Chapter 22: Agent of the Inner World Organization

39, a very concise alias.

It was something Xie De came up with casually because he didn't want others to know his real name, simply treating it as an alias.

As a piece of cannon fodder in a novel, before Gibberish found him, his interpersonal relationships were extremely simple. Every day was a boring two-point routine, commuting between his home and his workplace.

He bought his house himself, without even telling his parents. It was located in a very remote small city in the north. The economy there was underdeveloped, transportation was inconvenient, and there were no high-rise buildings. The low-slung buildings made up the essence of ordinary life. Buying a dilapidated little two-bedroom apartment in a city like this only cost a little over a hundred thousand yuan.

The area had a temperate monsoon climate: long, cold winters; short, warm summers; crisp autumns; and brief springs plagued by sandstorms.

Here, you could clearly feel the tranquil "blue hour [1]," carrying a prolonged melancholy, as if the sky were shedding tears.

The pace of life was very slow, yet the climate wasn't suitable for retirement, and the slow economic growth couldn't retain the youth. The young people all left to seek their fortunes. Once the older generation passed away, the young wouldn't return. This small city teetered on the edge of time, destined to become nothing more than a hometown in people's memories.

Xie De was one of the few young people who chose to settle down here. His easygoing, take-things-as-they-come nature meant he lacked the courage to venture out. Having grown accustomed to the slow pace of the small city, he couldn't adapt to the rapid changes of a metropolis.

Often, he happily evaluated himself by saying he was just a mediocre person. A genuinely cowardly, ordinary guy.

Of course, he envied the carefree freedom of protagonists in movies or novels. He envied those with great social skills and bright, generous personalities, and he envied those who could just pick up and travel the world on a whim.

He wanted to change, but his efforts were always intermittent. The more socially anxious he felt, the less he wanted to socialize. The less he socialized, the more socially anxious he became. He was trapped in a vicious cycle.

Perhaps he really was only fit to be cannon fodder in a story.

With his withdrawn and socially anxious personality, he had no friends at all and wasn't even familiar with his coworkers.

A long time ago, he never could have imagined that his unchanging, peaceful life would be shattered by such an absurd event. Life was now rippling violently, the butterfly effect developing fiercely, pushing him to stumble forward in a dizzying, scrambling, disheveled, and hurried rush.

At first, it was just the economic downturn of recent years. His boss's business wasn't doing well, and with his unlikable personality, he was naturally one of the ones laid off.

Then, before he could find a new job, Gibberish, a system that supposedly only appears in novels, suddenly manifested. Well, a novel certainly wouldn't feature such a useless system.

But regardless, it appeared. Was it through coercion and bribery? Or perhaps Xie De had simply had enough of his mundane days but still didn't want to die. In short, he struck a deal with Gibberish, and from then on, his life was turned entirely upside down.

But really, it didn't need to be turned upside down this drastically.

Expressionless, Xie De loaded bullets into his Glock, 19 rounds in total. He changed into low-key, loose-fitting clothes and pulled on a baseball cap that hid his cold eyes. However, with his waist-length silver hair, a height of 1.88 meters, and his striking aura, no matter how hard he tried to be low-key, he still stood out.

Fortunately, Gibberish wasn't so useless that it couldn't do anything.

Every electrical appliance in the house powered on. The computer, speakers, phone, and TV screens flashed continuously with 0s and 1s, incessantly draining electricity to support Gibberish's high-intensity operations.

Gibberish's data trembled nervously, looking very human, like a person anxiously bouncing their leg.

"I've now deleted all surveillance footage that captured us, not even sparing the dashcams. But someone from the laboratory caught our direction before I could delete them and is heading toward our city. We can't let him expose our tracks! He will definitely come to take the villain away and kill you. Even if you run, he will absolutely have the entire laboratory hunt you down."

"Host, before he pinpoints our location, we have to kill him!"

Gibberish spoke professionally.

"The human retina forms images through light and shadow, and electrical currents also emit faint light. I can blur your appearance in the eyes of others so you won't be exposed, but you have to walk very fast and stick to the shadows. I am trying to hack into the surveillance systems of other cities to locate that person. Wait for my command. You must go and kill him."

"I know," Xie De took a deep breath, feeling his gun-holding hand trembling slightly. He couldn't quite distinguish whether the emotion gripping his heart was excitement or fear.

Because he had never thought that one day he would actually kill someone in real life! This wasn't cool at all, not in the slightest!

But just as men die for wealth, birds die for food; he simply wanted to survive.

Soon, Gibberish sent a location and a photo.

"Found him!"

The photo showed a man wearing sunglasses. From the angle of the surveillance camera, he just looked like a very ordinary man.

He was in another major city, only a three-hour flight away. Gibberish could jam the airplane's security scanners, allowing him to bring the gun onboard.

Time waits for no one. Xie De didn't know how he was managing to stay so calm. There was barely a single flaw in his expression, making it look as though he were just going on a vacation rather than going to commit a murder.

It wasn't until he confusedly boarded the plane, arrived in the other city, and stared at the towering skyscrapers before him that a sudden sense of unreality washed over him—like he was just playing a spy game.

Then, he suddenly remembered how hastily he had left. He had fiercely warned Wei Yunmo not to leave the house before he departed. Thinking about it now, had he terrified the brat?

Of course not.

Wei Yunmo had seen far worse storms than Xie De could ever imagine.

From Wei Yunmo's perspective, all he knew was that Mr. 39 had dumped him in a crude safe house. He watched Xie De enter the master bedroom and emerge less than ten minutes later in full gear, exuding a chilly "keep away" aura. The scent of cedar and tobacco clinging to him was now mixed with the somewhat pungent smell of gunpowder.

A Glock flashed briefly into view.

He seemed to understand instantly what Mr. 39 was going to do: kill someone.

Possessing multiple firearms in a country with strict gun control made Mr. 39's identity even more bewildering. This led Wei Yunmo to wonder: did Mr. 39 belong to another mysterious organization on par with the laboratory? The Club, perhaps?

Why did Mr. 39 bring him back? What was his ultimate goal? What benefit could Mr. 39 gain from this?

Or was it that the Inner World Organization Mr. 39 belonged to was enemies with the laboratory, and had issued a kill order to transport him elsewhere?

"Stay put."

Uttering this single sentence in a hoarse voice, the man left without even bothering to lock the door.

Wei Yunmo secretly mused to himself: what if he didn't listen to the man and stay here, but just ran away instead?

A sizzling sound interrupted his thoughts.

Wei Yunmo looked down and saw a massive, intimidating house centipede clinging to the doorknob. Its slender, densely packed legs were terrifying. The danger it posed felt no different than having a gun pressed right against his forehead.

Mr. 39 had locked him in with this monster.

For a moment, Wei Yunmo could vividly imagine the man's sneering voice.

"Do you dare to run?"

As long as he dared, the monster would bite out his throat in an instant. He was welcome to try.

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[1] Blue Hour - 20–40 minute twilight period just before sunrise or after sunset when the sun is below the horizon, causing indirect, scattered sunlight to create deep blue, serene tones