Late Again (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Tou Ri Tian)

Meanwhile, on a vacant patch of land fifty meters away, a leaf succumbed to gravity and drifted down from the air. After it landed, it happened to fall into a nearby cradle, covering the baby's face, and the infant immediately started crying.

Seeing this, the child's father, who had stepped away to smoke, hurried over and removed the leaf. Finding the baby unharmed, the mother promptly scolded the father, telling him to stay away from the child with his smoking.

Listening to his wife's reprimands, the father could only force a smile. Noticing his cigarette was nearly finished, he took a few steps toward the nearest trash bin and tossed the butt in—worth noting that, had this incident not occurred, the father would have thrown the butt into another bin over twenty meters away.

After the half-smoked cigarette fell into the bin, it didn't go out but continued to smolder. About three minutes later, an elderly woman walked over and dumped a bag of trash inside, covering the nearly extinguished butt.

Then, the garbage inside the bag caught fire, though the flames were small. There was also plenty of damp material in the bin, so no open flame could rise. Instead, a faint wisp of smoke drifted out of the bin, and the wind carried it toward a patch of grass about twenty meters behind.

On the grass were several camping tents. The tent closest to the bin was empty, and the second one was exactly where Fang Linyan was staying! The fire inside the bin lasted no more than two or three minutes before dying out, and no one noticed this minor incident—not even the cleaner responsible for the bins, because such things were too common. Even cases where the bin's exterior was scorched black were frequent; compared to that, this was trivial.

Yet, no one knew that the smoke from the mixed garbage ignited by the cigarette butt contained a significant amount of nitrous oxide, a common inhalation anesthetic used in clinical settings!!

Inside the tent, Fang Linyan naturally felt none of this, but two minutes later, he suddenly yawned and couldn't help leaning against the pillow beside him.

"Why am I so tired? It's fine, I'll just rest for a bit."

He thought to himself, taking it in stride.

However, after leaning on the pillow, his drowsiness grew stronger. Fang Linyan said in his mind:

"It's fine, I'll just close my eyes and recharge. Definitely won't put it in. Huh, seems like something's intruding? Whatever, what was I going to put in????."

And then, Ahem, there was no "and then." He began to snore softly.

This sleep was exceptionally sweet for Fang Linyan, and he vaguely had a pleasant dream, as if he had fully recovered his health. Until a thought suddenly surged into his mind:

Probably? Seems like? Perhaps, maybe? I have something to do?

At first, this thought just lingered, but then Fang Linyan jolted awake! That's right, what time is it? I need to get going!

This made him spring up from the bed like a shot. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he saw the alarm clock's hands mercilessly pointing to 10:25 in the morning!!

Aaaaaah!!!

Only then did Fang Linyan realize that he was doomed to be late again!!

At this moment, his mouth felt full of bitterness, and on top of that, he urgently needed to pee—his lower abdomen was about to burst. In a panic, he simply stepped out of the tent and relieved himself by the green plant wall. But halfway through, a plump middle-aged manager nearby widened her eyes in fury and let out a loud shriek:

"What do you think you're doing!!"

At this point, Fang Linyan was truly on the verge of tears. He quickly pulled up his pants, dropped a ten-yuan bill on the ground amid the woman's roaring, and fled for his life.

Then, by the time he reached Baisheng Road, he could already see a thick plume of smoke rising in the distance. Fang Linyan's heart sank with a sense of foreboding. Running with desperate hope to No. 3 Baisheng Road, he felt his lungs were about to burst, his tongue hanging out as he panted like a dog. But the sight before him left him utterly devastated.

Because there was no Kays Café at all.

It was now 10:46. The spot at No. 3 Baisheng Road had originally been a small building, but now only most of the ruins remained, along with a deep crater, sending up curling black smoke toward the sky.

Besides that, there were several injured people lying haphazardly around, clutching their heads and groaning, with blood trickling from their ears. This was probably why few dared to gather nearby; otherwise, the place would have been packed, and Fang Linyan wouldn't have been able to squeeze in.

Staring at the scene, Fang Linyan was stunned for a few seconds, but he quickly realized he didn't have much of a choice. His advanced lung cancer was only temporarily controlled, not cured.

So, he could only grit his teeth and silently chant, "Better late than never," then pulled down his hood to cover most of his face and charged toward the explosion site. As he got closer, he smelled the odor of burnt protein—he dared not think about where that smell came from.

Then, he began frantically searching through the rubble for something. Yes, that was it: the coffee, and the black wallet mentioned in the prompt.

Although this place seemed to have nothing to do with a "café" anymore, and he was already at least ten minutes late, Fang Linyan still decided to follow the mysterious text message to the end.

Because he had already tasted enough sweetness from it before.

After only about ten seconds of frantic searching, Fang Linyan found an instant coffee machine nearby. Though it was tilted and mostly buried under collapsed sand and gravel, the dispensing spout was still largely intact. Not only that, but there were several scattered disposable cups beside the machine.

Seeing this, Fang Linyan immediately picked up a cup and rushed to the coffee machine, forcefully prying open the spout to get a cup of coffee. But no liquid came out.

Frustrated, Fang Linyan kicked the machine hard. That kick made it tilt, and then, with a crash, a collapse occurred, and the entire machine rumbled downward.

Only then did Fang Linyan realize there was a basement here, but the earlier collapse had buried its entrance. His kick had triggered a chain reaction, exposing the stairs leading down into the basement.