Chapter 1 Li Ang's Departure

Li Ang watched as the two ghosts completely disappeared, then turned around and stared straight at the dark ravine behind the villa.

Wei Linglan, hiding in the shadows of some trees, felt a chill run down her spine. She subconsciously crouched down, trying to hide,

only to see Li Ang, carrying a lamppost, running towards her at an absurd speed.

Crap, crap, crap!

Wei Linglan's heart tightened instantly. She cursed inwardly, straightened up abruptly, and ran into the depths of the dense forest,

darting back and forth among the swaying trees, making all sorts of evasive feints.

However, her Agility Perception base stat was far lower than Li Ang's, and all her evasive maneuvers failed to hinder him in the slightest.

The distance between them continued to close. Wei Linglan could even feel the ground trembling under Li Ang's heavy steps.

With a sudden "clang,"

the heavy lamppost, like an arrow released from a bowstring, grazed Wei Linglan's ear and slammed into the trunk of the large tree in front of her.

"Don't move."

The terrifying pressure behind her, like a mountain bearing down, made Wei Linglan's heart pound violently.

She turned around stiffly and saw Li Ang standing ten meters behind her, holding a grenade launcher aimed at her body.

"What were you watching over there, little sister?"

Li Ang's voice was extremely cold, his iron-grip hand firmly holding the gun, as if he would pull the trigger with greater force in the next second.

"I... I'm also a player."

Wei Linglan's voice trembled slightly. She raised her hands, showing that she had no hostility,

and materialized her player name, level, and the quest log for this mission.

"I just thought... maybe I could freeload some quest progress..."

Wei Linglan stammered, her attitude as humble and sincere as possible.

Li Ang stared at her expressionlessly, seemingly contemplating whether to let this Level 4 newbie go.

"Really, I didn't want to do anything, I just wanted to learn from your amazing skills..."

After a long silence, Li Ang finally spoke, "Wallet, hand it over."

"Huh?"

Wei Linglan was taken aback. "What?"

"Your wallet, take it out slowly and drop it on the ground." Li Ang slightly shook the muzzle of the grenade launcher and said, "Don't make me repeat myself."

This expert wants to rob me?

As a player who had survived two scenario missions, Wei Linglan wasn't stupid. She immediately understood what Li Ang wanted.

Her real identity information.

Concealment and lurking were the first rule of survival for players. Once real identity was leaked, it meant utter defeat, forever at the mercy of others.

Wei Linglan's lips moved slightly. After a brief but intense mental struggle, she nodded with difficulty.

If she didn't cooperate, she would die.

Slowly, Wei Linglan took out a pink square leather wallet from her pocket, bent down, placed it gently on the ground, and then straightened up and took a few steps back.

Li Ang glanced at the wallet on the ground and said coldly, "Open it and take out the ID card inside."

He wouldn't touch another player's personal belongings with his own hands.

Who knew if there were flammable or explosive items inside, or a deadly poison that could seal the throat without drawing blood.

Wei Linglan nodded obediently, picked up the wallet, pinched the ID card with two fingers, and held it in front of her.

Li Ang just glanced at it. "Fake."

How did you know?!

Wei Linglan was shocked, but she didn't know that before becoming a player, Li Ang had played with making his own ID cards (without chip or magnetic stripe, unusable),

and now he still carried several blank cards he had purchased (for adult males of various ages, to facilitate his disguise).

Li Ang said coldly, "Take out the real one."

This time, Wei Linglan honestly took out her real ID from her inventory and showed it to Li Ang.

"Mm."

Li Ang nodded noncommittally, took out the phone belonging to Lu Maodian from his pocket, fiddled with it for a while, and threw the phone to Wei Linglan.

Wei Linglan hurriedly caught the phone, and when she looked at the screen, she realized it was a live broadcast interface on an unpopular, low-quality streaming platform.

She asked suspiciously, "This is..."

Li Ang took out an IED remote control device from his inventory and tossed it to Wei Linglan. "You will stand here and broadcast for 10 minutes, without showing your face.

I will watch your stream. After ten minutes, you can close the interface and leave on your own.

If you do anything unusual within the time limit, I will detonate this thing, understand?"

Wei Linglan nodded frantically, understanding that these ten minutes were the time the other party needed to leave Dusheng Village.

She raised her phone, pointed the camera at her feet, and shook the camera slightly to prove that the stream was a live, dynamic feed.

There were plenty of female streamers on this phone streaming platform who used so much beauty filter that you couldn't see their original faces.

Wei Linglan was operating a new account with no followers, and the stream was a dynamic shot of her feet, comparable to avant-garde performance art.

No one was watching—except for Li Ang.

"Oh right, if you want to complete the Investigate the Truth quest, you can take a look at the pigsty and the basement of Lu Gui's villa."

Li Ang casually reminded her, holding the grenade launcher in his left hand and aiming it at Wei Linglan, while using Lu Maodian's other phone to watch the stream.

He retreated, disappearing into the swaying trees.

Ten minutes later, Li Ang was already riding the motorcycle he had "borrowed" from Dusheng Village, wearing a dirt-covered coat, rain boots, and a motorcycle helmet.

Disguised as an ordinary farmer, he drove out of the village along the mountain road and into the township.

At the intersection of the township, rescue vehicles sent by the county passed him by, completely unaware of his presence.

When the time limit was reached, Li Ang closed the stream that Wei Linglan was operating, casually crushed Lu Maodian's phone and threw it into the river,

and then put the IED remote control device into his inventory to cut off the signal.

He sped all the way back to the county bus station, abandoned the motorcycle by the side of the road,

and took the old van he had borrowed when he came, returning to Yin City after an hour's drive.

After parking the van in a parking lot in the suburbs, Li Ang went to a public toilet to change his clothes.

He didn't rush home, but went to a coffee shop and ordered a latte.

Hours had passed since the Dusheng Village incident. The Special Affairs Bureau must have already entered the scene and begun a thorough investigation.

Li Ang sat by the window of the coffee shop, recalling his itinerary over the past few days, carefully considering whether he had revealed any flaws or left any clues.

After confirming that everything was airtight, the only remaining problem was Mule.

That information broker was the only person who could connect "Li Risheng" with the "Dusheng Village incident..."