Nightmare Assault

Chapter 340: Enemy

Jiang Cheng showed Xia Meng around the office for a while before letting her go. He was being polite… apparently.

There were eight people watching them like predators. Fatty swallowed nervously. Perhaps no one could win Jiang Cheng in a one-on-one fight, but if they jumped on the Doctor and him together, Fatty didn’t think they stood a chance. He kept sending hints to the Doctor, hoping he wouldn’t cross the line.

The Doctor, surprisingly, was quite tame. He soon let Xia Meng go. To Fatty’s surprise, Xia Meng didn’t show any interest in taking revenge. She shot a cold gaze at the Doctor and at him before turning and leaving. She didn’t say anything.

“Doctor,” Fatty came over and told the Doctor who sat on the couch, “Why did you provoke her? We should be thankful she’s not causing us trouble.”

Jiang Cheng picked up the water glass and realised it was empty. Fatty immediately ran to boil some water. Soon, he hurried back with the kettle and poured the water for the Doctor. Then, symbolically, he dropped in a few broken tea leaves.

“Didn’t you realise… the way Xia Meng looked at me was different from before?” Jiang Cheng suddenly commented.

Fatty pouted, “Doctor, if your point is that she has fallen for you, I’d rather you not say anything.” He paused before adding, “The chance of her falling for me is higher than her falling for you.”

“Tsk.” Jiang Cheng was annoyed. However, he didn’t explode because he was reminded of something. He resumed, “Based on her personality, she wouldn’t ignore what I did so easily. However, you saw what happened. She walked away just like that.” Jiang Cheng looked at Fatty, “Why do you think that is?”

“Perhaps… she has something more important to do?” Fatty guessed.

“Let us go?” Fatty gasped, “Doctor, I think you’re overthinking. After we caught Xia Meng, naturally, they would have to listen to us.”

Jiang Cheng knew it was pointless to be subtle with Fatty, so he said directly, “Several days in the nightmare are only a few minutes in real life, or even shorter. I refuse to believe he cannot wait for a few minutes. What is so important that he had to leave the moment we entered the nightmare?”

Fatty understood that the Doctor was referring to the middle-aged man. The person left a deep impression on him, especially when he threatened to cut his flesh into pieces and feed them to the Doctor. Fatty didn’t think he was joking. Plus, the Doctor was wary of him.

“Doctor,” Fatty blinked. “Do you mean he was still there and hadn’t left.”

“Yes.”

“Then, what is his goal?”

Jiang Cheng looked at him silently.

Fatty’s eyes coloured with understanding. He mumbled to himself, “If he were there, it would not be easy for us to escape. Therefore, he chose to hide himself so that it would be easier and more logical for us to plot our departure.”

Jiang Cheng took out a pen and placed it on the table. It was the one he used to take Xia Meng hostage. “Why else would he leave behind a weapon for us in the room?” Jiang Cheng stared at the pen.

“He wanted to let us go, but he didn’t want to make his intention too obvious.” Fatty swallowed. This was the first time he felt like he was catching up with the doctor thinking-wise, so he was excited. “Is that it, Doctor?”

Jiang Cheng didn’t answer him but looked out the window, “He even assigned people to escort us back safely under the pretext of protecting Xia Meng.” He leaned on the couch and sighed, “How considerate.”

“Doctor, no matter what, it’s great that he doesn’t mean to harm us.” Fatty licked his lips and thought of something. He shivered, “By the way, this mission was so dangerous. You Qi was crazy. If Deep Red were all like this…”

“If Deep Red members were like him, Deep Red would be eliminated already,” Jiang Cheng interrupted.

Fatty looked at the Doctor with confusion.

Jiang Cheng frowned impatiently but still explained, “There was nothing special about You Qi. He merely had the upper hand in information. If the position were swapped, he would be no match for Zuo Qing and An Xuan.”

The Doctor’s statement guided Fatty down a new way of thinking. He realised the Doctor was right. It was clear from how You Qi died. An Xuan didn’t even look flustered after killing You Qi. “Doctor, do you mean… You Qi was not part of Deep Red?” Fatty widened his eyes. “The real Deep Red is someone else?!”

“I don’t know.” Jiang Cheng admitted. He took out a note and wrote down a name on it. He walked to the office table and snapped a picture on his phone. “Investigate this person.” Fatty heard Jiang Cheng talk on the phone. After a pause, Fatty saw the Doctor pick up the phone and added, “Don’t use the last person. Get someone reliable.”

“Is it Brother Pi Wan?” Fatty understood. He was very loyal to the Doctor. The Doctor assigned him a similar task last time… even though the result wasn’t perfect. Fatty glanced at the clock. It was almost 2 am. Brother Pi Wan should be asleep…

“Doctor… Jiang,” In less than half a minute, Pi Wan’s tired voice came through the voicemail. “Don’t worry. Don’t you know my work ethic?”

Fatty was confused. What was Brother Pi Wan doing up so late? Plus, why did he sound like he had just tilled several acres of land?

“The man doesn’t have much to do in the day,” Fatty said as if to himself. He put away his phone and explained, “So he has a heavier workload at night.”

It dawned on Fatty. He shuddered. Then, he turned back to the main topic. “Doctor,” He blinked, “Other than us and Xia Meng, only Chen Qiang survived. Do you suspect him?”

“What do you think?”

Jiang Cheng took out a notebook with a blue cover. He placed it on the table and sat across from Fatty. Then, he pulled out a pencil. This simple gesture surprised Fatty.

Fatty sat up straighter and said seriously, “Doctor, I don’t think Chen Qiang is part of Deep Red.”

Jiang Cheng sketched on the paper and nodded. “I agree.”

Slowly, Fatty moved his eyes to the book. He saw… a person’s face surfacing…