Chapter 158 - Li Ling's Theory Was Right?

Zhihao was about to say something more, but suddenly they heard a sound that made him stop and snap his head in the direction where the sound came from, "Who's there?!" 

They got no response and Zhihao got ready to equip another weapon, however, before he could attack the thing, he stopped as he saw a pair of human eyes peeking at them. 

"Who are you?" Zhihao furrowed his eyebrows as he asked a bit more softly. 

The reason why he wasn't as hostile as the first time he questioned was because he initially thought that it was another Ribix, but now that he saw the pair of eyes that peeked at them, he was sure that it wasn't a Ribix. 

Zhihao waited patiently along with Li Ling and it seemed that although the human that was secretly observing them was reluctant to come out, she still ended up stepping forward from behind the wall.

Zhihao was a bit confused and glad to finally see a human. 

The appearance of this girl proved that maybe their theory was right. People didn't evacuate or disappear, but they were all hiding somewhere! 

Zhihao carefully stepped closer to the girl as he asked, "What's your name?" 

"C-Captain Burn...." 

"Okay, Captain bu- Wait... That's my name...!" Zhihao was a bit shocked as he looked at the girl with suspicion. 

Li Ling chuckled as he also decided to step forward, "Do you know us?" 

The girl didn't look that young, but she didn't look old either. She looked to be around the age of seventeen or eighteen, but she was thin, so thin that it almost looked as if she was nothing more than skin and bones. Her face was small and dirty, stained with grease. 

The girl enthusiastically nodded her head as she heard Li Ling's question, "Captain Burn and C-Captain Liv," The girl stuttered out. 

Li Ling nodded as he responded, "You're right!' 

"But..." The girl seemed to have something to say, but for some reason, she was keeping her mouth shut tight, not daring to say what was on her mind.

"But what?" Zhihao questioned as he frowned. 

The girl gulped as she reluctantly asked, "How come you're here...?" 

Zhihao tilted his head as he questioned back, "Why should we not be here?" 

The girl must have thought that she had offended Captain Burn so she immediately shook her head and tried to justify herself, "T-that's not what I meant! You can be here! This place is naturally yours! But... You're supposed to be dead, aren't you?" 

Zhihao, "..." 

Why that sound kinda offensive? 

Li Ling suddenly chuckled as he felt a little mischievous, "And what makes you think that we aren't ghosts right now?" 

The girl gulped in horror as she heard this, "What...?!" 

Li Ling had to admit that it was fun to trick people and have them fear him, but unfortunately, this girl was the only one he would be able to intimidate. Li Ling aimed to be as intimidating and scary as Zhihao but sadly, his face made it impossible for him to achieve this goal. Maybe if he was reborn, he would be able to achieve it, but in this life, it was impossible. 

Zhihao squinted as he asked, "Why should we be dead?" 

"Because..." The girl suddenly shut up and ran away. 

Zhihao, "..." 

Li Ling pouted as he looked at Zhihao, "You scared her away!" 

Zhihao didn't know why, but he still apologized, "I'm sorry." 

It wasn't really his intention to scare the girl away. What was he to do when his face naturally looked a bit cold and scary?

Li Ling sighed as he got ready to run, "Let's go!" 

Zhihao nodded once as he also got ready to chase after the girl who looked thin and weak but was a really fast runner. 

Zhihao already knew that her speed wasn't natural. There was something tied to her legs that increased her speed, but since Zhihao had never seen such technology before, he had no idea what it was. 

Li Ling knew exactly what it was, but he wasn't gonna share his knowledge that was gained through a way that could sort of be called cheating. 

The girl was extremely fast and since she knew the area like the back of her hand, it was easier for her to run away from them, however, no matter how far she was or how much she tried to run away from them, Zhihao and Li Ling were wearing suits that were specially designed to be agile and strong. There was no way the girl could outrun or outperform their amazing suit. 

Zhihao wasn't worried about not catching her, nor was Li Ling worried about it, however, both of them were still worried 'for' the girl. She was running carelessly at a high speed and if she were to stupidly hit something and die, they would lose the only lead they had left. 

Thankfully, the girl didn't die and they were able to catch her. Zhihao picked her up by her collar and made sure that her feet were above the ground in order to prevent her from running. She struggled for a minute but eventually realized that it was useless and gave up. 

Zhihao pursed his lips as he asked, "Why were you trying to run away?" 

Li Ling, "Did you do something wrong?" 

The girl shook her head as tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, "I didn't! I didn't!" 

Zhihao frowned as he saw this reaction. He never liked it when someone would just randomly start crying just because he asked them a question, "If you keep on crying, I'm killing you." 

The girl sniffled back her tears as she looked at Zhihao with a face that was begging to be taken pity on, "Captain Burn is too nice! You won't do that...?" 

Mastermo smiled as he heard this. 'Captain Burn' might be nice and never have the heart to do that, but Zhihao wasn't exactly 'Captain Burn'. If he wanted to kill this girl, who would be able to stop him? 

Li Ling chuckled as he patted Zhihao's arm, "A-Zhi, let's talk this out. No need to get so violent." 

Now that Li Ling had said it, Zhihao, being the henpecked husband, he was, would never dare to go against his words. He decided to put the girl down, but before her feet could touch the ground, he frowned as he saw something aiming straight at him. 

Zhihao stepped aside and ducked, missing the attack by just a few inches. 

The smile on Li Ling's face deepened as he saw the attacker, "And here I thought we didn't need to get so violent. How stupid of me."

Li Ling equipped a gun and took an aim at the attacker but before the bullet could leave the gun, the girl suddenly intervened and pushed his gun up as she shouted, "Don't hurt them!" 

Li Ling knew why the girl had stopped him and if that man had never attacked Zhihao, maybe Li Ling would have also supported this girl and not tried to kill the attackers. However, someone had actually dared to attack Zhihao in front of him so there was no way he would simply let it go like that. 

Li Ling gritted his teeth as he wondered if it was okay to blast this girl's head first. She was an important character for the progress of the game, however, whatever she knew, he also knew and so, for Li Ling, she was still a dispensable part of the game; nothing more than a mere NPC that served no purpose for him. 

Li Ling was about to shoot her, but this time, he was stopped by Zhihao. 

Zhihao, "Wait..." 

Li Ling looked back at him and asked, "What is it?" 

Zhihao squinted at the attacker who was standing far away from them. That attacker still had his gun aimed at them, but he wasn't shooting anymore. 

Zhihao turned his head to look at the girl as he asked, "Are there more of you?" 

The girl gulped as cold sweat trailed down her forehead, but she still had a sealed lip, not daring to say a word. 

Zhihao gritted his teeth as he questioned once again, "I'm not going to kill you guys if you answer the question. Are there more of you?" 

The girl sniffled as she took a minute to respond. She nodded her head reluctantly, "There are more." 

Zhihao finally put her down as he nodded, "We don't want to hurt you guys." 

The girl seemed to be hesitant and at a loss as she simply looked at the two men. 

Li Ling didn't look too happy about the fact that Zhihao had just let her go that easily, but even he felt that it would be a bit irresponsible of him to kill the girl and that attacker, at least, in the eyes of Zhihao, it would be reckless. 

The girl looked at Zhihao for a minute before raising her right hand and suddenly the attacker that had his gun aimed at them lowered it. 

It was at this moment that Zhihao realized: The attacker wasn't here to save the girl, he was here on her orders!