GAMMT - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Benefactor!
In an emergency, one naturally needs emergency measures.
After a barrage of indescribable curses scrolled through Fu Chuan’s mind, she quickly calmed down and began to think of a countermeasure.
She couldn't expose herself.
Exposing herself would be like setting up a dangerous barrier for her still-wingless self. She could be eliminated at any moment by her “trashy father,” who held ill intentions toward her. Even if that bastard wouldn't do it himself, what about his family? His other children and his wife's family?
Even if she wasn't an expert on plotlines, she knew that in noble circles, the so-called wife's family usually wielded considerable influence.
Who knew who had really sent Adar?
So, this plan was a no-go.
Fu Chuan thought for a moment, assessed the situation before her… and began to move.
She bent down and pulled off someone's pants.
While her hands were busy, she deliberately pitched her voice higher. “What are you doing? What! You animal, what do you think you're doing to me? I'll fight you to the death! I'm the ransom, I have money, my father has money! Where's your boss? I still have eight million copper coins! You try it, just you try it!”
“Touch me again, and I'll bite my tongue and kill myself!”
Fifteen minutes later, a young man staggered out in front of a dark cell. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen—wasn't that the person they had seen earlier, the one who hadn't been seriously harmed before being dragged away?
They had already guessed he was a ransom target, and now it seemed they were right. But he had clearly suffered a great deal. And yet, he had managed to escape?
Was it because of the major commotion outside?
As the crowd watched with suspicion, the person leaned against the bars and spat out a mouthful of blood, then hitched up their torn pants. But those pants were clearly not their own; the ones they'd been wearing when dragged away hadn't looked like that.
So, he had changed his pants.
This was a scenario they were all too familiar with!
Several male prisoners wore complex expressions, a mixture of sympathy and the comforting feeling of being among kindred spirits.
Goodwill and closeness often stem from seeing others who are worse off than you, or just as miserable. People rarely empathize with those in a better position.
But he was coughing up blood.
The crowd looked closer and saw that he indeed had a wound on his abdomen. As he collapsed from exhaustion, the ring of keys in his hand clattered and jingled.
That's right, those were the keys belonging to that wicked jailer, the ones he always kept strung on his pants.
As expected, that bastard had also tormented this young man, but it seemed he had been killed in retaliation. The young man had escaped… because he had the keys.
“Little brother, hang in there, you can do it!”
“Save us!”
“Throw the keys in here, we'll unlock the doors and save you!”
“Please!”
“Hey buddy, hang on, you've got this!”
Spurred on by the encouragement of the suddenly energized crowd, Fu Chuan feigned weakness… and collapsed with a thud.
But she fell very close, right beside a cell door occupied mostly by women. The ring of keys landed right at the edge.
Oh!
A woman tried to reach out and hook them, but she was always just a little bit short. Just a little bit.
Heavens, that tiny, world-defining distance. Their hope, all their hopes, rested on that tiny gap.
A gap they stared at with desperate longing.
Amidst the crowd's loud shouts…
Fu Chuan felt it was about time to “struggle” back up, but then some genius, in a moment of inspiration, took off his sock. “Let me, let me! This sock will definitely wake him up. I'll just toss it.”
What the hell!
Fu Chuan was instantly alert, her fingers twitching.
“Hey, he's awake! He's not dead!”
After struggling a couple of times, she slowly opened her eyes, looked at them, and murmured, “I'm not dead? Are you… like me?”
“Yes, yes! Little brother, quick, give us the keys!”
“I… okay.”
She tried to throw the keys but lacked the strength. So, she struggled, inching her way over, leaving a trail of blood from her abdomen as she slid the keys into the cell. Then, she lay there, on the verge of death.
In truth, she was watching their reactions.
If they were to discard her once she was no longer useful, well… they couldn't blame her for what came next.
But if they merely discarded her without killing her, that would be the best-case scenario. She would be the perfect victim.
The people from the cell emerged. Several of them paid Fu Chuan no mind at all, screaming with ecstatic joy as they ran for the exit.
After escaping, the woman called out, gathering a few people who still had some conscience. They ran over to check the young man's wound and give him emergency first aid.
Languidly, Fu Chuan grabbed the woman's wrist and spoke, her breath hitching. “The official fleet is coming. Don't run around blindly. We'll be saved. I am the son of the Xie Clan Head of Jingyang, a descendant of nobles. You will tell them that I killed these bandits, that I used the mechanical horse to blow them all up. The credit for wiping them out will be all mine. But I succumbed to my grievous injuries, and it was you… you who saved us. We escaped together… understand? This way, according to imperial law, we can all get… get a share of the assets here… so you can… live a good life… live…”
“Testify for me. Say that I was… a hero!”
Then she closed her eyes and passed out.
The airship hung in the sky, breaking through clouds and mist, quickly locking onto the bandits' lair.
On the deck, a young man stood at the prow, looking down at the bandit stronghold on the mountain, which seemed as small as an anthill. The lightning-element Arcane was already primed at his fingertips. He spoke in a low, firm voice to the woman in front of him, who was conversing with her subordinate, “Inspector Zhou, please let me go down later. I want to join the fight.”
The woman turned. Her features weren't stunning, but her eyes held a certain clarity. She wore a proper professional uniform, her mage robe both solemn and elegant. She looked at the young man with some appreciation, though not entirely in agreement.
She didn't speak, but her subordinate beside her was full of praise for the handsome and righteous young man. “Ambitious! Qin Minfeng, I never thought a garbage star could produce a talent like you. It's a real waste. But a pearl will surely shine in the future. It's not easy to reach the 4th level of Arcanist on a garbage star.”
Qin Minfeng lowered his head, slightly ashamed. “I've only seen it on television. I know there are many geniuses out there who might reach over the tenth level before they're even ten, with top-tier qualities and aptitude. A self-taught person like me is really nothing special. Besides, my promotion time was very short, and I lack experience. If it weren't for dealing with that enemy, I…”
When he mentioned his “very short promotion time,” he seemed to realize what he'd said and quickly covered it up, shifting to the main reason for his bravery on this occasion.
“Enemy?” the subordinate asked.
Zhou Linlang wasn't paying much attention. She was examining the satellite map, determining the likelihood of thermal weapon deployment below.
It was just a small target, but she was still cautious.
But she did hear Qin Minfeng say, “I'm from a small town near the mines on X5 Garbage Star… He… he violated a girl I've known since childhood… She's so pitiful, and I was her only friend. She was always so good to me, I never thought… I must avenge her!”
Upon hearing this, the subordinate was furious.
“Xie Keli? A scumbag like that doesn't have to serve time?”
“He doesn't. Someone saved him. He seems to be the illegitimate son of a noble.”
After hearing this, Zhou Linlang frowned slightly and asked, “Xie Keli?”
Qin Minfeng immediately turned his head and said in a low voice, “Yes, his name is Xie Keli. I only hate myself for being too weak.”
He turned his face away, hiding the pain in his eyes.
Zhou Linlang said nothing. She glanced at him, as if seeing through something, then dismissed her subordinate. “If you hold a grudge for the girl in your heart, you must also know that cultivation cannot be rushed. I can see your level was gained through slaughtering for experience. It lacks refinement, and your foundation is unstable. Did you, by chance, advance in a very short period?”
Qin Minfeng, caught off guard, answered directly, “Yes, just in the last few days.”
“A few days?” Zhou Linlang was a little surprised, but her admiration grew. “Then your aptitude is higher than I imagined. You must cherish it all the more. We have yet to confirm the strength of the bandits below. Bravery is commendable, but a cautious heart that can judge the situation is still necessary.”
“However, the survey results for this bandit lair are in. There are no masters below, so they should be no match for you. I'll let you go down and deal with these bandits…”
Qin Minfeng was overjoyed, but he hesitated for a moment before saying, “That girl… she is not the one I love…”
Zhou Linlang was taken aback, but then she saw the handsome young man's slightly flushed face as he looked at her.
In that instant, she suddenly recalled that this very boy had recently used his cleverness to break through a network blockade and send her evidence of the Li Corporation's illegal mining operations…
Honestly, he was quite outstanding. In such a harsh environment, a young man like him was a rare find. Perhaps no one on X5 Garbage Star could compare.
“But how did you know he was in the bandits' lair?”
Zhou Linlang asked.
A glint flashed in Qin Minfeng's eyes. He said in a low voice, “Before he left, I secretly placed a homemade tracker on their mechanical horse. It was crude, but it was just enough.”
In reality, it was The Old Man by his side who was invincible… and knew many things.
But Zhou Linlang couldn't see The Old Man. She only asked the one question and said no more.
The people on the ship were ready and waiting, their momentum formidable. After landing… they saw some figures. Seeing Zhou Linlang not far away, Qin Minfeng immediately began chanting a spell, about to strike.
“Wait, they're not bandits.”
Zhou Linlang stopped him just in time, and everyone halted.
They grabbed someone to question them, then investigated further inside. The scene was a bit surprising, but the deeper they went…
The most shocking sight appeared.
The moment Qin Minfeng saw the person lying in the center of the kneeling crowd, he exploded. “Xie Keli! I'll take your life!”
But a group of people blocked his way.
“You're not allowed to kill our benefactor!”
“Don't you kill him, he's our savior!”
“You're the bad guy!”
“Stop!”
With so many people in his way, Qin Minfeng couldn't possibly strike. Stunned, his eyes turned grim. He was in a difficult position.
Zhou Linlang, however, remained composed. She stepped forward to ask about the situation.
Of course, these people told it as they saw it.
Whatever they saw was what happened. It was true they were saved, true the bandits were killed, and even truer that they had escaped together. They just skipped over the earnest instructions their benefactor had given them while on the brink of death.
A dying person's words are good, and what's good for everyone is what's truly good.
The beauty of human nature, isn't it wonderful?
The crowd followed the “good intentions” of their human nature, their stories all perfectly aligned. And those who had run out earlier didn't know what happened afterward, but what they had seen was also the truth, which happened to fit perfectly with the others' accounts.
And so… Xie Keli, the scumbag whose sins reached the heavens, became their “benefactor.”
But for someone so great, he was also so weak, unconscious as if he had already kicked the bucket. The only thing missing was a funeral wreath and a hot meal set out by the grateful former prisoners.
The inspection team: “???”
Qin Minfeng's expression looked a bit constipated. He mentally asked The Old Man what to do. The Old Man also fell into deep thought: Public opinion cannot be defied. To go against it is to become an outcast, and right now, you don't have the capital to be an outcast.
Nearby, Zhou Linlang's face was filled with confusion.
Xie Keli, what kind of person was he?
Why did something feel so strange?
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