Working Records in a Weird World - 26

 

| WRIAWW | Braise Pork Knuckles | 26

As soon as the words left his mouth, Bai Shao himself was speechless.

Indeed, when people rack their brains to achieve a certain goal, it often backfires.

The processing room was quiet. The two C-levels hadn't reacted yet, only Zong Le cheerfully responded, "I ate, I ate! Tonight, I had braised pork knuckle that I made myself. It stewed for several hours, and the flavor was absolutely amazing."

In this infinite space where all kinds of gourmet food could be enjoyed for free, who would still cook their own meals...?

However, the question he had just asked was too abrupt and too out of character for a big shot. Bai Shao, looking for a way out, just wanted to quickly move past this topic: "Alright, alright, let's hurry up and draw the blood."

"Oh, okay."

The processing room returned to silence once more.

With the suppression from the two major forces and the scare he had just received, the skull remained unusually quiet, not daring to move a muscle.

Even when Zong Le connected the blood collection tube, fumbled around for a vein, and even missed several times before finally finding the shrinking artery and successfully drawing blood, the weirds mouth only twitched showing no other reaction. 

It was like a fish on the chopping block, a salted fish that had lost all its dreams.

Just kidding, in this day and age, not only do survivors need to learn to assess the situation, but even we weird beings need to, okay?

With a terrifying devil of unknown depths and an S-level survivor who kept talking about eliminating it, it would be foolish to jump out and seek death.

Soon, Zong Le had completely drained the remaining blood from the skull and was ready to inject the prepared preservative.

Bai Shao frowned, following the same steps to process the torso in his hands while secretly observing Zong Le.

But no matter how much he looked, he couldn't find anything special about this black-haired guy that would warrant the attention of the Patriarch.

He's boastful, lies, exaggerates, shameless and is only a D-level.

He's a strength type, but there's no sign of any strength in him. He's slender and tall, looking fragile. Although Bai Shao specializes in agility, he also has four points in strength, and he felt he could knock Zong Le out with one punch.

The only commendable thing is probably his face.

In the real world, he could probably sign with a talent agency and debut, or at least become a small-time internet celebrity living off rich women.

But this is the infinite space, where looks are the least important thing.

Of course, except for some survivors with particular fetishes.

After injecting the preservative and feeling more confident, Bai Shao casually said, "Hey, black-haired guy, add me as a friend."

At this, the two C-levels still handling the corpses widened their eyes in shock.

After all, that's an S-level survivor's friend slot! Even rarer, it's an S-level who initiated the friend request!

Only Zong Le was clueless: "Huh? Why do you suddenly want to add me as a friend?"

He thought about it, connecting it to their earlier conversation, and had a sudden realization: "Could it be... you also want to try my braised pork knuckle I made?"

Bai Shao: "......"

Bai Shao: "Yeah, yeah, I want to try your braised pork knuckle, alright? Hurry up and add me."

To complete the task assigned by the Patriarch, he was really going all out.

What really made Bai Shao lose his composure was catching the two C-level team members exchanging knowing glances out of the corner of his eye while he was taking out his phone to add a friend. Their overly gossipy expressions gave him a sharp pain in his stomach.

Bai Shao could already imagine the forum post that would appear tomorrow: "Shocking! The newly promoted S-level dark horse Bai Shao is obsessed with braised pork knuckles, even lowering himself to add a D-level friend just to get some!"

Zong Le, who genuinely thought Bai Shao loved braised pork knuckles, was still rambling on: "Next time you go on a mission, let me know in advance, and I'll bring some for you. By the way, do you prefer spicy or sweet? I can make both."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Bai Shao replied, too exhausted to notice the odd logic in Zong Le's words.

For instance, survivors could easily exchange items in infinite spaces without the need to bring them into missions. The ultimate dungeon wasn’t exactly the best place for having a meal—who would munch on braised pork knuckles while fighting weirds?

At that moment, Bai Shao didn’t want to hear the words "braised pork knuckles" again during this mission.

"Are you done with the preservatives?" he asked.

"Done, done," the two C-level members quickly replied, snapping out of their gossipy trance.

The next step was to place the corpse into the preservation chamber.

The preservation chamber looked quite old, with solidified corpse oil hanging around the door.

Zong Le examined it briefly: "The chamber isn’t big enough. We’ll have to process the body in parts—first the limbs and internal organs, then the head, and finally the torso. Uh... if the torso doesn’t fit, we might have to saw it."

Bai Shao wasn’t fazed by the suggestion: "The corpse is already in this state. It’ll need stitching anyway, so sawing it doesn’t make a difference. But just so you know, I’m not doing the stitching, that’s on you guys."

The weird playing dead on the tray: "..."

Seriously? No one’s going to speak up for me?

Without further ado, they followed Zong Le’s instructions, placed the first batch inside, and closed the chamber door to power it up.

"You know, if you ignore the atmosphere, the setting, and the mission itself, this scene is kind of like using the microwave to cook a meal," Zong Le joked.

Everyone felt the chill—not just from the joke, but also from the rising nausea.

"With the stench of corpses in the air, you can still manage to make such comparisons. You’ve got quite the taste," Bai Shao said, rolling his eyes.

"The chamber doesn’t have a timer. We’ll have to follow the instructions on the paper. Let’s go check it once. Keep an eye on the time, or it’ll get overcooked."

After inspecting the surrounding equipment, the group headed out.

Xu Mu spoke up: "Um, boss, there’s something I’ve been wondering about while processing the corpse."

"What is it?"

"The iron box containing the internal organs was incomplete. It’s missing the heart, lungs, and kidneys. The side task is to achieve 100% satisfaction for the deceased. If the organs are incomplete, will it affect the side quest progress..."

"If the side task isn’t completed, so be it. As long as we finish the main task," Bai Shao replied.

For this mission, which couldn’t be brute-forced and was filled with awkward twists and turns, Bai Shao had no more thoughts. He just wanted to finish it quickly and report back to the Patriarch.

Only Zong Le lagged behind, lost in thought.

The body had been transported from the morgue of Taikang Yongle Hospital, and the organs were incomplete, which could only mean they had been removed before being sent over. The removal of organs could be due to the disease having a severe illness, but there was another possibility...

Recalling the weird psychiatrist at the hospital who had mentioned "organ selling" during his last check-up, Zong Le narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them.

The authenticity of this matter was debatable, but he could not possibly sit idly by. Once this mission was over, he would definitely investigate thoroughly and not tolerate such evil forces lingering in Guiyi City.

The group sat down by the mahjong table and picked up the deck of cards placed beside them.

"Let's play cards."

Everyone minds weren't on the mission, and they weren't in the mood for cards, shuffling them half-heartedly.

When the round ended, the loser turned out to be Bai Shao.

He stared at the pair of threes he hadn't played, looking incredulous.

What? Even though he hadn't been playing seriously, how could an S-level be beaten by two C-level and a D-level at the card table?

Bai Shao couldn't help but wonder if this mission was truly destined to clash with him.

"Um, maybe we should just count me as the loser," Shi Jing timidly raised his hand.

He was afraid that the seemingly irritable S-level big shot would get angry, so he volunteered to take the loss.

Unexpectedly, Bai Shao coldly rejected his offer.

"Funny, a loss is a loss. Do you think I can't handle it?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant!"

Now it was Shi Jing's turn to panic, hastily trying to make amends, fearing he'd be remembered.

"Enough, stop babbling. It's just a bit of gossip for losing. What do you think I am going to do to you? Stop looking so scared."

Bai Shao waved his hand impatiently: "You all know about 10th, right?"

"Yes, yes," everyone nodded like pecking chickens. Zong Le, not understanding, also nodded along.

All the survivors present, except for Zong Le, knew the rankings well. After all, these ten people represented the top combat strength in the entire Infinite Space and were the admired and envied targets of countless survivors.

10th, named Zhou Ke'er, was the most active S-level, often seen surfing the forums. 

You could suddenly see him replying to a post with his shiny 10th tag. One moment he might be discussing key clues to a dungeon with survivors, and the next he'd be commenting on how the German sauerkraut and pig trotters in Infinite Space weren't authentic.

Plus, with his funny, lively personality and lack of pretension, he got along with everyone, regardless of level, so many survivors had a favorable impression of him.

"10th is a chatterbox, but he's got a crow's mouth. The good stuff never comes true, but the bad stuff always does."

After finishing, Bai Shao received a system notification.

[Detection: Your gossip did not pass]

[Reason for failure: Not something only you know]

Bai Shao: "...Wait, does it have to be something only I know?"

Reluctantly, he remained silent for a moment: "Zhou Ke'er and I teamed up for a mission. He went to the bathroom midway and I noticed he forgot to zip up his pants when he came back."

[Your gossip has passed]

Everyone: ???

"You heard the gossip I said today, but you're not allowed to post it on the forum."

After regaining his composure, Bai Shao immediately issued a threat.

He and Zhou Ke'er were merely acquaintances, and he didn't want to offend such a high-ranking S-level individual.

"Don't worry, boss! I'm tight-lipped!"

"Yeah, boss, I definitely won't say anything. You can rest assured."

Seeing the two C-level survivors make their stance clear, Zong Le quickly followed suit.

Seeing this, Bai Shao felt slightly reassured.

Soon, they started another round of card games.

Having learned from the previous game, everyone was more careful this time, not wanting to be the one to spill gossip.

The loser of this round was Shi Jing.

He struggled for a long time before finally blurting out, "I have hemorrhoids."

However, the system mercilessly rejected it, stating: This doesn't count as gossip.

With no other choice, Shi Jing had to follow Bai Shao's example and choose to sacrifice others rather than himself.

"You all probably know that the 6th Madame Spider of the Merchant Guild has a habit of keeping male lovers. Some time ago, she took a liking to a friend of mine and sent her subordinates to negotiate. Since she offered too much, I couldn't resist and secretly gave out my friend's contact information and the location of his next mission. He still doesn't know it was me, Amen."

His words successfully amused everyone.

"Regardless, if he really ends up being her lover, your friend should thank you."

"Indeed." Even Bai Shao couldn't help but tease, "The Madame Spider treats her male lovers quite well, not only providing survival points but occasionally taking her little lovers on dungeon runs. Unlike that gay Bluebeard ranked 82nd, who enjoys abusing others and very stingy. He is truly a disgrace among S-levels."

Bai Shao was particularly disgusted and despised people like Bluebeard because, when he was still a B-level survivor, he had been stalked and harassed by a high-level gay man for a while, which turned his fear of homosexuality into a label he wished he could wear on his face.

After two rounds of games, the bodies in the preservation box were almost ready.

They took out the preserved limbs and organs and placed the skull into the box, adjusting the parameters.

The weird remained motionless throughout the process, playing dead, earning Zong Le's appreciative gaze.

In the third round of card games, misfortune finally befell Zong Le.

After all, card games are purely based on luck, and even the strongest can stumble.

He helplessly laid out his hand of bad cards, showing a hesitant expression.

To be fair, Zong Le had too many secrets that only he knew. For instance, he couldn't actually enter the Infinite Space, was a local of Guiyi City, and was considered an "NPC" among survivors... 

He couldn't steer the conversation towards himself.

"You haven't thought of anything yet? It's just a piece of gossip, is it that hard?"

Bai Shao grew impatient, "Hurry up, don't waste time."

Zong Le glanced at this fervent follower of the 1st and suddenly had an idea.

"I know a piece of gossip."

He whispered, "You just mentioned that Bluebeard is gay, but actually... Joshua is also gay."

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