I Return From Hell

Chapter 74: Chapter 70: Revoking the Wanted Order, Counting the Gains

The letter read:

If you want to know the location and time of the next Mist Event, you must revoke the warrant for Xie Shaokun’s arrest.

That was the entire message.

”How dare he try to negotiate with us? Who does he think he is?”

Qian Yihao’s disgruntled voice came from the phone, which was on speaker.

Chen Xiao furrowed her elegant brows, also feeling that the current situation was putting them on the back foot. The feeling annoyed her. ”Zhao Group, my recommendation is that we cannot compromise with a criminal.”

”A criminal?”

Zhao Guohui shook his head and retorted, ”What crime has Xie Shaokun committed?”

”He...”

Chen Xiao opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything in the end.

Right.

What crime had he committed?

Without evidence, they couldn’t make baseless accusations.

”He’s still a major suspect!”

Qian Yihao said, ”How can we cooperate with a major suspect?”

There were no other survivors in the Mist Events Xie Shaokun was involved in. The possibility that he had deliberately silenced witnesses couldn’t be ruled out, so he was indeed considered a major suspect.

Zhao Guohui said, ”According to statistics, for every Mist Event that has occurred worldwide, there’s an average of 13 deaths. And that number is constantly climbing because the Mist Events are growing in scale.”

”In our country, due to the higher population density, the average death toll per Mist Event is as high as 18. After today, that number might even exceed 20!”

”If we could know the time and location of the next Mist Event in advance, how many people could we save?”

Chen Xiao and Qian Yihao fell silent.

”Moreover, this Xie Shaokun definitely knows a great secret concerning the Mist Events.”

Zhao Guohui continued, ”If he possesses a Special Ability to predict the future, and if we can win him over, we might learn the times and locations for the next ten, hundred, or even a thousand Mist Events.”

”And how many lives would that be?”

Chen Xiao and Qian Yihao were even more silent.

”Besides, he might not have even committed a crime. The way I see it, his actions are more like someone who foresaw the time, location, and other details of a Mist Event, then entered it for profit.”

Zhao Guohui said, ”If he’s motivated by profit, then we have room to negotiate.”

”He’s extending an olive branch to us now. We have no reason to refuse.”

Qian Yihao said stubbornly, ”Even if we agree, we should continue the manhunt for Xie Shaokun in secret.”

Zhao Guohui didn’t refute him.

The Mist Events were becoming more frequent.

Their scope was widening, and the death toll was rising.

It was becoming impossible to conceal the news within the country, and panic was already spreading abroad.

’Where would they find the time to hunt for Xie Shaokun?’

’Besides, with how deeply Xie Shaokun schemes, how could he possibly be caught so easily?’

”Then let’s agree to his terms.”

Chen Xiao made a decision. ”Let’s revoke the warrant for Xie Shaokun and halt the investigations into other suspects. We’re severely short-staffed as it is.”

Zhao Guohui nodded. ”I agree.”

Qian Yihao could only nod in agreement as well.

...

...

After dropping Xie Shaokun and Little Nannan off at the abandoned building, Xia Yu paused before leaving.

’By now, Zhao Guohui should have received the letter I sent, right?’

’He’ll definitely agree to my request. At least, he’ll agree on the surface.’

With a plan solidifying in her mind, she said, ”Xie Shaokun, the arrest warrant will be revoked soon. But you’ll have to wait a little longer before you can move around freely.”

”Really? That’s great!”

Xie Shaokun was ecstatic.

After all, no one wanted to be a fugitive in an era of peace.

It meant having no freedom at all!

Then, Xia Yu drove home.

「On the way.」

’Next, I need to keep Zhao Guohui and his people busy, so they won’t have the manpower to hunt for Xie Shaokun, neither openly nor secretly.’

As she drove, she tried to recall which Mist Events she could tell Zhao Guohui and the others about.

For example:

Mist Events where the location was known, but not the exact time.

Mist Events with extremely low returns that could easily expose her.

Mist Events that were far too dangerous.

...

During the ten years of the Apocalypse, every single day had been seared into her memory.

She also had a good memory, so she recalled many Mist Events. This knowledge was now a crucial asset for turning her life around, and she had to use it well.

Soon, she thought of four Mist Events she could tell Zhao Guohui about. Only one was in the city; the other three were in neighboring cities.

After settling on this, Xia Yu began to summarize the recent event while waiting at a red light:

Shortcomings:

Overconfidence.

She had thought she was strong enough, had enough tricks up her sleeve, and was sufficiently prepared, so she’d entered the Mist Event despite not knowing its dangers or resources.

She had a gambler’s mentality from the start. If Little Nannan hadn’t been clever enough...

The consequences would have been unimaginable.

Gains:

First, Little Nannan joining her.

Second, two Crystal Cores.

Third, a large amount of cash and gold bars, which was a completely unexpected bonus.

Fourth, a further increase in her physical fitness, though she was still a long way from a breakthrough.

Fifth, Rule Enlightenment, achieving a breakthrough from 0 to 1!

Although it wasn’t much help in ordinary Mist Events—after all, a ’1’ was still too small; it would only be somewhat useful if it reached 1000 someday—it could still be helpful at critical moments in Mist Events like the last one, where the rules had changed.

Moreover, she believed that as time went on and she participated in more Mist Events, her Rule Enlightenment would deepen, and sooner or later, it would reach a value of 1000.

Sixth, the Rule Energy Crystal.

This was the greatest reward from this Mist Event!

It was a support-type Rule Resource that could accelerate the user’s speed of Rule Enlightenment.

In her past life, she had heard of an Elf-like Alien Clan whose bodies were naturally attuned to the Mist Rules. When their attunement reached a certain level, they could even forcibly enter and exit Mist Events during the early days of the Apocalypse!

Compared to other living beings, what an overwhelming advantage was that?

As a result, their growth rate within Mist Events was extremely fast, and they were known as the ’Favored of the Rules’.

’If I could become one of the ’Favored of the Rules,’ then I’d be in an Undying state within the Mist Events.’

Xia Yu was quite looking forward to it.

Even with the advantage of rebirth and her cautious nature, she had still risked failure this time, which just went to show how high the danger level of the Mist Events was.

If she could guarantee she wouldn’t die, she could even attempt to enter those Mist Events with extremely high mortality rates to seize more valuable resources!

Just as she was lost in thought, a car came speeding diagonally from the opposite direction.

And at that moment, the light had just turned green!

A pedestrian was slowly shuffling across the crosswalk.

’Someone’s going to die.’

Xia Yu’s pupils contracted.

It all happened in an instant.

A scream shattered the silence of the night.

It was followed by the heavy sound of an impact and screeching brakes.

Xia Yu had no time to feel sorry for the pedestrian who had been sent flying over thirty meters. With swift reflexes, she immediately unbuckled her seatbelt, threw open the door, and leaped out of the car.

A second later.

BANG!

The other car crashed violently into hers.

The headlights shattered.

The front of the car crumpled.

Xia Yu’s brow furrowed deeply.

She never would have imagined she’d have the bad luck to run into something like this.

It was a disaster that fell from the sky.

’Driving blind?’

Xia Yu had a clear view of the at-fault driver, who had been looking down at their phone the entire time. When they hit the pedestrian, they completely panicked, wrenching the steering wheel and stomping on the gas. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have crashed into her car.

VROOM.

The driver glanced around in terror. Realizing she had caused an accident, she didn’t even bother to pick up the phone that had fallen by her feet. Instead, she directly...

Threw the car in reverse.

Floored it.

And fled—all in one smooth motion!