Chapter 132: Conflict

Takeuchi Mikiko had clearly lost her ability to stay calm. She grabbed her head and wailed out. Suddenly, she screamed, jumped and scrambled in an attempt to climb out through the window.

Considering their bus was speeding through the road, if this girl was to jump out, the most likely scenario would be her suffering from grievous injuries or simply dying on the spot. Chen Xiaolian quickly rushed forward and pulled the girl back down. He used too much strength and Takeuchi Mikiko fell inside, plopping on her butt upon the bus floor. She then let out another wail.

“I want to go home! I want to go home!”

“Shut up!”

Nicole suddenly moved forward. She grabbed Takeuchi Mikiko by her hair and pulled her head up. Nicole glared into the Japanese girl’s eyes and coldly said. “We are not that patient! Little girl! If you do not want to suffer, it would be best for you to shut your mouth! Understand this! Back then, we were fighting to protect your life!”

Chen Xiaolian frowned and looked at Nicole. “That is enough, let her go. Let me talk to her.”

“I think I can be certain of your biggest weakness… you are too soft-hearted,” Nicole scowled. Ignoring all else, she moved to the other side, sat down and directed her gaze outside the window.

Chen Xiaolian lifted Takeuchi Mikiko up to the passenger seat and sat opposite her. He exhaled slowly, and then spoke out in a very slow and serious tone. “If you can first stop crying, we can talk reasonably, all right?”

Takeuchi Mikiko’s body quivered and she raised her head. Her pair of eyes was as red as a rabbit’s and she sniffed a few times. “You, are you willing to be reasonable?”

“Although my companion was being very harsh on you, she did speak the truth! In that battle earlier, we were fighting to protect your life.”

“… I do not understand,” Takeuchi Mikiko appeared to be on the verge of mentally collapsing. “Those monsters… those police officers…”

“Listen to me, girl!”

Chen Xiaolian suddenly held up his own MP5 submachine gun, holding it before Takeuchi Mikiko’s eyes. He said coldly. “Open your eyes and look properly! Look at what this is! This is not a toy!”

“…”

“You saw what happened earlier! Those monsters truly exists! They were right before you where you could see and hear them! If not for us stopping them, you would have had a taste of their claws and fangs!

“You saw us opening fire, saw the bullets piercing into the bodies of those monsters! You saw their flesh splattering all over, saw them being killed by us… saw our intense battle!

“Little girl, you had best understand something – if you still cannot understand, then you must force yourself to accept it!

“This… is not a dream! This is really happening!

“You are not watching a movie, not having a nightmare, not watching a horror movie!

“You are currently in a special circumstance! Not only you, the entirety of Tokyo is filled with these monsters! They now roam the streets, hunting and killing!

“Let you go home?

“Are you sure that is a good idea? By now, your house might have burnt down to ashes. Perhaps, it might currently be occupied by a horde of monsters! Say we consent to let you go… less than one minute after leaving us, you would end up encountering those monsters on the road and be torn to shreds!

“This is no joking matter! Not a movie, not a story!

“I will say this again. You had better force yourself to accept this reality!

“This is not a dream! Not something that would vanish just by screaming and crying!”

Takeuchi Mikiko appeared to have somewhat calmed down. She then asked in a tearful voice. “You… who are you people?”

“We…” Chen Xiaolian thought about it. If he were to tell her the truth, it would take too long. Additionally, it would be too cumbersome to explain. Thus, Chen Xiaolian decided to simply make up a story.

“We are members of a secret organization,” Chen Xiaolian quickly said. “We came to Tokyo in order to carry out a special mission. Truth be told, this mission involves you! Our mission is to protect you so that those monsters cannot harm you.”

“Why me?” Takeuchi Mikiko’s eyes were wide open. Her curiosity made her forget about her fears for the time being. “I am just an ordinary girl. Those monsters, what do they have to do with me?”

“There is a very big connection,” Chen Xiaolian said softly. “Those monsters will only attack some special humans – unfortunately for you, you happen to be one of the special humans. We are only responsible for escorting you to a safe place. So, if you want to live, it would be best for you to cooperate with us. Be obedient! We will do our best to protect your from harm!”

“I am… special human?” Takeuchi Mikiko widened her eyes. Suddenly, her eyes flickered. “Does… does this have anything to do with my blood type?”

Blood type?

Chen Xiaolian’s mind raced and he looked at Takeuchi Mikiko expressionlessly. “En, it is your blood type.”

“My blood type is of the AB, Rh-negative type. My mother said before, my blood type is very, very rare. Ever since I was young, mother would take special care for me for fear that I might bleed from being injured. She said that if I were to be wounded and need blood transfusion, things would become very, very difficult.”

Rh-negative type blood?

Chen Xiaolian was aware of this blood type.

Rh-negative blood was extremely rare amongst humans in and of itself! It was also known as the ‘Panda Blood’. [1]

As for this girl, not only was her blood of the Rh-negative type, it was also AB, Rh-negative! This was an even rarer existence amongst Rh-negative types!

It could be described as the ‘Panda Blood’ amongst ‘Panda Bloods’! The rarest amongst the rare!

Having suddenly acquired this information, countless speculations sprouted out from Chen Xiaolian’s mind. He subconsciously turned to look at his team members and realized that they were all casting complicated gazes at him.

“Hmmm…” Chen Xiaolian pondered and nodded at Takeuchi Mikiko. “That is right, it must be due to the rare and special properties of your blood type. That must be why you would become a target for those monsters. Right… what is your mother’s occupation?” Chen Xiaolian abruptly asked out of curiosity.

“My mother works in a large company. She is just an ordinary inventory administrator,” Takeuchi Mikiko replied.

Inventory administrator?

Chen Xiaolian’s heart felt somewhat disappointed.

Just now, he had thought of a possibility: Maybe, Takeuchi Mikiko’s mother is a key component in the storyline’s quest?

For example… a mad female scientist using her own daughter’s panda blood to conduct a biochemical experiment, leading to a disaster on the level of Resident Evil?

Enough… Chen Xiaolian let out a bitter smile and tapped his nose. Could it be that it has been too long since I’ve written anything? Is that why I am unconsciously making up a story on my own?

Sigh… I nearly forgot. I am someone who writes novels.

“There is no need for you to worry too much. We are here to protect you. No matter what happens, we will not allow the monster to harm you. Then… we will send you to a safe place,” Chen Xiaolian thought about it and continued making the story up. “Truthfully, we are something close to a mercenary organization. We were hired to specifically find someone with rare blood like yours and escort you…”

“Are you going to hurt me? Are you going to draw out my blood?” Takeuchi Mikiko suddenly quivered.

“No!” Chen Xiaolian immediately shook his head. “It is likely that they only need to use your blood for some experiments. Maybe, there is something within your blood, which could be made into medicines for those monsters. Be at ease, we won’t hurt you.”

Takeuchi Mikiko looked at him apprehensively. In the end, she shut her mouth and became quiet – it was clear that this girl was still not at ease. However, she also does not have any choice.

Chen Xiaolian assigned Qiao Qiao to look after Takeuchi Mikiko as he went to the front of the bus to discuss the matter with the other members.

“That information regarding her blood should be a very important clue,” Nicole was quick to point that out. “I feel that this might be a key point in the second phase of the quest – a pity, if we can find another team that is protecting their quest target and start a conversation with them, we might be able to draw a conclusion. If the person that they must protect also has this rare blood type, then this would become an important piece of information.”

“Unfortunately, we cannot determine that. There is no way for us to find the other team’s quest target… furthermore, doing so might trigger a conflict with the other teams, resulting in unnecessary losses and casualties,” Lun Tai objected immediately.

Nicole suddenly smiled. “Maybe I can conduct a test.”

Subsequently, this female Mech pilot produced a syringe and moved towards Takeuchi Mikiko’s side. She then extracted a vial of blood from Takeuchi Mikiko. Takeuchi Mikiko showed fear, but was unable to resist. If would appear that the little girl was very fearful of injections and she nearly fainted.

Qiao Qiao then expressed her dissatisfaction towards Nicole’s behaviour. “Does everyone from Zero City act in such an overbearing manner, like you?”

“I am just trying to prove something,” Nicole answered indifferently.

“I understand, but…” Qiao Qiao narrowed her eyes. “But, this action of yours and those who considers us as a program, those Players who considers us as NPCs, how is it any different? Those Players could casually kill off Awakened ones and NPCs, disregarding us as living beings… but how is this attitude of yours any different from them? How can you simply bully an ordinary person, trample on their dignity and will and enslave her?”

Nicole raised her eyebrows. “What are you trying to say?”

“You mentioned before the incident regarding your father! Your father protected you for more than ten years, all so those Players would not harm you, his little girl! But now? Your father was killed by Players and you are now doing the same thing that the Players do!”

Nicole narrowed her eyes, embers flaring up within them. She said frostily. “Watch your words!”

“Or what? Did I say anything wrong?” Qiao Qiao raised her chin.

“You can say whatever you want, but you are not allowed to bring up my father’s name!” Nicole suddenly turned furious. She instantly pulled out her shotgun and aimed it at Qiao Qiao’s chest! Qiao Qiao’s reaction was in no way behind as she pulled out a PS9, pointing the muzzle at Nicole’s head!

1 True story, mates! Supposedly, only 3 in 1,000 people in China have the ‘panda blood’.↩