48 Hours a Day

“It seems that Nancy has eliminated that fatso. Don’t worry about Livingston. I left him a big gift. With me right now is solid evidence, proving his connection to the schoolkid’s death. He thought he was just going to answer some simple questions from the investigators. He’ll be surprised to see the FBI waiting for him. In other words, he’s been eliminated from this round of the game. Only three of us are left now. I suggest we improve our relationship before we set to the moon. All in the name of ensuring the mission is completed without hiccups, of course. You can start by returning my items to me.”

“Is that right? I don’t think so. Thanks to you, I now remember some things that happened not too long ago. I missed something important and interesting. Want me to enlighten you?”

“Why not? We have lots of time, anyway.”

Bruno plopped on the couch in his bathrobe and touched his throat with his hands. Although Zhang Heng did not voice his intention, Bruno knew that he wasn’t about to be killed when he saw Zhang Heng put down the butter knife. At that, Bruno seemed to be pleased, and he relaxed a little.

“What day is today?”

“I’ve no idea. We have only two weeks left before Apollo 11 launches.”

Bruno shrugged.

“I’m not talking about the time we have left for this quest. I’m asking about the date in the real world.”

“Why ask?”

“Hey, have you ever thought of this? After the useless fatso’s team abandoned him, why didn’t he look for a new one willing to accept him? Why choose to embark on such a high-risk quest instead?”.

“Well, you did say that his previous team abandoned him. It clearly shows that there must be something wrong with him. He couldn’t find…”

Suddenly, Bruno paused mid-sentence. He noticed that something didn’t quite fit. If Jia Lai’s team had really abandoned him, he still had an entire month to find a new one. It made no sense that he would give up looking for a reliable team before starting a new round of the game. Bruno began dreading that something terrible would happen to them soon. At the same time, Zhang Heng opened the door and saw Jia Lai standing outside his room; the plump man still looking sluggish and cowardly. After Zhang Heng opened the door, Jia Lai poked his head in like an ostrich, scanning around with his eyes wide open.

“You’re here! That’s nice.”

Then, he turned around to look at Zhang Heng.

“You first or me first?”

Zhang Heng moved aside and allowed Jia Lai into the room, who then thanked him again.

“Where’s Nancy?”

Seeing that the conversation had moved toward Nancy, Bruno didn’t feel too good.

“Are you referring to Zhen Xiong? She’s with her little pet now,” Jia Lai replied with a smile.

When Bruno saw the strange smile on Jia Lai’s face, his heart sank. Jia Lai, however, simply ignored him and turned his attention to Zhang Heng. “Do you know how your engines died?” “Huh?”

“Nancy has a C-grade game item that allows her to communicate with small animals within a certain area. She has the ability to give them some simple commands. With that, she commanded a flock of birds to fly along your flight path. Unfortunately for her, she used up her last usage for the item attacking me tonight,” said Jia Lai.

After that, he walked toward the table and pulled out two pieces of tissue, wiping the blood off his hand.

“Did you kill her?” Bruno asked as he gulped.

“No. No. No… but I’ve got to admit that I was tempted. However, I didn’t want to get into any trouble. NASA has enough on its plate. I don’t want to add to their problems.”

Although Jia Lai appeared to be extra considerate, it did nothing to alleviate Bruno’s anxiety and fear.

“I didn’t kill your partner, but you don’t seem too happy about it.” Bruno curved his lips and tried to put on a smile.

“I realized something when I felt like killing her. Right now, there are only four of us left. If I were to kill her, it means I’ll have to let you live. I’m not sure if that’s the right decision. I also know she’s been lying and taking advantage of me the whole time. She was trying to hide your turbulent relationship with Livingstone. But that’s is the true nature of women, isn’t it? Forever in a state of fickle-mindedness. Can’t really blame her for that.”

Jia Lai moved a chair and placed it in front of Bruno.

“There’s something I still can’t figure out. She flirted around with almost everyone here. Even the high-school kid had a taste of her. Being her partner, however, she didn’t even allow me to touch her hand. The more she did that sort of thing to me, the more excited I felt. I’ve dreamt for a day like this time and again. When she exposed herself in front of me, I saw the fear on her face, and she knelt and begged me for forgiveness. She even said she was willing to do anything as long as I forgave her. Unfortunately, when that day arrived, I had lost all interest in her…”

Jia Lai paused for a while.

“…But soon, I realized that my interest wasn’t lost after all. I was subconsciously enjoying the whole process.”

As he talked, he extended his arm to tap Bruno’s shoulder.

“I know people nowadays care about the results more than anything else. Of course, I’m not against it. After all, I want to be among the three to complete this quest. But then again, at times, I feel that people care about the results so much that they forget to enjoy the process of getting there. Don’t you think it’s a waste?”

“What are you trying to say here?” “It’s simple. After all, Zhen Xiong and I are good friends. Even though she didn’t invest too much in our friendship, I’m still willing to give her a chance.”

Jia Lai took out a ballpoint pen and a bloody piece of paper from his pocket.

“So, this is the situation. There is still one available seat on Apollo 11, and I have to choose between the two of you. I’m trying to be as fair as possible, so I gave her 15 minutes to come up with a plan that can help me kill you without raising NASA’s suspicion. Now, I’m going to give you five minutes to come up with a plan to kill her. After that, my independent friend right there will choose one for me to execute. He’ll be the one who decides who will live on for this round. Any more questions?”

Immediately, Bruno ran and grabbed the pen in front of him.