"Aha, it’s my turn to shine."
"Co on, keep up—this one’s on you. Let everyone drink less; we’re going to set off fireworks later."
"OK."
Ye Nai stuffed a piece of at into her mouth and grabbed a clean cup to follow beside Regintal Command Pan and the other leaders.
Thanks to that widely known gossip from Block 5, Ye Nai stood there ready to drink on behalf of the leaders, and anyone who didn’t know her could guess who she was.
There was only one girl in the entire block who could drink like her.
"See that? All those fireworks over there, those big crackers—just a sip will do, we’re setting off the fireworks in a bit, right?"
She provided them a way out, and with those fireworks piled up like an arsenal, the warriors who ca to toast also just laughed it off, finished their drinks, set down their cups, and went to handle the fireworks, even playfully fighting over who got the biggest crackers.
People kept coming up the stairs, Ye Nai kept drinking, the fire door was wide open, and the warriors who got the fireworks had already gone down from there.
The people who hadn’t co up from downstairs, hearing that the fireworks were to be set off outside, didn’t co up either; serving drinks to the leaders wasn’t as fun as watching fireworks.
Seeing fewer people coming up, the third floor finally cleared out.
Ye Nai put down her cup and ran off first—she had drunk too much and needed to pee.
Even if it was just one toast per person, it all added up, and the alcohol had sweated out, leaving only urine.
The spacious ground outside the cafeteria was now just right for setting off fireworks. All those fireworks had been carried down by the warriors, one in each arm. The big crackers were put in the middle of the field, while the smaller fireworks were held and played with on the side.
After coming out of the restroom, Ye Nai saw the first big cracker bloom beautifully in the sky.
The big cracker rose quickly and lasted a long ti, drawing a lot of attention.
The private warrior teams who were making their way to Sector 1 for fun saw it too, through their windows and rearview mirrors, smiled, and kept going.
In all the risky sectors, there were no market stalls for fireworks, mainly because there wasn’t enough spacious area. Military camps had space but civilians were not allowed in, and though the gymnasium’s entry looked spacious, under the fireworks smoke, it couldn’t actually accommodate many people setting off fireworks at the sa ti. So, individuals who wanted to play with fireworks had to buy them in the city themselves, then go to the main roads outside the risky sectors where there was less traffic at the mont to set off a few.
Ye Nai, happily playing with so small firecrackers at the side, heard several shouts of laughter. Looking up, she saw several people standing on the cafeteria rooftop, each holding a large Gatling gun, shooting fireworks into the sky.
Those large Gatlings were actually big skyrockets. Many people standing in a row setting them off together looked impressive, just like a row of people on a battlefield wielding real Gatlings, indomitable.
It was good she had bought fireworks like stocking up goods; otherwise, they wouldn’t have lasted through the night like this.
The money spent wasn’t much; she and a few team leaders had chipped in together, just for so fun.
After playing for over an hour and slling too much of the fireworks, with her nose and throat feeling a bit uncomfortable, Ye Nai greeted her acquaintances and went ho to rest, leaving any leftovers for them to handle.
As for sorting out the festival goods, she would deal with that after waking up tomorrow.
Once ho, Ye Nai started catching up on a series on her computer. After she went to wash her face and ca back, she saw that there were two missed calls and an unread ssage on her phone lying on the computer desk.
She checked her phone.
The two missed calls were from her parents’ numbers.
The unread ssage was also from her mom’s number.
It was a short video.
In the living room of her ho, her parents and siblings were bound tightly to chairs. The person recording stated her na and her hotel room number outright, demanding she returned with her assistant Ah Jie to repay the debt—210,000, principal plus interest, not a penny less. If she didn’t show up by seven in the morning, they would be picking up her family’s corpses.
Ye Nai rewatched the video several tis. The five of them had their hands tied behind their backs like rice dumplings, each terrified out of their wits with tear-streaked faces.
She went to the living room, summoned her assistant, Fungus, from the Space, and woke him up.
"Hmm…"
Ah Jie, the young assistant, gradually ca to, opening his eyes to yet another unfamiliar setting, his face numb.
"Awake?" Ye Nai’s face appeared in front of the young assistant. "I have a question for you."
"Where is this?" Having been kept in the Space without food or drink for so long, though he had been constantly unconscious, he had little vitality left.
"Mortal Realm."
Ye Nai lit up her phone screen, played a short video for him, and keenly observed his expressions and reactions. When it finished, she had a good idea.
"You recognize soone in there, right?"
"..."
The young assistant kept silent.
"Don’t play dead. If you had any brains, you should rember what I’ve told you before—lies can only deceive oneself, not others. By keeping quiet, do you think you’re not lying?"
"..."
The assistant clenched his teeth, determined not to make a sound.
"Even if you don’t make a sound, I know. The guy in the video talking to the cara, that’s your big boss."
The young assistant suddenly looked up.
"His rushing back so quickly indicates that he knew his plan to have killed in the middle of the night had failed. Fortunately, he isn’t stupid; he found out my information from the hotel. He wants revenge, and I want revenge. Rest well, I’ll take you to our appointnt."
"I…"
Just as the young assistant opened his mouth to speak, the next second, Ye Nai put him back into the Space.
Following that, she tidied up the house, changed into night riding warm clothes, and wore a camouflaged combat suit as her outer layer, then left.
On New Year’s Eve, there were no cars on the main roads. Ye Nai sped all the way, lightning fast, reaching the residential area. Instead of going through the main entrance, she circled around to an inconspicuous corner, parked her motorcycle, and climbed over the wall.
Her current skills allowed her to scale the periter wall of the residential area with effortless ease.
Spores cleared the way for her; she saw no one as she ran to her building. Taking the elevator up, she exited on the 30th floor and climbed the stairs. There was no one watching the doors inside or out.
Opening the door, vast amounts of spores surrounded her as she stepped into the corridor and approached her own front door.
Invisible to the naked eye, tiny spores slipped through the door crack, swiftly invading the bodies of the adults and children inside the apartnt.
The front door, since moving in, had remained unchanged. Over the years, there had been so expansion and contraction between the fra and the door, which usually didn’t affect daily life. At this particular mont, however, it was akin to leaving the door wide open for Ye Nai’s spores.
Receiving feedback from the Fungus, and once everything was ready, Ye Nai knocked on the door.
"Who is it? Who’s there?"
Behind the door ca the trembling voice of her mother, Yu Qing.
"Mom, it’s . Open the door."
Her words had barely ended when she heard the sound of the lock being undone from behind the door.
But the door remained closed, only unlocked. Ye Nai didn’t push the door from the outside, and inside, they didn’t push the door either.
Ye Nai didn’t care to stand there stalemated; her goal was just to get the door open. She imdiately activated the Fungus inside them, and with several thudding sounds, all the adults and children in the apartnt lost consciousness.
She then, reached out, pulled the door open, and stepped into the brightly lit living room.
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