Chapter 52: The Laboratory’s Pursuit

Xie De finally decided to rise to the occasion once, only to be mercilessly slapped in the face by reality again.

Gibberish located the mission target approximately 1000 kilometers away from him. It would take more than two hours even by plane. Furthermore, the mission target was in a popular tourist city, and it just happened to be a holiday recently. So unfortunately, today's tickets were sold out, and he could only buy a ticket for tomorrow night.

Xie De said, resigning to his fate.

"There's no other way. It seems heaven destined for me to rest today."

His tone carried a hint of regret, but his hands and feet were nimble as he started the car and drove out of the underground garage. He didn't look regretful at all. Rather, he seemed incredibly eager to go out for a spin.

Gibberish: I knew it.

This was indeed a car with excellent performance. When cornering, the suspension system firmly supported the car body, keeping the roll to a very small margin. The response to light stepping and heavy braking was very swift, and the field of vision was very clear. As expected of a product from the scenario, he super liked it, (°▽°).

Xie De rolled down the window halfway. The wind from outside blew his loose long hair into a mess. However, he wasn't driving fast, so the wind blowing on his face was still quite gentle.

After he had driven around for a few laps.

Familiar tentacles popped up from the back seat of the car. The little house centipede had actually gotten into the car with him at some unknown time, and now it was swaying from side to side, feeling a little carsick.

Xie De, finding it funny, took another turn, and the little house centipede, dizzy because of someone's bad intentions, tumbled onto the back seat.

"Host, how about you go train your close-quarters combat skills?" Gibberish suddenly spoke thoughtfully.

“I already told you to strike a balance between work and rest. I haven't had enough fun driving yet, and I just came out of the scenario..." Xie De said displeasedly.

"Hold on," Gibberish interrupted Xie De's grumbling. "I just suddenly thought, if we are going to deal with the mission target, that factory boss, then we can't use a gun."

"?" Xie De stopped the car by the side of the road.

Taking advantage of this time, the little house centipede climbed up again. Fortunately, it had many legs. Even if it was dizzy, it stood steadily. While the two were talking, it climbed onto the center console.

Gibberish said seriously, "Last time we used a gun, it was because the two people we killed were both from the laboratory, so the authorities didn't care. Uh, let me explain it this way: this world is divided into the outer and inner worlds. The laboratory, various mysterious organizations, players, and instances belong to the inner world, and in the inner world, shooting someone to death with a gun is a very normal thing."

"However, although the factory boss has done many unforgivable things, he truly belongs to the outer world. And more importantly, we don't have any inner world organization behind us that can help us cover up the news and provide asylum. Therefore, if we want to kill this person, we can't use a gun, and we can't be discovered."

Gibberish pondered.

"We need to make a plan. According to the information on this factory boss, he also has bodyguards. In other words, he's a bit hard to kill."

The sun had now risen to a certain height, and the dazzling sunlight lazily covered the earth, but there was a hint of coolness in the air, so it wasn't overly hot yet.

Xie De, having a bit of a headache, lit another cigarette for himself. He opened the car window, looked at the quiet street outside, and suddenly spoke out of the blue.

"We really can't use a gun, otherwise it won't be as simple as a murder charge."

"Right, so we have to think of a way."

Xie De silently exhaled a puff of smoke.

"No, wasn't his factory burned down? How can he afford bodyguards?"

"He has money. Uh, it seems he has more than one factory," Gibberish continued to reveal, flipping through the data. "And not only did he hire bodyguards, but because he's done too many guilty deeds, he bought a string of ghost-repelling prayer beads and ghost-repelling talismans at a high price. He deducts workers' wages but donates a lot of money to temples. This is probably the reason why he hasn't been eradicated by ghosts."

Xie De's hand hung over the car door. He flicked the ash off his cigarette and frowned.

"This boss really deserves to die."

Then, he spoke somewhat absentmindedly.

"I read in a book that after people die, they actually forget how they died. Do you think these ghosts might have actually forgotten their enemies? They can't get their revenge, so their resentment doesn't dissipate, and that's why they work for the scenario for free."

"Emm... that's possible."

Xie De added, "Actually, I also thought of this: weren't there those six supervisors who caused the fire in the factory scenario and led to the workers' deaths? Why aren't these people included in our mission targets?"

Gibberish nodded.

"This might be because the boss is the root of all evil?"

Although there was nothing wrong with this explanation, it was really a bit dramatic. Xie De couldn't hold back a laugh.

Gibberish: (⌒▽⌒)

While talking, the person and the system began discussing how to dispose of the mission target without anyone knowing.

The discussion included, but was not limited to: using poison, sending out the little house centipede.

The little house centipede tilted its head and looked at him in confusion.

By the time they drove the car back, it was already two or three o'clock in the afternoon.

This time period was exactly the time for an afternoon nap. There was no one on the road, and even the supermarkets and convenience stores looked sluggish, half-open and half-closed, making one unable to resist yawning upon seeing them.

Xie De also wanted to yawn, but for some unknown reason, his movements halted. Even the car was driven slower and slower, and before reaching home, he stopped by the side of the road.

Gibberish: "What happened?"

"I don't know, but I feel something is wrong." Xie De's grip on the steering wheel tightened, his heart was pounding, and his face grew colder and colder.

For some reason, he felt that the entire familiar street had become somewhat unfamiliar, as if he had taken a wrong turn into another similar time and space, and he was completely out of place here.

Suddenly, a crisp bird's cry came from the willow trees by the road.

Xie De snapped back to reality.

"Gibberish, turn on the home surveillance."

"Okay," Gibberish agreed, then cried out in surprise, "Holy crap, someone broke into the house?!"

"I knew it."

So someone had broken into the house, he had thought it was haunted.

Xie De breathed a sigh of relief.

"The little villain isn't at home, right?"

"No."

"Then it seems this person is safe for now."

"No, Host!" Gibberish hurriedly brought up the surveillance feed.

"It's the people from the laboratory coming to kill you!"

No way, what the hell.

Xie De hurriedly turned his head to look. Coincidentally, he locked eyes with the person appearing in the surveillance on the center console display, as if the person was looking at him through the camera.

!

It startled him.

It was a very handsome foreigner wearing a casual suit, with black hair and blue eyes. His eyes were as clear as the Rhine River from a thousand years ago. His gaze condensed slightly, and he smiled softly in the direction of the pinhole camera, really looking as if he was greeting him.

"..."

He couldn't go home anymore.

Xie De made a prompt decision, preparing to step hard on the gas pedal and turn the car around. Wei Yunmo darted out from a nearby alleyway. He was running very fast and didn't recognize him. Seeing this off-road vehicle that was completely out of place in the small county town, he thought he was being blocked, and for a moment, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes.

Xie De rolled down the car window.

"Get in."

The fierceness in Wei Yunmo's eyes completely dissipated, replaced by a flash of pleasant surprise, and he quickly jumped into the passenger seat.

The gas pedal was floored, going so fast it almost left afterimages.

The buildings of the small county town rapidly receded behind him, as if pushing him out of this world, just like a sudden twist of fate.

Before this, Xie De had never imagined that one day he would have to leave his hometown because of something like this.

Someone was driving and chasing them from behind!

A gunfight was on the verge of breaking out. Even though Xie De didn't want to fight them, the car behind simply didn't give him the slightest chance to negotiate. It was as if they had mounted a machine gun, continuously firing 'tut-tut-tut' at him.

Fuck fuck fuck…

The little house centipede was so frightened it hid in the corner. Wei Yunmo sat in the passenger seat without saying a word, furrowing his brows as he looked at him.

Xie De gritted his teeth and shouted in his mind, "Gibberish! Take the wheel."

"Okay!"

Gibberish drove much more aggressively than him. That skill was guaranteed to make even someone who didn't get carsick feel dizzy and have blurred vision.

But even so, the people behind pursued relentlessly.

Fuck!

The new car he just got, the exterior shell was definitely pitted and dented now!

And they were still chasing, and still shooting!

In a fit of anger, Xie De flipped from the driver's seat to the back seat, forcibly relying on his strong core strength to assemble the shotgun.

However, after assembling it, he calmed down instead. Now was definitely not the time for a gunfight; it was very dangerous. He couldn't do this, it was too dangerous. After all, he wasn't someone who could fight ten people alone, right?

Ah, just when he thought so.

Gibberish widened its eyes.

"Host! I didn't expect you to be so brave. Good! I won't hold you back!"

Gibberish opened the trunk door.

"No!" Before he had time to explain, bullets from the car behind fired over again.

Feeling a bit like crying, Xie De bit the bullet and went ahead. Gibberish, he originally thought they understood each other best. Disappointment is chilling; it's never about loud arguments.

Now he just had to forget about this and that. Anyway, attacking the tires of the car behind shouldn't be a problem, right?

This shotgun in his hands had relatively low recoil, but it was definitely bigger than a handgun's. Xie De had no training, yet he dared to use it directly in this situation.

Consequently, this resulted in Xie De dodging and shooting amidst the hail of bullets. The bullet he had intended to hit the tire struck the driver instead.

Good heavens, to say he wasn't surprised would be a lie!

Xie De felt his shoulders trembling. Without thinking too much, he flipped back to the driver's seat. He could feel his heart beating and he was gasping for air.

Gibberish's maneuvering was incredibly slick, and the car provided by the instance had excellent performance. With its driver hit, the car behind lost control and crashed into the car next to it, completely totaling the two leading vehicles chasing him.

They successfully escaped with their lives, shaking off the pursuers behind them.

Thrilling, far too thrilling.

Gibberish stopped the car on a remote and secluded country road.

Xie De felt his mind was still a bit uncalm. He lit a cigarette and took a drag to let himself cool down.

Wei Yunmo's trembling voice came, "Mr. 39, are you alright?"

What do you mean 'alright or not'?

Then, Xie De felt a burst of severe pain. Wow, he wondered why his shoulder was trembling. He thought it was because he was nervous, but it turned out he had been shot.

———

Rei’s Note:

Hello! Sorry for not updating, something came up that kept me occupied—acads and family matters—that made me unable to spare some time translating for the past few days. Don’t worry, everything is settled now so I’ll be actively updating again!