Thriller Paradise

Without realizing it, Brother Jue had allowed his mind to wander free and started to fill in the plot holes...

In normal scenario, due to constraint of quests, time and map, Feng Bujue was not given the chance to understand the smaller details of these worlds that he visited. But in this free exploration world, ‘exploration’ was the key feature. The players could have abandoned all quest requirement and explore the endless possibilities because in this mode, there was no so-called ‘purpose’. The players were not required to follow the traditional method of fighting monsters, completing quests to acquire equipment. As long as they were willing, and if the condition allowed it, they could run for present... Of course, every few period of time, they would have to leave this world.

Ke ke... ke ke...

Suddenly, from behind a sand dune on the left side of brother Jue came a strange sound. It sounded like the footsteps of a giant animal. Feng Bujue turned to the sound and saw a few metallic heads poke out from behind the sand dune.

“A robot?” Feng Bujue’s first reaction was... Transformer. But after a few seconds of observation, he noticed something was not right. The pilot cabins of these giant robots were transparent and they were posited at the chest; and there were pilots inside them. Since it was broad daylight, Brother Jue’s vision was uninterrupted. He focused his sight and could see very clearly the pilots were not humans. Even though they had the size of a normal human, their shoulders gave them away... these creatures’ shoulders were constantly shrugged upwards and the highest point reached their temples. So this meant that their underarm was at the height of their neck.

Since these ‘people’ were wearing the same green uniform and helmet so temporarily Feng Bujue could only make this one small observation. If he got closer, he believed he would realize these creatures were much more different from an actual human being.

“Hmm... If I look closer, even their machines are shrugging in an M-shape...” Feng Bujue had stopped moving by now. He was waiting for the other party to react.

“Earthling, put your arms before your chest and do not move!” One of the pilots warned Feng Bujue. This voice was clearly mechanically modified and came from some part of the robot. Therefore, even though Feng Bujue stood 10 metres away, he could hear it clearly.

“Ah, so they are aliens...” Brother Jue followed the instruction and crossed his arms before his chest as he mumbled under his breath. “Erm... Wait a minute, from their perspective, I am the ‘alien’ here...” He studied the other party’s reaction with some amusement and interest and started to come up with various hypothesis in his mind, like this race’s technological level, their cultural level, their societal structure, mating ritual...

...

“Reporting back to base, this is unit 1, I am leader Jie Jie Jie Jie. The target seems to be able to understand our language and do not seem to be hostile.” Jie Jie Jie Jie who was inside the leading robot spoke into the communicator. “Request to initiate capture protocol number 3, over.”

After a short silence, the base came back with the reply, “Approved, please be careful, Jie Jie Jie Jie, over.”

After getting the approval, Jie Jie Jie Jie opened the speaker system and told Brother Jue. “Earthling, you are under arrest. Please cooperate and do not make any futile resistance.”

Feng Bujue stood where he was and did not budge. He wished to cooperate but he did not know what cooperation was.

“What should I do...” brother Jue contemplated in his mind. [If I am back on earth... normally the police would have the detainee raise their hands behind their heads and kneel on the ground but at this place, they told me to cross my arms before my chest... of course, that can be understood, with how their body is structured, it is almost impossible for them to raise their hands over their head.] His eyes moved and calculated the amount of robots. There were 11 of them. [If I follow this train of thought, in the eyes of this race, perhaps bowing is a sign of insult, nodding could be derisive, smiling could be a sign of anger, touching one’s leg is sexual assault... o wait, that is sexual harassment on earth as well...]

Ke ke, ke ke.

The robot Jie Jie Jie Jie was in walked forward to get close to Brother Jue. The robot was about 10 metres tall and the frame was similar to their controller, they were human-shaped with highly shrugged shoulders.

“Stand on the robot’s open palm.” Jie Jie Jie Jie said as he extended the robot palm. Feng Bujue did what he was told. When he took the spot, the palm started to morph and it changed into a hollow sphere of iron cage in two seconds.

Jie Jie Jie Jie sighed in relief. He adjusted his tone and said severely, “I am Jie Jie Jie Jie, the Second Lieutenant of the Shrugging Planet’s Land force. Now I officially announce that you have been captured due to the crime of theft of military confidence.”

“Fine... as they say, whatever will be will be...” Feng Bujue chuckled self-deprecatingly.

...

Honestly, after being placed inside the cage, Feng Bujue felt surprisingly more at ease. If he was back on earth, he would be cuffed and placed in a police car. However, note the minor difference between a captive and a fugitive... the former had already ‘been detained’, as long as they did not resist too violently, the detainers even had to ensure their captive’s safety, but a fugitive was different, one wrong move and he could be shot on the spot.

At this point, Feng Bujue gained the courage to communicate with his captor. He immediately shouted at the top of his lungs. “Hey! Where am i? What planet is this? Is it the Shrugging Planet?”

The problems with language would be settled automatically by the system’s inherent translation system. No matter whether the player was sporting old English, idioms or slangs, the system would appropriately translate the meaning to the person they were communicating with, there was no worry of things being lost in translation.

“You have no right to any question, intruder.” Jie Jie Jie Jie replied. “if you have any question, direct them to your interrogator.”

“This is Jie Jie Jie Jie. Capture Protocol Three completed, request for Unit 1 to return to base, offer.” Jie Jie Jie Jie updated the situation through the communicator.

“Request approved, over.” This time the reply came fast. Therefore, Jie Jie Jie Jie led the 11 robots from unit 1 and headed back to their base. Feng Bujue though stood inside the robot’s palm and waited patiently. Even though he did not need to run anymore, he was not feeling so comfy because the robot’s palm was made from metal. It burned from the temperature of the sun, so the heat from inside the ‘cage’ was not lower than the temperature outside. Under the singing rays of the red sun, Brother Jue in his long suit felt like he was a piece of meat placed on a teriyaki plate.

“Hmm... He refers to himself as the second lieutenant, so this means that I have encountered the military and not the police.” All Feng Bujue could do was to consider his situation to distract himself from the heat. “But to say that I have stolen their military secret is quite a stretch... This is a desert, what secret could there be?” He sighed a puff of hot air. “Wait... this could be a military weapon testing ground... that would make sense.”

“Ah... This is getting hotter and hotter...” Brother Jue pulled on his collar and joke you not, a white smoke drifted out. “Looks at these people’s thick uniform and their encasement within the helmet, the technology of ‘air-conditioning’ must have existed in their technological tree, right...” He wiped away the beads of sweat that blinded his eyes. “But if this species has a natural resistance to heat and the creations on this planet are all heat-resistant... then I will be in for a hell of a ‘good time’.”

At this point, suddenly something dawned on him. “By the way... even though I can’t remove my own clothes but what if I get the people on this planet to remove them for me... Like, what if they wish to cut me open to study me...” Unfortunately, that was wishful thinking, with the presence of the system, something like that would never happen...

...

To put a long story short, about 10 minutes later, a base in the middle of the desert entered Brother Jue’s eyes. This was a very majestic building. At one glance, it was over 50 metres tall and if one needed to describe the structure of this building in one sentence—it would be, it was in the shape of a giant ‘M’.

“Jesus, where should I start? There are too many materials...” Feng Bujue said as he used Yakyuken against the air. He grumbled under his breath. “This book won’t be served a lawsuit if I mention a certain resemblance to a golden arches, would it...”

“Unit 1 has returned. Request to enter base, over.” Jie Jie Jie Jie made contact with the base again.

“Entrance 3 is ready. Please enter through there, over.”

“Understood.” Jie Jie Jie Jie replied. Soon the 11 machines moved towards the pillar on the right side of the M. When they arrived at the base, the robots all stopped. With a groaning sound of a giant machine, a giant door before them slowly opened. This door was obviously made for giant vehicles. Beyond it was a slope of asphalt that reached deep underground. With Jie Jie Jie Jie leading the way, the robots of Unit 1 slithered into the passageway. Then, the giant door behind them closed. The red sun was eclipsed from view and in its place was the two strips of white light that ran down the sides of the passageway.

“Phew...” Feng Bujue sighed in relaxation. “So... as long as the place is not hit directly by the sun, even without air conditioning, the temperature will be much lower.”

They moved for quite a distance before they reached the end of the passageway. This was a half spherical space and it was as large as three football fields. On the ‘curved perimeter’ of this space, there were six tunnel entrances of varying shapes, they appeared to extend into six different passages. While on the side that was even, there were about 4 giant mechanical doors that were more than 10 metres tall. The four doors each had 4 distinct and strange system on them. When Brother Jue’s eyes landed on those symbols, the system translation provided the corresponding number. Actually the four symbols were the Arabic number 1, 2, 3, 4.

“Hmm... their language system appears quite interesting.” Feng Bujue did not seem to realize the danger he was in. He was studying the numerical system of these alien language as if he was there to study a foreign language.

“Second Lieutenant Jie Jie Jie Jie and all members of Unit 1 are back to report for duty!” Jie Jie Jie Jie stopped his robot before one of the military officers. He opened the pilot door and stood up and shouted. The officer was also dressed in green. He had a pointed hat above his head. He extended 3 fingers on his right hand (He only had 3 in total) to pat on his forehead. “Well done, second lieutenant, leave the rest to me.”

“yes, sir.” Jie Jie Jie Jie responded with the same motion. Looks like this appeared to be a ‘military salute’ equivalent for the people of Shrugging Planet. After that, Jie Jie Jie Jie sat down in his seat. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel and then the ‘cage’ that surrounded Feng Bujue changed shape and expanded. The next second, four Shrugging Planet soldiers with guns surrounded Brother Jue. At this point, Feng Bujue could take a better look at these people. At a closer distance, he realized other than the height of the shoulders, these people’s faces were very different from a human...

These people’s faces were not flat like a human but they were petered out in the middle and flattened on the side like a side. They had two eyes that bulged outwards, they grew on the side of their heads. Clearly they had peripheral vision... if their shoulders were not in the way. Their nose (or what Feng Bujue believed to be their nose) did not have a clear shape. Instead several extremely small hoses gathered at the front end of their petered face, they looked like the holes on the end of the telephone.

Their mouths though were quite similar to human being but due to their face shape, their mouths appeared much larger.

Feng Bujue looked for a while and could not find an organ that resembled an ear on these people. He wondered... if the organ grew on the back of their head or at the other part of their body. Since both side of their heads had been blocked off by their shoulders, according to evolution theory, if they were to grow an ear, they would not grow on the sides of their heads.

“Earthling, you understand our language, correct?” The officer asked.

Feng Bujue stood where he was and did not dare to move rashly. He answered calmly. “yes.” After he observed these people’s appearance, he started to quietly study their weapon. The four soldiers that surrounded him all held a metallic object and were ready to shoot. The guns that they held were mechanically similar to the ones from earth but the appearance was slightly different. Due to the eyes placement, the angle between the shoulders and neck, the length of the arm and the number of fingers... these factors influenced the making of these weapons and thus factored into the different appearance of the guns.

“Oh? You know how to speak our language as well?” The officer was quite surprised.

“Sorry sir, after he was captured, he did communicate with us but I did not report about it.” Jie Jie Jie Jie added from above.

“It does not matter, second lieutenant.” The officer lifted his head to reply before turning back to Brother Jue. “Looks like... you are an experienced spy... earthling.”

Feng Bujue had seen many spy flicks. He instantly responded with a sharp reaction. “Hmph...” it was a scoff followed by a derisive taunt. “Mind telling me your military ranking?”

“Hmm?” The officer chuckled coldly. “I am the Colonel of the Shrugging Planet’s Land force, Ku Ku Ku Ku.” He paused. “And... mind telling me who are you?”

“Hah!” Feng Bujue laughed and sharpened his gaze. “Get your superior to come to talk to me!”

Ku Ku Ku Ku paced around as he studied Brother Jue. “Ho~ A captive like yourself...” He spat to the ground (The saliva of these people looked clear and crystalline), “is quite full of himself, huh?”

“Hmph...” Feng Bujue raised his head and stopped talking but the meaning was clear. [I have nothing more to say to people of your lowly level.]

“Fine... a stubborn one is it...” Ku Ku Ku Ku glared at Brother Jue. He nodded slightly. “One does have courage.” He waved at the soldiers. “Bring him to the interrogation room.” As he gave the order, the soldiers behind Brother Jue came forward to push hard at him, yelling, “Move!”

“There is no need to push!” Feng Bujue suddenly exploded and roared back. This sudden shout that came from the bottom of his heart appeared to have startled the shoulder.

“I know how to walk on my own.” Two seconds later, Feng Bujue added. Then, he raised his head with pride and sauntered his way forward. Ku Ku Ku Ku took a deep breath to even out his emotion. He adjusted his collar and gave the remaining orders to the members of Unit 1 and then left with the soldiers.

...

Perhaps some of the readers might be wondering why Brother Jue appeared so obedient when he was captured but now acted so arrogantly after he was captured and brought to the base?

That was... because things had changed.

Before this, Feng Bujue was extremely lacking in information so he was practically forced to ‘cooperate’ but now that he had known the basis set up about this scenario, things had changed tremendously...

Before entering this world, Feng Bujue knew nothing about the world building of this universe. At the time, he had to be careful around everything. Because he was an extremist, this was his philosophy, “If I have accidentally stepped on a cockroach and this cockroach happened to be the pet of some powerful deity, then I would have to burn 500000 Game Coins to buy a lesson.”

And now after Brother Jue had a certain degree of interaction with the people of the Shrugging Planet, he had a bottom line already. He had confidence that with his physical prowess, he could do whatever he wanted at this base with no resistance.

And the basis for his confidence was very simple... Because the weapons of these soldiers and the robots had all proved that this was a planet that had a heavy lean towards a use of technological development. In that case, then their physical prowess would not be that impressive. The universe was very fair, either you have a very advanced technology, a mastery of magic or superior physique... one could not master all, this was the product of evolution.

If a species could break the planet with a fist, why would they spend time to study weapons and guns? If a race could use magic to teleport to any corner of the universe, why would they need to build aircraft? Technology was built to server the inventor, if there was no need, there would be no technology. Therefore, Brother Jue believed these people had limited fighting ability. Even if they were slightly stronger than a normal human, they would not be that powerful. After all, if their punches were faster than bullet, why would they even need a gun?

...

Creak—

The electronic door of the interrogation room slowly opened. The next second, Feng Bujue was shoved into the room. Ku Ku Ku Ku appeared at the door. “You shall wait here for a while... big man.” He scoffed and then turned to walk away. One of the soldiers at the door pressed a button on the panel and with a beep... the electronic door closed again. Brother Jue was left alone inside the interrogation room.

“Hmm... Now this is quite interesting.” Feng Bujue turned around to start to observe the room he was in. The room had no window and had no air vent. There was only one door, the electronic door that just slammed shut in his face. And the upper part of the wall that was opposite from the door was a large mirror that was smooth and reflective.

“A single way mirror is it...” Feng Bujue walked to the ‘mirror’ and tapped twice on it. “This looks more and more like a spy film from the previous century...” He said darkly. “There are no trace of surveillance camera at any angle...” He walked to the middle of the room. There were a table and two chairs. They were all made from metal and screwed to the ground. “Aren’t any on the table or chairs either...” he sat down and raised his head. “The light came from the ceiling, there is no exposed lighting device... Hmm... not bad, that can prevent the criminal from breaking the device and use the broken glass as weapon...”

Brother Jue placed both of his hands behind his head, crossed his legs and gave a long satisfied sigh. “Even though I can’t see the vents, but the air-conditioning is quite comfortable here.

Moments later, the interrogation room door opened again. A male alien from Shrugging Planet who was 2 metres tall (This race appeared to have the same average height as human beings) in military garb (the gender of this race is also split into two types, male and female) walked in. After he entered the room, he was not in a hurry to speak and he did not get close to feng Bujue. He merely stood at the door, waited quietly for a few seconds. After the door closed behind him, he started to move forward.

“So... I hear that you wish to talk to me?” He took several steps forward to stop beside the table. He regarded Brother Jue who was cross-legged at the opposite end of the table and said darkly. “So... start talking...” He paused, before adding with derision, “...big character.”

Feng Bujue lifted his eyes to look at the man for 2 seconds before smiling with a reply, “And you are.”

“Lieutenant General of the Shrugging Planet’s Land force, He He He He.” He He He He replied.

“He he...” feng Bujue laughed drily twice as he thought to himself [Jesus Christ, the naming culture of this species sure likes repetition...]

“Don’t try any funny trick, you spy.” He He He He warned. When General He said that, Brother Jue only realized his laughter had been interpreted as him trying to endear himself to the general...

“Erm... I have a question.” Feng Bujue asked. “The people on your people... do they all have the same four syllable as their names?”

He He He He replied, “Indeed, do you have any issue with that, earthling?”

“Then wouldn’t there be people who would have repeated names?” Feng Bujue asked.

“Hmph...” he he he he scoffed as he took the seat across from Feng Bujue. “Listen, earthling, I am here talking to you because I believe you have value. But if you insist on this attitude... then I do not mind continuing this interrogation in another manner.” His expression shifted (Brother Jue assumed he was trying to scare him), “Now... please stop with the ‘visitor-type’ question and honestly give up your name, military ranking and army affiliation immediately... or else...”

“I am a superhero from earth.” Feng Bujue answered immediately. When he said that, his expression did not change and his heart did not skip a beat. Even a human being was unable to tell he was lying much less a person from the Shrugging Planet.