Brian Brooks saw that David Carter was discouraged, but actually thought it was a good thing. “You saw the news too. I mean, just in case, if you also travel over there, you must be careful, and don’t talk nonsense when you come back.”

“Yeah, I got it,” David Carter nodded, then said with some emotion, “Why do you think the two of us are so poor?”

Brian Brooks thought for a moment and said, “When other people’s dads were working hard, your dad was playing cards.”

Although David Carter had some complaints about his own dad, hearing Brian Brooks say this still made him a bit uncomfortable. He retorted, “Then what about your dad?”

Brian Brooks: “Oh, my dad was working hard at playing cards.”

David Carter: “……”

A silence fell between them. After a while, David Carter asked, “By the way, how did your dad end up in there?”

“I reported him. I hope he can reflect on himself in there,” Brian Brooks answered calmly.

David Carter was stunned for a moment. “How about you report my dad too?”

Brian Brooks: “???”

At that moment, the class bell rang.

Brian Brooks felt like he had missed some piece of information. He lowered his head so others couldn’t see his pupils, and in an instant, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Everything that had happened today flashed through his mind like a movie, all the information converging, summarizing, and organizing in a split second.

Those second batch of travelers whose arms had just shown a countdown.

Those traveler streamers who had come out to do live commerce.

One piece of information after another, like leaves falling from the sky.

And Brian Brooks casually plucked the “useful” leaves from the air.

The next moment, Brian Brooks looked up in astonishment. The travelers discovered today seemed to be distributed in a dotted pattern, concentrated in a dozen or so cities.

Some residents in certain cities even posted online, wondering why they hadn’t seen a single traveler in their city.

In other words, the distribution of travelers might be extremely concentrated!

Concentrated in just a dozen or so cities!

At 5:40 p.m., the last class ended, and Brian Brooks skipped class again.

Before he left, the class monitor shouted, “Brian Brooks, the textbook fee is due tomorrow, don’t forget!”

“Got it,” Brian Brooks waved his hand.

Then, under David Carter’s envious gaze, he quickly left the classroom.

In the twilight, students who had just finished class rushed to the cafeteria for dinner, waiting for evening self-study to begin.

But Brian Brooks quickly made his way through the crowd and climbed over the campus wall at a corner.

He went home, took off his school uniform, changed into clothes he rarely wore, and put on a baseball cap before heading out.

He searched for the address of Yinrun Central Garden on his phone. It was about six kilometers from the school—that was the neighborhood where his “fellow townsman” Peter Grant lived.

He didn’t know why, but there was always some impulse driving Brian Brooks to go and take a look.

Although he didn’t know exactly which building or unit the other person lived in, he just wanted to see, to know what had happened to Peter Grant after returning, and what he had encountered in the other world.

Brian Brooks didn’t have any extra money for a taxi; he only had fifty cents left in his pocket. Until the next time he played chess with Old Zhang from Fulai Supermarket, this was all his savings.

He decided to run.

In the past, Brian Brooks hadn’t paid much attention to physical exercise, just running along with the group at school.

But now he suddenly realized that he couldn’t afford not to train anymore. He had to have a strong body to face a world full of danger.

You have to know—

The word “life” (命) in Chinese has never had a homophone, perhaps hinting that you only get one life.

You must cherish it.

Chapter 17: Cross Tracking

Night gradually fell. The autumn wind swept across Wangcheng Bridge as Brian Brooks stretched his body while running, the wind blowing his clothes back.

Yinrun Central Garden was one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Luocheng, and a well-known wealthy area.

However, before he could figure out how to get in, he saw six men in black suits walking out from a path at the back gate of the neighborhood.

Those men stood ramrod straight, looking as sharp as bayonets.

As they walked, all six kept perfectly in step—the timing of their steps, the distance they covered, as if someone had measured it with a ruler.

Wait a minute, Brian Brooks froze, because he saw that among the six, they were actually escorting a young man… Peter Grant!

At this moment, Peter Grant looked dazed, muttering strange things about prison, machines, monsters…

He watched as they quickly got into two black SUVs parked outside the back gate. One of them seemed to sense something and turned his head from the front passenger seat to look in Brian Brooks’s direction.

Brian Brooks immediately turned away and pretended to play with his phone as if nothing had happened.

The other party didn’t seem to pay much attention to him. The two black SUVs sped off into the night.

And Brian Brooks stood frozen outside the neighborhood gate, staring at his phone in silence.

Who were those people?

Brian Brooks turned and headed home.

On the way, he pondered the identity of the men in black, but gradually, he realized something was wrong.

A young man in a black hoodie had silently followed him for five blocks.

A strange sense of familiarity… he had seen this person before.

In an instant, Brian Brooks felt all the muscles in his body tense up. That invisible pressure was eroding his sense of security.