Extra Reward

Chapter 50: Bonus Reward

"Wait, wait, wait... I didn't say I refused!" Zhang Zhiyuan quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Can we just pretend I never brought it up? Hey, hey, are you still listening?"

"I'm listening."

"Okay..." He let out a long sigh. "You can tell me what the special challenge is first, that's fine, right?"

What a cold-hearted guy, Zhang Zhiyuan cursed inwardly. It seemed he had underestimated Paradise's perception of advantage. They dared to let go of the International Criminal Police after provoking them, and he had no idea what their guts were made of.

However, he had to admit, he couldn't afford to gamble right now.

If Paradise were to block him, he wouldn't know where to find another lead. More importantly, the players recruited by Paradise came from all over the world. Even if he had to compromise himself, he couldn't let national security fall behind.

After all, the significance of the existence of "another world" was too great.

"The requirements have been sent to your phone. You have five minutes to review them and ask any questions."

Five minutes!

That wasn't a short amount of time for tracking down an address!

"I'll check it now." Zhang Zhiyuan suppressed his excitement and opened the newly received text message. "Uh... I have to play a person named Zhang Qiang, and this person is Zhang Zhiyuan's brother?"

"Because Zhang Zhiyuan died in the previous round of the game. As for who Zhang Qiang specifically is, Paradise makes no restrictions."

Good heavens, they're not even pretending anymore!

If it were just a game, what did death matter? It was just reloading a save file.

He had also inquired. The first round of the game had no restrictions on player names at all; using real names was perfectly fine. But this time, Paradise had started to care about names. The only reason could be that they had interacted with locals!

"Wait a minute... proficient in medicine? That's not my forte. You know my identity; isn't it enough to help you investigate and solve cases?"

"Solving cases was last round's mission, and you don't need to have a high level of understanding. Boiling water for sterilization is sufficient."

"Huh?" Zhang Zhiyuan was dumbfounded. Boiling water counted as medical skill? It was common sense, at best!

If it was only to that extent, any player could do it!

"You'll understand when the time comes." The person on the other end didn't seem to intend to explain further. "The new round of the game will start the day after tomorrow at 3 PM. You have one more day to prepare."

"Fine, I accept this challenge." Zhang Zhiyuan knew he had no choice but to refuse, so he readily agreed. "But the difficulty of this mission is higher. Can the reward also be increased? It won't just be a few extra Points, right?"

"How about Wayne. Jaster?"

"What?" He didn't understand for a moment.

"Wayne. Jaster is the reward. Not only him, but I can also provide all his criminal evidence. You've been wanting to apprehend him, right?"

Zhang Zhiyuan was truly shocked at this moment!

Paradise knew even this much!

"But Qiao. James... isn't he a player?"

"You said it yourself, that was within the game. Paradise promises to provide the best enjoyment for everyone in the game, but outside the game, it's another matter." The other side paused. "This reward will be delivered in City L. Remember to arrange personnel in advance. I will contact you again once everything is ready."

"Wait--" Zhang Zhiyuan wanted to ask a few more questions, but the other party had already hung up.

A few seconds later, his phone rang again, and this time the caller ID showed Cui Zhenen.

"Hey, what are you up to? Practicing drills this late?" As soon as he answered, his colleague's loud complaint came through. "If I wasn't still trying to get my first win, a ghost would answer your call!"

"Then did you check?" Zhang Zhiyuan asked impatiently.

"I checked. This number is a landline in our department, specifically, it's the third backup phone for the security section," Cui Zhenen said impatiently. "What's going on, are you guys putting on a show?"

"Damn it!" He punched the air fiercely.

Being able to call the detective investigating this matter from a phone within the International Criminal Police building was a blatant display of Paradise's power and methods!

The problem was that after the previous invitation letter incident, the technical department had thoroughly overhauled the department's network and claimed it was foolproof. However, it now seemed that everything they had done had become a joke.

"Say something?"

"No... it's nothing anymore." Zhang Zhiyuan said weakly. "I owe you one. I'll treat you to hairy crab next time."

"Oh? That's more like it. I'm hanging up then. Remember to schedule your next surprise drill during work hours. Yawn..." Cui Zhenen also ended the call.

It seemed catching Paradise wouldn't be that easy... Zhang Zhiyuan looked at himself in the mirror, a sense of powerlessness suddenly washing over him. Could he really track down Paradise? The power of this mysterious organization seemed to have a touch of the mystical. Not only could it easily penetrate the impenetrable defenses of the network, but it could also create things out of thin air in another world... and even distort time.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly looked up and slapped his cheeks a few times!

This is just the beginning, Zhang Zhiyuan. Thinking of giving up already?

Where did the resilience he learned in the army and the never-say-die spirit go?

As a defender of national security, the only thing he couldn't do was surrender!

With this thought, Zhang Zhiyuan took out his phone again and dialed his superior, Gao Wei.

"You kid, do you know what time it is?"

Gao Wei's steady voice came through the receiver.

"Sorry to disturb your rest, but I have important matters to report." Zhang Zhiyuan lowered his voice.

"Yeah, you wouldn't call at this hour if it wasn't important. Give me a moment, I'll go to the living room so I don't wake my wife." Gao Wei paused for a moment. "...Alright, go ahead."

Zhang Zhiyuan recounted in detail how Paradise had spoken to him directly.

"They caught Wayne Jaster? And they're willing to hand him over to the International Criminal Police?" Gao Wei's voice sounded quite surprised. "You really believe what Paradise said is true?"

"Eighty to ninety percent. I think the likelihood of this being true is quite high. The main reason is that Paradise has no reason to tell a lie that can be exposed immediately," Zhang Zhiyuan said, dropping the formalities with his superior. "Besides, it's very simple for us to verify. We just need to notify our colleagues in the European department, and they can contact the local police."

"That's true..." Gao Wei pondered. "I'll arrange it tomorrow morning. Regardless, capturing Jaster would be a great achievement."

"It's not over yet. It would be best to bring him to our country for trial."

"Why?"

"Because he's seen Paradise." Zhang Zhiyuan said without hesitation. "Didn't you say that the most important thing to get the higher-ups to believe the reports about Paradise is to provide evidence? This person is living proof!"

Although Wayne Jaster couldn't be considered physical evidence, he could prove Paradise's existence from another angle. The International Criminal Police couldn't possibly be colluding with the criminals they were pursuing, could they? And the criminal would have no reason to cooperate with the captor's lies, because whether he went to jail or not had nothing to do with confessing about Paradise. In this situation, if they could extract a story from Jaster that matched his own report, the persuasiveness of the matter would increase exponentially!

Once the higher-ups began to seriously consider the possibility of Paradise's existence, the investigation's intensity would definitely increase by several levels. At that time, he would no longer be fighting alone.

I forgot to set the scheduled release time while typing @.@