A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

Selene opened her mouth, and the two upper canines had already stretched out. Max quickly raised his hand: "Well, an old man like me is just curious. Especially now that I am an employee of that tavern, I can see the difference. People in the world, I am even more curious."

"Don't be so curious and you'll be better off."

Selene, whose eyesight is not affected by the darkness, has already seen that Max outside the window is pulling out a thick and hairy thigh from the sand... Impatient, she jumped down from the window and landed on the ground quietly and gracefully. landed on the sand and walked over there.

The cigarette butt in Max's mouth flickered in the wind. He watched the backs of the two silently and closed his mouth.

Selene felt that a trace of unusual anger had just risen in her heart, which made her almost break her promise and shot at that man.

But she is not that kind of irrational beast... When she was in that tavern, what she hated the most was the unreasonable suspicion of these humans.

When humans say "you only see us as food", don't they automatically classify her as a predator?

She's not some trash who hunts just for the pleasure of sucking blood, she's a warrior, and a warrior only targets enemies!

The giant wolf in front of him is obviously not one of them... It does have an abnormal body shape, a huge mouth, long fangs and claws, but that's all.From the structure of the bones, it can be seen that the elbows of its forelimbs are inward and the soles of its feet are outward, and they are not overly strong and developed like werewolves.

Its blood, even though it was mixed with sand, smelled like hell.

"...Why is its blood like this?" She couldn't help but grabbed a handful of blood-stained sand and said to herself.

Max heard it and answered her: "It seems that you are very sensitive to blood. When the war was over and the government had not lost all control, some scientists claimed that the reason why these animals mutated was probably eating them by mistake. Food contaminated with radiation, or scratched by radiation pollutants, will cause the radiation source to enter the blood.... There may not be one out of a hundred such animals, but the surviving ones will inherit the mutation, along with the blood in the blood. together with the radioactive source..."

Selene was about to respond when she felt nauseous...and she was 100% sure it wasn't from the drink she had just had.The supernatural senses were sending her a dangerous signal, causing her to take several steps back before stabilizing her center of gravity and not falling to the ground.

"Bury it now...I'm being affected by that blood!"

She said in a trembling voice, leaning back against the outer wall of the building, not even having the strength to jump up again and go back inside through the window.The forehead covered by black hair was dripping with cold sweat. The close contact just now greatly accelerated the influence of the blood on her. with.

Max kicked the wolf carcass back into the sandpit, bent down a few times, pushed down the sand just dug out, and filled it back, walked over and poured out a stream of clear spring from the water bag, for Selene Rush away the blood stains on your hands.

Since going to the tavern...he doesn't care much about water anymore, after all, he can have unlimited supplies every night.

It took a while for Selene to catch her breath, but she still didn't have the strength to raise her hand, so she could only look coldly at Max who was approaching.

"Humanity……"

Max knew what she was thinking when he looked at her eyes, and shook his head helplessly.

He shouted upstairs: "Max! We must take her back to the tavern together!"

When the two men held her arms, Max finally couldn't help joking and said, "This is the second time I've lifted you up tonight, ma'am. How do you think my 'food' behaves?"

"...You talk too much."

Selene replied, closing her eyes wearily, until the melody of "Wildfire" rang in her ears again.

Chapter 4 Ordinary

For the rest of the night, Selene seemed very quiet.

She took out another silver coin, and this time ordered a cup of hot mead that was not as strong, and sat there drinking it, watching the busyness of the others in the bar.

Max sat down in front of the bar. He originally planned to come back to drink some water and leave tonight...but it is already late at night. After the trouble just now, he has woken up a lot. to chat with.

He has to admit that this is a good place... The nights in the wasteland are especially difficult, even if you are asleep, you have to stay alert at all times. A little wind and grass may be a potential danger signal; not to mention the refugees who failed to find shelter , an acid rain is enough to make a weak person never wake up again.

But he still doesn't intend to stay here... Part of his heart and soul have already merged with that wasteland, and he feels a little more comfortable in that harsh environment.

It was enough for him to be able to visit this tavern for a drink now and then.

Cheetos deliberately went out and bought him a pie from another world. The freshly baked dough was golden and crispy, exuding a strong fragrance; lightly poked with a fork, the plump apple flesh mixed with the syrupy filling Just gurgle out.

... This is the sense of happiness that a world of abundant materials can bring to people. Many modern people have become accustomed to the supply of various basic needs within easy reach in the city, but they don't know how luxurious it is.

In Max's view, this sense of happiness is the ultimate meaning of human civilization.

I don't know if there will be such a day in the wasteland, maybe he won't be able to see it until he dies in the desert holding the steering wheel.

Daige is showing Xue Li the puppet she made with screws and hoses.

The puppet has a peculiar decadent aesthetic feeling. Every part of its body is detached or disassembled from other mechanical structures. The edges and corners and the twisted iron wire at the seam belong to another wasteland aesthetic that is completely different from Old Joe's motorcycle army.

"That's great, where are you going to put it?" Xue Li asked.

Daige looked around, and finally pointed to the wine cabinet behind the bar: "Put it on there."

Xue Li then moved the ladder, which had been in the tavern from the beginning, luckily it wasn't broken by him during those crazy days.

While helping Daiger put her doll on the top of the cabinet, he asked, "Why put it on the top of the wine cabinet?"

"...I made it according to your boss, so it should be put there."

Daige's answer was a bit inconsistent, and Xue Li also looked at the doll that was more than ten centimeters long... How does it look like him?

But when he asked again, the only answer he got was "feeling", so he shrugged and let her go.

Max is watching the hamster.

Hamsters have a completely different biological clock than humans, and are generally active at night.It stared at the approaching old bald head, straightened up and bared its teeth, looking rebellious.

But Max was completely unmoved, and even stuck his finger through the gap in the iron cage, teasing the poor little thing, and then quickly pulled it out when he was about to be bitten.

Just looking at this moment, the tavern is really peaceful and peaceful, giving Selene a lazy atmosphere that almost wants to fall asleep.

"……Do not……"

She drank the remaining mead and stood up.The influence of the dirty blood of those mutated wolves on her has completely subsided, and there is no need for her to stay here anymore... There are still many things waiting for her to do outside.

Without greeting anyone, she silently walked into the darkness outside the door again.

Max put the hamster cage aside, looked at her back thoughtfully, and said to Xue Li who had just come down the ladder: "...this 'Moon Goddess' is quite interesting."

"How should I say? By the way, she didn't intend to attack you when she was in that world, did she? Even if she just showed hostility clearly...I can't take this risk." Xue Li said, although he really wanted to know if this guest could Find some memory for him, but if it endangers the other people who have become his friends... then forget it.

He didn't explain in detail, but the tavern did give him some ability to decide who would never find that door again.

Sealed belongs to yes.

"Don't be so unreasonable... Don't judge anyone by the momentary emotional performance. Max once distrusted us and even wanted to attack you, but he is not a bad person." Max said, "And...you really Don't you think there must be a reason for every customer in this tavern?"

Just as Max raised his head upon hearing his name, intending to listen to what the two were saying, several figures came in from the door.

"Hey, what am I telling you, a bar! It's old fashioned though..."

The leader was a girl with long flaxen hair brushed behind her ears, a baseball cap on top of her head, big eyes and a round face, and a cigarette in her mouth. Her footsteps were sloppy when she walked, and she seemed to have drunk a lot.

The two girls who followed her in were also girls like her. The taller one was a black girl with short black hair mixed with purple-red highlights; Curved, with a gentle temperament, he said with a worried look on his face at this time: "Gibb, are you sure we can drink again? And didn't you say you want to quit smoking?"

"Yes, I quit. I have to quit many times a day." Jibu replied nonchalantly.

"Gibb, didn't we agree to spend the night at Lori's today?" the black girl also said, "And I never remember such a bar in town, it's so weird."

Judging from their appearance and dialogue, these three are more typical American high school sisters, and even their role settings are Hollywood classics, namely good students, playboys and attendants.

"Have a...Bloody Mary!" Gagjib yelled as he sat down in front of the bar.

Xue Li silently took a cup and began to prepare vodka base wine and tomato juice.He looked at Max and raised his eyebrows. The meaning was simple: Why do you see these guests in the tavern?What is the significance?

Max said nothing, and turned back to playing with his hamster.

The girls started chattering as soon as they came in, and it was the time when boys and girls at this age were most interested in chatting and gossip.Max was clearly drawn to the world, which hadn't been so peaceful in his teenage years, let alone football teams and cheerleading tryouts.

As expected, the good student was quite sensible, so he ordered two glasses of soda for himself and Heimei.It's just that it can be seen that even if she was set up by a good woman, she is quite familiar with the bar... American, it's not surprising.

These three girls are not as unique as the previous guests by any means, just ordinary American high school girls, maybe a little rebellious, that's all.

Xue Li was a little curious, what would be the problem they need to solve?It's not about wanting the teacher to stop making trouble, boyfriend to be more eye-catching, concert tickets for popular singers, etc.

Not that these problems are unimportant to them, but they can be solved without any help from outside the world, and even disappear on their own after a few years.

It's just that it's not bad to have such a few ordinary guests in the tavern... It's time to come to an ordinary world where nothing happens. Which tavern will entertain wastelanders, gunfighters and vampires all day long?

The girl named Jibu even wanted to take out her credit card to pay the bill, but Xue Li regretfully refused.He can't connect to Bank of America in any world...

This is also the reason why he asked Selene for hard currency of precious metals.U.S. dollars may not necessarily be used in different worlds. After all, Dao Le has changed several versions...but metals have their inherent value, especially gold and silver, which are chemically stable, bright in color, and high in weight per unit volume. , is a natural currency.

"Uh, I... I didn't have cash. Damn, do you two have any money?"

Gibb withdraws the credit card in embarrassment.She felt very shameless, she was the one who found this small bar with "BAR" hanging on the street, and she was the one who pulled the sisters to come in, and said she was going to treat guests, but when it was time to pay the bill, she found that she had no money .

There are always several such experiences in a person's life, and she could have regarded it as normal, but the eyes of the sisters who said "It's okay, you've done a good job" only made her feel more ashamed.

"I didn't bring either...Kia, what about you?" The blond Lori flipped through her handbag, only to find that there were only a few coins in it.

The black girl Kia who was asked also shook her head: "We were going to your house, why did we bring money with us?"

"Forget me to invite you..." Xue Li, who couldn't stand it anymore, said, "But don't drink too much. It's a small business."

"Well, thank you..." Gibb smiled at him sheepishly, "I haven't seen you around before, are you new to town?"

Not only did the nervous girl not notice that none of the people in the tavern knew the three of them, she didn't even notice that there was darkness instead of a street view outside the window.

There was a smile on the corner of Xue Li's mouth, and he knocked on the bar, reminding these silly girls: "I haven't noticed something wrong... Ladies, don't you think this is still your town?"

The girls quickly turned their heads and saw Max jump off the bar chair after eating the pie and walk back towards the door.He was still stained with wolf blood, with a weapon on his waist, and the full suit of a wastelander. He didn't look like a good man.

On the other side is an old bald man with a beard, leaning back on a chair and taking a nap. There is a hamster cage in front of him. Two girls who are the same age as the others seem to be studying how to pluck two beards from his face. down.

The light from the street lamp that should have existed outside the door did not penetrate at all. When the sloppy man with broad shoulders and thick back opened the door, it turned out to be dark inside... Why didn't you pay attention at all just now?

"I'll tell you!" Kia, the tallest of the three, jumped up. "When did a bar open on Elm Street! We know everyone who lives there!"

Chapter 5 The dusty past

It was early morning when they walked out of that door, and the people on Elm Street hadn't woken up yet. The corner of the street was so quiet that one couldn't even hear the chirping of birds and insects.

A bright line had just appeared in the east, and the white street lights shone on them. The coolness and humidity of the morning hit together, making the three young girls shiver at the same time.

"We... just now, were we dreaming?"

Kia said, and then the three looked at each other, and then turned back together.

There is no door there...just an ordinary wall on the corner of the street, and it is also the outer wall of the convenience store of the gas station at the corner.

Even Gibb, who is usually the most nervous, began to become suspicious. She folded her arms against the cold in the morning and whispered: "I still have the taste of tomato juice in my mouth. Is it fake? Damn, I feel I'm so scared, are those people really human?"

"...What would it be if it wasn't a human being...Okay, stop talking about Gibb, don't scare yourself!" Lori also thought of that possibility, and hurriedly told her sister to shut up, don't let the good come to the bad come.

Many people don’t think so, but the scientifically advanced United States is also a superstitious country... Rather, superstition is one of the essential needs of human beings, and there are very few people in any culture who can overcome superstition.

Those who say they are not superstitious... have you... ever tried metaphysics when drawing cards?

From Rabbitfoot and Wendigo to psychics and voodoo, the American superstitious tradition has even continued to modern times, and monsters such as "Scientology" and "NXIVM" have been raised.

For three American high school girls who are ordinary enough to be used as a standard sample, it is not surprising to believe in the existence of ghosts; at this moment, the three of them have completely fallen into their own fantasies, thinking that they must be ghosts.

No wonder I always feel that this street is eerie!

"Listen, Gibb, Kia... this matter is going to be a secret between the three of us, and it must not be told to anyone."

After regaining her composure, Lori quickly pulled her two sisters over and said this to them.

Horror movies always act like this, bumping into ghosts, dragging one's teacher or classmate or boyfriend and girlfriend into it, everyone quarreling, being defeated by ghosts one by one, and the group is wiped out, which can be said to be the basic process.

Lori felt that as the smartest of the three sisters, she must destroy this process, and she must not be like the idiot protagonist in a B-level horror movie who didn't know anything and delivered food to the door.

She took the arms of the other two girls and led them towards her home, saying as she walked, "We're going to look for the reference room at the school and the library in the town these two days. It's not just this one time...There must have been police releases, news reports, and maybe even people who went through it and are alive and well....Tomorrow, no, we're meeting at my house tonight, together Discuss this."

"Good idea, I must not be able to sleep today." Gibb said, walked quickly a few steps, and walked into Lori's home with the other two - 1428 Elm Street.

Gibb always comes here to borrow, because Lori's mother is long gone, and her father is very busy. Lori is usually alone here, and she desperately needs the company of friends; as for herself-she usually doesn't know where her parents are, Parents usually don't care where she is. Apart from being interviewed by the school teacher, the two parties don't even have a few face-to-face meetings.

Because of this, she hasn't caused much trouble at school recently... It's not that she wants to be a little more obedient, but that every time she is interviewed, she feels like throwing up when she sees those two indifferent faces.

Even if the two of them go home and beat her up... But they will just disappear in two directions after leaving the school gate, and throw her a sentence of "don't make trouble for me".

Kia doesn't come here very much. Her family should be the most normal of the three sisters. As a lawyer, a middle-class father and a full-time housewife mother, she rarely has the opportunity to hang out with her sisters all day long. Second, if you come to live here in Luoli, you must report in advance.

Several people took a hot bath and took a nap at Lori's house, and finally recovered some state, and went to find the supernatural information hidden in this town.

As a typical American rural town, the major and minor affairs of Springwood Town are basically determined by the townspeople.The sheriff, the mayor, and the congressmen are all old folks who have lived here for more than ten or twenty years. Even the orders of the state government, the two houses, and the White House have to go first in the hands of these people.If these people want something to disappear, it must never reappear.

However, creating a thing and destroying a thing will leave a trace, especially if someone deliberately seeks it out.

Kia wandered around the Elm Street neighborhood, asking nearby residents about the tavern, but she ran all day, and the answers she got were nothing more than "I don't think I've seen it", "I don't drink", "Do you have a drink?" Do you believe?", which does not help the current situation at all;

It was not the case for Lori who went to the town library and Gibb who went to the school reference room... They found a lot of materials and buried them in old papers all day, and they didn't even take time for lunch.

The more they read deeply, the more they were surprised to find that there is really a lot of hidden information...

When it was still dark that night, the three girls gathered at Lori's house again to share what they had discovered during the day.

"Okay, I went to the Springwood Town Library, where all the news in our town should be archived. But for a while, the reports disappeared altogether, as if all the newspapers stopped publishing at the same time, which is so weird..." Lori spoke first, and what she found gave her a sense of foreboding.

[9. No. 9]