40: Chapter 40 The Calm Before the Storm

"Clink—"

The liquid in the red wine glass wasn't expensive Lafite, but ice-cold cola fizzing with bubbles.

Qin Feng stood on the edge of the roof of Binjiang No. 1 Courtyard, with two hundred meters of empty space beneath his feet.

The wild wind whistled, blowing his trench coat—bought from a street stall—billowing about, making him look exactly like a villainous overlord from a comic book about to destroy the world.

"Brother Feng, are we really not running?"

Pei Ji crouched behind the water tank, clutching binoculars, his legs shaking like a sieve.

He looked down through the lens, where dense red and blue police lights had stained the streets of Jianghai City the color of cyberpunk.

"Run?" Qin Feng swirled the goblet in his hand, took a sip of cola, and hiccuped. "Where to? Even the sewers are probably crawling with armed SWAT teams right now."

Su Tang sat on the parapet to the side, her long legs dangling in mid-air.

She had changed back into a sleek black bodysuit and was toying with a tactical dagger she had just swiped from Alice.

"Then where to next?" Su Tang tilted her head. There was no fear in those peach-blossom eyes, only the kind of excitement that feared the world wouldn't be chaotic enough. "The modified off-road vehicles Chen Haonan sent are already filled with gas. As long as you give the word, we can drive straight through the highway blockade."

Qin Feng turned around, his back to the myriad lights of the city.

He looked at these two teammates who had been completely led astray by him, a playful curve tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Why crash through the blockade?"

Qin Feng raised his hand, pointing at the pitch-black night sky above, then at the brightly lit building of the Jianghai TV Station in the distance.

"Su Tang, remember."

"For an excellent actor, the stage is wherever it needs to be."

Qin Feng leaned in close to Su Tang, his voice low but carrying a magic that sent adrenaline soaring: "Wherever there are cameras, that's where we go."

Su Tang froze for a moment, then the light in her eyes intensified. She licked her lips: "Madman. But... I like it."

At the same time. Jianghai City Police Headquarters, courtyard playground.

It was already eleven o'clock at night, but the place was bright as day.

Dozens of high-power searchlights pierced the night sky, riddled with holes.

On the ground, it was no longer the petty squabbling of a few dozen police cars.

A full three hundred SWAT armored vehicles were lined up in neat, uniform formations like blocks of black steel.

Overhead, a swarm of fifty police drones emitted a low hum, like dark clouds pressing down.

Two thousand fully armed SWAT officers and armed police stood in silence, loaded and ready.

The murderous aura was so intense that birds within a few kilometers dared not land.

On the podium, Zhao Shanhe was in his training uniform.

He wasn't holding his usual iron balls polished to a sheen, but was gripping a megaphone instead.

His face, full of thick flesh, was as black as the bottom of a pot, and the veins on his neck were throbbing.

"Disgrace!"

Zhao Shanhe slapped the podium, the force so great that it cracked the solid wood surface.

The crowd below was silent, two thousand pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

"Three days! Three whole days!" Zhao Shanhe roared, his voice echoing over the playground through the megaphone, making people's eardrums ache. "Thousands of us, led around by the nose by a single actor! If this gets out, does our Jianghai City Police Headquarters still have any face left?!"

"Don't think that just because this is a drill, you can let your guard down!"

"The Provincial Department has already spoken! Treat him like a real terrorist! Fight him like a desperate gangster with nuclear weapons!"

Zhao Shanhe took a deep breath and suddenly pulled the pistol from his waist, pointing it straight at the heavens.

"I, Zhao Shanhe, am laying it out here today!"

"The codename for this operation is 'Catch the Wind'!"

"If we can't catch Qin Feng, I'm not wearing this police uniform anymore! I'll go be a lackey for that Chen Haonan instead!"

"Do you hear me?!"

"Always ready!!" Two thousand people roared in unison, the sound wave exploding like a tsunami, shattering the silence of the night.

In a corner of this fervent oath-taking rally, a black command vehicle sat quietly.

The window was half-rolled down.

Xie Qingshang sat in the shadows, clutching a crumpled photograph.

It was a screenshot of Qin Feng wearing a clown mask, making a "V" sign high in the air.

"Crunch."

He popped the last piece of dark chocolate into his mouth, chewing it loudly.

The bitter taste spread through his mouth, cooling his restless heart slightly.

"Director Zhao is still too emotional." Xie Qingshang whispered, his bloodshot eyes flashing with a near-pathological calmness and persistence. "Yelling is useless."

He turned to look at the tactical tablet beside him.

On the screen was a holographic map of Jianghai City.

Countless red dots were flashing wildly; those were the hidden sentries and sniper spots that were already in position.

"Qin Feng." Xie Qingshang stretched out his slender fingers and drew a circle on the map, as if weaving an invisible net.

"This time, I'm going to drain your oxygen, little by little."

"I hope you're ready."

Inside the broadcast vehicle, the atmosphere was completely different.

Chief Director Wei Guanqi slumped in his leather seat, clutching a newly printed script, his hands shaking as if he were playing the guitar.

It was the script outline for the second season of "simulated crime" automatically generated by the system just now.

"Crazy... This system is absolutely crazy..." Wei Guanqi swallowed, his face pale.

On the cover of the script, four blood-red characters were imprinted: [Shark of the High Seas].

Opening the first page, the task location line had only two simple words: Cruise Ship.

And not the kind of pleasure boat drifting on the river.

It was a super luxury cruise ship with a displacement of one hundred thousand tons, a passenger capacity of three thousand, and about to set sail for a casino on the high seas—the "Poseidon".

"Is this supposed to be the Titanic?!" Wei Guanqi grabbed his hair, letting out a desperate wail. "Causing trouble in Jianghai City was one thing, but going to the high seas? That's a lawless zone! What if Qin Feng gets too excited and actually hijacks the ship? How many lives do I have to pay for that?"

The assistant director carefully handed over a glass of water: "Dir... Director, are we still going to film it? The sponsor just wired another fifty million, saying they want to buy the exclusive naming rights for Qin Feng on the ship..."

Wei Guanqi's movements stiffened.

Fifty million?

He suddenly looked up, the fear in his eyes instantly replaced by greed.

"Film! Why wouldn't we film!" Wei Guanqi gritted his teeth and slapped his thigh hard. "Wealth is sought in danger! Tell Qin Feng, as long as he dares to act, I'll support him even if it costs me my life!"

"However..." Wei Guanqi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Buy him an accident insurance policy. Write me as the beneficiary."

Midnight.

The live stream screen suddenly turned pitch black.

But the number of online viewers didn't drop; instead, it soared to eighty million in an instant.

The bullet comments were scrolling like a blizzard.

"Why is the screen black? Where is Brother Feng?"

"He must be holding back a big move! The first season was so explosive, the second season has to take off, right?"

"I heard there's going to be a big scene this time! Everyone stand up!"

"Joker! Joker!"

Just at this moment of high anticipation, a blood-red countdown suddenly lit up in the center of the screen.

[10] [9] ...

On the rooftop of Binjiang No. 1 Courtyard.

Qin Feng watched the countdown on his phone and drained the last of the cola in his glass.

The sensation of carbonated bubbles bursting on the tip of his tongue made him feel a bit clearer.

In his mind, the system prompt became unprecedentedly high-pitched, even carrying a hint of harsh metallic friction.

[Buzz—]

[Warning! Warning!]

[Second volume plot module loaded!]

[Current difficulty: Hell Mode.]

[Hostile forces: Jianghai police, Armed Police Corps, Interpol, and... some behemoths hiding in the deep sea.]

[Host, do you wish to start this carnival?]

Qin Feng laughed.

He let go.

"Crash!"

The goblet fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. The glass shards shimmered with a cold light in the moonlight.

He straightened his collar and made an extremely gentlemanly gesture of invitation to the void of the night sky.

Just like a magician about to take the stage, waiting for the moment the curtain rises.

"Come on."

Qin Feng's voice was very soft, but it was carried by the night wind to every corner of the city.

"Game Start."

[3] [2] [1]

[Bang!]

A gunshot rang out on the screen, and the image froze on Qin Feng's half-smiling face.

At that moment, his eyes seemed to hide the entire abyss.