Chapter 787: Collector
“Calamity Ghost appears at Red Alley. We can push all the things that had happened here to it.” Han Fei changed his clothes and led the two special citizens to the sixth-floor elevator lobby. In the past, Rusted Stairs would guard this place, and it was the most dangerous and busiest place. Once the elevator panel lit up, everyone would be nervous because no one knew what would be coming out. However, the elevator lobby on the sixth floor was empty. The elevators were shut, and all the lights were out.
“The cleaner told us to get to the 10th floor. We can use Calamity Ghost as an excuse to communicate with the cleaners on the 10th floor.” Han Fei took out the elevator card and tried it a few times. The elevator didn’t respond, but Han Fei’s heart pounded faster. The monster that came from the red sea was approaching.
“Are we going to the 10th floor to ask for help?” Fatdog had a bad impression of the cleaners. “Those people are rats blinded by greed. They will not help us.”
“I don’t plan to ask them to help us. I plan to take down the 10th floor.” Han Fei still had no idea how to leave the skyscraper. He was powerless alone. Therefore, he needed to gather more allies. “Soon, another force will appear in this building to set up some new rules.”
Sister Hong was worried after hearing that. “Even though I haven’t seen God, I can hear from the Disciples that only God can decide the rules. We’re only worms struggling in his palms.”
“So what if we’re worms? Have you not heard of poisonous worms that can kill people with a bite?” Han Fei suppressed his anxiety. He swiped the chef’s card for elevator 11. The rusted doors slowly opened. The inside of the booth was very clean like a monster would often lick away the trash and blood inside.
Fatdog was too large so Han Fei had him stay outside. The others followed him into the elevator. As the elevator doors slowly closed, an extremely oppressive feeling pressed down on him. Every cell in his body resisted. The number on the panel changed very slowly. Han Fei didn’t dare to let his guard down. When the number reached 9, the rising elevator suddenly stopped. A few seconds later, the elevator doors creaked open. There was a dim corridor outside.
“Someone pressed for the elevator to stop on this floor, so where are they?” The elder and Han Fei hid behind Li Rou. No one dared to do anything.
“I remember this floor should be really normal. There’s no organization like Red Alley or casino. It’s a relatively safe floor.” The light in the elevator shone out into the corridor. Sister Hong pressed the button for the doors to close. As the doors slowly closed, she took out a small compact mirror from her purse. At the last moment, she kicked the mirror out. Han Fei understood what she was trying to do. He focused on the mirror. Through the mirror, Han Fei and Sister Hong saw something terrifying. Standing outside their elevator was a monster that had torn eyes and lips! The whole face was about to fall, but he was still laughing silently. It was scary.
The elevator continued to rise. Sister Hong wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead. “Did you see that? There was a Deviant standing outside the elevator!”
“Is that a Deviant?” If not for his low Life Points, Han Fei wanted to touch the monster so that the system could examine him.
“A normal person would have died already in that state!” Sister Hong shivered, “But shouldn’t the ninth-floor elevator lobby be guarded by Rusted Stairs? Why is there a Deviant at the door? Has God slumbered for too long that various monsters have emerged?”
“That might be good news for us.” Han Fei nodded.
“I don’t think anything can ever be bad news for you.” The elder lamented. It was good to have a positive outlook on life, but Han Fei was overly optimistic. The ancient elevator 11 finally stopped. The rusted doors opened, and the dim light shone on their faces. “This floor is quite lively.”
The 10th floor and the 9th floor were just one floor apart, but they were likely completely different places. The 9th floor was dark and quiet, but the 10th floor had lights installed on every corridor. There were bargaining sounds, arguing sounds, and running sounds. The existence of bargaining sounds meant that there were certain rules on this floor. There was no bargaining at Red Alley. It was often live or die.
“The two of us have conflicts with the Disciples. We’ll need you to lead the way.” Han Fei and the elder shielded their faces. Sister Hong was very reliable. She soon returned with the cleaner responsible for the 10th floor.
“Are you Bai Cha? I don’t care what happened at Red Alley. If you need my help, it depends on your sincerity.” A mousy, small man looked at Han Fei with impatience.
“A calamity ghost has appeared on the sixth floor, and everyone is dead.”
“And how is that my problem?” The small man blew at his empty palms.
“Bring me to the Rusted Stairs’ boss on the 10th floor, and this is yours.” Han Fei took out a bag of bone coins and tossed it over. Instantly, the small man’s face turned up with a smile.
“I’ll bring you over now. But a warning for you. That person doesn’t have a good temper.” The small man was very happy. He had no idea that the last person who took money from Han Fei had already disintegrated into ashes.
They walked through the busy corridors. The 10th floor was more populous than the other floors. Most of the residents moved here from the other floors. This proved the capability of the 10th-floor manager.
They turned the corner and pushed through a secret door. Han Fei soon saw the other side of the 10th floor. At the places where the lights couldn’t shine, there were a lot of skeletons. Their flesh had been scraped clean. Everything usable had been exploited.
“What a place of extreme selfishness and greed.” Han Fei’s good impression of the 10th floor was gone.
“Yes. Those selfless people can come to this floor to provide their flesh and blood to the selfish people. We will give them respect like honoring their names before sucking on their blood and marrow.” The small man revealed a mocking smile. “Will you be a selfish person or a selfless person?”
“I’d rather be a fair person.”
“There is no fairness in this world.” The small man scoffed.
“There is. Killing everyone is a kind of fairness.” Han Fei smiled. This skyscraper was where the dirtiest part of humanity was gathered. He knew what to do.
“Are you a comedian? You do love to joke.” The small man pulled open the door. Soft light hit the floor, and a luxurious and clean room appeared before them. This was Han Fei’s first time encountering a room like this below floor 50.
“Zhang Shu, how can you be so impolite to our guests?”
The curtains opened, and a well-dressed man walked out. He was holding a perfect child’s skull.
“Hello. The cleaner who was murdered by the Night Police told me to come to the 10th floor to search for a Night Police with a camera before he died. The Night Police should be the key to killing the Calamity Ghost.” To complete the mission, Han Fei volunteered to shake the man’s hand, but the man kept his focus on the child’s skull.
Using Art Appraisal, Han Fei noticed that the skull’s size was disproportionate to the bone age. It was like a child had been trapped inside a cage since they were young. Their body kept growing but not their head.
“Your skull is rare, but this kind of creation forced through external manipulations is not art. It’ll be looked down upon by people from above floor 50.” Han Fei gave his review. Hearing that, the man turned around with displeasure in his eyes.
“Are you a collector? If you can help me…” Han Fei approached the man and whispered, “I can help you get rare items from above floor 50, even creations with God’s presence.”
“Creations with God’s presence?” The man’s eyes widened. He told the others to leave while he led Han Fei deep into his room. Many gory collections were showcased in the room behind the curtains. The man proudly showed them off to Han Fei. “These are my collections, but there are not many who can appreciate them on this floor. Since you can see the problem on the skull, you should be a collector too, right?”
“Some people like to collect the victims’ clothes, organs, or skulls, but I like to collect sins. I will turn all the criminals into samples and list out their sins.” Han Fei’s smile was very gentle and scholarly. “There are now only two of us in this room. If I kill you, do you think your collection will take revenge for you?”
Before the man could react, a giant creature crawled out of Han Fei’s ghost tattoo. The maw dripping with Soul Poison opened before him!
“Do you know? After a body affected by Soul Poison is burned away, the bones will be pure black in color. That is a rare collection.” Han Fei stared at the man who kept shaking his head. “As a collector, I’m sure you’ll appreciate that.”