Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Tang Li swallowed his mouthful of spit firmly in an attempt to calm down his abnormal heartbeat. He then began to gather the materials and prepared to make chocolate. Fortunately, the procedures for chocolate-making had been ingrained into his bones, so even if his heartbeat was unstable or if he was stressed out, it would never affect him.
In the end, he decided to make the purest dark chocolate for Y.
The fact that Dr. Y wanted chocolate was very strange in itself, but if this really was the case, only the darkest, most bitter chocolate could match the boss’ tastes.
The result was that Y was not satisfied.
Redo, not satisfied.
Redo, not satisfied.
……
After the third attempt, Yin Nian personally went to the workshop built for Tang Li, mulled over it, and said, “It shouldn’t taste like this, it should be heart-shaped, sweet, and soft on the inside.”
Sweet and soft, just like how Zhiyin tasted.
Tang Li looked at Dr. Y, his face troubled. He understood the doctor’s words, but this request was too generic, and he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill the other party’s wish.
Yin Nian hesitated for a moment, and finally pulled out a pink chocolate box from his white lab coat.
It was heart-shaped, with an exaggerated deep pink lace bow wrapped around it.
Zhiyin hadn’t given him chocolate in a long while.
This was the last box, and he was not willing to finish it.
His black eyes darkened as he looked at Tang Li coldly. His chin was slightly raised and his voice was cold when he said warningly, “Don’t touch it.”
Now, Tang Li couldn’t help but be curious. The chocolate that was such a prized possession of the legendary boss of the apocalypse, what was it like?
The lid of the box was lifted, and there were seven heart shaped chocolates of the exactly same form neatly arranged.
Even without looking at it or tasting it, Tang Li could judge its quality by the greasily sweet smell that it emanated. These were the sweetest and most horrible milk chocolates available in the market before the end of the world.
Why would Dr.Y like this kind of thing… this was simply unimaginable.
Thinking of this in his heart, Tang Li still respectfully packed up the box and said, “Please rest assured, I will be able to make it soon.”
Sure enough, after an hour, Yin Nian was finally able to eat the heart-shaped Zhiyin Love Chocolate he had been longing for.
In Yu Huo Base, the central seat in the huge central hall was always unoccupied. This seat that no one dared to sit in finally ushered in its master.
Picking up a freshly made piece of chocolate and putting it into his mouth, Yin Nian leaned back on the wide seat. His eyelashes drooped as traces of gloominess and grievance flooding into his dark eyes.
It still felt wrong. Even though the taste was the same, if it wasn’t sent by personally by Zhiyin, then it would be all wrong.
I miss him.
But…
Just as the thought flashed in his mind, a scene played out in front of his eyes. A young man with a stern temperament and calm appearance walked in leading a team, his face was stained with blood and sweat.
There, he reached over and stroked his cheeks, the corners of his lips curving up, revealing a smile.
It should be soon.
——————
The Battle in the White Bone Cave yielded good results, they obtained five sets of White Bone Armor. Zhang Zhiyin distributed these to the five team members who did the most damage, and the other members were given other items such as crystal nuclei.
However, when he returned to the base, he got the report from Uncle Kao, about how there was an accident and Tang Xiaoli disappeared. Tang Li went with a friend on his own to find her, but none of them had returned yet.
Zhang Zhiyin looked up at the sky, they had spent a whole day in the White Bone Cave, and at this point, the sun had completely set.
Yin Xiaoxiang was alone, curled up on the window sill. It was rare that Xiao Mo did not accompany it.
Chen Guang was still unconscious. The ultra medicine could only cure surface wounds. To completely detoxify the venom out of his system, he had to find a medicinal herb called White Bone Grass. On the way back to the base, he’d already checked with his own refining medicine book. This sort of herb could only be found near Yu Huo Base. He tried to buy it from the online store, but the Item Store was under repair yet again.
Zhang Zhiyin’s heart was anxious, everything was happening all at once, but he still had to put on his usual calm and self-sufficient facade, appeasing Uncle Kao and reassuring him that he’d deal with everything going on, he then arranged for the players who came back after fighting in the battle to get some rest, and dealing with post-production work like item distribution.
After dealing with the urgent task at hand as quickly as possible, Zhang Zhiyin returned to his room and used the remaining Clairvoyance in his backpack to find out about the whereabouts of Tang Xiaoli. As expected, she and another ability user was locked in the underground dungeon in Yu Huo Base. However, Tang Li wasn’t seen with them.
The headquarters of Yu Huo Base was a monster site that was open only for players that had their ability raised to at least Level 10. There was also a related instance that hadn’t been opened yet. Zhang Zhiyin had never been there in the game, he’d only seen pictures of the scene from the official website.
There were probably a lot of dangerous things in there, but now the best approach was to personally investigate it.
The Item Store couldn’t be opened at the moment. He had an invisibility talisman and three teleportation talismans in his storage bag. If he used it appropriately, he could at least ensure that he would be able to come back to the base.
The transportation talisman turned into ashes at his fingertips, and then Zhang Zhiyin’s figure disappeared instantly from the room.
It was unknown when Xiao Mo suddenly appeared quietly. She gently picked up the restless Yin Xiaoxiang who wanted to chase after Zhang Zhiyin and lulled it to sleep.
The captain went to find Lord Boss, but I am with you, Your Highness.
The girl pouted her mouth and quietly held the cat in the shadow under the eaves, blending completely into the darkness.
——————
Zhang Zhiyin walked into the enemy base camp with the help of the invisibility talisman, carefully avoiding any person anywhere near him. After all, the talisman only hid him from the sight of others, it didn’t give him the ability to completely vanish.
The talisman was effective for one hour. Within this time frame, he had to find Tang Xiaoli and find a way to rescue the rest. Before that, he went to pick some of the White Bone Grass for Chen Guang, he had less than half an hour more.
He was lucky, and reached the underground dungeon without facing any hurdles.
Tang Xiaoli was on one side of the prison, waiting for her father to come back. Tang Li’s friend also stood anxiously next to the little girl.
Zhang Zhiyin snuck in and took out a gray key from his pocket. This was a master key. The original function of this key in the game was to open random treasure chests that were scattered through various maps. Later, it was sold at a discount, this was during the time when Zhang Zhiyin was angry at the company for deciding to freeze the Item Store in the middle of the night. He decided gave the company back a taste of its own medicine and and bought this key in an impulse. After calming down, he felt that this move was very childish, and so he threw the key into the storage bag and never touched it after that.
He hadn’t expected it to come in handy in such a situation.
The prisoners were locked in cage-like compartments which were surrounded by iron fences, but there was a grid of electricity between the prison cell and the fence in order to ensure that the prisoners couldn’t escape from their cells.
Zhang Zhiyin carefully tried not to make any noise as he inserted the key into the keyhole of the prison. As he did that, he said softly: “I’m Zhang Zhiyin, I’m here to bring you back.”
The dungeon was windy at night, and the blowing wind became a good sound muffler.
He had set the destination of the teleportation talisman to Thunder Unit Station, and now he only needed to teach them to use it.
Tang Li’s friend gently carried Tang Xiaoli. At the moment when the cell door opened, Zhang Zhiyin quickly gave the teleportation talisman and the antidote to her. Tang Xiaoli immediately tore the talisman at the center just like what Zhang Zhiyin had taught her to do.
The little girl was gone, but Tang Li’s friend was still in the same place.
Zhang Zhiyin clenched his jaw. The talisman was used by the player for short-distance teleportations. There was no instance of two players teleporting together before. In the world of <Tomorrow>, it was only possible to teleport one person at a time.
He handed the last one of his teleportation talisman to the man in front of him and quickly said: “The way to use it is the same.”
The man did not hesitate and simply tore the talisman.
At this time, the escape of the prisoners had been discovered. Relying on the invisibility talisman and taking advantage of the fact that there weren’t many guards coming in, Zhang Zhiyin rushed out of the underground prison.
Now, the invisible effect was gradually fading. The base’s guard was able to see his silhouette.
Zhang Zhiyin was in the central square of the base, which was empty and unobstructed. He weighed his options for a second and then ran into the building that he thought looked the most magnificent in the night.
A large number of guards were following him.
After entering the building, Zhang Zhiyin was keenly aware that the pace of the pursuers behind him had slowed down, and two of the small leaders seemed to have a dispute at the door.
Zhang Zhiyin also listened in, and could vaguely hear the words “Dr. Y”, “inside”, and “caution”.
Were they saying that Yin Nian was here? In this very building?
Zhang Zhiyin felt his heart skipping a beat.
By the time the pursuers had come to an agreement, they decided to go ahead and seize the bold intruder as per the base regulations.
Eight wind blades attacked Zhang Zhiyin, and Zhang Zhiyin completely avoided them thanks to his intuition honed by long-term combat. When he looked back, he saw four wind ability users were already chasing him, and both of them were at Level 6. White light were gathering in their hands, it was obvious that they were ready to let loose another wind blade at him.
It’s hard for two fists to beat four hands, and he was fighting in their home base; it was impossible for him to win the battle. To top it off, the Item Store couldn’t be opened at this crucial moment, and there was no other suitable means of escape in his hand…
Zhang Zhiyin’s brain was empty during this crisis, and he quickly took inventory of everything in his storage bag. Then, like a sparked flint stone, a wild idea occurred to him, a method he never even thought to consider before.
Zhang Zhiyin was once again attacked by eight wind blades, and he rolled into another corridor near him to avoid that onslaught, and clenched in his right hand was the transformation talisman he’d drawn from the lottery at that time.
Based on how Yin Nian loved and pampered himself that time, Zhang Zhiyin dared to bet that Yin Nian was probably dying to pet and put him in the palm of his hands.
Boss couldn’t possibly think of disregarding his own cat, right?
As long as he survived through the current crisis, he could easily escape from this base if the Item Store resumed its operation.
The guards who were hot on his tail just a moment ago lost track of the intruder. They looked at each other, but they didn’t have any clues to go on. There was a dead end in front of them. There were only two heavy black solid wooden doors that led straight to the central conference hall in the base.
“There is a cat.” The wind ability user who led the impromptu troop suddenly said.
Everyone craned their heads down and saw a white kitten raising its small stupid face, as if it had no idea of what was happening around it as it looked at them.
Like it was astonished and afraid, it mewled softly.
This whispering sound seemed to have summoned something. With this sound, the huge black wooden doors with complex patterns were quietly pushed open, creating a dull noise.
Zhang Zhiyin could only see a familiar pair of black leather shoes stepping forward and stopping right in front of him.