Chen Miao left.
He got off the car, content, politely waved goodbye to the deputy director, and faded into the night with his cane, leaving behind the silhouette of an apparently gentlemanly figure.
Lies are always bound to be exposed one day.
Paper never wraps up fire for long.
The thread regarding Yu'er was always at risk of unraveling. Chen Miao had gambled that the deputy director wouldn't confront the Chi Family in Fengtian City; if the deputy director had truly gone to ask them, then they'd just have to play it by ear.
With nothing to lose, there wasn't much at stake.
The so-called pearl of the Chi Family, Yu'er, was actually the young girl who had mistakenly called Hungry Monkey to ask for leave, thinking he was her teacher. Later, this same young girl had called back about something else, and the information revealed through her words, upon investigation, turned out that she was indeed the precious gem of the Chi Family.
She was more than just a major figure.
One could say that if anything happened to her, all of Fengtian City would tremble.
Any normal person wouldn't even consider exploiting this young girl; doing so was literally seeking amusement at the cost of one's life. If the Chi Family were to find out, no number of names on the family tree would be sufficient to satiate their wrath.
But sadly, they crossed paths with Chen Miao.
He was born stubborn.
...
Dawn had not yet broken.
Chen Miao hitched a ride back to the cemetery in the outskirts of Fengtian City, where Hungry Monkey and the others had been waiting at the gate all night. Seeing Chen Miao return safely, they quickly gathered around him.
"No harm done."
Chen Miao looked at everyone and smilingly said, "You've all worked hard. Hungry Monkey, take these 'AI Pills' and distribute one to each person. They can sell them or try them out for themselves if they like."
"Alright!"
Hungry Monkey, who couldn't wait any longer, took the box of 'AI Pills' from Chen Miao, pocketed one for himself, and then waved his hand to signal Yuan Buping and the others to come forward and collect theirs.
"This..."
Yuan Buping, eyeing his brothers behind him, hesitated with a slightly troubled expression, "Should we take it? We didn't really do anything, and these things are too precious, it feels, it feels... And wasn't it agreed that we wouldn't receive any other salary this year?"
He knew the market price of the 'AI Pills'.
A whole 10,000 credit points.
Saying it was enough to buy someone's life was an exaggeration, but if he had to earn that money from his job, it would take at least three months; to save up 10,000 credit points would require at least five months.
The most important thing is the open view around it—enough time to make other plans if surrounded. A lot of things in the bustling city with its myriad of prying eyes are hard to handle, but here everything is just fine.
After a simple wash-up, Chen Miao, cradling the Thompson Submachine Gun in his arms, comfortably lay down in the coffin filled with clothes, ready to sleep.
It was getting late.
By dawn, he would convert tonight's wealth into combat power.
For the first time in this world, he would pull together his own crew.
After having been in this world for over ten days, he finally had some modest achievements, giving him a sense of security.
...
"That'll do."
Seated on a small mound, Hungry Monkey casually said with a nearly burnt-out cigarette in his mouth: "Most of the holes are ready; it's too late to prepare anything else now. I borrowed some paper money from the neighbors for you guys, lay it on the bottom of the holes, it's more comfortable to sleep on."
"One hole per person."
"A total of seventeen spots, don't fight over them, okay?"
"You'll just live here temporarily for the time being. At night, lay some leaves and twigs over the top to block the wind and stuff. Any other problems?"
"..."
With a complex expression and propped up on his shovel, Yuan Buping stood at the bottom of a hole not quite two meters deep, looking up at Hungry Monkey seated at the edge of the pit. This was the first time he began to doubt whether following Miao was the right choice.
How should I put it? He had the feeling that he was digging his own grave.
He was not young anymore and had never imagined he'd be sleeping in a hole in the ground—his circumcision hadn't even fully healed yet, could sleeping in these conditions cause an infection?
Damn it...
But after taking a deep breath, he still forced a smile: "No problem."
Apart from being a bit cold at night, it was bearable to sleep.
It was just that the sleep was somewhat uncomfortable.
"Yeah, alright."
Seeing this, Hungry Monkey nonchalantly stood up, patted the dust off his body, looked at the seventeen holes in front of him with a satisfied expression, and nodded, "That also works out well; you guys are lucky, these holes didn't cost you a penny."
"I spent a full 80,000 credit points on mine."
"Damn it!"
He wasn't worried that the graveyard boss would come looking for trouble if he found out they were messing around here—things were different now, officer, you come looking for trouble now, believe my boss will plug you, huh?