"Knock knock—"

The bells on the circus square put an end to all conversation.

When 12 o'clock in the night comes, all performances come to an abrupt end, the flow of time belonging to the circus stops, and the hilarious and absurd world is put on pause.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye—"

Qi Zhen said to Gu Zhenzhen and her shadow, and after that, the voice disappeared completely, and the circus fell silent.

*

Breathtakingly intense incandescent light shone down from the ceiling.

Everyone opened their eyes in discomfort, and they came to the familiar copy transfer subway station again.

The circus is completely over.

After Qi Yan and Qin Rang opened their eyes, they subconsciously searched for Gu Zhenzhen's figure among the surviving players, but as they expected, Gu Zhenzhen and her shadow would remain in that stagnant circus forever, accompanied by burning tents and endless wilderness.

After a short silence, Qin Rang sighed: "Sure enough, there are some goodbyes that will never be seen again." ”

Lu Zhi: "But fortunately, they will not be separated, and any transaction needs to pay a price, and it all depends on the choices made by the parties after weighing the pros and cons." ”

Qi Yan lowered his gaze, looked thoughtfully at the shadow on his platform, and was silent.

As long as there is light, the shadow and the ontology will not be separated, so will the shadow dominated by the ontology be unwilling?

Will the shadow want to run away from home?

Putting aside the situation of Gu Zhenzhen and Ji Xiaoye, Qi Yan fell into aimless thinking.

"So what exactly is the price of your trade with the Kraken?" Qin Rang patted Qi Yan's shoulder, half-jokingly and half-worried.

Qi Yan glanced at him lightly and smiled: "Don't ask, I won't suffer if I ask." ”

Qin Rang choked: "You kid, this tone is like a relational household." ”

Qi Zhen smiled but did not answer.

[Quest settlement is about to begin, please go to the platform]

The radio on the platform rang out, a familiar and mechanical voice.

[Congratulations to all the travelers for successfully completing the "Road Circus" tour]

[Quest Initial Mission: Experience all circus items as a guest in 3 days (completed)]

[Player's Personal Mission Change: Survive the Last Night of the Circus as a New Beast Trainer (Completed)]

[At present, the exploration and completion of the dungeon has reached 100%, and the dungeon will be closed permanently]

Hearing this, Qin Rang, who had already known the result, still sighed.

[Next Settlement of Survival Coins: Reward for clearing Dungeon Survival Coins*15000]

The surviving player exclaimed in an instant, Qin Rang, who had experienced the Hot Spring Street dungeon, was stunned, he thought that he had reached the top when he played the 5,000 coin reward, but he didn't expect to play the 15,000 coin reward this time, which directly tripled.

However, it is also understandable that although the circus dungeon only lasts for three days and four nights, the energy and risks required to clear the customs are more than several times that of ordinary dungeons.

The greater the risk, the greater the return.

[Tourist Status: Extra Reward for completing the final main quest this time: Circus Music Box*1]

[Instructions for the use of bonus items: Rare-level permanent items, the music of the music box can heal all mental damage, and help listening players quickly recover their pleasure points]

[On behalf of all members of the system, we will provide all travelers with "Highway Circus" souvenirs: Circus Cast and Crew Doll Commemorative Package*1 set]

[Note that this souvenir has high flexibility and adaptability, and its attributes and functions will change according to the traveler's own attributes, so travelers are requested to explore on their own]

[For the personal reward part, please open the system interface to view, I wish you a happy journey]

Qi Yan opened his personal interface to check the reward——

[Reward 1: Congratulations on successfully unlocking the [Beast Tamer's Summoning] identity skill, since you already have the "Bloodline Identity" skill, the system has detected that there is a duplication of skill effects between the two, and has made skill merger optimization for you]

[After optimization, it has been merged into the "Beast Tamer with Bloodline" identity system, and the skill upgrades are as follows: 1. The ability to control the bloodline is fully upgraded (high-level): Under certain conditions, all non-human creatures can be manipulated (the original bloodline is limited, and only night creatures can be manipulated), and they will be affected by your actions and take action after hearing your call, including violent attacks; 2. The ability to reshape the identity of the prey has been unlocked: after you bite the human prey, you can use the "Gaze Domination" Ability to transform the prey into an animal (temporarily), note that the use of this skill has a high probability of transformation failure, and the success rate is closely related to your "Gaze Domination" level and the willingness of the opponent, so please use it with caution.

【Reward 2: Kraken's Safe Sea Unlocked】

[Skill Instructions: It belongs to the absolute safety zone of the Kraken, and you can enter the Kraken realm through the enchantment during the battle to avoid damage and restore physical strength]

[Skill use time: 79 seconds]

[Skill use limit: Cooldown time 12h (the duration can be shortened by upgrading skills in the future)]

Qi Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, the so-called "safe sea area of the kraken" can be roughly understood as a "safe house"-like existence.

Unfortunately, it was only 79 seconds, otherwise he would have considered taking the little gray cat and visiting the Siren's house from time to time to let the cat taste fresh sea fish and shellfish.

[Reward 3: The "NPC Time-limited Employment Letter" has been upgraded, and the duration of each hire has been greatly increased (and the corresponding cost has also increased)]

Qi began to suspect that this was the result of his previous complaints about not being hired for enough time.

It seems that the system teacher has sorted out the needs of travelers and given reasonable and practical rewards.

[Reward 4: Obtain the "Circus Tamer's Little Leather Whip" (a permanent item, the object whipped by the leather whip will reveal its original form); "Kraken's Scales"* Countless (Unknown Effect); "Surprise Gift Pack" prepared by the cast and crew for you*1 (please check it yourself due to privacy settings)]

Qi Ji looked thoughtfully at the "circus beast tamer's little leather whip", and suddenly thought, if he used it to smoke the role played by 079, would that high-ranking guy be "exposed"?

Chapter 176: The Drunk

Thinking like this, the corners of Qi Jiu's lips raised a slight arc.

He took the opportunity to click on this surprise package prepared for him by the circus cast and crew.

At the moment when the gift package was opened, Qi Jiu's brows furrowed slightly, and the content of the gift was somewhat unexpected by him.

This is a group photo of all the circus members.

Qi Yan turned the photo over, and a line of words was scribbled on the back of the photo-

"I hope that the doors of the circus will one day reopen because of you"

A pair of cat ears are vividly drawn next to this line of message, and it is clear that this line was left to him by the black cat soothsayer.

Is it some kind of prophecy?

Qi Yan looked at the photo again, his eyes wandered between Gu Zhenzhen and her "shadow" on the photo, and his knuckles were slightly strained.

In other words, the black cat soothsayer predicted that he had the possibility of reopening the circus? The circus was indeed shut down by the system as a quest for travelers, but as a stand-alone venue, it is likely that the circus still wanders around a certain road......

If so, the circus can exist in this world as a non-copy......

Qi Zhen put away this precious photo and looked forward to the day when he reopened the door of the circus.

After coming out of the dungeon, Qi Yan felt a little sleepy, a kind of exhaustion after participating in the all-night carnival dance, he leaned back on the subway seat and squinted for a while.

Half-asleep and half-awake, Qi Jiu's eyebrows jumped, and at this moment, it seemed that someone touched the scar behind his ear with his fingertips, as if he did it unconsciously when he was thinking on weekdays.

Qi Jiu's eyelids trembled, and he suddenly hesitated when he subconsciously wanted to open his eyes.

As the cold and soft touch passed through his neck, the familiar smell enveloped him, the cold but reassuring smell of disinfectant water in the factory infirmary, mixed with a few traces of fermented fishy sweetness unique to blood brewing, and the subconscious could faintly hear the priest's peaceful but ungodly prayers, and the sound of the undercurrent surging in the depths of the sea......

Qi Yan sank into the ambiguous breath and voice, he chose to continue to close his eyes, and the Adam's apple slipped accordingly: "079, who is the real you?" ”

"Guess?" The same voice as Qi Jiu rings in his ears, which will give people the illusion of asking and answering himself.

079's fingers repeatedly rubbed the scar behind Qi's ear, as if to confirm something, and like a long-standing habit.

The movement of his fingertips was imminent, and finally followed the outline of Qi Zhen's bones from behind his ears to his lips, and in his peaceful voice there was an undercurrent of bewilderment that no one could escape, neither a prey nor a hunter.

Qi Yan cooperated very well with the movements of the other party's fingertips, raised his neck and lips opened slightly, and deliberately wrapped the opponent's fingers with a hot and humid breath.

Vigilant prey will carefully hide their weaknesses, while arrogant prey will use their "weaknesses" to lure controlling predators.

He clearly felt the other party's movements pause slightly.

Qi Zhen smiled triumphantly: "No one, right?" ”

Of course, he knew the answer.

A low smile came from behind him: "Go on, find me-"

079's words are overlaid with the sound of a "boom", the sound of a subway moving from a tunnel into the ground.

Qi Ji knew that it was time to wake up from the dream, and he hesitated for half a second before opening his eyes, looking at the wet lights of the Dying City outside the window, and the mirror image of himself on the glass window of the train.

The rain left a trail of debris on the glass windows, and these damp traces were illuminated by the streetlights, reflecting the subtle light.

Qi Yan in the mirror image is a little confused, and all the ambiguous sensory experiences melt into the rain outside the window.

He fell into a short, incomprehensible thought—

Shadow and mirror, are he and 079 such beings?

It didn't take long for the train to stop at the platform, and Qi Xiaonian almost trotted all the way from the platform to guard the screen door, looking anxiously and panickedly towards the subway crowd, until he found Qi Yan and Lu Zhi in the crowd, and he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

In fact, after the copy came out, Lu Zhi sent a message to Qi Xiaonian to report safety, but he didn't see them appear in front of him safely, and Qi Xiaonian couldn't let go.

Lu Zhi: "Didn't you say that you don't have to come here to pick it up?" Why did you run here again. ”

Qi Xiaonian looked away: "I happened to pass by, so I came over to take a look." ”

Lu Zhi scratched his head: "Oh, that's it......"

"......" Qi Ji smiled bitterly secretly, and sure enough, when this time came, Lu Zhi's EQ dropped off.

He noticed that Qi Xiaonian's eyes were slightly dark, and his face looked pale and tired than usual, so he asked keenly, "Has something happened recently?" ”

Qi Xiaonian nodded: "It's nothing new, two days ago, another copy collapsed because of a system bug, and all the players in the copy were wiped out, and I don't even know the specific identity of the players who died in the copy, and now the trial is still trying to find a way to investigate this matter, but the system does a very good job of keeping the identities of the players involved in the copy secret, and at the same time, there are more than one group of players who have entered the dungeon, and it ......is not easy to figure it out."

Qi Zhen instantly understood, the reason why Qi Xiaonian showed a worried and tired look just now was because he had been worried for the past two days, afraid that he and Lu Zhi happened to be in the unexpectedly collapsed copy.

It is likely that in the past two days, Qi Xiaonian, who has not been able to contact the two of them for the time being, has been waiting in the subway station where the interlocutor returned, so anxious that he can't close his eyes......

Qi Jiu: "Fortunately, although our copy is not easy, fortunately it did not collapse. ”

"Don't worry, we're fine." As he spoke, Qi Yan gently patted Qi Xiaonian's shoulder.

Qi Xiaonian's shoulders, which had been tense, finally relaxed.