Genius Playground

‘Besides, what is Cheng Mengxue’s status in this world?’

Judging by the way she looked at him and shouted “Jiang Ran,” it was clear Cheng Mengxue still remembered him. She also appeared to have her freedom, both in mind and body.

‘So, can I get the answers from her?’

Regardless, driven by a longing for his childhood sweetheart, Jiang Ran was already impatient to set out again.

That mysterious Floor B42, that mysterious amusement park, that mysterious room…

He had to go back!

“Sir!”

“Sir!!”

The sweet, calling voice of the waitress in the maid outfit pulled Jiang Ran’s thoughts back to the present once again.

He turned around and looked at the worried-looking young woman.

“Sir… are you alright?”

The girl’s eyes were filled with concern.

“You’ve been spacing out here for a while with a troubled look on your face. Are you feeling unwell?”

“Would you like to try our new juice? It might help you calm down!”

“Alright, I’ll have one.”

The shock and contemplation just now had certainly drained him. Haste makes waste, as they say. He had already formulated the most time-efficient route in his mind and planned to start his speedrun the moment he finished this glass of orange juice.

The waitress beamed, poured Jiang Ran a large glass of orange juice, and handed it to him.

“If you like it, come find me for a refill anytime!”

Jiang Ran carried the juice to the flying motorcycle parked on the street and chugged it down. GULP, GULP.

He straddled the motorcycle and wiped his mouth.

“Let’s go!”

…

Flying at a breakneck speed, Jiang Ran reached the airspace above the Human Civilization Memorial Hall a few minutes later.

Spotting a furtive Sang Biao, he dove straight down, slammed on the brakes, and parked the flying motorcycle right behind him.

“Get on,” he said in a low voice.

“Huh?”

Sang Biao turned around, completely baffled.

“Who the fuck are you?! Piss off!”

“Sang Biao.” “Sang Biao my ass! You’re the one who—” He hitched up his pants and was about to pull a gun from his waistband.

“You don’t want Pompey’s treasure to get stolen by someone else, do you?”

Instantly, Sang Biao froze, his chubby hand stuck in his pants as he stared at Jiang Ran in confusion.

“Who… Who the hell are you?!”

“No time to explain.”

Jiang Ran patted the back seat of the motorcycle.

“Hurry up and get on! All the Permission Walls within the Memorial Hall are down right now. Our time is limited, so if you want to get Pompey’s treasure, you’d better listen to me.”

“I’ll give you five seconds. Come or don’t, I don’t care. To be honest… bringing you is a favor. My original intention was to go alone. If you don’t come, I’m going by myself.”

With that, he raised his hand and began to count down.

“Five… Four…”

“Fuck you!”

Overcome with rage, Sang Biao whipped out his handgun with a POP and aimed it at Jiang Ran.

“I’m gonna be the King of the Digital World! You think I’m gonna let some little shit like you order me around?! Posing on this piece-of-shit bike! Not even a dog would—”

…

“Ride!”

On the back of the flying motorcycle, Sang Biao raised a fist.

“A flying motorcycle is the only way to ride!”

“Say, little bro… how did you know my second-in-command was in the sewers and my third was scouting the ventilation ducts? You know me better than the tapeworm in my guts!”

“Sigh.”

Riding into the howling wind, Jiang Ran sighed.

“How many times have I told you? Stop making analogies with internal organs.”

“What do you mean, ‘how many times’? We just met for the first time today! But hehe, we’re already as close as brothers!”

Sang Biao hugged Jiang Ran’s waist, clinging on for dear life.

Just as he was about to shoot, this little brother from another mother had accurately laid out his entire plan and even knew the underground areas of the Memorial Hall like the back of his hand… He was a godsend!

As he spoke, he pulled a stack of fake ID cards from his pocket.

“So, based on what you said, the Permission Wall for that final room—the one even Pompey couldn’t get into—is down too? That means these ID cards are useless.”

“Fuck, and I paid a fortune to have these forged! The guy who sold them to me said he could modify the data from the backend and that these cards had a higher permission level than even Pompey!”

Heh.

Jiang Ran laughed, speechless.

“Phishing scams really do exist in every era. Use your brain for a second. Does that even sound possible?”

Sang Biao tossed the ID cards into the air, scattering them like confetti.

“Alright, bro! Don’t you worry. When I become the King of the Digital World, I’ll definitely treat you right. I’ll give you a whole continent to rule!”

“I can’t stomach any more of your empty promises.” Jiang Ran’s ears were ringing from hearing it so much.

“Oh, so you’re being picky now, are you!”

Sang Biao looked troubled. Finally, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

“Fine! I was originally going to give you Africa… but since you’ve helped me so much, I can give you Europe, right? It’s full of hot foreign chicks—”

“Would you just shut up already!”

Jiang Ran cut him off.

“Let’s get to work! Which vent is it?”

Sang Biao pointed downwards.

“Right there! That’s where number three went in!”

The motorcycle accelerated and descended.

After getting off the bike, the two of them climbed straight into the ventilation duct. Following Sang Biao’s directions, they found the spot where a Permission Wall used to be but was now gone.

“This is it.”

Jiang Ran went to the front and got into position to slide.

“Three, two, one, go!”

The two of them kicked off the wall of the duct and began to accelerate downwards.

The intel from that chubby “number three” was correct. The winding ventilation duct led straight down, with several forks along the way leading to other floors, but Jiang Ran ignored them all. His only goal was the very bottom.

After sliding at high speed for a minute, they saw a chubby figure stuck sideways in the straight passage ahead—

“Number three?”

Sang Biao had excellent dynamic visual acuity.

“Bro! That’s my guy up ahead! We can’t stop at this speed!”

“Stop? Why would we stop?!” Jiang Ran shouted.