Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Old Gun’s Call

Tiptoeing back to his own room, Gao Ning found the American soldier already waiting there. After handing over a special device, the soldier gave a crisp military salute and left without a word. The whole exchange was utterly silent. Gao Ning paused, glanced at the device, and suddenly felt a surge of anticipation.

He quickly set the device gently on the floor and cautiously opened it. A swirl of white mist unfurled, revealing a large test tube nestled at the center. The tube was clearly custom-made, with unique metallic caps on both ends—evidently, it could only be opened using a special method. Beneath the transparent glass, a green liquid glowed ominously, radiating a constant sense of danger.

Gao Ning’s eyes widened in shock. On the Red Alert interface, the mission status had instantly updated to completed.

[Mission Complete]

[Reward: One special unit template.]

He noticed that a faint blue slot had appeared beside the American soldier icon on the interface’s right side—a new addition, standing alongside the existing emblem.

Gao Ning focused on the blue square, prompting an explanation to appear below.

[Special unit template: Only one may exist. Once assigned, it cannot be changed. Please choose carefully.]

[Limited to twenty-four hours.]

So, it was a hero unit, Gao Ning realized. Heroes weren’t exclusive to games like Warcraft or League of Legends; Red Alert had its own legendary operatives, such as Tanya from the Allies and Yuri X from the Soviets. In infiltration missions, their combat prowess was unparalleled. With enough finesse, a single hero could lay waste to an entire base.

This blank template meant that Gao Ning could choose his own hero.

The first image that surfaced in his mind was Jackie Chan, with his distinctive nose. The familiar smile sent a chill down Gao Ning’s spine, and he quickly shook his head. No, as formidable as Jackie’s fighting skills were, he almost always played the underdog—a civilian hero. He might know some martial arts, but his knowledge of firearms and military tactics was limited, especially in this world where Jackie was just a daredevil driver. He couldn’t waste his first hero template on a driver.

Wait a minute.

Suddenly, Gao Ning’s head shot up as he realized something.

This was the “Tuxedo” universe.

The tuxedo was the ultimate golden cheat. In the story, once Jackie donned the tuxedo, he handled every crisis with ease and even managed to take down the final boss single-handedly.

But what if the hero was Jackie in the tuxedo?

Comparing him to Tanya, the gap suddenly didn’t seem so vast. Clearly, Gao Ning needed to get his hands on the tuxedo.

At that moment, his phone rang.

“Did you see the news?”

The abruptness of the question, coupled with the unfamiliar voice, left Gao Ning momentarily dazed. After staying up all night, fatigue was setting in.

When Gao Ning didn’t reply, the caller chuckled and changed his tone. “It’s Old Gun!”

Gao Ning instantly caught on. “Banning Manor?”

“So you know! What happened?”

Gao Ning gave a wry smile. “It’s a mess, to say the least.”

He cast a glance at the now-empty test tube in his hand—the virus had already been extracted by the Red Alert interface through some unknown means. Tossing the tube aside, he recounted tonight’s events to Old Gun.

Old Gun listened silently, not making a sound until Gao Ning finished.

“As I suspected, it wasn’t simple! No wonder Du Fulin has been so wary of me lately. At first, I thought it was all about the tuxedo, but it turns out the real issue was the virus!”

Gao Ning yawned. “The plot’s hit a dead end. The underground lab has been destroyed. In the story, Banning acts like a reckless fool, always charging into danger himself. But this is the real world. When a top tycoon’s home gets bombed in New York City, even the White House will be rattled. The fallout won’t be any less than a media firestorm. The NYPD is in for it!”

Old Gun replied, “Congratulations: you’re a cop now!”

Gao Ning rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the reminder. If that’s all, I’d like some sleep.”

“Wait—remember the cooperation I mentioned before?”

“Hm?” Gao Ning perked up. “You haven’t given up?”

“I can’t. This is a mandatory mission for me!”

“If I remember right, you said you’d already been through four worlds. So this should be your fifth mission world, isn’t it?”

Old Gun laughed. “You’ve finally caught on!”

Gao Ning narrowed his eyes. “You lied to me?”

“Oh, don’t use such harsh words. I only omitted a premise—wanted to see how long it’d take you to figure it out!”

“What do you mean?”

“On the Mysterious Train, worlds come in groups of three. Between each group, there’s an interlude—a world with no missions. In those, there’s no danger, no tasks. If any threat comes your way, you’ll return to the Mysterious Train a second before death.”

“What are you saying?” Gao Ning frowned. “So after every three worlds, the train gives you a vacation?”

“Haha, that’s a perfect way to put it—very apt!”

No wonder Granny Liu had always seemed so relaxed.

“So that’s it! This is crucial information—you should have told me sooner!”

“Sorry, I just wanted to gauge your information sensitivity. That’s very important to me!” Old Gun’s voice carried a hint of pride, as though he’d just scored a point.

Gao Ning was speechless for a moment. “I’m hanging up.”

“Wait, don’t you want to finish the mission?”

“Cut the small talk—get to the point!”

“Alright, here goes!”

Having survived so many mission worlds, Old Gun was nothing if not experienced. With the Gaia foundation’s power across two worlds, he was able to operate at full capacity. Especially in this modern world, his perfect transformation skills made him unstoppable.

After parting ways with Gao Ning, Old Gun headed straight to the nearest police station. Boldly disguised as a cop, he slipped into the men’s restroom, knocked out a middle-aged officer working late, took his credentials, and transformed himself into the officer. He then accessed the police system to find the CIA’s official outposts and left without raising suspicion.

Over the next few hours, he used the same method to infiltrate a CIA branch, targeting a high-level agent to locate the special equipment division.

But clearly, the division’s defenses surpassed Old Gun’s expectations. That’s when he thought of Gao Ning.

“That’s the story. Want to team up?”

Gao Ning answered straightforwardly, “Time? Place?”

“I’ll get back to you tomorrow!”

Old Gun hung up with a hearty laugh.

Gao Ning tossed his phone aside and collapsed onto the bed.

He was truly, utterly exhausted.