive. He has been investigating and following me since the beginning. He locked me in the basement that day and almost let me drown."
Chu Li was slightly surprised and subconsciously looked at Jiang Yu's back. The scene in the basement where Jiang Yu closed the door and said, "She's not here," flashed through his mind.
"Oh," Jiang Yu said lightly, "I'm sorry, the scene was too chaotic that night, I really didn't see you."
Xiang Liangyu smiled and said, "It's okay."
The five people exchanged glances and were silent for three seconds. Qu Liuyun clapped his hands immediately and said, "I told you, how could the player's system betray the player? If so, what's the point of playing? Okay, okay, now we are reconciled. Don't worry, we will never let go of the natives who threaten you."
Although they said so, Xiang Liangyu still clearly felt their alienation and vigilance.
But what Xiang Liangyu wanted was their vigilance. It would be best if he pointed in a direction and they would go in the opposite direction, which was a kind of distrust.
At this moment, they were struggling with how to piece the photos together. The reason they were struggling was that when everyone was comparing the photos, Duan Sen said loudly, "I know!"
Then he took down all the photos posted on the walls of the middle and lower levels from bottom to top and piled them up in the middle half of the tower column.
Under the gaze of everyone, he threw the triangular fragment directly into the pile of photos of the same color, reached into the pile of photos with both hands, and quickly stir-fried them.
Xiang Liangyu: “?”
Miao Zhen's hand, which was intended to stop the attack, had already been half-stretched out, but it just stopped in mid-air.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Xiang Liangyu was stunned. The next moment, her voice was filled with shock: [Congratulations to the player for finding the key item "Damaged Photo" (3/4). Perhaps a miracle will happen if you collect all four photos?]
[Progress of the side quest "Crazy Wish" (16/20), keep working hard~]
Qu Liuyun looked at Duan Sen and was speechless. It was only when Chu Li dragged him to the middle and upper levels to collect photos that he said, "Awesome," when he passed by Duan Sen.
Miao Zhen obviously hadn't thought that this opportunistic method could be recognized by the task system. He couldn't help but ask: "Like this...?"
Duan Sen found the largest piece of debris from the pile. At this point, it could be seen that the photo was a 4-inch photo.
This is a travel photo of a family of three standing in front of a wooden house. It is winter now, and there is thick snow on the roof and surroundings. The three people in front of the house are wearing thick winter clothes and hugging each other intimately. Above is the magnificent aurora. Even if it is presented in black and white, you can imagine how stunning its color must be.
Duan Sen handed the photo to Miao Zhen: "Stir evenly so that each broken photo can collide one-to-one. It's a gamble if it happens by accident. It's a wild method."
Xiang Liangyu: "You are too wild. What if this method doesn't work? We won't be able to find them if they are all mixed together."
Duan Sen was very honest: "I haven't thought about it."
Xiang Liangyu: "...You are awesome."
Miao Zhen took out the color photo from his pocket and held them up for comparison: "This is the same person."
The color photo is a single-person photo. The man looks extremely tired and exhausted, and it seems that he just wants to take a photo with the aurora. The black and white photo seems to be a family photo. The two men at the back are tall and the one in the front is short. Except for one man who took off his mask, the other two are wearing heavy winter clothes, and their gender and age cannot be seen.
This man is the one taking the selfie in the color photo. His originally old face is now radiant and he is looking directly at the camera with great excitement. He has one hand stretched out with his wrist pointing downward, as if he is pointing at something.
Coincidentally, the place the man was pointing to was the missing fourth piece.
Although it is not known which of the two photos was taken first, it is obvious that the missing photo is more important. He looks so sad because of something, or he looks radiant because of something.
A quarter of an hour had passed, and the three people who had gone up to collect photos were still nowhere to be seen. At the same time, the three people in the center of the tower finally discovered something was wrong.
It was so quiet that you couldn't even hear the sound of footsteps.
With a bad premonition, Miao Zhen clutched the photo and whispered, "Let's go!"
Duan Sen followed closely behind. Because they were both too nervous, they naturally ignored Xiang Liangyu's actions behind them.
Up one level, no , the photo has disappeared.
Go up one level, and no, the photo has disappeared.
When approaching the observation corridor, Miao Zhen discovered that the photos in this area were more numerous and denser than those on the floors below. Even the steps were covered with densely packed fragments.
Moreover, the photos were no longer all torn into tiny pieces. All the photos were in no regular pattern, with some large and some small posted on the walls, on the ground, and even above the heads.
This step may be a collection of densely packed yellowed fragments, and the next step may be a human face larger than the head. Unless you walk to the front, you will never know how strange and changeable the photo is. It can be said that every step is thrilling.
The iron door leading to the observation corridor was ajar, and through the gaps in the thick railings, one could see the rough sea. The azure blue water was constantly rolling, and a thin layer of fog had risen in the distance.
Xiang Liangyu followed them slowly, his voice full of worry: "Are they locked out?"
Miao Zhen and Duan Sen looked at each other, opened the door and walked out without hesitation.
After walking around the observation corridor, he did not see the other three people. Duan Sen looked into the distance, but there was no sign of anyone on the wide beach.
Miao Zhen stared at the sea. The mist blocked his view, but he could still see the rolling waves through the mist.
Xiang Liangyu suppressed the raised corner of his mouth and turned to look at the densely packed photos on the wall. It was obvious that the photos posted on this tower were all about mermaids, but they had more information.
For example, there was a complete photo hidden under countless fragments. She uncovered the fragments and revealed that it was taken by the only third party in the tower who was not a portrait.
The iron operating table is the centerpiece of the experiment bed, and lying on the bed is a completely relaxed mermaid, ready to be slaughtered. This is a closed iron room, with three doctors standing on each side of the bed, wearing isolation masks, protective clothing, and holding blood-stained surgical supplies in their hands.
The doctor in the middle, holding a toothless electric saw, had already separated half of the mermaid's body and tail. The doctor opposite was holding down the mermaid's tail, preventing it from falling due to inertia when the body and tail were separated.
Scarlet blood connected the operating table and the ground.
The lighting contrast is strong, and the colors presented are chilling.
There seem to be tiny gaps around the painting.
Xiang Liangyu remained calm and pasted the torn photos into the gaps.
