Chapter 487 - 428: Fu Tailan: A Kind of Freedom

Chapter 487: Chapter 428: Fu Tailan: A Kind of Freedom

Carter’s mind was quick, but what he didn’t realize was that his so-called improvisation was all too common, all too predictable in the eyes of a top-tier Hunter like Fu Tailan.

For example, the moment he realized the apartment building’s rules were no longer in effect, a dark glint flashed in his eyes and his lips began to pucker, as if trying to make his face resemble a pig’s snout—he was about to call out a resident’s name.

It seemed he had also guessed that with the apartment’s rules gone, the Welfare Act might have been reinstated.

Of course, Fu Tailan didn’t know if the Welfare Act had actually been reinstated either, but he had no intention of letting Carter test his theory.

Just as Carter shouted, "Xiaobai!" Fu Tailan had already flipped the switch for the apartment building Illusion on the power strip.

’The "Apartment Trap Illusion"—Chaisi’s power strip Illusion really is an incredible item.’ Not only did it display all nearby weapon Illusions on the strip, but it also labeled them with their names. Without that label, Fu Tailan never would have thought to use it to negate the Welfare Act that was protecting Carter.

’I’ll have to thank Chaisi properly next time. Let him know that his precious Illusion, which could easily sell for over a million, just saved my life again.’

"Carter, your foot isn’t even healed," Fu Tailan said slowly. "What made you think the Welfare Act was back?"

Carter stared blankly at the muzzle of Fu Tailan’s gun, apparently still processing what had just happened.

"Oh, I get it. You thought that if the apartment trap failed, the Welfare Act would be restored?" Fu Tailan feigned a sudden realization. "Heh. What kind of place do you think the Nest is?"

He looked at Carter and gestured with his gun, motioning for him to walk to the elevator door.

Carter’s face was like a dark, water-soaked cloth, his head slowly drooping. He still refused to move.

"You sent one Hunter after another into the Nest, collecting the Illusions the survivors brought back and trading them for piles of cash. You never knew what they went through inside, nor did you want to. That was for the lower class to deal with. After all this time, don’t tell me you started to get the wrong idea, that you actually thought the Nest was here to serve you?"

The muscles in Carter’s jaw clenched, and his eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

Fu Tailan gestured with the pistol again.

Wincing in pain, Carter panted as he shuffled to the elevator door. This time, however, he didn’t beg or try to sweet-talk his way out.

’Makes sense.’

’If you’re at a disadvantage from the very beginning with no hope in sight, you can resign yourself to being a prisoner. It’s just bad luck, and that’s that.’

’But just a few minutes ago, Carter had been the one basking in the Nest’s favor, holding every combat advantage, repeatedly driving Fu Tailan into a corner. For someone to fall so far, so fast... the higher a person’s status, the harder it is for them to stomach such a reversal.’

"Call the elevator. Take me to Fu Han’s floor." Fu Tailan moved behind him, then paused. "How many people are up there?"

A muscle in the corner of Carter’s mouth twitched, but he quickly suppressed it. "More than you can handle on your own."

The elevator, already on the first floor, opened with a DING.

Fu Tailan herded Carter into the elevator with his gun as if he were a sheep. Only after watching him press the button for the top floor, "6," did Fu Tailan let out a sigh.

"Do you think I give a damn about your pathetic life? You think I went to all this trouble just to beat you, kill you, and rescue Fu Han for some touching family reunion? A loving father, a devoted son? Have you been watching too many Hollywood movies?"

Carter couldn’t help but glance at him.

"The star of my final act is Fu Han. I’ve been waiting to see it play out... You? You’re nothing more than a traffic jam, a waste of my time. I have absolutely no interest in your life."

Carter said nothing, but it was clear he didn’t believe a word of it.

"If you insist on standing in my way, I don’t mind killing you," Fu Tailan explained. "But if you move aside, I’ll have forgotten who you are by the time this is over."

"I’m not a three-year-old. We’re long past the point where we can just walk away from each other," Carter sneered. "But you have to keep me alive, because the sixth floor is swarming with my men, and they’ve been watching your father this whole time."

Fu Tailan smiled at him.

"You might not believe this," he said, "but the more obstacles I have to fight through before I see Fu Han, the better. The bigger the commotion, the better."

Fu Tailan held up a bloody, mangled hand and gestured to himself. "If I can get covered in blood, even better."

"It’ll only be your own blood," Carter said through clenched teeth.

Fu Tailan laughed. "That works too. I’m not picky."

Carter was stunned; it was like punching a pillow. Just then, the elevator stopped on the sixth floor. After another DING, the doors slowly slid open.

Behind the doors was nothing but a solid steel wall with a keypad embedded in it.

The gap between the steel wall and the elevator doors was only wide enough for one person, forming a long, narrow corridor.

Once the elevator doors closed, anyone who had stepped out wouldn’t even be able to stand one behind the other; they’d be forced to stand shoulder-to-shoulder.

Fu Tailan pressed the gun’s muzzle into Carter’s side. "Do what you need to do. Don’t make me rush you with a bullet."

Carter’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

He quickly tapped a few keys on the keypad. With a low BUZZ, the keypad unit swung away from the wall, revealing a metal plate and a camera underneath.

Carter placed his hand on the metal plate.

"Boss," a man’s voice crackled from a speaker after a few seconds. "You’re just getting here? Is everything okay?"

Back when he was trapped in the dream and thought Fu Tailan had collected all the Illusions, Carter had already notified his people he was on his way. A trip that should have taken half an hour had stretched to three or four, so it was no wonder the guard was asking questions.

"Yeah, everything’s fine." Carter’s face was pale as he spoke to the camera. "I just had to deal with something last-minute. Open the door. I’m coming in."

"Yes, sir," the voice from the speaker replied.

Judging from the voice on the speaker, the man wasn’t suspicious. The camera was small and the space was tight. With Carter pressed up against the camera to speak, the person on the other side shouldn’t have been able to see Fu Tailan standing beside him.

’But surely the Morgan Family had considered the risk of a hostage-taker being out of the camera’s view, right?’

Before Fu Tailan could dwell on it, he heard the low rumble of machinery from within the steel wall.

A section of the what had appeared to be a solid wall began to recess, then slid to one side, revealing a door. The light from within spilled out, illuminating a battered and disheveled Carter.

Peering over Carter’s shoulder, Fu Tailan glanced at the space beyond the door. His angle was limited, so all he could see was an empty hallway.

Nothing happened. No one opened fire from within, no Illusions were activated, no one rushed out to save their boss, and Carter didn’t make a break for it.

Instead, he glanced back at Fu Tailan and said, "Let’s go."

"You first," Fu Tailan said with a tilt of his chin. "Don’t try anything funny."

"So cautious," Carter grumbled before stepping through the doorway.

Because the corridor was so narrow, for a brief moment after Carter went in, Fu Tailan was still standing outside. He seized the momentary opportunity, pulling out the power strip Illusion for a quick look.

’Shit.’

As Fu Tailan hurried after Carter, he realized he had made a huge mistake.

Carter hadn’t just stationed men on the sixth floor; he had also stockpiled a vast number of weapons. The power strip Illusion only had six slots, but right now, the same small line of text appeared next to every single switch.

.45 Handgun - Power On - Switch

There was only one logical explanation.

It could only mean that there was no telling how many guns, how many weapons, were on the sixth floor. The .45 handguns alone were enough to fill up every slot on the power strip Illusion.

’But how could Carter not have laid a trap with other Illusions?’

Amidst the unknown dangers posed by both Hunters and Illusions, Carter was Fu Tailan’s only ticket to staying alive. But because he’d checked the power strip Illusion, he had missed the brief window to enter right behind him.

By the time Fu Tailan charged through the doorway, Carter was already standing in the middle of the hallway.

In that instant, Fu Tailan’s vision fixed on one thing: the hallway’s ceiling, walls, and floor were all covered in a dense, tangled web of gigantic, silver-white threads, like a mass of vines.

Giant threads that hadn’t appeared on the power strip Illusion at all.

"Get him!" Carter shrieked, standing amidst the threads.

Doors along the hallway burst open. In his peripheral vision, several figures lunged into the corridor, all raising their guns at Fu Tailan—

In that instant, fear, worry, regret... all the emotions another person might have felt in his place vanished from Fu Tailan’s mind.

He almost felt a sense of freedom.

’Completely relinquishing control, leaving everything to fate... it turns out there’s a unique freedom in that, a certain lightness.’

He didn’t have to think about anything. All he had to do was charge toward Carter, just a few steps away.

’He’d done everything he could.’

’Whether he could reach Carter in time... that was up to fate now.’

Fu Tailan almost felt a smile creep onto his face.