White Coat Again

The four of them passed through the gate and found themselves in a neighborhood that looked like an urban village. Trees surrounded three- and four-story apartment buildings, with clothes and cured meat hanging from the balconies. Electric scooters and bicycles stood below.

Everything was so peaceful, so ordinary.

Who would have guessed there was a den of monsters right next door if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes?

Yellow Hair pointed at a small house with its lights on. "Let's ask an NPC for help!"

Bad idea.

Chen Feng shook his head. "What if the residents are monsters too?"

To be safe, they crept out of the neighborhood. Only when they reached an asphalt road did they breathe a sigh of relief.

"Yes! Cleared it on the first try without losing a life!"

Yellow Hair suddenly shouted and tore down the road like a horse let loose.

"What's wrong with you? You scared the hell out of me!"

Fatty cursed, but he couldn't hide the delight on his face.

Strictly speaking, it had taken two lives.

Chen Feng opened his mouth, then thought better of it.

It was the middle of the night. Most of the shops along the road had closed, and only a twenty-four-hour convenience store still had its lights on.

Inside, the owner lay in a rocking chair watching TV. There was no one else around.

Chen Feng asked, "Hello. We got lost. Could we borrow your phone to call the police?"

The owner glanced at their camouflage uniforms, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. "Sure. My phone's charging, though. Give me a moment and I'll get it for you."

"Sounds good."

Chen Feng nodded and stepped closer. Then, while the owner was off guard, he punched him.

Thud! The owner went straight to sleep.

Better to hit an innocent man than let a threat slip past.

His companions stared at him in confusion. Chen Feng explained, "The last stretch is where people fail. We worked too hard to get out. We can't let it all fall apart now."

As he spoke, Chen Feng felt through the owner's pockets and pulled out a phone. He tapped the screen. The battery was at 97%.

Something was definitely wrong!

Chen Feng set the phone on the counter. "We're in luck. It isn't locked. Who wants to make a call?"

"Me! Me!"

Yellow Hair took the phone and quickly punched in a number.

After a few rings, the phone vibrated slightly. The call connected.

Yellow Hair blurted out, "Hello? Mom!"

A puzzled middle-aged woman's voice came through the speaker. "Mom?"

"Mom, it's me, Wenbo."

"Who's Wenbo? There's no one by that name in our family."

"Mom! Mom! It's me!"

"Sorry, you have the wrong number."

The line went dead.

The Trio looked crushed. All the joy of surviving vanished in an instant.

The world had forgotten them.

Chen Feng alone remained calm. He wasn't from this world in the first place. If it had forgotten him, so what?

After a brief silence, Li Guolong stepped forward to comfort him. "Wenbo, don't be upset. Once we wipe out those monsters—the professor and the Drill Instructors—your mom will remember you."

"Right! Right!" Yellow Hair nodded vigorously. "Let's call the police."

He dialed.

An operator answered, "Hello. What's your emergency?"

Yellow Hair said, "We ran into mon—"

Before he could say monsters, Li Guolong cut in. "Uh, we were kidnapped."

Good call!

Chen Feng had to admit Li Guolong had inherited some of his father's quick thinking and decisiveness.

If Yellow Hair had said they'd encountered monsters, the operator might have dismissed it as a prank or the ravings of a lunatic. Kidnapping was believable, and it would give them a reason to bring the police to the academy.

Once the officers saw the monsters with pig heads, sheep heads, and rabbit heads, everything would make sense.

Li Guolong was already giving their location. "Yes, four of us escaped. About fifty others are still tied up. We're at a convenience store near the Fourth Mental Hospital on Xuetian Road in Cihang City. Can you send someone to help us?"

The operator told Li Guolong to stay calm. "Of course. Officers are already on their way. They'll be there soon."

"Make sure they bring guns. There are a lot of kidnappers, and they have firearms and heavy weapons."

"Understood."

After hanging up, the four waited in the convenience store.

Yellow Hair had shaken off his sadness. He grabbed a bottle of cola from a shelf and took a long drink. "Ah, that hits the spot! The last time I had cola was the last time I had cola."

Fatty tore open a bag of chips. "Wow. Even a fart has more substance than what you just said."

Vroom!

The low rumble of an engine sounded in the distance, cutting off their conversation.

A van pulled up outside the convenience store.

Where had a van come from at this hour?

Chen Feng narrowed his eyes. Trouble was right on schedule. "I don't like the look of this."

Yellow Hair corrected him. "Brother Feng, we're the ones who showed up here."

The van door slid open, and three white-clad figures with blank faces jumped out.

"Th-they're—!"

Yellow Hair went pale, as if a terrible memory had come rushing back.

"Shit, it's White Coats!" Fatty couldn't understand it. "Don't they only grab people from internet cafes?"

"Run! Now!" Li Guolong shouted. "The police will be here soon. Split up and stay out of their reach. Whatever you do, don't let them catch you!"

Stay out of their reach?

Why shouldn't they stay out of mine?

The thought of those White Coats dragging him off to the Internet Addiction Academy made Chen Feng's blood boil.

If not for those bastards, would he have suffered so much?

"Come on!"

Chen Feng roared and launched into a flying kick. He sent the first White Coat flying like a soccer ball. It landed four or five meters away in the street, limbs splayed, and lay still.

An ordinary person would have fled at the sight.

But the White Coats were Imposters. They didn't know the meaning of fear and charged on blindly.

Chen Feng showed them no mercy. He swung left and right, giving each of the remaining White Coats a punch.

According to the system, a C-rank hero could pulverize a standard 240 × 115 × 53 mm red brick with one punch.

A body made of flesh and blood stood even less chance.

His punches shattered the White Coats' bones and mangled their flesh. Both died on the spot.

Fatty was utterly convinced. "Holy shit. If you'd told us you could fight like that, why the hell would we have run?"

Yellow Hair was full of regret. "If only I'd leveled up too!"

Chen Feng basked in their astonishment.

Back at the Happiness Internet Cafe, six grown adults hadn't been able to pin down a single Imposter attendant. Even after they tore off its skin, it had nearly escaped.

Now he had taken on three White Coat Imposters at once and killed them, despite their having no skin weakness to exploit. The difference was enormous. He felt as fresh as if he'd put on new underwear on New Year's morning.

Just then, another White Coat stepped out of the van.

It was a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

The moment Chen Feng saw him, every hair on his body stood on end. Every cell screamed a warning.

"Danger!"

Li Guolong and the other two didn't need Chen Feng to tell them. Ordinary White Coats were like the Model Students: they never blinked, their eyes were vacant, and their expressions never changed.

The one who had just stepped out was smiling. He was clearly no ordinary White Coat.

The White Coat adjusted his glasses. "Running away makes you bad children."

That familiar voice. That familiar smile!

The four of them jolted and cried out in unison, "Professor?"

The White Coat smiled. "That's right. It's me."