Zheng Zha sat there, considering, then spoke, "Do you have an employee lounge here? Uh, preferably somewhere quiet, and a place to shower would be even better." The bartender quickly replied, "The back is where we rent rooms to customers. Of course, it is quiet back there, and several of the better rooms even have shower facilities." Zheng Zha thought for a moment, pulled out a few gold nuggets, and tossed them to the bartender. "If the police come by later, just send them away. Something happened outside just now. If those people on motorcycles outside come looking for me, have someone bring them back to see me. Also, prepare some food and drinks and send them up."

Although the duration was brief, Zheng Zha had indeed become the captain of the Mid-Continent Team. If it were in an ordinary world, dealing with superiors might be different, but captains in the horror movie Reincarnation must be decisive and ruthless. While his personal nature hadn't reached the level of cold-blooded ruthlessness, in some respects, he already possessed the instincts of a Reincarnation squad leader. A few words were enough to project an aura of unquestionable authority. After all, refusing a Reincarnation squad leader often meant that person would drag the entire team down, leaving death as the only alternative! The bartender subconsciously nodded and quickly called over a tall blonde beauty to lead Zheng Zha the way, while he spoke into a communicator behind the bar.

Zheng Zha nodded and followed the blonde beauty toward the back of the bar, passing through a narrow alleyway.

Behind the bar was a lavishly decorated hourly hotel. A Caucasian woman was already waiting there. She nodded at Zheng Zha, then said to the blonde beauty, "Deluxe standard room, the furthest one on the second floor." Zheng Zha paid them no mind and followed the blonde beauty all the way to the innermost room on the second floor.

Upon pushing the door open, this standard room was indeed quite decent, easily equivalent to a small suite in a three-star hotel.

After Zheng Zha stepped into the room.

The blonde beauty also walked in. "Need a massage? Hee hee. It won't cost you anything; just give me one of those golden things."

Zheng Zha tossed her a gold nugget and said coldly, "Get out. Go tell your boss to send the food and drinks up as quickly as possible. Other than those hooligans on motorcycles, I don't want to be disturbed."

The blonde beauty no longer heard what Zheng Zha was saying; her gaze was entirely fixed on the fingernail-sized gold nugget.

A few seconds later, she flashed a brilliant smile at Zheng Zha, then closed the door and left the room.

Zheng Zha let out a breath. Without turning on the light, he stripped off his shirt and headed for the bed. Within ten minutes of lying down, a light snore escaped him; he was truly exhausted.

Too many things had happened that day. The most critical was the sudden complication concerning Zhang Jie, coupled with the simultaneous disappearance of the comrades he thought he could rely on. Facing the pressure of the horror movie alone was immense, causing his nerves to be stretched taut. When the Grim Reaper attacked him—the unlocking of the Gene Lock, the high-voltage shock, and the violent impacts—if his physical constitution hadn't been excellent, and if his newly promoted Earl bloodline hadn't provided strong regenerative capabilities, he might still be unconscious now. Thus, the moment his entire body completely relaxed, he quickly fell asleep. Meanwhile, in two other locations in the town, the newcomers who had separated from Zheng Zha did not possess his strength or luck. They had managed to obtain gold but lacked the Green Cards and other essentials, rendering them helpless in the American town. Consequently, up until this point, the eight of them had not had a single drop to drink, and they were all searching for places to exchange their gold.

The dyed-hair handsome youth and the relatively cute little punk girl were walking hand-in-hand down the street. The girl pouted and said, "Yang Le, do you think we can really find an antique shop that exchanges this gold by searching like this?" The dyed-hair handsome youth, named Yang Le, replied without turning his head, "You don't understand this, do you? I heard from my aunt's sister—well, I heard from many people—that there are lots of Chinatowns over here in America. Since we're all Chinese, I don't believe they'll refuse to make money. Lu Chichuan, you say you’re still a virgin? I don’t believe it; you must be teasing me." The little punk girl actually blushed slightly and chided him, "I really am a virgin! I've had a few boyfriends before, but I only let them touch my body. The first time definitely has to be reserved for my husband. You’re not trying to take advantage of me, are you?" Yang Le chuckled slyly, "Is it wrong to have designs on you? Hehe, it's just the two of us anyway, and we don't know when we might die. Didn't you hear that idiot talking about these things? Do you really want to die a virgin? Let me tell you, that is incredibly comfortable, and it's not bragging, but my '—" Lu Chichuan listened and giggled, and the two continued walking hand-in-hand. Ahead of them was a bank, and past the bank was a sharp bend leading to a straight road. This long straight road connected to the Chóu River Bridge. It seemed there was no Chinatown on this side either. The two exchanged a glance, both sighing in disappointment, and then prepared to cross the bridge to the other side to continue their search.

Simultaneously, several young men, all smoking continuously, were walking towards them from ahead. They seemed quite excited, with one holding a Cuban cigar and another carrying a still-sealed box of cigars, suggesting this group had stolen a box somewhere and were brazenly sampling them.

The dense smoke drifted and was about to reach Yang Le and Lu Chichuan when, inexplicably, a series of alarm bells suddenly blared from the entrance of the bank just past where the smoke was drifting due to the wind. This smoke had apparently triggered the fire alarm system at the bank entrance, causing large amounts of water to spray down from above everyone's heads. The young men immediately cupped their hands over their heads and darted forward, continuously cursing. Yang Le and Lu Chichuan were also inexplicably drenched and ran forward while covering themselves, colliding directly with the group of young men coming from the opposite direction.

The ground was slick with water, and since Lu Chichuan was wearing casual rubber shoes similar to flip-flops, the collision caused her to immediately slip sideways. Fortunately, her balance seemed quite good, and after sliding a few steps, she reached the dry pavement and stabilized herself. She then twisted her face, ready to yell, but was surprised to see Yang Le looking at her with an expression of shock and terror. She instinctively turned her head and saw only a flashing white light beyond the bend—the driver couldn't see far ahead, and this driver was clearly intoxicated. Then, Zheng Zha snapped his eyes open from his half-sleep. In that split second, he thought he had heard someone scream, but after opening his eyes, he remembered he was just taking a short nap in his room. How could there be screams here? It must have been a dream.

At the same time, a knock sounded on the door outside his room. He quickly got up and opened it. Standing behind the door was the blonde beauty who had received the gold earlier. She was cheerfully pushing a small cart laden with all sorts of food: roast chicken, thick soup, desserts, and red wine. This meal was truly lavish; even the pickiest person wouldn't call it meager.

Zheng Zha smiled and made way for her. The blonde beauty didn't stand on ceremony, pushing the cart into the room. She respectfully arranged the food item by item on the table, then smiled at Zheng Zha, looking as if the word "tip" was written across her face.

Zheng Zha was not stingy. After all, the value of gold was akin to gravel when dealt with by the "Main God." He tossed another gold nugget to the blonde beauty and said, "Additionally, I need a cell phone with plenty of credit, a thousand US dollars in small bills, and a set of relatively suitable casual clothes. Don't disturb me unless necessary, understood?" After speaking, he placed a gold brick directly on the table, allowing the blonde beauty to hastily grab it.

Zheng Zha paid no mind to how the blonde beauty left; he simply walked to the table and began eating silently. But for some reason, he felt something was wrong. The moment the thought of something being amiss struck him, Zheng Zha quickly surveyed the room. In this horror movie, any completely irrelevant accident could lead to a person's death, and the manner of death could be bizarre and unpredictable, leaving no defense. He certainly didn't want to die due to a moment's carelessness from the Grim Reaper's design; dying that way would be too stifling. He would much rather die fighting the monsters in the horror movie head-on; that was far more acceptable to him.

(What exactly is it that feels wrong? Where is it?) Zheng Zha paced around the room, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find anything out of place, until he inadvertently looked down. He then saw two very deep marks etched into the carpet on the floor—the tracks left by the food cart. But the food and the cart shouldn't be that heavy, should they? Moreover, the blonde beauty had specifically left the cart here when she departed. Zheng Zha was standing next to the cart, and before he could even turn around, an icy chill pierced directly toward his heart in his left chest. This skill of unnoticed stealth, this killing technique designed for a guaranteed strike, this incomparably sharp killing intent—a dagger blazing with flames thrust directly toward Zheng Zha's left chest!

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