Chapter 537: Target A

I was incredibly glad I'd brought the Good and Evil Asura Mask into the Deep Dream Layer. This single mask was enough to save me a lot of trouble.

"Target A? Is that just a placeholder, or does it mean something else?" When Chen Jiuge mentioned Target A, I remembered the story Xia Chi had told me during the Real Death Game. Five years ago, the woman who had led him into the Underworld Live Show was someone he called Xiao A. Was there a connection between the two?

"A" was the first letter of the alphabet. It could stand for the best, for Grade A, or maybe just someone's initial or an abbreviation of a name.

I let my mind wander, considering every possibility. 'In physics, A stands for absolute temperature. In medicine, it stands for an artery. In most real-time strategy games, A means attack. There's even a rumor online that A actually stands for fraud or deception.'

Type A blood, amperes of electric current, the Ace in a deck of cards... there were too many angles to consider. The name felt distinctly familiar, yet I didn't even know where to begin my deductions.

"Do you want to work with me?" Chen Jiuge asked, a smile on his face as he stared at me unblinkingly. "A hundred points. Even if you only take half, that's enough to exempt you from five livestreams. You could live a peaceful life of luxury for a very long time."

Pulling my thoughts back to the present, I looked at Chen Jiuge through the eyeholes of my mask. I had seen what he looked like as a child, and he looked absolutely nothing like he had back then. His cheekbones were prominent, giving his face a sharp, sculpted look, but the biggest difference lay in his eyes.

The Hunchbacked Boy's eyes had always been as clear as a pristine mountain lake, no matter the circumstances. But this Chen Jiuge's eyes were deeply murky, clouded by desire, greed, and calculated scheming.

That said, a change in appearance wasn't enough to completely disprove his identity. Twenty years had passed, after all; it was perfectly normal for a person to change drastically.

"Of course I'm interested in a hundred-point bounty," I said slowly and deliberately, in no rush. "But this is the first I'm hearing that points can be traded. If I help you finish the task and you decide to go back on your word and vanish, wouldn't I be taking a massive loss?"

"Points can't be traded directly, it's true, but I can redeem an item worth fifty points for you."

"You'll redeem it for me?" Hearing that, I immediately felt that Chen Jiuge lacked any real sincerity. Redeeming items was incredibly complicated and carried a high risk of exposing my true identity. Furthermore, I had no desire to get too deeply involved with him. Still, I didn't refuse outright. Feigning hesitation and reluctance, I stayed silent for a long moment before finally speaking. "We might both be streamers on the same platform, but this is our first time meeting, and I don't trust you. I can agree to help you, and I'm even willing to compromise on the points, but you have to agree to two conditions."

"What conditions?" Chen Jiuge asked, his smile unwavering. He looked perfectly amiable, but I couldn't shake the feeling that a sickening rot was hiding right beneath his sunny expression.

"First, we share all our information regarding the Deep Dream Layer. Absolutely no backstabbing." Seeing that he didn't react much, I continued, "Second, Ye Bing is my mission objective. From this moment on, she doesn't leave my sight."

"Those conditions of yours aren't exactly simple. I'll agree to the first one—we're streamers on the same platform, so helping each other out isn't an issue. As for the second condition, I can't make any promises. She and I are just friends on equal footing. I have no right to guarantee anything on her behalf." Chen Jiuge smiled brightly, making it impossible to tell whether he was telling the truth or lying.

"Then I'll take that as an agreement." I couldn't be bothered to waste my breath on him. I walked straight out the door and stopped right in front of Ye Bing. "From now on, do not leave my sight. I'm going to get you out of the Dream Realm."

"The Dream Realm? Is this really a dream?" A trace of confusion flickered across her delicate face. Time flowed differently in the Deep Dream Layer compared to the real world. Ye Bing had been lost in here for so long that she could no longer tell the difference between reality and illusion.

"It is indeed a dream," I said, making no effort to disguise my voice. I didn't know what Ye Bing had been through in the Deep Dream Layer, but she had clearly lost some of her memories.

"Why do you say this is a dream? It feels like my memories begin right here. Everything feels so real. How could this possibly be a dream?" Ye Bing clutched her hair in anguish. Her face deathly pale, she leaned back against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. She had no idea who to believe anymore.

I looked down at Ye Bing crouched on the floor and thought back to when she had first walked into my Adult Shop just over a month ago. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't reconcile the two images of her.

Shaking my head to dispel my stray thoughts, I looked at her face. "Trust me. This is only a dream, and you will eventually wake up."

"Your voice is so familiar. Do we know each other?" Ye Bing tilted her head back to look at me, though, of course, all she saw was a black-and-white mask.

"Once you wake up, you'll remember everything. Just don't leave my sight from now on." I reached out to help her up, but the moment I extended my hand, Chen Jiuge suddenly stepped between us. His smile hadn't wavered an inch, and he looked just as obnoxious as before.

"What's the problem? I only laid out two conditions. If we're going to work together, that's my bottom line." I straightened up and eyed Chen Jiuge. He was acting like Ye Bing was his personal property, forbidding anyone else from touching her.

"Physical contact wasn't part of those two conditions. Your name is Xia Chi, right? I'm entirely sincere about working together, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't overstep. Also, one more thing..." Chen Jiuge raised a hand and pointed at the Plush Bear on my back. I had been standing inside the doorway with my back to him earlier, and leaning down to help Ye Bing had finally exposed the toy. "I'm warning you—stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, and stop working for the devil."

The corners of my lips curled up. I hadn't expected Chen Jiuge to react so strongly to the Plush Bear. Given how shrewd and calculating he was, I figured he would have played dumb even if he recognized it. "Working for the devil? I wonder which of us is the real devil here."

Not wanting to provoke Chen Jiuge any further, I took a step back and spoke to Ye Bing from a distance. "Can you tell me how the two of you met?"

Oblivious to the sudden tension between us, Ye Bing stood up from the wall. Unwilling to get too close to either Chen Jiuge or me, she hung back on the periphery. "Several days ago, I noticed that those flying heads never came to this district, so I've been hiding out here. Then, about an hour ago, I ran into Jiuge. His name feels so familiar, but I don't remember a single thing about the stories he told me."

"About an hour ago?" I gave Chen Jiuge a long, meaningful look. 'His livestream timer probably started around the same time as mine,' I thought. 'I only found this place by pure chance, but that might not be true for him. Perhaps his real livestream mission isn't to hunt down Target A at all, but rather something tied to this Lightless District.'

As I scanned the area, my heart skipped a beat when I noticed Chen Jiuge's gaze subtly—almost involuntarily—drifting back toward the abandoned rooms.

Could this guy's real mission objective be the Flower of the Dream Realm hidden in that final room? Or maybe the Broken Mirror Shard I'd picked up earlier?

I had beaten him to the punch by getting here first, securing the upper hand. Chen Jiuge's overly friendly smiles and reluctance to force a confrontation were highly likely tied to exactly that.

If I had already found his mission item, establishing a cooperative relationship on the surface would give him the opportunity to bargain for it.

"Ye Bing, did you know this guy before?" Chen Jiuge looked back at her with a smile. "He seems to care an awful lot about you."

"I don't know. You both feel incredibly familiar to me. The name Chen Jiuge feels particularly special, and I swear I've seen Xia Chi's build and demeanor somewhere before... but the name 'Xia Chi' doesn't ring a bell at all." Ye Bing's head began to throb again as she spoke, and she tugged painfully at her hair, pulling strands loose.

I knew from personal experience just how agonizing it was to lose your memories.

"Let's go. We need to leave this place first. Two nightmares chased me inside when I arrived, so keep your guard up." I cast a glance over Chen Jiuge and Ye Bing, completely unconcerned that they might be nightmares in disguise. If nothing else, I refused to believe that mere nightmares were capable of forging an Underworld Live Show Phone.

I had the initiative, and I had found Ye Bing. Now, there was only one thing left to do: escape the Deep Dream Layer!

"Don't be in such a rush. I think it would be best if we cleared a few things up first." Chen Jiuge's smile didn't waver as he shifted his gaze away from me and let it settle on Chu Men.