Chapter 42 - 42 42 Turning into a Pig

42: Chapter 42: Turning into a Pig 42: Chapter 42: Turning into a Pig “What’s the situation now?” Nie Xuan hurried back to the research institute and asked the others for an update. Although Red-Haired didn’t say a word after the phone was connected, it was enough to draw the attention of the institute’s personnel, who immediately sent people to seal off the building. “Forty-six people have disappeared so far, the entire twenty-eighth floor is wiped out, and half of the twenty-seventh floor is gone. The copy’s entrance has now closed,” Chief Wu briefed him on the situation. “Only Sima Xiao’er, who was originally on the twenty-eighth floor, entered.” “I remember Sima Xiao’er was supposed to go to Xingfu Residential Area today. What is he doing in Jin Guang Building?” Nie Xuan said while looking at the information on the missing persons, but he didn’t wait for Chief Wu to answer before he raised his head, “Were they going to arrest someone?” Chief Wu nodded and pulled up a photo, “This morning we received a report. The general manager of Karen Building Materials Company, Zhu Tao, reported a Cannibal Evolver. Xiao’er took twelve people and coordinated with the criminal police team to make the arrest, and they arrested this person.” Upon seeing the photo, Nie Xuan stood up abruptly, “Xu Huo? Sёarch* The nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He’s a player, and also someone I’m currently trying to recruit.” “Of course, I know.” Chief Wu gestured for him to remain calm, “With so many disappearances lately and the need to investigate copy entrances, the arrest of Evolvers wasn’t reported to me, so I was also unaware until now.” “However, this is a good thing. Take a look at this.” He handed over a document, “Fresh from the oven. Based on clues provided by Xu Huo, Luo City captured Cannibal Player Liu Mei, whose real name is Liu Yuanyuan.” Nie Xuan flipped through the document and exclaimed in surprise, “Rank-B Evaluation, and she even obtained an item from the copy boss?” “There’s more. According to Liu Mei’s confession, Xu Huo was the first to find the stranded players and also deduced that Hot Spring Mountain Villa might have been an open copy before, which matches the documents issued from Jing City,” Chief Wu explained. “So it means that the game, Dimensional Rift, really existed long before the Evolvers appeared,” Nie Xuan said slowly as he sat back down. “The Beheading Demon Copy is corroborative evidence,” Chief Wu said, his tone heavy yet somewhat relieved. “So Xu Huo accidentally entering the game might be a chance for both us and the missing people.” “On the 301st preliminary trial train you were on, only one player from Third-Class Seat survived, and he is still lying in the ICU. Two people came out from First-Class Seat, including you; the Special-Class Seat was annihilated, but not only did four people from Second-Class Seat survive, they also saved a player from Third-Class Seat.” “Although Han Ming, Liu Jia, and Wang Xiaohui are unwilling to say much, but you were on that train, it should be easy to pinpoint Xu Huo. Given his performance on the preliminary trial train, he would save people if he had the opportunity.” Nie Xuan’s brows were still furrowed with concern, “What worries me now is the hot-headed Sima Xiao’er, who passed the preliminary trial train by bribing a chef and has no copy experience. I’m afraid he may mess things up.” Chief Wu patted his shoulder, “All we can do now is wait.” * Darkness surrounded him. When the special agents disappeared, Xu Huo knew he had encountered a copy. The moment he jumped out the window, his vision turned dark. Immediately afterward, his body felt like it was wrapped in an impermeable layer of fur, rolling down a sloped passageway. A stench of animal fur filled his nostrils, his hands stiff, legs bent backwards, his limbs were restrained and he couldn’t move, and he was unable to open his mouth or eyes. In the absence of any light, he tumbled for several minutes before coming to a stop. When he finally stopped, more than a dozen heavy objects continued to fall behind him, crowding together in a narrow space, struggling and making indistinct moaning noises. Unable to open his eyes or mouth, and in such a confined space, Xu Huo ignored the kicks and punches around him and listened carefully to the sounds in his environment. About fifteen minutes had passed when footsteps approached, followed by someone opening the door and letting out a hoarse chuckle, “This batch of goods is pretty fresh; let’s see… a total of forty-six.” “We can’t use them all up in one day, so let’s raise them first.” Then came the sound of dragging, and amidst a stack of sobs higher than the last, the rhythmic sound of cutting tools slicing through leather could be heard—three cuts per set. And with each cut, cries of pain, anger, or calls for help became distinct, no longer muffled. They were replaced by piercing and bright cries, but they sounded more like the howls of beasts rather than human voices! There was an interruption midway when that person took all the previous people away, waiting a while before coming back to continue. Finally, it was Xu Huo’s turn. He was picked up by a hand, and with three ‘chop, chop, chop’ sounds, a chill spread over his eyes and mouth—he could open his eyes! Before him stood a tall, muscular man with a red nose, an obvious foreigner. He shook Xu Huo with one hand and muttered “dumbass” before carelessly tossing him aside. With his legs tied back, Xu Huo was forced to fall onto his knees, his eyesight falling to the waist of the foreign man. Raising his head, he watched the man quickly make a cut over a fat pig’s eyes and mouth; then the pig could open its eyes and begin screaming before being thrown back to the ground. Only then did Xu Huo get a clear view of his surroundings, which resembled a warehouse. The place they had descended from had a square pipe outlet; everyone must have fallen through there. Everyone who had fallen was wrapped in pigskin, confined within a pen, their eyes and mouths sealed shut until the red-nosed man cut them open to allow vision and sound. However, the sounds they made were not of normal speech but howls, much like that of pigs! Could it be that wrapping in a layer of pigskin actually transformed them into pigs? Xu Huo saw the words “Hao Wei Dao Fresh Meat Supply Factory” emblazoned in large characters on the red-nosed man’s dark apron, and his heart skipped a beat: They had become pigs and were about to be slaughtered! In that moment, the red-nosed man had finished his task, and he began to herd everyone outside. Xu Huo followed the panicking crowd forward. As soon as they got out, two people attempted to flee but, wrapped in skin with their limbs unevenly bound, they could barely even stand, much less outrun a fully able-bodied person. “Quite spirited,” the red-nosed man laughed heartily, catching up to them and pummeling their pig heads to a pulp with two punches. Without waiting for the red and white fluids to ooze out, he picked each one up by one hand and hung them on hooks. “Fresh brain, I’ll add an extra dish tonight.” Two people in the crowd began to vomit, and the red-nosed man’s eyebrows furrowed, “Don’t tell me we’ve got sick pigs. No one’s buying sick pork.” The crowd was shocked, and even those who were vomiting instinctively held their breath, at a loss what to do. Then, the pig next to Xu Huo fell to the ground, crying in a manner that suggested it was dying of illness—it was the sound of the previous Director Zhu. After him, two others mimicked his action and lay down. Underneath their pigskin, the rest of the group’s eyes lit up as if they’d seen hope: No one buys sick pork; could this be their chance to escape doom? But before they could act, the red-nosed man dragged the three away, “I’ll slaughter you first today, to prevent you from dying of sickness and going to waste.”