Xu Xiaotian in Peril

On the eleventh day since Rule Three of the Apocalypse Rules took effect, four days remained until it ended.

At an arcade in Yunhua City, Xu Xiaotian stared dejectedly at the character he controlled collapsing dead on the screen.

"Damn it, I died again!"

He had been playing this game for days on end, yet he still could not clear the final stage.

"This difficulty is insane. I've tried dozens of times and still can't get through." Xu Xiaotian muttered, "If I'd played this before the Apocalypse Rules appeared, how many tokens would I have wasted to clear it?"

"Buddy, you can't clear this stage."

A voice came from beside him. Xu Xiaotian turned and saw that the person speaking to him was a long-haired young man in a jacket.

The long-haired young man looked at the screen and said, "The final stage of this game is impossibly difficult. It was never designed for players to beat it—it was purely made to scam tokens."

"Huh?" Xu Xiaotian said in surprise. "That's such a scam?"

"Yeah, it's that much of a scam."

Seeing that the long-haired young man looked several years older than him, Xu Xiaotian asked, "Hey, how do you know that? Did it scam you out of a lot of tokens back then?"

The long-haired young man grinned. "I used to work here. How do you think I know?"

"I see!"

"But you're pretty patient, buddy." The long-haired young man said, "You still kept playing after failing so many times."

Xu Xiaotian smiled. "I had nothing better to do. Besides, I loved playing arcade games when I was little, but I never had money to buy tokens. Now I can play without putting in tokens, as much as I want. Isn't that great?"

The long-haired young man nodded. "It is pretty great."

As he spoke, he sized up Xu Xiaotian's complexion and smiled. "Looking at you, buddy, you must have given up on challenging Rule Three, right?"

"Huh?"

"Most people who come out to have fun are like that." The long-haired young man explained, "Those who want to pass the rule follow the official advice and move as little as possible to reduce energy consumption, right? So, like I said, most people out having fun have given up."

"Oh, that's true!"

Xu Xiaotian had not really thought about it before. Because he had the Instant Noodles artifact, he did not care much about the official recommendations for Rule Three, so naturally he had not read the official challenge guide.

Thinking it over carefully now, that was indeed the case. Those who wanted to pass the rule mostly stayed at home and would not go out and expend unnecessary energy. Those running around having fun had basically given up on the challenge.

"What, don't tell me you haven't given up?" Seeing Xu Xiaotian's expression, the long-haired young man immediately asked.

Xu Xiaotian nodded.

"Oh, not bad." The long-haired young man's eyes lit up. "So you bought a Food Box? If you have enough Ascension Coins to afford one, your Mind Power must be over eighty, right?"

"More or less, hehe." Xu Xiaotian answered with a smile. He wanted to keep playing, but the long-haired young man grabbed his arm.

"Buddy, I know another arcade. All the machines there have new games you've definitely never played before. Want to come check them out with me?"

"Really?!" Xu Xiaotian's eyes lit up. As an arcade enthusiast, the attraction of new games he had never played was immense.

"Of course. Would I lie to you, buddy? Let's go."

"Let's go!"

Xu Xiaotian followed the long-haired young man downstairs. On the way, the long-haired young man went to the restroom to make a phone call.

After leaving the arcade, the two waited by the roadside for a while.

Xu Xiaotian asked, "Hey, aren't we going straight there?"

"Someone's coming to pick us up. Just wait a bit," the long-haired young man said.

"Oh."

Before long, a black sedan drove over.

Xu Xiaotian took a look. There were three people in the car: one in the driver's seat, one in the passenger seat, and another in the back.

Including himself and the long-haired young man, that would make five people filling the car.

"Why are there so many people?"

"They're all buddies I hang out with. Get in."

The long-haired young man opened the rear door. Seeing the tattoo on the neck of the young man in the back seat, Xu Xiaotian suddenly felt that something was wrong.

He suddenly remembered what Guan Tong had told him before: there seemed to be a criminal gang in Yunhua kidnapping High Mind Power Users.

Then he recalled how the long-haired young man had probed into his Mind Power at the arcade, and he immediately began to panic.

"Um, hey, I suddenly remembered I have something to do. How about we go another time!"

After saying that, Xu Xiaotian turned and walked away, only to have his arm seized before he had taken two steps.

"Don't be like that, buddy." The long-haired young man grabbed Xu Xiaotian, a vicious glint appearing in his eyes. "If you leave now, aren't you disrespecting us?"

"I..."

At that moment, the two men from the passenger and back seats got out of the car. Together with the long-haired young man, the three surrounded Xu Xiaotian.

The man with the neck tattoo snarled, "Kid, if you don't want a beating, get in the car right now!"

The tattooed man was not even trying to hide it anymore. Xu Xiaotian's face immediately went pale as he realized he had really run into criminals.

Looking at the three vicious men, he shrank back his neck and pretended to comply. "I-I understand. I'll get in with you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Xiaotian suddenly made his move!

With a flick of his right hand, he summoned his Mind Power Artifact—Instant Noodles—from his Storage Box.

Splash!

Xu Xiaotian flung them with all his strength, splashing the three men in the face with scalding noodles and broth. They screamed in pain.

Xu Xiaotian took the chance to run. As he ran, he pulled out his phone and pressed the top number in his contacts.

When the call connected, Guan Tong's voice came through.

"Hello, Xiaotian. What's wrong?"

Since the two had only recently met and exchanged phone numbers, Guan Tong's number was at the top of Xu Xiaotian's newly added contacts.

"Guan Tong!" Xu Xiaotian cried out in terror. "Something's wrong! I ran into kidnappers! I'm near the arcade! Help me call the Public Security Bureau, I—ah!"

Before he could finish, he felt a kick strike his back. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

Looking up, he saw that the one who had caught up was the young man who had been in the driver's seat. Since he had not gotten out of the car, he had avoided getting scalded in the face by the Instant Noodles.

The driver then began raining punches and kicks on Xu Xiaotian as he lay on the ground.

"You little bastard, you dare play dirty? I'll beat you to death!"

"Ow!"

The other three also caught up and began viciously kicking him.

"Where did this little bastard get those instant noodles? They burned me to death! I'm going to beat him to death!"

"Stop hitting him first! Stuff him in the car and take him back!"

"His phone! Smash his phone!"

Crack—

That was the last sound Guan Tong heard. After that, there was only the disconnected beep from the phone.

"Xu Xiaotian was caught by kidnappers? I have to call the Public Security Bureau immediately!"

Guan Tong did not dare delay over something involving human lives.

He and Xu Xiaotian had gotten along fairly well these past few days. Moreover, Guan Tong himself had nearly become a victim in this serial kidnapping case, so he certainly could not stand by and do nothing.

He immediately called the Public Security Bureau and reported what had happened to Xu Xiaotian. The Public Security Bureau had already been rigorously investigating the kidnapping case, and upon receiving this new lead, they immediately treated it with great importance. The operator even asked Guan Tong to come to the bureau when he had time to report in person.

Guan Tong agreed. After hanging up, he headed for the Public Security Bureau, hoping to obtain the latest information on the kidnapping case as soon as possible.