Chapter 940
Chapter 940 - 926: Cage
1,659 words
•
9 min read
Accompanied by a loud noise, the water well pipes shot into the sky.
In the middle of the night, continuous booming sounds echoed beneath the entire city.
Some were close, others far, but the entire city trembled.
Sleeping citizens were jolted awake, feeling the vibrations below their feet, many of them jumping out of their windows without even having time to dress.
Even the Feather Tribe, with their wing-like limbs and a preference for tall treehouses, completely lacked the normal fear of heights typical in most life forms...
"...Uh, that’s going to hurt quite a bit."
Watching his neighbor thump to the ground, Lu Ping’an felt a bit awkward... Those twitching claws made it hard for him not to burst out laughing.
Obviously, the city had been at peace for too long and was situated in a geographically stable plain area, truly lacking any experience with disasters.
When explosions erupted from all directions at the same time, many people were bewildered.
They instinctively started to flee, but clearly, they lacked the experience and common sense in this regard.
However, the physical condition of the Feather Tribe was also quite absurdly good, so perhaps there would just be more injured...
Meanwhile, Lu Ping’an had opened a bag of chips for himself and, with the dwindling supply of ice cola, fully entered spectator mode.
Plans are something to tear up and play with, especially when there are too many variables.
Lu Ping’an had never expected everything to unfold according to plan, but reality was a bit too much...
"Ha, as long as I don’t step into the fray, at least I won’t lose."
Lu Ping’an was quite calm; he seemed to always be able to quickly grasp the "main theme" of the new world and then go with the flow.
Being outsiders, his party had to be cautious in the face of this seemingly infinite "Order Power"... crossing the line might not result in actual death, but there was a very high probability of social death.
Lu Ping’an saw more "fireworks" and clapped his hands as he ate his chips.
"Truly spectacular, they’re planning to take everyone down with them, what a ruthless character."
"...Whoever killed the peace officer, they’re as good as dead, Meow."
This was a reality that even a cat could see, even as she munched greasily.
"...Is that grilled fish? Share some with me."
"No way, Meow, this is a midnight overtime worker’s perk, Meow!"
After much pleading, Lu Ping’an managed to swindle some snacks from the cat.
The situation was unclear, and indeed a sentry was needed... Considering the environment of the underground maze, probably no one could match the "living BUG" that was Meow Meow, who could pass through walls at will.
Her ability to "swim underground" made it far too easy for her to go undetected, and while acting as a sentry, her lack of disguise and fluency in the local language were issues she could overcome.
"How’s the situation?"
"It blew up, Meow, everything blew up, Meow..."
Meow Meow, while speaking and gesticulating, conveyed the information she had gathered.
As expected, someone had killed a peace officer and drained him into a mummy.
This instantly triggered the peace officer’s passive system (Police Badge), alerting all police stations in the area at once, and all peace officers discovered the crime scene... By this point, even fools knew there was trouble in the underground network.
Those "Explosive Slimes" couldn’t stop them; when the peace officers came down with their aggressive puppets, the underground refugees immediately panicked.
And the unfortunate individual who killed the cop naturally triggered a whole bunch of extraordinary abilities... It was clear there was a powerful God of Justice here, a classic Revenge Mark placed upon him, waiting to be hunted down to the ends of the earth.
As Meow Meow spoke, she licked her hands still coated with barbecue sauce, a tinge of regret in her actions.
Although working overtime in the middle of the night was annoying, it was nice to be able to enjoy the midnight snack diligently prepared by the logistics team, especially while watching such a thrilling scene.
She was actually quite looking forward to it, after all, the equipment from Blood Feast suited her very well...
"Meow, those guys from Blood Feast are so nasty, meow, they just sold out the poor sap, the one who helped you clean the windows a while back, meow, that guy was pretty awesome, meow."
Lu Ping’an recalled for a moment, then revealed a subtle smile. To be praised as "awesome" by Meow, he must at least be Decree-level, but...
"These past few days I’ve had quite a few Decree-level helping me out with the windows, which one is it?"
"...The somewhat handsome uncle type, meow..."
Sometimes, in Lu Ping’an’s view, the biggest issue with this increasingly useful Sentry was her exceedingly poor linguistic expression.
However, having spent a long time together, Lu Ping’an’s "Cat language" was probably at level four by now. With some gesturing and questioning, he roughly knew which one it was.
"...’Water Wolf’? He seems to be at least fifth-tier..."
Within that small Team, he was likely one of the leaders, yet he was doomed to meet his end in this world...
"...Sold out directly, huh? Expected."
No matter how strong he was previously, just like the "energetic members" of those "vitality organizations" on Earth, once they blundered into committing an enormous crime, the organization usually wouldn’t take pride in it but would quickly find someone to take the fall, or directly hand them over to close the case.
Given the current "Official" power ceiling being inscrutable, it was expected what kind of decisions those vitality organizations would make.
But clearly, those unfortunate beings who got sold out didn’t just wait to die.
"They got a lot of construction explosives, meow, tied them up with the underground slimes, and then piled them up near the exits..."
The folks from Blood Feast were truly worthy of being an old vitality organization; they had too much experience in every aspect, always ready with an exit strategy.
It’s just that their "exit" probably didn’t include a way out for others; they had prepared a massive amount of "explosives" at every exit and key nodes.
When necessary, they could be used as bargaining chips in negotiations with officials, and if the situation turned even worse, they could detonate them to create chaos for an escape.
As for the materials, that was even simpler, the core being the underground "Self-destructing Slime". As the Life system affiliated with the Evil God Church, they were never short of Beast Tamers. Total control might be difficult, but there were plenty of ways just to keep them from self-destructing.
At the same time, they got their hands on some remote detonation devices and various ignition mechanisms...
"... Er, our engineering tools? These guys really do know how to use consumables. Tsk, the sheriff might come looking tomorrow, so be careful when dealing with them."
Apparently, a lot of stuff was "borrowed" from Lu Ping’an’s construction site.
But he didn’t seem to care too much, even feeling a bit of anticipation... If they really came to him, then it would mean that all of Blood Feast’s poor saps had been exposed. By then, he could easily shake them off with an act of "weepingly accuse the criminal infiltrating the shack, gratefully thanking the officer for the rescue."
From his end, though, it was likely that the whole Refugee Camp would be dragged into this...
"... Er, gotta be ready. These guys have no bottom line."
Lu Ping’an stroked his chin, sometimes the changes were too rapid for him to keep up.
If it did come to that point, it’s possible those guys would come knocking, trying to "silence" him... Although that would mean cutting off their possibilities of development in this side of the world, it was still better than being fully exposed.
"... Next, I need to be cautious and keep my distance from them."
While pondering, Lu Ping’an was in no rush to adjust his arrangements.
He was considering the worst-case scenario; if the people from Blood Feast could still get by, they wouldn’t make such moves... it would just be delaying the investigation process, piling one crime on top of another for the "rich merchant’s kidnapping case."
"Heh heh, probably the ones who want Water Wolf dead the most, to cut off the clues, are the other people from Blood Feast... It would be best if he died on the spot and took all the blame for it."
The sheriff wants him dead, the people from Blood Feast want him dead, the enemy tribes in the Refugee Camp want him dead... the whole City wants him dead, with the "Revenge Mark" still on him, how could he survive.
The entire City had turned into a "cage" waiting for his death; his demise was just a matter of time.
And yet, Lu Ping’an, the one who had set up this cage, was in his comfortable room, chatting with Meow over Snacks, waiting for the news of the Decree-level big boss’s death.
"...Water Wolf is dead, died on the main street, drained of blood just like that sheriff, exactly the same way."
And by morning, Lu Ping’an had received the information he wanted.
"A Decree-level with the potential to climb higher, just died in such a suffocating way..." Some sighed, while others laughed out loud.
"Heh heh, it’s just starting, no rush, no rush, it’s all arranged." Having finished the chips, Lu Ping’an licked his lips, savoring the taste.
And so, as the "behind-the-scenes" novice player, Lu Ping’an happily acquired the new title of "Killing without bloodshed."
— End of Chapter 940 —