Chapter 726
Chapter 726
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 726
>Chapter Title: Abandoned Building
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Chapter 726: Abandoned Building
Wu Qi’s RV was driving deeper into Orange Isle. Li Huowang, hunched over, peered through the window at the pitch-black unfinished buildings surrounding them.
The puddles on the ground and the scattered construction materials had slowed the RV down. The headlights cast a white sheen over the road ahead.
He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but Li Huowang thought he glimpsed a figure darting through one of the abandoned buildings. Yet he didn’t sense anyone watching him.
After about five minutes, the rolling tires came to a slow stop.
“Look at this dump you picked. Damn near impossible to drive through—scratched up my paint job.” Wu Qi grumbled as she shoved open the driver’s door.
“Fifth Sis, this RV’s been through how many owners? You still care about the paint?” Qing Wanglai hopped out and dodged to the left, avoiding the kick Wu Qi aimed at him.
Behind them, Li Huowang got out of the vehicle with Yang Na’s help.
He eyed the unfinished building in front of them for a few seconds before asking Qing Wanglai, “What floor?”
Before he could respond, a flashlight beam flashed from the sixth floor, flickering toward them.
Seeing this, Li Huowang headed toward the abandoned building and climbed up the unprotected stairs.
By the time he reached the sixth floor, Li Huowang found nothing but darkness—no light anywhere.
“What’s going on? Wasn’t the light just here? Did I get the wrong floor?”
As the puzzled Li Huowang started toward the window to count the floors, an unnaturally pale man’s face suddenly popped up in front of him. “Wake up! It’s all fake!”
“.”
Li Huowang stared at the young man in front of him, who looked even younger than himself. With his dyed yellow hair, he held the flashlight under his chin to light up his deliberately spooky face.
Li Huowang had seen a lot in his time, but he’d never seen a ghost with a tongue ring.
“Just you? Qian Fu and Chen Hongyu should be here too, right?” Li Huowang asked the guy.
“What did I tell you? Crappy acting like that won’t scare him. Huh? Li Huowang, what happened to your head?” Chen Hongyu’s voice came from the darkness.
Soon, Chen Hongyu and Qian Fu emerged, exposed in the flashlight’s glow. The two were sharing a bag of spicy strips, their mouths smeared with red oil.
“Heh... hehehe...” The young man let out a neurotic chuckle, tossed the flashlight on the ground to serve as a light source.
Once Qing Wanglai and Wu Qi arrived, the desolate abandoned building finally started feeling a bit lively.
“What happened to your injury?” Qian Fu asked, looking at Li Huowang’s head.
“It’s a long story. Something happened on the road. I’ll explain later.” Li Huowang glanced at the young man who’d just tried to scare him.
The guy’s style was odd. A grown man wearing black eyeliner, dressed in bizarre black leather clothes, his skin an unnatural pale—like he hadn’t seen the sun in ages.
Maybe because of Sun Xiaoqin’s past lectures, Li Huowang felt an inexplicable aversion to people dressed like that.
Qing Wanglai cleared his throat lightly and introduced the young man to Li Huowang. “This is Zhao Lei. Meet Li Huowang—the one I told you about.”
“You can call me Steven.” The gaunt-faced Zhao Lei stepped forward and extended his right hand, adorned with a black ring.
Li Huowang shook it. “Nice to meet you, Zhao Lei. I’m Li Huowang.”
“Heh... See? It’s fake. Way too fake. I even told you my English name, and you still follow the script.” Zhao Lei swayed back to his spot.
“What’s with this guy? So twitchy.”
Li Huowang frowned at him. For a second, Qing Wanglai and Wu Qi had almost made him think this group didn’t have any other crazies.
Li Huowang figured more people would emerge from the darkness, but to his surprise, that was it—just Zhao Lei.
“Isn’t it supposed to be eight people? Why only six?” Li Huowang scanned the group and asked Qing Wanglai.
“Maybe they had something come up last minute.”
“Do you have their numbers? Call them and check.” Li Huowang’s heart was starting to race. They’d had a car accident—if two people didn’t show, it felt too coincidental.
If his luck had been worse earlier, maybe four wouldn’t have shown up?
“They don’t use phones. Say they’re afraid of being monitored.” Qing Wanglai’s expression grew serious as he glanced at the others and clapped his hands to get their attention.
“Have you talked to Bone Bro or Auntie Yan recently? Or seen them at all?”
Judging by their confused reactions, Qing Wanglai had his answer. Something had definitely happened.
After a moment’s thought, he addressed the group again. “I called you all here to tell you something. Things have gone south on the projection side. Bone Bro and Auntie Yan being late means they’re probably in trouble. See the wound on Li Huowang’s head? Our close call earlier proves it too.”
“We can’t handle this crisis alone. We need to stick together and act as one—that’s the only way to deal with them safely, no matter what their projections are.”
Yet no one asked any questions in response to Qing Wanglai’s announcement. They just stood there, silently processing his words.
Who knew if they’d already suspected something or just didn’t care.
“Ahem.” Li Huowang cleared his throat to bail him out and asked, “In our current situation, what’s your plan?”
Qing Wanglai didn’t answer directly. Instead, he looked at Li Huowang and asked something else. “From that truck incident earlier, you seem really sensitive to them?”
“No, it’s not sensitivity—they were staring right at me! I can feel it whenever they do!” Li Huowang replied firmly.
“Can you feel them now?”
Li Huowang closed his eyes, slowed his breathing, and focused. Five minutes later, he shook his head. “No. This spot you picked is safe. They can’t find us here.”
Just as Li Huowang finished, before Qing Wanglai could speak, Qian Fu jumped up and seized the conversation. “Listen to me! All of you, listen!”
He excitedly declared to the others, “Those two no-shows aren’t just busy—they’re dead! Or if not dead, locked up like me! It’s all a Leo alien conspiracy!! We have to thwart their plans!”
With that, he rushed to Li Huowang’s side and grabbed his arm. “I’ve got a plan! The Leo aliens are super interested in his genes lately! We can use him as bait to lure their UFOs and catch them!!”
The others turned to look at Qian Fu, listening to the nonsense spilling from his mouth.