Chapter 180: A good ending
"...Then can you let us out now?"
Lin Ye roughly understood what the other party meant, but that wasn't important. He wouldn't overthink things, only doing what needed to be done right now.
"Of course, the gate is right ahead. You can take those people behind you and leave here anytime. Since you're not affected by the Gray World right now, as long as you're the one who closes the gate last, everything will end."
The junior answered very straightforwardly.
An energy gate appeared ahead on the road, and Lin Ye could see He Jia and Wu Xiaoling standing on the other side of the gate.
"...You want me to take those people out?"
Lin Ye slammed on the brakes. He did want to take those smiling freaks out to test something, but the other party deliberately reminding him that he could take those people out felt suspicious.
"Up to you. You can also go out alone."
The junior said nonchalantly.
"Then it's up to me." Lin Ye turned the bus around and drove toward the rear. He needed to clean up all the smiling freaks behind him.
He didn't think those people could be saved anymore. Rather than letting them wait for death here, it was better for him to send them on their way.
The bus soon encountered the horde of smiling freaks. Lin Ye pressed the accelerator and crashed into the crowd of smiling freaks.
Before being hit by the bus, some smiling freaks lunged at the bus, jumping onto the roof, while others clung to the sides, pounding forcefully against the windows. Cracks began appearing on the windows.
Soon, several smiling freaks smashed through the windows, squeezing their upper bodies into the bus.
While controlling the vehicle, Lin Ye fired at the smiling freaks stuck in the windows. But as the cracks in the windows grew larger, smiling freaks began squeezing into the bus interior.
Seeing the smiling freaks lunging at him from the rearview mirror, Lin Ye could only turn around and shoot at the freaks inside the bus. But his right foot never left the accelerator—if the bus stopped in the middle of the crowd, he would be surrounded and killed by these monsters.
Lin Ye continuously shot the smiling freaks jumping into the bus, but the number inside didn't decrease. Fortunately, the bus finally broke through the crowd. Without new sources, the smiling freaks inside were gradually cleaned up.
"They're all ordinary citizens. Why are you killing them?"
The junior asked curiously.
"You want me to take them back, meaning you can connect to our world through them. But leaving them here also carries certain risks, so I think killing them all is the safest option."
Lin Ye picked up Shao Yang who was following behind the smiling freaks. He acted as if he couldn't see the junior, smiling as he said to Lin Ye:
"What are you doing? Why are you killing them?"
"They're beyond saving. We can't take them back to the other side. Do you want them to wander in this world forever?"
Watching Shao Yang's mouth gradually stretch into a grin, Lin Ye added:
"Don't you think there are somewhat few freaks here?"
"You mean?!"
Shao Yang asked urgently.
"Maybe most citizens evacuated with the management bureau's forces. Your family might be among them. Help me kill them all, and I'll take you back."
Lin Ye turned the bus around and crashed into the crowd again.
"Then hurry up! What should I do?"
Shao Yang now only wanted to see his family.
"Help me drive. Just keep pressing the accelerator. Leave the rest to me."
Lin Ye and Shao Yang swapped positions. There were still many smiling freaks, but he also had plenty of bullets and two short blades.
………………………
"All dead?"
Shao Yang lay on the battered bus, surrounded by piles of smiling freak corpses.
"Finished."
Lin Ye leaned against the plastic seat. His clothes had been chewed to shreds, bite marks covering his entire body.
The area around the bus was piled high with smiling freak corpses. Lin Ye had exhausted all his bullets, broken both short blades, fractured his fingers, and suffered multiple fractures throughout his body before finally killing all these monsters that kept swarming onto the bus.
Some smiling freaks could even use emotional attack methods, though fortunately they had limited effect on him.
"Finally over..."
Yellow Hair lay among the corpses. He had come in alone with weapons for support. Though he never planned to return, he hadn't expected to have to kill all the monsters here.
"Sorry, if my driving skills were better, we wouldn't have been surrounded by them."
Shao Yang was also badly injured. He and Lin Ye had been trapped on the bus by the monsters. If Lin Ye hadn't blocked the front, he would have died long ago.
"No, it's the bus's problem. Too many collisions—it's amazing you didn't flip over."
Lin Ye looked at the junior leaning against the fare box, her school uniform still clean and neat, and showed a victor's smile.
"Fine, you win. Just kill those two, then go out and close the gate. The Gray World won't be able to locate that plane anymore. Afterwards, I'll help you open the gate to leave the Gray World. Though it's a pity—that gift will have to wait until next time."
The junior said regretfully.
"I won't kill them. I promised to take them out."
Lin Ye refused very directly.
"This time I'm not lying to you. Just do as I say, and this story will completely end. If you take them to the other side, the connection between the two planes won't be severed, and there's still a possibility the gate could open again."
The junior said with a serious expression.
"What does that have to do with me? I only do what I want to do, kill who I want to kill. Don't threaten me with the world—I don't care."
Lin Ye stood up and stepped off the bus. Shao Yang and Yellow Hair followed behind him—they hadn't heard the previous conversation.
"This is just a fictional story. They're just characters in the story. Are you going to lose this game for them?"
The junior leaned against the bus door and asked.
"I said I don't care. Even if this is just a story, I still want a good ending."
Lin Ye didn't look back, walking straight toward the energy gate.
The three passed through the gate and returned to the research center. Wu Xiaoling and He Jia were still waiting for them outside.
Lin Ye closed the gate. After treating their injuries and destroying all the research institute's data about the Gray World, they decided to split up.
Shao Yang took He Jia and Wu Xiaoling outside the city to find the military and surviving citizens. Shao Yang was lucky—he found his family among the crowd.
Lin Ye took Yellow Hair back to the Gray Gang headquarters. Yellow Hair rested in the car while Lin Ye entered the lounge alone and opened the cabinet. Xia Yi was sleeping inside.
"...What time is it?"
Xia Yi rubbed her eyes as she crawled out, still not fully awake.
"It's not dark yet. You can sleep a bit longer, or we can go have dinner together."
Lin Ye's expression remained calm. Since he had said those words, he would play this act until the very end.
"...I want to sleep a bit more."
Xia Yi curled up on one side of the cabinet, leaving space for Lin Ye.
"Okay."
Lin Ye sat down beside Xia Yi and closed his eyes in this empty city.