Chapter 1187: Extorting information

The black cat soon finished his cake.

He jumped onto Zhang Ying Hao’s shoulder and pointed his paw in a certain direction.

Meow!

The black cat called out.

Zhang Ying Hao drank the last of his liquor and said: “Let’s go”

Gu Qing Shan and Ye Fei Li both stood up, following Zhang Ying Hao toward the backdoor of the bar.

“Gentlemen”

A bar attendant courteously walked in front of the door.

“The Apocalypse outside still hasn’t ended, may I ask what kind of services you require?”

Zhang Ying Hao looked towards his black cat.

The black cat pointed his paw at the door again and firmly replied:

Meow!

Zhang Ying Hao casually replied: “We want to leave from this door”

The bar attendant replied: “You gentlemen must not know, in order to leave through this door, you require permission from the Laws of [Chaos]”

“Really now?”

Ye Fei Li offered him a gold coin.

“Please tell us the specifics down to every last detail” he stated.

The bar attendant did not receive the coin from his hand and instead bowed respectfully: “If you can pay the appropriate price for this information, I will gladly tell you about this door”

“Of course, please tell us” Ye Fei Li replied.

The bar attendant walked in front of the door and grabbed the doorknob: “I’m an attendant of the bar, as well as an information broker. So when I put my hands on his door, the Laws would manifest a secret room in correspondence”

He pulled the door open.

As he said, the other side really was a secret room with a long table and two rows of seats.

“Please”

The three of them followed the bar attendant into the room.

The door closed behind them.

This place was incredibly silent, completely isolated from the noises of the bar.

“Then, as esteemed guests of our bar, the first piece of information is free”

The bar attendant explained: “Within this world where the Apocalypse is constantly taking turns wreaking havoc, the Laws of [Chaos] had set up several residential areas, each of them the only locations in this world that can guarantee the safety of living beings”

“For example, the Nightshade Bar”

At this point, the bar attendant went silent.

The three of them waited for a bit before they realized.

——–that was already the first piece of information.

Ye Fei Li took out a bag of gemstones and put it all on the table.

“Please go on”

The bar attendant held the bag, estimated the content, then smiled:

“The requirements for entering each residential area is different, but as long as you can enter, you’ll be able to continue living inside for a long time”

“If one wishes to leave a certain residential area, they must go through the door of [Chaos] set up in that area in order to proceed to the next location”

The bar attendant went silent again.

The three of them had to wait for a bit longer before they understood.

However, this information was truly precious…

Ye Fei Li tossed out an entire trunk full of ancient gold coins and gemstones, spilling the content out on the floor.

Coins and gemstones filled the entire floor of the secret room, leaving no place to even stand up.

“Tell us everything you know all at once” Ye Fei Li demanded.

The bar attendant’s eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch in fear as he looked at the treasures all over the floor.

“When you want to leave your current residential area, simply place your hand on the door of [Chaos] and it will immediately know where you want to go”

He continued without stopping: “However, the gate of [Chaos] will declare a gamble to each person, and only by winning that gamble would you be transported to the location you wished”

“——–A word of caution, there are actually many dangerous residential areas in this world, the Nightshade Bar is one of the more decent ones that can at least guarantee safety, there’s no need for you to leave”

Gu Qing Shan asked: “What do we need to bet for that gamble?”

The bar attendant smiled: “Of course, that would be your lives”

Gu Qing Shan then asked: “Have you ever gone to any other residential areas?”

The bar attendant shook his head: “Not at all, I signed a contract with the bar to serve them for a thousand years, in exchange for the bar’s protection——- you need to understand, not everyone is as wealthy as you are”

Gu Qing Shan continued: “If wealth is the pass for the bar, what’s the pass for other residential areas?”

The bar attendant replied: “The other residential areas might not necessarily value wealth, they have tougher requirements of entry, and once you do not fulfill those requirements, there would be only one way to enter: that is to sign a contract as I have, to serve the residential area for the long years to come”

“If you can actually win the gamble, you need to prepare yourselves accordingly”

“Got it”

…

The three of them left the secret room.

The bar attendant no longer stopped them.

Gu Qing Shan put his hand on the door of [Chaos].

Instantly, a line of grey text appeared in front of their eyes:

[Due to your impressive wealth, you’ve managed to find the way to move through in the shortest possible time]

[Mortals who walk the path of Apotheosis, you will face a total of three gambles, which are, Extorting Information, Death Match, and Assassination respectively]

[Your betting chips are your own lives, if you win, you may pass; if you lose, you will immediately lose your lives]

[The gamble shall now begin!]

The grey lines of text slowly faded away.

A monster immediately appeared in front of them, which had a long tail, a pair of horns, and four hooves.

It had been tied up and pinned on the ground, but looked up and spat at them.

「 I won’t tell you a single thing! 」it shouted.

The three of them were silent.

Their gazes appeared a bit strange.

“This guy——” Ye Fei Li said.

“Looks like…” Gu Qing Shan hesitated.

“A bull?” Zhang Ying Hao concluded.

New lines of grey text appeared in front of their eyes:

[First match: Extorting Information]

[This is a warrior from the Primitive Oxen race that isn’t afraid of death]

[You must question and find out its goals and reasons for entering the Great Gate world from its own mouth]

[Time limit: 1 hour]

Gu Qing Shan excitedly said: “Primitive Oxen race… let me”

“No” Zhang Ying Hao stopped him, “We’re definitely going to pass this trial with that ability of yours, I think we should try and retain the chance for you to choose your supernatural ability for now”

“What do you mean?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“…I’ll give it a try first, if we can solve this without using supernatural abilities, then we’ll get to save that chance for later” Zhang Ying Hao replied.

“Sure” Gu Qing Shan stepped back.

Zhang Ying Hao stepped forward and rolled up his sleeves: “Extorting information, this one was actually also an old expertise of mine”

He ignored the Oxen monster’s reactions and began to caress the monster all over its body.

The atmosphere changed.

In the beginning, when the three of them tried to change the door of [Chaos], quite a few people were interested enough to gather around and watch.

But right now, Zhang Ying Hao was caressing this monster.

Everyone’s gazes turned a bit strange.

Zhang Ying Hao ignored everyone else’s gazes and slowly touched the monster’s body inch by inch with his hands.

“Oi, old Zhang, what exactly are you doing?” Ye Fei Li couldn’t help but ask.

Zhang Ying Hao was fully focused on caressing the monster and casually replied: “The Primitive Oxen race is quite a bit different from modern bulls, so I’m unfamiliar with them. I need to thoroughly examine him before I can tell the exact locations on his body, bones, and flesh that could induce pain”

He lightly pressed his hand against a gap between the monster’s ribs.

The monster began to howl like a slaughtered pig.

“Huh——– what are you screaming for? I still haven’t begun yet” Zhang Ying Hao scowled.

…

5 minutes later.

Zhang Ying Hao stood up.

He then pulled out a thin long box from his chest pocket.

Opening the chest, the content was revealed to be various needles, a pair of scissors, tweezers, daggers, spiral-tipped bolts, a pointy-tipped hammer, syringe, etc.

Zhang Ying Hao first pulled out a small gleaming knife and cut off a piece from the Oxen monster’s face.

He closed his eyes, carefully sniffed the piece of flesh a few times, and commented: “A bull’s face flesh is very rarely eaten, but it actually tastes quite decent…”

Gu Qing Shan received a set of kitchen utensils from Ye Fei Li and also rolled up his sleeves.

“This won’t need any supernatural abilities, I’ll help” he said.

Zhang Ying Hao nodded.

He then stabbed the small knife into the monster’s left chest and cut out a round piece.

「 AAarrrggh! I won’t tell you a single thing! 」the Oxen monster angrily roared.

Zhang Ying Hao completely ignored it and told Gu Qing Shan: “Here, this is quite a good piece of meat on his body. If you can, try to make it medium rare”

“Got it”

Gu Qing Shan began cooking.

A few moments later.

The meat was done.

Zhang Ying Hao received the meat on a plate and sat down in front of the monster.

He casually stabbed most of his tools into the places on the monster’s body that hurt the most, waited for it to scream its heart out for a while, then pulled them back out.

After that, he used the same knife he cut the meat from the Oxen monster earlier to cut the cooked piece of meat.

“Well who would’ve thought? A guy like you actually managed to produce meat of this quality”

While saying that, he was eating the meat right in front of the monster.

The Oxen monster could only stare speechlessly at this scene.

It was soaked in a layer of cold sweat that was still pouring out.

——–the physical pain was one thing.

But when someone sitting right in front of you ate the meat they cut from your body, while also chatting with you at the same time…

This had already far surpassed the Oxen monster’s wildest imagination.

After Zhang Ying Hao finished that piece of meat, he took out another smaller knife and crouched down.

He began to make small incisions on the monster’s head and stomach.

「 What are you trying to do? 」the Oxen monster couldn’t help but question.

“While you’re still alive and fresh, I’m going to eat your brain” Zhang Ying Hao answered indifferently.

The monster shivered for an instant.

It looked at this man, then at the other.

The one who cooked it earlier was preparing a saw, a corkscrew, as well as various spices.

The Oxen monster immediately spilled everything like a rapid cannon: 「 Guys, I made a mistake, I came to the world of [Chaos] in order to search for traces of the world-destroying shadow from the Age of Immemorial. I want to obtain its power, I beg you please don’t eat my brain; if you have to eat, please wait until after I die, I beg you 」

As soon as it declared this.

Instantly, it was gone from the bar.

Lines of text appeared in front of their visions:

[First gamble: Extorting Information (completed)]

[Congratulations, without using any supernatural powers, you’ve managed to win this gamble through your cruelty]

[Zhang Ying Hao, your cruelty had earned you the favor of Chaos]

[The cruelty towards an enemy is a kind of power in and of itself]

[If you cannot even show cruelty, then you are useless against the Apocalypse]

[The second gamble shall now begin]

[Death Match]

Gu Qing Shan collected the kitchen utensils and asked: “Have you ever tasted bull brain before?”

Zhang Ying Hao also collected all of his tools, clicked his tongue, then replied: “Bulls are so dumb, why would I eat their brains?”[1]

[1] I believe this is a reference to certain… creative dishes in Chinese history, where monarchs believe that whatever body parts you eat from animals will nurture that corresponding part on their body. This included: tiger’s penis, monkey’s brains, snake’s liver and hearts, etc.