Chapter 588 I’d Better Wear My Seatbelt
It took Shen Xixi less than ten minutes to get everything set up. After arranging to meet in the evening, the guy wearing a flattop haircut left in a hurry, clearly uninterested in acquainting himself with Zhang Heng, who was only a temporary teammate. After he left, Rabbit gave Li Bai a nudge, and the two went together, leaving Zhang Heng and Shen Xixi alone in the cubicle.
The latter was packing the projector. “It’s beneficial that you could come. Don’t mind 1801. He’s a surgeon at a hospital and has several surgeries a day. He’s swamped, so he’s always in a rush.” “You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Zhang Heng answered. “Don’t worry. I’m just here to help, not give you trouble.”
“Thanks. I don’t want the both of you to become enemies over this issue,” said Shen Xixi. “1810 and his team are quite well-known among independent player groups. They are a very combat effective team, but they had a fallout with Arc of Light and are one of the few groups who didn’t leave the union. Oh, by the way, where’s your team? I don’t think I’ve ever met your teammates before.”
“I don’t have one. I’ve always played solo,” Zhang Heng answered plainly.
“As in on your own?” Shen Xixi’s eyebrows rose a notch. Since players were often subjected to strange and alien environments in quests, most preferred to act collectively. Of course, disputes were inevitable where people are involved, and players did leave their teams for various reasons. Nonetheless, most were only temporary-very few players actually played perpetual solo games. Seeing that Zhang Heng had no intention of elaborating, Shen Xixi refrained from asking more. “You can always come to me if there are any problems, or you can consider joining our team for the time being. We happen to be short of a driver, now that Huang Yu has left our group.”
“I’ll think about it,” said Zhang Heng.
There was still some time before the operation. So, Zhang Heng went to the library and flipped through two riddle books to prepare himself for their opponent. He was there until nine when Shen Xixi sent him a text. Zhang Heng left the library and came to the east gate where a BMW X3 was parked with its emergency beacons turned on.
It was drizzling, but Zhang Heng came prepared. He pulled over his hoodie and walked to the driver’s seat. When he opened the door, Shen Xixi waved at him from the passenger seat.
“Wow, our Fujiwara Takumi is here.” Rabbit poked her head out of the back-seat window and asked while chewing on a piece of gum, “I forgot to ask you earlier-how many years have you been driving?”
“I just got my driver’s license last month,” Zhang Heng answered.
“Then, I’d better wear my seatbelt.”
Rabbit disappeared into the car.
Fortunately for them, Zhang Heng’s driving was steady. Nothing happened on the road either—there were no close-calls and no panic-braking in the middle of the road. Satisfied and relieved, Rabbit leaned back and relaxed for the rest of the ride.
After about forty minutes, the X3 arrived at the location. 1810 and three other members of his team were already waiting.
Like before, 1810 wasted no time at all. Upon their arrival, he simply nodded at Shen Xixi, saying, “Let’s get to work.”
Shen Xixi distributed walkie-talkies to everyone. After that, they picked their own weapons, then headed to their respective posts as planned to hunt the Sphinx-or more precisely, wait to be hunted by the Sphinx.
Zhang Heng remained in the car, ready to step in at any time. Even though the location was a little out of the way, people were still walking on the streets since it was still early. The next hour and a half went by pretty uneventfully save for the voices booming over the walkie-talkie every three minutes.
As he was sitting in the car, he received a text from the bartender lady informing him that the swordsmith was willing to recast his “Ordinary Sword.” But because Zhan Heng did not have the casting materials, an additional cost was also charged, which brought the final tally to a whopping 4,000 game points. Sadly, Zhang Heng could not enjoy the twenty percent member discount because it was a third-party service.
But there was also good news. Besides game points, the swordsmith also accepted game items as payment. However, items handed over would be valued at twenty percent below the market price.
Having considered the offer, Zhang Heng agreed to proceed with the transaction. Besides the fact that he did not have enough points for the recast, he also had a whole stash of game items that were difficult to sell through normal channels. While the war between Arc of Light and the union had ceased, the hunt for the mysterious sniper from that night was still ongoing
The other teams aside, Zhang Heng killed the three Arc of Light elites. This wasn’t something Arc would let slide so easily, and as long as they had some sense, they would definitely be keeping an eye on Shen Xixi. After all, Zhang Heng prepared well and left hardly any clues that might pinpoint to him at the scene.
But since his involvement that night, he had become closer to Shen Xixi, and by now, Arc of Light was probably already combing through Shen Xixi’s social circle. Fortunately, he rarely interacted with her in school, so Arc probably wouldn’t find him suspicious.
But because he had used swords, guns, and arrows in previous battles, Zhang Heng’s only self-defense tonight was the Infinite Blocks. If everything went as well as Shen Xixi said, his driving skill might not even need to be employed. That, of course, would be the best outcome.
Zhang Heng returned the bartender’s text, telling her that he had some things to take care of and would be bringing the items to her for evaluation once he was done.
After the message was sent, Zhang Heng turned on the radio.
Sitting around like that and waiting was tedious, especially in such a small space. But because he had to be ready to make a move, Zhang Heng stayed in the car and kept the engine running Compared to the others, however, he was in a considerably good situation. Wandering around in long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and full-body armor in weather like this proved extremely uncomfortable, not to mention having to be constantly on guard against a creature that could appear at any moment. “I haven’t seen anything unusual so far. I’m going to buy some drinks from the vending machine. It’s so hot, I’m dying,” Rabbit complained.
She walked to the vending machine, picked a bottle of Coke, and selected the payment method. She had reached for her phone and was looking up when she was suddenly given the shock of her life. Even though she was mentally prepared for tonight, seeing a woman’s head attached to the body of a lion in the middle of the night was enough to spook even the bravest of hearts.
Nonetheless, Rabbit was able to pull herself together and listen to the thing on top of the vending machine say, “Wrapped with red cloth on the outside, and white cloth on the inside. Open it and look carefully. There are small wooden combs in a row. Guess the fruit.”