48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng said nothing and turned on the television. A commercial for a shampoo was playing

“We can’t contact her directly and tell her when she should go to the ski resort, but we can make her come up with the idea herself.”

Waldo snapped his fingers. “Ad! We can send an advertisement to her mailbox, pretending to be the ski resort.”

“But she probably receives a lot of those. Strictly speaking, the advertisement will only raise the probability of her visiting a ski resort by a little.”

“No… We only need one person to get it done,” said Zhang Heng.

“Who?”

“Her girlfriend, the blonde from the band… what’s her name again?”

“Adele,” Waldo answered.

“Yes. Black Nest is only monitoring Leah. So, we can plant the idea of going to a ski resort in Adele!”

“I can send the advertisement to Adele’s email, and include a discount for couples,” Waldo chimed in.

“Don’t use the ski resort’s name. It’s too easy to see through. Use the name of some travel agency,” Ponytail added. “I remember she has a part-time job, so we can place some billboards along the route she takes to work,” Philip explained, “We can also ride on the same elevator, and discuss skiing-related things in front of her.”

“I can even get into her social accounts to see who she follows and use them to post pictures of the scenery of a ski resort. By employing these methods, the idea of going to the ski resort will transpire in her mind.”

“Very good. Remember, when she talks Leah into going to the ski resort, Black Nest will also be watching. Whatever we do, we mustn’t blow our cover. We have to make Black Nest believe that it was truly her own idea to go skiing,” Zhang Heng added, “It’s a bad time for me to be out in the city, so…”

“Leave it to me,” Waldo thumped his chest.

“I can stay and help too. You will need someone to act with,” Little Boy said, “Last time at the casino, all of you said that my chest is too flat, and I can’t possibly distract the staff. I’ll be able to do it this time.”

“Then, I’ll leave the car for the both of you,” Semiprime said.

“Philip and I will go with Luke to the ski resort to get ready,” said Ponytail, “All of us will split up and do our parts, then meet up again at the ski resort after that.”

None of the members of the 01 Guerrillas had any objections, so after being assigned to their respective parts, they retreated to their rooms to rest. Zhang Heng, however, did not climb into bed. He looked at his Tissot-it had been almost thirty hours since he entered the quest, which meant that the parallel quest would start soon.

Back in the Apollo Training Camp, he had gone back fourteen years in time. It was the same with the Master Builder parallel quest, where he was sent back four years. He did not know what year he would be sent to this time, only hoping that it wouldn’t be too far back since computer technology constantly and rapidly evolved. It would be unfortunate if the technology he spent so much time learning about were useless in the time period he was sent to.

(Generating parallel quest—this is a parallel quest for Whistleblower]

Number of players: 1

Mission objective: None

Duration: 360 days,

[Attention, player…] This time, the sound of Edith Piaf’s “Life of Roses” played in his ears. She was a singer, revered as a national treasure who lived a tragic but legendary life. At only forty-eight, she died of liver cancer, and France held a state funeral for her.

When the music faded away, Zhang Heng opened his eyes again and found himself standing in a dark and dingy alley. Someone had somehow managed to break the bulb of the street lamp.

Fortunately, it was a full moon that night, and under the moonlight, Zhang Heng could make out the graffiti on the wall-it was a mask made up of 01 codes. On its right was the corporate logo of Black Nest with a big red ‘X’ sprayed over it. Underneath it, the words ‘We want you to…’ were written, with the rest of it scratched off.

Zhang Heng thought that it was a little odd. He looked around at his surroundings, made sure that there was nothing else worth paying attention to before walking out of the alley.

Fortunately, everything else on the street appeared normal—the neon signs of restaurants, the passing vehicles, and walking pedestrians. Zhang Heng even spotted a large and bright electronic billboard at the intersection not far away from playing advertisements. The illuminated sign was a novelty; it’s avant-garde design bound to attract all who saw it.

On Zhang Heng’s right was a coffee shop that offered takeaway. When he searched his pockets, though, he was horrified to find that other than his game items; there was nothing else in them. Even the wallet and passport he had with him all the time were nowhere to be found. This would undoubtedly make moving around the city a hassle for him.

Zhang Heng frowned as he shook his head. Just then, he heard exclamations and gasps behind him. He turned around and saw a fully masked individual carrying a backpack. He had apparently just thrown a rock at a street camera and broke the rest, one after another.

The onlookers looked flabbergasted, constantly stepping backward and avoiding the individual like the plague. Maybe it was because of how he was dressed like a terrorist and the bag full of pebbles that nobody came forward to stop him. They simply ignored him as he senselessly continued attacking the cameras.

Luckily, his despicable behavior did not go on for very long. The sound of sirens was approaching fast. However, it seemed like the masked individual was not too keen on confrontation. He abandoned the remaining pebbles and sprinted toward the alley where Zhang Heng had just walked out from.

Just as he was about to enter the alley, something changed. A pair of lovers who had joined the onlookers suddenly seized the masked individual. The man held the vandal and pinned him to the ground. He then twisted his arms before the woman pulled out a pair of handcuffs, locking them on his wrists.

“Police! You are under arrest for destroying public property. We’ve been searching for you for a very long time,” the male officer grunted as he pulled the mask off the vandal. To his surprise, the one beneath the mask turned out to be a girl.

The other officer’s walkie-talkie was already out and she was about to say something when something hit her at the back of the head. She blacked out and collapsed on the ground.

The male officer did not expect another incident to occur in the situation they thought was under control.

He reached for his gun, but he was one step too late. He was struck on the temple too, and like his partner, fell to the groud as well.

Zhang Heng searched the male officer for the key to the handcuffs, but the masked girl urged, “We don’t have time for that. We need to get to the safehouse first.”

Zhang Heng picked her up from the ground and said, “Lead the way.”

He was certain that the parallel quest this time was different from the previous ones since the Little Boy in his arms looked much more mature than when they had first met… even the areas that were previously undeveloped had now blossomed.