Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 74: 74. The Truth

Los Angeles Second People’s Hospital, emergency department.

The previously quiet department was suddenly filled with Kunlun members.

These young warriors had been lively and vigorous while catching criminals, but after the fight, they all lay in bed wailing, clamoring for the nurses to give them painkillers.

However, their injuries were just minor scratches.

At first, the nurses thought they were pretending to be pitiful to strike up a conversation, a type of patient they had seen often. They were about to purposely give them a few messy injections.

But when they heard that they had been injured while saving others, they didn’t go through with it.

Moreover, they discovered that these young warriors were genuinely in pain.

In fact, this type of pain has a specific term in the Inner World: post-overload syndrome.

Ordinary people might experience lactic acid build-up when they over-exercise, which feels sore but satisfying.

But for those injected with low-numbered genetic potions, the pain is more direct and neural.

For instance, Liu Dezhu would experience pain now if he overexerted himself, because he had only taken the FDE-005 potion.

If he subsequently took 004 and 003, the aftereffects would gradually disappear.

The nurses had never seen this condition before, but Hu Xiaoniu had in the Inner World.

Although he hadn’t injected genetic potion, he was not completely ignorant about it.

Hu Xiaoniu thought to himself that the Kunlun organization seemed to have significant strength.

They had managed to obtain so many genetic potions not long after time-traveling had started.

That Mr. Zheng in the Inner World must hold a significant position.

At that moment, Lu Yuan was the last one to be brought off the ambulance. Nearby Kunlun members winked and said, “Road Team, should we arrange a private ward for you? Xiao Ying said that the last time he was in a single room, the nurse was really beautiful.”

Xiao Ying, the taxi driver who had collided with the criminals’ car. He was also the one who had previously driven an SUV to overturn a business van under the bridge when Liu Dezhu was kidnapped. Among the Kunlun, he was known for having tough luck.

Lu Yuan frowned and said, “No, move me next to Hu Xiaoniu.”

“Ah?” The Kunlun member was stunned for a moment, “That ward is really noisy, though.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Lu Yuan thought for a moment and said, “I still have some things I haven’t figured out and need to ask our four new friends. By the way, have Spanner check their identities.”

“Okay.”

The Kunlun member wheeled the treated Lu Yuan into the ward.

This member watched as Lu Yuan, who had been calm a second before, suddenly started crying out in pain the moment he entered the ward, instantly getting into character.

Once Lu Yuan was lying in the bed next to Hu Xiaoniu, he continued to ignore him, writhing in pain.

Hu Xiaoniu hesitated for a long while, then turned to Lu Yuan and said, “Thank you for arriving just in time to save us.”

“Thanking us is natural,” Lu Yuan turned over, grimacing in pain from the wounds on his legs, waist, and back, “Did you see how heroic I was when I saved you guys? I was calm and composed in the face of the criminal’s gun… Oh, wait, you were in the sack then, you couldn’t see.”

Hu Xiaoniu: “…”

Lu Yuan sighed, “If Mr. Zheng had seen it, he would surely promote me and give me a raise!”

Hu Xiaoniu changed the subject: “But how did you know we were in trouble?”

Lu Yuan replied, “It wasn’t us who found out you were in trouble, it was someone else. We just happened to be there. Of course, capturing those criminals was our responsibility.”

Hu Xiaoniu asked curiously, “Someone else? Who?”

“Can’t say,” Lu Yuan shook his head, indicating he needed to adhere to the confidentiality agreement.

A Kunlun member walked into the ward with a black plastic bag, “We found these four cell phones in the criminals’ car, are they yours? Claim them please?”

Hu Xiaoniu took out his own phone from the plastic bag. The passcode was intact and the phone was unharmed.

He turned it on and immediately saw a WeChat message from Liu Dezhu: “Consider this the first transaction. Remember to pay in gold bars.”

Hu Xiaoniu was stunned.

This WeChat message linked everything together: it was Liu Dezhu who realized he was in danger and thus created the opportunity for Kunlun to intervene, catching the criminals and saving them.

Thus, Liu Dezhu had declared that the first transaction was completed, which essentially meant saving his own life.

In an instant, Liu Dezhu’s image became enigmatic and imposing.

How did the other party know he was in danger, and how did they mobilize Kunlun? He couldn’t figure it out.

Hu Xiaoniu thought for a moment and sent a message back to Liu Dezhu, “Thank you, this cooperation was very pleasant. I’ll pay double the price for our initial transaction.”

Upon reading the message, Liu Dezhu was overjoyed.

What kind of miraculous partner was this, who agreed to double payment just like that? Could this be the world of the wealthy?

Moreover, this time he should be able to pocket a gold bar without anyone noticing, right?

At that moment, Lu Yuan suddenly asked Hu Xiaoniu, “By the way, how were you captured? At first, I thought the criminals had taken Jiang Xue and Li Tongyun, but when I opened the sack, it turned out it wasn’t them. I hadn’t seen you guys before either.”

This was one of Lu Yuan’s curiosities.

Liu Dezhu went to Xingshu Road No. 4 Court seemingly without cause, as if he was waiting for the criminals.

The taxi driver Liu Dezhu used to get to Xingshu Road was a Kunlun member, later known as Xiao Ying, who had collided with the criminals.

At that time, Xiao Ying had tried to probe why Liu Dezhu was there, and Liu Dezhu said he was there to get a gold bar.

It was later discovered that the crime scene was at Jiang Xue’s home, but instead of Jiang Xue and Li Tongyun, Hu Xiaoniu and his group were present.

Before and after the fight, there were too many dubious points.

Hu Xiaoniu explained, “We are new residents on the 12th floor, students from Los Angeles Foreign Language School. Today we were visiting our neighbors in suite 201. We didn’t expect to encounter the criminals inside and got captured.”

“You aren’t Time Travelers?” Lu Yuan questioned. “Just a coincidence?”

“Yes, just a coincidence,” Hu Xiaoniu nodded.

Lu Yuan smiled without saying a word.

At that moment, a Kunlun member approached from outside, handing a stack of documents to Lu Yuan and said, “We’ve found Jiang Xue. She and her daughter moved to a friend’s house after receiving a notification. We sent you a message beforehand, but you didn’t respond.”

Lu Yuan paused, “I didn’t receive any messages.”

The Kunlun member hesitated for a moment: “Road Team, your phone was out of credit…”

Lu Yuan muttered to himself annoyed, “Damn it, the salary is so low, I can hardly afford the phone bill. I wonder if this counts as a work injury? It should, right?”

Hu Xiaoniu hesitated for a moment, surprised that Kunlun members were not paid well.

Considering this department dealt with bizarre incidents and high danger, who would risk their lives for a low salary?

With the Genetic Potion and extraordinary abilities, one could easily make millions annually even just as a bodyguard for the wealthy.

This was indeed the era where money could push the devil to mill the stone.

After pondering for a moment, Hu Xiaoniu earnestly said, “If possible, I would like to make a personal donation to Kunlun…”

“Stop right there,” Lu Yuan interrupted Hu Xiaoniu, “If you make a donation, and at some point both you and an ordinary citizen are in danger, who do I save first? I’d have to save the nearest one, right? But if at that time you really are the closest to me, our integrity at Kunlun would be questioned… This isn’t me talking, it’s what our boss said. Don’t worry, our boss Zheng is very capable, he’ll find the funds himself.”

Lu Yuan finished speaking and opened the documents, which clearly contained the identity information of Hu Xiaoniu and others.

The Kunlun member leaned over and whispered in his ear, “His father is… transferred to Liu Dezhu’s class…”

Lu Yuan was stunned, no wonder he was ready to give money away, so wealthy!

Suddenly turning his head, Lu Yuan asked intently, “Hu Xiaoniu, how many gold bars and what weight did you promise to Liu Dezhu?”

Hu Xiaoniu was taken aback; at that moment, Lu Yuan was staring at him, as if he knew everything.

He hesitated for two seconds, “100 grams of gold bars, giving two this time.”

Lu Yuan thought to himself, that was right, Hu Xiaoniu was Liu Dezhu’s buyer.

The counterpart, wealthy and powerful, seeking to buy Inner World resources through Liu Dezhu, made sense.

He told the Kunlun member, “Register all four of them for me, count every one of them as Time Travelers, no doubt about it.”

At that moment, Lu Yuan felt he had uncovered the truth.