"Yanqing? What's going on?"
Su Chen frowned.
Unless it was something extremely urgent, Yanqing wouldn't have called him.
Moreover, the entire Express crew had gone to Old Yang's school,
and he had the Hunters group with him.
"Where's Jing Yuan?"
"The situation is complicated! Captain Jing Yuan and Mr. Huaiyan are barely keeping things under control!"
"Ahhhh!!!"
A wretched scream came through the receiver, forcing Su Chen to rub his ears.
The noise didn't stop—even without speakerphone, it was deafening:
"You owe me my skewers!"
"Hahaha! Combat! So satisfying!"
"..."
"Beep!"
Su Chen stared at the ended call and sighed helplessly. "Sigh! Let's hurry. I'm seriously afraid the third scenario 'The Luofu' might get demolished."
After some discussion, it was decided that Su Chen, Firefly, and Yingxing would ride in Baiheng's car,
while Kafka and Silver Wolf got into Shuhu's vehicle. The others would take the subway.
"Step on it, Baiheng!" Su Chen pulled up GPS navigation on his phone.
Baiheng nodded solemnly. "The boss's first mission must be accomplished!"
With that, she floored the accelerator, and the car shot forward like a rocket, disappearing around the corner.
...
After much chaos, night had fallen, and the miHoYo Interactive Cinema Theme Park had entered its resting phase.
Soon, Su Chen's group arrived near the main entrance.
"Okay, okay, okay! Stop the car—that was enough heart-stopping excitement! I genuinely think the traffic cop who revoked your license was a saint reincarnated, keeping you off the roads for three years and sparing humanity your menace!"
Su Chen sat in the back seat with a pained expression. If not for Firefly shielding him, he'd have been flung out of the car.
"No need! Just tell me how to get to that... whatever 'Luofu' place is!" Baiheng replied nonchalantly.
"STOP THE CAR!!!"
Baiheng turned her head with an awkward smile. "Well, uh... how do I put this? I might've pushed too hard earlier, and now the brakes are broken!"
"Oh? The brakes are broken?! Then how about you take your foot off the accelerator?!"
"Huh?" Baiheng looked at Su Chen, her smile growing even more strained. "Actually, I stomped the gas so hard it bent and jammed the brake pedal. Now we can only accelerate, not stop!"
Su Chen craned his neck to peer into the driver's seat. "!!!"
Baiheng had indeed bent the accelerator pedal so severely that it physically blocked the brake, rendering the car unable to decelerate.
"To think I'd die so young, yet feel so old.
If this death had any meaning, it wouldn't be so utterly meaningless!
I'm seriously done!" Su Chen wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.
"After entering the main gate, you'll see train tracks. Follow those to reach The Luofu!"
Just then—
BAM! The car hit something.
"Holy crap! What did you hit?!" Su Chen frantically scanned their surroundings, but the interior lights were too bright, and the outside too dark—visibility was practically zero.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking ahead. No idea!"
"I saw it," Firefly said calmly. "Looked like a white-haired person wearing an eyepatch."
"White hair? Surely not that much of a coincidence... shiver..." Su Chen felt a chill down his spine.
He immediately called Luocha. "Hey, I don't care what you have to do—get to The Luofu NOW and bring Black Swan with you!"
After hanging up, to be absolutely certain, he messaged Kafka:
"Kafka! Hurry! This is life or death!"
——
At the collision site of Baiheng's AE86,
a woman lay sprawled on the ground, her left arm outstretched as if pleading, "Instructor... don't stop now..."
Miraculously unharmed, she gritted her teeth.
"The world is so beautiful, yet I'm so furious. This isn't good... isn't good! But I can't help it!
My disciple tricked me—won't even answer my calls! Left me waiting here alone!
All that crap about 'the university five reuniting'!"
As she spoke, the woman slowly rose to her feet.
"Made me waste all this time for nothing!
And that damn car—I was standing way off to the side, and it still hit me!!!
Enough is ENOUGH!"
She tore off her eyepatch, revealing crimson pupils, and burst into maniacal laughter.
"Hahaha! You think you can hit me and just flee the scene?
Guess I've been retired too long—people forgot I'm the undefeated legend of the security force... Jingliu!"
Step by step, she followed the car's trajectory, vanishing into the night.
——
Meanwhile,
Within The Luofu scenario, a crowd had already gathered.
"Damn you! Pay for my tanghulu skewers!" Yunli hissed like an angry kitten, glaring at Modu.
"Damn you!" Modu snarled at Scott beside him. "You're NOT Hoolay the Warchief?! After I trusted you so much!"
"Damn you!" Scott clutched his stomach while staring at the pink-haired, squinty-eyed man. "Just looking at you makes my stomach hurt! Why?!"
"Damn you! I brought the wrong person... That was Captain Jing Yuan's master? Did I just offend her?"
Jing Yuan didn't blame Yanqing. "It's fine. My master said her temper's improved lately.
I'm sure she won't lose it over minor things now."
"Ohohoho!" Huaiyan stroked his beard. "You mean Jingliu? For her to reach this point... she must've put in tremendous effort!"
Jing Yuan nodded. "Indeed. If Master can control her temper just a bit more, her future will be bright. Though..." He glanced at Jiaoqiu. "By the way, did you find Feixiao?"
"Found her. Don't worry, Captain Jing Yuan—Moze will lure her here!"
"Lure her?!"
"Captain Jing Yuan, look—Hoolay!" Yanqing raised his fists, battle-ready.
Yunli blinked in confusion at the bearded man. "Hoolay? Who's that? Is he strong? Stronger than Grandpa?"
"Miss Yunli, you may not know this, but Hoolay is genuinely formidable." Jing Yuan shed his usual lazy demeanor, analyzing Hoolay with rare seriousness.
Watching his master's uncharacteristic intensity, Yanqing marveled:
Hoolay truly was a powerful foe.
This would be tough!
But not hopeless.
If Yunli didn't count as combat power,
he could handle one, his master could take one and a half, Elder Huaiyan could manage one,
and Scott could contribute half.
Numerically, they had the advantage!
"The real question is... how strong is Hoolay actually?"
Jing Yuan stepped forward. To ensure Yanqing and the others understood Hoolay's prowess,
he began a solemn briefing:
"Memorize what I'm about to say—suggested for full recitation!
In 2004, he won his first free combat championship in Northwest Asia!
In 2010, he defeated the 'Foxian Grand Champion' James.
For the next three years..."