After confirming that Bai Liu and Spades intended to enlist, Guy asked them to wait for a while, until he and Alex finished their shift. Then he would take them to fill out the forms and register.

Alex silently sorted through the collected fragments of corpses, his face filled with grief he could not conceal.

He was still a new recruit, and it was difficult for him to accept such separations of life and death.

Spades’ eyes remained fixed on those corpse fragments. Although there was no expression on his face, Bai Liu noticed that this fellow’s fingers kept moving restlessly, betraying an urge to act.

Those collected corpse fragments were all point-based tasks. Spades was probably very tempted to snatch the fragments from Alex’s hands.

But those fragments belonged to Alex’s comrades-in-arms.

Bai Liu imperceptibly stepped on Spades’ foot. With a smile, he leaned against him and whispered a warning, “Snatching corpse fragments will make Alex’s favorability drop. Don’t you want to do the main storyline tasks with higher points?”

Spades gave a quiet “mm” in response and glanced at those corpse fragments one last time with faint regret.

Guy was also helping to sort the fragments, but his mental endurance was much better than Alex’s. Although he was sad as well, his state remained stable.

When he passed by Bai Liu and Spades, who were leaning close together, Guy even joked with a smile, “You two have to kiss after waiting for us for just a little while? Your relationship is really good.”

Bai Liu, who was still stepping on Spades’ foot: “...”

Spades asked curiously, “Why kiss—?”

Bai Liu instantly covered Spades’ mouth, turned his head, and smiled broadly. “We’re still in the honeymoon phase. Back in town, we rarely get opportunities like this to avoid everyone and be alone together.”

Guy clearly understood this situation. He smiled considerately. “You two can go outside and be alone, as long as you stay safe. It was the same when Alex and I were in our honeymoon phase.”

“If you really do join the army and get swept into this war...” Guy seemed to remember something that saddened him, and his expression dimmed slightly. “Then cherish every moment you have together. This kind of precious time won’t always be there.”

And so, Spades and Bai Liu were ushered out of the tent by Guy.

The two of them looked at each other.

Spades had not forgotten the question from earlier and pursued it quite persistently. “What is ‘kiss’?”

Bai Liu raised a hand to his forehead. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to get tangled up with Spades and gave him a straightforward explanation.

“...A kiss is when one person’s lips touch another person’s skin. That is called a kiss.”

“I know that.” Spades’ gaze drifted downward to Bai Liu’s lips. “I know that kissing on the lips is a very special kind of kiss called ‘kissing,’ and that it only happens between men and women who have a special relationship.”

Being stared at by Spades like this, with that gaze fixed on his lips, Bai Liu could not help pursing them. He turned his head away, and from the pressure, his lips flushed with the faintest trace of pink.

“If you know, then why did you ask?”

Bai Liu’s tone was somewhat annoyed, but because his voice was so light, it did not seem like true irritation or anger. Instead, it sounded more like... awkwardness, carrying a very different kind of emotion.

After speaking, Bai Liu fell silent.

He realized it himself.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his mind, telling himself not to let his emotions be led around by Spades.

Back then, when Bai Liu had first started interacting with Xie Ta, he had often been unconsciously led around by that fellow. How had ten years passed, and yet after meeting this guy again, he still had no way to deal with him...

Spades was entirely unaware of Bai Liu’s thoughts. He gave an “oh” and explained, “What I don’t understand is why Guy would think the two of us were kissing.”

“We don’t have any special male-female relationship, do we?” Spades’ voice was calm and natural.

Bai Liu’s breathing caught for a moment.

He slowly opened his pitch-black eyes, and all the chaotic, complicated emotions within them vanished in an instant.

“Yes.” Bai Liu’s voice carried a casual hint of a smile as he turned around, his expression flawlessly peaceful. “Naturally, we do not have any special male-female relationship.”

“But Guy and the others have misunderstood and think we have a special relationship. That makes them feel closer to us and will make it easier for us to complete the tasks.”

Bai Liu looked up. “So, in front of them, we need to pretend that we have that kind of special relationship.”

Spades was silent for a while.

His expression was very serious, as if he was digesting and trying to understand this matter.

Bai Liu waited quietly for him. Spades lowered his eyes to look at Bai Liu. “Kissing can also happen between a male and a male, right?”

“Yes,” Bai Liu replied. “Special relationships are the same. They can exist between males as well. Guy and Alex are two males who have that kind of special relationship.”

Spades seemed to understand. “The special relationship we need to imitate is that kind?”

Bai Liu nodded.

Then he added with a smile, “Of course, we do not actually have that kind of special relationship. We only need to act in front of those NPCs. When we are not in front of them, please maintain a proper social distance from me, Mr. Spades.”

The smile on his face and the words he spoke hid a chill that made one uncomfortable.

“Because I dislike Mr. Spades, and our positions are opposed. I hope you will stay a little farther away from me.”

Spades paused for a moment, then said something inexplicable. “I don’t dislike you.”

“I’m looking forward to playing a match against you.” Spades looked down at his dirty shoes, his whip flicking aimlessly in his hand, his tone very faint. “You’re the first player I’ve met who isn’t afraid of me.”

“I quite like you.”

Bai Liu, who had been about to distance himself from Spades, paused in his tracks.

But he quickly smiled and said as if nothing had happened, “But I don’t like you.”

Then he took a step away.

After Spades gave an “oh,” he stopped talking.

The two of them stood motionless with a gap of fifty centimeters between them, both looking away, neither acknowledging the other.

Bai Liu absentmindedly adjusted his system panel, while Spades lowered his head and wiped the patterns on his whip. The two of them behaved as if the objects in their hands had suddenly grown flowers, examining them again and again. In any case, neither of them looked at the other.

Before entering this game, Bai Liu had prepared a communication device for Tang Erda and the others—a satellite phone.

In the game pool, the instance used league mode. Everyone’s system panels were cut off and blocked, equivalent to a computer being offline. The system panel could not connect to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the shop, the forum, or other players.

To put it simply, aside from the player themselves, no one else could use this “computer.”

Even the usable system-panel functions attached to Bai Liu’s soul banknote skill had been greatly narrowed because the “network” was cut off.

The warehouse belonged to the “online” functions. As an outside visitor to the “computer,” Bai Liu could not use the warehouse either.

Therefore, what Bai Liu could currently use was limited to adjusting certain panel values and simple functions such as using soul skills. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Bai Liu could not retrieve items from the warehouse to communicate with Tang Erda and the others. In this situation, preparing communication equipment in advance had become extremely necessary.

Bai Liu had tested many types of communication tools. In the previous instance, he had discovered a communication device that remained relatively stable in most instances and extreme maps—the satellite phone.

After entering this instance, the satellite phone had regressed, turning into a relatively backward, bulky wireless radio device that was difficult to use.

But in a situation where neither side was speaking...

Bai Liu felt there was no better time than now to use this device.

Fortunately, there were instructions on the device. Operating it was not actually like using a full-scale large wireless radio. It was more like a regressed version of a mobile phone. It was not difficult, and Bai Liu soon contacted Tang Erda and Liu Jiayi, giving them the order to enlist and then meet him at the registration point.

Tang Erda’s reply came quickly: [I saw that someone triggered the main storyline task. Was it you?]

Bai Liu glanced out of the corner of his eye at Spades, who was sneakily and indifferently leaning toward him: [Me and Spades from Killer Sequence.]

Tang Erda: [You and Spades? If you and Spades both triggered this army faction’s main storyline task, then you should both be on this faction’s side. Then why did the others from Killer Sequence actively join the enemy army?]

Bai Liu raised an eyebrow: [The others from Killer Sequence joined the enemy?]

Tang Erda: [Yes. I saw them wandering around the tents, and then they deliberately let the enemy discover them. After they were captured, they quickly defected to the enemy’s side. Since Spades is in this faction, why would they join the enemy and oppose Spades?]

Bai Liu chuckled: [Because right now, they are not Spades’ teammates.]

Tang Erda: [?]

Bai Liu said that he would explain in detail when they met at the recruitment point. Then he put away the device and slowly lifted his head to look at Spades, who had already pressed up against his back, smiling.

“It seems your teammates are determined to teach you a lesson.”

“I suppose they already discovered that you were hiding under the bed when they were patrolling the tents. They simply didn’t point it out.”

Spades corrected him, “Discovered that we were hiding under the bed. You were lying on the outside.”

Bai Liu skipped over that topic as if he had not heard a thing. “Judging from the faction your tactician chose, he deliberately let you trigger the main NPC task here and then chose the enemy faction. He wants to make you lose this match through direct confrontation.”

“He is trying to establish his authority as a tactician over you.” Bai Liu laughed with interest. “It seems The Judge Who Defies God understands you very well. He knows you’ll fall for this.”

Spades looked at Bai Liu. “There isn’t anything particularly impressive about him leading a team to beat me. I’m more interested in the type who beats me in a one-on-one duel. I prefer your type...”

Bai Liu stood up and brushed off his pants, calmly interrupting Spades. “Are Guy and the others not out yet?”

Spades glanced at the tent curtain. “They’re coming out soon.”

“We’re supposed to pretend to be people in a special relationship in front of them, right?” Spades asked, glancing at Bai Liu, who was still keeping his distance.

Bai Liu looked away, seemingly unwilling to deal with Spades, and gave a perfunctory “mm.”

The moment Guy lifted the tent curtain and stepped out, Spades abruptly reached out and grabbed the back of Bai Liu’s neck, forcefully turning him to face him.

Then he pulled the caught-off-guard Bai Liu into his arms, held his back tightly, tilted his own chin slightly downward, and lowered his eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, he kissed him.

His cold, dry lips pressed against Bai Liu’s warm lower lip, which had been pursed countless times.

Spades closed his eyes.

Bai Liu’s pupils contracted sharply.