Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Not until he disembarked from the starship and his cold body basked in the warm sunlight did Ruan Yunchu belatedly come to his senses.

The dream had been far too real.

"Still not awake?" Tangsen stopped beside him, a smile on his face, reached out to brush the wind-blown strands from his shoulder.

Ruan Yunchu stepped aside to avoid the touch, his earlier dazed expression giving way to his usual coldness.

"No, let's go."

Tangsen touched the withered flower in his pocket, sighed, and followed him.

Upon arriving at the designated hotel, Ruan Yunchu did not rest immediately. Unable to bear the smell on himself, he washed up and changed into soft, loose casual clothes. He settled into the sofa by the window, turned to look out the window, and took in the glimmering sea under the blazing sun.

The climate on Planet C was more pleasant than he had imagined—a little too warm if he wore too many layers—but he still instinctively gathered his gear, not wanting to reveal his true identity here.

Either way, he needed to stay vigilant.

As his mind wandered, a knock came at the door. He frowned slightly and chose to ignore it.

If there was something important, someone would message him.

But the person outside wouldn't give up. After knocking for a while without a response, he switched to sending him a message.

Tangsen: "Xiao Yun, there's a famous art exhibition nearby. The professor gave us two tickets and asked us to check it out."

Ruan Yunchu frowned, unsure how much of this was true.

Soon, his terminal rang again—Tangsen was calling him on the star phone.

After a moment's consideration, he answered and learned who the owner of the paintings was. He hesitated briefly, then agreed.

Tangsen waited at the door for five minutes. When it opened, he saw the young man, now in different clothes and with his mask back on. His expression dimmed.

"Xiao Yun, are you really allergic? Should we go to the hospital?"

Ruan Yunchu gave him a cold look. "Are we going to the exhibition or not?"

Tangsen thought for a moment, sighed, and chose to accompany him.

When they arrived, the place was more crowded than they had expected. Ruan Yunchu frowned, regretting not having worn gloves.

Noticing how grim he looked, Tangsen said quietly, "This is a very famous painter. The professor said it's a rare opportunity. Since we're on Planet C, we should broaden our horizons."

"Mm."

Ruan Yunchu didn't feel like talking to him. After having his ticket checked, he strode inside. He briefly browsed a few paintings, looking at them from extremely awkward angles to avoid crowding with others.

The artworks were indeed beautiful. After appreciating the most famous ones, he headed toward a quieter area to get some fresh air.

Tangsen followed behind, occasionally taking photos.

Standing before a black-and-red painting, Ruan Yunchu suddenly felt a camera flash in his direction. His face immediately darkened. He turned to Tangsen.

"Are you taking pictures of me?"

Tangsen coughed lightly and put the camera down. "I was taking a picture of the painting, planning to upload it to the Star Net later."

Tangsen had quite a few followers on the Star Net, something his classmates all knew. Ruan Yunchu had heard of it but didn't know exactly how many "quite a few" meant, so he didn't dwell on it.

He only said, "Don't take pictures of me."

"Okay."

A bit awkward, Tangsen turned to photograph other paintings.

After walking around, Ruan Yunchu found nothing else worth seeing. He decided to head to the restroom and then get out of here.

Tangsen waited outside. Inside the restroom, it was much quieter—almost empty.

As he washed his hands, he heard a bit of a commotion outside. He paused, instinctively looking back, but the sound vanished.

A vague unease crept over him. He grabbed a paper towel, dried his hands, and walked out. On the way, he saw no one—not even Tangsen, who had been waiting by the entrance.

As he turned a corner, the screams coming from the main hall made him frown. He peeked out from behind a wall.

A group of masked men in black, wielding real guns and ammunition, had surrounded the guests and staff at the exhibition. The scene was tense.

Ruan Yunchu's brow furrowed. The men by the entrance gave off a deadly aura.

Clearly, these were desperate criminals, not a drill.

A trembling voice pleaded, "Please, let my daughter go! If you want money, I can give you..." only to be struck in the back with a rifle butt, falling to the ground in a sorry state.

"Shut up." A cold, mechanical voice rang out—voice-modulated.

Ruan Yunchu looked at the leader.

"Don't want to die? Stay quiet. We're not after you. But if anyone pulls a stunt, I can't guarantee what will happen."

"... "

His words left the dead hall even more silent.

Apparently satisfied, the man took something from one of his subordinates, while another counted heads in the crowd.

Ruan Yunchu's heart skipped a beat. He realized they were counting heads.

This was bad.

Sure enough, the man broke into a smile.

"There are five more. Where are they hiding?"

Ruan Yunchu's eyes twitched. He looked up to the second floor and saw someone crouching at the edge, nervously glancing down.

In the next second, the leader raised his gun.

"I'll count to five. All of you come out. Miss one, and I kill one."

He started the countdown immediately, without giving anyone time to react.

"Five—"

"Four—"

As he counted, one of his subordinates interjected: "This place is completely sealed off. Even if you hide, you're dead. If you don't want to die faster, come out now and save us the trouble. Maybe we'll spare your lives."

"Three—"

The countdown was almost over, yet none of those hiding in the shadows showed themselves, making the people trapped in the center of the hall even more resentful.

"Come out!"

"Please, don't hide anymore. They've sealed everything off. No matter how you hide, they'll find you. Please, come out! I don't want to die!"

The few people at gunpoint were almost screaming.

"One."

At the final second of the countdown, Ruan Yunchu took a deep breath and strode out.

The leader was about to order his men to act when he saw someone appear. He paused, a bloodthirsty glint in his cruel eyes behind the mask.

"Oh, I thought you'd watch these people die."

Ruan Yunchu frowned slightly, glancing at the crowd from the corner of his eye. Tangsen was not among them.

"Squat over there!"

Someone shoved him hard.

Ruan Yunchu frowned, walked into the crowd, and half-squatted, lowering his gaze while studying their positions out of the corner of his eye.

"The rest of you, I don't have time to play hide-and-seek. Three seconds. If you don't come out, I'll kill you when I find you."

Threatening their own lives was clearly a more effective deterrent than using others as leverage. This time, before he finished the countdown, three people appeared—one of them being Tangsen.

As soon as they appeared, the masked men beat them severely.

"What a waste of time! Where's the last one?" The man had clearly lost patience, pointing his gun abruptly at the crowd. "I'm not giving any more chances."

Bang.

Something warm splattered onto Ruan Yunchu's hand. His body gave a violent jolt, and someone beside him collapsed.

The wealthy man who had just begged to let his daughter leave first was shot in the abdomen and fell instantly.

"Dad!"

The girl in the princess dress threw herself over him and hugged him.

"Shut up!" The leader pointed his gun at the crowd again. "If you don't want to die, shut your mouths!"

He raised his hand, and his subordinates moved in unison, as if to search for the last person still hiding.

Ruan Yunchu's mind went blank. After a moment, he came to his senses, took off his soft linen jacket, and pressed it down firmly against the wealthy man's bleeding abdomen.

He said softly, "Lay him down. Don't press too hard."

Hearing this, the girl holding her father immediately let go, took his jacket, and pressed it down hard, tears streaming down her face.

Ruan Yunchu pulled a short-acting agent from his pocket, but before he could use it, his arm was grabbed, stopping him.

"What are you doing to him?"

He turned to face a ruthless, icy gaze—devoid of any emotion, as if nothing in this world mattered, no morals, no regard for the law.

Ruan Yunchu caught the scent of blood on him, instinctively nauseated, but he kept his face neutral and replied coldly, "A short-acting enhancer. It stops bleeding."

"You have something that good?"

Ruan Yunchu didn't want to waste any more words on him. "If you delay any longer, he will really die."

The masked man sneered, "Isn't his death exactly what I want?"

"If you wanted to kill him, you should have aimed at his head, not his abdomen." Ruan Yunchu chuckled inwardly. "You don't actually want casualties, do you? After all, you just want to cause a commotion. If someone dies, you might not be able to successfully leave C Star."

"..."

The masked man's face suddenly turned icy, as if his bluff had been called, and he angrily aimed his gun at him.

"It seems I need to shatter your illusions."

Ruan Yunchu's heart trembled, but he showed no sign of backing down. Even if this was just his guess, he didn't think he was wrong.

Still, having a gun pointed at you still stirs up an inexplicable fear.

Just as the masked man was about to act, someone hurried over from behind and whispered something in his ear.

Ruan Yunchu couldn't hear clearly, but he saw a sinister smile spread across the man's face as he looked at Ruan Yunchu with interest.

"I've changed my mind."

Ten minutes later, a thin, pure black ring encircled Ruan Yunchu's neck. The masked man beside him introduced it with a grin.

"The latest invention. If you say one wrong word, I can blow you to pieces from right here. You probably don't know its power—it can blow your head clean off."

Ruan Yunchu closed his eyes, and without a chance to speak, he was pushed toward the door that was about to open.

"I told you what to do. Just follow orders, got it?" The masked man sneered and signaled the two sides to open the door.

"Xiao Yun!" Tangsen, battered and bruised, whispered from where he crouched among the crowd, his face full of worry, but he dared not move.

The door slowly opened before him. Harsh, blinding sunlight poured in. Having been in the dim environment for so long, Ruan Yunchu instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes. When he adjusted, hearing the people on either side urging him forward, he slowly walked out.

Dozens of steps below, fully armed Allied forces had drawn a defensive line. Countless gun barrels pointed at him, as if they would blow him to pieces at any second.

No one could stay calm facing such a situation. Ruan Yunchu took a slow breath and raised his hands.

"A hostage?"

Ruan Yunchu walked down the steps slowly, his hands still raised to show he was not aggressive.

Finally, a soldier in protective gear came to meet him.

"Who are you?"

"A visitor to the art exhibition." Ruan Yunchu's voice was steady. "The people inside told me to tell you: they need ten doses of T021, the latest from A Star. If you don't give them, they will kill everyone inside."

Before they could ask, he described the ring around his neck and the situation inside the hall.

"The soldier started to ask, 'They...' but Ruan Yunchu cut him off: 'The thing around my neck has listening and surveillance capabilities. They wouldn't let me say more. I'm only supposed to bring back their answer.'"

The soldier said he understood and turned around to pass on the message.

Shortly after, an officer in military uniform approached him under cover, "Tell them this agent has only been used on Planet A. On Planet C, there are only three test doses, all given to senior officers. That's all we have."

Before Ruan Yunchu could speak, the masked man's voice came from the collar around his neck.

"Ten doses, not one less."

Ruan Yunchu could only relay the message.

The officer's expression turned visibly grim. He raised his hand and picked up the radio to communicate with the other side.

"They're insisting on ten doses."

"Three million star coins each. They might as well ask for the moon."

"..." The officer took a deep breath. "What do we do now? Ask higher-ups to allocate some?"

"Even combining the stock from all planets within ten hours, we don't have ten doses. Tell them to go to hell."

"This..."

The surroundings were too quiet. Ruan Yunchu vaguely heard the casual tone on the other end and instinctively froze.

He stared intently at the radio in the officer's hand, his heart suddenly racing.

He thought he really shouldn't have come out this time.