Chapter 2.1: Kidnapper Play

7:25

 

Beep…

 

Beep…

 

Beep…

 

“Ge… What do we do now?”

 

There was an audible gulp as Lin Lan swallowed his saliva.
This was his first time seeing a real bomb, the red timer counting down second by second.
“In 34 minutes and 56 seconds, it’ll explode!”

 

Lin Lan bent down and peeked under the seat, staring carefully at the bomb strapped underneath it.

 

Chu Feng sat on top of it as if nothing was wrong and said, “Take a picture and show it to me.”

 

“Why don’t you just come and see it yourself?”

 

“I Can’t, my waist hurts.”

 

Lin Lan had been stunned for a second before recalling the entire car full of Xie ges around him, quickly understanding what had happened.

 

Click!

 

Chu Feng took Lin Lan’s phone and leaned back onto the seat as he stared at the picture, enjoying the breeze that came with the bus driving at 55km/h.

 

Seeing his own ge acting like he was looking at a selfie taken on a holiday, Lin Lan was almost worried to death.
“Aren’t you scared? It’s going to explode!”

 

“Of course I am.”

 

Chu Feng calmly gave him the phone back.

 

Lin Lan stared at Chu Feng’s hand as he received it.
His ge’s hand was beautiful, and his fingers were perfectly sculpted.
Yet he could see the veins bulging out of his skin peeking from his sleeve.
That was the only sign that he was nervous.

 

Beep!

 

Chu Feng’s phone once again started vibrating like crazy.
Another red warning had been sent from the system fairy.

 

[7:30, the bomb will explode in thirty minutes.
Please exit the game immediately!]

 

A drop of cold sweat slid down the side of Lin Lan’s head.

 

Chu Feng just ignored the warning as usual.
His hand glided over the keyboard, typing who knows what as he calmly commented, “This seems like the typical bomb you see in most television shows.
Do you know how to defuse it?”

 

“Ge! I’m just a civilian officer, not Conan!”

 

“Does the Police Academy not teach you how to defuse these things?”

 

“No! There’s no course like that! It’s not like I did the Hawaii Training Course!”

 

Chu Feng sighed, almost as if he was admiring the courses at the University.
After a while, he handed Lin Lan’s phone back.

 

“Take the case off the bomb first, we need to see what’s inside.”

 

Lin Lan took a look and found that on his screen was a picture.

 

[How to Defuse a Bomb]

[My knowledge is limited, welcome all critics.
I hope this helps whoever needs it.]

 

“Holy shit, ge you’re crazy! Where did you get this?!”

 

“Community forum.”

 

Lin Lan took a closer look and found that the image was actually a post from Lucid Dream City’s community forum.
But he noticed that the layout seemed to belong to the old forum.
With the new update, player IDs were accompanied by how much money one put into the game, but the player ID on this one only had a simple letter to it, X.

 

“Jesus, this is God X’s strategy post! How did you find this?”

 

“I didn’t find it.” Chu Feng said, “Someone else gave it to me.”

 

Lin Lan: ?

 

He went back to the community forum and found a trending post at the very top of his timeline.

 

[100 thousand dollar reward: Does anyone know how to defuse a bomb?]

 

[As long as your answer is satisfactory, I’ll transfer the money immediately.]

 

[My husband’s going to die if I get lied to.]

 

[Player ID: PlayerCF4088]

 

[After the ID were the numbers, “5,400,000RMB”]

 

Floor 2:

 

[Holy shit! 5 million dollars oil king! What the heck?]

 

TL/n: Floors are just China's version of saying comments.
The earliest ones are lower floors while the later ones are higher floors.

 

Floor 3:

 

[This is my first time seeing someone use 5 million dollars on the game.
It’s too shiny! My holy eyes are getting blinded!]

 

Floor 4:

 

[I wonder what op’s raising in his Dream City for him to spend 5 million dollars? I wanna see it so bad!]

 

 

Floor 5:

 

[…Am I the only one concerned about the dead husband part?]

 

Floor 6:

 

[So is no one going to help this man defuse the bomb?]

 

Floor 7:

 

[God X posted about how to defuse a bomb once.
Op, you just have to search it up and save your ten thousand! Though ten thousand may be a small change to op] [kneeling.gif]

 

Floor 8:

 

[He deleted his account ages ago, how would you even find his post?]

 

Floor 9:

 

[Upstairs don’t go around spreading lies.
He didn’t delete his account, the mods banned him, okay? That’s why all his posts are gone.]

 

Floor 10:

 

[I smell tea! Come on, upstairs, don’t be shy.
Tell us more.]

 

Floor 11:

 

[There is no tea.
Rumor has it that X was too good at the game, not to mention he posted all sorts of strategies.
Apparently, he caught the attention of the company and got recruited privately.
That’s why all his posts are gone.]

 

……

 

Floor 33:

 

[Oh my god! I saved every single one of God X’s strategy posts! Sugar daddy look at me!]

 

[How to Defuse a Bomb.jpg]

 

Chu Feng replied to Floor 33.

 

[@Yao Yao loves playing with string, dm me your card number, and I’ll send you the money.]

 

Then he closed the forum.

 

In just half a minute, Chu Feng’s post had exploded, and the number of comments on it reached almost five thousand.
It was at the very top of the trending posts right now.
The second you open the forum, all you see was,

 

[Daddy! CF’s my dad!]

 

[Won’t you look at your child the next time you post, daddy?] [crying.jpg]

 

……

 

“G-Ge… 5 million dollars? You spent that much on this game?”

 

“He left me with too much money.” Chu Feng was currently wiring the commenter ten thousand dollars, replying with a nonchalant expression, “I have a headache thinking about how to spend it all.”

 

After Xie Shiyu passed, all the company shares, bonds, and houses he had in his name, including the compensation paid by the plane company been given to Chu Feng.
All of these assets were earning money every second so everything he spent had been instantly earned back.

 

Lin Lan looked at the measly $54.42 he spent on the game and said, “Ge, I kind of want to call you daddy too.”

 

“Be a good son and defuse the bomb first.”

 

Time remaining: 28 minutes 32 seconds

 

With the guide to defusing a bomb in hand, Lin Lan felt much calmer than before.
After all, the bombs in a game should be easier to defuse than the ones in reality.
Even the guide that God X had written said,

[First, check if there’s an indicator on the bomb’s timer.]

[If there isn’t one, you need to be extremely careful because that means you cannot make any mistakes while defusing or it’ll explode.]

[If there is, then you’re in luck.
The bomb will allow mistakes.
One mistake, the indicator will flash red.
Two mistakes, the timer will speed up.
Three mistakes and it explodes.]

 

Lin Lan immediately checked if there was an indicator.

 

“How is it?”

 

“T-There’s an indicator!” He let out a breath of relief and said, “It allows mistakes.”

 

[Next, carefully take off the bomb’s shell and check the wiring on the inside.]

 

Lin Lan took a glance at Chu Feng.

 

The key to his ge’s Dream City was still in his hands.
If he screwed this up, he’d be able to return to reality, but Chu Feng will…

 

“Just defuse it.” Chu Feng sat on his seat and looked at him with a calm expression, “Don’t worry about me.”

 

He carefully recalled the Conan episode that he watched, his fingers going white while his hand started trembling.
Until—

 

Click!

 

Lin Lan almost jumped in shock as he found that the shell had fallen off, revealing the wiring inside.
Just as he was about to sigh in relief…

 

Beep!

 

The indicator on the bomb suddenly turned red.
He made a mistake!

 

“What? Why?!”

 

“Conan always takes it off like this!” Lin Lan was in despair.

 

[—Twist the bomb lightly, and the shell will fall off.
Afterward, you can just cut the wires.]

 

“Where did I go wrong?!”

 

“Don’t panic.” Chu Feng pat Lin Lan on the shoulder, reassuring him, “It’s only your first mistake.”

 

“But if I make another mistake the countdown will speed up! We only have…”

 

Time remaining: 24 minutes 52 seconds

 

If it speeds up, then they would only be left with 12 minutes and 26 seconds.

 

“Just keep defusing.
Don’t be scared, it’ll be fine.”

 

Hearing his nonchalant voice, the terrified Lin Lan had been influenced.
The one that cares most about Xie ge was his ge.
The only person whose life was in danger was his ge.
So, if his ge was cool as a cucumber, then he mustn’t get scared and risk his ge’s life any more than it already was.

 

Lin Lan calmed his pounding heart and stilled his trembling hand, looking back at the guide.

 

[Take a look at the wires.
A bomb can have 3 to 13 wires.
There’s no need to worry, as long as you find the right wire, you’ll be able to defuse the bomb.]

 

Lin Lan took a look and found that the bomb only had three wires.

 

[You’re in luck if there are only three wires.
It’s the easiest bomb to defuse.
Please use the following rules to defuse.]

[If there’s red, don’t cut red.]

[If there’s blue and green, don’t cut green.]

[If there’s red and blue, cut the third color.]

 

The guide to defusing a bomb was very detailed.
Even a primary school would be able to defuse a bomb with these instructions.
This made Lin Lan even calmer.
He turned on his flashlight and shined it at the bomb.

 

The three wire colors revealed themselves to him, Red, Blue, and Green.

 

Lin Lan: …? That doesn’t make sense???

 

If there’s blue and green, don’t cut green.
If there’s red and blue, then cut the third color.
But isn’t that just green?

 

“There’s another picture after this.” Chu Feng reminds him.

 

[How to Defuse a Bomb 2]

[If you find that the wires are red, blue, and green.
Carefully peel away the green coating, only the coating.
Make sure not to cut it.]

 

Lin Lan sucked in a sharp breath.
The instructions were really precise this time.
The timer continued to beep in the background.

 

Time remaining: 23 minutes 15 seconds.

 

Lin Lan carefully peeled the green coating and found that it was actually a yellow wire!

 

It was a yellow wire disguised as a green one!

 

[Now you can use the rules.
When there is red and blue, cut the third color.
Cut it without worry!]

[I wish you luck on your defusing journey.]

[—X]

 

Lin Lan was infinitely grateful to God X right now.
He gulped down his saliva nervously before looking at his ge for courage.

 

Chu Feng nodded his head.

 

Lin Lan took a deep breath and held the scissors in his hand, gradually getting closer and closer to the yellow wire.
The sharp blade stopped right in front of the thin wire.
It was just one wire that determined the life and death of his ge.
Lin Lan’s hands started trembling.

 

All of sudden, his wrist had been stabilized.

 

Chu Feng reached his hand out and grabbed the hand Lin Lan was using to hold the knife and—

 

Snap!

 

、

 

、

 

What seemed to be a century just passed, and time slowed to almost a complete stop.
Lin Lan felt his entire body freeze up.