Only ten minutes were left until midnight. The dim lights of the corridor stretched into the darkness.

With Xiao Bai’s help, Jing Xi effortlessly left the rest area.

There were surveillance cameras and security guards everywhere outside, but after staying here for three days, he had the layout in his mind. It wasn’t difficult to avoid everyone’s sight and get to the third basement level of the venue.

The spiral staircase of the emergency exit went down layer by layer. Jing Xi took out Xiao Hong from his terminal.

The mung bean-sized miniature robot quickly transformed in his palm into a pair of night-vision and thermal goggles.

The venue had an oval structure. The first basement level was mostly warehouses, storing various weapons and props needed for the fights.

Another part of the area was the waiting zone, where the contestants could rest and change their equipment before going on stage.

The second and third basement levels were where the contestants lived.

There were no signs indicating the difference between living on the second or third level.

Stepping into the third-level corridor, Jing Xi had Xiao Hong switch to infrared and thermal scanning mode.

These miniature robots were connected to his terminal, and the terminal’s main control chip was in his brain.

He could operate the robots with his mind.

His terminal had the military’s internal system installed, which could query the personal information of most people by scanning their faces, with the exception of confidential personnel and royalty.

Combined with these devices and the intelligent system, as long as Jing Xi’s gaze swept over, he would know who the recognized face belonged to.

The rooms here were densely arranged in a circular shape, and the corridors were very narrow, just like a prison.

When he got to a corner, a series of messy footsteps suddenly came from the front. Jing Xi pressed his body against the wall, hiding in the shadows of the corner.

A person ran past him in a hurry, his breathing heavy and unstable, his expression panicked, as if he was running for his life.

He looked around and chose another corridor.

Jing Xi frowned. Was that Chen Yao?

Soon, two AI patrol robots flew over from the corridor Chen Yao came from.

Jing Xi’s mind moved, and he activated the interference mode.

The terminal on his wrist emitted a faint radio wave, which interfered with the AI patrols’ scanning.

They passed in front of Jing Xi but acted as if they didn’t see him.

After the AI patrols flew away, Jing Xi immediately chased in the direction Chen Yao had run.

Just a few steps out, a bombing sound came from the front.

Jing Xi’s expression changed, and he quickened his pace.

Inside the metal corridor, two other AI patrols were chasing Chen Yao and shooting lasers at him.

As Chen Yao dodged in a panic, a laser grazed his leg, leaving a deep cut.

When Jing Xi arrived, his wrist had been pierced. He was clutching his leg and struggling to move on the ground, leaving two trails of blood behind him.

“I, I won’t run anymore. Don’t kill me!” Chen Yao cried and whimpered.

Just as the AI was about to fire at him, Jing Xi quickly picked up the military knife from the ground and threw it at the AI.

The gun’s muzzle was knocked off, and the laser beam hit the metal wall.

Jing Xi ran over in a few steps, grabbed Chen Yao by the back of his collar, and dragged him into a side corridor.

“Who are you?!” Chen Yao tried to hit Jing Xi’s hand away.

“Don’t move if you don’t want to die.” Jing Xi’s eyes were sharp, and his voice was cold.

The moment he saw Chen Yao crying and begging for mercy, he was very sure that this was not the person he was looking for.

Even in a desperate situation, that person would never show such an expression.

Feeling threatened, Chen Yao’s hand shrank back, and he didn’t dare to move anymore.

Although the terminal’s radio waves could interfere with the AI’s scanning, the sound of footsteps could not be hidden.

In a few seconds, the AI patrols chased after them.

Jing Xi dragged the man and tried to open the doors on both sides.

They were all locked and couldn’t be opened at all.

Seeing him looking for a place to hide, Chen Yao shouted, “D218!”

Jing Xi looked up at the door number. This was D203.

Whoosh.

A laser beam hit the wall behind them.

Jing Xi warned, “Don’t talk.”

After speaking, he dragged the man and pressed him against the wall.

The AI patrols flew in, their heads scanning back and forth in the corridor.

Seeing them approaching, Chen Yao was so scared he started to cry. He instinctively wanted to get up and run, but Jing Xi held him down.

“W—!”

Seeing that he was about to speak, Jing Xi pinched his mouth with two fingers, looking very disgusted.

Chen Yao’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously. He looked down at the hand on his mouth, trembling, then looked at the AI patrols flying in front of his eyes. His heart was beating so fast he felt like he would pass out at any moment.

But strangely, the AI seemed to be unable to see them and flew right past them.

After the AI patrols were far away, Jing Xi held his arm and led him toward D218.

Chen Yao swiped his iris on the sensor, and the door opened.

The room was very small, less than twenty square meters, and he could see to the end at a glance.

A small bed against the wall, a wardrobe, and a table were all the furniture. There was a glass-separated bathroom on the side.

“Hiss ah—!” As soon as the door closed, Chen Yao started to wail.

Seeing that his wound was bleeding nonstop, Jing Xi said calmly, “Where’s the first aid kit?”

Chen Yao: “In the w-wardrobe.”

Jing Xi took out the first aid kit and placed it on the table. Seeing Chen Yao extend his hand, he coldly looked away. “Do it yourself.”

Chen Yao glanced at him, looking a little resentful. He shivered and opened the first aid kit himself, taking out the hemostatic device.

“Thanks for just now. Were you also tricked into coming here?”

Tricked?

Since he was mistaken for a contestant, Jing Xi played along and asked, “I just got here and heard the AI attacking you. What, are you trying to run away?”

Chen Yao casually wiped the sweat from his face, sniffling, his voice a little hoarse. “Yeah.”

Jing Xi: “You can make a lot of money here. Why would you run?”

After painstakingly placing and securing the hemostatic device on his leg and turning on the power, Chen Yao looked up at Jing Xi and hesitated. “Since you saved me, I’ll give you a piece of advice. Don’t think about making big money. Run if you can.”

“Why?” Jing Xi looked at him with a suspicious expression. “Are you afraid I’ll dilute the prize money? Bullying me because I’m new?”

These words made Chen Yao believe his identity even more.

“Heh, I’d give you all my money, but you’d have to be alive to spend it!” Chen Yao looked at him as if he were an idiot. “Look at the huge commotion I just caused. Did anyone come out?”

Jing Xi’s face was expressionless. “Not everyone is as enthusiastic as me.”

“It’s because they know I can’t escape!” Chen Yao was angered by him again. “When you came in, did they tell you that you could get 1% of the prize money if you won?”

“Is that not true?” Jing Xi retorted.

Chen Yao hissed and treated the wound on his wrist.

“There is indeed a 1% share, but it’s on a ledger! Winning once isn’t enough. You have to win a second time to get 50% of the previous prize money, and win a third time to get the remaining 50% of the first prize and 50% of the second prize. If you lose, you get nothing.”

Jing Xi: “What if they refuse to participate in the next one?”

Chen Yao sneered. “You can’t refuse. It’s written in the contract that it’s voluntary participation. If you refuse on the spot, you have to compensate the casino ten billion, either by paying or dying.”

Jing Xi lowered his eyes to hide his emotions. The words Chi Yao had said earlier suddenly flashed in his mind.

[Once you enter here, you’ve left the normal world and can’t go back.]

But if that was the case, was the person he commissioned to take someone out for three hundred million deceiving him?

Jing Xi: “Did they say how many times you have to participate to get out?”

“No!” Saying this, Chen Yao was so angry he slapped the table. “I secretly asked others two days ago, and no one has ever left here alive. We are just tools for those capitalists to make money!”

Jing Xi: “Making quick money in an underground casino like this must come with high risks. It’s definitely not the same as a regular job.”

“Who would be willing to come here if they weren’t desperate?!” Chen Yao said indignantly. “My adoptive father owed a huge debt and left it for me to pay. If I had any other way, I wouldn’t have come here.”

Although he had given up hope, Jing Xi still probed. “What about your biological parents?”

“They’re dead!” Chen Yao’s expression turned fierce. “They sold me to a black intermediary for a high price, but they were killed by the intermediary instead.”

Jing Xi: “You saw it with your own eyes?”

“Of course.” Chen Yao came back to his senses and looked at him warily. “Are you very interested in my past?”

It was indeed not him.

Jing Xi calmly looked away. “I was just a little curious because I was also abducted.”

Chen Yao was stunned, then laughed sarcastically. “People who buy children these days are not good people. Being abducted will never lead to a good outcome.”

These words made Jing Xi’s face change drastically. The hand on the table suddenly clenched.

If an ordinary family was infertile, they would choose to wait in line at the gene center. Through genetic engineering, they could cultivate their own children.

Although the cost was high, the child would be biological.

People who bought children from intermediaries were either very poor or had other motives.

After all, buying a child was much cheaper than cultivating one, and it was ready-made and faster.

Thinking of that child suffering in a place he didn’t know about, Jing Xi’s heart felt like it was being pierced with needles.

He took a deep breath before calming down. “You said you asked others. Are they not planning to escape?”

“They know they can’t escape, so why bother running?” Chen Yao wrapped the wound on his hand and moved to his leg. As if thinking of something, he said casually, “But they are all so strong. They even have different numbers carved on their arms. I wonder if the casino carved them on.”

Jing Xi’s eyes flashed. “The ones who came in at the same time as you, they don’t have numbers on their arms?”

Chen Yao shook his head, his expression heavy. “They’re all dead.”

The people with numbers on their arms should be in a different situation than Chen Yao and the others.

Were members of the Ghost Brigade pretending to be here to make quick money?

This thought flashed through Jing Xi’s mind, but he immediately denied it.

With the Ghost Brigade’s strength, they could earn hundreds of millions or even billions by robbing a single ore mine. There was no need for them to come to a place like this.

It might be related to Chi Yao, who also had a number carved on his arm.

But now was not the time to investigate Chi Yao’s past.

Although Chen Yao wasn’t the person he was looking for, his name had “yao” in it.

Since he had already intervened, he couldn’t just leave him.

As soon as Chen Yao heard that Jing Xi was going to take him out tonight, he immediately agreed.

The next fight was at 9 AM the next morning. God knows if he could win this time.

Two people running away together had a better chance than one person alone.

It took Chen Yao twenty minutes to stop the bleeding. Jing Xi took a military knife from his room, picked it up, and told him to follow.

If they were secretly being sent back to the original winery at night, a submarine would definitely approach, and they could safely get on land by getting into the submarine.

The AI patrols in the corridor increased. There were five or six of them patrolling almost every intersection. However, with the terminal’s radio wave interference, the two walked very smoothly.

Chen Yao was shocked.

What kind of treasure could make the AI patrols not see them!

So powerful!

When they got to Zone B, Chen Yao’s eyes lit up as he passed a door. He went back without thinking.

“Brother Zhao?”

He ran to the door and knocked a few times in an irregular pattern. This was his and Brother Zhao’s secret code.

Jing Xi’s full attention was on observing the AI patrols, and he didn’t expect Chen Yao to turn back.

By the time he reached out to grab him, it was too late.

Chen Yao had already left the interference range.

Almost instantly, the two teams of AI patrols at the ends of the corridor all turned and flew toward them.

“Come back.” Jing Xi hissed.

“Wait, let’s take Brother Zhao with us!” Chen Yao explained. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have known how much of a scam this place is.”

Having no choice, Jing Xi could only walk toward him.

But just as he took a step, the door opened, and an Alpha with a face full of bumps and bloodshot eyes appeared in his sight.

“Holy crap!” Chen Yao took half a step back in fear.

Almost simultaneously, a laser beam flew past him.

These symptoms were very similar to the gold-masked man that night.

Jing Xi frowned. He saw the Alpha’s eyes suddenly turn fierce, and his right hand moved slightly. He said to Chen Yao, “Get out of the way!”

Chen Yao hadn’t even stabilized his footing when a fist came straight at his face.

“Who the hell are you?! Where’s Brother Zhao?!” Chen Yao ran away in a panic.

Whoosh!

Another laser beam grazed his butt.

Jing Xi took out the military knife and held it in a reverse grip. The back of the knife blocked Brother Zhao’s fist, and the handle hit a certain spot on his wrist.

Brother Zhao’s hand went numb and fell down. He quickly used his other hand to attack.

Jing Xi didn’t want to get into a long fight. He grabbed Chen Yao by the back of his collar and took him out.

But in that short delay, both sides of the corridor were already blocked by a large number of AI patrols.

“Again?!” Chen Yao shouted, scared by the fist coming at his face.

With such a loud voice, they would be discovered even in interference mode.

Jing Xi only had one military knife on hand. It was too difficult to deal with these AIs from a distance and take care of someone else at the same time.

He looked at both sides of the corridor and chose the side with fewer AI patrols.

The military knife flipped in his hand, and he aimed it at the nearest AI patrol and threw it.

The military knife hit the AI patrol’s main control route dead on, instantly disabling it, and it fell from the air.

As the knife flew out, Jing Xi dodged the crisscrossing laser beams and ran over quickly.

When he passed the disabled AI patrol, he casually pulled out the military knife. He used the wall of the corridor to leap up, and as he flipped backward, he finished off the second AI patrol with one strike and kicked the third one hard with his long leg.

A laser beam grazed his hair and hit the floor in front of him.

In just a few seconds, he had taken out three AIs.

“Save me, big shot!”

Chen Yao’s shout came from behind. Jing Xi tilted his head to look.

The one named Brother Zhao seemed to have lost his mind after being stimulated. He was constantly attacking Chen Yao, his moves were ruthless, and he was making a low growl like a wild beast.

Jing Xi noticed that his nails had become long and sharp, very similar to Tie Xiong’s that day.

Qinchun had said that this was a change that only happened when a person’s emotions were stimulated.

The AI patrols had a shared vision function, and the commotion here quickly attracted all the AI patrols in the area.

There were AI patrols in front and behind them, and an unknown enemy. The scene was chaotic.

Two fists could not defeat four hands. Jing Xi didn’t have a good weapon in his hand and had to ensure Chen Yao’s safety, so he gradually became exhausted.

One AI patrol identified Jing Xi through its sound system and aimed its gun at him.

Bang!

A bullet pierced the metal shell.

The AI patrol crashed to the ground, emitting black smoke.

Jing Xi noticed the commotion behind him. Just as he was about to turn around after dealing with the ones in front, the AI behind him had already been disabled.

The bullet had hit the AI’s control chip, which was the size of a peanut.

“I told you to commission me. You just wouldn’t listen.”

Hearing the voice, Jing Xi looked up.

Through the gaps of the AI patrols, he saw Chi Yao’s smiling eyes.

Chi Yao shot them one by one, and in just a few moments, he dealt with the team of AIs here. He pulled a gun from the back of his waist and threw it to Jing Xi.

“Remember to pay me back with your body.”

Jing Xi raised his hand to catch it, slid the slide, and aimed the gun at Chi Yao.

Chi Yao walked closer unhurriedly, watching him pull the trigger. The bullet grazed his ear and hit an AI that was chasing them from behind.

Jing Xi lowered his hand, his voice calm. “Whatever you did to me, I’ll do it back to you. You’d better think carefully before you speak.”

In this dangerous and chaotic scene, Chi Yao was as calm as an outsider.

He nodded unhurriedly and smiled. “So if I kiss you, you’ll kiss me back?”

Jing Xi: “…”

Damn it.