Chapter 29

There was a knock on the door, and Lu Fengfeng stood up to open it. Tutu entered, carrying a tray. “We’ve prepared some medicine. Can you help her with the bandages?”

Lu Fengfeng took the small tray, which contained disinfectant, ointment, and bandages, thanked Tutu, and closed the door.

Tutu tiptoed to glance inside. He genuinely cared about Yan Ning’s injury. Among all the contestants, his favorites were Yan Ning and Lu Fengfeng. He really didn’t want anything bad to happen to her before the finals.

But something like this had happened, and Yan Ning was directly affected. He was very worried that she might withdraw from the competition because of this. However, there was still the issue with Chen Nuan to handle. The boss was urging him to finish the work on the cruise ship and take the contestants to Angel Island No. 4.

Yan Ning was leaning against the bed. After the previous ordeal, she could barely move, but she was able to speak with less difficulty now. However, she didn’t understand what Lu Fengfeng meant. She stared at him blankly and quietly asked, “What do you regret?”

Lu Fengfeng placed the tray on the small cabinet beside the bed and gently took her injured right hand. Three fingers were crushed by the stiletto heels, and the injury was severe. The skin and flesh had stuck together, blood mingled with torn tissue, making it look terrifying.

Lu Fengfeng used disinfected tweezers to carefully separate the flesh, blowing on it as he gently applied disinfectant and ointment, focused and serious. After finishing the bandaging, he looked up at her, his eyes cold, and his tone distant. “Let’s break up.”

“Are you serious?” Yan Ning was surprised, her emotions still relatively calm. She just couldn’t understand—everything had seemed fine a moment ago. Why was he suddenly talking about breaking up?

“Did I do something wrong?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Lu Fengfeng stared at the bandaged hand. In his mind, images of Chen Nuan pushing her into the sea and crushing her fingers with a stiletto heel resurfaced.

Chen Nuan had gone mad because of him. But he had chosen to harm Yan Ning. Originally, Lu Fengfeng had thought that if he silently endured and waited until he got what he needed to lift the restraints on him, everything would return to normal.

But he couldn’t bear seeing Yan Ning hurt because of him. He couldn’t stand watching her suffer. That “helplessness” had surpassed anything he could tolerate. So, the best thing to do was to let go before things got worse.

But strangely, this time, there was no sense of relief. Instead, his heart felt empty, as if something important was about to shatter when she left.

It was something he should hold tightly onto, but he didn’t dare.

“No, you’ve done well. It’s just… I feel… a bit tired of it.” He said each word with difficulty, but his voice was still gentle and pleasing. Even when saying such words, there was a tenderness that overflowed.

But Yan Ning always felt there was a deep sadness in his voice, as if he was about to cry at any moment.

“Is it because of what happened tonight? Do you think that because I was hurt because of you, you want to run away?” Yan Ning looked straight into Lu Fengfeng’s eyes, forcing him to face her, not letting him escape. “If that’s the reason, I’m sorry, but I can’t accept it.”

“What?” Lu Fengfeng suddenly felt a pressure that he couldn’t explain.

In his past relationships, breakups were always unpleasant, and even after they ended, he would often be harassed or entangled. He had already prepared himself for Yan Ning to cry, complain, or cling to him. But her response was completely calm, and she even brought up a completely new perspective.

“I said I can’t accept your reason for breaking up. You feel guilty because of what Chen Nuan did to me. You couldn’t face me, so you just left and ran away. You may feel relieved, but I just went through a terrifying ordeal, almost dying, and now I have to face the pain of breaking up. Lu Fengfeng, don’t you have any heart?” Yan Ning covered her eyes with her bandaged hand, trying to force her voice to sound sad and desperate.

Even though she had no experience in relationships, she could tell Lu Fengfeng was overthinking. No matter how smart a person is, when they start to argue with themselves, if the way of resolving it is wrong, no advice would work.

If she had spoken gently right now and said, “It’s okay, don’t take it to heart, I’m fine,” it might have been a different story…

For some people who are carefree or simple-minded, this approach might work. But for someone like Lu Fengfeng, who is deep-thinking and sensitive, this kind of gentleness would only add an even heavier burden to his heart.

Yan Ning had always disliked indecisive, clingy behavior. If you want to escape, then I will chase after you, corner you, and make sure you can’t retreat or run away.

Lu Fengfeng was clever enough to understand her thoughts without her saying much. He tilted his head back, raised his hand to cover his eyes, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. A faint, broken laugh spilled out. Gradually, the laughter grew louder, as though he was about to run out of breath.

The next second, his laughter suddenly stopped. He quickly pulled Yan Ning into his arms.

One hand tightly wrapped around her shoulder, the other holding her head, he lowered his head slightly and buried his face in her long, fair neck, rubbing it a couple of times. His voice was low and hoarse as he murmured, “I won’t run away anymore. From now on, you won’t be able to escape either.”

Yan Ning raised her hand to gently hold him back, patting his back. She tilted her head and whispered in his ear, “Of course, I’ll stay with you until the end.”

Lu Fengfeng’s tendency not to dwell on things and to know when to stop was something Yan Ning really liked. It was the kind of quality that helped a person live a long life.

And in the future, she would make sure he lived a happy one.

Lu Fengfeng hugged her tighter, burying his face deeper into the crook of her shoulder, unwilling to let go.

Yan Ning sat quietly, gently holding him, letting him show his affection.

His clinginess reminded her of a hunting dog she once raised on M20. A large dog capable of taking on wolves, with thick fur, sharp teeth, and fierce, wild nature. But in front of her, it would often act like a pampered child, bringing her anything it found, and at night, it loved to sleep at the foot of her bed, whimpering when she petted its head. It was extremely adorable.

Time passed, and after a long while, Lu Fengfeng started feeling a little embarrassed to raise his head. Reflecting on the recent events, she had just escaped such a huge shock, yet he was sulking. She, exhausted both physically and mentally, had to spend even more energy to console and comfort him.

As he thought about it, Lu Fengfeng wanted to hide in a corner and shut himself off.

Yan Ning caught him. “Don’t leave, I still have something to say.”

“Go ahead,” Lu Fengfeng said, unable to bear the shame, in a completely submissive state towards Yan Ning.

“About what happened today, you might think it all started because of you, but actually, that’s not the case. I want to tell you a few things.” With the internal crisis resolved, Yan Ning wanted to quickly address the external conflicts.

She explained the reason she transferred schools, her family situation, and her relationship with Yan Wan, then told him about some unusual things that had happened during the incident. “…At the time, I couldn’t move my body, and Chen Nuan said, ‘I didn’t expect that thing to actually work.’ I suspect Yan Wan gave her something or used something on me. Normally, there are very few methods that could put me in that kind of weak state. And later, when I was being moved to the railing, I saw Yan Wan standing on the third floor, looking in this direction.”

Yan Ning gently stroked the inhibitor on her right wrist. Because her mental power was suppressed to C-level, many things were not as convenient. But even so, with her physical capabilities, ordinary poisons, substances, or physical methods would be hard-pressed to leave her in such a weakened state.

She started to suspect that Yan Wan had equipment beyond Earth’s technology, or possibly something from outer space, though she didn’t know what it was.

She kept the idea about extraterrestrials to herself, as Lu Fengfeng might accept that Yan Wan would harm her because of their conflict, but he might not be willing to accept the idea of aliens. Since she couldn’t find a reasonable explanation, she decided not to mention it.

Lu Fengfeng listened to her, his thoughts aligned with hers, but these things didn’t need to be shared with her. He just needed to pay attention to that woman and make sure she couldn’t hurt Yan Ning again. As for the rest, he would handle it.

He tucked his thoughts away, lowered his gaze, and gently held her injured hand. “What do you want to do?”

“Hm, I think Yan Wan’s personality is extremely extreme and scary. When she goes crazy, she completely disregards the situation. She dared to incite others to deal with me on the cruise, and if she has the chance during the finals, she definitely won’t let me go. So, I want to find an opportunity to test her, see what exactly she has up her sleeve.”

“Alright, I’ll help you when the time comes.”

Just as they finished talking, there was another knock at the door, this time the voice sounded a little lewd and trivial: “Hey—anyone in? I’m Sese, an employee of Shengyi. Before we reach the finals venue, Angel Island No. 4, there are a few things I need to tell you both. Is it convenient for me to come in?”

Lu Fengfeng opened the door. Sese stood at the entrance, glanced inside, then shifted her gaze back to Lu Fengfeng. “I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

“No, come in.” Lu Fengfeng’s face was indifferent as he stepped aside to let Sese enter.

Sese was holding a pile of documents, along with two objects that looked like watches.

“Here’s the thing. The upcoming finals will take place at our company’s soon-to-be-launched Angel Island No. 4 Real Human Experience Park. You two, being among the carefully selected test contestants, will have your performance streamed live across the entire internet. First, we need to ask for your consent.” Sese’s gaze shifted between Yan Ning and Lu Fengfeng. “But don’t worry, the live stream won’t fully reveal your appearances. We’ve prepared this, a communication device used on the island, which has an in-built appearance alteration feature.”

Sese picked up one of the black, watch-like devices. “As long as you wear this, your appearance will be randomly generated on most network servers. Viewers will only see your performance in the competition, not your true appearance or any personal information. Of course, our company also has paid servers that require tickets to enter, much like watching a movie. These servers are located on the first floor of Shengyi’s Golden Tower. You can watch, but no one is allowed to take the image data out. If someone buys a ticket to watch, they will see your real appearance. If you both agree to the live stream, a portion of the revenue will be transferred to your personal bank accounts based on your popularity.”

Yan Ning thought for a moment. She had no objections, so she nodded. “I have no problem.”

She then picked up the communication device and put it on her wrist. Such devices also existed in the stars, though they were much more refined and likely had more complete functions. This Earth model was probably a creation of these two Emiran aliens.

Lu Fengfeng also put on the communication device and activated the appearance-changing function. Their appearances remained unchanged in each other’s eyes, the special equipment only altered their appearances when displayed to others.

“Anything else?” Lu Fengfeng asked.

“There’s also the schedule. The competition lasts for five days, which means you will be staying on the island for five days. Basic equipment will be distributed before you board the island. Within the range of basic equipment, each person can choose three items, along with a small amount of water and food. Because you two performed exceptionally well in the last round, you’ve earned extra points and are allowed an additional equipment slot. You can bring one more item, which can be something personal. As for the victory condition, only one person can win. The condition for winning is to obtain the treasure chest guarded by the Golden Holy Dragon.”

Yan Ning glanced at Lu Fengfeng. She felt a bit confused, as she wasn’t familiar with the game rules.

Lu Fengfeng gave her a reassuring look and whispered, “I’ll explain it to you later.”

Yan Ning nodded.

Sese watched this scene with a vicious thought: “Still showing off! Still showing off! Wait until we get to the island, you two dare to show off like this, I’ll twist your heads off!”

Cough, “The cruise is already heading towards Angel Island No. 4. We will notify you when we arrive. Please get some good rest tonight. If there are no other questions, I’ll take my leave now.” Sese said as she prepared to exit, but then remembered something. “By the way, contestant No. 2, Lu Fengfeng, your room is next door. Remember to return to your own room later.”

Yan Ning and Lu Fengfeng exchanged a glance, feeling awkward but unable to suppress their laughter.

—

The other contestants received similar special instructions in their rooms. After being persuaded by the staff, those who had doubts about the rules of the competition mostly accepted them.

Yan Wan sat in her room, holding the game communication device, her mood neither good nor bad.

She had instigated Chen Nuan to design a plan to nearly defeat Yan Ning, but didn’t expect Lu Fengfeng to return so quickly. It ruined her plan and wasted an important single-use item.

That item had cost her a lot of points to exchange from the system, and it could only be redeemed once. She had invested a great deal of effort, yet it had failed, which left her feeling quite displeased.

However, after receiving the competition rules for the finals, her bad mood improved a little.

She finally understood why the system encouraged her to participate in this competition. Unlike previous years, Shengyi Games was going all out to promote their new project, and the live streaming across the internet was a clear indication of that.

As long as she performed well in the competition, her popularity would increase, making it easier to gain access to other resources.

In the system of a wealthy young lady, there was a reputation value. The higher the reputation, the higher-grade items could be exchanged. Among these high-grade items was the ultimate wish bottle, which required a reputation of one million.

The ultimate wish bottle could grant any wish—money, power, connections, and even erase a person from existence entirely.

Yan Wan had two plans in mind: To use this competition to greatly increase her reputation and obtain the ultimate wish bottle, and to subtly suppress Yan Ning during the competition, lowering the public’s impression of her, completely denying her existence on a psychological level, and completely crushing her in this competition.

The live-streamed competition was a golden opportunity. She didn’t need to do much herself, the public opinion would drown the country girl.

Such a high-level item as the wish bottle would certainly not be used on someone as insignificant as Yan Ning.

—

Late at night, Lu Fengfeng returned to his room.

Yan Ning lay in her bed, feeling like the day had been a dream. She had never imagined that one day, she would have a lover.

She had grown accustomed to being rejected on M20, and no one had ever expressed love for her. Although her relationship with Lu Fengfeng hadn’t started in a simple way, she still wasn’t sure if there were any true feelings involved.

But the day was very pleasant. Being relied upon and accompanied by someone felt like lying in cotton candy—sweet and soft—yet also like resting by a warm stove, comforting and snug.

She began to look forward to the next five days of the journey, knowing there would be beautiful memories that rivaled those of interstellar travel.

She opened the communicator on her wrist, which had a special compartment. This was an advantage gained through bonus points, allowing her to place one of her own items inside.

After a moment’s thought, she took something out of her spatial ring and placed it inside.

The next morning, just as the first light of dawn appeared, Yan Ning, Lu Fengfeng, Qin Li, Yan Wan, and Shu Yue, the five contestants, were woken up by attendants. After getting dressed, they were immediately escorted off the cruise ship.

The other passengers on the ship were still asleep and would soon be sent back to B City.

Tutu and Sese remained on Angel Island No. 4 to guide them in the beginning.

At the same time, major live streaming platforms across the country had already started broadcasting, and audiences were entering the first floor of Shengyi’s headquarters building.

Qiao Yingxue, Zhao Xiaolu, Shi Lei, and Zhou Ye had no need to be mentioned. They thought that no one else would come to support Yan Ning, but when they arrived at the entrance, they met Sports Committee member Chen Kai. Gu Tian had also bought tickets to watch the event live, wanting to see Yan Ning up close.

Yan Yu, along with his classmates, had also purchased tickets. He was there to watch Yan Wan.

Since six people were participating in the internal test, each contestant had a solo perspective in addition to the overall view.

Audiences could buy tickets for their preferred contestant’s solo perspective, allowing them to see both the overall view and the main perspective of the contestant they supported. They could also send gifts, comment, and send bullet comments.

In order to facilitate management, the solo perspectives were divided by region. Fans could buy tickets for the solo perspective of the contestant they liked, and those who purchased tickets for the same contestant’s main perspective would be gathered in the same area.

The live streaming platform opened seven live rooms: one for the overall view and six for each contestant’s solo perspective.

Although Shengyi hadn’t publicized the six contestants online, there were still many people in B City who had heard the news. Some of them might be unknown, but Yan Wan, as the campus belle of Minghua High School, with her excellent background, was well known by many.

Thus, on this day, Yan Wan’s main perspective area had the most viewers, almost entirely composed of teenagers.

The main perspective areas of the other contestants had very few viewers. In comparison, Yan Ning’s main perspective area had slightly more people, thanks to her classmates supporting her. Lu Fengfeng’s main perspective area had a lot of people too, with Black Neck and his group holding down the fort, but others dared not approach.

At this point, the six contestants on Angel Island No. 4 were unaware of any of this.

Angel Island No. 4 Main Island.

“First, let me introduce the sixth contestant. This contestant has achieved excellent results in Shengyi’s internal physical fitness test. So this time, he will also compete with you all. He is—Chengcheng.” Sese bent her short arm into a curved shape, pretending it was a microphone as she introduced the other five contestants.

The contestant named Chengcheng walked out from behind a tree not far away, wearing a brown cardboard headpiece on his head. It was clear that this wasn’t due to an appearance-altering device, but because he was actually wearing that headpiece.

Facing five pairs of curious and confused eyes, Sese cleared her throat, “Ahem, this contestant is a bit shy and has severe social anxiety. In order to help with his emotions, he wears this headpiece. Please understand.”

Chengcheng awkwardly scratched the back of his head, nodded to greet them without saying a word, and then stealthily walked to the farthest spot from Yan Ning to stand.

Yan Ning leaned forward to take a look at Chengcheng. She felt like he might be avoiding her, but since she didn’t have many other friends on Earth, it was probably just a misunderstanding, right?

Once all six team members were gathered, Sese repeated the rules she had told them the night before, then directed them to the equipment area to select their gear.

Each person had only three inventory slots, and since no one knew what the situation on the island would be, they had to choose their items very carefully.

Yan Ning and Lu Fengfeng stood in the equipment area, where there were only six slots. They planned to discuss and try to bring different items. Above their heads were flying devices resembling dragonflies. These served as personal main perspective cameras and also ensured their safety.

Yan Ning chose a small, compact spring-loaded knife. It was very tiny but looked sharp. She also picked a sleeping bag and a mini water purifier.

Lu Fengfeng also chose a weapon, but his was a ranged shooting weapon. In addition, he grabbed a first aid kit and a large box of matches.

Since Sese and Tutu wouldn’t be accompanying them to the island, they set up a small platform next to the equipment area to provide real-time commentary for the viewers. While watching the live stream, the audience could hear their voices but not see them.

They first announced an important piece of news: After five days, if any contestant in the internal test obtained the treasure chest guarded by the Golden Holy Dragon, that person would be declared the sole winner. If no one managed to pass the test, the competition would be considered a failure, and the 500,000 prize money would be randomly drawn among the players on Angel Island No. 4 as a gift.

No wonder they say that Tang Chengtian is ruthless and heartless.

Once the news about the 500,000 prize was released, the live stream, which had previously been quite empty, saw a rapid increase in viewers, comments, and bullet comments. Within moments, the viewer count skyrocketed from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands.

The bullet comment and comment sections were filled with all sorts of wild remarks:

【Angel Island’s Wang Dazhu: The prize doesn’t matter, I mainly just want to see Brother Tian on the island. Dog head JPG.】

【Nightingale and Rose: +1, although we haven’t seen the whole island yet, it must be picturesque, like the 50…】

【Your Sweetheart Little Baby: Brother Tian is the best and the most handsome! muamuamua~~~】

—

【A Daidai Dai: I’m actually more interested in the dungeon. I want to see how these internal testers play.】

【Pocket Cat: Curious about how they tackle the dungeon in a real-life scenario +1】

—

Commentary Section:

【Sese: Hello everyone, I’m your real-time commentator, Penguin Sese.】

【Tutu: Hello everyone, I’m your real-time commentator, Penguin Tutu.】

【Sese & Tutu: We will be providing full commentary for this competition.】

【Sese: On screen, the six contestants have chosen the three items they will bring and are now standing at the entrance of Angel Island, looking confused.】

【Tutu: Oh, someone’s moving. We can see that Contestant No. 1, Ningning, and Contestant No. 2, Fengfeng, are preparing to enter the island together. By the way, these two are contestants I highly recommend. If you’re interested, you can join in and support them~ Strongly recommend their main perspectives~】

【Sese: I also recommend these two. From my predictions, their main perspectives will be very enjoyable to watch!】

At the Entrance of Angel Island No. 4:

The others remained still, waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Lu Fengfeng took Yan Ning’s hand, preparing to enter the island.

Among the six people present, only Qin Li and Yan Wan had seen the two together on the cruise and knew about their relationship.

Shu Yue, who had been on the first floor, had never encountered Yan Ning and Lu Fengfeng together. Seeing them holding hands, she was quite shocked, and her expression darkened a little.

Chengcheng, who was wearing the headpiece, immediately sat down on the ground as if greatly affected by the scene.

When Shu Yue saw that the two were about to enter, she ran over and stood in front of Lu Fengfeng, looking at him. “Don’t go yet, I have something to say.”