Day of Imprisonment

This is a room that only the owner of the Dark Furnace Tavern can enter.

Even the door to this room is off-limits to ordinary people.

The female receptionist is one of the few who can come down to knock and report information; others, such as the doorman and the tavern's bouncers, are not qualified to come down at all.

As for the room itself, it is absolutely forbidden territory.

If anyone dares to enter rashly, the consequences will be far more severe and miserable than death.

Normally, only the tavern owner and the lackeys he has captured are allowed inside, but today, a guest has arrived.

Luo Xi looked at the unfamiliar young man in front of him. Without a doubt, this person was the owner of the Dark Furnace Tavern, but surprisingly, he seemed very uneasy. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was the guest and Luo Xi was the host.

But the reality was quite the opposite.

The only possible reason for this situation was this:

"Have we met before?" Luo Xi broke the silence.

From the moment he entered, the tavern owner had been staring intently at him, with a mix of apprehension and nervousness.

Hearing the question, he nodded without hesitation.

But he still didn't speak.

Clearly, he was waiting for something, or rather, anticipating a certain outcome.

Luo Xi thought for a moment and realized that it wasn't that the tavern owner didn't want to speak, but rather that they were in a 'pre-set scenario'. Someone must have instructed him that if a similar situation were to occur, he should act in a certain way.

Remaining silent, waiting for an answer that was like a 'key' – that was likely the first step in the entire pre-set scenario.

Obviously, he himself was that key. Whether or not he could unlock this first step depended solely on him.

"To be honest, my coming here was purely accidental," Luo Xi said truthfully.

Exploring the tavern and contacting the tavern owner was not actually part of his mandatory plan in Node 2. It was merely an attempt outside of the main plan.

Luo Xi glanced at the door and continued, "So, I left that door behind. Let me think… Could it be that I also opened this tavern? You've been waiting for me, and now you've waited. But you need to get an answer from my mouth, an answer that is mandatory and cannot be prompted. So, until I say the correct 'password', you won't say a single word."

The young tavern owner's eyes began to light up.

"Project Chrysalis, initiate!" Luo Xi thought for a moment, then said.

In the next moment, the tavern owner, unable to suppress his excitement, rushed forward and embraced Luo Xi, then began to cry uncontrollably.

It was no exaggeration to say that Luo Xi was stunned.

Before this, he had calculated at least a dozen scenarios for when he met the tavern owner: hostility, friendliness, neutrality, deception, greedy attacks, and treacherous scheming.

For each of these dozen or so anticipated scenarios, Luo Xi had corresponding contingency plans, and not just one. It was like an extremely large mind map, with over hundreds of branches at the end. It could be said that Luo Xi was thoroughly prepared.

But this current situation was not in his plans.

It was completely unexpected.

To the extent that even Luo Xi, who possessed [Absolute Rationality], experienced a momentary system crash when the other party sprayed tears and snot all over him.

He felt that the [Paralytic Agent], [Poison], [Soul-Seizing Bell], and the dagger in his hand, which he had prepared, had become jokes at this moment.

In Node 2, the tavern owner, whom others spoke of with fear, the cruel, cold, and powerful figure, was now hugging him and crying like a child.

How much grievance must he have endured to cry like this?

But Luo Xi didn't try to dissuade him, nor did he stop him, but allowed him to cry and vent.

After all, a volcano that has been suppressed for too long needs to erupt to relieve the pressure in the Earth's core.

Especially people!

The other party cried for a full three minutes and forty-seven seconds.

Then he began to stop, and it took him almost half a minute to recover.

"Luo Xi, I'm sorry, I lost my composure," the tavern owner said, raising his head, wiping his face with his sleeve, and then looking at the other party with red eyes: "I thought you wouldn't come back. I thought the plan had failed."

It wasn't until the other party said this that Luo Xi realized that he might have made a great discovery this time.

In fact, before this, Luo Xi had confirmed one thing.

This wasn't the first time he had become a Memory Retriever.

And possibly, it wouldn't be the last time either.

And the former self was carrying out a very important plan within the Day of Imprisonment.

For this matter, the former self had done a great many things, but Luo Xi didn't remember them, but some things would be left behind in the form of 'legacy', some unintentionally, and some deliberately.

Including his serious mental illness, including the special face card ring and card book, including [Absolute Rationality] and [Lies].

Just like 'Teacher Han', Han Fengtian, who is currently serving as an administrator in the Piggy Elementary School scene, is a 'Witherer' and one of the memory holders arranged by himself.

From Teacher Han, Luo Xi found important pieces of the memory puzzle.

And a person leaves a name, a goose leaves a trace, the similar clues left by the former Luo Xi are far more than just Teacher Han.

The okra in Tun Tun Bookstore, Old Wang in the office worker's day, the checkered man in the cellar of Youzuo Temple, Old Yao in the Haunted Mansion, and the Liu Ding Liu Jia in Yongge Supermarket, these are all 'traces'. However, for Luo Xi, all of this is not enough to piece together a pattern that he can understand.

A few pieces are missing.

Now, perhaps he has inadvertently found the most important piece.

Of course, Luo Xi also suspected that all of this was a 'scam', a 'trap' designed specifically for him.

Currently, it seems that there are 'villains' within the Day of Imprisonment, and this 'villain' is very likely a person named 'Wei Si'.

The other party has great supernatural powers, and it is estimated that his strength should be very terrifying.

It is even possible that he is the 'culprit' who created the entire Day of Imprisonment, so that even he can only use roundabout tactics to fight against him.

But the possibility that the tavern owner in front of him is a scam and a trap is very small.

Luo Xi can tell whether a person is telling the truth.

The other party did not lie.

The latest novels are first published on Liu 9 Shu Ba!

And some of the 'codes' here do fit my style.

"Have I ever said a word to you?" Luo Xi asked at this time.

"What word?" The tavern owner looked up and asked.

"When I make a plan, I will definitely consider the possibility of the plan failing."

"I remember, you did say that." The tavern owner nodded to confirm, and then realized that Luo Xi's words just now answered his previous question of 'thinking the plan had failed'.

Next, the tavern owner began to tell his story.

Some words were obviously held back by the other party for a long time. In the past, he had thought that if he saw this person again, he would definitely pour out his grievances and tell all these things.

But when it really came time to tell, the words came to his lips but he couldn't say them. He spent a long time just thinking and reorganizing his language.

"Luo Xi, I actually don't know what the Cocoon Breaking Plan is. This is just a code name for a plan that you often told me in the past. Every time I asked about this, you would shake your head and never reveal a word."

"I don't want to explore this secret, I'm just curious. Of course, you can still choose not to tell me."

Hearing this, Luo Xi smiled.

He actually wanted to say that he himself didn't remember what the 'Cocoon Breaking Plan' was.

Even just a few minutes ago, he was guessing whether he could get some information from the bar owner.

But now it seems that he was too cautious back then.

"Luo Xi, you may not remember my name now. Let me re-introduce myself. My name is Zhang Zhe. I am a Witherer. You rescued me from hell. I once fought side by side with you. I was also your subordinate in the company. About 1536 cycle days ago, I created Fairytale Town with you."

"Wait a minute!" Luo Xi couldn't help but interrupt the other party. "About?"

"Yes, because after entering Fairytale Town, the time is not synchronized with the outside world, so I can only estimate it based on the time in Fairytale Town. There will definitely be errors, but it won't be too big."

"Continue!"

Zhang Zhe was very curious that Luo Xi interrupted him because he used the vague adverb 'about' to describe 'cycle days', rather than because of the two obviously more explosive things: 'I was your subordinate in the company' and 'created Fairytale Town with you'.

What was he thinking?

But that's right.

As in the past, others can never guess what Luo Xi is thinking.

"In fact, you mainly did the creation of Fairytale Town. I was only responsible for some minor things, so I don't know how you managed to create a super-large scene that was independent of the 'company's' jurisdiction. But you did it. You brought me in, let me manage this super-large scene, and opened the entrance to the scene. Many Reminiscents came in at that time. It's just a pity that they don't remember those things."

"Fairytale Town has its own rules and mechanisms, and exists completely independently of the external Day of Imprisonment. However, the company is not aware of this. You concealed it from above, and for a long time, the 'company' didn't even know about it."

"I just followed your instructions to do things. Until one day, you suddenly came to me and said that you were leaving to carry out another part of the 'Cocoon Breaking Plan'. You also told me that if Fairytale Town ever got out of control, I should go outside and create another entrance to Fairytale Town."

When Zhang Zhe said this, Luo Xi's expression suddenly became strange.

"Do you know Dou Dou?" Luo Xi interjected.

Zhang Zhe was stunned and asked, "Have you seen Dou Dou?"

Suddenly, the two had another topic.

"So, Dou Dou ran into Fairytale Town to find you." Luo Xi felt that some people who originally seemed unlikely to have any connection were cleverly connected later.

"She came too? That girl, I told her very clearly that she was not allowed to explore here. Wait a minute, with her IQ, it is impossible to crack the 'Traveling Fairytale Town' I designed." Zhang Zhe muttered to himself, and suddenly he thought of something and looked up at Luo Xi.

Instantly, he understood.

Everything is self-evident.

"Let's talk about Dou Dou's matter later, continue!" Luo Xi pulled the topic back.