Last Sanctuary

When the group started moving, the figures naturally surrounded Yue Jingxui and Zhang Yin. One led the way at the front of the group, one hung off of Yue Jingxui's shoulder, and the last trailed after the group from behind.

As Yue Jingxui was being dragged by the arm around him and Zhang Yin was leaning back so much he was practically falling off, the figure spoke. "So, aren't you curious about why we kidnapped you?"

Maybe it was because the first figure's magnificent and intimidating grand entrance was ruined, and maybe because Zhang Yin remembered he was a player who had nothing to lose except for his face, he seemed to gain confidence and nodded. However, he remembered the last time this guy teased him and asked cautiously, "Are you really going to tell us if we asked?"

The figure turned to him and said as if addressing an idiot. "Of course I am. Why would I ask you if I wasn't going to tell you?"

When Zhang Yin heard the figure's words, he felt his eyebrow twitch and sucked in a breath to calm down. 'I bet you were going to say "Not going to tell you~", or something along those lines if I had really asked you.'

Clearing his throat, Zhang Yin ignored what the figure said and continued. "Then, why did you take us?"

"How the hell should I know?"

The mirth in the figure's distorted voice was obvious.

"..."

'Shit, why is talking to you so frustrating!'

However, even if Zhang Yin wanted to throttle the figure, he was currently just a weak chicken.

'Just wait until I've grown up a bit. I'll take care of that stinky mouth then!'

Zhang Yin's voice and the first figure's mocking continued to fill the air. The atmosphere was light and, even though they had a rough start, the two groups seemed to be getting along for now.

While Zhang Yin and the first figure were chatting, Yue Jingxui focused on listening to the sounds of the figure who was leading them. He followed the sounds of their footsteps and dutifully trailed after them.

Even though the figures haven't revealed any hostile intentions except when they first appeared, it didn't escape Yue Jingxui's attention that the arm around his shoulders and the figures walking in front and behind him were all to prevent them from running away. Even the first figure's friendliness could be another ploy to lull them into a false sense of security.

Smoke Without Fire's behavior could be excused since she was a new player and she was protected by the system, so she wasn't able to experience everything fully. However, even though Yue Jingxui put on a strong front, with no system protecting him, he would never be able to forget that terrifying aura.

'These people are definitely murderers who could kill us with a single flick of their finger.'

It has to be known that nobody in [Black Abyss Prison] is a good person, the original Yue Jingxui probably did something extremely cruel and evil to end up here too, so why were they being so nice?

'On one hand, if they wanted something from us, they could just kill us or force us to give it to them. On the other hand, if there was something they wanted us to do, they don't need to treat us this well and could just take us with them without this friendly attitude. Therefore, their objective must not be something material or something that can't be easily snatched. It's possible that they want us to do something, but it has to be something that requires the full cooperation of the other or they would have never been this courteous. Of course, they could be friendly criminals who've turned over a new leaf, but that possibility is almost nonexistent.'

'And it's not like our meeting was a coincidence. They deliberately came to us using their artifact, so there must be something about us that the artifact can lock onto. I have a feeling that this is the key to why they need us, but what is it about us that's special enough that these powerhouses would need our help?'

'No matter what, I've basically confirmed that these people have a reason to keep us alive, so our survival is guaranteed for the moment. There should also be some reason for our treatment, which can give us some leverage if I have to negotiate later.'

'Dammit, if only I could take a look at that artifact, then I'll at least know how to shake them off our tail if worse comes to worst and we have to run. I don't even know what they want, and that's the most important information to have in a negotiation!'

They continued to walk for a while and Yue Jingxui's mind continued to think of what to do once they arrive.

The distorted voice of the second figure broke him out of this thoughts. "We're almost there."

Above him, Zhang Yin and the first figure's conversation came to a stop.

Yue Jingxui paused for a second to weight the pros and cons of using his ability to see his surroundings. However, the weight of the first figure's arm around his neck quickly put a stop to that thought.

'Even though they didn't seem to care when I used my ability beforehand, it still isn't worth it. If this person accidentally twists my head off because their arm carelessly twitched, I wouldn't even know how I died.'

Yue Jingxui frowned.

'Actually, since I'm a spirit, would I die if my body dies?'

Not willing to take the risk, Yue Jingxui quietly shelved that idea for now and kept walking in the direction of the second figure's steps. As he prepared to enter the camp of potential enemies that were many times stronger than him, he raised his guard even higher.

He put one foot in front of another. Suddenly, his ears popped unpleasantly as he crossed an unknown threshold.

The air around him changed in an instant and became more bearable. The putrid scent that constantly pervaded his nose lessened and the humidity lowered from a sauna to a room with five air humidifiers. Additionally, even the heat that had been constant lowered to negligible degrees.

Feeling these changes around him, Yue Jingxui was surprised. He didn't remember creating anything that can change an environment as special as the [Black Abyss Prison]'s without using any energy.

'Perhaps, like my connection to the [Spirit World], these people also has someone who's powers can't be sealed? However, according to my knowledge, no individual power is able to do this. Then, they combined multiple abilities? Or is it something entirely different that was added to this world?'

Feeling like this last possibility was extremely likely, he was abruptly struck with another urge to activate his ability for an entirely different reason.

Like how game developers look forward to what players can do once they offer a building mode, even though Yue Jingxui was a little upset about how someone plagarized his work, he was also excited to see how other people altered his world. How would the inhabitants of this new world take advantage of a loophole to increase their chances of survival?

However, before he could do anything, a new voice spoke. This voice wasn't as distorted as the others. It was smooth and masculine, and even with the distortion, it was apparent that his voice was pleasant to listen to.

"You've arrived, welcome to the [Last Sanctuary]."

As soon as the voice sounded, the arm around his shoulders disappeared and he felt the first figure leave his side.

The first figure bowed and said in a respectful tone. "Boss, we've brought the person you're looking for."

On Yue Jingxui's back, Zhang Yin was flabbergasted.

Hearing how the first figure addressed him, the person with the smooth voice responded gently with a trace of helplessness and indulgence in his voice. "How many times have I told you not to call me that? For the last time, I'm not part of the mafia or anything."

"Sorry Boss, but for me, Boss is Boss!"

"But I've been telling you to stop calling me that. As your "Boss", shouldn't you be listening to me?"

"... if that's really your wish, Boss."

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"I'm trying... Boss!"

A small smacking sound was heard. However, somehow, Yue Jingxui could tell that it wasn't the sound of someone hitting someone else.

Yue Jingxui, who couldn't see anything, could only imagine what was happening in his head.

'Did... he just facepalm?'

'I've had this thought on the way here, but, somehow, why do these incredibly dangerous and heinous criminals seem so normal?'

Yue Jingxui felt a little of his three views crack. As he witnessed this scene, which seemed like a lackey was reporting and kissing up to his boss, he couldn't help but have a hunch that all his plans that he had been agonizing over would end up useless.

Contrary to Yue Jingxui, Zhang Yin felt like the world had finally returned to normal when he saw the interaction between the first figure and the new person,.

"Enough. Stop bothering the boss and get your ass over here."

Finally, the second figure stepped in and the never-ending back and forth between the boss and the lackey came to a stop.

Footsteps were heard and suddenly the first figure could be heard yelping in pain. "Ow ow ow! Okay, okay, I'll go with you, just let go!"

"No. You'll just run back to Boss again."

As the two's bickering faded into the distance, the new person coughed sheepishly. "Sorry you had to see that. We're usually more focused than this."

Once again, Yue Jingxui felt a little more of his three views collapse.

'As a person who was thrown in here for committing a crime so great that you don't even deserve to die peacefully, can you not act like this? Who designed these characters? Aren't they too OOC? I'm starting to doubt the abilities of this plagiarist. Plus, we only encountered a few weak monsters on our way here. Is this really the [Black Abyss Prison] that I know?'

Not waiting for Yue Jingxui to finish criticizing the person who plagiarized his work in his mind, the new person addressed him and Zhang Yin. "Now that they're gone, shall we get going?"

Yue Jingxui nodded. "Please lead the way."

After standing there waiting for the person to start moving, Yue Jingxui became confused when he didn't hear any footsteps.

Before he could say anything, Zhang Yin whispered a tentative question from his back. "Um... are you going to go?"

"!!!"

'This person doesn't have any footsteps!'

Looking back, he didn't remember hearing the footsteps of this person approach them when he first appeared either.

'Damn, I was careless. Based on Smoke Without Fire, this wimp, she would have at least flinched if someone had actually appeared out of nowhere.'

Yue Jingxui tsked.

Without any footsteps, it would be impossible to know where the other person is going unless he used his foresight ability to see his surrounds.

He thought for a second before deciding to use his ability.

'The first figure already knows of the existence of my foresight, and there doesn't seem to be discourse within the group, so it is unlikely that my ability is going to remain a secret to the other figures for long. If it's inevitably going to be discovered, it would be better to use it right now to see where I am and know what kind of terrain I'm working with. This way, I'll at least be able to know what their camp looks like, how many people are in it, and create plans in advance in case we need to escape.'

Pursing his lips, even though he was reluctant, Yue Jingxui continued thinking.

'Worst case scenario, I'll have to leave Smoke Without Fire behind. It would be a pity since who knows when I'll meet another player, but it's not like she'll actually die.'

Mind made up, Yue Jingxui activated his ability and felt a familiar throbbing sensation.

[Deep within the [Black Abyss Prison], there was a place where multiple caverns connected, creating a large space. This space was filled with a few tents made with the skin of horrendous monsters and propped up by their bones. The tents created a loose circle around the largest tent in the center, and the distinguished status of the center tent was shown through the skull of a large beast that was clumsily affixed onto the top of the entrance.

Many monster corpses hung on chains along the ceiling and walls that had various degrees of rust on them. From the rust, it could be seen that these chain were relocated from different areas in order to be used. There was also a corpse pile in a corner of this space which contained useless monster parts. The floor of this place was clean from the centuries of bloodshed and gore that painted the rest of the caverns.

However, what really differentiated this place from the rest of [Black Abyss Prison] came from the small specks of light that shone from within the walls and ceiling. In the darkness of the caves, these lights became especially bright, like stars in the night sky.

Overall, this place was almost peaceful. Like a small paradise in hell.

The new person was a few meters away from him. Like the other figures, he wore the skin of monsters. But, different from the others, he was less hunched and something about him seemed more human.

The man turned around and glanced straight in his direction, before turning around and continuing to walk towards the central tent.]

The vision broke and Yue Jingxui returned to the present.

Yue Jingxui clenched his hand into a fist and pursed his lips.

Clearly, in the vision he just had, his surrounds should have been lit with the dim light of the small specks in the walls and ceiling. Yet, why is it that he still couldn't see anything?

Before, he had attributed his blindness to the naturally dark surroundings, however, what if his blindness was caused by something else?

A conjecture slowly formed in his mind.

Although he was still a little apprehensive, he still followed the person into the tent. Even though these people seemed friendly enough, he didn't want to test their patience unnecessarily.

On the edge of the camp, once the first and second figure had moved far enough away, the second figure released the first figure.

Immediately after being released, the first figure hurriedly retreated and held the part that had been abused.

"Why did you pinch me? Actually, how did you even manage to that through this thick monster skin?"

Ignoring their second question, the second figure answered calmly. "You were being stupid."

The first figure twitched. "That didn't answer anything!"

Pausing for a second, the second figure wondered if it was really worth the time to explain before letting out a sigh. They put a hand into a hidden fold within the monster skin they were wearing and pulled out the artifact.

The artifact was shaped like a pocket watch. Its body was a gleaming gold and there were many delicate engravings on it. It looked entirely normal if a little roughed up. Someone would probably be able to earn a small fortune if they were to take it to a pawn shop.

The only strange thing about it is the hands of the pocket watch. The hour hand pointed towards the central tent while the minute hand pointed at the 15 minute mark. Both hands seemed to be frozen.

The second figure pointed at the pocket watch. "How do you think this works?"

The first figure looked at the second figure and replied slowly, looking like they wanted to doubt the second figure's intelligence yet not daring to. "The pocket watch locks onto a target and gives directions to where they are. The hour hand points to the direction of the target while the minute hand shows the elevation of the target relative to you."

Feeling that it wasn't enough, the first figure glanced at the artifact and the direction it was pointing to. "Right now, the target should be in the meeting tent, and since he's on the same level as us, the minute hand is pointing at 15 minutes, which signifies 0 degrees."

The second figure shook their head. "That's not what I'm talking about."

Underneath their monster skin, the first figure raised an eyebrow. "Then, what do you mean?"

The second figure dangled the pocket watch by its chain and swung it back and forth mindlessly. "Think for a second. This artifact used to belong to the boss, right?"

The first figure nodded. "Yeah, he always kept it with him. So what?"

"Haven't you noticed that, before this, boss almost checks this artifact religiously?"

The first figure reiterated. "Yeah, so what?"

The second figure looked up towards the ceiling to pray for patience. "Right now, it's pointing directly to the tent since the artifact has locked onto that Ghoul. However, all those times the boss checked it previously, he never made a move. This means that before this, the artifact had been broken or never locked onto a suitable target."

"Boss used to carry this with him everywhere, so it's obviously important to him, yet he never asked for it back after lending it out to us. This means that it wasn't the watch that the boss was attached to, but whatever the watch locked onto."

"And, since the watch locked onto the Ghoul, then that means the Ghoul has whatever the boss wanted, so he doesn't need it anymore."

"And haven't you noticed?" The second figure glanced at the tent. "I don't know how he managed to smuggle it in or which one it is, but that Ghoul has the aura of an [Authority]."