Global Collapse-Chapter 460 - 435: Global Manhunt_1

"It was a car accident," Chu Changge said, looking at the lake shimmering in the sunlight. "Gu Mian should have told you. Twenty-eight cars in a pile-up, and the three of us were in a taxi right in the middle.

"Our cab braked just in time and didn't hit the car in front. However, the car behind slammed into our rear, pushing us forward. Gu Mian was sitting between us. When our taxi was about to crash into the car ahead, Lin Xiaowei opened the door and pushed Gu Mian out.

"Then, at the very last second, she pushed me out. The moment I got out, our taxi rammed into the rear of the car in front. The massive impact from behind nearly crushed our cab into a metal pancake. My leg was still stuck inside. Luckily, it was only broken; I didn't need an amputation."

"Ah..." Fatty uttered, looking at Chu Changge. "What happened then?"

Chu Changge continued, "The accident happened just two blocks from the hospital. Gu Mian was knocked unconscious when he was pushed out. I saw a passerby pick him up and run toward the hospital."

"...What about you?" Fatty wanted to ask about Lin Xiaowei, but he swallowed his words.

"Me? I was stuck there, watching the cars pile into each other. It all happened in an instant. By the time I could react, all twenty-eight cars were already tangled together in a line."

Fatty was still thinking about Chu Changge's trapped leg. "Didn't it hurt then?"

"It hurt, but there was nothing to be done. No one could pull my leg out of the crushed cab. I figured I'd just have to wait for the police or firefighters to rescue me...

"But I didn't expect Gu Mian to return so soon, to find us. I don't know where he'd found two sticks, but he came stumbling back with them. People who wanted to take him to the hospital were right behind him, but he just kept running towards us without a backward glance, trying to save us."

The outcome was already clear: Chu Changge was alive; Lin Xiaowei was gone.

Fatty looked at Chu Changge sitting beside him. He clung to a sliver of hope and asked, "What about the girl?"

"Dead," Gu Mian's voice said suddenly from behind him.

A chill ran down Fatty's spine as he turned to look.

He saw Gu Mian, who had appeared beside him at some point, holding a dripping Xiao Hong. "She died on the spot," Gu Mian said. "There wasn't even a chance to save her."

Fatty swallowed hard, looking at Gu Mian. Although Gu Mian's expression wasn't one of extreme sorrow, Fatty kept his mouth shut.

"You don't need to look so guilty," Gu Mian said, placing Xiao Hong aside and turning to Fatty. "That car accident was about ten years ago. Even if it's brought up now, I'm not going to burst into tears and bang my head on the ground."

Fatty felt a wave of dizziness. "Yes, ten years is a long time. No matter how intense the grief was back then, ten years is enough to dilute it."

"But back then, I suspected Chu Changge was severely traumatized," Gu Mian said, "because I saw he was actually quite cheerful at the time."

Although ten years had passed, Gu Mian still remembered the scene he had returned to.

Chu Changge's leg was trapped in the car, bleeding. But instead of crying like other children, he wore a genuine smile.

From then on, Gu Mian began to suspect Chu Changge had developed some kind of psychological illness due to the accident.

Despite his own grief, Gu Mian took his surviving friend to see a psychologist. However, the diagnosis was that Chu Changge was psychologically quite healthy, with no illness.

The psychologist's diagnosis once made Gu Mian suspect that what he'd seen at the accident was an illusion.

A smile rarely appeared on Chu Changge's face.

Aside from that car accident, Gu Mian couldn't recall another time Chu Changge had ever smiled.

"Let's not talk about this," Fatty said, quickly changing the subject with a keen sense of the mood. "We discovered before that the instance world and the real world have subtle overlaps, right? I think even people who've died might appear there. Didn't Yuan Qinghua die in the real world and then show up in an instance world? Maybe we can meet people we've always wanted to see in the instance worlds."

Fatty grew wistful as he spoke. "Actually, I have people I want to see too..."

"No," Gu Mian suddenly interjected as Fatty was daydreaming. "If someone I know truly appears in an instance, I still won't accept it."

Fatty was stunned. "Why?"

"Because they're not the same," Gu Mian stated plainly. "No matter if their appearance and memories are identical, the people in an instance are not the same as the people from the real world."

"But... but Doctor, aren't you curious about your own twin brother?" Fatty found this strange. He could accept someone identical to himself appearing in an instance, but not other people?

"Gu Mian has always been quite indulgent with himself," Chu Changge's voice reached Fatty's ears.

Fatty: "..."

"Alright, cut the crap," Gu Mian said, pressing down on Xiao Hong's restless head to keep water from splashing on him. "It's June 1st. The dragon boat race is in a week. Are your plans even ready, or are you just going to keep rambling about irrelevant nonsense?"

"What we were discussing was important too!" Fatty mumbled guiltily. "Important business about the instance world!"

Not far away, Xiao Qiao was still yanking branches off a willow tree, nearly stripping it bare.

If any media friends happened to pass by and snap a photo, tomorrow's headline might read: "Popular Superstar Qiao Suffers Suspected Mental Breakdown Over Love, Savagely Rips Apart Willow Tree by Lake, Hurls Abuse at Passersby."

Too bad the tabloids have probably gone bankrupt by now.

And all our media friends are probably unemployed too.

Gu Mian paid little attention to the nearly bare willow tree. He mused aloud, "Since this is a game-wide event, many players will participate. What worries me is that quite a few people know who I am... I checked the leaderboard a few days ago; I'm currently ranked around fifty thousand."

In reality, not that many people knew Gu Mian's identity. The concern was some idiot recognizing him and bellowing to other players, "That green-clad Doctor is Gu Mian!"

At that point, Gu Mian would face being hunted by every player in the game.