LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 166: That night, he drank a lot of alcohol.
"And the person who triggered this fixed event has a distinctive feature: a plum blossom tattoo on the back of their hand."
"As long as that person is killed, the disaster will be terminated ahead of time."
"This news wasn't pre-scripted, it's all improvised on the spot. These matters affect too many people's interests, and I expect the signal to be cut off any second now. When I said I was going to stand out, my boss, Liu, put a lot of pressure on me, asking if I really planned to go against the mayor."
"I didn't say a word, I just turned and left."
"Go against the mayor? Who's afraid?"
"The reason I chose to be a reporter is to expose injustice and reveal the truth. Do I need to collude and become corrupted with those maggots? I am still young, and I don't want to stain myself with the stench of corruption."
"Remember my name, Liu Xiaohua. If I die, it's definitely the Fengtian City mayor who killed me, and..."
The next second—
The signal was cut off.
On the wristwatches and outdoor screens of all the citizens of Broken Pot City, the image of the woman who was speaking non-stop suddenly came to an abrupt halt, turning into pixelated white dots.
...
Bursting into the makeshift studio, Liu, who had just cut off the signal, looked grimly at Xiaohua, who stood in front of the camera and microphone, and said word by word, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"The person who brought you in is just a low-level leader."
"You don't think he has enough power to protect you, do you?"
"Even if he's a minor official in Jingjiu City, do you think he can protect you? Do you even understand what it means that each of the 128 main cities can almost have absolute autonomy?"
"Are you insane!!!"
"Ever heard the saying?" Xiaohua rose from her chair, looking fearlessly into Liu's eyes, "Justice may be delayed, but it will never be denied. If there's information that can help the residents of Broken Pot City, why should it be kept secret?"
"And, what protects me is never just one person."
"It's the public."
"Public opinion will protect me. No matter how powerful he is, would he dare to kill me? Everyone would know he's the killer."
"You..."
Liu started breathing rapidly, but then he stopped talking. There was no point in saying anything at this moment. He decided to withdraw from this operation and resign immediately.
The sooner he resigned, the better.
He couldn't continue doing this.
Working with this woman, he would surely die sooner or later.
He had made his point very clear, which meant that the mayors of every main city were almost like feudal lords unchecked by the central government. In the past, which city's mayor could continue for twenty or thirty years?
Insane.
Let you work in a city for twenty or thirty years, wouldn't the city end up bearing your name?
No one could protect you from such a person.
And public opinion?
Public opinion, my ass. You just assumed this thing would be useful.
In Jingjiu City, a mere intern wouldn't have the authority to broadcast directly across Broken Pot City. This time, to support Broken Pot City and to promptly broadcast the news here,
they were given temporary permissions.
The original intention was to have these television stations urgently educate the citizens of Broken Pot City with survival hiding techniques and increase the survival rate as much as possible. Unexpectedly, this broadcasting incident occurred.
...
"Mayor."
Chi Qiu came rushing in again, this time taking a deliberate look around to ensure there were no recording devices before speaking anxiously, "The conversation we just had has been leaked. Public opinion is now attacking us."
"Especially that reporter, she edited out a lot of our conversation, leaving behind words that are too provocative."
"What should we do?"
"No problem."
The mayor shook his head. "It's just that I too want to see what the outcome would be if we chose the second option."
"But lots of people will die."
"Those who die won't be Fengtian's citizens. Am I the mayor of Broken Pot City?"
"Oh..."
Chi Qiu nodded sheepishly. This was his first direct interaction with the mayor. Normally, someone of his level wouldn't even get to meet the mayor. Even family heads had to show utmost respect to the mayor.
Taking this chance,
he had met with the mayor several times and had become quite familiar with him.
He had initially thought this was a serious matter, but seeing that the mayor wasn't very concerned, he didn't pursue it further.
...
Meanwhile, the Black Doctor, holding a knife in his left hand and a bag of blood in his right, had returned to the clinic. While transfusing blood to Doctor Gou, he watched the emergency news broadcast on the television screen.
An intern named Liu Xiaohua was speaking frantically there.
"Intern?"
The Black Doctor looked up, then laughed: "Can an intern make 500,000 a month?"
He knew this woman.
It was indeed his girlfriend, more precisely his ex-girlfriend. Even if the salary in Jingjiu City was high, a journalist couldn't make 500,000 in a month, let alone an intern journalist. This meant that the woman was also boasting.
She wasn't doing as well as he was, her salary was even less than what he earned at the hospital.
Yes.
He had lied to Doctor Gou, he hadn't killed that woman. Although he had fled to Broken Pot City because he was in trouble, he had never taken a life, and he didn't want to kill with his own hands.
He hadn't stuffed the woman into the river either.
That evening at dusk,
after that woman had left Broken Pot City without looking back, he, like a child, threw his car into the river, then sat on the riverbank under the night sky, silently lighting a cigarette as he watched the car he had long coveted disappear little by little beneath the surface.
In his heart, he told himself that it was time to let go completely.
A long time ago, she used to complain every time it rained that if they had a car, they wouldn't have to get wet like everyone else. Why did all her girlfriends' boyfriends have cars, but not her?
Since then, he had always wanted to buy a car.
That night, he drank a lot of alcohol.
But he didn't tell Doctor Gou these things; they were too childish, and it was somewhat embarrassing to say them out loud.
He had lied to Doctor Gou.
Afterward, he glanced at his wristwatch, which showed a message from Liu Xiaohua.
The gist of it was for him to try his best to find a person with a plum blossom tattoo on the back of their hand. If he could find them, she was willing to have a meal with him and get reacquainted, and they might even get back together.
It was clear that Liu Xiaohua must have been very anxious.
The last time Liu Xiaohua came to Broken Pot City, before she left, he suggested having a meal together, but she said she couldn't get used to eating in such a small place.
Now she was even willing to demean herself by eating in such a place just to find someone.
"Heh."
The Black Doctor chuckled, picked up a roll of bandages from beside him, and tightly wrapped up the plum blossom tattoo on Doctor Gou's hand.
Thus—
Both he and Doctor Gou's injuries had been bandaged, but Doctor Gou had fallen into a coma because of blood loss. The rest was up to Doctor Gou's healing ability. His injuries were not as severe as Doctor Gou's; the main target of torture was Doctor Gou.
That's the benefit of being an underling.
A boss to take the hits.
A lackey to run first in trouble.
The Black Doctor sat on a nearby chair, thoughtfully looking at Doctor Gou. He knew that Doctor Gou used to be from Fengtian City, and after killing quite a few people in Fengtian City, he fled to Broken Pot City apparently without any family.
But it was unclear why he had activated this fixed event.
Could it have been arranged by the "Tomb Guardian"?
He'd always been curious about this faction and had wanted to meet its leader, Chen Miao. The faction was powerful, and even though he was just a Lifestyle Occupation player and not a Supernatural, he could make that assessment.
"Faction Effect."
When he saw the "Tomb Guardian" faction effect, his first reaction was to know this faction was powerful; that faction effect was almost like a god-like existence.
Especially under this faction effect, his medical arts, which had previously been stagnating, began to rise again, and there was no longer a ceiling for his Skill Proficiency.
He had a secret, which he had not shared with anyone.
He was born with a bloodline, something he discovered the year Xiaohua left, when he became a level 8 doctor.
"Heavenly Doctor Bloodline."
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This bloodline could help him become a very strong surgeon.
The effect of this bloodline was to increase his Skill Proficiency acquisition speed as a doctor by 50 times, which was not very strong, since the proficiency of lifestyle skills is related to level and there is a limit to the proficiency cap.
At most, it meant his proficiency increased much faster than the average person, but the ceiling was the same.
But ever since joining the "Tomb Guardian,"
he knew that things would be different from now on.
As long as he stayed with the "Tomb Guardian," his proficiency acquisition speed would reach an incredibly exaggerated level, at which point the talent of his bloodline would be fully realized, and as long as he advanced to a level 20 doctor,
he could even change professions to become the special Supernatural Occupation "Surgical Maniac."
"Pretty good."
The Black Doctor suddenly smiled, revealing his white teeth. Although he had never met the other members of "Tomb Guardian," for some reason, he felt a fondness for these people, especially after Doctor Gou shared his experiences on the Hell Bus.
Learning that the leader of the "Tomb Guardian" was hosting guests relentlessly on the Hell Bus set on the hardest difficulty, while the other members were out there completing missions like crazy, gave him a sense of belonging, something he longed for.
In truth, he wasn't a sycophant.
He simply liked the feeling of dedication.
When playing games, he enjoyed choosing tank characters, charging to the forefront to absorb damage for his teammates; seeing his teammates survive under his protection made him very happy. He reveled in this feeling of dedication.
...
At that moment, Chen Miao's brows furrowed as he arrived at the heart of the Sea of Zombies, the targeted location he had marked, a deep pit located underground.
A massive horde of zombies was rapidly emerging from it.
Around the surface area of this deep pit was something like red paint marked with the number "009."
Through his Eagle Eye Skill, he could vaguely make out the iridescent lights flickering continuously at the bottom of the deep pit, where zombies were incessantly pouring forth, the flickering suggesting valuable items were there.