Chapter 176 - 174: Bomb Game
Jiang Li took a deep breath and looked at Wu Ming and Miao Anji. "Let’s go!"
Ji Yan watched the group on the screen, then stood up and left.
The two sides had been entangled in the mountains for three days. Yu Hongqian’s reinforcements had just arrived, but so had Ji Yan’s. After three days, both sides had suffered heavy casualties.
The group’s expressions grew increasingly grim.
"Ji Yan’s people are highly skilled. He’s been feeding them our positions the whole time. If we let this drag on, it’ll be bad for us."
From the helicopter, Yu Hongqian kept a close watch on the situation below. But it was clear Ji Yan had lost his patience and was preparing to attack them.
Yu Hongqian contacted headquarters to request a special operations aircraft, but his request was denied. Their current position wasn’t far from the urban area.
Deploying such an aircraft would cause public panic, and the situation would spiral out of their control.
Yu Hongqian was forced to land.
"Hello? Hello, hello, hello? It’s been three days. I’m getting tired of this little game of cat and mouse.
Now, please accept this special gift I’ve prepared for you!"
Ji Yan’s voice came through. Everyone instantly went on high alert. ’What does he mean?’
"Watch out! It’s knockout gas!"
Powder hidden in the mountains erupted instantly, and people began to drop one after another.
The people watching from the other side saw this and their vision went black with despair.
"H-How long has Ji Yan been preparing for this? To plant so many knockout gas canisters..."
"From the looks of it, he’s been planning this for over five years."
"So even without Jiang Li, all of this would have happened anyway."
Yu Zhen Guo slapped one of them. "What the hell does this have to do with Jiang Li? It’s because you’re all incompetent! I’m telling you, if you can’t solve this, I’ll report every single one of you."
Yu Zhen Guo pointed at the group of fucking idiots.
"General, please, calm down..."
"Hmph. *I’m* not the one who needs to worry. If this isn’t resolved, you’d better start worrying about yourselves!"
Yu Zhen Guo turned and went out, taking his men with him to the scene.
Jiang Li watched as the people around her collapsed one by one. Miao Anji stood beside her, their expression unchanged.
Wearing a gas mask, Ji Yan walked out of the smoke. He looked at the only two people still conscious, his voice a mix of surprise and excitement.
"You two really are full of surprises."
"Ji Yan, you bastard!" Jiang Li took a step forward, only to be hit by a tranquilizer dart.
A cold smile on his lips, Ji Yan walked over, hoisted her over his shoulder, and turned to leave.
"Go. Capture all of them."
「...」
A sharp pain shot through her, and Jiang Li forced her eyes open. The next second, she saw a pile of M&M’s on the table in front of her.
She looked up and saw familiar faces. Lu Xingye, Yu Hongqian, Peng Hai—they were all tied to chairs.
Jiang Li frowned and looked around. ’What is this psycho planning now?’
"Welcome, everyone, to my livestream. This will be my last night in Hua Country.
Next, please enjoy a real-life game."
Ji Yan was wearing a mask, and his voice was distorted. After speaking, he turned on the camera.
Instantly, the view of the entire clearing appeared on the livestream. Jiang Li was in the foreground, and in front of her were the personnel who had gone missing in the mountains today.
Before Jiang Li could figure out what was happening, Ji Yan’s voice rang out again.
"The rules of the game are simple. I’ve chosen one of these M&M’s to be my ’bomb’.
Each candy you pick allows you to save one person. But if you pick the bomb... they all have to die."
[My god, is he treating human lives like they’re worthless? I’ve only ever seen games played for ten bucks, but he’s using people’s lives as chips...]
[Oh my god, this is terrifying!]
The livestream instantly exploded in popularity, jumping from a hundred viewers to a thousand, then to ten thousand, and then to a hundred thousand.
Meanwhile, the tech department was going insane.
"Captain, that Ji Yan guy is a genius at this stuff. This is too difficult."
"No matter how hard it is, I believe we can do it."
Zheng Qichuan’s eyes were glued to the livestream. In just one day, things had taken such a drastic turn.
Pei Yu was leading his team in an attempt to crack it, and the streaming platform was cooperating with them to shut it down.
Jiang Li stared at the M&M’s, then looked up at Ji Yan. "Ji Yan, what the hell do you want?"
Ji Yan sat in his chair, watching her with great interest. "Nothing, really. Life is just a bit dull. It needs a little excitement."
As he spoke, Ji Yan got up and walked over to Jiang Li. "That night... was the first time I ever felt other emotions. Jiang Li, how did you do it?"
Ever since his programming career took off, his life had become numb and cold. Only killing could make him feel a thrill.
He had been plotting all of this since he was eighteen, just to cap off his years in Hua Country.
Jiang Li’s emotions that night had been truly spectacular—sympathy, anger, joy.
A look of infatuation appeared in Ji Yan’s eyes. But afterward, no matter what he tried, he couldn’t replicate that feeling.
After finding out who she was, he felt alive again—full of anticipation and happiness.
These were emotions he hadn’t felt in over twenty years. This feeling... it made him feel like he wasn’t a robot.
Jiang Li’s throat felt like it was on fire. "Let them go, and I’ll tell you why."
"NO, NO, NO. That’s not in line with my rules of the game."
Ji Yan circled Jiang Li, then leaned on the table and looked at her. "You’re in no position to negotiate with me."
Jiang Li glanced at the camera pointed at her from a short distance away. ’It’s good if I can stall for time,’ she thought.
"Ji Yan, those people you killed... where did they come from?"
Ji Yan raised an eyebrow and sat back down in his chair. "Where did they come from? I hired them. High salaries."
"Where are their bodies?"
A hint of displeasure appeared in Ji Yan’s eyes as he looked at Jiang Li. "Jiang Li, I admit you’re quite clever sometimes. But... I don’t like it when people interfere with my plans."
Ji Yan pressed a switch, and a red dot landed on each of them.
"The game begins now. If you don’t start within one minute, I’ll have to do things my way."
Ji Yan picked up a gun beside him. The sound of a round being chambered echoed through the room.
The livestream chat instantly exploded.
[This isn’t fake? Is that a real gun?]
[Praying silently. I hope the young lady doesn’t pick the bomb.]
[*sobbing* A bad guy has infiltrated our country.]
The live comments were all hoping for Jiang Li to win.
The sound of a countdown timer echoed in her ears, and Jiang Li’s heart began to race along with it.
After a moment of tense silence, Jiang Li moved.
She raised a trembling hand and began to pick up the M&M’s.
CLINK. The crisp sound of an M&M dropping into a glass jar rang out.
Jiang Li gasped for air, her nerves frayed. She looked up at Ji Yan.
"Continue."
The tense atmosphere grew heavier. The hundreds of thousands of people in the livestream chat began to fall silent.
"I want some water," Jiang Li said, looking up at Ji Yan.
A brief, stunned look crossed Ji Yan’s face. ’Does this woman have no sense of the situation?’
Jiang Li swallowed hard. "I have a weak heart. If you don’t give me some water, I’m afraid I’ll die of fright before the game is even over."
"Tsk." Ji Yan turned impatiently to pour her some water.
Jiang Li glanced toward her front-left. A few seconds later, the tense expression on her face relaxed slightly.
Ji Yan grabbed her chin and forced the water into her mouth.