Chapter 42 Turning into a Pig

"What's the current situation?" Nie Xuan hurried back to the research institute and asked the others.

Although the red-haired man hadn't said a single word after the call connected, it was enough to draw the full attention of the institute staff, who immediately dispatched personnel to seal off the building.

"Currently, forty-six people are missing. The entire twenty-eighth floor has been wiped out, and half the personnel on the twenty-seventh floor have vanished. The dungeon entrance is now closed," Team Leader Wu briefed him. "The only players we had inside were Sima Xiao'er, who happened to be on the twenty-eighth floor."

"I recall Sima Xiao'er was supposed to be at Happiness Residential Area today; why was he at Golden Light Building?" Nie Xuan said while reviewing the files of the missing personnel. Before Team Leader Wu could answer, he looked up. "Were they going after a target?"

Team Leader Wu nodded and pulled up a photograph. "We received a report this early morning. Zhu Tao, the general manager of Karen Building Materials Company, reported a cannibalistic Evolver. Xiao'er took twelve men and cooperated with the criminal police brigade to make an arrest. The person they were after is him."

The moment Nie Xuan saw the photograph, he stood up. "Xu Huo? He's a player, and furthermore, someone I'm currently trying to recruit."

"Of course I know that," Team Leader Wu gestured for him to calm down. "With so many missing persons cases lately and the need to investigate dungeon entrances, the matter of capturing Evolvers wasn't reported to me, so I was unaware of it previously."

"However, this is a good thing. Take a look at this."

He handed over a document. "Fresh off the press. City Luo apprehended the cannibal player Liu Mei based on clues provided by Xu Huo. Liu Yuanyuan was an alias."

Nie Xuan opened it and said in surprise, "A Class B rating, and he even obtained a dungeon boss's item?"

"Not just that. According to Liu Mei's confession, Xu Huo was the first to locate the stranded players and deduced that the Hot Spring Resort might have previously been a non-enclosed dungeon. This aligns with the documents issued by the Capital," Team Leader Wu said.

"Meaning, the game of Dimensional Rifts truly existed long before Evolvers ever appeared," Nie Xuan slowly sat back down.

"The Beheading Demon dungeon is supporting evidence." Team Leader Wu felt a mix of heaviness and relief. "Therefore, Xu Huo stumbling into the game is an opportunity for both us and the missing people."

"Out of the third-class seats on the 301st preliminary review train you were on, only one player survived, and he's still lying in the intensive care unit. For the first-class seats, two people came out including you. The special-class seats were completely wiped out. Only in the second-class seats did four people survive, and they even saved a third-class player."

"Although Han Ming, Liu Jia, and Wang Xiao慧 are still reluctant to say much, since you were on that train, it's easy to track down Xu Huo. Based on his performance on the preliminary review train, if conditions permit, he will save people."

Nie Xuan's brows remained tightly knitted. "What worries me right now is that hothead Sima Xiao'er. He cleared the preliminary review train by bribing the chef, has zero dungeon experience, and is hot-tempered. I'm afraid he'll ruin things."

Team Leader Wu patted his shoulder. "Right now, we can only wait."

*

Pitch black before their eyes.

The moment the special operations personnel vanished, Xu Huo knew he had encountered a dungeon. The instant he leaped from the window, his vision darkened. Immediately afterward, it felt as though he were wrapped in a thick, airtight layer of hide, and his entire body rolled downward along a sloped ramp.

His nasal cavity was filled with a stench of animal fur. His hands were stiff, his legs folded backward, and his limbs were bound so tightly he couldn't move. His mouth and eyes were likewise sealed shut. Lacking any sense of light, he rolled for several minutes before coming to a stop.

Upon landing, more than a dozen heavy objects continued to crash down incessantly from behind. They crowded into a narrow space, struggling and emitting muffled, indistinct groans.

Unable to see or speak in such a confined space, Xu Huo ignored the kicking and beating around him and listened intently to the surrounding sounds.

After about fifteen minutes, footsteps approached. Someone then unlocked the door and let out a hoarse laugh. "The goods are quite fresh this time. Let me count... forty-six in total."

"We won't use them all up in a day. Let's keep them penned up for now."

Following that came the sound of dragging. Amidst layer upon layer of overlapping whimpers, the sound of blades slicing through leather rang out rhythmically, in groups of three. With every single ring, another voice—whether weeping, angry, or pleading—grew clear. Gone was the previous muffled thud; in its place were shrill, piercing shrieks resembling the howling of beasts rather than human voices!

The process paused once when the man took all the previous individuals away, returning after a while to resume the operation.

Finally, it was Xu Huo's turn. He was hoisted up by one hand. With three quick slashes, a cool sensation swept across his eyes and mouth—his eyes could now open!

Greeting his sight was a tall, heavily mused foreign man with a red nose. The man dangled Xu Huo with one hand, muttered "mute," and tossed him aside.

With his legs bound backward, Xu Huo was forced to land on bent knees. His line of sight instantly dropped below the foreign man's waist. He looked up just in time to see the man grab a fat pig, quickly swipe a blade across its eyes and snout, after which the pig was able to open its eyes and squeal before being tossed back to the ground.

Only then did Xu Huo realize he was in a place resembling a warehouse. There was a square duct outlet where he had fallen in earlier; everyone must have tumbled down from there.

The people who had fallen down were all wrapped in a layer of pigskin and enclosed within a pen, their eyes and mouths tightly sealed. Only after the red-nosed man slashed open their eyes and mouths could they see and make sounds again—not normal speech, however, but wails, squealing just like pigs!

Had they truly turned into pigs just by being wrapped in pigskin?

Xu Huo saw the words "Good Taste Fresh Meat Supply Factory" printed on the red-nosed man's blackened apron, and his eyelids twitched violently:

Not only had they turned into pigs, but they were also about to be slaughtered!

In this brief moment, the red-nosed man finished his task and drove everyone forward.

Xu Huo followed the panicked crowd moving blindly ahead. As soon as they stepped outside, two people tried to flee. However, with skin wrapped around them, crawling forward with their front limbs long and hind limbs short, they couldn't even stand up. How could they possibly outrun an able-bodied person?

"Full of spirit, aren't they?" The red-nosed man laughed heartily, caught up to them, and smashed their pig heads in with two punches. Without waiting for the red and white fluids to spill out, he hoisted them up by their hind legs and hung them on hooks.

"Fresh pig brains. A nice dish for tonight's dinner."

Two people in the line began to retch. The red-nosed man knitted his brows. "You lot aren't sick pigs, are you? No one buys sick pork."

Everyone was startled. Even those who had been retching instinctively held their breath. Just as they were at a loss, a pig beside Xu Huo collapsed to the ground, squealing pitifully, looking as though it were on the verge of death.

The voice sounded like Manager Zhu from earlier.

Following that, two others imitated him and lay down. The others within their pigskins gleamed with hope in their eyes, as if they had caught a glimpse of a lifeline:

Since no one bought sick pork, could they escape this catastrophe?

However, before they could put this plan into action, the red-nosed man dragged the three of them away. "I'll butcher you lot today, lest you die of illness and become inedible."