The milk tea car burst out of the portal, the pink vehicle screeching to a near stop. A cup of milk tea was tossed out the window as He Wuning asked, “Where?”
Raj wasn’t inside J’s palace. He instinctively caught the drink and pointed in a direction. “My troops are over there—we can’t get in…”
He Wuning nodded and slammed on the accelerator, shooting forward. Raj opened his mouth, about to warn him to be careful—but then saw the milk tea car plow straight ahead, parting the way like Moses splitting the sea.
Bullets and weapons scar the car, but only produced a series of clanging sounds against the immovable pink steel machine. Unfazed, it smashed through enemies, barreled straight toward the central building of Zone C, crashed open the gates, and charged inside.
Raj stood there in a daze. He instinctively wanted to follow, but someone patted his shoulder. “Go to the safe zone.”
……
The milk tea car screeched to a stop right in front of J.
The only reason it hadn’t crushed his face into the ground was because he was holding a hostage—the little girl Kalei, whom He Wuning had met before in Zone C.
The girl had her eyes tightly shut, clutching the rabbit-shaped scarf around her neck, whispering a quiet prayer. The rabbit system was forced to act as a translator.
J held Kalei in one hand and pressed a gun against her temple with the other. A bead of sweat slid down his forehead. He sneered. “Ah, I was just wondering whether you’d be as reckless as I am. If that were the case, I’d have no choice but to die together with this little girl.”
“Thank the gods—you’re a righteous man.”
He Wuning felt like he was being mocked.
J jerked his chin at him and tightened his grip. “Now then, hero from afar—step out of the car, unless you came all this way just to collect her corpse.”
He Wuning opened the door and stepped out from the driver’s seat, looking slightly surprised. “So you actually believe in gods? I thought someone like you would be more self-righteous.”
“When I was young, I cursed the gods too,” J replied, though his hands didn’t relax in the slightest. “But as I climbed to where I am now, I realized—I’m someone favored by the gods.”
He Wuning stood in front of him and glanced at the gun in his hand. “Did you take the safety off?”
J sneered. “Do you think I’m some rookie holding a gun for the first time? Kid, you have no idea how many people I’ve killed.”
“I’ve always found it strange—why humans are especially lenient toward children. In war, kids and adults alike die all the same. Yet somehow, in the eyes of important people, killing children is especially unforgivable.”
“And yet they preach equality. Isn’t that ironic?”
“How would I know? I’m not the one preaching it,” He Wuning lifted his eyelids lazily. “In my eyes, whether you kill the elderly, children, or adults—you’re just a despicable bastard.”
“Hahaha!” J burst into laughter. “Compared to those politicians who speak in circles, I like you better—administrator candidate of Zone A!”
He Wuning frowned and took a step forward. “If you’ve already taken the safety off, I suggest you keep your movements small. After all, she’s your only leverage to stay alive.”
“Administrator privileges aren’t some instant superpower. You still have to build a skill tree and choose abilities… and before that, I’ll kill you.”
J’s expression turned cold. “This child’s life—”
“And you’re not even sure she’s the candidate, are you?” He Wuning raised an eyebrow, glancing at the other children who had already moved onto the car under Q-chan’s direction. “You picked her because you know I’ve met her before, right?”
“If you guessed wrong…” He Wuning smiled with interest, “you’ll be buried alongside the little girl you look down on.”
“Hmph, I don’t believe you.” J forced a grin and tightened his grip around Kalei’s neck. “You expect me to believe you don’t care whether she lives or dies?”
“Impossible. If you didn’t want to save her, you wouldn’t have come.”
A vicious smile spread across his face. “How about we each take a step back?”
“Move aside, young man. I’ll only take this one child.”
“I’ll bet on her—she’s the one who’ll put me on the throne!”
Q-chan had already ushered the other children onto the car before landing on He Wuning’s shoulder, angrily waving its tiny hands. “No way we’re letting you take her! That’s basically sending her to her death!”
Someone had dressed it up again in an overly flamboyant outfit, complete with a ridiculous feather on its head like a runway angel—absurdly out of place in such a tense scene.
“Well, it can’t be helped.” J shrugged mockingly. “The initiative is in my hands.”
“If you kill me here, I die with her. If you let us go… maybe she lives.”
He Wuning’s face remained expressionless. “Do I look that easy to fool?”
“No choice. The righteous always have to make sacrifices,” J said with a cruel smile. “We both know—if you let me take her, I’ll definitely kill her. But for the sake of your so-called compassion, as long as there’s even a sliver of hope, you can’t choose to let her die here.”
He Wuning frowned slightly. “Voice of the World, you’re seeing this, right?”
Like a summoned butler, the Voice of the World responded flatly, “Yes, I am present.”
He Wuning pointed at J. Q-chan quietly shuffled a bit to the side, its fluffy feather wobbling as it hurriedly grabbed it.
Ignoring its ill-timed antics, He Wuning asked, “This is what you call fairness?”
“Yes.”
The Voice of the World answered mechanically, “He has discovered a special rule.”
“Killing an existing administrator candidate allows one to inherit their qualification. This is one of the game’s hidden rules. It is not provided proactively, but it does exist.”
“This ensures fairness. Otherwise, if a candidate were accidentally killed by a player, that player would lose all chance of victory.”
He Wuning let out a soft scoff, clearly uninterested in arguing further.
“Fine,” he said casually. “If you say so.”
“Don’t be so pessimistic,” J laughed mockingly. “Who knows? Maybe when I walk out that door, an angry god will strike me down with lightning!” He burst into wild laughter.
To his surprise, He Wuning chuckled as well.
It was rare to see him smile. For a moment, his sharp, striking features softened—but there was unmistakable disdain in it. “That’s not something you should joke about,” he said lightly.
“In this game, getting scar dead by lightning isn’t exactly uncommon.”
He suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers. With a loud boom, a bolt of silver-white lightning scar down to J’s left. Startled, J instinctively stepped to the right—then, realizing what had happened, he tightened his grip around Kalei’s neck in fury. “Do you not care about her life anymore?!”
He Wuning let out a laugh. “Just scaring you.”
“But judging by your reaction speed… if I’d aimed that at you just now, you’d probably already be dead, right?”
A hint of regret showed on his face. J sneered. “As long as I still have a breath left, I’ll drag her to hell with me. You’d better have what it takes to kill me in one shot—”
He Wuning tilted his head toward Q-chan. “Do we?”
The only answer he got was the faint smell of burnt protein.
A speeding bullet, using the conspicuous feather as a marker, silently tore through the gaudy fluff—leaving behind the scent of scorched protein—and buried itself in J’s forehead before he could react.
“Waaah it’s on fire!” Q-chan panicked, frantically yanking the feather off its head. At the same time, He Wuning had already rushed forward with the bullet—almost the instant J was hit, he kicked the gun out of J’s hand, covered Kalei’s eyes, and pulled her behind him.
J’s eyes widened as he fell straight backward.
He Wuning raised an eyebrow. “The one in power in Zone C, and you don’t even have a life-saving item?”
The little girl trembled uncontrollably, her eyes still tightly shut. “H-he… is he dead?”
He Wuning patted her head. “No.”
“Killed by a player from the same faction—he should be at the respawn point in the safe zone now.”
“If he’s killed again, then he’ll probably really die.”
He took Kalei’s hand. “Let’s go. We’ll head to the respawn point—Raj should have J there waiting for you.”
Kalei let out a long breath and nodded cautiously.
He Wuning glanced in the direction the bullet had come from. Following the wind, on the balcony of a residential building—hidden among hanging patterned cloth—the dark muzzle of a gun withdrew after confirming the target had fallen.
Yi Luo lightly blew on the barrel and smiled. “This is my real specialty. Can’t forget how we rescue hostages just because we’re in a game world.”
He deftly flipped over the balcony railing and dropped down. Ever since teaming up with He Wuning, the way he went downstairs had become increasingly… unconventional.
They had agreed to meet at Zone C’s respawn point.
Meanwhile, J’s post was still floating at the top of the forum. The user “Peace” kept bumping the thread: “J, are you insane?!”
“You’ll just make everyone unite against you! Do you think having the game on your side means you can do whatever you want?!”
“You’ll be cursed! Targeting children is the most vile act—you damned madman! You uncivilized savage!”
He Wuning scrolled through the thread and deliberately asked the Voice of the World, “Did J invite me? The administrator candidate from Zone B was invited, so I should have the right to speak too, right?”
This time, the Voice of the World took a bit longer to respond. After a pause, it said, “Yes.”
He Wuning smiled. “Is that so? Good.”
“Let me remind you—if you behave yourself, maybe you’ll be dismantled a little later. Otherwise…”
“Zuo Qianming said that one day he’ll copy your personality data and install it into every smart toilet.”
Voice of the World: “…”
A moment later, the player with the ID “Zero” replied: “Mission accomplished.”
“Peace”: “?”
“What—who is this? What happened? Where’s J?”
He Wuning only replied with those few lines, leaving the rest for Xue Xun to explain.
Before closing the thread, he saw a player with the ID “One” reply right after him: “See you in a bit.”
He Wuning stared at that ID in silence for a moment, then shut the thread with a dark expression.
-----
The author has something to say:
Q-chan: For some reason, even though it’s supposed to be a cool codename, appearing alongside Yi Luo suddenly makes it feel… not so serious anymore…
----------
No comments:
Post a Comment