Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

With the aid of the human bone cane, he overtook the black mass in front of him and reached the filling inlet first.

"Just asking, I don't think I need to jump in myself, do I?"

Liu Zheng asked, his mouth full of words, while biting his cane.

"If you want to jump, I won't stop you."

Hachijo said expressionlessly.

"Next time, I'll do cupping when I feel like it again."

While reading the jumbled replies, he struggled to throw the coal he was holding into the filling inlet.

With so much fuel thrown in at once, the flames in the boiler immediately flared up, like a fire dragon swallowing Liu Zheng whole.

Fortunately, the invisible barrier remained sturdy, blocking all the overflowing flames.

"Won't the boiler explode if I throw so much at once?"

He asked with some concern.

Liu Zheng wasn't worried about himself, but about Jingzi.

What if Qingzi isn't killed by Grandma Tang, but instead blown up by the boiler explosion he caused? That would truly be a Russian-style rescue.

"It won't explode even if you try to fry it. Keep going. With such a small fire, you can't even boil water."

Eight said.

"Ok."

Liu Zheng's tentacles lashed at each other, knocking off the outermost layer of carbon shell.

The carbon shell can insulate against some of the high temperatures, but if it's too thick, it can affect operation.

Black fragments fell in a rustling sound, revealing a lighter-colored carbon shell inside.

The carbon shell was torn apart by the newly grown flesh, revealing streaks of pink.

"This growth rate is a bit too slow to keep up."

Liu Zheng frowned slightly.

The high temperature carbonized the meat, making it unusable for recycling.

Suddenly, Hachijo pulled something out of the cabinet and held it in front of him.

"eat."

Eight points were stated succinctly.

"what is this?"

Liu Zheng looked at the pile of eyeballs in his hand and asked.

"The eyeball of a fire spider."

Are you sure this isn't a human eyeball?

He squinted and asked.

"Forget it if you don't want to eat."

Eight was about to put it back when he said that.

"Eat it, only a fool wouldn't take advantage of a good deal."

Liu Zheng spat out the human bone cane and opened his mouth as wide as possible.

"Could you please throw it in my mouth?"

"so troublesome."

Hachijo grumbled, then shoved the eyeballs into his mouth with a slap.

"Old man, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Liu Zheng wiped his mouth and said with his eyes.

"I did it on purpose, so what?"

Eight responded with a glance.

"Not good!"

He picked up the human bone cane, put it in his mouth, and rushed down from the platform.

Although the system did not display any item descriptions, the fire spider's eyeballs were indeed quite effective.

The coal reduced the burning effect on him by at least 70%, almost on par with the effect of flesh regeneration.

With this guarantee, Liu Zheng's coal transportation speed has increased to another level.

Back and forth between the filling port and the coal pile, looking at the black clumps around him avoiding his trampling, he had a strange and strong sense of déjà vu.

He remembered a movie he had once seen where the protagonist accidentally entered a land of little people and used his enormous body to help the little people move stones and build walls.

What Liu Zheng is doing now is similar to what the male protagonist in the movie is doing, except that the person he is helping has changed from a little person to a little black ball.

"Hmm, was that movie a happy ending or a sad ending?"

Because so much time had passed, he didn't think about the problem until he had finished moving the coal pile.

"Burn a big fire!"

Eight of them drew out their voices as they shouted.

“Chi~Chi~Chi~Chi~”

The little black dumplings also joined hands and started singing.

They sang as they spun around, and then faster and faster.

Later, the black balls on the outside were flung into the air.

"Adding firewood!"

Eighth shouted again.

"Hey, really?"

Liu Zheng had a bad feeling.

His premonition immediately came true.

The black lumps flew up in strings and then flew straight into the filler inlet.

Fire is blazing!

The golden flames gradually turned golden-white, then pure white, and finally bluish-white.

The terrifyingly high temperature turned the furnace body red-hot, and the air around the boiler was distorted.

"damn it."

Liu Zheng wiped the sweat from his face and cursed under his breath.

Soon, all the black balls outside threw themselves into the sea of ​​fire, including the one that could "squeak".

"The soup's here!"

Eight people lifted eight copper kettles and poured the colorful medicinal soup inside into the large pot at the top of the boiler.

"BOOM!"

The mixed medicinal soup quickly exploded, bursting into colorful fireworks, and a strange medicinal fragrance filled the entire boiler room.

Eight ropes were pulled, and a split bamboo tube was lowered from the ceiling and inserted into the large pot.

The colorless and transparent medicinal soup flowed upwards in the opposite direction along the bamboo tube.

"Whoo~"

Eight let out a long breath and then stretched his muscles.

Guests of Okawa-ryu's caliber are both a boon and a burden to the bathhouse.

Each customer has different needs, which places different burdens on each department.

The pressure exerted on the boiler room by the large river flow is the greatest.

Burning a large fire consumes not only a large number of black lumps, but also the vital energy of the eight strands themselves.

Although it can be made up for afterward, the feeling is still very unpleasant, and it will leave behind a hidden wound that cannot be healed.

Fortunately, although Okawa's visits to the bathhouse are not fixed, the frequency is still very low on average; otherwise, Hachijo would have quit even if he had to take out a high-interest loan.

"It doesn't feel good to do useless work, does it, kid?"

He turned and glanced at Liu Zheng's expression before speaking.

"is a bit."

Liu Zheng nodded.

"Hmm, I thought you would say something like, 'I don't care about the outcome, I just want to have a clear conscience.'"

Hachijo said, somewhat surprised.

"Shouldn't the main character be the one saying something so cool? I'm just a nobody."

He shrugged.

"What you say doesn't match what you do, kid."

Hachijo glanced at his chest and said.

Unbeknownst to them, Liu Zheng had already retracted his tentacles.

"What are you saying, sir? I don't understand."

He smiled back.

"Heh, you slippery little brat. Actually, you didn't do all of your work in vain."

Eight said.

"Oh? What do you say?"

“Can you give me a massage?”

Eight questions asked instead of answered.

"Are you scolding me? We're in the massage department."

Liu Zheng pointed to the clothes he was wearing.

In a way, he's wearing three layers of clothing right now, and he's in a place like a boiler room.

If it weren't for my exceptional physical condition, I would have fainted by now.

"Then give this old man a good massage, and if you can't do it right, you're out of here."

Eight said.

"Please do it properly, sir. If you can't do it right, we'll crawl out ourselves."

Liu Zheng said confidently.

"Why does your tone of voice sound so strange?"

Hachijo frowned.

"You'll get used to the dialect."

He climbed back onto the platform and placed his hands on Hachijo's shoulders.

"Yes, this is it, it feels so good~"

After Liu Zheng kneaded away a sticky patch of muscle, Ba Tiao let out a long breath, his long beard trembling.

"That Thirteen Yao kid is heartless; he only sent someone down after so long."

Feeling the soreness in his shoulder, Hachijo couldn't help but complain.

"So the minister sent me down here to give you a massage?"

Liu Zheng remained silent.