INSIDER Chapter 116

Yuan Kejie moved slowly, rolling up her sleeve. Following her movement, Lu Chu glanced at her forearm. The glowing blue stripe had turned a warning blood-red and was no longer full, with only a faint trace of light at the bottom.

At this moment, Yuan Kejie had enough strength left to joke, “Sigh… my health bar is almost empty… if the ones attacking us were players, it would mean one of our team got KO’d by the enemy. You guys need to take them out quickly and turn the situation around, otherwise… how are we going to win…”

After murmuring these words, Yuan Kejie completely lost her strength, collapsing in pain. The glow on her forearm flickered, indicating her life was hanging by a thread. A choice had to be made quickly. Fortunately, this round was different; even if teammates died, they could be revived as long as their final evaluation was satisfactory.

Lu Chu held Yuan Kejie’s hand tightly, as if saying goodbye, then told the others, “Let’s get out of here.”

Usually decisive, Ruo Qi was now frozen, squatting in place, her eyes unfocused.

Lu Chu frowned, “Ruo Qi?”

Ruo Qi didn’t respond, still lost in thought.

Just as Lu Chu was puzzled by Ruo Qi’s condition, three people crawled out of the destroyed armored vehicle. Seeing Lu Chu and the others, they immediately drew their guns and fired.

Zhang Liang and Liu Zebing reacted quickly, lying on the ground to avoid the shots. Lu Chu pushed the still-dazed Ruo Qi behind the overturned vehicle for cover and rolled to dodge the bullets. As he rolled, his wounds scraped against the gravel, causing intense pain and making him break into a cold sweat.

Lu Chu picked up a fallen gun and, using the vehicle for cover, returned fire. His injured arm made his aim unstable, but the enemy wasn’t much better off. He found an opening and killed one of the attackers, leading to a stalemate. Soon, the enemy grew desperate and threw a grenade towards Zhang Liang and Liu Zebing.

“Zhang Liang!” Liu Zebing shouted.

Lu Chu looked in their direction and saw Zhang Liang hit directly by the grenade, knocking him unconscious.

The enemy pulled out a second grenade.

At a critical moment, a few bullets from behind Lu Chu hit and killed the two remaining attackers. Turning around, Lu Chu saw 7 and Song Gui rushing over. 7, whose fight had taken less time, braved the gunfire despite being hit in the waist and shoulder, and quickly dealt with the armored car before running to help Lu Chu’s group.

With 7 and Song Gui’s help, Lu Chu’s team was out of immediate danger. They finally had a chance to check on Yuan Kejie and Zhang Liang.

Both were already not breathing.

Under the others’ watchful eyes, their bodies gradually became transparent until they completely disappeared, as if they had never existed. At the same time, the bodies of their opponents also began to vanish.

After all the bodies disappeared, Lu Chu suddenly felt a burning sensation on his forearm. Looking down, he saw his torn clothing barely covering the area, with more than half his health bar gone. Above the health bar was the number “9”—the exact number of their attackers.

It was clear their assailants were indeed players.

Ruo Qi stared blankly at the spot where Yuan Kejie had vanished.

Song Gui said, “They’ll come back.”

“Just think of them as AFK bosses in a dungeon. Once we, the workers, clear it, they’ll return.”

This was meant for Ruo Qi, but also for everyone else.

Dai Chenggong hesitated, “What if the evaluation isn’t satisfactory?”

Lu Chu was resolute, “We will pass.”

They gathered any usable medical supplies and weapons from the armored vehicle and decided to find a safe place nearby to rest. Ruo Qi, carrying her weapon and a large pack of supplies, took the lead with a determined expression.

7 intended to walk beside Lu Chu to check his injuries but saw Lu Chu falling back to talk to Song Gui. He gripped his gun tightly, suppressing his killing intent at hearing Lu Chu’s question.

Lu Chu asked Song Gui quietly, “Ruo Qi’s emotions were abnormal earlier. Do you know why?”

Though Ruo Qi seemed to clash with Song Gui, Lu Chu sensed a familiarity in their interactions, suggesting Song Gui might know the reason for her behavior.

Song Gui had anticipated this question, “She probably remembered something from the past.”

“The past?”

“Remember when I told you about a mission where only Ruo Qi and I survived?”

Lu Chu nodded, “I remember.”

Song Gui had used this as an example of the dangers of multi-player missions, which had left a deep impression on Lu Chu.

“Do you know why she always targets me?”

Thinking back to Ruo Qi’s reaction when Yuan Kejie died, Lu Chu guessed, “You stopped her from saving someone?”

“You’re sharp as always, Lu Xiao Chu.” Song Gui smiled and continued, “That mission included Ruo Qi’s mother.”

Lu Chu was surprised, “Her… mother?”

“Yes, her mother joined the game with her. She was a strong, intelligent woman in her thirties,” Song Gui’s expression grew serious. “The mission was tough. We were desperate for more time and entered unprepared, with a team of varying skills. Only Ruo Qi, her mother, and I were capable fighters. In the crucial final battle, our other teammates were wiped out. Ruo Qi’s mother, to save her, got her leg crushed by falling debris. With monsters chasing us and the exit ahead, Ruo Qi’s mother couldn’t keep up.”

Lu Chu frowned, “She couldn’t go on?”

Song Gui nodded, “Yes. I should have carried her, but one of my hands was torn off by a monster, and I was too injured to walk, let alone carry her. Only Ruo Qi could reach the exit, but she refused to leave her mother. The monsters were closing in.”

Song Gui paused, glossing over the harrowing details. “Ruo Qi’s mother used her last strength to limp towards the monsters, drawing their rage. I stopped Ruo Qi from rushing after her, telling her to honor her mother by living on. She reluctantly ran to the exit while I faced the monsters.”

Ruo Qi’s mother was devoured.

Lu Chu could feel their despair and pain.

Song Gui smiled, “You’re wondering how I survived.”

Lu Chu nodded.

“I must have used up all my luck then. A monster bit my leg, shaking me violently. It succeeded in tearing off my lower leg and threw me, landing me near the exit. Crying, Ruo Qi saw me and, despite her tears, dragged my broken body through the door.”

Song Gui’s expression was contemplative, without a hint of relief.

From the start, nothing in this game was worthy of relief.

After explaining, Song Gui smiled, “That little girl, Ruo Qi, should have been a carefree child under her family’s protection.”

Lu Chu glanced at Ruo Qi, now leading the group, her petite frame carrying heavy weapons, her expression stern.

Perhaps Ruo Qi carried such heavy weapons and grew stronger through repeated life-or-death trials to be capable of saving two adults if such a situation arose again.

Lu Chu thought so.

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On the other side of the city.

Two modified off-road vehicles stopped in the road, eight people alighting from them.

In front of the armored car lay five or six corpses and a destroyed tank. A trembling young man stood behind the bodies.

The young man, out on a date, had stayed out too late. Suddenly, a group in an armored car sped towards them, armed and geared, obviously elites taking pleasure in the apocalypse. They humiliated and killed his girlfriend, and he stood silent and still, fearing he would be next.

Another team appeared and saved him.

The young man, sweating and stammering, began to say, “You… you saved me… than—”

“Bang!” A man shot him in the head before he could finish.

“Zhang Xin, what are you doing?”

Zhang Xin smiled, “What?”

“Why kill him?”

“Because he didn’t fight back.”

Zhang Xin gently moved the dead man’s hair aside, warm blood flowing from the bullet wound. “Why not fight back? Why stay silent? This world stands on our shoulders, those looked down on by the elites. They revel in our misery, but we must resist.”

“So they understand that when the foundation shifts, those who once stood above us will fall and die.”