Chapter 60: The News Brought by Booth

The police arrived quickly, and since no one had disturbed the scene, they soon identified how the poison had been administered: it had been poured into the director’s usual water cup. As for the source of the poison, it was found in the possession of a staff member. The police didn’t care whether the poison had actually been brought in by this person; they simply took the staff member away.

Shortly after, those who had taken Steven to the hospital called back. Just as Owen Lu had said, Steven was poisoned, but his vital signs had frozen at the moment of intoxication. The doctors estimated that, given his resilience, he could hold out for at least thirty hours.

Now, everyone present looked at Owen Lu with different eyes.

However, Owen Lu had no intention of mingling with them. He had only come to meet Cameron, the unlucky prince of mishaps. But things kept piling up, becoming ever more troublesome. If given a choice, Owen Lu would rather not get involved in such messy affairs.

He said a word to the assistant director, with whom he had a fairly good relationship, and then left with Arrow. Charles wanted to stay longer, but seeing Owen Lu depart, he hurried to follow.

Soon, their car left the studio. On the way back, Owen Lu decided not to take Arrow to the valley. For one thing, Charles was still in the car, and it would be hard to explain; for another, it was already afternoon, and if they went now, they wouldn’t return until midnight. Owen Lu had no desire to check into another inn, and he wanted to ask Izzo about the source of his beef.

On the way back to campus, Owen Lu suddenly felt as if everything stopped in an instant. Arrow, who had been lying in the back seat, sensed something was wrong and raised his head.

Owen Lu wondered who had drawn him into this time-stopped state. At that moment, the avatar interface popped up, and Booth appeared on the screen. It was clear that it was nearly midnight on Booth’s side. Booth himself hadn’t changed much, but behind him seemed to be someone else.

Booth was also in the time-stopped state. When he saw Owen Lu connect, Booth took the initiative to speak: “Hey, main body, do you currently have any worlds of large scale or above where I can hide for a while?”

Before Owen Lu could respond, Arrow poked his head out. “Hello, is something the matter?”

“Ah, you’re the second avatar, right? I’m the first avatar. My name is Booth, and yours?”

“Just call me Arrow. By the way, the girl next to you looks nice.”

Only then did Owen Lu notice the girl behind Booth. She looked about seventeen or eighteen, dressed in pajamas with a casual jacket thrown over her shoulders—a clear sign she’d fled from home in a hurry.

“What happened? Weren’t you investigating my arm in the East? How come it looks like you’re being chased?” Owen Lu asked curiously.

Given they had all the time in the world while handling a time-stop, Booth began recounting his experiences after entering China.

At first, he successfully avoided attracting any attention and discovered the whereabouts of Owen Lu’s left arm. It wasn’t in any research facility, but rather in a commercial building.

Booth had tried to sneak in, but the building belonged entirely to a company. However much he wanted in, there was no way.

He then investigated the company, Future Technology Group, and found their personnel practices were extremely odd. They didn’t recruit from schools or online; instead, they sent specialists to designated places to find ordinary people.

These ordinary people had never proven themselves, yet were recruited under Future Technology, and given quite high salaries.

The most important thing was, Future Technology had expanded nationwide. No one knew how they selected people, nor the reasons behind their choices.

Booth was certain something was off.

“Sounds like that movie plot—the one where someone comes from the future to hunt the savior,” Owen Lu mused.

“Do you think maybe someone in Future Technology has a list from the future, and they’re already seeking people based on it?” Arrow hadn’t seen the film, but quickly grasped Owen Lu’s meaning and voiced his own thoughts.

Booth grew excited. “That’s exactly what I thought! So I sneaked in, hoping to get my hands on this list, but was discovered.”

“So you’re being hunted by them now?” Owen Lu asked, intrigued. He didn’t worry about Booth—a hero who could assassinate a warlord in the midst of an army—escaping pursuit.

“Yes and no,” Booth explained. “After sneaking in, I found those selected were undergoing military training—even the kids. That made things seem even stranger. I managed to locate a list with three types of names: black, red, and yellow. Main body, your name was at the top of the yellow list.

‘Saint Hand Owen Lu,’ but there was an X beside your name. Below was ‘Devil Hand Xu Rulin,’ whose name had no marks.

While I was checking the list, someone spotted me and a fight broke out. Judging by their mutual addresses, they were from the red list. I accidentally took out three, including one ranked in the top four, nicknamed ‘Ice King’ Liu Deguo.

I’m not sure why he’s called Ice King—he didn’t show any ice powers.

Afterwards, I broke into a bedroom and found Xiao You. She said she’d been captured and wanted me to help her escape, so I brought her out. I figure the situation must have escalated by now.”

“Of course it has. You fired shots, right? What will you do next?” Owen Lu could now piece together the situation.

“Give me a large-scale world, so I can transfer through it. I’ll bring Xiao You in too, and check her out. If she’s dangerous, I’ll leave her there and not bring her out,” Booth replied decisively.

“You wouldn’t be safe alone in a large-scale world. It’s best to form a five-person team, but I don’t have enough people right now. Arrow joining you isn’t realistic either. Here’s what we’ll do: you go in first, Xiao You counts as one, take the Sun Coral Egg as well. When I have more people, I’ll arrange for four to join you.”

“Alright!” Booth had no hesitation in accepting Owen Lu’s arrangement, and nodded immediately.