Infinite Nightmares

Hearing this, Liu Jianming glanced at Zhang Wenda’s moving castle with a look of contempt.

"Take that piece of junk of yours? We wouldn’t get there in two years!" With a violent release of the handbrake, Liu Jianming sent the entire van shooting forward.

As the van’s finger-like tires began to move rapidly across the ground, it didn’t just weave through the congested roads. In places with no road at all, it scrambled sideways across walls like a spider, speeding past everything.

He drove recklessly fast and loved to slam on the brakes, lurching forward and back, left and right, trying to make the Auntie in the passenger seat fall against him.

"BLEAARGH~!" Song Jianguo threw up the congee in his stomach directly into the black hole on Zhang Wenda’s back.

Feeling the viscous, still-warm vomit travel through his body before pouring out of his chest, Zhang Wenda felt like he was going to lose his mind. This was worse than being stabbed a few times.

"Hey! Slow down!"

But Liu Jianming acted as if he hadn’t heard, continuing to speed recklessly until Zhang Wenda tore the entire roof off the van. Only then did he start to behave.

In truth, he didn’t have much choice. They had already left the giant mobile city cavalry and were driving on the boundless Internet Avenue. The road was so wide he could drive however he pleased.

The Maomaos had already gone out through the hole in the roof to get some air, making the van feel much more spacious at last.

Zhang Wenda asked Liu Jianming irritably, "Where are we going?"

"Where to? Didn’t that moron tell you? We’re going to work. Work for pay, do the job. It’s that simple." Liu Jianming, who was smoking, forcefully cranked down the window and flicked his ash outside.

"I didn’t need you to tell me that. I’m asking what kind of work is it?"

Just as Zhang Wenda asked the question, Hu Maomao, who had been clutching her tinfoil hat the whole time, spoke up. "To capture a Thought Wave."

"What?" Zhang Wenda thought he must have misheard. ’What the hell is capturing a Thought Wave?’

"Jeez, look at you, all scared. It’s just a small one, a minor one. If there are nineteen Great Thought Waves, then of course there are smaller thought waves within them. Our targets are those smaller ones."

Liu Jianming continued disdainfully, cigarette in mouth. "The Big Circle will do any job. Some come from that piece of junk computer, some from other people. If you want the easy gigs with big payouts, you need connections. Get it?"

"You’re a new guy, so you don’t get to choose. You just do whatever we do. You get a cut based on the work you put in. Once you’ve learned the ropes and are ready to fly on your own, you can kick us to the curb and go solo or do whatever you want. It’ll be up to you."

"Is that right? So how do you capture a Thought Wave? Walk me through the process. I never would have thought you could actually capture one."

"That depends on what the place is like. We only got the coordinates this morning. Heard it’s a tough nut to crack. It’s already wiped out a few teams."

Zhang Wenda wasn’t surprised. Jobs for Bureau 507 weren’t easy, so a job for the Big Circle couldn’t be a walk in the park either.

"You’re still going to such a dangerous place? Can’t we just get an easier one?" Song Jianguo was already looking for a way out.

"What are you talking about? Nobody in our circle wants a normal Thought Wave. It has to be a dangerous one. The more dangerous, the more it’s worth." Liu Jianming glanced at the rookies in the rearview mirror with contempt and shook his head.

"Let me be clear. Maomao and I are not your kindergarten teachers. When we get there, we don’t care if you can help or not. But if you drag us down, we won’t waste a single thought on saving you."

Then, he shot a fawning smile at the Auntie. "Of course, I’m not talking about you, sweetie. If you’re in trouble, I’ll be the first one to save you."

Seeing this, the Auntie rolled her eyes so hard they nearly vanished into the back of her head.

Zhang Wenda glanced at him, then at the kid. "Right back at you. When things get dangerous, I’m only looking after my own people. The rest of you can trust to fate."

With that, Zhang Wenda secretly reached for his enamel mug, taking stock of the lollipops he had just traded for and the two pieces of colored chalk capable of instantly replenishing his Tri-Core.

He had no idea just how dangerous this Thought Wave was, but he knew that if he wanted to make a place for himself in the Big Circle Gang, he had to prove his worth on this mission.

Only by climbing higher would he have a chance to make contact with the Big Circle’s leadership and coordinate with the others from Bureau 507.

Zhang Wenda pulled out his enamel mug, looked from side to side, and then shoved it into the black hole on his left shoulder. That way, he could easily grab what he needed from inside it.

The car continued its journey through the Internet World. Just when Zhang Wenda was settling in for a long drive, Hu Maomao raised her hands and aimed them forward as if calibrating something. Beneath her tinfoil pot, her mouth seemed to be muttering an incantation.

With a sharp pull of her hands, the space before the van instantly ripped apart, a gash opening up and swallowing everyone whole.

When Zhang Wenda opened his eyes, his surroundings had completely changed. The van was parked on a lively town street, where people with tricycles and bicycles laden with farm goods squatted on both sides, hawking their products.

"Is this a local market?" Zhang Wenda quickly got out of the van, noticing it had become even more dilapidated, its fingers having reverted to wheels. After a quick look around, he said to Hu Maomao, "This is Thought Wave One, right? Don’t tell me this is what you’re here to capture."

"We’re here for the small one. I can feel it. It’s near Thought Wave One." As she spoke, Hu Maomao began to walk down the bustling street.

Following behind, Zhang Wenda noticed that anyone who got near her would automatically give way, and her bizarre appearance didn’t seem to draw a single surprised look.

’Compared to their loudmouthed, temporary leader Liu Jianming, this Hu Maomao is probably the more powerful one.’

’Tang Xingxiong called her a Qi Gong Prodigy? Just how much of a prodigy is she?’

As Zhang Wenda was mulling this over, he heard a SLURP SLURP sound beside him. He turned to find Liu Jianming holding a bowl of chili noodles and slurping them down loudly.

But just eating noodles wasn’t enough for him. He held several cloves of solo garlic in his other hand, taking a bite of noodles, then a bite of garlic, eating until his head was covered in sweat.

"A Vampire? Eating garlic? And pairing it with noodles? Real classy."

Zhang Wenda sized up the guy, who was obviously full of hot air.

"You kids don’t know anything. You know about that Vampire incident in Shanghai a few years ago? That whole huge scene? That was our handiwork!" Liu Jianming’s face was filled with pride.

"So the Shanghai Vampires ate garlic? Does that mean the Vampires in Guizhou eat fish mint?"

"What do you know? To wipe us out in one fell swoop, the people from Bureau 507 used a secret weapon. All the Vampires who went were counteracted. The concepts of ’blood’ and ’garlic’ got switched around in our brains."

"Any Vampire who was counteracted can’t suck blood anymore. Not only that, but we have to eat garlic every day. If you go a day without it, you get antsy. Two days without it, and you’re scratching at the walls. Three days without garlic, and you just pass out."