Chapter 166 - Li Ling, "Just Trust Me"

"Damn it!" Zhihao couldn't help but curse. 

He shouldn't have rejoiced too soon!

The guard who had listened to all the sweet dog food talk that went on between Zhihao and Li Ling couldn't find it in his heart to tell them or change the rules in order to put them in the same confinement cell. 

Each and every confinement cell was made for one person and hence, it was only natural that  Zhihao and Li Ling were locked up in different neighboring confinement cells.

The confinement center was not at all like the jail Zhihao had heard about or imagined. It had a creamy white color and had a lot of 'cells'. Each cell looked a lot like a white capsule room and was just enough to accommodate one person. The door was made out of glass but no matter how much Zhihao hit it, the door was just as stubborn and refused to break down. 

When the guards had left, Zhihao let out a long and tired sigh and what followed after were the sounds of chuckling. It was Li Ling who had suddenly started to laugh at the ridiculous situation and Zhihao also followed soon after. 

"Now tell me the real plan," Zhihao spoke in between his laughter. 

Li Ling, "We wait for someone to break us out of here." 

Zhihao tried to stop laughing as he asked, "Who?" 

Li Ling, "Someone will surely come. BBtrash, Hulk, Alvi... One of them will notice." 

As Zhihao heard this, suddenly there was a spark of light in his mind as if he had the world's best idea just randomly come and hit him. 

He had forgotten all about it once again! The team message board! 

Zhihao clicked on the button and tried to send a message, but he frowned as he saw the notice that the team messaging board was currently unavailable. 

Li Ling had probably guessed what had happened over at the neighboring cell so he didn't even wait for Zhihao to ask as he answered the unvoiced question, "We don't have a signal." 

Zhihao couldn't help but be shocked as he asked, "But that shouldn't affect this.... Right?"

Li Ling shook his head, although Zhihao couldn't see it, "We are in the sensory room. The team message board is something like a phone given to us in order to help us interact with one another. If we were playing normally, the phone would operate normally in every condition, however, now that we are in the sensory room, the phone will not work if the player doesn't have a signal on his phone." 

Zhihao was silent for a few seconds before he asked, "That makes no sense." 

Li Ling nodded, "I know, but there's a reason why it's there. If we want to give the player's a fully immersive experience, we need to revoke the added advantages they have been handed with. In this case, the added advantage is the team messaging board. What happens if a player is in a critical situation where a phone would normally not be operational, but they would still be able to use the team messaging board? It would pull them out of the immersive experience and remind them that this is nothing more than a game."

Zhihao didn't respond to that and it was simply because his brain took time to process whatever Li Ling was trying to make him understand, "Wah~ Gege surely knows a lot. It's probably because you work for Omelas, right?" 

Li Ling awkwardly chuckled as he nodded, "Yeah." 

Well... It wasn't a complete lie. He really did know this because he worked at Omelas! He just didn't clarify what his exact position in that company was! 

Zhihao looked around at the containment cell in order to see if there was something he could find here that would possibly help them, but just as he was looking, he felt the ground beneath him shake and it made him lose a footing. 

He ended up falling on his butt as he grabbed the two walls on either side with his hands, in an attempt to stabilize himself, "What the hell is happening?" He cried out in shock. 

The ground continued to shake as if it were affected by a giant earthquake and Zhihao felt his heart race and not even in a delightful manner. He was afraid and there was no way he would be able to deny that.

"It's a wave," He heard Li Ling answer. 

"What the hell is a wave?!" Zhihao shouted trying to make his voice sound clear over the sound of the things falling and the crumbling noise coming from who knows where, however, there was no answer to his question. 

In the panic and confusion, it wasn't even like Zhihao was waiting for an answer. He closed his eyes and prayed in his heart that if he were to die, at least give him a better death than being crushed inside a confinement cell of a game. 

The earthquake continued for over a minute and when it was finally over, Zhihao could clearly hear the sound of his heart beating so loudly that he was afraid Li Ling who was in the neighboring confinement cell would be able to listen to it. 

"Damn..." Zhihao cursed as he gulped and tried to pick himself up from the floor. 

He heard some shuffling sounds coming from the other side and guessed that Li Ling must have also fallen down by the strong impact of the earthquake. 

"A-Zhi, in any minute now." 

"Huh?" Zhihao was unable to understand what Li Ling had mumbled, but before he could ask him what he meant, he stopped and gulped back his words as he saw the glass door of the confinement cell suddenly opening. 

"..." Zhihao was stunned as he stood there and looked at the open door with suspicion, wondering if there was a laser beam that would chop him up in pieces if he were to go through this door. 

Li Ling smirked in satisfaction as he stepped out without a worry and went over to pull Zhihao along with him, "Let's go!" 

Zhihao gulped as he realized that just like Li Ling had said, something or someone had really helped to break them out of jail! Zhihao didn't know if this was done on purpose or if it was caused by the earthquake, however, no matter what the cause may be, he was still happy that he was finally a free man. 

Damn, he really didn't like to be confined in jail even if it was only for a few minutes. 

Zhihao looked at Li Ling and chuckled as he glanced back at the open doors of the confinement cell, "That was quick."

Li Ling nodded as he beamed, "It sure was." 

Zhihao, "A quickie in jail." 

Li Ling didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry as he heard that, "A-Zhi, that sounds really- Forget it..." 

It was really not the time to be joking about how Zhihao didn't know how to use 'certain' words in a casual conversation.

Zhihao, "Why are we running by the way?" 

Li Ling shrugged as he stopped for a second before turning and changing directions. This confinement cell was like a maze filled with confinement cells that seemed to act as a wall of sorts. Some confinement cells had other people trapped inside them as well, but nobody made any noise or asked to be saved as they saw these two people running away. 

Zhihao frowned as he pulled Li Ling back and forcefully stopped him, "Are you sure that it's not a trap?" 

The fact that breaking out from here was this easy made him feel uneasy and rose suspicion. All he did was wait and the door opened on its own, in fact, their confinement cells weren't the only ones that had open doors. All cell doors inside this confinement center had been opened, but the others dare not run for some odd reason. 

If they didn't get out, it meant they were afraid of something. There was probably a reason why they chose to wait for the doors to close once again and whatever it was that had scared them like this, it would naturally affect these two as well. This was a bit suspicious and Zhihao could smell the danger. 

Li Ling shook his head and pulled Zhihao's hand as he reassured, "Just trust me." 

Zhihao gulped, but in the end, he was helpless against Li Ling, who would look at him like this and ask him to trust the man. Zhihao closed his eyes and nodded as he let Li Ling pull him to an unknown destination once again. 

Not even a few minutes later, Zhihao suddenly bumped against Li Ling's back and when he looked in front at the cause, he gulped. 

There was a man wearing a suit that was lightweight and thinner than Zhihao's metallic suit which sat in his inventory. His face was covered with a white helmet as he aimed his gun at Zhihao and Li Ling, however, even though he didn't show any signs of hesitation. It was clear that he wasn't going to shoot them just yet. 

Zhihao and Li Ling looked at him and his gun in silence as they slowly raised their hand on instinct. The man also didn't say anything as he kept his gun pointed at them with no words spoken. 

"Peace?" Zhihao reluctantly spoke up. 

"..."