Kidnapping / Science's Surprise Attack

Then Si Ming turned the resolution up to maximum and maneuvered the little spider closer to her. With a righteous look on his face, he said, "To get the job done, I'll just have to sacrifice my reputation. Besides, real-life celebrities don't attract me at all. I'd never be led astray by a pretty face."

On the screen, Yuezheng Yao closed the door and immediately dropped her sweet smile. Her expression turned intensely irritable. She kicked over a chair and muttered curses, then roughly raked a hand through her hair. Taking a cigarette holder from her bag, she lit up and began smoking, puffing out clouds like a seasoned hand.

"...The real world and all that should just be destroyed after all. Reality is a garbage game."

Chapter 30: Kidnapping

"Celebrity fans really are brainless creatures. 'Fairy Le'? You bastards can't even get her surname right! Get your brains checked at a hospital before you go chasing stars! Can't the organizers set a minimum IQ for admission?"

Yuezheng Qiong took great drags on her cigarette, calming her agitated nerves. Compared with her physical exhaustion, this mental torment was what made her most uncomfortable.

"I can't believe my little sister can stand that social scum. Those ugly guys who looked like sex offenders kept shoving their faces right at me, and their drool was practically splashing onto my face! They didn't spare a thought for how much other people could stomach. Aaargh, I should've punched him right then and taught him some basic manners! Anyone with an ugly face like that shouldn't go outside!"

Unable to contain her irritation, Yuezheng Qiong lashed out with a kick that hit the chair squarely, smashing it to pieces. Splinters of wood flew in every direction, and one strip hurtled toward a painting hanging on the wall.

Suddenly, the painting was pulled aside, and a dwarfish figure darted out from behind it. Before Yuezheng Qiong could react, the figure had thrown a large cloth sack over her.

"Mmph, mmph..."

The sack contained a knockout drug. Yuezheng Qiong struggled inside it for a while before she stopped responding and fell completely still.

Having succeeded in his sneak attack, the dwarf went to the door and tapped out a signal with his finger. He received an immediate response and opened the door, letting a woman slip quickly inside.

"I've already sent the people outside away. There'll be an incident soon. Leave in the confusion; I'll stall here so they don't get suspicious."

The woman took out a human-skin mask and pulled it over her face, then kept massaging and kneading it with a special technique. Soon, she looked exactly like Yuezheng Qiong. At the same time, a series of crisp pops and cracks came from her body as she adjusted her height and build until they were nearly identical too.

The dwarf nodded without another word and slipped out carrying the sack. He failed to notice a little spider secretly clinging to it.

"A truly seamless plan. So what if she's a big star? I've replaced her as easily as turning over my hand, and no one will ever notice. Now I can enjoy being treated like a world-famous star."

The woman spoke with immense satisfaction.

"What a switcheroo. Too bad someone saw your every move. That's civilized society looking down on primitive man for you."

Watching the video, Si Ming wore the gleeful smile of someone who had used cheats to go on a godlike streak in a competitive game. His opponents were still exploring through the fog of war, while his side had already revealed the entire map.

He had to admit that the sudden turn of events had stunned him for an instant. If he hadn't witnessed the whole thing, and had only seen what was on the screen now, he would probably have thought nothing had happened.

Just as Si Ming was about to notify the escorts to stop the kidnappers, three explosions rang out in quick succession outside, followed by the panicked screams of the crowd.

"They had another trick up their sleeve! Looks like they weren't so stupid after all; they knew to leave themselves a backup plan. But now this is trouble."

Si Ming immediately realized it was impossible to stop the dwarf now. Without catching him, he had no evidence that the Yuezheng Yao in the lounge was a fake. The smart handheld device couldn't store recordings, and on his word alone, they might not believe a wet-behind-the-ears stranger like him.

"Looks like I'll have to go myself... Sigh, as long as the person being protected is a beauty, something's bound to go wrong. How did I forget that trope?"

Si Ming hurriedly closed the handheld device and ran outside. On the way, he ran into the escort leader and quickly stopped him.

"Out of the way! I'm warning you, kid, a stampede could break out at any moment. I don't have time to play hero with you!"

"I don't have time to play with you either. I just came to tell you one thing: Yuezheng Yao has been kidnapped. The kidnappers left a fake in the room, and she's wearing a human-skin mask. Figure out how to tell the real one from the fake yourselves."

With that, Si Ming hurried away.

"What! Miss Yuezheng's been kidnapped!" The escort leader felt that misfortunes never came singly.

If Si Ming had stayed to explain himself over and over, the leader might have been full of doubts. But Si Ming's refusal to bother explaining and immediate departure made him believe it a little. Once he calmed down and thought about it, he realized that what Si Ming had said was most likely true. The disturbance outside was clearly a ploy to feint in the east and strike in the west, a tactic he knew well.

"Chief, that kid's talking nonsense, right? There's only one exit here. We came in through it, and we didn't see anyone suspicious on the way. Miss Yuezheng's a living person. How could anyone carry her out without being noticed?"

"Idiot, real kidnappers would obviously know how to conceal a hostage. They even prepared a double, so they've clearly been plotting this for a long time. Of course they wouldn't make a mistake at this stage! Damn it, now we have no choice but to contact the Mohist Knight Guard. Quick! Ask the Mohist Knight Guard for help!"

Outside the venue, Si Ming went to the parking lot, unlocked the fingerprint lock, and started the Mohist Knight Guard's specialized motorcycle. Then he opened the smart handheld device and used the little spider's location to track the kidnappers. As for how the escorts would verify the identity of the fake in the lounge, that was none of his concern.

"So fast. They're going over sixty kilometers an hour. If he were alone, it wouldn't be impossible to reach that speed with lightness skill, but carrying another person, only a Spirit Transformation powerhouse could do it. So they must be using a Qi car."

It was a Qi car, not an automobile, because the motor vehicles here all used True Qi as fuel, converting True Qi directly into mechanical power without needing steam to drive them.

Without further hesitation, Si Ming used the positioning system to give chase, racing along like wind and lightning as the distance between them rapidly closed.

Because civilian technology lagged so far behind military technology, the ordinary Qi cars currently on the market had top speeds of no more than eighty kilometers an hour. Only sports cars or modified vehicles could exceed a hundred.

"Too bad there aren't any cell phones. Otherwise, one call would be enough to seal off the roads and intercept the car. I wonder how those people at the Mohist Academy of Science spent their points on the tech tree. They've invented miniature biological surveillance devices and positioning systems, but even a simple portable communications technology still hasn't become widespread." Si Ming couldn't help complaining.

In fact, wireless telephones that could communicate only over an internal network already existed, with functions and designs somewhat like walkie-talkies. But as Pan De had said a week ago, they hadn't expected anything to go wrong, and even if it did, those professionals were supposed to handle it. They weren't counting on Si Ming to take on any important responsibilities, so they hadn't given him one to carry in the first place.

Even the biological surveillance device in Si Ming's possession had only been given to him because the Mohist Academy of Science needed to collect data. Once the guard assignment was over, he would have to write up his experience using it and submit a report to his superiors.

"They've stopped. It's the docks! Are they planning to use a cargo ship to take her away? If that's true, this is going to be trouble. There might not be time to wait for reinforcements. Do I have to charge in myself?"

Si Ming frowned. He had no intention of playing the lone hero who rescued a beauty single-handedly. Anyone who dared make a move against a world-class celebrity clearly wouldn't lack experts, and he knew very well how much he himself weighed.

His original plan had simply been to find out where they were hiding, then report back to the Mohist Knight Guard and have the organization send real experts to rescue her. He had followed them all the way to avoid losing them if they threw the sack away. After all, the little spider was attached to the sack, not the hostage herself.

"No choice. I'll scout the place first. If there are any experts above level eleven in internal cultivation, I can only turn around and leave. If there aren't many experts, I can at least put up some kind of fight with my technological advantage and try to push their high ground."

Si Ming checked the weapons hidden on his body, which gave him considerably more confidence. Still, he had a vague feeling that he was heading down a path opposite to the one he had hoped for.

"Using science and technology against martial arts, I can't help feeling like I'm getting farther and farther from my dream of becoming a martial arts grandmaster. I'm not going to become the big villain boss someday, am I..."

Chapter 31: Science's Surprise Attack

In a warehouse at the docks, Yuezheng Qiong suddenly smelled a strange stench, like a fart let loose by a skunk that had secretly eaten an entire pot of garlic. It made her so sick that her stomach churned, and she soon woke from her stupor.

Opening her eyes, she saw unfamiliar surroundings and ten masked men staring at her with ill intent. Each breathed long and steadily and was full of vigor; they were clearly all experts with extraordinary skills.