Familiar Faces

Lu Bai's guess was not made up out of thin air.

Based on the information he had gathered, he knew that although each Deathmatcher had a different initial identity, the difference was mainly in their profession, and it was impossible for someone to become the head of a country right from the start.

This Deathmatch Showdown has only been going on for a little over a week, and the first round of Ability Pool is already a negligible white pool.

In this way, even if the existing deathmatch fighters are very resourceful, they should not be able to influence public opinion, or at least they would not have that much power.

"Forget it, don't worry about it."

When Lu Bai saw Tong Shujuan switch to her contacts and try to greet her colleague, he immediately stopped her.

Since it was the "mayor's" doing, Tong Shujuan, a mere clerk, had no way to stop it. In fact, it would be dangerous for her to be targeted by the Parasitic Organism.

"We can't just watch public opinion fester..."

Tong Shujuan instinctively wanted to retort, but only realized halfway through her sentence: "Do you know who's behind this?"

"I think I guessed it. Don't worry, we'll settle the score with them."

Lu Bai pressed his right hand down, signaling Tong Shujuan to calm down.

He wasn't in a hurry; it was better for the opponent to make a move than to remain silent.

Judging from the typical behavior of Parasitic Organism, they always strive for the optimal solution in their actions.

Because the focus of public opinion is on Lu Bai, the mayor would never take action personally. In the current situation, even if he sent his subordinates to deal with him, he wouldn't dare to do so openly.

In other words, his personal safety is guaranteed; it's just that his reputation has been damaged, and Lao Xu couldn't withstand the pressure and dismissed him.

In any case, positions and such things are insignificant to Lu Bai; at worst, he can just pack up his bucket and run away.

Of course, he wasn't naive enough to think that all this fuss was just to get him fired.

There must be more to come. What could it be?

Lu Bai faced the direction of the corridor, his pupils unfocused, his fingers tapping idly on the handrail.

Think about what the Parasitic Organism will do next.

Using public opinion clearly indicates an intention to leverage human power against oneself. So, is it a frame-up? Are they fabricating charges to pin on one's head?

That probably won't work.

Without substantial evidence, there is no guarantee that one can be convicted.

After all, both sides had only just become aware of each other's existence.

Lu Bai didn't believe that the Parasitic Organism could obtain conclusive evidence in such a short time.

Moreover, he only needs to hold out until next week's lecture, at most, to expose the mayor's true colors to his face.

It seems there's no need to worry too much?

Pfft~

The door to the ICU ward was pushed open by the doctor on duty.

The doctor tucked the medical record board under his arm and said in a routine tone, "Team Leader Lu, Yao Teqin is fine now. He just needs to rest patiently."

"Did you mean?"

"You can be transferred to a regular ward now, considering the fees for ICU wards..." The doctor's advice was quite sincere.

Lu Bai glanced at the situation outside the corridor and nodded.

"Alright."

Night fell.

Inpatient Department, Ward 6019.

Yao Yi returned to his familiar bed once again.

Glug glug~ Burp~

He lay on the hospital bed and finished the congee with preserved egg and lean pork that Tong Shujuan had brought him in one go, then let out a satisfied burp.

Lu Bai, sitting by the window, joked, "Tong Shujuan will probably be quite pleased to see you have such a good appetite."

"Haha, well, who told me to end up in the same hospital bed again?"

Yao Yi chuckled self-deprecatingly, then her lips twitched, and she said, "But why did she leave so quickly? Is the internet monitoring department that busy?"

"Unexpected situations are inevitable."

Lu Bai glanced out the window.

Against the backdrop of night, the city lights outside the window flowed in a delicate, fragmented pattern, like fireworks swaying and rising into the sky.

Beneath this bustling scene, countless Parasitic Organism and death fighters are taking advantage of the night to move about.

"You seem worried about that woman?" Two strange eyes suddenly popped out from the collar of Yao Yi's hospital gown.

"Holy crap!"

Yao Yi was startled and hurriedly tried to shove Wang Ting back in.

Seeing his strong reaction, Lu Bai said with amusement, "You don't think I didn't know it existed, do you?"

"Oh? That's true."

Yao Yi froze, then awkwardly lowered her hands.

Wang Ting described calmly, "Your heart raced when that woman was mentioned."

"I'm actually fine," Yao Yi said, touching her nose.

"Be careful, don't break the line."

Lu Bai casually offered a suggestion, then took out his phone to check the retrieved surveillance footage.

The countdown to the Double Points Reward hadn't ended yet, so he didn't plan to leave the ward.

However, he could take advantage of this time to check the surveillance footage to confirm which of the suicide bombers were actually in the hospital.

He was certain that there were quite a few suicide fighters who had infiltrated the hospital, after all, the allure of the "Node" was right there in the open.

If it weren't for the fact that this is Deathmatch Arena set in modern times, many of them would probably have already started fighting.

Lu Bai aimlessly switched between the surveillance footage on his phone. Suddenly, a familiar figure flashed across the footage being played at high speed.

He paused for two seconds, pulled back a bit, and then pressed pause.

"Wow, what a coincidence!"

An apartment building directly opposite the Inpatient Department.

The room was dark. Duan Jianhui crouched down and, using a monocular telescope for cover through the potted plants on the windowsill, observed the situation in the sixth-floor ward across the street.

"Heh, you probably never expected we'd end up in the same Deathmatch Arena again, did you?"

Duan Jianhui gritted his teeth.

He noticed Lu Bai early on, decisively hid himself, and patiently waited for the right moment to strike.

In his eyes, he had won every single Deathmatch Showdown and was almost in first place, but in the end he lost everything, all because Lu Bai stole his victory.

"What I've lost, I will get back!"

Knock knock knock~

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the room where Duan Jianhui was.

Who is "!!!"?

He turned around abruptly, not daring to make a sound, his mind racing.

He didn't order takeout, and the room was newly rented, so why would anyone come knocking on his door?

Since the lights weren't on, maybe we could pretend no one was home.

But,

This didn't do much good, and then the sound of a key being inserted into the spool rang out.

"Huh?" Duan Jianhui's eyes widened.

Click~

The door was opened.

The hallway was too bright, and with the light behind him, Duan Jianhui could only see a black human figure.

The other person fumbled around for a moment and then snapped the light on in the room.

The sudden brightness made Duan Jianhui squint uncomfortably.

"Um, Brother Hui- ge."

Xiao Xueyin's speech gave the impression that he was struggling to breathe.

"So that's what it was..."

Duan Jianhui forced himself to remain calm, but when he saw Xiao Xueyin's sickly pale face, his words caught in his throat. "... Who are you? Don't die in my house!"