Chapter 589: The Meaning of the Numbers
"Guan Zuhong, where did Brother Liang go?" On the eighth floor, two players who had been traveling with Sima Xiao'er ran into another companion who was supposed to be staying with Brother Liang.
"He followed the group with the wristband marked 'four' downstairs," Guan Zuhong said. "He saw the Twin Serpents take someone away alone earlier and said he wanted to check it out. He hasn't come back yet."
"Why didn't you go with him?" Sima Xiao'er asked. "Where's Zhou Ning?"
"We got separated," Guan Zuhong lowered his voice. "I don't know what happened. When we were splitting up for the prayer hall, Zhou Ning suddenly disappeared. There were so many people, I couldn't go looking for her."
All three of them had the number "six."
"When I entered the prayer hall, I thought she was the one following behind me. It wasn't until the free trade session started that I realized something was wrong."
Sima Xiao'er and the other two players from Brother Liang's side had the numbers "five" and "six" respectively, but they hadn't split up. Instead, they all went to the "six" area.
"Xiao Zhang and Big Head are also sixes, but your friend Yan Jiayu is a five," Guan Zuhong shared what he knew about the others. "What does this number actually mean?"
Tan Yang and his group, who had just returned to the assembly hall, wanted to know the same thing.
Tan Yang was the one who received the invitation from the Twin Serpents. After careful consideration, he brought Huang Junjie and Pu Kang along with him.
The three of them were the president, the strategist, and the vice president of the First Association. Logically, they shouldn't have all come together, but Tan Yang wanted to take this opportunity to court the Twin Serpents organization, so he decided to investigate in person.
However, although the Twin Serpents organization had sent out invitations, they didn't seem to care about the identities of the invitees at all. Tan Yang hadn't revealed his identity initially, but by the time they arrived at the resort, he had abandoned that idea.
Because Huang Junjie noticed something off about the players traveling with them.
There were over eighty players when they set out from the factory. Tan Yang's group happened to be in the batch of forty. Huang Junjie had counted the invitations—there should only have been twenty-eight. Some invited players had brought only one companion, so the total number was estimated to be around eighty. But when they got off the vehicles, the combined number of players from both batches exceeded sixty. And whether it was his imagination or not, he felt that the players getting off the other vehicle weren't the same batch as before.
However, the Twin Serpents had never said today's gathering was exclusive to them. Huang Junjie didn't think much of it at first. What truly raised his suspicion was that during the tour, certain players kept circling around them.
Newcomers, even if they were careless, would still be somewhat cautious about the things inside the building. But some players weren't paying attention to the statues—instead, they were circling around the other players. That was very strange.
During the assembly in the hall, the number of people far exceeded eighty. But after discussing it with Tan Yang and Pu Kang, they realized neither of them had noticed the increase. Of course, with so many people crowded together, it was hard to count the dozen or so players dressed identically, especially with the Twin Serpents' black-robed figures moving around.
But this whole operation by the Twin Serpents seemed deliberate. If they wanted to conceal identities, they didn't need to wear robes at all. Having everyone dress the same to confuse identities made it impossible to tell if the numbers had increased or decreased, or even if the person standing next to you had been swapped out entirely.
Supposedly, these were invited players. But what if some of them were Twin Serpents members?
After Huang Junjie passed on the information, all three of them broke out in a cold sweat. If the Twin Serpents had ulterior motives, it meant that a significant number of players in this building might be their members!
Leaving early was definitely not an option. The numbers on their wristbands were "one," "three," and "two," but they didn't dare to actually separate. So they stayed on the first floor, squeezed into the group with the most people—the "sixes."
When the free trade session started and more players began moving around, the three of them slipped out, planning to wait until the gathering ended.
During that time, the twenty or so players with the number "four" who had left earlier also returned from downstairs. But the three of them still didn't dare to leave. Huang Junjie paid close attention to the players with different numbers.
"Six numbers—there's no way they were assigned randomly," he whispered. "Think fast—what's different about us?"
They all wore the same outfits, only the colors of their masks varied. But the number codes weren't assigned based on mask color. That's why Xu Huo, before leaving the prayer hall, had no idea what the numbers meant. However, after he went to a separate room for a private transaction, he noticed a common trait among the three other players in the room: they were all on edge.
They didn't talk to each other, were wary and serious, but their eyes betrayed nervousness. One female player was even swallowing nervously.
"Don't be so tense, everyone. You are the special ones chosen by the Gray Envoy. Please follow me to the dining hall. After you finish your late-night meal, the Gray Envoy will come. If you're willing, you can join the Twin Serpents and become the Gray Envoy's disciple," a black-robed figure said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
The Gray Envoy was what the black-robed figures called a "senior-level" figure. The players were both anxious and delighted. The female player couldn't help but ask, "My friend..."
Before she could finish, the black-robed figure interrupted, "What? You look down on our Twin Serpents? Do you know how many people want to join but can't? You were chosen simply because you have a connection with the Twin Serpents. If you want to bring your whole family, feel free to leave."
The group was intimidated. The female player hesitated for a moment before saying, "I just want to let my friend know."
"Don't worry, someone has already gone to inform them. After you meet the Gray Envoy, you can leave," the black-robed figure said before walking away.
The group exchanged glances and had no choice but to follow.
The sixth floor was more luxurious than the eighth. A single dining hall occupied a third of the floor, exquisitely decorated. The snow-white carpet muffled all footsteps. When they reached the table, a black-robed figure even pulled out chairs for them.
After they sat down, Xu Huo glanced at the mirror on the ceiling and then quietly asked, "When will the Gray Envoy arrive?"
"He'll come when it's time," the black-robed figure replied curtly. "Just sit tight. There are still a few more players."
There were eight chairs at the table, but only four people were seated.
The black-robed figure stepped back. The vast dining hall fell into an eerie silence. The three players, initially filled with anticipation, gradually grew restless.
During the few minutes they waited, the assembly in the main hall also ended. The black-robed figures pushed out large boxes of Evolution Agents, telling the players to collect them based on their wristband numbers. Then, just like before, they led them out in batches.
A large crowd surged forward, jostling to grab their agents before following the black-robed figures into the dim corridors.
Tan Yang's group and Sima Xiao'er's group had been walking together, but as soon as they entered the corridor, they got separated. On the path ahead, Tan Yang and Pu Kang ended up in one elevator, while Sima Xiao'er, Xiao Zhang, and Guan Zuhong were squeezed together. The others were scattered into different elevators.
Among the several elevators, only one went up. The rest all went down.
(Chapter End)