My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 190 The Three's Choices, The Standoff at the Bar (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Inside the underground bar.

Snow-white paper butterflies fluttered in mid-air, flapping their wings in unison. The frequency of their flapping created a resonance, and a "swish, swish" sound instantly filled all directions.

Ji Minghuan lowered his head, tightly protecting Kong Youling in his arms, his gaze fixed on Ayase Origami and the Ripper.

Just then, Kong Youling, like a kitten, broke free from his arms and nimbly and lightly slipped out of his embrace. A strand of snow-white hair gently brushed his cheek and then slid down his arm.

Ji Minghuan was taken aback at first, but quickly reacted, raised his head and shouted in a low voice:
"Kong Youling!"

The white-haired girl raised her arms, shielding him.

She trembled as she raised her eyelids, her light-sensitive red eyes gleaming in the darkness, staring directly into Ayase Origami's eyes.

Ji Minghuan, pale-faced, knelt on one knee, looking at the white-haired girl's back through the fluttering paper curtain, then raised his head and met the gaze of the girl in the kimono.

The Ripper remained unfazed.

She held the massive, dark red scythe to his neck, and with her other hand, she pulled out a small knife, swiftly pressing it against Kong Youling's back, tearing a corner of his hospital gown. The blade was only a centimeter away from her skin.

“Don’t push your luck,” the Ripper said in a low voice. “I don’t usually kill children unless necessary.”

“Jack… let him go.” After a long silence, the girl in the kimono suddenly said.

"Why?" Ripper asked.

"Let's take them away first."

The Ripper was silent for a moment: "Miss, you first raised a cat, and now you're going to raise two children?"

“I have something to ask him,” said Origami Ayase.

For some reason, the kimono-clad girl's dark eyes remained fixed on Ji Minghuan's face.

Ripper shook his head: "No, these two kids look very strange... If we let them go, something might happen. Don't give me orders based on your inexplicable judgments. This isn't the first time."

Origami Ayase remained silent.

At this very moment, in another corner of the underground bar, Black Chrysalis wrapped herself in transparent restraints, resembling a pupa, and hung silently upside down from the ceiling.

The restraints, keeping him still, shielded him from all sensations, allowing his senses to fully penetrate, like an insect-proof net covering the dimly lit underground bar, revealing every detail, even a small insect crawling across the entrance passage.

At this moment, the black chrysalis seemed to be peering into the bar from another dimension.

Beneath the mask, his pupils dilated, like those of a wild beast out of control. Silently, the cold restraints washed over his body like a tidal wave, tightly binding every inch of his skin, almost strangling him to death in his cocoon.

The boy in the hospital gown in the distance had his head down, his eyes hidden by his bangs, and his thoughts were a jumbled mess.

“I have to let Black Chrysalis take her away… as long as I take her away now… no, I can’t do that, the Salvation Society is hiding nearby watching. I absolutely cannot expose Black Chrysalis now, otherwise it will play right into their hands.”

"Dinosaurs? No, I can't let my little sister die there. I have to use the Queen Statue to bring her back... Caesar is awake. I'll ignore him and pretend to be asleep so he and Li Qingping can continue training... Protect the King or protect the original body? There's no time... The Shadow Demon has already been used. Now we have to use the Copy Demon... Kong Youling... Kong Youling, Sun Changkong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?"

“Sun Changkong seems to have gone berserk, he’s going to die… The whole Train Regiment is going to die, they’re already dead… Kong Youling, I have to take Kong Youling with me… I can’t let her stay here… No, we can’t expose her here… If she gets hurt, I’ll kill everyone here…”

At that moment, movie screens suddenly appeared in the tavern.

Origami Ayase and the Ripper were both startled, but then reacted at the same time.

The girl in the kimono turned her head, raised her sleeve, and a paper butterfly flew forward, instantly surrounding a figure within it—it was Su Zimai, who had just emerged from behind the curtain.

Su Zimai looked up and froze on the spot. Paper butterflies rushed towards her like a blizzard, surrounding her as if they were about to devour her at any moment.

She stood there stunned for a long time before slowly coming to her senses, her brows furrowing tightly. Having witnessed the destructive power of these paper butterflies at the auction, she naturally dared not act rashly.

Ripper glanced at Su Zimai, who was surrounded by paper butterflies, and then turned to look at Ke Qirui.

“I advise you not to move,” she said, “otherwise… my companions will cut this little girl in two.”

However, at that moment, a cold voice rang out from another corner of the bar.

"Let her go, your people are with me..." Xu Sanyan said, raising her dark red umbrella with a gloomy expression and pointing the tip of the umbrella at the back of Xia Pingzhou's head.

Ayase Origami looked in the direction of the sound, her empty and cold eyes sweeping around before she saw Xia Pingzhou, who was unharmed.

She was slightly startled.

In the silence, the girl in the kimono stared at him with wide eyes, her pale lips parted slightly but she did not speak.

"Wow, a newbie... I thought you were dead," Ripper said sarcastically to Xia Pingzhou.

"He's almost dead, if not already."

Xia Pingzhou spoke expressionlessly, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.

Before this, he had used his survival skills on either the red light or Mario, meaning that if Xu Sanyan pulled the trigger at this moment, he would be dead.

No one could save him from a gunshot at such close range.

Seeing this, the Ripper still didn't let his scythe deviate from Ji Minghuan's neck, while his other hand pressed the knife tightly against Kong Youling's back.

Based on her intuition, these two children were far more dangerous than all four members of the Ghost Train troupe combined. Even if the troupe appeared, it wouldn't be worth letting the two children go.

"Don't move..." Ripper warned Ji Minghuan, "Don't think you can escape in the chaos."

The boy in the hospital gown raised his empty eyes, looked at Kong Youling's back, and then slowly looked up into Jack the Ripper's eyes.

He said, enunciating each word clearly: "If you dare to harm Kong Youling, you will all die."

The girl in the kimono had a cold look in her eyes. She glanced at Xia Pingzhou, who remained calm, and then turned to look at Xu Sanyan's face. She lowered her voice and said, "If Xia Pingzhou gets hurt, I will... kill you all."

Seeing the chaotic scene, even Ke Qirui couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

She quietly observed Origami Ayase from under the brim of her hat, remained silent for a long while, and then said in a deep voice:
"Xu Sanyan, don't fire."

"Tch..." Xu Sanyan's face twitched slightly.

He hadn't expected that after escaping those three mysterious monsters in the game world, he would be surrounded by two more monsters from the Phantom Troupe as soon as he returned to the real world. He should have listened to that black worm and not gotten involved in this mess.

"Give him back to me," the girl in the kimono said, her voice filled with coldness.

"Calm down. A conflict here will not benefit either of us. We can choose to exchange hostages."

Ke Qirui spoke slowly, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the Ripper and the two children in hospital gowns.

She thought to herself: I wonder what abilities those two children in hospital gowns still have. Fortunately, the members of the troupe came and subdued them. That way, even if the three monsters from the game world escape, Xia Pingzhou should still have room to negotiate with them.

Thinking of this, she continued, "I'll return Xia Pingzhou to you, and you'll return this little girl to us. Is that alright?"

Origami Ayase glanced up at her, then silently stepped into the center of the paper butterflies, grabbed Su Zimai by the throat with her arm, and whispered in her ear:
"Go forward..."

Upon hearing this, Su Zimai took a deep breath, moved forward, and followed Ayase Origami's steps.

On the other side, Xu Sanyan also pressed the tip of her umbrella against Xia Pingzhou's back, forcing him to walk forward.

Su Zimai and Xia Pingzhou gradually drew closer.

In the dead silence, their eyes met briefly, then quickly looked away.

"Get rid of those paper butterflies first," Ke Qirui paused, "or I'll have my men open fire."

The girl in the kimono gave her a lukewarm look, and then chose to do as she was told.

The paper butterfly flapped its wings and flew away from Su Zimai, but Ayase Origami still had her arm around Su Zimai's throat, ready to snap it at any moment.

"Sanyan, move the gun away," Ke Qirui said in a low voice, pulling down the brim of his hat.

Xu Sanyan hesitated for a moment, but finally did as she was told, retracting the tip of the umbrella that had been pressed against Xia Pingzhou's back.

Seeing this, Origami Ayase slowly released her grip on Su Zimai's arm.

At this moment, apart from Xia Pingzhou and Su Zimai, everyone else present remained still.

They all knew that taking action at this time would mean a deadly battle was about to break out, so they silently adhered to the same rules.

Under everyone's gaze, the two walked forward, passed each other, and returned to their respective camps.

The next instant, movie screens suddenly appeared inside the tavern. Ke Qirui put his arm around Su Zimai's shoulder, placed his hat on her head, and then used the movie demon to take away all the members of the Ghost Train group, as well as the red streetlights on the ground.

The Ripper didn't intend to harm them, because that would mean she would have to lower her guard against the two children in hospital gowns.

She reiterated that she felt the two children were more dangerous than the train crew, and that even if she let them go, she couldn't let the two children go.

As for Origami Ayase, now that Xia Pingzhou has returned, she has no intention of pursuing him further. She simply holds onto his sleeve, looking down and then up again to check if he is injured.

"I'm sorry for making you worry," Xia Pingzhou said softly.

The girl in the kimono didn't speak, but when she looked up at him, her empty eyes seemed to contain a hint of anger.

She opened her mouth slightly, as if she wanted to say something, or express her anger with her expression, but in the end she just frowned slightly. Soon her brows relaxed again, revealing a bewildered expression.

"I'm glad you're alright," she said softly.

The paper butterflies above fluttered down, turning into pure white fragments that merged into the filthy blood.

A girl, dressed in pure white like a doll, stood frozen amidst the chaos.

She gently rested her head on Xia Pingzhou's shoulder, closed her eyes, and remained silent for a second.

As the black-and-white movie screens disappeared one by one, the entire underground bar suddenly became empty and no longer felt so cramped.

At this moment, only five people remained in the bar: Ji Minghuan, Kong Youling, Xia Pingzhou, Ayase Origami, and Ripper.

Ripper tilted his head and looked at Xia Pingzhou expressionlessly: "Remember to explain yourself clearly when you get back."

“I think you should blame the hacker for this. More than this…” Xia Pingzhou said, turning to look at Ji Minghuan, “the matter is not resolved yet.”

Ji Minghuan looked up from under her bangs and stared coldly at him. Their eyes met.

"What do you mean?" Ripper asked.

Xia Pingzhou looked away from Ji Minghuan's face and explained expressionlessly, "It's too late to leave now. We absolutely cannot let the two of them get away; they are our bargaining chips."

As soon as he finished speaking, a game notification box suddenly appeared in mid-air.

[“Administrator” Mario has been forcibly logged out of the game; the “Jurassic World” game scenario has ended.]

When Ayase Origami and the Ripper saw this, they exchanged a glance and became wary.

Xia Pingzhou turned his face to the side, glancing out of the corner of his eye at a pixelated gate that was open behind him. He saw a white cloud of mist floating out from it, and three children in hospital gowns sitting on the cloud.

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(End of this chapter)