After confirming that Bai Liu and Spades would join the army, Guy asked them to wait while he and Alex finished their shifts, promising to take them to fill out the registration forms afterward.
Alex quietly sorted the collected corpses, sadness etched on his face — he was still a new soldier, and the loss of life weighed heavily on him.
Spades' eyes kept drifting to the corpses. Although his face betrayed no emotion, Bai Liu noticed the restless movement of his fingers.
These bodies were all bonus task points, and Spades probably wanted to take them from Alex.
But these were Alex's comrades.
Bai Liu stepped closer to Spades, leaned in, and warned in a low voice, smiling calmly: "Taking the corpses will lower Alex's favorability. Don't you want to complete the main storyline mission with higher points?"
Spades hummed and glanced at the corpses again, a hint of regret in his expression.
Guy, also helping to sort the bodies, remained mentally stable despite his grief — his psychological resilience far stronger than Alex's.
Passing by Bai Liu and Spades, Guy teased with a smile, "You've just waited a little for us, and now you two are already thinking about kissing? What a good relationship."
Bai Liu, stepping on Spades' foot, said nothing.
Spades asked curiously, "Why kiss—?"
Bai Liu instantly covered Spades' mouth and turned, a smile on his face. "I'm in love with him. It's rare to have a moment alone without others in the town."
Guy understood immediately. He smiled knowingly. "You can go outside to be alone, but be careful — the same thing happened when Alex and I fell in love."
He paused, a shadow crossing his expression. "If you really want to join the army and fight in this war… then seize every chance to spend time together. These moments are rare."
With that, Guy kicked Bai Liu and Spades gently out of the tent.
The two glanced at each other.
Spades, still curious, asked persistently, "What is a kiss?"
Bai Liu placed a hand to his forehead, thought for a moment, then decided not to overcomplicate it. "A kiss is when one person's lips touch another person's skin. That's a kiss."
"I know that." Spades' eyes moved down to Bai Liu's lips. "Kissing on the lips is the most special kind of kiss. It can only happen between men and women who have a special relationship."
Bai Liu pursed his lips involuntarily as Spades' gaze lingered. He turned his head slightly, and his lips flushed a light pink.
"You knew, yet you still asked?"
His tone was faintly annoyed, but soft enough that it seemed more troubled than angry — a subtle emotion that drew attention in a very different way.
He became quiet, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath to regain control and prevent Spades from leading him astray.
When Bai Liu was a child, he had been easily influenced by Xie Ta. Even after ten years, he found it difficult not to be led by certain people — like Spades.
Spades, oblivious, exclaimed, "What I don't understand is why Guy thinks we're kissing."
"We don't have a special male-female relationship, right?" His voice was calm.
Bai Liu's breath caught for a moment. Slowly, he opened his pure black eyes, withdrawing all complicated emotions in an instant.
"Yes." His voice held a faint smile. He turned his head, expression perfectly calm. "Of course, we don't have any special male-female relationship. But Guy and the others misunderstand us. That makes them feel closer to us and makes it easier to complete our mission."
He raised his gaze. "So we have to pretend we have a special relationship in front of them."
Spades fell silent for a moment, his expression serious as he processed the explanation.
Bai Liu waited patiently. Finally, Spades looked up. "Kissing can happen between men, too, right?"
"Yes." Bai Liu replied. "Special relationships can exist between men as well. Guy and Alex are an example of such a relationship."
Spades' eyes widened with realization. "So that's the special relationship we're supposed to imitate?"
Bai Liu nodded, then added with a smile, "Of course, we don't have such a relationship ourselves. We only need to act this way in front of these NPCs. Otherwise, maintain a social distance between Mr. Spades and me."
There was a subtle coldness hidden in his smile and words. "Because I hate Mr. Spades. Our positions are hostile. Stay away from me."
Spades paused. "I don't hate you."
"I'm looking forward to playing the game with you," he added, lowering his head, eyes on his dirty shoes as he flicked the whip calmly. "You're the first player I've seen who isn't afraid of me. I quite like you."
Bai Liu, ready to distance himself, paused for a moment. He quickly smiled, feigning nonchalance. "But I don't like you." He took a step away.
Spades said, "Oh," and fell silent.
They stood motionless, fifty centimeters apart, both looking away, ignoring each other.
Bai Liu idly adjusted his system panel. Spades lowered his head to polish the lines on his whip. It felt as if their hands had suddenly sprouted flowers — they repeatedly checked their equipment without glancing at one another.
Before entering this game, Bai Liu had called Tang Erda and prepared a communication prop for them — a satellite phone.
In the game pool, the dungeon used league mode. Everyone's system panel was cut off and blocked, equivalent to a computer being disconnected from the Internet. The panel could not connect to stores, forums, or other players.
In other words, no one could use this "computer" except the players themselves.
Even Bai Liu's soul paper currency skill was cut off from the "network," and the portion of the system panel he could access was greatly reduced.
The warehouse was a "networked" function, and as an external visitor to the "computer," Bai Liu could not use it.
What he could use were simple functions, such as adjusting panel values and using soul skills.
Bai Liu couldn't use items from the warehouse to communicate with Tang Erda or the others, so he needed to prepare communication equipment.
He was currently experimenting with many types of communication props. In the previous dungeon, he had discovered a device that was relatively stable across most dungeons and extreme maps — a satellite phone.
The satellite phone had degraded upon entering this dungeon, turning into a bulky, outdated radio that was cumbersome to operate.
But in a situation where the two parties weren't talking… Bai Liu felt there was no better time to use it.
Fortunately, the device included a manual. Its operation was closer to a downgraded mobile phone than a large radio, so it was not difficult to use. Soon, Bai Liu contacted Tang Erda and Liu Jiayi, ordering them to join the army and meet him at the registration point.
Tang Erda's reply came quickly: [I saw someone triggered the main plot mission — was that you?]
Bai Liu glanced at Spades, who was sneaking toward him with an indifferent expression. [Me and Spades, of the Killer Sequence.]
Tang Erda: [You and Spades? If both of you triggered the main plot mission of this army camp, you should belong to this side. Then why did the other people in the Killer Sequence join the enemy army?]
Bai Liu raised an eyebrow. [Others joined the enemy?]
Tang Erda: [Yes. I saw them wandering in the tents, letting themselves be discovered by the enemy. Once captured, they quickly surrendered and became enemy soldiers. Since Spades is in this camp, why did they join the enemy?]
Bai Liu chuckled. [Because right now, they and Spades aren't teammates.]
Tang Erda: [?]
Bai Liu said he would explain later, once he joined the army. He put away the device, turned his head slowly, and looked at Spades, who was already posted behind him. With a smile, he said, "Looks like your teammates are determined to teach you a lesson. I guess they found you hiding under the bed during their patrols, but they didn't point it out."
Spades corrected him: "We were found hiding under the bed, and you were on the outside."
Bai Liu pretended not to hear and brushed off the comment. "Judging by the way your tactician chose the camp, he deliberately allowed you to trigger the main NPC mission here and then select the enemy camp — he wants to make you lose this game through head-to-head confrontation."
"He's trying to establish the majesty of a tactician in you," Bai Liu added with an amused smile. "It seems the Judge Defying Gods knows you very well and knows you'll eat this up."
Spades looked at him. "He led a team to defeat me, which isn't very good. I prefer single-player duels. I like you better…"
Bai Liu stood, patted his pants, and calmly interrupted: "Aren't Guy and the others coming out yet?"
Spades glanced toward the tent. "They'll be out soon. We're supposed to pretend to have a special relationship in front of them, right?"
Bai Liu looked sideways, showing little interest, and gave a perfunctory hum.
The moment Guy opened the tent curtain and stepped out, Spades suddenly grabbed the back of Bai Liu's neck. He turned Bai Liu toward him, pulled him into his arms, and embraced him, catching him completely off guard. He raised Bai Liu's chin, lowered his eyes, and kissed him without hesitation.
His cold, dry lips pressed against Bai Liu's warm, often-pursed lower lip.
Spades closed his eyes.
Bai Liu's pupils shrank instantly.