Chapter 232 - Battle Royale: Survival of the Jedi (XXII)
Chapter 232 Battle Royale: Survival of the Jedi (XXII)
Seventy-six psychics escaped from the institution during the rainy night.
The agency was furious and sent twenty-five jeeps down the mountain in pursuit of them along the road.
But thanks to them, these seventy-six psychics are no longer the soft bags they were when they captured them, who didn’t even know how to use their powers to their fullest potential.
One by one, the jeeps were lost and it was not until almost dawn that a fifth detachment sent by the agency found twenty-five jeeps, regimented to scrap metal, in a mountain pass.
Seventy-five heavily armed members of the detachment were strung one by one on ropes, tied in a large string of grasshoppers, the leader of which had the licence plate of a jeep hanging upside down around his neck, with several large letters carved in stone.
– “Thank you for the watches.”
The International Anthem was still on the airwaves, tenaciously occupying all channels and playing on a loop. The leader of the fifth detachment “fed” several times in vain to the song “Everything belongs to the working man, there’s no room for parasites”, but found that he could not reach the headquarters, so he took his number plate and hurried back.
The Head of Emergency Management is pacing anxiously back and forth in the background to the constant ringing of the phone, and his secretary, seeing that he is not doing well, makes a cup of coffee and hands it to him respectfully.
The Minister was so distracted that he didn’t even bother to look at it, so he took it and poured it down his throat, then spat it all out as soon as it was hot.
The coffee scalded the big blisters that came out of his mouth, and he slammed the cup on the table, half of which was covered with the scalding brown liquid, which made him feel more and more angry, and he wanted to get someone to beat him up to get rid of it.
The secretary, knowing that he had done a bad thing with good intentions, hurriedly pointed to the seventy-six red dots on the real-time observation screen, intentionally reassuring his superior on the one hand, and excusing his small mistake just now on the other, “Don’t worry. The collar’s signal hasn’t disappeared yet, they must still be in the mountains ……”
Before the words were out of his mouth, one of the seventy-six red dots disappeared.
Two, four, eight, sixteen ……
Within four or five seconds, all the red dots had disappeared from the signal range.
Minister: “……”
Secretary: “……”
The secretary felt a hot face, and immediately cleaned up the messy table for the minister with her hands and feet, while changing the subject: “Don’t worry, the public relations department has already made a move, and put out the news that the education centre was not well looked after, and seventy-six vicious and disobedient psychics had escaped. These seventy or so psychics are certainly not small targets, as long as the news is released, and then according to the information to squat at their homes, in less than half a day, they will definitely fall into the net.”
The more he spoke, the more confident he felt, “The deputy minister has already informed down, calling each of the fugitives’ homes and telling their families that these psychics have fled without permission and privately, and that once they return home, they should inform us immediately, otherwise, they will be responsible for all the consequences.”
The minister pinched his swollen temples, “I’m worried they’ll go around saying what they know.”
”It doesn’t matter about the electric shock. It’s a necessary corrective, one that even many of the nationals approve of.” The secretary was artful, “And as for the hunting ground thing, it’s too unbelievable. Even if they did, no one would believe them. It’s not like we send every batch of ‘trainees’ to the hunting ground, Bai Anyi they were just unlucky enough to be drawn by lot, and even if they did dare to go to the media and ask about the other ‘trainees’, they wouldn’t even know about it. As for the people in the institution, they would have to be tight-lipped even for their own sake and that of their families. Besides, the number of deaths of these psychics are all according to the prescribed death indicators, and there is no way to find out the truth even if you check upwards. They have no proof, no red lips, what can they prove that everything they have experienced is true? In the end, if they were all arrested and secretly executed, the matter would be settled.”
That was indeed comforting enough, but the minister was still not reassured.
The thought of Bai Anyi’s eyes across the screen made the minister feel as if he had been submerged in ice water.
There is no madness in his eyes of the end of the road, no numbness of killing all the people, only a calm and careful calculation.
…… such a demeanour, he had not seen any of the winners of the Great Escape possess.
As he spoke, the leader of the fifth detachment returned to the establishment and applied for admission.
After a brief explanation of the situation, he handed the engraved license plate in his hand to the minister, “For now, the target has been lost and only this has been found.”
The Minister took the license plate, and after just one glance, his face changed dramatically.
He was so furious that he was almost yelling hysterically, “Make arrangements to have the PR department keep a close eye on the internet! As soon as any incorrect video is sent out, contact the website to have it removed!”
The secretary hadn’t looked back: “…… Minister?”
The minister banged his desk hard: “One of them recorded the whole hunt on his wristwatch!”
The secretary still had a hint of luck: “How could they have had that in mind? At that time …… were running for their lives, weren’t they?”
Somehow, Bai Anyi’s eyes came back to the Minister’s mind.
The minister who was startled again by that calmness slammed his palm down hard on the table, “Go!!!”
……
In the latter part of the night, a group of fugitives finally found a place to stay.
The only place for them to hide in the human world is currently in the deep, secluded mountains.
There is a hut in the mountain, abandoned by the forest guards, which is empty, except for some damp straw and rat droppings everywhere.
But for a crowd that had just experienced life and death, that was good enough.
Half of the people here had been sent to prison by strangers, half by family and friends, and had little trust in people in the first place, so it was only now that they stopped and looked at themselves that they felt a little bit of desolation.
Some people offered to go home.
Chi Xiaochi put most of their thoughts to rest with one sentence: “Yes, go ahead, you’ll be a turtle in a jar and no one will be able to stop you.”
Chi Xiaochi was the one who got them out, sacrificing his cousin to do so, and is now naturally the rightful backbone of the group.
After stabilising the crowd with strong words, he lay flat on the straw, put up his legs and added: “Whoever wants to go back, pave the way and go back. Don’t try to test the solidity of your family: if they don’t harbour you, you’re out of luck; if they do, your whole family is out of luck. Weigh that up for yourself.”
Now, no one mentions going back.
Powerful maidens bend trees for firewood, psychics who can manipulate moisture suck the wet wood dry, fire girls make fires, and psychics who can recognise poison pick wild, non-poisonous mushrooms and heat up a pot of soup.
Chi Xiaochi rested after only two sips of soup.
Before going to bed, he asked Lou Ying, “Brother, how are you feeling?”
Lou Ying touches his chest, a little dazed, and the pain of the piercing still seems to linger at his chest.
But he replied, “It’s all right. Is there something for me to do?”
As it turns out, he really does know Chi Xiaochi.
Chi Xiaochi asked him, “Starting tomorrow morning at 6am, upload the full Battle Royale video on the internet, tag R.18, mosaic all the bloody images, mosaic all the contestants’ faces, but overlay all the gamblers’ anonymous IDs with the real names and photos from the investigation. …… is a lot of work.”
”I’ve already traced back the personal information of those people, and have done a reverse hack against their computers to record their faces on screen, so when the time comes, we just need to overwrite them by ID at regular intervals. It’s just the internet, it’s nothing to me.” Lou Ying replied sharply and gently, “You’re too tired, go to sleep.”
Chi Xiaochi called him, “Brother.”
Lou Ying : “Hmm?”
Chi Xiaochi closed his eyes, “I want to hear a story, read it to me.”
”What do you want to hear?”
”Listen to your voice.”
Lou Ying’s heart twitched at his whispered whisper, “…… understand.”
He took a picture book of fairy tales and read them word by word.
All children grow up, except one, Peter Pan.
Flying Peter Pan never grows up. He has lots of children friends and he loves to take them to Neverland to play, but eventually they all leave Neverland and choose to grow up, while Peter Pan is always alone, a tiny little fairy flying around like a bird that doesn’t know the end of its journey.
Until one day, he had a friend.
That friend wouldn’t grow up, he left the human world and after exploring the whole of Neverland with Peter Pan, he travelled around the world with him, never leaving him.
Peter Pan asked him, “My friend, don’t you want to grow up.
My friend said, “Peter Pan, how can I leave you alone when you haven’t grown up yet?
Chi Xiaochi heard the end and opened his eyes: “This is not Peter Pan’s story.”
”This is the story of Peter Pan.” Lou Ying spoke with certainty and said, “Don’t you like it?”
Chi Xiaochi thought: fucking love it.
Chi Xiaochi drifted off to sleep amidst the whispered murmurs of the Alter Ego.
When he woke up in the second half of the night, he found that Lou Ying hadn’t stopped.
He was also telling a sleeping Chi Xiaochi about the adventures of Peter Pan and the little boy.
At this time, they are exploring the bottom of the sea, where they discover a mysterious shipwreck. The ship contains countless jewels, and Peter Pan and the little boy are lying in the pile of jewels, talking.
He speaks softly and slowly, like he is weaving a dreamy web of words to catch his Xiaochi.
Noticing the movement of Chi Xiaochi’s eyelids, Lou Ying paused in her narration and called softly, “Xiaochi?”
Chi Xiaochi played it perfectly by pretending not to wake up and pretending to sleep in place.
Lou Ying really didn’t see through it.
He kissed the ear of the Chi Xiaochi spirit.
The soft sound of a little kiss is never enough to wake him up to the volume.
Soon, the gentle narration starts again.
Even when he detected the man’s abnormally high body temperature, Lou Ying didn’t stop, only with a little smile, to tell himself about Peter Pan’s 20,000 miles under the sea with his best friend.
A good night’s sleep.
……
Early in the morning, Jiao Qingguang rises from her soft bed in the dormitory.
The other person in the bed stirred and reached around his waist, pouting, “Senior, sleep a little longer.”
Jiao Qingguang kissed him warmly on the forehead: “Good boy. I have an appointment with my tutor today to talk about a project. I can’t be late.”
The boy obediently nestled under the covers, a clean-faced college student by the looks of it.
He closed his eyes and looked like he was asking for a kiss, “Mmm. I’m good.”
Jiao Qingguang strokes his hair, but sees the shadow of another man in his face.
So much time has passed, over three months, and he has finally been able to move on from the shadows of his former life.
God knows how devastated he was when he first found out that Bai Anyi had powers.
He and Bai Anyi have not yet had a further relationship, but they are semi-living together, and Bai Anyi had quite a few things in his quarters before his powers awakened.
The first thing Jiao Qingguang did was to throw away his toothbrush, towel and sheets, strip himself naked, dip him in disinfectant and wash him thoroughly.
Knowing full well that the powers were not contagious, he still felt uncontrollably nauseous.
The disinfectant was so concentrated that it burned his skin and hurt vaguely, but he found a rare peace of mind in the pain.
He couldn’t bear to be with Bai Anyi anymore, to eat with him, to hold hands with him, to kiss him.
The Alter is not human at all, he has a psychological cleanliness that must not allow interracial mating.
However, it was too difficult to mention the word “break up”, as everyone in the school knew they were a couple, and he would have to continue to hang around the school, and it would be too awkward to see Bai Anyi with his head up and down.
So, for the good of both himself and Bai Anyi, he reported to the relevant authorities and asked them to take Bai Anyi away so that he could be properly educated, so that he could see himself for what he was, and so that he could forget about himself and get together for good.
After Bai Anyi was sent away, he had to measure his A-globulin count at least three times a day for peace of mind, which was a painful experience.
Fortunately, shortly after Bai Anyi left, the supervisor found a new sophomore student, Xiao Du, to help out in the lab.
He is very much like Bai Anyi, but much more open in bed than Bai Anyi.
…… Xiao Du has healed himself.
Xiao Du under the blanket could not wait for a kiss for a long time, opened one eye and said discontentedly, “What are you thinking about?”
”It’s nothing.” Jiao Qingguang softened his voice and kissed the corner of Xiao Du’s mouth lightly with the same mouth he once swore to Bai Anyi, “I’ll come back tonight and bring you something delicious.”
The infrastructure allocated to postgraduate students on campus is quite good.
Jiao Qingguang was also able to make himself comfortable when his roommate didn’t come back all night.
He was naked, brushing his teeth while casually twisting on the television and tuning to the international news channels he subscribed to.
The fresh air system that runs all night promotes air circulation in the room, the toaster gives off the smell of burnt butter and the milk is warmed up in a thermos and is hot in the belly in less than a few minutes.
However, a highly unusual atmosphere prevailed on the international news channels.
The anchor’s face is serious as he broadcasts the latest news in Wen: “…… The explanation given by the government of country E for the video circulating on the internet is that it is a malicious forgery by psychics, but the truth is that when our reporter investigated the status of the fifteen gamblers in the country according to the information given in the video, he got the following news The shocking news is that eleven gamblers have been confirmed dead since last night, for various reasons, while the whereabouts of the remaining four are unknown. It remains doubtful whether the incident was the work of the seventy-six shifter who escaped. So will this inhumane and inhumane mass forced killing against the shifter push for reform of the ordinance on the shifter?”
…… What video? What “escapades”?
Jiao Qingguang impatiently adjusted his toothbrush and thought, “These psychics are really capable of causing trouble.
He switched to the news channel of his country.
Just as he cut to the news channel, a familiar face popped into his view unannounced.
”Important notice, urgent notice!”
”Last night, seventy-six psychics escaped from an educational institution! These shifter have extremely vindictive thoughts towards the community and are extremely dangerous. Citizens are urged to reduce going out, pay attention to their own safety and report any suspicious sightings by calling the emergency evacuation number immediately at 191-……”
”The leader of the fleeing psychics is Bai Anyi, 22 years old, a graduate student at XX University, with a provisional S-class psychic ability, very dangerous, please pay attention to your own safety, believe the official reports, don’t listen to rumors, don’t believe rumors, don’t spread rumors!”
The toothbrush in Jiao Qingguang’s hand fell to the floor with a clatter as he stared at the face on the television, which was magnified and took up half of the screen.