Chapter 44: Emergency

The process of intercepting the fleeing target was easier than Lin Guantang had imagined.

Perhaps it was because - not only did the planners think that the ambush point found by Lin Guantang was not the best, but even the target felt that with the level of the Central Military Academy, they would not give up a better ambush point nearby to choose an unsuitable place.

In short, the conclusion drawn from the target person - the system comparison database - is that his name is Wang Jianshi, and he has not updated his work history since resigning from a well-known biotechnology company a few years ago.

When he arrived at the turning point that Lin Guantang had marked earlier, Wang Jianshi slowed down his pace as expected. While focusing on guarding against a more suitable shooting point nearby, he revealed a huge flaw to Lin Guantang.

Then Lin Guantang found an opportunity and fired two shots in succession, one hitting Wang Jianshi's wrist where he was holding the weapon, and the other hitting his calf.

The gun in Wang Jianshi's hand fell to the ground with a clang, and then he fell to his knees.

Then, a black shadow approached silently. As Wang Jianshi struggled to stand up from the ground, it reached his side, grasped his hands and neck, and then—

Then, Wang Jianshi raised his head in fear and locked eyes with the figure that was suppressing him in the darkness...

A long and silent gaze...

Time seemed to stop at this moment.

Startled by the gunshots and seeing the target person being hit, within a few minutes, the ambushers nearby also appeared alertly. After confirming that the shooter was from their side, they walked to the target with confidence and turned on the light source to confirm the target.

——It’s not that no one is curious about Lin Guantang, the person who suddenly appeared and was not in the alternative plan or standby group, but it is obvious that the two people on the ground attracted more attention.

There was only darkness all around, and in the center illuminated by bright lights, a man in military academy combat uniform lowered his head and embraced the target he was chasing. One of them lowered his head, while the other raised his head. They looked at each other as if no one else was around. It seemed that they were quite sentimental, with love and hate mixed together.

Lin Guantang watched Ding Ruize and the target person staring at each other affectionately on the ground, and a bad premonition arose in his heart -

The scene of them staring at each other in silence was so strange that it was hard for him not to think of some melodramatic storyline like "only after meeting each other did he find out that his target of shooting was actually his ex-lover".

Although Ding Ruize was only in his twenties, the man on the ground looked to be in his thirties or forties. The age didn't seem to match. Moreover, the target man had an ordinary appearance and a tuft of beard. He and Ding Ruize really didn't look like a couple.

But age-gap relationships are not uncommon.

However, before the truth is known, it is better not to speak out your own guesses. Lin Guantang walked to the front of the crowd, his eyes moving back and forth between the two people on the ground, and tentatively asked:

"Teacher, do you know him?"

Ding Ruize looked up at him and denied it bluntly:

"I don't know him."

Lin Guantang felt relieved, but he felt even more confused:

"Since you don't know each other, then what are you guys...looking at each other for?"

Ding Ruize exclaimed, a little embarrassedly said:

"It's not that I don't have any equipment. I wanted to suppress him with pheromones and stop him from moving around, but then I remembered I forgot to take the inhibitor. So I can't use this trick. I'm thinking of an alternative control method."

Lin Guantang: ...

Others present: ...

If you want to find a way, just find a way. Do you have to make it so ambiguous?!

Everyone is already prepared to shoot at friendly forces, what a waste of emotion.

The crowd of onlookers were speechless. Even Wang Jianshi, who was pinned to the ground by Ding Ruize, had a distorted expression. He thought Ding Ruize was sick and tried to speak. However, his mouth only moved slightly. Before he could even open his mouth, he felt a sharp pain in his jaw.

His jaw was dislocated and the pain shot straight to the top of his head. In an instant, tears and saliva flowed from his eyes and he wailed continuously.

Ding Ruize ignored his howling, stretched out his gloved fingers and skillfully felt around inside his mouth and teeth, confirming that there was no medicine hidden in his mouth and teeth that would break if bitten, then he skillfully helped him press his dislocated jaw back together.

There came another wave of pain.

In less than a minute, Wang Jianshi's saliva had already flowed out. He opened his mouth and found that he could speak. His first reaction was to curse at Ding Ruize:

"You're crazy! You guys at the Central Military Academy are all violent. You tortured prisoners without asking any questions. I'm going to find a lawyer to expose your despicable behavior!"

Ding Ruize sighed and slowly corrected his words:

"First of all, I'm not a military academy student now. Secondly, I'm not torturing you, I'm saving you, uncle. Suicide by poison is actually quite painful. You have to trust the Medical Department's strength. Even if you take a poison that kills you instantly, the Medical Department will, out of compassion and a desire to save lives, do their utmost to save your soul a little bit. Let you experience the pain of gastric lavage first before you die completely."

Wang Jianshi: …

Wang Jianshi was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood what he meant - he was actually checking whether he wanted to commit suicide... He then showed an even more incredulous look, looking at Ding Ruize who was laughing in anger:

"You think I'm going to commit suicide by taking poison? How can you tell that I'm going to commit suicide?"

They are very similar in every way - Ding Ruize said seriously:

"Uncle, you opened your mouth quickly and calculatedly, as if you were afraid you'd miss something if you were a step late. Aren't you just trying to bite the poison hidden in your mouth and commit suicide before you're discovered?"

He opened his mouth to speak!

Wang Jianshi, who had suffered a dislocated jaw in vain, was almost mad at this man. He still had a lot of scenes he wanted to see, so how could he want to die like those idiots who were so cowardly that they would commit suicide when scared when they were caught?

Wang Jianshi didn't bother to pay attention to this violent non-staff member of the military academy with bad eyesight. His gaze swept through the crowd of onlookers, and finally landed on the rather thin figure facing him.

He was completely certain that it was this kid, who was obviously thinner than the others, who hid in the dark where no one should have ambushed him and shot him twice.

Will this kid set an ambush? The best ambush spot is less than a hundred meters away, but he had to choose such a tricky corner to shoot. Could it be that he was excluded from the military academy, so they deliberately made things difficult for him by arranging such a place to increase the difficulty of his mission?

Wang Jianshi speculated about the Central Military Academy's intentions with some malice, and then looked at the kid in front of him who was taking pictures of him to confirm that the target had been caught.

Although he was still wearing a mask and his features were not visible, his exposed ice-blue eyes were filled with an undisguised look of relief, as if the mission had been accomplished.

Wang Jianshi shouted at him:

"Little devil, do you feel proud of catching me?"

Lin Guantang opened the system, compared his information to confirm his identity, and then checked the mission map. He saw that all the markers related to Group B's mission on the map had dimmed...

After confirming that Group B's mission had been completed, Lin Guantang curiously checked the other functions of the system. Upon hearing this, he glanced at him and said casually:

"After all, I was the one who caught you and completed the mission. Shouldn't I be proud of myself?"

Then he heard Wang Jianshi burst into laughter:

"Being complacent is fine, that's it... I just want to see the contrast in your expressions when you feel you've successfully completed the mission and are beaming with pride, only to discover that the mission was a complete failure."

Lin Guantang: ...

What this sentence means is——

"Can you still run away?"

Lin Guantang looked up at him again, and even verified his identity again to confirm that his identity was correct. There was no possibility of catching the wrong target. Was he preparing to stage a battle royale?

That's impossible.

Not to mention that his hands and feet were injured and he couldn't walk away. With so many people watching around, unless he had the ability to fly and hide underground, he would be shot with several holes in his body as long as he didn't disappear in a second.

Lin Guantang looked at him suspiciously:

"You were able to run even with so many people watching. What? Are you also a moonlighting magician who can teleport?"

Wang Jianshi hummed twice, and instead of answering him directly, he asked him another question:

"Kid, you know what can completely fill a dark room?"

This question is too simple. In Area 35, it is a brain teaser used to amuse children. The answer will come out if you think about it casually.

But it's just too simple and irrelevant, which makes it even more weird to ask at this time.

Lin Guantang didn't understand what he was planning yet, so he could only be on guard in his heart while casually throwing out a reply:

"Firelight."

Wang Jianshi smiled and said:

"Are you feeling proud in your heart that such a simple question can be asked, and you can get the answer without having to use your brain?"

Lin Guantang felt helpless. It was clearly he who asked such a simple question, but he still blamed others for not using their brains. Isn't that too unreasonable?

Lin Guantang didn't want to answer this question, but the other party laughed and said to himself:

"That's it, that's the expression. Be proud, be proud of your correct answer. It's that expression of pride that turns into a look of horror... It's that look of utter terror when you think you've found the right answer, only to discover it's a colossal failure. You think you've ignited the fire of the correct answer, only to discover it's the choice that will burn your own life. That look of utter horror is truly interesting!"

You must be crazy.

Not only Lin Guantang, but all the onlookers had the same feeling in their hearts. They felt that this man was probably trying to pretend to be crazy and stupid to get away with it, and wanted to escape trial under the pretext of a mental illness attack.

But...something doesn't feel right.

Lin Guantang stared at him for a long time, then suddenly his expression changed. He turned around and ran madly towards the forest.

The others were left standing there looking at each other in confusion, not yet understanding why this strange classmate suddenly started running.

Wang Jianshi, however, watched the figure running away. His entire body began to tremble with excitement, and even his voice trembled:

"You're a clever kid indeed... But, hehe... Run! The faster you run, the sooner you can witness the ultimate pain brought by the truth, hehe..."

He then looked at the group of cadets around him who were still confused, and laughed even more wildly and mockingly:

"A bunch of idiots, fools, all of you combined are not as smart as a little kid, ha - then just keep waiting here, waiting for the fireworks that light up the night to go up and illuminate each of your stupid and ridiculous faces."

…

When Lin Guantang ran a few steps, Ding Ruize followed him and asked him what he had guessed and what he planned to do.

Lin Guantang was no longer in the mood to answer his questions. He ran towards Group C's mission area, while panicking and shouting to the system:

"Hehe! Could you please—no, could you please help me connect with the head of Team C, or the overall person in charge of this mission, right now? I have something very urgent to tell him. It concerns the lives of all Team C members!"

[Received. I've connected you to the private chat with [Y], the chief planner of this mission and the head of Group C. You can speak directly after the beep.]

After hearing a beep from the earphone, before the person on the other end could ask who he was, Lin Guantang anxiously spoke out his guess:

"Senior! I'm a member of Group C, codenamed Lingchen, and I have something very important to tell you—

"Please have the members of Team C evacuate the abandoned laboratory building as soon as possible! If nothing happens, I'm willing to accept any punishment, but now please have everyone evacuate quickly. Isn't it very dark in the laboratory building now? The gas inside the laboratory building is not right. The previous report also mentioned that there are unknown pheromones in the laboratory building. That may not be pheromones, but some kind of gas. If there is an open flame - no, perhaps if there is something that can increase the temperature, or if there is strong light, those gases are very likely to explode or -!"

Boom——!

Or...something harmful to the human body will happen...

Before Lin Guantang could finish his words, he heard a loud explosion in front of him. The loud explosion almost broke his ears, and the rocks and soil under his feet shook.

Is it too late...?

Lin Guantang suddenly stopped and stared at the scene less than a kilometer ahead with his eyes wide open. Puffs of fireworks carrying all kinds of debris shot up into the sky.

The explosion seemed to have exploded in his heart, leaving his mind blank. He could not hear any sounds around him, could not see the surrounding environment, and he stood there in a daze, as stiff as dry grass, and forgot even to blink.

Only the wide-open, ice-blue pupils reflected the blazing flames and flying debris.

In a trance, Lin Guantang seemed to see a demon in the air grinning at him, mocking his slow reaction and useless reminders.

After an unknown amount of time, the deafening explosion in the distance gradually dissipated.

Although there were subtle sounds of insects and birds chirping around him from time to time, Lin Guantang still felt that the silence was extremely dead. A cold and casual voice came from the headphones:

"From your tone, it seems like you came to this conclusion on your own, rather than through a system prompt?"

Lin Guantang was stunned for a moment before he suddenly woke up and realized that the person was not dead - at least the person he was talking to was still alive, so he quickly asked:

"Senior, the people in Group C..."

"They're all alive. You're not talking to ghosts."

Lin Guantang: ...

Don't make jokes like this at a time like this.

For a moment, Lin Guantang really didn't know whether to cry or laugh, but in the end he was extremely relieved. The best outcome was that everyone was alive.

Lin Guantang experienced such extreme sorrow and joy in such a short period of time that his mind was so agitated that when he regained consciousness, he realized belatedly that he felt the pain of his rapid heartbeat.

After staying there for a long time, Lin Guantang finally regained his composure. After thinking about it, he decided to continue walking towards his destination.

On the side, Ding Ruize followed him and continued walking into the forest, and said with sudden enlightenment:

"Why did you suddenly run away? Did you realize that there was something wrong with what that person said just now?"

Lin Guantang nodded and spoke weakly - both to answer Ding Ruize and to tell the other person in the earphone how he had guessed it.

"He deliberately hinted to me that the dark house refers to the laboratory building. As for the line '...thinking you've ignited the fire of the correct answer, only to discover that it's the choice that will burn your own life...', it might refer to the fact that in the dark laboratory building, you would choose to turn on the light, but turning on the light would cause a reaction similar to burning..."

"I remembered that the previous report mentioned unidentified pheromones... so I speculated that it might not be pheromones, but rather a gas that reacts with fire or light. If that's the case, then entering the dark laboratory building would subconsciously turn on the lights—and then turn off all the lights, forcing anyone entering to light a fire. What would the result be..."

The result will be that you will light the fire that leads to your own destruction.

As they were talking, they had reached the end of the mountain road and could see more clearly the laboratory building in the valley that was still emitting flames and ashes, as well as the figures of three or four watching in the distance.

The system's warning sound also came from the headset:

[Warning! Detection of flammable and explosive gases in a building 500 meters ahead. Do not enter the building with open flames. Non-mission personnel are not allowed to enter the cordon.]

[Warning! A dangerous building 500 meters ahead has exploded. Please approach with caution.]

…

Lin Guantang checked the warning given by the system and suddenly blushed - because he realized belatedly that maybe he was worrying too much... It was obvious that the system had already known the danger here before him and reminded the personnel to retreat.

Then he remembered his desperate shouting just now, which made him feel as if he had done something stupid. He stopped walking and did not move forward.

First, he had already walked near the cordon, and second... since everything was fine and he didn't know anyone, he didn't know what to say when he suddenly ran over. He couldn't say that he came here for something that everyone already knew.

"What the Intelligence Department reported was indeed some kind of artificial pheromone, but before the mission was carried out, someone secretly replaced the smell."

The voice that was just talking to Lin Guantang sounded again, but it did not come from the headset, but was heard directly from somewhere nearby.

Lin Guantang turned his head to look at the source of the sound, and saw a tall man in combat uniform leaning against a big tree three or four steps away. He was not wearing any head protection such as a mask, hat, or glasses.

This allowed Lin Guantang to see his face clearly. He had a stern look, sharp eyebrows and eyes, and a strong aura that kept strangers away - he always felt like he had seen him somewhere.

Lin Guantang observed more carefully, but it was late and he could not make out more details. He could only see a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. He looked indifferent when he spoke, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

It is also possible that he really doesn't care - who would smoke leisurely at the scene of an explosion, and not be afraid of being blown up?

Lin Guantang stood there quietly, listening to him continue:

"The first person to enter the scene, upon noticing a strange smell in the building and the system issuing an alert, left the building and submitted a system inspection and analysis report. Then, they implemented a new countermeasure, filling the building with cold air to reduce the risk to a safe level. Only then did I lead the team inside with condensing light tubes to conduct an investigation."

Having said this, he raised his eyes to look at Lin Guantang, and said with a half-smile:

"Perhaps we should thank Huo Shizhen for making sure everyone in the Executive Department deeply remembers this principle: no matter how accurate the intelligence is, caution is still required upon arrival at the scene. Any abnormalities must be reported first and the system must be asked to determine the cause of the abnormality. Only after confirming that there is no danger can action be taken. When he was in the Executive Department, he conducted countless emergency drills specifically targeting this."

Why did you suddenly mention Huo Shizhen to him?

Lin Guantang shifted his gaze and saw that many people around him were looking over. Even the members of Group B who were at the foot of the mountain seemed to be attracted by the sound of the explosion and ran over.

It seemed that not responding at all would be inappropriate. Lin Guantang thought for a moment, then smiled apologetically and said:

"I see. Since the seniors have already made all the arrangements, I'm just overthinking it. Please don't blame me for interrupting them."

"No, you don't have to feel bad about not being able to help. I'm not saying this to blame you."

The man in front of him flicked the ash from his cigarette and said slowly:

"I'm trying to say that you're smart and quick-witted enough to handle more tasks. It wouldn't be a bad idea to even let you be in charge of mission planning. But before that, do you have any thoughts on changing jobs?"

Why?

What job-hopping——

Lin Guantang didn't think much about it and said subconsciously:

"I'm doing pretty well part-time at a light food restaurant. Where should I go next?"

After saying this, Lin Guantang immediately regretted it - this was even more unrelated!

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the person in front of him laughed and said:

"I'm asking whether you plan to follow Huo Shizhen to the Discipline Department or to the Executive Department. If you follow him, you'll have to give up your extra curiosity and sense of responsibility, otherwise there will be more surprises waiting for you later.

"He hates it when someone acts presumptuously and obscures details during a mission. He never proactively tells you the full details of any mission. Just like today, he knew about the unusual circumstances surrounding Team C's mission, but he didn't tell you. So, you knew there would be an explosion because you inferred it from the suspect's instructions, not because the system had told you in advance."

Yes, is that so? Did Senior Huo know about this a long time ago?

Did he deliberately not tell me, or did he feel there was no need to tell me?

Lin Guantang was stunned and couldn't respond for a moment, nor did he have the chance to speak - because someone came to talk to him.

In fact, there were a few people around who vaguely glanced at Lin Guantang, as if they were wondering about his identity, but no one took the initiative to come over to talk to Lin Guantang.

In the moment when he had nothing to do, Lin Guantang thought about it and opened the terminal, deciding to ask Huo Shizhen directly.

Haitang: Did you know there would be an explosion during Group C's mission? Why didn't you warn me? I had a false alarm. When I saw the explosion, my heart almost stopped, thinking many innocent people would die.

Senior Huo: Why am I reminding you? Regardless of whether you were originally in Group A or later chose Group B, the mission range is still one thousand meters away from Group C's mission point, so the bombs won't reach you.

[Haitang]: I'm not worried about that. I just think that since I'm participating in this mission, shouldn't I know the full picture of the mission?

[Senior Huo]: The task details are in the system's related task index, but you didn't look at it. Also, are you sure you really want to know all the task details?

What does this mean?

Lin Guantang thought about it for a moment, then simply opened the system interface to find the answer.

After clicking through several options, Lin Guantang finally opened the summary of all the mission details. Then he saw a densely packed explanation of what he estimated to be tens of thousands of words...

Lin Guantang felt a little dizzy after reading it.

Ding Ruize felt that the interface displayed on Lin Guantang's terminal was a little familiar. He subconsciously glanced at it, and after seeing the words all over the screen, he immediately covered his eyes, as if he had seen something terrible and dirty. With a distorted expression, he said quickly:

"Quickly shut it down! Quickly shut it down! Seeing this interface makes me miserable. It brings back painful memories of being forced to write mission summaries in the Executive Department. Tang, you're lucky you're not a cadet. Otherwise, every time you make a mistake, you'll have to submit a detailed report of no less than a thousand words before, during, and after the next mission!"

Lin Guantang: ...

Ah this——

Lin Guantang felt that he could understand Senior Huo's thoughts again. It was really difficult to tell all the task details with so many words to the task executor. He could only let people read it themselves if they wanted to.

Moreover, he felt that he also somewhat understood why the other cadets only cared about their own tasks and were unwilling to meddle in other people's affairs...

The consequences of meddling in other people's affairs are so severe that just writing a report is enough to make people miserable.