The four of them passed through the gate and found themselves in what looked like an old urban village. Trees surrounded three- and four-story apartment buildings. Clothes and cured meat hung from the balconies, while electric scooters and bicycles stood below.
Everything was so peaceful, so harmonious.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, who would have guessed there was a den of monsters right next door?
Yellow Hair pointed to 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 village. Only when they reached an asphalt road did they breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yes! One-Life Clear!"
Yellow Hair suddenly shouted and took off down the street like a horse freed from its reins.
"What's wrong with you? You scared the hell out of me!"
Fatty was cursing, but he couldn't hide the joy on his face.
Strictly speaking, though, it had taken two lives.
Chen Feng opened his mouth, then thought better of it.
It was the middle of the night. Most shops along the road had long since closed, but a twenty-four-hour convenience store was still lit up.
There was no one inside except the owner, who was watching TV from a rocking chair.
Chen Feng asked, "Hello. We got lost. Could we borrow your phone to call the police?"
The owner glanced at their camouflage uniforms, surprise flickering in his eyes. Then he said, "No problem. My phone's charging, though. Give me a moment and I'll get it."
"Sure."
Chen Feng nodded and stepped closer. Then, while the owner was off guard, he punched him.
Thud! The owner was out cold.
Better to hit the wrong person than let a threat slip by.
Seeing his companions' baffled looks, Chen Feng explained, "The last stretch is always the hardest. We fought so hard to get out. We can't mess up at the final step."
As he spoke, he searched the owner's pockets and pulled out a phone. He lit up the screen. It still had 97% battery.
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 tapped in a number.
After a stretch of ringing, the phone vibrated slightly, and the call connected.
"Hello? Mom!" Yellow Hair said excitedly.
A puzzled middle-aged woman's voice came through the receiver. "Mom?"
"Mom, it's 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."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The Trio looked crushed. All the joy of escaping with their lives vanished in an instant.
The world had forgotten them.
Only Chen Feng remained calm. He wasn't from this world in the first place. If it forgot him, so be it.
After a brief silence, Li Guolong stepped forward to comfort him. "Wenbo, don't be upset. Once we get rid of those monsters—the professor and the Drill Instructors—your mom will remember you."
"Right, right!" Yellow Hair nodded vigorously. "Let's call the police."
They 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've been kidnapped."
Good thinking!
Chen Feng had to admit Li Guolong had inherited some of his father's quick thinking and decisiveness.
If Yellow Hair told the operator they had encountered monsters, the call would probably be dismissed 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 creatures with pig, sheep, and rabbit heads, everything would be clear.
Li Guolong was already giving their details. "Yes, the four of us escaped, but about fifty others are still being held. 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 him not to panic. "All right. Officers are 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 he hung up, the four of them waited in the convenience store.
Yellow Hair had already shaken off his sadness. He grabbed a bottle of cola from a shelf and took a long swig. "Ah, that hits the spot! Last time I had cola was the last time I had cola."
Fatty tore open a bag of chips. "Good grief. Even a fart has more substance than anything you say."
Vroom!
The low rumble of an engine in the distance cut their conversation short.
A van pulled up outside the convenience store.
What was a van doing here at this hour?
Chen Feng narrowed his eyes. Trouble was here. "They don't look friendly."
"Brother Feng," Yellow Hair corrected him, "we're the ones who just got here."
The van door opened, and three white-clad figures with expressionless faces jumped out.
"Th-they're...!"
Yellow Hair went pale, as if a terrible memory had come rushing back.
"Shit, it's the White Coats!" Fatty couldn't understand it. "Don't they only grab people from internet cafés?"
"Run! Hurry!" Li Guolong shouted in a panic. "The police will be here soon. Split up and stay out of their reach. Don't let them catch you!"
Stay out of their reach?
Why don't they stay out of mine?
Just thinking about the day the White Coats had dragged him to the Internet Addiction Academy made Chen Feng furious.
If not for those bastards, would he have suffered so much?
"Come on!"
Chen Feng shouted and launched into a flying kick. Like a soccer ball, the White Coat at the front flew fifteen feet through the air and landed sprawled across the street, motionless.
An ordinary person would have fled at the sight.
But the White Coats were Imposters. They didn't know what fear was and charged in without hesitation.
Chen Feng gave them no quarter. He swung with both fists, landing a punch on each of the remaining White Coats.
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 of a chance.
The solid blows shattered the White Coats' bones and left them mangled and bloody. 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 run?"
Yellow Hair was full of regret. "I should've leveled up too!"
Hearing their exclamations, Chen Feng felt immensely pleased with himself.
Back at Happiness Internet Cafe, six grown adults hadn't been able to hold down a single Imposter attendant. If they hadn't torn off its skin, it might even have escaped.
Now he'd taken on three White Coat Imposters with no vulnerable skin to tear off and killed them all. The difference was enormous. He felt as fresh as if he'd put on new underwear to greet New Year's morning.
But 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 was screaming danger.
"Watch out!"
Chen Feng didn't need to warn them. Li Guolong and the other two had noticed it too. Ordinary White Coats were like Model Students: they never blinked, their eyes were vacant, and their expressions were frozen.
This one had stepped out wearing a smile. He was clearly no ordinary White Coat.
The White Coat adjusted his glasses. "Running away makes you a bad child."
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."
Before you continue