Facts had proven that panic always resulted in riots.

And yet, another fact proved that using violence to quell violence was indeed an effective method.

The irrational players on the first floor swarmed up, seemingly attempting to commandeer all the rooms in the hotel.

Gu Mian and Chu Changge had just finished preparing when they heard chaotic footsteps at the staircase. They were moving fast, already storming up.

The room where Gu Mian and the others were staying was near the staircase, so the people who came up were battering the doors nearest to them.

As everyone knew, this hotel was quite old. Even the room doors were worn from years of neglect. With several people slamming together, a door creaked open within a short time.

At this moment, Fatty, lying on the bed, seemed to be awakened by the noises outside. Rubbing his eyes in confusion, he looked towards Gu Mian.

Footsteps were already approaching rapidly from their direction.

Chu Changge frowned.

Before Gu Mian, who stood beside him, could react, a tremendous sound, loud enough to shatter the windows, echoed from the direction of the staircase.

Gu Mian recognized this sound—it was a gunshot.

Fatty, who was rubbing his eyes, was obviously startled by the sudden gunshot. He almost rolled off the bed; thankfully, he managed to keep his balance.

"What's happening!" Fatty exclaimed from the bed, his eyes wide. Gu Mian swore he had never seen such perfectly round eyes before.

Meanwhile, terrifying screams and the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor. It seemed the gunshot had indeed caused substantial damage. Following that, Gu Mian heard three words—"Get out."

It sounded like the voice of the tenant whose door had been battered down; the gunshot was probably fired by this courageous tenant.

It was a woman…

Immediately, all sounds on this floor vanished. None of the people present seemed to have any armor to combat firearms, so they unanimously backed down.

The rioting crowd fled. However, the voice that had uttered those three words sounded vaguely familiar…

For some reason, after hearing this voice, Gu Mian instinctively thought of an "electric bike."

It had been a long time since Gu Mian had ridden an electric bike because, for quite a while, his electric bikes would disappear as soon as he acquired one—they were all stolen by damn thieves.

At that moment, Chu Changge paused. "Did the voice of the person who fired the gun sound a bit familiar to you?"

Fatty nodded frantically. "It sounded familiar to me too! It seemed like the one from that house in Lianhua City…"

"Enough," Gu Mian interrupted him, "Go back to sleep."

Fatty closed his mouth and buried his head under the blanket, which made the terrifying howl of the wind outside lessen slightly.

After a while, Gu Mian spoke again, "If the weather improves tomorrow, we'll check the supermarket first."

Upon hearing this, Fatty fell asleep filled with anticipation, dreaming of looting everything in the supermarket, only to be shot dead by the pursuing store security.

Fatty woke with a start the instant the bullet in his dream penetrated his head.

「It was morning now.」

Judging by the faint light outside, the sky was not as terrifying as it had been the previous day. However, vast dark clouds still roiled overhead, appearing somewhat ominous.

The rain had stopped, and the ground was damp, but the fierce wind still hadn't ceased, although it was now much less severe than last night.

Gu Mian checked the time; it was seven in the morning. "By the way," he asked, "when I went to the instance, you and Fatty went to fix the car, right?"

The Spirit Car had been damaged by him before, and it wasn't usable when he entered the instance.

Chu Changge nodded. "There was after-sales service. The salesclerk from the nearby supermarket helped fix it."

A salesclerk could do such things?

No, wait. A salesclerk helped them fix their Spirit Car? Gu Mian had thought Chu Changge and Fatty would be thrown out of the supermarket.

Chu Changge paused at this point. "But I have something to tell you."

What is it? Gu Mian looked at him questioningly.

Chu Changge hesitated. "When I took the Spirit Car to the supermarket for repairs, the salesclerk told me this car is typhoon-resistant... no matter how strong the typhoon, the car wouldn't be blown away."

Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "That's good news."

But Chu Changge frowned slightly. "However, when I went to get the car fixed, the wind hadn't started yet."

Gu Mian paused.

In that case, it seemed the supermarket salesclerk knew all along that a typhoon would make landfall tonight…

What was the connection between these strange NPCs?

"Doctor, Doctor," Fatty said, running up gleefully at this point. "The wind outside has subsided a lot! Can we go to the supermarket today?"

Fatty—a creature utterly obsessed with supermarkets.

Alright then.

Gu Mian hadn't intended to stay in this place for long anyway. Last night's riot had nearly implicated them; it was better to leave this godforsaken place as soon as possible.

When heading out, Fatty still seemed afraid of encountering yesterday's rioters. However, the corridor and lobby were empty, save for the boss sitting alone behind the counter, rolling a boiled egg over a bruise on his face.

"You're down," the boss said, noticing them instantly. "I kindly sheltered those people last night. Who knew they'd cause such trouble? Luckily, the army came early this morning, and those people have obediently cleared out."

As he spoke, he unwrapped the egg from its gauze, took a bite revealing the tender yellow yolk, and said, "Looking at your group, I guess you're checking out… This girl behind you…"

He noticed Xiao Hong following them.

The boss seemed to want to say she was ugly but ultimately held his tongue. "I don't remember her being with you."

Gu Mian glanced at him. "We took her in last night."

The boss was speechless for a moment. Don't lie to me; I didn't let anyone who looked like that in last night.

Stays at this hotel were settled daily, so checking out required no formal procedure; a verbal notification was sufficient.

Still, as they were leaving, the boss offered a few words like "safe travels." Although it didn't quite sound like a sincere well-wish, Gu Mian appreciated the sentiment.

As they were leaving, Fatty was still discussing the previous night's incident with Gu Mian. "Doctor, that voice from yesterday really seemed to belong to someone you know."

Gu Mian glanced at him. "I think everyone who knows me now wants to stab me to claim the reward from the wanted list."

Hearing this, Fatty shut his mouth, no longer bringing up the topic of acquaintances.

Because the army was stationed nearby, the streets here had already been cleared to facilitate ambulance access.

However, last night's wind had been too intense. Several trees in the adjacent green belt had been blown down. Fortunately, these trees had fallen towards the area above the steps, so Gu Mian could still drive the Spirit Car freely on the road.

However, there was one troublesome matter.

Xiao Hong seemed to love the wind immensely.

Upon seeing the Spirit Car, she happily scrambled onto the roof by herself and lay flat.

Her long hair cascaded down, dangling beside Gu Mian's car window. A gentle breeze wafted by, and Gu Mian thought he caught the scent of Rejoice shampoo.

...

Oh well, at least it didn't obstruct his view.

As he was thinking, Gu Mian fumbled for the car key but couldn't find it. "Fatty, do you have the car key?"

"Oh, right." Fatty reached into his pocket. "Didn't we go to get the car fixed earlier? I have the car key."

Just then, a familiar yet distinctly dangerous voice suddenly echoed from the hotel entrance, "Could I be cheeky enough to ask for a ride from you folks?"

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