Chapter 281: Dense Forest Borderland

Bai Liu looks to his popped up system panel, and after a brief dip in Alex's favorability, it rises again, and he realizes that Tang Er took care of things over there.

Now he was in his own dormitory, converted from a town hotel, a small room hard-packed with dozens of recruits living in pass-through bunks-it was the best room available.

But the good thing is that now all these people are out, except for Spades, who sits next to Bai Liu, and Guy, who sits across from him.

Guy was propped up on the bed with his arms wide open, he noticed Bai Liu's glancing around and smiled kindly, "It's hard to get used to, isn't it? This is already the best condition here."

"But tonight you'll probably have the room all to yourselves, have a nice time for two." Guy winks, "These new guys will be partying all night in the town's taverns and brothels."

"After all, they don't know if they'll make it back from the raid alive, and they're always going to have to indulge once in a while with the military pay that's been issued to them in advance."

Bai Liu looks at Guy: "You'll be there, right?"

Guy shrugged, "Everyone from Assault One will be there, normally Alex doesn't allow me to go to these parties, but I guess this is an exception."

He smiled indifferently, "After all, you have to give a severed head a meal before you die."

Bai Liu speculated about Alex's approach, "Alex will follow you, right?"

"Of course!" Guy seemed helpless to be restrained, but the smile was full of happiness, "He wouldn't worry about me going alone."

After realizing that Alex, the mainline NPC, would be there, Bai Liu immediately inquired, "Can we go with you guys?"

Guy looked up in slight surprise and leaned forward to take Bai Liu's hand, "Of course! I thought you wouldn't like this kind of occasion."

Spades, who was sitting on the side, slowly moved his eyes down to Bai Liu's hand holding Guy's, paused for a moment, then looked away, lowered his eyes to his own toes, and crushed them.

Guy, oblivious to the sight of Spades, excitedly continued, "I'm also putting on a show for Alex tonight, and it would be great if you guys, as friends, could come!"

Realizing that this could be a hidden plot, Bai Liu smiles and asks, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"God, you've hit the nail on the head, Bai Liu!" Guy said with a mixture of frustration and joy, "I'm really worried that no one will come to help me, it's a big show, and I have to do it behind Alex's back, and the guys I know don't have the luxury of secrecy, so I'll have to do it alone and in secret. "

"It would be great if you and Spades would come and help."

Bai Liu smiled and said, "Of course."

Guy stood up with gusto, "I'll go get the list now then, there's a lot to prepare for this show."

When Guy left, Bai Liu's smirk was gone, and Spades sat in silence, no more or less than 50 centimeters between the two of them.

From the moment he left the camp, Bai Liu has kept this distance from Spades and hasn't spoken to him again.

Bai Liu talked to Alex, talked to Tang Er, talked a lot to Guy, and shook hands.

But just don't talk to Spades.

"Did you deliberately not talk to me?" Spades asked, dropping his eyes.

He and Bai Liu were the only two people in the room, and although he didn't look at Bai Liu, it was obvious that he was talking to him.

Bai Liu was quiet for a few seconds as he looked sideways at the door Guy had left open before he left, "Yes."

Spades looked up at him, "You're mad at me for kissing you?"

Bai Liu calmly replied, "No."

Spades is confused, "Then why aren't you talking to me?"

Bai Liu turned his head to Spades and calmly asked back, "Am I obligated to talk to you?"

Spades paused, then spoke again, "But we are in a special relationship and should talk more."

"That was in front of Guy, to go on the main quest, we're privately nothing." Bai Liu looked up, "I'm kinda sick of you Spades, I've said it three times, most recently forty-seven minutes ago, need I repeat it?"

Spades was silent for a moment, the whip he held in his left hand dangling over the side of the bed, he shook it, then said:

"That was forty-seven minutes ago, and I thought you didn't hate me now."

Bai Liu averted his eyes, "Mr. Spades, has anything happened in the last forty-seven minutes to make me not hate you?"

Spades looked at him, "I carried your bag."

Bai Liu coldly said, "Tang Er hit also helped me mention."

Spades said seriously, "You were happier when I carried it for you."

"I saw you look at me and smile several times."

Bai Liu: "......"

Bai Liu calmly retorted, "I did not."

Spades repeats more earnestly: "You have, you're behind me ......"

"- It's okay, shut up." Bai Liu cuts Spades off as he takes a deep breath with no emotion on his face and looks away, his fingers gripping the edge of the bed tightening slightly, "That wasn't a smile at you, it was a smile at Tang Er."

Spades The shaking whip stopped for a moment, and he oh-so-quietly spoke again.

"We're in a special relationship when we're in front of Guy, but not in private, are we?" Spades asked after a while.

Bai Liu's eyes were half-lidded, and he hmmm'd without looking back.

Guy came back dragging several large boxes of stuff, a long pole in his creak pocket, and a notepad in his mouth, and there was so much stuff that Guy was blocked from getting in.

Bai Liu stood up to help, and Spades helped with the boxes.

Guy collapsed backward on the bed in a paralyzed heap, panting, "God, this shit is a lot more exhausting than war."

"What is all this stuff?" Bai Liu asked.

Guy sat up and smiled mysteriously at Bai Liu, "Something that would make the little bastard Alex smile at me all day, although of course, normally Alex always smiles at me too."

"You know, when you like someone, you can't help but smile at them." Guy squeezes his eyes at Bai Liu, "Like you do with Spades."

Bai Liu's face stuttered.

Spades, who was packing his suitcase, slowly straightened up his waist, and he was staring at Bai Liu with a good eye. Although he didn't say a word, Bai Liu could read from the guy's undulating eyes the meaning of [you are just smiling at me] in a dignified manner.

Bai Liu calmly explains, "No, I was laughing at Tang Er."

"Come on!" Guy waved his hand and lay back down, "You're fine fooling everyone else, look at Spades with that look and smile, it's exactly the same as when I was just with Alex."

"What a wonderful hot period." Guy lies in bed and sighs.

Spades nodded approvingly.

Bai Liu gave Spades a slow, cross look, and Spades nodded his head for a moment, then said, quite unsurvivably, "You're just smiling at me."

"You didn't laugh at Tang Er." And he emphasized, "You're wrong."

Bai Liu smiled nonchalantly as he lifted his eyelids, "I was wrong, so what?"

"I smiled at you this time, I can not smile at you next time, I can always smile at Tang Er, after all ......" Bai Liu smiled very kindly, he leaned close to Spades ear and whispered, "Guy is not in, I laugh at whoever I want and for as long as I want."

"It has nothing to do with you."

With that, Bai Liu turned around and went over to Guy to go over the contents of the list.

Spades' original high spirits slowly fell back as he slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, looking down as he sorted through the contents of the box Guy had brought back, as if in deep thought, and as if he was a little confused as to why he was so depressed and confused.

Guy took out a list of things, he noticed Bai Liu and Spades' little gesture, poked Bai Liu with his elbow and smiled, "What kind of little love affair are you and Spades having?"

"No fling is as shocking as this show you and Alex had before." Bai Liu sidetracked the conversation as if nothing had happened, he scanned the list of things to prepare and looked up at Guy, "That's a nice bond between you and him."

Guy rested his jaw, his eyes wistful, a light smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "It wasn't always good, he and I had our share of fights."

He recalled quietly for a moment and said, quite abruptly, "Alex has a fiancée back home."

Bai Liu showed his surprise at the right time.

"What's that look on your face?" Guy raises an eyebrow, "I don't do crosses, when Alex and I got together he didn't have a fiancée, it was something his parents picked out for him later and Alex wrote back immediately after receiving a picture of his fiancée from his parents."

"But you know what? I think I might be sick in the head."

Guy smiled lost in thought, "I even had a moment at that point where I wanted to stop Alex from saying no back, but it wouldn't have been fair to the little girl, and Alex felt the same way."

Bai Liu listened quietly.

"Alex is a very good medical student, he made quite a few accomplishments while he was in college, inventing a potion that preserves a person's dying body, which prolongs the time before death and allows more dying people to be saved - that's why he came to work as a cleanup soldier, to see if he could help to these soldiers."

Guy recalls, "That little girl, Alex's fiancée is a small town girl who adores him, and even after Alex writes her a letter telling her that he has a lover, she's determined to wait for Alex to come back and say even if you give up on me, you're going to have to come back in person, alive, and give me up."

"-I don't accept it as disrespectful for someone whose life and death are unknown to write back to my love."

Guy smiled, "That's a nice little girl who knows I'm male, but will even pick me up in a letter to say hello, condescendingly demanding that we go back alive to give her love a perfect ending."

He hung his head softly, caressing the wedding dress in his arms that he had taken from the chest.

"Being the cunning person that I am, I didn't tell Alex that I had been selected for the Raiders, but I wrote to tell his fiancée, in which I begged her and pleaded with her if she would let me marry Alex before her."

"What a despicable act to call anyone who hears it." Guy smiled to himself as he looked at the wedding dress, "That little girl didn't write me a word back."

"She just ...... overnighted this grown man sized wedding dress to the front and sent it to me, with the phrase [God bless you with eternal happiness] sewn into the dress."

Guy lifted his reddened eyes and smiled softly and reluctantly, "You know Bai Liu, I'm a very lucky man, I've never met too many bad people, I'm surrounded by people who treat me so well, who are so kind, so decent, whose souls shine through."

"But then I'm so miserable and sad." Guy's eyes filled with tears, "because every one of them had a bad time because of the war."

"Why does war exist when no one can be made happy by it?"

Bai Liu looks calmly at the weeping Guy.

He said, "Because God does not want you to be happy, it makes war."

At night, the town is lit up.

The coming battle lit up the town ahead of time, and everyone held up their glasses like they'd already won a battle, drinking heavily and filling the streets with beer foam.

The men of Assault One had contracted a tavern, and the veterans had nearly emptied the shelves of this one, and the owner was busily working to bring up alcohol from the cellar below, the alcohol so concentrated that a few more sniffs of the air in this place would have made him slightly tipsy.

People who still don't drink in this situation are a bit conspicuous.

Tang Er hits the table holding a glass of wine and sits down next to Alex, they're all drinking low proof wines, even Spades has a glass of sparkling wine on the table.

Only Bai Liu is holding a glass of plain water with ice cubes.

"Are you ...... not going to drink at all?" Tang Er hit looked at Bai Liu with slight surprise.

In his mind, it's unthinkable that Bai Liu can't drink, because he remembers Bai Liu as a drinker ......

Bai Liu looked at him slyly, "Social animals don't have the right to drink, and I'm not going to have a headache that explodes the next day when I'm working late on the computer, I'm not going to have nothing to do to make myself suffer."

Tang Er typed: "......"

Life really changes you a lot, Bai Liu.

Spades sat on the sidelines without saying a word as he watched Bai Liu strike up a conversation with Tang Er. He opened his mouth to say something, but when he thought of Bai Liu's implied threatening smile earlier, and the phrase [I want to keep laughing at Tang Er], he silently swallowed it down again.

He lowered his eyes to look at the vodka in the glass.

Generally speaking, the Reverse God also strictly forbids him to drink, and while Spades isn't the type to be strangely bad at drinking or to pass out and go crazy when he drinks, the man can be particularly screwed up when he's drunk, and will go deep into everything, and anyone who talks to him will be pissed off to no end.

Simply put, it can turn into a barbarian.

Spades wasn't going to touch alcohol for insurance reasons; after all, the Adversary had given him an earful many times about how easy it was to offend people if he drank.

While Spades doesn't know what's so terrible about being offended, having been read by the Adversary more than a few times, Spades wouldn't voluntarily go out for a drink.

Bai Liu took a sip of ice water and watched with amusement as Tang Er hit and drank like water, "You do have a good capacity for alcohol."

Tang Er hit the action of lifting the cup a beat: "There was a time ...... when I drank to drown my sorrows, and when I drank too much, I practiced."

Bai Liu instantly realized what Tang Er was talking about as he said in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry."

"None of your business." Tang Er hit shook his head and took a moment of silence to drink another half a glass, but he remained clear-eyed, "Not anymore, less to drink."

Bai Liu smiled, "It's a good thing to drink a lot, I kind of like the fact that you drink a lot."

Spades, sitting behind Bai Liu, straightened his back without moving.

Tang Er fought to help Bai Liu block a lot of NPCs that came to him for a drink by relying on his drinking ability, which is why Bai Liu said this.

But Spades' understanding is wrong, he held the whip expressionless in front of Tang Er Ta sat down, crowded out Bai Liu, carrying a glass of wine in front of Tang Er Ta: "Drink?"

Tang Er, who was lost in memories, typed, "????"

Tang Er hit his head with a question mark and looked over at Bai Liu behind Spades, but before he could see it, Spades' shoulders shifted, blocking Bai Liu behind him.

Spades said coldly, "What are you looking at Bai Liu for when I ask you for a drink?"

Bai Liu's calm voice came from behind Spades: "Drinking is a mistake, don't drink with him-".

Before his voice dropped, a couple of drunken drunks next to him, as if attracted by the saber-rattling, leaned over to the bar with wide eyes and clapped, "Someone's been sparring with vodka!"

"Come on, come on, boss bring out all the vodka in your hotel!"

"A drinking war before the big fight!"

In this atmosphere of ultimate indulgence, almost blinking, the bar around Spades and Tang Er hit is densely packed with a wide variety of brews, surrounded by a crowd of whistling and screaming people who are totally into the action.

Spades' face showed nothing as he raised his jaw at Tang Er hit, "Drink?"

As a leading attacker, Tang Er would follow Bai Liu's instructions during the game, subconsciously searching for Bai Liu in the crowd that swarmed around him.

Spades stood up blocking Tang Er's line of sight as he leveled his eyes at the other man, "How long are you going to think about this?"

"He's not drinking with you." Bai Liu steps out of the crowd, he steps in front of Tang Er fights, and raises his eyes to look directly at Spades.

Tang Er fights a sigh of relief and raises his hands in surrender.

Loud boos erupted from the sidelines as disappointed onlookers prepared to leave.

"I'm the one with you." Spades didn't let up, he reached out and pulled in Alex, who was ready to sneak away from the crowd, and then looked straight at Bai Liu, "Alex is here, you should be on my side, we're in a special relationship now."

Alex, who was inexplicably dragged into the Shura, covers his face and pretends he doesn't exist.

God! I'd rather go to the front!

Bai Liu gave a laugh, "So what if it's a special relationship, I also have a special relationship with Tang Er fight, soul best friend, you are just playing along."

Tang Er fought being laughed at by Bai Liu, sending chills down his spine, he felt that Bai Liu was now being provoked by Spades.

Tang Er Ta, who did not want to be dragged into the muddy water, pretended to be calm and stiffly retreated backward, only to be pulled in front of Bai Liu by his collar and slapped Tang Er Ta's shoulder twice.

Spades' eyes sank to Tang Er's beaten shoulder, "A special relationship can only accommodate two people."

"Bai Liu, you're wrong again."

Bai Liu smiled with unprecedented gentleness, "How could I be wrong? I'm in a special relationship with him, terminate the special relationship with you, isn't it okay?"

Spades pursed his lower lip tightly, his dark eyes holding some sort of emotion.

Tang Er typed: "......"

No, Bai Liu is really angry! He can't handle this scenario!

If only Liu Jiayi was here, he couldn't figure out what Bai Liu and Spades were up to!

Spades seems to realize that he can't beat Bai Liu, he directly bypasses Bai Liu and stares at Tang Er to fight: "Are you going to drink with me or not?"

Bai Liu smiled in a kind and friendly way, he sidestepped in front of Tang Er to fight, "He is my soul's best friend, I have to be responsible for him, if you want to drink with him, there is no reason for me to not care when I see him."

He reaches over and snatches the glass of vodka from Spades' hand, dryly tilting his head back and downing it before inverting the glass and placing it flat on the tabletop.

Bai Liu looked up and smiled, "Why don't you and I share a drink?"

Spades stares at Bai Liu for a moment, and after realizing that Bai Liu really won't back down and will definitely block drinks for Tang Er, he goes completely quiet and stands motionless, his fingers curling slightly as he holds the whip.

Alex, held in Spades' death grip: "......"

Dude, don't take it out on my arm, you're pinching me so hard!

Guy, help-!

Alex thought that Spades would directly hit Tang Er to beat this mistress and Bai Liu this scum, Spades did not hesitate to drink a cup.

Spades mimicked Bai Liu's movements and put down his glass, his eyes looking straight at Bai Liu : "Okay, let's compare, and if we win, we'll still be in a special relationship, and you'll have to admit that you were smirking at me before, not at Tang Er."

Bai Liu imperceptibly lurched, his fingers clasped the wine glass, a very thin layer of wine halo floated under his eyelids, his voice somehow lighter: "...... admit it and admit it."