Chapter 45: Treatment

A group of people gathered around Liao Tianhua, chatting all at once.

Mi Xiangyan had a look of utter existential crisis on her face. “No, this isn’t right. It shouldn’t be like this. How could my deduction be wrong? According to my reasoning, the moment Liao Tianhua grabbed the mirror, we should have won. Is that mirror not the key item?”

Qiu Hailan punched the ground beside Liao Tianhua and laughed. “Captain Liao, oh Captain Liao, you finally have your day. How about we have a peak showdown between the First Team and the Second Team right here?”

Xiao Li crouched in front of Liao Tianhua. “Captain Liao, did you have to hit me that hard just now? I’ve never screamed that miserably in my life.”

Xiao Wang lined up Xiao Fang, Xiao Huo, Xiao Duan, and Liao Tianhua side by side. “There, now it’s all nice and neat.”

Liao Tianhua felt like his spirit was crumbling into tiny pieces.

Xia Mi reached out and brushed the top of Liao Tianhua’s head. He felt something extra on his scalp, and when Xia Mi touched it, a strange sensation washed over his entire body.

Xia Mi said, “Only Sister Shield and I haven’t had any physical changes. Those of you who entered the Black Domain with only your consciousness will undergo Zhuo transformation.”

“What’s growing on my head?” Liao Tianhua sat up abruptly, clutching his head.

On the other side, Shield gave a mischievous grin. “Want to see a mirror?”

Liao Tianhua now had a bit of a psychological trauma regarding mirrors, so he shook his head frantically.

Among these people, only Xia Mi felt a flicker of compassion for Liao Tianhua, largely because her Bianzhi hadn’t been finalized yet. Remembering the report Liao Tianhua had submitted, her dormant ambition stirred slightly, and her conscience made a brief recovery.

She thoughtfully took out her phone and opened the front-facing camera so Liao Tianhua could see his current appearance.

In the beautified lens of the front camera, Liao Tianhua looked even more handsome. However, a plant-like object was growing out of his head. Beneath the leaves were several red fruits that looked a bit like…

“Like ginseng,” Xia Mi said, voicing the thought in Liao Tianhua’s mind. “It actually fits your ability quite well.”

“It doesn’t look like it at all,” Liao Tianhua said with a cold face.

He gathered the fragments of his broken heart, stood up resiliently, and looked at everyone. “I’m sorry. My mission failed.”

Despite wanting to give everyone a good thrashing, Liao Tianhua apologized sincerely, willing to accept the punishment.

The members of the Second Team were rubbing their hands together, eager to take the opportunity for revenge, but Xia Mi stopped them.

Xia Mi was still looking out for Xiao Huo. After all, these were her future subordinates. Both the palm and the back of the hand are made of flesh¹; she couldn’t bear to see any of them get hurt.

She asked, “Tell us how you got in. Your perspective on my end was closed, and reopening it costs 1,000 Zhuo Coins. I couldn’t bear to waste the coins, so I didn’t open it and couldn’t see your situation. Tell us what happened, and we’ll figure something out.”

Liao Tianhua recounted what happened after he obtained the mirror.

After listening, Mi Xiangyan said, “It seems my analysis was correct; that mirror really is the culprit behind everything. But now we’re all trapped by it. Its main body is over in the Grey Domain, so we might not…”

Xia Mi interrupted the pessimistic words Mi Xiangyan was about to say. She declared, “As long as Xiao Liao has joined us, there is hope for everything!”

Hearing her call him “Xiao Liao” over and over, Liao Tianhua opened his mouth to say something, but then he heard Xia Mi continue, “At least with Xiao Liao here, Xiao Qiu and the others’ injuries can be healed.”

Liao Tianhua looked up at the tall, bear-like “Xiao Qiu.” Seeing that she accepted the nickname just fine, he suddenly felt that being called “Xiao Liao” wasn’t such a big deal.

Actually, when Mi Xiangyan told Liao Tianhua that “the mirror is the key item,” Xia Mi had felt something was off. She played games often, and according to game role distribution, the mirror should be the game boss, not an item.

However, Xia Mi respected learned people. She considered herself an ordinary person with average intelligence, not a strategic talent. Furthermore, to be a qualified leader, one had to possess the character to use people according to their strengths and trust them implicitly. Thus, she had chosen to execute Mi Xiangyan’s plan first.

Now that Mi Xiangyan’s deduction had been proven wrong, Xia Mi decided to switch to her own plan.

Xia Mi believed that the “key item” the game referred to was actually Liao Tianhua.

After all, the game had provided her with two items at the start. One was a humanoid item key to entering the Black Domain, and the importance of the other, the medical kit, was even more obvious.

Treating the team members and replenishing Sister Shield’s energy all required Liao Tianhua.

Thus, only Xia Mi was genuinely relieved by Liao Tianhua’s arrival. She said happily, “Everyone is injured. Xiao Fang, Xiao Huo, and Xiao Duan have had their spirits controlled by the Eye, and Group Leader Mi got a bloody nose from overusing Zhuo Energy. Everyone has been waiting for you!”

Feeling Xia Mi’s sincere joy, Liao Tianhua’s mood improved slightly, and the thought that “I am useless” began to fade.

But he still said with a bit of uncertainty, “Really?”

Before Xia Mi could answer, Qiu Hailan laughed. “Absolutely. Xia Mi has drawn a huge pile of ‘pie’ and promised so many things, all waiting for you to make them real.”

“And my hair salon membership card,” Xia Mi added, pointing to her messy, jagged hair.

Liao Tianhua’s confidence was rebuilt, but a strange sense of debt rose in its place.

Whether it was depression or the pressure of debt, Liao Tianhua didn’t show it. Maintaining a calm expression, he said, “But I don’t have enough energy.”

Xia Mi said, “I’ve absorbed enough energy. You can use mine. Try healing Xiao Qiu first.”

Liao Tianhua reservedly reached out and placed his hand on Xia Mi’s wrist. He was also at his limit, with only 10 Zhuo Coins worth of energy left in his body. The moment he touched Xia Mi’s abundant energy, he uncontrollably sucked in 300 Zhuo Coins.

During this process, Xia Mi involuntarily tightened her grip on the long Zhuo blade in her hand.

Liao Tianhua didn’t realize he had just walked past the gates of hell. It seemed his body could only hold a maximum of 300 Zhuo Coins; it stopped automatically once it hit 300, halting just before the moment Xia Mi’s rationality would have snapped.

Liao Tianhua felt that he could only retain 100 Zhuo Coins long-term. 300 Zhuo Coins was a heavy burden for him; the energy flowed beneath his skin, feeling as though his flesh would burst open if he exerted even a little force.

He hurriedly said to Qiu Hailan, “Come here. I’ll help you restore your arm first.”

“Can a severed limb really regrow?” Qiu Hailan asked, sounding a bit skeptical.

Liao Tianhua replied, “In reality, not necessarily. But right now you are just consciousness, a special form of energy. It should be possible to recover.”

With that, he placed his fingers on Qiu Hailan’s wrist. Countless rays of pure white light flowed from his fingertips into her body. The various wounds across her body healed instantly, and her arm began to restore itself at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Liao Tianhua did a quick mental calculation. It had cost about 50 Zhuo Coins. He still had 250 Zhuo Coins left, and he was still so bloated with energy that he could barely walk.

“Group Leader Mi, it’s your turn.” Liao Tianhua looked toward Mi Xiangyan.

Mi Xiangyan asked Xia Mi, “How did you know my nose was bleeding?”

Xia Mi lied without missing a beat. “I saw it in the game.”

“Liar!” Mi Xiangyan swept her gaze over Xiao Wang and Xiao Li. “Which one of you told her?”

Xiao Wang and Xiao Li spoke in unison, “Reporting to Group Leader Mi, we both told her! Even though you forbade us from speaking of it, you are a precious talent. According to the Guidelines for Handling Supernatural Incidents, when technical personnel accompany front-line members on an operation, the safety of the technical personnel takes precedence over the front-line members. We couldn’t just stand by and watch you get hurt while remaining silent!”

Xiao Wang and Xiao Li had found a quiet moment to tell Xia Mi about Mi Xiangyan’s nosebleed after they met up. Xia Mi herself had experience with bleeding from her facial orifices after overdrawing her energy, so she knew Mi Xiangyan had overexerted her abilities. There was no way to solve it at the time except to wait for Liao Tianhua to arrive for treatment. She had instructed Xiao Wang and Xiao Li to keep a close watch on Mi Xiangyan’s condition; the moment she overextended herself again, they were to force her away from the computer and make her rest.

Fortunately, after that first overexertion, Mi Xiangyan knew to use her abilities in moderation. Her nose didn’t bleed again, and Xiao Wang and Xiao Li hadn’t been exposed until now.

Once the explanation was clear, Mi Xiangyan felt relieved, but Qiu Hailan asked with a look of confusion, “How come I didn’t know? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Xiao Wang and Xiao Li remained silent.

That was true! They should have told their captain first. Why had they only thought to tell Xia Mi?

Xia Mi stood in front of Xiao Wang and Xiao Li and said to Qiu Hailan, “I’m the one who told them to keep it a secret. They knew you were injured too and didn’t want to add to your worries, so they came to discuss it with me first. I knew we couldn’t solve the problem at that stage, and speaking out would only cause unnecessary anxiety. To maintain the team’s confidence and morale, I had them hide it from you for the time being. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

Xiao Wang and Xiao Li breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling immensely grateful to Xia Mi. They thought to themselves, Sister Xia has taken the responsibility onto herself twice now. Sister Xia is truly someone who can handle things!

Qiu Hailan lacked any sense of suspicion. She wrapped her arms around Xia Mi and said, “I know you did it for my own good. How could I blame you? You’ve been carrying so much on your shoulders. It must be exhausting.”

Xia Mi also tried her best to hug one of the bear-like Qiu Hailan’s arms.

Watching coldly from the sidelines, Liao Tianhua let out a scoff.

Qiu Hailan had practically been stripped of her authority by Xia Mi, yet here she was saying thank you!

However, remembering how the members of Team One had involuntarily followed Xia Mi’s orders back in Building 6, Liao Tianhua felt a strange sense of melancholy. He wasn’t doing much better than Qiu Hailan himself.

Forget it. He would worry about power struggles later; for now, cooperation was the priority.

Liao Tianhua pushed aside the dark, messy thoughts in his mind and replenished Mi Xiangyan’s vitality.

Mi Xiangyan’s body was weaker than the combat members and she held less energy, so she was completely restored with only 30 Zhuo Coins.

Liao Tianhua then treated the injuries of Xiao Wang and Xiao Li respectively, costing 40 Zhuo Coins each.

At this point, he had only 140 Zhuo Coins left in his body. He was in a state of being slightly overfull, but he could move normally now.

Liao Tianhua walked toward the unconscious Xiao Fang and the other two, intending to treat them, but he was blocked by Shield.

Shield said, “The spirits of these three are being controlled by Eye. Once they wake up, they will attack us immediately. I need to protect their spirits first.”

Shield’s ability was to lay a thin protective film inside a person’s mind to help them resist external mental control. When Mi Xiangyan’s eyes had turned blood-red and she was biting people, Shield had protected her while in her mannequin form.

Even now, that protective film remained inside Mi Xiangyan’s brain. Once that film was exhausted, she would go back to biting people again.

After Shield had woken Mi Xiangyan, she had heard Eye’s cry for help.

She followed the cry to the Secret Room. After opening the door, she had used her ability to wake Eye.

But Eye’s situation was different. The power controlling him was exceptionally strong, constantly eroding his spirit and attempting to absorb it entirely. The protective film Shield laid down was destroyed in less than ten minutes. She had been trapped in the Secret Room by the maddened Eye, and to protect herself, she had been forced to seal off her own consciousness to prevent herself from being controlled by the mirror as well.

She only woke up automatically when Xia Mi and the others rescued her.

Shield could counter mental control, but she lacked energy.

It wasn’t until Liao Tianhua entered the Black Domain that the conditions to wake Eye were finally met.

Liao Tianhua gave Shield 100 Zhuo Coins. Shield indicated she couldn’t accept any more energy; this was her limit.

Protecting Xiao Fang’s spirit alone cost Shield 50 Zhuo Coins. Even if she exhausted all her power, she could only protect the consciousness of Xiao Fang and Xiao Huo. That still left Xiao Duan.

Liao Tianhua had no more Zhuo Coins left and was currently in a state of exhaustion, so everyone’s gaze shifted to Xia Mi.

Meanwhile, Xia Mi had been sharpening her knife.

Ever since Liao Tianhua took 300 Zhuo Coins from her, she had been holding her knife against a stone, grinding it back and forth, making a terrifying scraping sound.

Seeing her like this, the others didn’t dare speak for a moment.

Shield grabbed Mi Xiangyan and took a quick step back. Qiu Hailan shielded Xiao Wang and Xiao Li behind her and gave Liao Tianhua a subtle shove.

Liao Tianhua, betrayed by the group, was forced to face Xia Mi.

Liao Tianhua swallowed hard and looked at Xia Mi. “Xia Mi, we still need energy.”

Xia Mi didn’t stop sharpening the knife. Her voice was calm as she asked, “How much more?”

Liao Tianhua said, “Next, we need to awaken Duan Feng’s consciousness, which costs 50 Zhuo Coins. Treating Fang Zihan and the other two will be 150 Zhuo Coins. Additionally, Shield needs to place a protective film over everyone’s minds. Group Leader Mi and Fang Zihan’s group already have them, and Shield herself doesn’t need one. That leaves Captain Qiu, the two team members Wang and Li, plus you and me. That’s five people in total, costing 250 Zhuo Coins.

“Also, Shield says she wants to maintain Eye’s consciousness. That consumes 10 Zhuo Coins per minute. She can only hold a maximum of 100 Zhuo Coins, which only gives us ten minutes. To ensure Eye stays awake, I have to replenish her energy at any moment.

“My maximum capacity is 300 Zhuo Coins, but if I’m full, I won’t be able to move. To keep Shield powered while remaining mobile, it’s best if I stay around 200. I have 40 Zhuo Coins left, so you just need to give me 160.

“The total for all of this is…”

“710 Zhuo Coins,” Xia Mi interrupted.

The moment the words left her mouth, the Zhuo Blade in her hand snapped.

A Zhuo Blade could cleave through solid rock; there was no way it had simply worn down and broken. Xia Mi had clearly snapped the blade with her bare hands!

The group huddled close together around the Xiao Qiu bear, seeking warmth in numbers.

Only Liao Tianhua remained calm, his expression that of a man prepared for heroic martyrdom.

Xia Mi narrowed her eyes at him. “Do you know? Back before my ex-boyfriend passed the civil service exam, he spent all his money on prep classes. He had nothing left for living expenses, so he was always asking me for pocket money. You look exactly like him right now. You’re both scumbags.”

“Where did she get an ex-boyfriend? Has she had too much power drained? Is she mentally unstable?” Mi Xiangyan asked, her heart pounding with fear.

Liao Tianhua replied with a steady face, “Xia Mi, you don’t have a boyfriend. You’re imagining things.”

“Maybe, but the feeling of someone asking for money is vivid!” Xia Mi insisted stubbornly.

Liao Tianhua sighed.

He made a promise. “Xia Mi, after this mission is over, I will personally provide you with a bonus.”

“Even if you try to bribe me with money, I… how much can you give me?” Xia Mi’s tone shifted instantly.

She suddenly looked much more normal.

Liao Tianhua said, “I’ve been working for seven years. I usually eat and live at the base, and I don’t buy clothes, so I’ve saved all my wages. Our pay and benefits are high, plus there are subsidies for every mission.

“Aside from the money I send home to my family every month, I’ve saved about a million. I can’t give it all to you; I need to keep some for my parents. How about this? I’ll give you eight hundred thousand. What do you think?”

Xia Mi’s mind was filled with astronomical figures like “one million” and “eight hundred thousand.” The murderous urge was completely suppressed as she snapped back to her senses, her own consciousness regaining control.

She spoke with visible restraint. “Eight hundred thousand is too much. Just give me this much.”

Xia Mi held up five fingers.

Liao Tianhua said, “Five hundred thousand? Fine, I’ll transfer it to you as soon as we get out.”

“No!” Xia Mi said. “Just treat me to a barbecue meal worth five hundred yuan. There’s a roasted beef place near my civil service prep school. My mouth watered every time I walked past, but it was too expensive. It costs five hundred per person, and I couldn’t afford it. Just one meal is enough.”

Liao Tianhua stared at Xia Mi, momentarily stunned.

Qiu Hailan couldn’t hold back any longer. She ran over and pulled Xia Mi into a hug, shouting, “I’ll treat you! I’ll treat you to a meal every single day!”

Xia Mi replied, “I can’t afford a meal every day, but once a week is fine. And can we do barbecue this week and hotpot the next?”

“No problem!” Qiu Hailan said, slapping her chest.

She suddenly felt a wave of pity and affection for Xia Mi.

Everyone could see that Xia Mi hadn’t been herself just now; it was as if some instinct had taken over her mind. Yet, it didn’t take much to wake her up—just a promise of barbecue.

Mi Xiangyan pulled out a small notebook made of folded A4 paper from her jacket and wrote in her observation log: The worldly elements required to seal the “Queen Bee” are unexpectedly few. A single meal of barbecue is sufficient.

The observer has developed the thought that the “Queen Bee” is “quite cute.” This is a reasonable emotion born from the current situation and will not affect future judgment.

Translator’s Notes