Netherworld Investigator

Chapter 340

I stared wide-eyed through the glass. Was he about to cheat again?

Deng Chao continued, "I didn’t receive the answer to one of the questions. You failed!"

The student who typed and sent the message cried, "Ah, I made a mistake in one of the numbers! Song Yang, I’m sorry!"

I gritted my teeth, feeling the rage boil up inside. Deng Chao was merely finding fault! At this moment, a puff of yellow smoke spread throughout the sealed room, triggering a bout of coughing fits around the room. "That’s poisonous gas,” I shouted. “Everybody out!"

I pulled a metal bar off the railings and smashed hard into the toughened glass. Only after several hard blows did it start to crack. By this time, the students inside had collapsed to the ground, choking from the poison.

With a crash, the glass finally broke and the noxious gas spread out. Fortunately, Dali arrived at this moment carrying the gas mask I had prepared in advance. "Song Yang, take this!" he shouted.

I grabbed my bag and quickly put on the mask, fixing the straps securely.

Visibility inside the room was extremely low. Using Cave Vision, I searched for the hostages and put gas masks on each of them, then walked over to open the window. As the toxic gas dissipated through the open window, I grabbed a pair of scissors from the desk and untied the hostages. Their backs were painted with numbers that appeared to be some sort of hint for the next test.

"Can you walk?" I asked.

Their hands and feet were numb both from being tied up for such a long time and from the fear of almost losing their lives. I had to carry them out one by one. Four of the hostages had inhaled so much toxic gas they were completely weak from the neck down.

After helping all the hostages out, Dali asked, "What do the numbers on their backs mean? Is it a password?"

I glanced at them, noticing that some of the hostages had the same numbers while others had different numbers. Altogether they were 4, 7, 0, and 2.

I asked what year they were in and immediately understood that the first year student had 2 on his back, 4 on the second year student, 0 on the third year student and 7 on the final year student, so the combination was 2407.

"That’s a classroom number!” I shouted. “Dali, you stay and take care of them. I’m heading there now!"

"Dude, be careful!" cautioned Dali.

I left a bottle of Mind Clearing Pills for Dali to distribute to the students. Although it wasn’t an exact antidote to the poison, it also contained a detoxifying effect, and it would keep them alive at least until the medical staff arrived.

The professors and students outside the building were completely in the dark about the hostage situation inside. But upon seeing me run out in a hurry, they followed without a word.

Although they had complaints about my culpability, the events that happened today were enough to turn them into frightened quails, too afraid to leave my side.

Xiaotao soon reported, "I have two updates for you. Song Xingchen has rescued Bai Lei! Also, I contacted Bai Lei’s secretary. At first she was reluctant to reveal his schedule for the day, but upon discovering my identity, she informed me Bai Lei was in Australia signing a contract."

"So there’s a problem with our ‘Bai Lei’," I sneered.

"Should we arrest him?" asked Xiaotao.

"No,” I stopped her. “Tell Song Xingchen to bring him to Lecture Building No. 2. I’m on my way there now!"

"Song Xingchen isn’t in danger, is he?"

"I’m still uncertain if Bai Lei is Deng Chao himself or an accomplice,” I explained. “But since he’s chosen to disguise himself, he’s unlikely to expose his real identity. As long as Song Xingchen remains in the dark, he’ll be fine. Isn’t this a reasonable cause to send him over?"

"Alright then, I’ll let him know!" Xiaotao affirmed.

"By the way, have several ambulances on standby outside campus. Several students were poisoned. After arresting Deng Chao, I’ll head to the library to pick them up. Dali is currently taking care of them there."

Very quickly, I arrived at Classroom 407 of Lecture Building No. 2. The doors of the classroom were left slightly ajar. As soon as I pushed the door open, the speakers in the classroom sounded, "Song Yang, this is your sixth test. I’ve written the question on the blackboard. You have ten minutes to answer it."

I stared at the numbers on the blackboard. Was this a math problem?

Deng Chao’s explanation was so brief I was convinced he had another trick up his sleeve.

The numbers on the blackboard were: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 30, and a small line of instructions written on the bottom: Remove one number to complete the sequence.

I stared with my brows furrowed. Arithmetic sequences were my weak spot, one I failed at in high school. After a considerable amount of time staring blankly at the board, a student came up and said, "Can’t you tell? Just remove 8."

As he reached for the eraser, I felt my sixth sense tingle. "Don’t touch that!" I roared.

But it was too late. As soon as his hand came in contact with the blackboard eraser, a needle emerged from within, pricking his hand. The boy screamed and held his hand to his lips, instinctively sucking at the wound.

And therein lay the rub–there was a small mechanism fixed to the blackboard eraser. Any slight movement would activate the needle. Well acquainted with Deng Chao’s treachery, I knew this wasn’t some innocent trick. My speculations were soon confirmed by the black blood on the needle that was coated with poison.

I slapped the hand away from his lips. "You’re poisoned, don’t use your mouth!"

"You must save me!" he implored.

I instructed him to remove his clothes and rolled up his sleeves. Tearing his clothes into strips, I tied them around his arm, constricting his blood vessels. Then, I grabbed a silver needle from my pocket and told him to kick off his shoes, using the needle to pierce his two acupuncture points–the Sea of Blood and the Bubbling Spring, which could slow down his blood circulation.

Five minutes later, Deng Chao’s voice rang once more, "Song Yang, you’ve been poisoned. But don’t be afraid, I won’t let you die so easily. There are two little balls in the desk drawer. The blue ball represents entrepreneur Bai Lei and the red ball represents those children. Please choose one to throw out the window, and the corresponding hostage will die while you get the antidote. If you don’t make a decision in five minutes, all the hostages will die and you so will you. Do you choose the influential entrepreneur or those poor, innocent children?"

This passage had obviously been recorded in advance. Deng Chao never imagined I would dodge the bullet or disrupt his little trump card, rendering the test completely useless.

I picked up the blue ball and was about to throw it out when one of the school leaders ran in shouting, "Song Yang, you can’t do this! If Bai Lei dies, the entire East China economy will be affected... "

Before he could finish his appeal, I threw the ball outside.

Ashen faced, the dean sternly condemned, "How can you be so rash? Do you know what consequences your decision will bring? Can human life be measured by simple addition and subtraction?"

I was at the end of my rope, too incensed to reply nicely. "Of course, human life isn’t measured by addition and subtraction, but by money, isn’t it? Bai Lei is an honorary alumnus who’s donated millions to the school so he’s more important than those kids and this poisoned student. Am I right?"