Volume 4, Chapter 31 – The Person in the Box

“What a savage world.”

Adrian muttered, “But compared with Sea Blue Forest, it still falls far short.”

After all, in that sea-blue starry sky, explosions really could be treated as an art form.

“Heh. There is no way I’m giving up on such a promising prospect!”

As a second-rank talent scout at Muguang Entertainment Company, Adrian counted as mid-level management and had a certain degree of authority to mobilize company resources.

With that thought, he raised his wrist, and a floating data panel appeared before his eyes.

“Hello, this is second-rank talent scout Adrian. I’m currently on No. 1886. I need to use the company’s intelligence network to investigate someone’s whereabouts.”

“Connection established. Identity verification in progress…”

…

Bang bang bang!

Nord Biotechnology Company suddenly came under attack from a group of utterly lawless outlanders.

The main gate was blown to pieces on the spot, and several unlucky guards on duty were sent flying skyward.

The remaining security personnel quickly organized a counterattack and called for reinforcements.

After their initial push, however, Smiling Doge and the others gradually found themselves bogged down.

“Doge, if this keeps up, forget completing the mission, we might even get arrested by the government forces!”

The player whose ID was Winter Swim Without Clothes looked anxious.

Mission objective: destroy Nord Biotechnology Company’s laboratories.

The rewards for this mission were pretty good, but the difficulty was high, and they had only accepted it because an enraged Heloise had forced them to.

This was miserable.

“If we don’t complete the mission, I think that woman Heloise will probably kill us outright. We already failed the police station bombing mission before, and we also failed the mission to hunt down Anran.”

Smiling Doge could not smile at all. He only wanted to cry, cry his eyes out.

Seriously, how was a biotech company this absurdly well-armed?

“We can’t drag this out any longer!”

“How about we just retreat and run?”

“Or…” another player suddenly said, “or we could learn from Leading the Escape.”

“Hm? What do you mean?” Smiling Doge frowned. His impression of Zhou Jieyu was now rock bottom.

Back when they had fought other players at the station, they had lost in the end, but at least no video footage had gotten out.

But this time, in the chase after Anran, because of that Leading the Escape, not only had the mission failed, they had also been put on display on the forum.

Now they had become the laughingstock of players and trash in the eyes of NPCs, pleasing neither side.

“We can strap a few bombs to ourselves like Leading the Escape did, then run straight into the crowd.”

Throwing them was terribly ineffective, because it was too hard to hit anything.

“The problem is, you still have to be able to reach the crowd!” Smiling Doge said with a dry laugh.

There were not many enemies on the other side, but their aim was excellent.

“That part’s easy. We only need to deliver the bombs anyway, so there’s no need to overcomplicate things. We just do this, then this…”

And so, a few minutes later, two players walked out carrying thick steel plates in front of them.

Wear the thickest armor, take the nastiest beating.

Then detonate the bombs on your body when you are on the verge of death.

Boom!

Boom!

After a series of deafening explosions,

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the defense line Nord Biotechnology Company had just put together was destroyed.

“Whoever has the shortest respawn time, hurry up and go feed!”

“Me, me, let me do it!”

“Please let me take this wave of EXP!”

“Bro, if I remember right, your respawn time is already four hours, isn’t it?”

“Damn, if you die one more time, you won’t be logging back in until tomorrow.”

What sharpshooters, what well-trained bodyguards, what solid defense line.

To us, it is all trash.

Staring at the two trembling lab-coat wearers, Smiling Doge smugly pressed the button in his hand.

Boom—

All three of Nord Biotechnology Company’s cutting-edge laboratories were reduced to ashes in the roar of the explosion.

Explosion was an art — rough, yet meticulous.

Smiling Doge’s face was full of intoxicated delight.

Not long ago, he had still been gnashing his teeth in hatred at Zhou Jieyu for self-destructing.

Now he was practically one step away from having “Now this is the good stuff” written across his face.

Self-destruction made people happy.

Of course, this method of leveling up by self-destructing could not be used forever. Once one’s level got higher, the drop rate would increase drastically, and one would also lose EXP.

…

“Good.”

Heloise hung up the phone.

Smiling Doge had just reported his results.

“An ending like this should be a good thing for you too.”

Heloise’s gaze fell on the smoke-billowing building not far away.

With a smile, she finished speaking and then turned to look at the middle-aged man tied to a chair behind her.

The man was tightly bound with white cloth strips. His hands and feet could not move at all, and even his mouth was stuffed with a towel.

This was Marco Nord, the true controller of Nord Biotechnology Company.

“Destroyed by a group of outlanders of unknown origin. Other than that ship that is about to depart, all traces of your dealings with Morningstar have also been wiped clean. That way, your tall and upright public image can still be preserved perfectly well.”

Dressed in sporty clothing, Heloise walked up to Nord.

In truth, Anran had already made the contact list public, but Heloise had not been online and knew nothing about it.

“Don’t worry. After that ship docks, we’ll also help you dispose of it properly. Not a single trace will be left behind.”

“FMLh, FMLh…”

Nord began struggling.

“Are you very afraid now? Terrified? Desperate not to die?” Heloise slowly leaned closer to Nord.

The nearer that flawless face came, the more violently Nord struggled.

“FMLh, FMLh…”

“Heh…”

Heloise gave a cold laugh.

She reached out and pulled the towel from Nord’s mouth.

“Help—”

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Thud.

A heavy punch slammed into his abdomen, and Nord instantly swallowed the rest of his plea.

A dagger appeared in Heloise’s hand at once.

“I…”

Nord kept twisting his body, trying to retreat backward.

“Don’t worry. This knife isn’t for killing you.”

Heloise slashed with the knife.

With a flash of cold light, Nord realized that the white cloth binding him had actually been cut loose by Heloise.

Trembling, Nord got to his feet, but he did not dare make any rash move.

“Move.”

Heloise shoved Nord.

Under her coercion, Nord was forced to the edge of the building.

At that moment, Nord suddenly realized what Heloise intended to do.

“No, please, don’t kill me…” Nord clung tightly to the railing.

“Jump down yourself, or I’ll help you.” Heloise narrowed her eyes.

Her voice was cold and devoid of emotion.

“I have money, a lot of money. If you let me go, I can give you half!”

“Heh heh…”

Heloise remained unmoved.

“No, no, I’ll give you all of it, all of it, as long as you let me go!”

“So, you have no intention of jumping on your own?”

Nord’s expression changed. “Throwing away the millstone donkey after grinding the grain — is this how people from Morningstar always do things?!”

“In that case, let me help you.”

Heloise placed a hand on Nord’s shoulder.

“You devil! You’ll die a horrible death!” Nord delivered the classic line.

In a calm tone, Heloise said, “Have you ever thought about how those people you ruined — whose families were destroyed, who in the end could only choose to jump from a height — felt at that moment?”

“…”

“Have you ever thought about those people you framed and sent to prison, then bribed others to torture to death in prison?”

“…”

Seeing that Nord was about to speak, Heloise grabbed him and hauled him up against the railing.

“Compared with me, you’re the one who’s more like a devil.”

With a light push from Heloise, Nord’s scream gradually faded into the distance.

Heloise took a deep breath.

Sometimes, things like this simply had to be done.

Her hands had long since been stained with blood, and in the future they would be stained with even more.

If the Empire’s puppet government was to be overthrown, someone had to step forward.

Especially in times of war, people like her had to make sacrifices.

When the war ended, even if death awaited her, she would be able to face it calmly.

After all, she too was a devil soaked in blood.

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Crash!

The wooden chair was smashed to pieces by Heloise.

She picked up the torn cloth strips, and soon disappeared from the rooftop.

Beep beep beep…

The phone rang at just the right moment.

“Hello!”

“It’s me, Zhu Sheng,” said a man’s voice from the other end.

“What is it?”

Heloise frowned slightly.

Zhu Sheng came from the same place as she did and held the same status, but he was someone she disliked.

“I just received word that all the Resistance forces around Yaxi City have now been handed over to me. You can go back to headquarters and make your report in peace now!” Zhu Sheng said with a laugh.

“What?”

Heloise’s eyes widened in shock.

She had been in Yaxi City for less than five days. How could the higher-ups possibly issue an order like that?

“If you don’t believe me, go ask yourself. At the very least, this isn’t the kind of thing I’d joke about. All right, hand over all the contact information to me,” Zhu Sheng urged.

Heloise bit down on her lip.

Could it be that the higher-ups were already dissatisfied with her?

The branch had been infiltrated by Nine Songs, and Loriang had been shot dead right beside her.

Thinking about it carefully, a lot of things had indeed gone wrong recently.

“Come to XXX. I’ll personally hand the contact information over to you.”

Heloise hung up immediately.

She had no desire to listen to Zhu Sheng’s mocking sarcasm over the phone, so she did not give him any chance to continue.

Being recalled by the higher-ups when the mission had only just begun — no matter how one looked at it, it was because she had not performed well enough.

Anran’s figure flashed through Heloise’s mind. It was all because of that person!

“Tch—”

On the other end of the call, Zhu Sheng clicked his tongue.

That woman…

But it did not matter anymore. He was now the one in charge of Yaxi City, and after Heloise was recalled for repeated mistakes, it would be his time to perform.

…

“This crappy van’s performance is way too awful.”

Anran helplessly pressed down harder on the accelerator.

But the vehicle had already reached its limit.

Compared with the veteran cops behind her, her driving skills were nowhere near good enough.

On straight roads she could not match the van’s performance, and on turns she could not match their technique.

So annoying!

Anran made a sharp turn, then slammed on the brakes.

The van skidded sideways across the intersection. She opened the door and picked up her luggage, toolbox, flight pack, and the bag containing the mechanical armguard and various small components. Stacked together, it was a huge pile.

Then Anran scooped up the groggy Aila and burst into a run.

With her current Strength, carrying Aila over a short distance while running was still no problem.

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The police car also came to a stop. With the van blocking the road, it could not get through. By the time the delay was over, Anran had already run far away.

Activating the second-stage burst of her mechanical footgear, Anran quickly shook off the police completely.

Anran had originally planned to abandon that van anyway, only after leaving Yaxi City.

Being forced to give it up now because she was being chased made her unhappy.

Still, she was not some true villain, and she had no intention of simply killing the police behind her.

There was a damp smell in the air.

After walking a little farther, what greeted Anran was an endless expanse of water.

Blue waves lapped gently against the embankment, and a faint mist hovered over the water, making the place feel refreshing and tranquil.

So this area was actually the dock district.

Not far away, ships could be seen loading and unloading cargo.

“Nord Biotechnology Company!”

Anran blinked. Of course she knew that company.

After all, Nord Company’s name had appeared on the contact list too.

It supplied Morningstar with a large quantity of raw materials and medicine.

This was Lake Neiya.

Cargo was being loaded by the lakeside here and shipped by water.

Anran immediately thought of what she had seen through the spider robot in the meeting room.

There was a high chance this shipment was headed for Morningstar.

And this ship would sail across Lake Neiya to the next transfer point.

It so happened that Anran also wanted to leave Yaxi City without drawing attention.

“Aila, in a bit we’re going to sneak onto that ship. Don’t talk, just follow me,” Anran said, patting Aila on the head.

“…”

Aila said nothing, but nodded lightly.

Anran looked around. Since the weather had been terrible earlier, there were actually very few people around the docks. At the moment, only a few workers were operating mechanical arms to move all kinds of boxes.

Large ones, small ones, all stacked together.

They were not merely standard containers of a single type.

It would obviously be hard to walk directly onto the ship without being noticed.

Anran simply found a large crate and quietly dragged it to a distant spot. She threw out everything inside, moved it back to its original place, and then took Aila with her into the crate.

She held a gun in one hand and the Crimson Blade in the other. Several High-Energy Explosives were placed beside her as well. If they were discovered, she planned to burst out of the crate on the spot and shout, “It’s me, Anran!”

Flip the whole scene upside down in an instant, then make a swift getaway!

After waiting for quite a while, Anran suddenly felt the crate move. It swayed once, then slowly rose into the air with a wobble.

“Put the big crates underneath, the small ones on top.”

“Don’t mix them up!”

The sound of creaking rang out. After swaying in midair for a short while, there was a bang, and the crate stopped shaking. Everything returned to calm.

“Looks like we’re on the ship now.”

Anran pressed her ear against the crate, listening to the sounds outside.

“Drag these crates to the main cargo hold. Those smaller crates over there can’t take too much shaking, so be careful.”

“Yes!”

The crate was dragged away at once.