Chapter 9
Chapter 9
To be honest, Qin Lan was starting to feel depressed.
Not because he had been pounded like a meatball twice in a row. Being falsely accused of photographing those two pig-monsters had simply insulted his dignity.
Could the instance not have produced two actual humans, at least?
Once he regained control of his body, Qin Lan collected himself and struck first.
“Fuck! You disgusting creeps! How dare you take secret pictures of my handsome face?!”
One minute later…
[Your head was cracked like a paper-shell walnut. Killer: Subway Security.]
Qin Lan rubbed his skull in speechless frustration.
“Damn it. Why am I not allowed to use the same trick?”
“Is being photographed some kind of exclusive privilege?”
After that savage lesson, Qin Lan found himself stumped.
This seemed like an impossible situation.
If he tried to explain, the pig-monsters spouted incomprehensible jargon and made arguments so deranged they could smooth every wrinkle out of a listener’s brain.
Then security appeared and beat him to death.
If he tried to reverse the situation by accusing them first… security immediately beat him to death.
Qin Lan had even attempted to attack, but he could not move faster than those ghostly batons.
No matter what he did, he was beaten.
As for Xue Chuan… aside from drawing random junk from his pocket to lighten the mood, he had yet to demonstrate any usefulness.
Qin Lan seriously wondered whether someone had pulled strings during the evaluation of this so-called A-rank Talent.
Who drew a basketball in the middle of a fight? Was he planning to sing, dance, and rap?
For now, his cheap teammate’s strength was wildly unstable and could not be trusted.
Qin Lan had to rely on himself.
The one-minute reset, originally the foundation of his resurrection, had become his prison.
Death, resurrection.
Death, then resurrection again.
As the same cycle repeated, his attribute gains ceased, and his skill replication progress also stagnated.
If he could not find a way out, he might remain trapped in this damned minute forever.
Qin Lan’s expression turned grave.
“I thought unlimited resurrection meant I had nothing to fear. I never expected some random 3-Star instance to trap me so easily…”
He took a deep breath but did not panic.
Even after countless deaths, hope remained within this endlessly repeating minute.
“The only known rule says I must ride to the terminal station to clear the instance.”
“The guards’ trigger is unclear. They seem to appear whenever a disturbance occurs…”
“Are they merely enforcers, or are they maintaining some kind of order?”
Qin Lan forced himself to stay calm.
The two pig-people continued screaming and waving their phones, but he refused to let them disrupt his thoughts.
If security existed solely to serve as their thugs, the instance would be a death trap — and that was impossible.
No instance was unsolvable.
That was an ironclad principle.
No matter how difficult an instance was, its rules always left one path to survival.
Instances did not simply create conditions that allowed anomalies to kill. Instead, they seemed more like judges maintaining a balance between anomalies and humans.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman, for example, possessed frightening combat power, but anyone who avoided her attack rules could leave safely.
“Could it be…”
An idea occurred to Qin Lan.
The two obese pig-people were still shrieking. Just as he prepared to test his new method, Xue Chuan emerged behind him.
“Fuck, they’re only bullying you because you’re an intellectual, Old Qin!”
“Why waste words on them?”
Qin Lan turned helplessly.
“Brother, our lives are at stake. Stop pulling out that stupid basketball– Holy shit! Where did you get that thing?!”
The sight of the large-caliber, green-painted rocket launcher in Xue Chuan’s hands scrambled Qin Lan’s mind.
[Carbon-Based Lifeform Calmer 2.0]
[Description: This is the enhanced version of the Carbon-Based Lifeform Calmer 1.0. We successfully increased its destructive power at the cost of a perfectly insignificant rise in recoil. Trust us — it will calm down any creature with a heartbeat and make it listen to reason.]
The black muzzle radiated murderous cold. Qin Lan’s knees weakened at the sight of it, even before it fired.
If an anomaly killed him, he could resurrect. If his teammate killed him, he was dead for good.
Brother, this was a subway train!
How had he brought a rocket launcher aboard? And had that not been a basketball a moment ago?
“What basketball? Never mind that. I’ve had enough of these pig-monsters. Just watch me blast them!”
With a triumphant yell, Xue Chuan aimed the [Carbon-Based Lifeform Calmer 2.0] at the two pig-creatures.
The next second, two batons struck first. Moving faster than Qin Lan could perceive, they smashed into Xue Chuan’s face.
“Oh, fu–”
That was the only cry he managed. Several blows later, he fell silent and dropped to the floor for a sweet sleep.
No. He appeared to be dead.
“So fast!”
Qin Lan’s pupils contracted. The guards were even stronger than he had expected.
In the next instant, the shadow of a baton filled his vision.
“I understand.”
When Qin Lan awoke again, he was more certain than ever.
This instance had a path to survival, and it had been right before his eyes.
First, however, he needed to keep Xue Chuan under control.
“Brother, don’t draw anything yet.” Qin Lan hurriedly grabbed him. “This subway has some kind of hidden rule, probably something like passenger safety regulations.”
“If you draw a weapon of mass destruction, both of us will be killed instantly!”
Xue Chuan had just put his hand into his pocket. He paused.
“Huh? How do you know I…”
He did not remember telling Qin Lan the precise effects of his Talent.
But faced with Qin Lan’s unwavering gaze, Xue Chuan hesitated, then withdrew his hand.
“Fine.”
Qin Lan rose, faced the two shrieking pig-creatures, and rummaged through his pockets.
A few seconds later, he produced a phone and several banknotes from some unknown country.
“Ma’am, I was wrong. Please let me off this once.”
With a sincere expression, Qin Lan stuffed the phone and money into the hand of the louder pig-woman.
“Consider these compensation for your emotional distress. Be magnanimous and spare me, please.”
At the sight of the phone and money, the pig-creature’s eyelids twitched. Greed and smugness flashed through her muddy eyes.
“Heh. Scared now, creep?”
“I’ll have you know, I’m an independent woman of the new–”
Before she could finish, Qin Lan threw himself to the floor and screamed.
“Ow!”
“Help! Robbery! She’s beating me too!”
“Someone uphold justice! She’s stealing my property in broad daylight!”
The grease-covered pig-creature froze at Qin Lan’s instant change in acting style.
By the time she understood, it was too late.
Two hulking figures stood behind her. Forearms as thick as calves strained the sleeves of their uniforms. Veins bulged across the hands gripping their batons, radiating the violent beauty of pure force.
“No! That’s not what happened! He–”
After two brief squeals, two fat pigs with shattered skulls lay on the floor.
Bang!
Bang, bang!
Even then, the batons did not stop.
Flesh and fat flew. Grease mixed with blood sprayed with every rise and fall of the batons, turning the scene into a hideous mess.
For the first time, Qin Lan watched [Baton Secret Art: Three Strikes, Three Guards] without being its victim.
He could not help exclaiming,
“As expected of a secret art. That baton technique has reached perfection!”
This was the possibility Qin Lan had identified.
Use the rules against the rules.
In the previous loop, Xue Chuan had not been accused by the pig-creatures. Yet the instant he produced a prohibited weapon, security killed him.
That revealed everything.
Security existed to maintain order.
When the falsely accused Qin Lan appeared to disrupt order, the guards attacked him.
But if Qin Lan were visibly the victim and the pig-creatures became the disorderly ones, whom would security attack?
Qin Lan had tried accusing them of photographing him, to no effect. That had made him think this path was useless.
Now he understood that he had merely chosen the wrong method.
Only after confirming that the two dead pigs had stopped breathing did the guards slowly turn away.
Qin Lan remained flat on the floor, not daring to move until they were far away.
“Wow. There’s enough minced pork here to fill dumplings.”
Xue Chuan came closer and stared. “Damn. If the Butcher of Zhen Guan had known this craft, Lu Zhishen would have had no choice but to carry twenty pounds of minced pork home.”
The miserable fate of those once-arrogant pig-creatures filled Qin Lan with satisfaction.
Damn them for insulting his taste… No, for framing an innocent man!
Qin Lan had considered another solution.
He could have accepted the false accusation, compromised his dignity, and settled with the pig-creatures before security arrived.
But he refused to choose that path.
“Brother Qin, how did you know so much about this instance?”
Still shaken, Xue Chuan approached with admiration in his eyes.
He now understood that if he had carelessly activated his Talent, another corpse might be lying on the floor.
Those two security anomalies were far beyond their ability to fight.
“Heh…”
Qin Lan answered with an enigmatic air.
“Experience.”
He would let Xue Chuan imagine the rest.
Xue Chuan’s eyes lit up. “Amazing!”
“As expected of an expert recognized by Director Lu! You really are extraordinary!”
“With judgment like that, plenty of 2-Star Anomaly Hunters would kneel and call you Daddy!”
The praise left Qin Lan somewhat ashamed.
Ultimately, he had succeeded only because repeated resurrections gave him an information advantage.
With a single life, he would already have died inside this instance.
“Keep it down, keep it down… By the way, haven’t we passed this station?”
Qin Lan’s face grew warm, and he hurriedly changed the subject.
While they talked, the subway stopped. Many passengers boarded and disembarked, paying no attention to the bodies and blood.
Expressionless, they walked through the gore as though nothing had happened.
Their calm made the atmosphere even more sinister.
Xue Chuan pointed at the route map overhead.
“Right. We have… three stations left before the terminal.”
Three stations.
Qin Lan felt the pressure mounting.
If every station brought an anomaly as troublesome as the last, this would be difficult indeed.
But there was good news: they had uncovered one of the instance’s hidden rules.
The information in Qin Lan’s mind had updated.
Rule 1: You must ride the subway to the terminal station and disembark before you can leave the instance.
Rule 2: Passengers must obey subway regulations while aboard.
Rule 3: Unknown
“Please don’t be too difficult,” Qin Lan prayed silently.
[Passengers, please safeguard your personal belongings.]
[Beware of anyone following you and causing property loss.]
The subway announcement sounded.
Qin Lan showed no reaction, but Xue Chuan’s expression changed. He swiftly checked every pocket.
“Something’s wrong!”
“I received a notification saying my earphones were stolen!”
[Recover the stolen property before the next station, or die immediately.]
[Time remaining: 4:59.]