Chapter 764
Chapter 764
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 764
>Chapter Title: Captives
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In his own bedroom, Li Huowang carefully lifted the starry sky curtains and peered outside, checking for any suspicious gazes.
Once he confirmed that everything outside was calm and peaceful, he nodded toward Yang Na behind him.
“All clear. Let’s go!”
“Mom! I’m heading out to eat with Nana. No need to cook for us.”
“Out again?” Sun Xiaoqin, dancing in front of her phone stand, rolled up her sleeves and walked to the door to watch the two leave.
She couldn’t help feeling a twinge of jealousy.
“Sigh, once you get a wife, you forget your mom.”
Though she said this, Sun Xiaoqin was still quite happy deep down. Her son was starting to act more like other people his age lately, with his playful side growing stronger.
The two reached the neighborhood entrance and quickly scanned the codes for two shared bikes before heading to their gathering spot.
The location was still Orange Isle, but no longer atop that unfinished building. Instead, it was the half-built basement inside a villa.
They chose the basement simply because, during their last clash with those existences, they had won and captured some prisoners.
By the time Li Huowang and Yang Na arrived at the door, they exchanged a few brief words with the lookout, Chen Hongyu, and went inside.
The moment they entered, Li Huowang spotted Qingwanglai conversing with a man tied to a chair.
“O sa na lako dina ki natiko kina ravu?”
“O cei o iko?”
“E sega ni dua n o au， na ka e a ka se o cei bibi o cei o iko”
“Doesn’t sound like English. Doesn’t even seem Indo-European.”
Yang Na whispered this to Li Huowang as she pulled out her phone from her pocket to record their conversation.
Li Huowang walked over to Qingwanglai’s side and eyed the bearded man on the chair.
“How’s it going? Making any progress?”
“Sigh, not really. They’re extremely guarded. No matter what I say, they won’t drop their defenses—let alone discuss terms.”
Qingwanglai replied with furrowed brows.
Meanwhile, Wuqi, who was rummaging through the captives’ belongings nearby, chimed in.
“These guys are using diplomatic passports bought from poor island nations. All fake identities. No leads here.”
“What about you? Still being watched in the neighborhood?”
Qingwanglai turned to ask Li Huowang.
At these words, Li Huowang’s expression visibly relaxed, with none of his prior tension remaining.
“Nope. Ever since we raided their hideout, that surveillance feeling hasn’t come back. It really was them watching me!”
Li Huowang shot a venomous glare at the row of tied-up men huddled in the corner. It was all because of these bastards that he’d been constantly paranoid, leading others to mistake him for a lunatic.
Now it was clear—he really wasn’t sick.
“But these are all men. I remember one of them was a woman holding an umbrella, and we didn’t catch her.”
“A few escapes are inevitable. No big loss. As long as we have most of them, we’ve got bargaining chips.”
With that, Qingwanglai resumed his conversation with the bearded man bound to the chair.
Li Huowang approached the group and scrutinized their faces closely, trying to identify those who had kidnapped him before.
However, some time had passed since then, and being somewhat face-blind with foreigners, he couldn’t be sure if any were among them.
These men clearly had no idea what Li Huowang was doing. But as he drew near, a flicker of fear appeared on each of their faces.
His ferocious actions earlier had seared a deep impression into their minds.
“Hey! Someone’s coming.”
At Chen Hongyu’s voice, everyone in the room turned toward the basement door.
Soon, a familiar face appeared before Li Huowang: Zhao Lei.
His eyes darted evasively, his expression awkward, yet he remained standing there with no intention of leaving.
“Back?”
Qingwanglai walked over to Zhao Lei’s side, gave his shoulder a light pat, draped an arm around him, and turned to face the others.
“Come on, let’s give a round of applause to welcome back our old teammate. Without his help, we never would’ve nabbed these guys.”
Amid the scattered applause, Zhao Lei’s prior betrayal was quietly offset by his merits.
However, Li Huowang showed him no warmth. With a guy who betrayed both sides, loyalty was always in question.
Zhao Lei felt deeply uneasy facing the comrade he had once betrayed, but he ignored the strange looks around him and stayed put, thick-skinned as ever.
“You’ve dealt with them before. Want to give it a shot?”
Qingwanglai pointed at the bearded man tied to the chair.
Zhao Lei nodded. But before he could even finish his first sentence, the big beard spat a huge glob right at him and erupted in agitated shouts.
Though Li Huowang couldn’t understand the words, it was easy to guess they were some particularly vile curses.
Once Zhao Lei backed off, Li Huowang sidled up beside him.
“See that? Traitors get treated the same no matter the side.”
Zhao Lei paid no mind to Li Huowang’s mockery. He glanced around neurotically.
“Where’s Qian Fu?”
“Tied up, waiting for his personality to switch back.”
Li Huowang assumed he’d continue on that thread, but instead, Zhao Lei leaned in close with a tense expression, lowering his voice.
“Do you really still believe this is real? After all these bizarre events, you still think it’s real?”
“Hm?”
Li Huowang looked at him in confusion, thinking to himself:
“What’s gotten into this guy?”
With that thought, Li Huowang stepped away, not wanting to catch whatever was wrong with him.
But Zhao Lei grabbed him outright, his face flushed with agitation.
“Think about it! Really think! Could this possibly be real? So many people have died! Why haven’t the police come for us? Why has no one noticed our massive commotion?”
“Think about the contradictions in the details! All those subtle inconsistencies we usually overlook!”
“Zhao Lei!”
Qingwanglai’s voice rang out from behind. His usual mild tone had turned unusually stern.
Zhao Lei released Li Huowang and retreated a few steps, eyes evasive, saying nothing more.
“We’ve got things handled here. Li Huowang, why don’t you head home? I’ll message you if there’s news.”
Qingwanglai said this to Li Huowang with a faint smile.
“Thanks, but no need. I’ve got nothing else going on anyway. Might as well stick around and help.”
As he spoke, something suddenly occurred to Li Huowang. He squatted down beside the dozens of captives and began inspecting their fingers one by one.
Back when he’d been kidnapped, he had bitten off two fingers from one of them. If that guy was still alive, he had to be here somewhere.
(End of chapter)