Genius Playground

Unafraid, Jiang Ran met the Assassin’s piercing gaze and held it.

’So, it has still come to this.’

He had had similar conversations with the Assassin several times before, in all sorts of different forms.

"It’s obvious."

Jiang Ran said softly,

"It’s not a difficult secret to notice."

The Assassin didn’t say much.

He crouched down and began to remove the ammo clips from the prison guard’s body.

"Your sudden appearance was just like one of the legendary Magician’s tricks."

"So... are you here to save the Magician?"

In the distance, down the corridor, the crowd’s bloodthirsty shouts grew louder, their chants becoming synchronized. Everyone was waiting for the Magician’s beheading, for the execution of the world’s number one criminal.

"Do you want to know?"

Jiang Ran smiled.

"If you want the answer, you’ll have to trade your secrets for it. I’m very interested in your story, too."

Of course, Jiang Ran had no intention of giving him a straight answer.

The Assassin always spoke in riddles when it came to crucial questions. The moment the conversation got slightly deeper, he would trot out that classic line—

"Once we’ve successfully broken out of prison and escaped, I’ll tell you."

’If he wants to make empty promises...’

’...then two can play at that game.’

The Assassin pulled a gun from the small of the dead guard’s back and threw it to Jiang Ran.

"Do you know how to use a gun?"

"No." Jiang Ran shook his head.

The Assassin reached over and flipped off the safety.

"Take it even if you don’t know how to use it. After all... you’re the only one left who can."

Jiang Ran turned his head and looked at the ground, where blood flowed like a river.

The bodies of one prison guard, three police dogs, as well as Sang Biao and the stupid young man, all lay there quietly, completely still.

’It was hard to know what to make of it.’

If the stupid young man and Sang Biao hadn’t drawn their fire, this operation probably wouldn’t have succeeded.

After several loops, this was arguably the closest he had ever been to a successful prison break.

"This is bad!"

After rolling the guard’s corpse over, the Assassin’s expression suddenly changed. He pointed to a flashing red light on the guard’s chest.

"An oversight. They have alarms on their chests. Their gear never had these before. This must be a new addition today!"

WHINE...

WHINE...

WHINE...

The sound of rapidly approaching drones came from somewhere, or perhaps from every direction!

"Go, now."

The Assassin shoved Jiang Ran forward, then turned his back to him and raised his gun.

"You’re the only one in street clothes. We’re in prison uniforms... Go, quickly. The door at the end of the corridor leads to the execution grounds."

"Once you get to the execution grounds, you can disappear into the crowd. There are thousands and thousands of people watching. The guards will never find you."

The sound of the drones grew closer and closer.

"But what about you two..."

Jiang Ran looked at the Assassin, who, despite his riddles, had always protected him. Then he glanced at Teacher Zhang Yang, old and with limited mobility.

"Just go!"

The Assassin shoved him again.

"You’ll... come back, right?"

Jiang Ran looked at him.

During his second Time Travel to the 2045 Future World, the Assassin had asked the very same question just before he died.

Back then, he had asked Jiang Ran if he could return one more time.

The Assassin was not only highly receptive to the matter of Time Travel, but all of his guesses about it had also been incredibly accurate.

That was why Jiang Ran was nearly certain the Assassin knew many secrets about Time Travel and the Time Travel Machine; he was just frustrated that he had no way to pry those secrets out of him.

Seeing Jiang Ran’s silence, the Assassin suddenly smiled as if a heavy burden had been lifted. He became calm, looking as if he were ready to die.

"Go on."

In his eyes, Jiang Ran’s silence was as good as a confirmation.

"Next time, get us a little farther."

With that, he raised his pistol and aimed at a drone that had just swept around the corner—

BANG! BANG!

A direct hit. The drone crashed to the ground.

At this point, Jiang Ran couldn’t afford to hesitate. He turned and ran.

’Either way, it’s death.’

’So I might as well push a little farther, scout the path ahead, and gather some more intel!’

Behind him, gunshots rang out sporadically, but they quickly gave way to a dead silence.

’Most likely, the Assassin and Teacher Zhang Yang were both dead.’

’I’m the only one left.’

’Then I have to push forward with everything I’ve got!’

He ran for his life.

As the whirring of the drones behind him grew ever closer, he finally reached the end of the corridor, where a pair of white steel double doors stood in his way.

Jiang Ran pressed down on the handle and shoved—

"Kill, kill, kill! The Magician! Kill, kill, kill! The Magician!"

"Public Enemy! Public Enemy! Public Enemy!"

"Behead! Behead! Behead! Behead! Behead!"

Outside the door was a sea of people, the sound deafening.

Facing the bright sunlight he hadn’t seen in so long, Jiang Ran put a hand to his brow, squinted, and ducked down to blend into the crowd.

Men and women, young and old.

The execution ground was packed shoulder-to-shoulder. It was impossible to count how many people there were; there wasn’t even room to stand.

After blending into the crowd, Jiang Ran lost all control of his own movement. He was forced to inch along with the masses, swept up in the current.

The man behind him, constantly shoving people forward, was a foreigner. He was tall and powerfully built, shouting in a language Jiang Ran couldn’t understand and waving his fist in righteous fury.

Jiang Ran glanced back at him.

He saw that the man had tears in his eyes, his face contorted with rage. He was gritting his teeth, his gaze locked on the execution platform ahead, his expression a mask of pure hatred.

Looking up and all around, it wasn’t hard to see that many people were just as enraged and frenzied as the big man. Their chants and shouts made it clear they wanted the Magician’s head to roll that very instant.

Hatred, hatred, and more hatred.

As far as the eye could see, the people of the world were united in a bone-deep hatred for the Magician.

Jiang Ran had never experienced such a massive spectacle before. He was utterly shaken.

’He truly couldn’t even begin to imagine...’

’What on earth did the Magician, Qin Feng, have to do—what kind of crime, so heinous it offended both heaven and earth—to make the entire human race hate him so profoundly?’