Published at 8th of October 2024 3:10 am

Chapter 1345: Unexpected Lunch

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

He Huan’s vigilance against him did not relax. Shortly after they began discussing their plan to smuggle into another country, Guan Hailian was given some errands and sent out of the factory.

In the following days, He Huan disappeared, probably as he said, to gather intelligence. Guan Hailian knew He Huan didn’t trust him, but he had already decided that when they all gathered at Twelve Worlds, he would lay everything out in the open.

“The rest of the people are still resting and training. There’s no movement for now.”

Guan Hailian sent out this message and then changed his phone before leaving. Today, he needed to remind Lin Sanjiu to find the next meeting place: even though there had been no action since he reported the meeting place, he couldn’t shake off the unease. Apart from that, Han Suiping, as a fugitive, had nowhere else to go but to stay at the factory, making him an easy target.

Moreover, although his message was a smokescreen, Lin Sanjiu might actually come up with some ideas regarding adrenaline’s raw materials…?

As he thought about it on the way, he was surprised when he entered the room and saw everyone gathered: Nu Yue had returned from the cruise ship, He Huan stood grimly in front of the shelves, Lin Sanjiu and Wan Qingge were speaking softly, and Han Suiping was frowning—seems like he was the only one missing.

Nu Yue returned, but everyone had this expression on their faces.

“What’s wrong?” Feeling the tension in the air, he looked around and asked Nu Yue, “When did you come back?”

“I just arrived not long ago.” Nu Yue, who usually had a cheerful demeanor, seemed devoid of emotion now. “On the high seas, I couldn’t send out any information.”

“Are you sure—”

Han Suiping couldn’t help but interject, but Nu Yue’s nod interrupted him.

“Yes, I used the method you told me to confirm the satellite signal. At that time, your computer was already connected to the Internet. Later, I sent a few messages to that person named Cantalopue… they were sent successfully, but she didn’t reply. Even with a network signal, I still couldn’t contact the people in the doomsday world.”

Guan Hailian swallowed silently, feeling dry. His faint hope when he left in the morning now seemed like a childish dream compared to the suffocating reality; his thoughts involuntarily slid to the worst-case scenario.

Clearly, he wasn’t the only one thinking this way.

“We are unable to send a message for someone to come pick us up and there’s no way to locate the doomsday element to destroy this world.” He Huan’s voice remained calm, though Guan Hailian felt he seemed somewhat angry due to disappointment. “Facing reality, even if the few of us are unscathed, we cannot possibly destroy the entire human society on this planet. The only option left is to stay in this world?”

“We can’t go to the Twelve Worlds, but we can go to other countries.” Han Suiping couldn’t help but say softly, “Although Cantalopue said that once discovered, we’ll be deported back if we hide our identities—”

“We don’t have legal status in foreign countries, and we’ll eventually be discovered,” Guan Hailian said with a trembling voice. “If they request extradition, we’ll be in an even worse situation than now.”

His voice trailed off gradually, and after a few seconds, he instinctively looked at Lin Sanjiu. Not only him, but the others also turned their gaze to her.

Lin Sanjiu was lost in thought, seemingly pondering something. After a full minute of silence, she suddenly realized and lifted her head.

“Don’t lose heart. There are many things we can do.”

Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, but her expression wasn’t one of worry or despair; it was more like she was trying to solve a mathematical problem—or perhaps she knew the answer and just needed time to recall it.

“Firstly, He Huan needs to continue gathering intelligence and make a plan to leave the country,” she nodded to He Huan. “Whether we’ll be discovered or deported is an uncertainty for the future. We shouldn’t tie ourselves down because of a possibility in the future. We still need to do what needs to be done. When the time comes for us to leave for the Twelve Worlds, we’ll face whatever comes our way.”

“Secondly.” She turned to Wan Qingge and said, “You can go to the adrenaline manufacturer to see if they have added anything, what they have added, and if we can get the semi-finished product before the additives. We need to maintain a good condition when leaving the country.”

Lin Sanjiu also thought of it! Guan Hailian felt a surge of excitement, but he needed to find a way to delay Wan Qingge for a few more days to prevent him from falling into a trap. Also, Wan Qingge might have been discovered once already. How should he remind him?

While he was thinking, Lin Sanjiu continued, “Regardless of whether they have relocated us, for safety’s sake, we must change the meeting place, change our appearance, and change our gait. Nu Yue.”

The young girl immediately lifted her head.

“You’re responsible for getting some disguise items. Wigs, hats, sunglasses, and you also need to get some different shades of… foundation.” Lin Sanjiu seemed to take a few seconds to recall the word ‘foundation.’ “The shades should be significantly different to create different light and shadow effects from our original facial features, sometimes we can’t rely on external objects to cover up, and we can try to bypass facial recognition as much as possible when leaving the country.”

It’s hard to find foundation shades for black skin in this country. Although a sizable dark-skinned population lives in the eastern part, very few people understand their living conditions, but Nu Yue readily agreed. Finding a way to relieve anxiety is to take action; this is the same for posthumans; with a goal in mind, everyone quickly became motivated.

“Then what about me?” Han Suiping raised his hand.

These past few days, Lin Sanjiu and Han Suiping had spent most of their time together. Guan Hailian didn’t know why at first, but now he heard her say, “You don’t need to act for now. Wait until I find a new meeting place, I’ll accompany you to get on the internet—”

“Internet?” Guan Hailian couldn’t help but be surprised. The others didn’t show any signs of surprise, obviously. He was the only one who was uninformed—he couldn’t blame them for being cautious, but he still felt a bit bitter.

“I’ve been helping him find underground fiber optics these past few days.” Lin Sanjiu glanced at him and replied, “The public can’t access the internet, but the authorities must use it. Since this country doesn’t allow access to foreign satellites, there must be basic internet infrastructure… Han Suiping is good at this. Once he’s on the internet, he can search for clues about the next step in our plan from external information.”

Even if he had any questions, it seemed that as long as he asked, she would answer.

Guan Hailian lowered his head, feeling somewhat ridiculous as an adult to feel envious and teary-eyed. Fortunately, Han Suiping spoke up, diverting everyone’s attention.

“It’s not just that.”

He suddenly became enthusiastic again, perhaps because he was delving into his area of interest. “Commoners don’t have access to the network, which means the entire national network is like an internal network of the higher-ups… Once we gain access, we might find a lot of information. They wouldn’t be too vigilant because of this physical isolation method, which means no one else can access the content inside apart from their own people. If they’re going to block anyone, it’s going to be overseas people, not the ones inside.”

As a result, Guan Hailian became the only one who didn’t receive a task. His abilities had deteriorated, and unlike Han Suiping, he didn’t seem to have any special skills to contribute—though they thought so because they didn’t know they were wrong.

‘I can play a crucial role,’ Guan Hailian thought. He could divert the attention of the surveillance personnel elsewhere.

With this thought in mind, he left the meeting factory feeling surprisingly calm.

People always live for something, and he had endured for too long in the days gone by; now, he felt some unfamiliar excitement.

Before going to work, he saw the woman in charge of his ‘progress’ again. He didn’t know which agency she was from or if she knew about posthumans, but Guan Hailian had learned to speak without revealing any information. He quickly reported back and resumed his taxi service. Being sent undercover was unpaid work, but he still needed to eat and dress normally, and this car was his only means of support.

At noon the next day, he suddenly received a message from Chen Hongyan.

“Old Guan, why haven’t you come to eat here recently?”

Guan Hailian suddenly remembered the joke made by another taxi driver. He might have overthought it, but when Chen Hongyan looked at him, there seemed to be a slight difference. It was strange, but posthumans seemed more popular and easier for ordinary people to like as long as they weren’t extremely unattractive.

Thinking like this was shameless. At most, Chen Hongyan had only a little goodwill towards him. He had already decided to leave with Lin Sanjiu and her party. It was impossible between them. Moreover, he only had some sympathy for her, nothing else… Before leaving, he could help her a bit more.

With a vague regret for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, he replied, “I’ll come now.”

The Hongyan Restaurant was the same over a week ago: simple, old-fashioned, and clean. When he walked in, Chen Hongyan was already busy in the kitchen; she had set a beer bottle on the table for him. He couldn’t drink because he would be driving later, so he went to the drink counter and found that although Chen Hongyan had brought in lemonade to replenish it herself, another type of bottled milk was almost empty. This crate was much heavier than the lemonade.

He greeted her, but Chen Hongyan, who had her back to him, didn’t turn her head. “You sit first, I’ll be done soon.”

Let’s ask about the rent after eating… Guan Hailian felt quite happy now. He didn’t know why. Maybe he liked the feeling of someone knowing what he liked to eat without him saying anything.

In that case, he might as well have a little beer. Just a little, he wouldn’t be affected like an ordinary person.

Guan Hailian took a sip of the ice-cold, slightly bitter beer. At that moment, a figure blocked the light at the door, and as the person entered, the light and shadows in the small restaurant swayed. He suddenly raised his head and was stunned.

Guan Hailian stared at the person with his mouth open, not knowing what to say for a moment.

He knew for sure that he hadn’t been followed on his way here, and even without his abilities, he was still vigilant about the situation. So… how did the other party know he was here?

The sound of spoons clinking against pots and the sizzle of oil in the kitchen became the only sound in the small restaurant. Guan Hailian slowly turned his head to glance at the kitchen; Chen Hongyan was still busy cooking.

He Huan walked over expressionlessly and sat across from him at the table.

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