Global Collapse-Chapter 473 - 448: Plotting for Wealth and Killing Gu Bengbeng_1

Gu Mian had gone all out with his disguise today. He was certain that even his own parents wouldn’t recognize him, were they to come back from the dead.

But seeing how ’I Desire to Rule the World’ was craning his neck as if trying to become a giraffe, Gu Mian knew he had likely been recognized. It seemed the affection this young fellow—whom he had previously tricked—held for him surpassed even that of his own parents.

Of course, Qi Tian might have noticed him only after recognizing Fatty and Chu Changge. But now was not the time to quibble over who was noticed first. Fatty quietly edged closer to Gu Mian. "Doctor, I think his gaze is up to no good. He looks like he’s scheming something."

"I think so too," Gu Mian said, adjusting his dark-framed glasses. "After all, I tricked him pretty badly last time."

Fatty promptly chimed in, "Well, he was the one who harbored malicious intentions first."

Gu Mian looked towards Qi Tian’s boat again. Besides an old man rowing, there were only three people on it. It appeared they had failed to clear two stages.

Qi Tian was about three or four hundred meters away. When he saw Gu Mian looking directly at him so brazenly, his gaze flickered, and he quickly averted his eyes.

Fatty noticed Qi Tian’s expression too. He whispered, "He probably thought you, Doctor, would be too worried about being recognized to dare look at him. He certainly didn’t anticipate you brazenly staring back. Look, it scared him into looking away."

"I wasn’t glaring at him," Gu Mian corrected.

Although Qi Tian had looked away, he kept sneaking furtive glances in their direction, whispering to his companions. Soon, his companions were also casting sneaky looks over.

Gu Mian was actually quite worried Qi Tian might suddenly stand up, raise his arm, and shout, "Gu Mian is over there!"

The last time they met, it was in an instance. At that time, other players didn’t know Gu Mian could truly die if killed within an instance, so they wouldn’t have attacked him even if they encountered him. Back then, Qi Tian had only been trying to find out Gu Mian’s real-world location. What a coincidence to run into him now. He’s probably ecstatic right now, already scheming how to get his hands on those tens of thousands of Game Coins.

Fatty also sensed Gu Mian’s unease. Just as he was tensing up, wondering how they should respond, he suddenly saw Gu Mian, who appeared deep in thought, lean over the water and say, "Xiao Hong, go and capsize that boat."

Fatty’s throat tightened; the countless schemes and strategies in his mind were instantly rendered useless.

Xiao Hong, having received her orders, poked her head above the water. She wore an unwilling expression, as if Gu Mian were a procuress forcing an innocent girl into a life of vice, while she herself was a virtuous lady from a good family, pure and unstained despite being cast into the mire.

If this were a xianxia film, and some powerful monk came to capture evil spirits, Xiao Hong might even exclaim, "My beloved and I are truly in love; I never harm anyone!"

As for who this ’beloved’ of hers actually was, that was a thought for another time.

While Gu Mian’s imagination ran wild, the noble Xiao Hong, under Gu Mian’s duress, reluctantly swam towards the other boat.

And just as Gu Mian had guessed, Qi Tian was indeed ecstatic. He was quietly describing Gu Mian’s appearance to his two teammates.

His two teammates were named "Super Hunterman" and "Devil Incarnate Yang Lekai."

"Look over there, at the boat without a boatman..." Qi Tian lowered his head slightly, glancing in Gu Mian’s direction. He saw Gu Mian lean over and say something to the water at the stern of his boat. Ripples spread from the stern, then quickly subsided.

Qi Tian paid it no mind. He continued in a low voice to his two teammates, "The one with the black-framed glasses and the scarf is Gu Mian."

Super Hunterman and Yang Lekai also took several quick glances in that direction. Yang Lekai spoke first, "The one on the wanted list?"

Qi Tian nodded. "He tricked me badly in an instance last time, so I remember him well. That Fat Kid Surnamed Wang and Chu Changge, who often team up with him, are right next to him. If you don’t believe me, we can get a closer look later."

Super Hunterman sneaked another few glances in their direction. "Killing him is worth tens of thousands of Game Coins. Dying in an instance isn’t true death, but now that we’re in an event, isn’t this a perfect opportunity?"

Qi Tian nodded. "But let’s keep quiet about this. Not many people recognize Gu Mian. If word gets out, someone else might kill him first, and we wouldn’t get anything... However, he already noticed me."

"He noticed you?" Super Hunterman frowned. "Then it’ll be hard for us to make a move. He might even try to silence us first."

"No need to worry. With so many people here, he definitely wouldn’t dare expose his identity. If he tries to make a move on us, I’ll immediately shout out his identity. He’ll know I’d do that, so he won’t dare to act rashly," Qi Tian said, his brow smoothing. "As long as I have this leverage, I can keep him in check."

Even if they failed to kill Gu Mian in the end, Qi Tian could still expose Gu Mian’s identity and let other players do the job.

Having been outwitted by Gu Mian in an instance before, Qi Tian relished the thought of causing him trouble, even if there was no reward in it for him.

Just as the three of them were overjoyed, discussing how to use this leverage to threaten Gu Mian, they suddenly heard a THUD, as if something had struck their boat.

They all turned to look and saw a fair-skinned, slender hand emerge from the water, firmly gripping the gunwale.

It was unmistakably the hand of a beautiful woman. If it hadn’t emerged from the water, the three of them might have been more pleased.

Before they could react, the slender hand seemed to exert force. Their boat abruptly lost balance and was tipped to one side by that single hand. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The three on board immediately tumbled to one side. Amidst the chaos, Qi Tian thought he vaguely saw Gu Mian on the distant boat, a crafty grin on his face. He even seemed to hear a faint "HEE HEE HEE" sound.

Before Qi Tian could figure out what was happening, the entire boat capsized, trapping everyone underneath the water.

Fatty stared at the capsized boat in the distance and swallowed hard. "Doctor, theoretically, villains don’t die that easily. For the sake of the plot, they need to pop up a few times to get their faces slapped. If they’re killed off in one go, sure, it’s satisfying at the moment, but then the thrill is gone for good..."

"Speak plainly," Gu Mian interrupted.

Fatty swallowed again. "I don’t think he’ll die that easily."

Sure enough, Qi Tian struggled and flailed to the surface; it seemed he could swim.

At this moment, he seemed to have figured out what had happened. Struggling, he turned to look in their direction, his mouth agape in fury as if to shout Gu Mian’s name: "Gu..."

But before he could utter the first syllable, a hand shot out from the water and clamped over his mouth.

Then, Qi Tian was violently dragged underwater, until not even a bubble rose to the surface.

Gu Mian watched the scene intently. Yep, completely dead.