Chapter 3 Little Beauty
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4 minutes and 55 seconds to explosion.
“Cousin, will… will someone really come to rescue us?”
Lin Lan, tied hand and foot like a zongzi, sat next to Chu Feng. He looked at the bomb strapped to his cousin’s body, the bright red countdown rapidly ticking away.
“I mean… what if, by any chance, the regulator doesn’t come in time…”
Ding dong—
[System Notification] The regulator has sent you a message.
Chu Feng smiled slightly. “We’ve hooked him.”
Lin Lan looked at his cousin’s smile and shivered.
When a player receives a message from the regulator, who wouldn’t be ecstatic? It’s like a dying person seeing a divine intervention; they would kneel down to seek help. Who would treat the regulator like bait for fishing, like his cousin does?
“Cousin, aren’t you going to see what he sent?”
Chu Feng: “Is it necessary?”
Lin Lan: “…………”
At this moment, Chu Feng’s white shirt was stained with blood, and there were still fresh tears on his small, palm size face, looking pitiful. Anyone would think he’s the victim.
No one knows he’s the real hunter.
Hunters never care about what their prey wants to say.
But the sound of the phone caught the attention of the kidnappers, Xie Shiyu and the others.
School bully Xie Shiyu, wearing a clown mask and with his long legs tucked into black boots, walked over wickedly. He held a gun in one hand, twirling it like a pen.
Suddenly, the muzzle was pressed against Chu Feng’s throat.
“I warned you not to call for help.”
The dark muzzle slowly slid down Chu Feng’s throat and collarbone, wrinkling his white shirt.
“What consequences will there be if I call for help, huh?”
Chu Feng turned his face away.
Another hard black gun was pressed against his tender cheek, tapping.
“Who was on the phone just now?”
Nineteen-year-old Xie Shiyu suddenly appeared behind Chu Feng, threatening him.
“Are you guys getting too into character?” Chu Feng laughed helplessly. “Load the bullets. Do kidnappers hold empty guns to hostages?”
The two Xie Shiyus reluctantly put away their guns, feeling a bit aggrieved. “We were afraid of hitting you.”
“Be obedient, load the bullets. If someone attacks you, shoot him.”
“Okay.”
The Xie Shiyus obediently loaded the bullets.
They couldn’t see the bomb and didn’t understand Chu Feng’s true intention of suddenly playing being kidnapped. Lin Lan was stunned on the side, seeing his cousin strapped with a bomb, the blood-red countdown ticking away on his chest, every second passing, yet he still managed to flirt with Xie Shiyu!
The school bully Xie Shiyu finished loading the bullets, feeling somewhat concerned about the message just now. He picked up Chu Feng’s phone from the ground. The system sprite on the desktop cowered in a corner, even its tufted hair drooping down.
The system is the true ruler of the Dream City game world, and every character must obey it.
—Except for Chu Feng’s Dream City.
These Xie Shiyus are all out of its control, and the system was scared of things going out of control. Before it can hide from the screen, the school bully Xie Shiyu pointed at it with his finger:
Open – Message – Unread:
Regulator X: Wait for me.?!
The school bully Xie Shiyu stared at the screen, pressing his finger almost to crush the phone, then sneered and clicked:
[Delete]
Chu Feng had no interest in what that regulator sent, but Xie Shiyu’s reaction piqued his curiosity:
“What did he say?”
“I’m not telling you.” The school bully Xie Shiyu threw the phone back on the ground. Nineteen-year-old Xie Shiyu bent down to grab the phone, clicked on the recycle bin, and checked.
“Ugh! So cheesy. Must be some old guy!”
After speaking, he deliberately or unintentionally glanced at the rearview mirror of the bus, where the youthful figure of nineteen-year-old him contrasted with the twenty-six-year-old driver Xie Shiyu.
Driver Xie Shiyu glanced at the rearview mirror, sneered, and cursed, “Brat.”
Chu Feng got a headache from watching. Too many Xie Shiyus made him unable to cope, but he really couldn’t bear to delete any of them.
The school bully Xie Shiyu sat in the seat. “Chu Feng, who did you arrange to come! Shouldn’t it just be you and me here?” He played with the gun boredly, then added with a meaningful look, “Oh, and your little cousin.”
The third wheel Lin Lan quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be dead.
[Drip—!]
At this moment, Chu Feng’s phone emitted a sharp alarm:
[Time to explosion: 4 minutes 00 seconds. The regulator has entered your Dream City. Please wait patiently for rescue.]
The prey has arrived.
Chu Feng shushed Xie Shiyu and the others, quieting them.
He sat motionless in his seat.
Xie Shiyu and the others couldn’t hear the explosion-related message. They obediently stood in place, waiting for Chu Feng’s command.
Click.
Suddenly, there was a light sound from the roof of the bus.
—Someone came up.
In the moving bus, such a light sound shouldn’t have been heard, drowned out by the engine noise, the friction of the wheels, and the shaking of the unstable glass windows.
But Chu Feng heard it.
His hands were tied with rope, but he remained alert and focused like a hunter holding a gun.
Chu Feng opened his mouth and silently mouthed to Xie Shiyu and the others:
“Stick to the plan.”
***
X laid on the roof, peeking inside through the gap.
The little beauty was tied to the window seat, his mouth taped shut, seemingly tired of crying, making no sound. His head hung down, his sweat-dampened black hair softly clung to his temples, his slender neck like that of a dying swan, his lifeless pupils stained with tears, reflecting the crimson countdown.
Next to the little beauty was another hostage, according to the system report, his cousin who was abducted while visiting Dream City.
The kidnappers wore evil clown masks, patrolling with guns around the little beauty. One of them sat in the front driving, maintaining a speed of about 55.
X had studied this bomb on the way here. According to the system data, the bomb would explode if the bus speed dropped below 55 or exceeded 60, and if anyone got off the bus.
But it wouldn’t explode if someone got on.
—That’s strange.
It’s as if they were deliberately waiting for someone to come to their rescue.
X narrowed his eyes, his brows furrowed slightly.
He needed to verify the situation first.
***
3 minutes 45 seconds to explosion.
Chu Feng sat in his seat, his gaze slightly raised.
There was no movement on the roof.
Chu Feng frowned slightly, indeed lured a high-level regulator, not rushing in without thinking to rescue him.
The higher the level of the regulator, the smarter and more capable they were, and the harder they were to deal with.
Chu Feng knew that his video call at the time was intimidating, definitely attracting the regulator’s attention. But things were different on the scene.
Smart regulators would first conduct a case investigation instead of rushing in blindly.
—To prevent malicious players from staging their own dramas or extorting money from the game company.
If it was found that the players were staging their own drama, the game company could refuse to fulfill its obligation to rescue the players, and all consequences would be borne by the players themselves.
3 minutes 36 seconds to explosion.
Chu Feng leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, held his breath, and played the victim.
Smart prey is always hard to catch.
***
On the roof.
[X! Be careful. Normal kidnappers wouldn’t use this kind of bomb. It would explode if someone got off. How would they leave themselves!]
The [Strategic Advisory System] in the earpiece reminded:
[And these kidnappers haven’t made any ransom demands. That’s too strange! Don’t go in first. There might be a trap inside!]
Each regulator would install the [Strategic Advisory System] when going on missions, providing maps, orientations, and basic information about players, analyzing the situation and implementing rescues as quickly as possible.
But there were several subsystems in the Strategic Advisory System:
[You’re wrong! This kidnapper is kidnapping the hostage out of passion. They want to die together! X, listen to me, go and save the poor player quickly!]
X moved to turn off the earpiece.
[Don’t turn us off, please, X. We’re so lonely in the earpiece.]
“Then say something useful.”
[It’s detected that the kidnapper and the player are indeed legally married.]
X frowned, feeling inexplicably annoyed at the mention of the word “married.”
[See! I told you it’s definitely a crime of passion! It’s despicable. His husband actually wants to blow him up. X, what are you waiting for? Go and save him!]
X stared calmly at the little beauty inside the car.
Dream City has seen its fair share of spousal murder cases before.
A wife would import her deceased husband as a character into the game. In her memory, the corners of her husband’s mouth curved up into a smile, and her eyes would convey this visual information to her brain, which would interpret it as:
Her husband was smiling gently at her.
However, what the system recognized was not the subjective impression of the wife’s brain, but the objective visual information, which indicated the true intentions of the husband from his facial expressions and movements. Based on experience, the curvature of this husband’s smile was a fake one, a smile he disguised, indicating that he didn’t love his wife at all; rather, he intended to kill her.
—In reality, there was no murder.
But in the game, it might be a different story.
[Initial understanding of the case: Kidnappers’ objective: Murdering the wife]
[Confirming the player’s victim status?]
The nagging voice of the Strategic Advisory System sounded in X’s ear:
[Are you sure?]
X didn’t confirm.
He suddenly noticed something off about this group of kidnappers.
3 minutes and 21 seconds to explosion.
Lin Lan was sweating profusely, looking intently at his cousin, his eyes conveying:
Why hasn’t that regulator come to rescue yet? Is he trying to watch you blow up?
A gust of wind blew in from outside the window. Chu Feng remained calm. If it weren’t for a last resort, he wouldn’t have wanted to use the plan of luring the regulator.
The regulator was an unpredictable factor; he couldn’t fully anticipate the other party’s actions. Luring the regulator to respond was just the simplest step.
The most difficult step was how to lure the regulator down to defuse the bomb while not allowing his, Xie Shiyu, to be harmed.
Chu Feng was well aware that now, Xie Shiyu was the kidnapper, he was the hostage, the regulator was the police, and the game system was the court.
After the kidnappers were caught, they would be sentenced to death by the court. But the police, when rescuing hostages, could directly shoot the kidnappers.
In a sealed bus, with the hostage tied to a bomb, with just over three minutes left to detonation.
From the regulator’s perspective, if he grabbed the hostage and jumped off the bus, it would explode; if discovered by the kidnappers, it would also explode. So how could he come down to defuse the bomb?
—It would be best to instantly kill all the kidnappers and then start dismantling the bomb on the hostage’s body without worries.
It was said that high-level regulators had extraordinary combat abilities and weapons. Chu Feng thought to himself, if he were the regulator, he would do just that.
But if in the end, the regulator defused his bomb and then killed all his Xie Shiyu, what was the point of playing?
Chu Feng came up with a solution.
He instructed each Xie Shiyu beforehand:
Load your guns, and if attacked, retaliate immediately.
Also, you must, must patrol inside the car according to the plan.
***
X observed that the kidnappers in the carriage were patrolling repeatedly, and what was odd was that they were only moving along specific routes.
Just like patrolling guards in some treasure-stealing mini-games.
And at a specific moment, all patrolling kidnappers would happen to be in a visual blind spot, unable to see the hostage.
If he wanted to rescue the hostage and defuse the bomb, all he needed to do was to evade the moving patrols like in a mini-game, seize the opportunity to steal the treasure (hostage) during the blind spot, and successfully clear the level.
It was quite fortunate that the hostage was sitting on the side near the window.
[Great! X, hurry up and sneak to the window side to help him defuse the bomb.]
[The kidnappers’ emotions in the spousal murder case are very unstable! It’s not recommended to shoot directly, as it might anger the kidnappers if missed. It’s suggested to find the opportunity to defuse the bomb discreetly from the window side!]
[X, what are you waiting for? Quickly confirm the player’s victim status and then save him!]
The Strategic Advisory System strategized in X’s ear.
But X furrowed his brows even deeper.
—Although game characters are not real people, this movement pattern seemed too rigid.
Rigid characters couldn’t possibly execute a bus bombing spousal murder case, but if the characters weren’t rigid, they wouldn’t move like robots following a track.
—It seemed designed.
Was this player really a victim?
***
3 minutes and 15 seconds to explosion.
Chu Feng’s peripheral vision looked towards the window.
He was waiting.
He made Xie Shiyu and the others move in a regular pattern, hoping to lure the regulator to sneak to the window, choose to defuse the bomb when the kidnappers couldn’t see, and after disarming the bomb, the regulator would have to execute Xie Shiyu, and he could use the expulsion cannon to drive away the regulator.
But Chu Feng didn’t dare to guarantee that things would go so smoothly.
He couldn’t estimate how strong the combat power of the high-level regulator really was. If this guy could really gun down all the kidnappers in one go, there was simply no need to sneak to the window…
3 minutes and 5 seconds to explosion.
He couldn’t delay any longer.
Chu Feng frowned. The rigid movement pattern he designed might protect Xie Shiyu, but it would also deepen the regulator’s suspicion about the case.
With the strange bomb setting, strange kidnapper movements, and doubts about the case, if they were discovered by the regulator to be self-orchestrated, it would be over. The regulator could choose not to rescue and watch him blow up.
Chu Feng had planned to use the remaining countdown to force the regulator. With only a little time left, regardless of whether the case was real or not, he had to come down and rescue him!
But this regulator was just too clever, or perhaps too confident in his bomb-defusing ability, as he laid on the roof of the bus, still not moving.
Hunter Chu Feng was getting impatient.
3 minutes and 2 seconds to explosion.
***
X observed that the little beauty below seemed to have also noticed the patrol pattern.
Every now and then, all the kidnappers’ attention would be off the hostage, taking advantage of that gap—
The bound little beauty suddenly raised their head!
—Their face was so small, not even as big as his palm.
X thought.
A standard oval face, a slightly pointed chin that could be lifted with a fingertip. The lips that pleaded for help in the video were tightly sealed by black tape at the moment, only emitting a faint whimper. A high nose bridge, but a small, delicate nose tip, with the nostrils slightly contracted as if on the verge of tears.
The desperate little beauty seemed to have seen the only light in the h*llish abyss, with eyes full of hope and longing, looking at X.
Those eyes were moist with tears, the long black eyelashes blinked slightly, and two silent tears flowed down their cheeks. Afraid of being discovered by the kidnappers, the little beauty dared not cry out loud, only trembling slightly with their shoulders, every movement of their body sending a signal to him:
Please, save me!
…
By the time X realized it, his finger had unconsciously pressed the [Confirm] button.
System prompt: [Player victim status confirmed. Please proceed with the rescue.]
X: …
[Kidnappers’ methods are extremely brutal, system allows death penalty, or direct shooting]
[Your silver gun is loaded]
[But if you are not one hundred percent sure of shooting all kidnappers in one go, the system does not recommend you to shoot rashly]
[Please climb carefully from the window side and discreetly defuse the bomb for the hostage]
***
2 minutes and 56 seconds to explosion.
Every second from now on would be excruciating.
Chu Feng pretended to cry while keeping an eye on the situation at the window and on the roof with his peripheral vision.
Climb the window and defuse the bomb? Or charge in and shoot?
If the regulator wasn’t completely sure about shooting, he would silently climb the window for the rescue.
Chu Feng was betting on this.
As long as the regulator didn’t shoot, the kidnapper Xie Shiyu would be safe.
Chu Feng glanced at the little Xie group inside the car, each holding a pistol and moving according to plan. And there was only one regulator.
One person, needing to be one hundred percent sure that they could instantly shoot and kill all moving armed kidnappers.
— This is simply impossible.
Especially now, with the kidnappers in a blind spot, it’s entirely possible to rescue the hostage during this gap. At times like this, police forces around the world would opt for a conservative approach: rescuing from the window.
— Not by shooting recklessly.
Chu Feng gradually shifted his gaze towards the window.
Waiting for the regulator to arrive.
Tick, tock, tick, tock.
2 minutes and 50 seconds to explosion.
Bang!
A loud noise came from the roof of the car!
In an instant! Chu Feng suddenly saw the entire roof of the car cave in.
— It was as if it had been crushed by someone, leaving a handprint on the roof.
D*mn it!
Lin Lan was shocked. What kind of regulator is this… this guy is like a god of war.
The next moment, the entire roof of the bus was torn open by someone with their bare hands! It was as easy as tearing open a tin can, revealing the blue sky of midsummer. Regulator X stood on the roof of the bus, his iron-gray trench coat billowing in the 55 km/h wind, against the backdrop of the deep blue sky, holding a long silver pole, aimed at all the Xie Shiyu in the bus…
Chu Feng cursed! This guy chose to shoot!
But the black tape silenced his curses.
Bang!
The sound of a bullet leaving the barrel almost shattered Chu Feng’s heart.
— But it wasn’t the regulator’s gun.
It was Xie Shiyu’s gun.
Xie Shiyu, the school bully, was hiding behind the bus, firing the first shot.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Soon, bullets flew towards the uninvited guest on the roof of the car…
Chu Feng’s heart calmed slightly.
Suddenly! The regulator flashed, and no one could see how fast his movements were.
Several bullets grazed the tips of his hair and disappeared into the blue sky behind him.
Holy sh*t!! Lin Lan trembled as he watched:
Dodging bullets with his body…?!
In the next instant, X raised the silver gun to counterattack:
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!!!
The silver bullets sparkled in the sunlight, blindingly bright.
Chu Feng gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red…
Bullet after bullet, cold and merciless, all hit the Xie Shiyu inside the bus!
Not a single shot missed.
His beloved little Xies fell to the ground in an instant.
X lowered the silver gun, gently blowing away the smoke from the barrel.
Chu Feng’s hands clenched tightly, wishing he could pound this regulator’s head a few times!
Now he only had one last line of defense to protect Xie Shiyu.
Ding—
A reminder from the system sounded in X’s ear:
[Player detected as a big spender, with over 5.6 million in spending. Automatic property protection measures activated.]
Everything in the player’s Dream City belongs to their private property, including the characters themselves.
When the player’s spending exceeds the regulator’s salary, the regulator is not allowed to harm the player’s Dream City, including the characters themselves.
[The silver gun has activated the freezing bullet effect.]
Hissing…
In the next moment, Chu Feng saw the fallen Xie Shiyu begin to freeze.
Freezing bullets temporarily immobilize the character. They can be unfrozen afterward through the regulator’s signature procedure.
Seeing Xie Shiyu safe and sound, the madness in Chu Feng’s eyes gradually subsided. Lin Lan pulled his sleeve frantically:
The… bus!!
The driver!
The frozen Xie Shiyu, who was driving, was causing the speed to decrease…
54… 53… 52…
Below 50, it’s about to explode.
51…
Click.
A grappling hook caught the steering wheel. In an instant, like a stretched rubber band snapping back, the regulator catapulted from the roof to the driver’s seat.
With a swift kick, he knocked the driver, Xie Shiyu, down.
The hostage, Chu Feng, frowned extremely displeased.
X stepped on the accelerator, bringing the speed up to 59, then immediately rose again, grabbing Lin Lan like a chicken, and effortlessly broke the rope on his hands:
“You, drive.”
Lin Lan trembled, sat in the driver’s seat, and started driving.
2 minutes and 45 seconds to explosion.
Within 5 seconds, all the kidnappers were dealt with.
X walked towards the bound little beauty.
For some reason, he felt that the little beauty was very angry now.
—Maybe it was an illusion.
According to his experience, the player should be treating him like a deity at this point, clinging to his thigh and begging for mercy incessantly. Some might even be so emotionally overwhelmed that they start grabbing and clinging to him, causing him to waste time soothing their emotions and delaying the rescue.
The little beauty might turn out the same way.
—After all, this person has been crying since the video started.
Thinking that the little beauty would also cling to his thigh, crying with tear-streaked face, desperately trying to seek refuge in his arms…
X’s mood inexplicably improved.
***
Chu Feng coldly sized up the approaching regulator.
His goodwill towards this person had plummeted to the extreme.
To come up and shoot his men, and even kick his little Xie with his foot!
Chu Feng was very angry.
“You don’t have to worry, the bomb will be defused soon,” the regulator approached him, softening his tone, “My average bomb defusal speed is 15 seconds.”
Chu Feng thought to himself, well, that’s impressive.
But he understood why this guy was observing for so long on the roof just now.
Four minutes to defuse the bomb is too abundant for him.
The regulator broke the rope with his bare hands, removed the black tape from his mouth, and Chu Feng loosened his wrists.
X adjusted his posture. Usually, after being rescued, ordinary players would come rushing over, crying and making a scene.
—He was waiting for the little beauty to come crying.
***
After waiting for a while, Chu Feng sat coldly and calmly in his seat, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, as if questioning:
What are you waiting for? Why aren’t you defusing the bomb?
X coughed lightly to ease the embarrassment, then gently pointed to the two connected seats on the bus:
“Now, please lie down slowly.”
Chu Feng complied.
The countdown ticked away in front of him.
2 minutes and 30 seconds to explosion.
Chu Feng thought the regulator would pull out professional bomb disposal tools and start working…
The next moment, the regulator knelt down, leaned over, and pressed down?!
Chu Feng tensed up entirely!
The regulator braced himself beside him with one hand, while the other prepared to dismantle the bomb casing.
—Disarming the bomb with one hand?
Chu Feng was somewhat surprised, no, this posture…
This guy was tall, probably over 1.9 meters. Chu Feng, at 1.8 meters, lying on the seat, felt immense pressure, like when he was pinned down by Xie Shiyu during their bus play…
Chu Feng felt guilty for even thinking of Xie Shiyu with another man. He awkwardly turned his face away:
“Do you have to disarm it like this?”
“Some bombs have mercury fluid devices built in. Lying flat helps prevent accidental explosions caused by gravity,” the regulator explained calmly.
“Do you have any questions?” The regulator showed a professional calmness.
“…”
Chu Feng felt like he was being messed with!
“Now, please support the bottom of the bomb like this.”
The regulator instructed Chu Feng in a precise manner, his iron-gray trench coat falling onto Chu Feng’s thighs.
Chu Feng rolled his eyes internally and reluctantly complied.
“Your technique is a bit incorrect,” the regulator patiently corrected him. “Please make sure to support the middle part of the bottom of the bomb with your hand to prevent asymmetrical fluid distribution inside the bomb from causing a dispersed explosion.”
After speaking, Chu Feng felt the regulator’s hand enveloping his, correcting his movements manually.!!
Chu Feng instinctively disliked being touched by any man other than Xie Shiyu, and his hand reflexively tried to pull away…
“This isn’t a joke, this is a bomb,” the regulator warned sternly.
Chu Feng stiffened for a moment.
The crimson countdown continued to tick away…
Chu Feng eventually relaxed his grip…
Allowing him to make the correction.
***
The regulator X took hold of the little beauty’s hand.
A very beautiful hand, with fair wrists, slender fingers, and a slight chill at the fingertips.
In the moment he held it, X hesitated, as if struck by lightning, and fragments flashed through his mind like a meteor—too fast to catch, quickly burned into ashes by the white light in his mind, leaving only one sensation:
The hand was so smooth.
—He wanted to touch it.
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