Who wants to become a god? Aren't you all forcing me?

#328 - Chapter 327: Voices in the Shadows (Two in One)

Night had not yet fallen, and the moon had not yet awakened.

Li Chenqiu leaned back on the sofa, his hand supporting his head, his eyes lowered, watching the phone placed in front of him, as if waiting for something.

Buzz——

The phone vibrated, the screen lit up, and a pleasant ringtone sounded.

Li Chenqiu glanced at the incoming number, got up and answered the phone: "I thought you weren't planning to get Takahashi Unosuke, tell me, what have you discussed?"

That familiar middle-aged male voice rang out: "We agree to let you meet with Lu Xiancong, but the time and place must be decided by us."

"Decided by you?" Li Chenqiu tapped the coffee table rhythmically with his fingers, a hint of dissatisfaction in his words.

"What's wrong, do you have a problem with that?"

Li Chenqiu said softly: "If the time and place are determined by your Takahashi Conglomerate, I'll be very passive. If you want to harm me, wouldn't I become a lamb to the slaughter?"

"I'm not discussing this with you, I'm informing you. The request has been made, and the Takahashi Conglomerate will not make any compromises because of your dissatisfaction."

Li Chenqiu raised an eyebrow: "Don't you care about Takahashi Unosuke's life or death at all?"

"It's because we care that we're making such a big concession. If you don't think it's appropriate, then you can kill Takahashi Unosuke if you want!"

Li Chenqiu was silent for a few seconds, then sighed and said: "You're really ruthless. What time and what place?"

"Someone will come to you then and take you there in person."

Li Chenqiu frowned slightly, but didn't say much.

"When are you planning to release Takahashi Unosuke?"

"After I see Lu Xiancong, I'll tell you where Takahashi Unosuke is."

"Okay, I hope you keep your promise."

Beep!

The phone was hung up.

Li Chenqiu put down his phone, bent over, and wearily supported his forehead.

If the time and place are determined by the other party, the difficulty of rescuing Lu Xiancong will only increase significantly. He will not be able to deploy in advance at all and can only passively accept the situation.

"Sigh~~~" Li Chenqiu sighed deeply and looked up at the sky, which was dyed red by the afterglow of the setting sun.

...

Two days later, one early morning.

Knock knock knock!

A knock sounded on the door.

Li Chenqiu walked out of the bedroom with dark circles under his eyes, came to the door and opened it. He saw a well-dressed middle-aged man with his hair combed meticulously standing outside the door.

Li Chenqiu sized the other person up and down: "You are?"

"Takahashi Haruyama, the person you spoke to on the phone," Takahashi Haruyama said in fluent Northern Federation language.

Li Chenqiu glanced at the other person in surprise: "Your Northern Federation language is very standard!"

Takahashi Haruyama said with a cold face, bluntly: "I'm here to take you to see Lu Xiancong. The car is already downstairs. Come down when you're ready!"

After speaking, Takahashi Haruyama turned around and left directly, not giving Li Chenqiu any time to speak.

Li Chenqiu closed the door, the dark circles under his eyes gradually faded, and his scattered gaze gradually solidified.

"Awoo~~~~" Xiang Nanzhi walked out of the room, yawning: "They're here?"

"Yeah." Li Chenqiu turned to look at Nanzhi: "Do you remember what I told you?"

Xiang Nanzhi perfunctorily made an "OK" gesture: "I remember, I remember. It's not a big deal. Is it necessary to repeat it over and over again? I'm not mentally disabled, I can understand human language!"

...

Downstairs at the hotel, a black car was parked at the entrance.

Inside the car, Takahashi Haruyama was sitting in the driver's seat, and next to him, Kiboku Akihiko was dozing with his eyes closed.

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere inside the car was quiet and oppressive.

"He's out," Takahashi Haruyama said, looking in the direction of the hotel entrance.

Kiboku Akihiko, sitting in the passenger seat, opened his eyes, a flash of coldness flashing in his eyes: "What a reckless fool."

At the hotel entrance, Li Chenqiu, wearing a simple white shirt, walked calmly to the black car and stopped, bending over and looking through the glass into the car, his eyes meeting Kiboku Akihiko's.

Li Chenqiu said in surprise: "Oh, you old geezer are here too!"

Kiboku Akihiko's face darkened, and a "#" symbol appeared on his forehead.

Takahashi Haruyama in the driver's seat hurriedly said: "Get in the car quickly, time is of the essence."

"Okay."

Li Chenqiu nodded and opened the back door to get in.

Clang——

The car door closed.

Takahashi Haruyama looked at Li Chenqiu through the rearview mirror: "Is your friend at the hotel?"

Li Chenqiu tilted his head in confusion: "Why do you care about him? What does he have to do with you?"

"Just asking."

Takahashi Haruyama replied faintly, stepped on the accelerator and started the car.

Li Chenqiu took out his phone, wanting to share his location with Wenren Qing, only to realize that the phone had no signal at all.

Because it was too early, and it was Sunday, there were very few pedestrians on the street, and not many cars on the road.

The black car drove smoothly all the way, speeding at an excessive speed, completely ignoring the traffic lights at each intersection, and the traffic officers stationed at the crossroads, crashing and bumping like playing a racing game.

Li Chenqiu, sitting in the back seat, asked: "Aren't you afraid of hitting someone driving so fast?"

"I'm a very good driver, I won't hit anyone."

"What if you do hit someone?"

Takahashi Haruyama said indifferently: "If I hit someone, I hit someone."

Li Chenqiu raised his eyebrows slightly, then the corners of his mouth curled up, and he looked out of the car.

Time passed slowly, the buildings outside the car window became shorter and shorter, and were no longer concentrated. The black car had already driven to the outermost ring of Hugh Moon City.

Li Chenqiu asked casually: "Isn't the place where Professor Lu is being held in Hugh Moon City?"

Takahashi Haruyama said perfunctorily: "It is and it isn't."

Li Chenqiu asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"

A trace of impatience flashed between Takahashi Haruyama's eyebrows: "You'll know later."

Ten minutes later, Takahashi Haruyama slowly lifted his right foot, the car's speed slowed down, until it stopped by the side of the road.

"We're here, get out of the car."

Hearing this, Li Chenqiu took the lead in opening the car door, got out of the car, and looked around.

This was a desolate street where no one could be seen.

Several old six- or seven-story buildings stood alone, the shops on both sides of the street were open, but there was no one inside, and stray cats and dogs could be seen scurrying out of the shadows from time to time.

Clang!

Clang!

Two consecutive door closing sounds rang out, and Takahashi Haruyama and Kiboku Akihiko got out of the car.

Kiboku Akihiko glanced at Li Chenqiu, didn't say a word, and walked alone towards the alley on the side of the street.

Takahashi Haruyama looked at Li Chenqiu: "Follow me."

"Okay." Li Chenqiu responded and walked into the alley with Takahashi Haruyama.

The alley was dark and lightless. Looking down, there was all kinds of garbage that had been flattened, and a rotten smell floated out from it, permeating the alley.

Kiboku Akihiko seemed to hate this smell very much, and walked particularly fast, constantly turning and changing direction in the narrow alley.

"It's deep!" Li Chenqiu said silently in his heart.

Tap!

Kiboku Akihiko stopped and looked at the dead end ahead where there was no way to go.

"Hmm?" Li Chenqiu said softly: "Why is there no road?"

"There is a road."

Takahashi Haruyama next to him walked straight forward, opened his five fingers and pressed them against a dark brick on the wall.

Crack crack——

The brick sank, making a sound similar to gears rubbing and colliding, and a layer of dust was shaken off.

Immediately afterwards, the ground next to Takahashi Haruyama suddenly sank, and an opening of less than half a square meter appeared there.

Kiboku Akihiko took the lead in jumping into the opening, making a "bang" sound.

Takahashi Haruyama turned to look at Li Chenqiu and gestured: "Jump in."

Li Chenqiu didn't hesitate and jumped directly into the opening.

Bang!

Li Chenqiu landed steadily, surrounded by darkness, unable to see anything.

But he could roughly sense that this was a confined space, about the size of an ordinary elevator shaft.

Bang!

Takahashi Haruyama also jumped down and said: "Stand firm."

As soon as he finished speaking, the opening above quickly closed. This confined space did not have any buffer and fell straight down. A sense of weightlessness instantly surged into Li Chenqiu's heart.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh——

Li Chenqiu swayed slightly, then his feet separated slightly, and he quickly stabilized, except for his hair flying upwards.

Time passed by, and when this confined space descended to a certain depth, it changed direction and rushed straight forward. A piercing sound of wind breaking came from outside.

At this time, Li Chenqiu understood what Takahashi Haruyama meant by "it is and it isn't."

The entrance is in the city, and the place is outside the city.

A few minutes later.

Crack crack crack——

This confined space shook violently a few times, and the speed quickly slowed down until it stopped completely.

Woo woo——

The iron wall directly in front of Li Chenqiu slowly separated from the middle, and dazzling white light shone obliquely under his feet from the gap, gradually expanding.

Takahashi Haruyama said: "We're here, let's go out!"

Hearing this, Li Chenqiu stepped forward, walked out of the darkness and into the light.

Soft white light poured down from above, and what caught his eye was a circular square with an area of over a thousand square meters.

Different from ordinary squares, the ground of this square was a whole piece of silver-white unknown metal, exuding a strange luster under the illumination of the white light.

In the center of the square, there was a glass elevator shaft that passed through the silver-white ceiling and led to the top.

Around the square, there were independent cells similar to ancient prisons. Through the iron fences, one could see men and women naked, covered with hideous scars, staying inside.

Some of them had dull eyes, squatting in the corner and laughing foolishly, some looked terrified, hugging their knees and shrinking into a ball, and some sat silently in front of the railing with blank eyes.

As Li Chenqiu walked into the square, for a time, these people's eyes gathered on him.

There was curiosity, sympathy, and despair in their eyes...

Takahashi Haruyama walked to Li Chenqiu's side and said coldly: "Tell me, where is Takahashi Unosuke?"

Li Chenqiu asked: "Where is Lu Xiancong? I want to see him."

Takahashi Haruyama took a deep look at Li Chenqiu and strode forward.

Li Chenqiu followed closely.

Kiboku Akihiko, who was standing in place, looked at Li Chenqiu's back, a mocking smile curling up on the corner of his mouth.

At the same time, 100 meters above the square.

Inside the bright and transparent monitoring room, men and women wearing white uniforms sat in chairs, staring at the prisoners they were responsible for supervising.

On the large screen directly in front of the monitoring room, the scene of Li Chenqiu walking into the square was playing.

Takahashi Mebae, standing in the center of the monitoring room, said: "How is the arrangement going?"

"Father, don't worry, everything has been arranged properly. There is no possibility for Li Chenqiu to escape," Takahashi Ranmu said confidently, standing next to him.

Takahashi Mebae said lightly: "Tell me about it."

Takahashi Ranmu leaned forward: "Four ninth-level forbidden destiny users, one tenth-level forbidden destiny user, plus me and Ningzi, that's six ninth-level forbidden destiny users and one tenth-level forbidden destiny user.

Among the four ninth-level forbidden destiny users, there is one earth element destiny user. Even if Li Chenqiu uses the mysterious artifact that you said can tunnel into the ground, there is no possibility for him to survive."

Takahashi Mebae frowned: "You only found this one tenth-level forbidden destiny user, Kiboku Akihiko?"

Takahashi Ranmu complimented: "With you, Father, personally in charge, what impact will fewer tenth-level forbidden destiny users have?"

Takahashi Mebae raised his arm as if to hit Takahashi Ranmu, scaring him into retreating repeatedly.

...

On the square, led by Takahashi Haruyama, Li Chenqiu came to a cell.

Unlike other cells, this cell was sealed and could not be seen from the outside.

Takahashi Haruyama walked forward and placed his thumb on the fingerprint reader.

Beep——

Click!

Along with a prompt sound, the closed cell door suddenly popped open.

Just as Li Chenqiu was about to look inside, Takahashi Haruyama reached out to stop him, while holding down the cell door that was about to open.

Li Chenqiu said unhappily: "What are you doing?"

Takahashi Haruyama narrowed his eyes, a undisguised cold light flashing in his eyes: "The location of Takahashi Unosuke."

"For safety reasons, I'll tell you in fifteen minutes."

As he said this, Li Chenqiu was about to step into the cell, but Takahashi Haruyama didn't mean to give way at all, and still stood in place, blocking Li Chenqiu's path.

Takahashi Haruyama shook his head: "You can't go in if you don't tell me."

Li Chenqiu chuckled, pointing at himself and said: "Do I look like an idiot? If I tell you the whereabouts of Takahashi Unosuke now, will I still be able to get out alive?"

Takahashi Haruyama said sincerely: "You don't have to worry, our Takahashi Conglomerate values ​​integrity the most and will not do such a thing as crossing the river and tearing down the bridge."

"Okay." Li Chenqiu nodded with a smile: "Takahashi Unosuke is in the sky, go find him quickly, otherwise he will fly to the Northern Federation later."

"You..."

Buzz buzz——

The loudspeakers all around the square made a sound of current.

"Let him in!"

Takahashi Mebae's voice rang out, echoing in the square.

"Humph!"

Takahashi Haruyama snorted coldly at Li Chenqiu, took a step back, and made way.

Li Chenqiu ignored the other party and walked straight into the cell.

The cell was not big, less than ten square meters at a glance.

As soon as he walked into the cell, an indescribable stench rushed into Li Chenqiu's nose, causing him to subconsciously raise his hand to cover his nose.

Li Chenqiu looked down, and what caught his eye were various shapes and consistencies of - excrement!

Bang!

The cell was closed from the outside.

Li Chenqiu frowned slightly, tiptoed and found a relatively clean ground to stand on, and looked around: "Where is the person?"

Swish, swish—

Just then, from the shadows in the corner came a barely audible sound, like clothes rubbing against the wall.