Chapter 117: "X-Men"
After noticing that the Carnotaurus remained utterly motionless, Zhou Botong finally sensed something was amiss.
Casting his gaze around, he quickly spotted Qiao Mian and Little Dragon Girl in the distance.
The moonlight was pure and bright.
He could see them clearly.
Zhou Botong blinked involuntarily, feeling that Little Dragon Girl’s gaze was somehow off.
Why did it seem as though she wanted to devour him?
The flickering firelight caught his attention.
He sniffed hard.
It was the aroma of hot pot.
Could it be that she was afraid he might eat her hot pot?
Zhou Botong shifted his eyes back to Qiao Mian.
He looked at the two repeatedly, suddenly struck with an epiphany.
A man and a woman sneaking into the forest at midnight...
He chuckled softly, “Mr. Qiao, Miss Long, you two carry on playing. I’m off, hehe.”
Seeing him grin slyly before vanishing in a flash, Qiao Mian and Little Dragon Girl exchanged puzzled glances.
What on earth was that guy thinking?
“Let’s keep eating,” Qiao Mian said, feigning nonchalance.
Little Dragon Girl responded with a quiet “Mm,” stealing a glance at Qiao Mian, her courage that had taken so much effort to muster now completely vanished.
After finishing the hot pot and escorting Little Dragon Girl home, Qiao Mian walked alone to the fitness square.
Despite the late hour, many people still lingered inside the square.
Numerous volunteers took advantage of their time off to meditate and practice martial arts here.
Most of them stayed away from the terrifying haunted house, sitting cross-legged in large groups beneath the peach trees.
The moon was veiled by clouds.
The fitness square was shrouded in a dim gray.
Underneath the blooming peach blossoms, shadows flitted softly.
Qiao Mian thought Sadako should come see this scene; it looked quite haunted.
But at this hour, she was probably off chatting with that male internet friend again.
Qiao Mian kept his hands behind his back and continued walking.
Near the earthen wall by the shooting range sat a group of men.
From a distance, Qiao Mian could already hear their loud boasting.
“You wouldn’t believe it—those little devils stared at the drones in the sky like they saw ghosts, pointing and gathering to gawk. When the bombs dropped from above, the scene was something else…”
“Damn it, you took down Ping’an City without a word, and your superiors didn’t blame you?”
“Blame my ass! I snagged equipment equivalent to a whole division bit by bit, and what I kept was enough to outfit two battalions!”
“Old Li, the higher-ups have their reasons…”
“Hey, Old Zhao, don’t even start with me. In that battle, I wiped out over five hundred of those devils with less than fifty casualties on our side…”
“What are you all talking about?” Qiao Mian approached.
“Oh, Mr. Qiao!” Li Yunlong hurriedly patted his rear as he stood and then blew dust off his pants, wiping his hands, and said politely, “Please, have a seat.”
Qiao Mian sat without hesitation.
Nearby, Zhao Gang, Kong Jie, and Zhang Dabiao straightened up solemnly.
“Carry on, everyone,” Qiao Mian waved his hand and picked a peanut from the central dish.
The fried peanuts, lightly salted and without vinegar, were exactly to his liking.
Several plates of cold dishes had been mostly eaten.
Each of the four men held a small bottle of Erguotou liquor.
Seeing Qiao Mian’s gaze, Zhao Gang explained, “These were all brought by the volunteers.”
Qiao Mian nodded and looked at Li Yunlong. “You attacked Ping’an City?”
“Hehe, with so much good gear, how could I not?” Li Yunlong said.
“Did you see Xiuqin?” Qiao Mian blinked.
Li Yunlong’s face flushed red.
The others burst into loud laughter.
“Mr. Qiao, believe it or not, our regiment commander really asked me to investigate,” Zhang Dabiao bluntly said.
“Dabiao!” Li Yunlong cleared his throat.
“But it’s Mr. Qiao asking,” Zhang Dabiao said unabashedly. “Besides, she’s not interested in Commander Li.”
“Not interested?” Qiao Mian was surprised.
“She’s not going to look twice at a big rustic who can barely read a word!” Kong Jie chimed in.
Zhao Gang smiled quietly without a word.
Li Yunlong took a sip of his drink, cleared his throat, and said, “Don’t listen to Dabiao’s nonsense. If you told a girl we used to be a couple, she’d probably curse you out. At least Xiuqin put conditions.”
“What conditions?” Kong Jie asked curiously.
Zhang Dabiao said, “She told him, if you’re so capable, chase those devils out of Taiyuan City first!”
“Right,” Li Yunlong said, “I’ll attack Taiyuan sooner or later. Not just Taiyuan, even that Tokyo place—I’ll see it with my own eyes eventually!”
“Old Li, watch your tone!” Zhao Gang reminded.
“Hehe, I just didn’t notice Mr. Qiao was here,” Li Yunlong laughed.
Qiao Mian chatted with them a little longer, listening to Li Yunlong’s boasts.
Seeing that the hour was late, he urged them to rest soon, then rose and headed home.
And so it was.
Seven days had passed since the shooting range opened.
Qiao Mian sat in his office, gazing at the slowly setting sun.
The visitors had long gone, and the park was gradually growing quiet.
Only the occasional roar of beasts echoed from the forest.
He watched as the sun dipped below the horizon.
The evening sky blazed with resplendent, painterly sunsets.
After a moment, Qiao Mian summoned Zero and checked the current status.
A barrage of information appeared before him:
[Player Name: Qiao Mian]
[Game Level: 2 (38.26 million / 100 million)]
[Game Currency: 112.88 million]
[Employees: 41]
[Popularity: 0] (fully converted into game currency)
[Items for Sale: Iron Man Suit Mark 6 (10,000 game coins), Blood Orchid Extract (1,000 game coins), Fire Seed Source (100,000 game coins), King Kong Blood Serum (100 game coins), Bosque Snake Gallbladder (10 game coins), Treasure Snake Blood Serum (50 game coins), Dimensional Item Explorer (100 game coins), “Muscle/Tendon Change Classic” (600 game coins), “Nine Yin Manual” (600 game coins), “Nine Yang Divine Skill” (600 game coins), Dimensional Incubator (player use only) (1 million game coins), Basic Hypnosis (5,000 game coins), Basic Healing (8,000 game coins), Basic Future Sight (10,000 game coins), Cybertron Spaceship (8 million game coins)...]
[Unlocked Modules: Ticket Hall, Office Center, Dinosaur Park, Python Pavilion, Highway, Fitness Square, Arena, Scripture Library, Haunted House, Shooting Range]
[Connected Dimensions: “Jurassic World,” “King Kong,” “Anaconda Disaster,” “Iron Man,” “Transformers,” “The Return of the Condor Heroes,” “The Ring,” “Drawing Sword”]
...
Qiao Mian scanned the information briefly, barely lingering before choosing to purchase the Dimensional Incubator.
One million game coins were deducted.
A dimensional egg with a countdown timer appeared before him.
Qiao Mian exhaled softly and chose to spend game coins to accelerate the incubation.
Another ten million game coins were deducted, and the egg suddenly shattered.
Several words emerged from within.
Qiao Mian’s heartbeat quickened subtly.
He stared intently at the characters.
As his consciousness sank deeper, he saw flickering silhouettes accompanied by dazzling lights.
After a moment, the words solidified:
“X-Men.”
Stealing Fragrance