Chapter 963: Bai Liang |
"Let's put it this way, those assassins and undercover agents arranged by Swollen Woman into Morio Town have been brainwashed. They have no memories of Swollen Woman, only knowing they need to cause various disturbances within Morio Town. Moreover, they don't realize that the people in Morio Town are of the same ilk, so these assassins and undercover agents are essentially fighting their own battles," Mai Yuqiang said seriously.
"Isn't this just a disguised form of cultivating venomous creatures?" Liu Xing frowned and said, "As of now, there should be four factions in Morio Town—Morio Town Protection Association, traitors within the Protection Association, pursuers sent by Swollen Woman, and pursuers sent by others. Everyone's activities are confined to Morio Town, and you also have to consider the ordinary residents living in Morio Town, Mai Yuqiang."
Mai Yuqiang sighed, nodding, "Yes, nowadays Morio Town is also considered a bustling town within the Nagoya area, so there are plenty of permanent residents here. We must consider the safety of these ordinary people. After all, if a large-scale casualty event occurs in Morio Town, we would be in a tough situation because we can't leave Morio Town. Also, those infiltrators sent by Swollen Woman are, frankly speaking, indiscriminate killers."
"Indiscriminate killers… What exactly does Swollen Woman intend to do? This isn't just cultivating venomous creatures anymore…" Sun Huiwen said, somewhat confused.
Now, Liu Xing also couldn't understand what Swollen Woman was up to.
At that moment, Mai Yuqiang sighed again, saying helplessly, "Actually, it still is cultivating venomous creatures, but the targets have changed, or rather, become more specific."
Hearing this, Liu Xing suddenly thought of a possibility, his face showing surprise, "So, the venomous creatures that Swollen Woman wants to cultivate are actually you, Mai Yuqiang, and those so-called undercover agents and assassins are the food Swollen Woman feeds you, although this food is rather fierce."
"That's right, that's what we think too, although we still don't know why Swollen Woman would do this, but we can feel that Swollen Woman is using her subordinates' lives to train us, and it's a comprehensive training. For example, some assassins specialize in poisoning, some like to set traps, some have purely physical prowess, and some rely on various magic spells to survive. Over the years, we've encountered various types of assassins."
"As for the undercover agents, they are also interesting. Some can endure for years, only starting to make their moves after becoming high-level members of the Morio Town Protection Association. Others begin causing trouble right after arriving in Morio Town; some of their methods are more gentlemanly, verbally provoking and causing division among us. Some undercover agents like to set up crime scenes to frame others. There was a time when I was almost trapped, but luckily I was prepared, or else you wouldn't see me here today," Mai Yuqiang said with a wry smile.
Mai Yuqiang shrugged, smiling, "If this really were a reality show, then the audience would be fortunate because every scene we play is very exciting, and there are many characters involved, the effects are incredibly realistic. Back to the point, my strength had hit a bottleneck before I left China, with no breakthroughs for several years. However, after spending a few years here in Morio Town, I clearly feel that my strength has improved significantly, and I've also learned many new skills and gained a lot of new knowledge."
"Is this what they call a Morio Town training class…" Li Hanxing interjected with a sneer, "You make me want to spend some time in Morio Town."
Mai Yuqiang smiled and continued, "After successfully taking out three assassins or undercover agents, we can leave Morio Town, although we can also choose to stay. However, those who leave Morio Town, although they still keep in touch with acquaintances from Morio Town in the early years, will soon disappear without a trace, even if some of them have completely changed their identities and hidden themselves within the European Cadaver Cult's territory."
"So, you suspect these people were captured by Swollen Woman?" Liu Xing asked.
Mai Yuqiang nodded seriously, "Yes, we can now be certain that these people were probably captured by Swollen Woman. So, after leaving Morio Town, I plan to join forces with Baruka. As long as it's not Swollen Woman herself who shows up, I believe with my and Baruka's strength, we should be able to handle her pursuers."
Now, Liu Xing was completely confused, increasingly unable to grasp Swollen Woman's maneuvers.
As one of Nyarlathotep's avatars, Liu Xing felt that Swollen Woman's maneuvers were very likely related to Nyarlathotep, so why she was painstakingly training so many human enforcers and then capturing them one by one—was it just for fun?
Liu Xing didn't think so.
"Right, where did you guys come from to Morio Town? Now, I still need to arrange an identity for you to ensure that you can move freely in Morio Town," Mai Yuqiang said as he pulled out a few folded stiff papers from a box nearby, "These are temporary work permits from the Morio Town Protection Association. As long as you carry this certificate, you can receive help and intelligence support from other members of the Morio Town Protection Association, but you also must participate in some collective actions of the Association, like capturing a certain assassin or undercover agent."
Liu Xing and the others nodded, taking the stiff paper.
After some discussion, Liu Xing and his companions received new identities—distant relatives of Mai Yuqiang.
As for why Liu Xing and his companions came to Morio Town, it was because Mai Yuqiang's parents missed him dearly, so they entrusted Liu Xing, who was just about to visit Nagoya, to bring some items to Mai Yuqiang. Since Liu Xing and his companions also had some understanding of mythical creatures and secret cults, Mai Yuqiang invited them to become temporary workers for the Morio Town Protection Association. To the general public, Liu Xing and his companions were simply Mai Yuqiang's relatives, planning to have fun in Morio Town for a few days.
Furthermore, to ensure Liu Xing and his companions were qualified to become temporary workers for the Morio Town Protection Association, Mai Yuqiang also added them to the Warrior Faction as a form of qualification, also intending to prove that Liu Xing and his companions could not possibly be assassins or undercover agents sent by Swollen Woman, especially since Morio Town is not some Paradise, and the Public-Military Conflict has indeed caused significant impacts on Morio Town. And so far, several groups from both the Public Faction and Warrior Faction had come to seek the support of the Morio Town Protection Association.
Although the outside world knew very little about the Morio Town Protection Association, ordinary people only knew that although there were occasional homicides in Morio Town, the culprits were quickly apprehended. However, "industry insiders" had long realized that the situation in Morio Town was a bit unusual, so after investigation, it was found that the Morio Town Protection Association's interior was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, strong players abound.
Thus, in the current struggle for control of Nagoya, the Public Faction and Warrior Faction, without any agreement, remembered the group of powerful enforcers from the Morio Town Protection Association, so they would definitely send people to lure the Morio Town Protection Association. Coercion was impossible, as the Morio Town Protection Association was not a soft persimmon.
Unfortunately, members of the Morio Town Protection Association could not leave Morio Town, so the attempts by the Public Faction and Warrior Faction to recruit were doomed to fail.
However, this also meant that as members of the Warrior Faction, Liu Xing and his companions had yet another reason to come to Morio Town to find Mai Yuqiang.
"Alright, now let me tell you about that undercover agent I discovered," Mai Yuqiang took out his mobile phone and showed a photo, "This guy is named Bai Liang, who became an accountant at a department store in Morio Town over two years ago and now lives in the northernmost district of Morio Town, which is also considered the most upscale district in Morio Town. But most importantly, the owner of this district was Swollen Woman's undercover agent, who we had eliminated before Bai Liang came to Morio Town."
"The reason I suspect Bai Liang is an assassin is first, based on his salary, he should not be able to afford living in that district, so I think Bai Liang might have moved into that district through special means, like a pass issued by Swollen Woman. Secondly, Bai Liang's reputation at the company is also problematic; his colleagues all think he is a workaholic who hardly ever speaks to his colleagues, and he never works overtime!"
"What, this guy never works overtime? That's not scientific!" Li Hanxing said dramatically.
Although Li Hanxing's acting was a bit exaggerated, Liu Xing also saw this as problematic because in the context of the Island Nation, overtime had become almost pathological; it was practically a disease, even if you just sat there doing nothing, you had to stay in the company "overtime
."
If you don't work overtime, then you'd definitely become a notable figure in the company.
But speaking of which, Bai Liang wouldn't happen to be inspired by Yoshikage Kira, right?
Yoshikage Kira is a villainous boss from the "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" series, a "regular office worker" living in Morio Town, and Yoshikage Kira worked at a department store and also lived in the most upscale villa area in Morio Town.
And because of the famous quote Yoshikage Kira said in the final battle, Yoshikage Kira was teased as Bai Liang in China. Therefore, in Morio Town, which has been transformed into a Chinese residential area by the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, renaming Yoshikage Kira as Bai Liang makes sense.
But speaking of which, it's unknown what abilities Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall will set for Bai Liang, since it's hard to demonstrate the effects of Stand abilities in Cthulhu RPG Hall, or to say that Stand abilities are too strong.
Just the setting that only Stand users can see Stands is very unfriendly for Cthulhu RPG Hall players, as most players are just "ordinary people," so fighting an invisible enemy like a Stand is too disadvantageous.
Moreover, some Stand abilities, like Yoshikage Kira's Killer Queen, are bug-level existences in Cthulhu RPG Hall, such that Liu Xing and his companions wouldn't even know how they died...
Of course, from the current situation, Mai Yuqiang has not awakened Star Platinum, otherwise Mai Yuqiang wouldn't have been so embarrassed to be forced by Swollen Woman to come to Morio Town, so Liu Xing thinks Bai Liang probably hasn't obtained Stand abilities either.
But since Bai Liang is an assassin sent by Swollen Woman, he must still possess some special abilities, probably related to Yoshikage Kira's settings.
Thinking of this, Liu Xing looked at the photo of Bai Liang on Mai Yuqiang's mobile phone and saw that Bai Liang looked like a handsome middle-aged man in his thirties with black hair.
"Alright, I need to go get ready to open the store now. You guys can rest here for a while, and I'll take you to meet a few people at noon. They are all good friends I've met here in Morio Town, and I'm sure they are all trustworthy, and they also have information about Bai Liang," Mai Yuqiang stood up and said, "You can go to the study room to look at my notebook, which contains observations from my years in Morio Town. It should help you understand Morio Town more quickly."
After saying that, Mai Yuqiang left.
Once sure that Mai Yuqiang had left, Li Hanxing started Private Room time, saying, "I thought this mission's villain boss would be Dio or the boss, but it turned out to be Yoshikage Kira. However, the name Bai Liang must be a jab at Yoshikage Kira."
"That's right, the name Mai Yuqiang is a tease at Kujo Jotaro, so it's normal for Yoshikage Kira to be called Bai Liang, but from the photo, it seems that Bai Liang has entered the second stage," Sun Huiwen stroked his chin and said, "Although Bai Liang probably doesn't have Stand abilities, his abilities might be related to explosions, time reversal, and air cannons."
"Air cannon? Sun Huiwen, are you talking about that catnip Yoshikage Kira likes?" Liu Xing said, somewhat surprised.
Sun Huiwen nodded and explained, "Since Bai Liang's image in the photo is based on Yoshikage Kira's second stage, his abilities might be derived from the new abilities Yoshikage Kira acquired during that stage. Although the catnip isn't Yoshikage Kira's own ability, he has used the catnip's abilities in battle, and having an air cannon in the Cthulhu RPG Game wouldn't feel too out of place."
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Chapter 964: Dio Appears