012: The System's New Gameplay
Underground space, dim lighting, occasional squeaks and faint rustling sounds.
Li Cha’s hood was removed, and under Mary’s guidance, he was led deeper into the dungeon.
Mary, dressed in a sergeant’s uniform with a red beret, said, “You said your ability is prayer. Whether that’s true or not, it seems you have some skill when it comes to dealing with people.”
Li Cha asked, “So, whose lady am I supposed to deal with?”
Mary paused for a moment and said, “Li Cha, do you think I betrayed you? Don’t forget, you invited me upstairs yourself.”
Li Cha replied, “No way, I was just a little curious. But Officer Mary, I thought I had already fooled you. I want to know where I went wrong.”
“Where?” Mary couldn’t help but smile charmingly. “I did believe you spent the night with me, but I’ve never been with a man.”
What?
If Li Cha understood correctly, that meant the madam of the Old Shock Tavern was still a virgin.
Damn!
Li Cha was speechless, finally realizing where he had lost.
On the first day in Saint An City, Li Cha checked into the Old Shock Tavern.
Wendy, a part-time waitress, asked if he wanted other services, generously offering companionship for the night.
Then the system popped up, reiterating that everything could be traded.
On the way upstairs, Li Cha overheard some patrons talking with Madam Mary.
Following the principle of probing and maximizing profit, Li Cha declined the girl and chose Madam Mary.
But the result was the opposite.
If he had left Wendy in the room, the income would definitely be lower, but he wouldn’t have been exposed.
On the contrary, it was a 100% certainty he would be found out!
Li Cha covered his face.
Mary had never been with a man before.
She spent the night with Li Cha, clearly satisfied, but seeing no change in herself, she immediately realized there was something seriously wrong with him!
In the dim corridor, Li Cha said, “Looks like I’m just unlucky. The men you knocked on the door for, Mary, and then never showed up again — they probably met the same fate as me.”
Mary’s military boots echoed with a “tap tap” as she said, “No, they were all targets for MI6 executions.”
Li Cha was speechless.
A beautiful madam knocking at midnight.
He thought it would be exciting and wild; with her beauty, even if he was eventually crushed, it would be bearable.
But in reality, all they faced was a silenced bullet.
Li Cha said again, “So if I behave and keep myself clean, I wouldn’t end up like this?”
Mary glanced at him. “Are there men who don’t cheat? Don’t struggle, kid. The tavern is one of MI6’s outposts in the outer city. Even if you stay locked in your room all day, we’ll still find out everything about you.”
Well then.
Li Cha gave up.
At the same time, Mary stopped in front of a cell door.
“We’re here.”
Mary took out a key and unlocked the door.
Inside was a middle-aged dwarf with disheveled hair, his face a wreck from torture.
“Mary…” the dwarf, shackled hand and foot, croaked hoarsely, “I didn’t expect you to come see me.”
Mary stood firm, arms crossed. “I didn’t expect the one who betrayed us to be you, Hutton.”
The dwarf Hutton replied, “Betrayal? No, I just couldn’t stand that young lady who was kicked out of the imperial capital.
Do you remember how she was when she first arrived in Saint An? She didn’t even understand the basic rules of intelligence.
We taught her everything, hand by hand.
And what happened? She succeeded and turned around to piss all over us!”
“Enough!” Mary said. “No matter your reasons, you betrayed MI6. Tell us everything you know. Maybe there’ll be a good outcome.”
Hutton sneered bitterly, “Sacrificing myself for the cause, huh? At least that way my brother won’t be implicated.”
There was a third person in the cell.
That was Li Cha.
Looking at the pits and sores on his body, some already festering, Li Cha suddenly felt he should thank Harden and Falken.
That morning, as the one being interrogated, he’d only taken two punches.
Compared to dwarf Hutton, Li Cha was incredibly lucky.
At this moment, Mary said to Li Cha, “Your turn.”
Li Cha tentatively asked, “Officer Mary, what’s my mission?”
“To pry information out of him. The more, the better.”
So it was an interrogation mission.
Li Cha was speechless.
How did interrogation rooms on TV work?
Harsh torture!
They’d already done that.
Smashing Hutton’s thing with a brick?
Not a bad backup plan.
Li Cha asked, “Officer, I don’t know anything. I don’t even know where to start.”
Mary said, “He’s Hutton, Shock’s older brother, our former comrade. Unfortunately, he betrayed us.”
That was it.
“Has he been in custody for a while?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see the previous interrogation records?”
“You can.”
Before long,
Li Cha received over a hundred pages of interrogation records.
More precisely, records from the past half-month.
Basic questions like name, age, and address were repeated daily.
Li Cha skipped those meaningless questions and focused on the important ones.
For example: “When did you start betraying MI6?”
For the first three times, Hutton denied it.
Later, he admitted it, but his answers on the timing differed each time.
Li Cha frowned as he continued reading, then asked Mary for confirmation, “Officer Mary, these are free to view, right?”
Mary said, “Yes.”
Li Cha replied, “Oh, sorry, just a personal habit. I grew up poor and feared spending money the most. Since leaving home, I’ve often been taken advantage of.”
It seemed someone in the yin-yang cell was being ignored.
Luckily, Li Cha’s reputation for being relentless with his words was already established, so Mary paid him no mind.
Meanwhile—
“Ding dong”~
Notification: The trade list has been refreshed. Please check promptly.
Available for purchase:
[Calming Flower], [Glowing Grass], [Li Cha’s Stamina], [Mary’s Time], [Freya’s Time], [Li Cha’s Conscience].
Six icons, the last two being the most expensive, costing a full gold coin each.
Li Cha thought there’d be no surprises, but flipping back to the first page, he suddenly found a whole bunch of new items he could sell to the system.
[Hutton’s Intelligence 1]: Hutton betrayed MI6 one month ago, worth 0 copper coins.
[Hutton’s Intelligence 2]: Hutton betrayed MI6 half a month ago, worth 0 copper coins.
[Hutton’s Intelligence 3]: Hutton betrayed MI6 half a year ago, worth 80 copper coins.
[Hutton’s Intelligence 4]: Hutton did not betray MI6, worth 5 silver coins!
…
Li Cha could sell the intelligence he knew to the system?
Wait a minute!
The prices shown by the system were clear and explicit.
Over the past few days, Li Cha had learned the system never made losing deals.
In other words, those intelligence entries worth zero were definitely false.
By contrast, the ones with value were true.
“Damn!”
Li Cha discovered a new way to play the system.
Wait!
Hutton’s betrayal supposedly happened half a year ago, worth 80 copper coins, meaning the timing was likely accurate.
But the intelligence that he didn’t betray was worth 5 silver coins!
That meant it was also true, and even more important than the previous entry.