Chapter 27: The Entrance Ticket to the Game

"Let's go, I'm tired," Jiang Shu yawned and prodded Wolf who was holding a small mecha telescope and looking excited.

"Just a moment, aren't you interested?" Wolf shook off Jiang Shu's hand, "I didn't expect even 'Tian Shu' to be deployed, tsk, tsk, the Mobile Team sure has a lot of free time."

"Tian Shu?" Jiang Shu squeezed in to take a look, and following Wolf's meaning, the mecha wreaking havoc on the transportation ship was obviously the so-called "Tian Shu."

The mecha was entirely gray-white, about three meters tall with a massive head and horizontally developed body, which looked somewhat silly; however, only such a sturdy body could withstand the recoil of the pair of rapid-fire cannons it held.

"Exactly, a single-person mecha created by the Seks Group," Wolf nodded, "It performs well with simple operations. The production has always been low due to Black Silver restrictions."

"This is made with Black Silver?"

Wolf laughed, "Haha, how could that be possible? It's just that critical parts are made with Black Silver, like the joint system, for instance. Current technology still can't produce a metal material that meets both flexibility and strength standards."

"Oh." Jiang Shu indicated he understood but then turned to ask, "So you're not tired? I'm done."

"Wait a little longer," Wolf gestured with his hand.

Jiang Shu made a face, "Wait for what? For pies to fall from the sky? Aren't you afraid of stray bullets?"

"What's there to fear, what kind of badass stray bullet can affect us?" Wolf said carelessly, "We're a full five hundred meters away from the transportation ship!"

"Boom—" Before he could finish, the transportation ship suddenly exploded, and even from five hundred meters away, they could feel a significant tremor on the ground.

"..." Jiang Shu was speechless.

Running commentary: Ever seen a stray bullet that big from a transportation ship?

"This... is not my fault." Wolf took a step back and looked through the telescope at the explosion site for a while.

The explosion was vast and violent, but fortunately, those on board were all Mobile Team members with special equipment, and they had all managed to leave the transportation ship in time.

"Let's go; leave the rest to the people from Thirteen District," Wolf turned to walk to his car.

"Huh?" Jiang Shu noticed the little mecha by the riverbank jumping up and down, waving its hands; it seemed to have found something.

What's up?

He walked towards the riverbank, curious.

Mecha: There's a coffin here.

A long black rectangular box floated on the water's surface, motionless, with the kind of red ribbon used to tie gifts attached to it, looking eerily out of place.

Jiang Shu asked in confusion, "This is..."

Running commentary: Maggie's gift.

Wolf walked to the riverbank, Mantis Blade popping out, and hooked the rectangular gift to the shore.

"What is this..." he frowned, looking towards the direction it came from, which was from the transportation ship's area.

"Mr. Jiang, this is a little something for you, not worth much," Wolf read the note attached. At the end of the note, there was a drawn lifelike, grinning fox.

"A fox?" he continued, "A gift from a fox to you."

"For me?" Jiang Shu frowned, "Can you move it? Lift it up and take a look."

"Better not to move it just yet, I'll call the police over," Wolf held him back.

"No need, if he wanted to kill me, I would have been dead at Seksi Hotel already," Jiang Shu shook his head.

Wolf thought for a moment, "What if he wants to kill me?"

"That's unnecessary," Jiang Shu shook his head again, "To them, you're not special, so there's no need."

"What do you mean..." Wolf looked at him.

Jiang Shu smiled slightly but said nothing.

"I'll try if I can lift it." Wolf didn't dwell on the matter. He swung out his Mantis Blade, trying to stab into the rectangle to drag it up, but as soon as he struck, sparks flew, and his blade slipped off cleanly.

He felt puzzled and said in a dull tone, "That shouldn't be right. My blade is already Seks Alloy No.2, how can this box be so hard?"

"Wait, I'll find a grappling hook in the car and get it on shore first," Wolf continued.

"Oh." Jiang Shu acknowledged, then tapped on the box, which emitted a dull sound.

Wolf walked away, and the riverside wilderness sank back into Silence again.

"Hmm—" His wristwatch vibrated slightly.

Jiang Shu opened the shadow projection screen; there were only two messages in his contacts. One was from Sister Ruo, to whom he had left a message in the morning, and she had only replied with a simple "Got it."

The other message was from a stranger nearby, signed "Fox."

He opened the message—

"This city has undergone some unexpected changes due to your arrival. As to what they are, you'll find out soon. The game is about to begin, and it's no longer just between the two of us; many organizations will join in."

"Black Silver is the admission ticket and stake for this game. What I can tell you now is that the production of Black Silver has stopped. The remaining Black Silver will incite a struggle among the players. There are two kilograms of Black Silver in the box, stored in the chest compartment. Keep it safe; don't let others find it."

"Remember, you can't survive with just your own skills and abilities. Start building your own power; I don't want to see you dead."

"Mr. Fox leaves this message."

"Hmm." Jiang Shu read the message carefully; Fox's words held significant information.

After a long while, he suddenly sighed deeply, looking towards the vortex in the center of the river.

Moonlight spilled onto the river's surface, only to be shattered by the swirls.

"Jiang Shu, the grappling hook is missing from the car; I'm going to ask old Tang for another one," Wolf's voice came from not far away, followed by a bustle of hurried footsteps.

Jiang Shu looked in that direction; Wolf had already run off.

He pondered for a moment, then shouted to the little Mecha, "Cast your shadow over here."

—

He heard a crash; it was the sound of the escape pod hitting the shore.

But shouldn't he have been at the center of the river?

The Disciple's consciousness returned to thinking.

After a while, he heard something tapping against the surface of the escape pod.

Hmm? Was someone attacking the escape pod?

?!

What on earth was happening?!

His confusion grew, but before he could think any further, brightness suddenly appeared from above.

The long darkness made it difficult for him to adjust to the glaring light, but as his eyes adapted, he looked up to see three Tablets.

Beta: FBI, open the door!

Gamma: Neighbor Wang?

Ding: Hailan House, a man's wardrobe.

"What!?" The Disciple was startled, struggling to leave the escape pod, but the pod was extremely sturdy, and one hand had just been severed by Keith; he was incapacitated.

Gamma: Comparing with the database... Comparison complete, target confirmed as Giles, one of the Mechanical Disciples of the Thirteen Disciples.

After Gamma completed the database comparison, Jiang Shu did not hesitate, nor did he give the Disciple in the wardrobe any chance to react. With the Mecha outside adjusting the light, he slashed the entire wardrobe in half with his blade, decapitating the Disciple inside.

"Extract the Black Silver from his chest." This wasn't the first time Jiang Shu had seen a corpse; his acceptance level had greatly increased, and he didn't feel much discomfort.

Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Ding received their orders, then looked at each other hesitantly, shirking the task among themselves, until finally, the eternally good-natured big brother Alpha went into the wardrobe to retrieve the Black Silver.

Jiang Shu glanced back to see Wolf hurrying towards them, carrying a grappling hook and still trotting along.

Soon after, Alpha retrieved the casket with Black Silver; despite containing two kilograms, the box was not large, only the size of a pencil case.

"Did you manage to erase the traces?" Jiang Shu asked Alpha.

Alpha: All okay, boss!

Jiang Shu nodded his head; the four Tablet Spirits had different personalities, but overall, the most reliable one was always this Alpha.

Father's proud, reliable son indeed.