Chapter 52: Clearing the Instance

He Jueyun and the others did not panic. A long-standing stalemate always needed some unexpected event to break it, so a fire breaking out at this moment seemed perfectly reasonable. For them, it might not be entirely a bad thing.

In fact, they had been waiting for just such an opportunity.

Their only concern was that Qiong Cang was too cunning, and they might fail to seize the opportunity, allowing her to slip away.

After confirming the location of the fire trucks, the group consulted the map and decided to withdraw the personnel from Checkpoint Six, hoping to lure Qiong Cang into entering or leaving through that spot. They also set up additional surveillance equipment nearby to closely monitor the vehicles and crowds passing through during this period.

Seeing that he was not far from the site of the fire, He Jueyun took the initiative to lead the containment efforts at the scene, taking a shortcut to rush over.

To his frustration, the commercial district was densely populated, and with everyone eager to watch the commotion, the roads leading to the fire were severely congested. He ended up stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Horns honked incessantly, and the traffic refused to budge, provoking the drivers behind him to curse in frustration.

He Jueyun got out of his car and jogged ahead to check the situation, only to find that a pedestrian jaywalking had caused a three-car pileup.

Although the accident was minor and there were no casualties, the damaged vehicles were blocking the middle of the road, and one of them was a large cargo truck. It would likely take quite some time to clear the road.

He Jueyun did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Returning to his car, he listened to Zhang Wuping reorganizing the teams over the communicator. Taking advantage of a brief pause from the other end, he chimed in, “There’s been a car accident at my location. Anyone driving should avoid this area.”

He read out the coordinates marked on the map.

“I’m going to proceed on foot, but I might not make it to the scene in time. Is anyone already near the fire? What’s the situation? How many people are trapped? Keep a close eye out for suspicious characters. We can’t rule out the possibility that Ning Dongdong hasn’t fled the scene yet.”

“I’m here…”

A young, raspy, and weak voice came through the earpiece. The Player kept trying to clear his throat, only to end up coughing even harder. It took him several attempts to force out a complete sentence.

“This smoke is really stinging my eyes.” The Player was actually crying. Forcing his eyelids open, he said, “Right now, only one building is on fire, and the area isn’t large. But the building is old and has fire safety hazards, so it needs to be put out quickly. We can’t confirm what exactly is stored in the warehouse yet. We’re still trying to contact the owner.”

Before him was a small cluster of old warehouses, built right behind the bustling commercial street. Unlike the modern, developed shopping district, this place looked terribly outdated, retaining the atmosphere of decades past. However, due to its location, the government found it difficult to redevelop, so it had remained this way.

Thick, billowing black smoke poured from the windows, shooting straight into the sky like a beacon fire, drawing a massive crowd of onlookers.

These NPCs did not have senses as sharp as the Players, but they were still sneezing from the smoke, making the surrounding area even noisier.

The young Player stood at the front of the crowd, continuing to grope his way forward while reporting the frontline situation to the team.

“I suspect some dried chili peppers caught fire. There might be spices stored here. As a southerner, I’m not really used to this.” The young Player managed to find a spot downwind. After adjusting for a moment, he felt a bit better, took a deep breath, and continued, “There are too many passersby nearby. I haven’t found the person who reported the fire yet, and I haven’t heard any residents saying their family members are trapped inside. Everyone is relatively calm, except for a few warehouse owners who are losing control.”

He Jueyun asked, “Is the fire big?”

“The smoke is huge, but I haven’t actually seen the source of the fire yet.” The young officer covered his mouth and nose, making his voice sound muffled. “My eyes won’t stop watering, I can barely open them, so I can’t see very clearly.”

He Jueyun ran to the intersection. Looking up, he could already see the thick black smog blanketing the sky. It kept spreading and rising, casting an even darker shadow over the already gloomy sky.

He Jueyun pondered for a moment and said, “Knowing the Player portraying Ning Dongdong, even if this is just a game, she wouldn’t trap innocent people in a fire just to create an escape route for herself.”

Zhang Wuping believed him, because he was the same kind of person. 【Case Analysis】 was a full-dive simulation game that felt all too real, and he could not bring himself to indulge his impulses just because it was virtual. For a disciplined person, their moral boundaries would always remain intact.

Besides, with so much smoke at the scene, if there really were a fire, the flames should have been fierce. Yet the Player still had not seen any open flames, which meant this was highly likely a fake fire.

Zhang Wuping asked, “Have the fire trucks made it in?”

“Almost. We’re clearing the traffic now. It should take about five minutes.”

Zhang Wuping said, “To the officers near the fire, prioritize your own safety. There’s a high probability that no citizens are trapped inside. Little He, can you come to my position now? We can monitor the checkpoint surveillance together. You’re familiar with the Player playing Ning Dongdong, so you might be of great help.”

He Jueyun replied, “Alright, I’ll be right there.”

He Jueyun left his car for a nearby colleague to handle, ran past the accident site, and had someone pick him up to meet with Zhang Wuping.

·

There were twenty to thirty people sitting in the surveillance command center, which was the maximum number of people Zhang Wuping could gather on short notice. When He Jueyun pushed the door open and walked in, everyone was staring intently at the screens, with no time to spare for his arrival.

Zhang Wuping rubbed his eyes and dragged the progress bar back, replaying the footage he had failed to see clearly just now.

Fleeing required a means of transportation. If Ning Dongdong wanted to quickly escape the perimeter, he would likely choose a vehicle. This meant that if they wanted to catch him, they had to speed up, or they would be forced into a passive position again.

From the start of the game until now, they had held the advantage of numbers, yet they had not achieved any significant results.

He Jueyun pulled out a chair and sat down in the empty seat next to Zhang Wuping, his eyes fixed on the screen as he spoke, “The Player portraying Ning Dongdong doesn’t know how to drive. She might hitch a ride in someone else’s car, or take a taxi. We can focus on…”

He was only halfway through his sentence when his voice cut off. He saw a black SUV slip into the queue, taking advantage of the gap while the police cleared the road, and squeeze through the blockade right after the fire truck passed the checkpoint.

The car was positioned very well, deliberately tailing a large truck to block the surveillance cameras ahead. As a result, the cameras near the traffic lights only captured its rear and license plate, leaving no trace of the driver’s face.

Fortunately, before officially dismantling the checkpoint, Zhang Wuping had ordered several electronic devices to be set up on both sides of the street to ensure they could record the interior of the vehicles from multiple angles. One of the cameras happened to capture the driver’s profile.

The driver wore a mask that covered half of his face, and long bangs blocked his eyes, making it nearly impossible for the camera to capture his features. However, his hairstyle was completely mismatched with his temperament and clothing. His hair was thick, smooth, and on the longer side, with a natural curl that made it look very much like a wig.

Zhang Wuping recalled that during the grassroots search, an officer had reported Ning Dongdong entering a wig shop. He immediately shouted, “That black car!”

He Jueyun blinked, snapping out of his daze.

Zhang Wuping said, “Have someone look up the owner of this license plate immediately and check the vehicle’s status.”

Before long, the Player in charge of the search reported back, “This license plate might be fake. The owner hasn’t been in A City recently, and the vehicle registered to this plate is a silver coupe, not this SUV.”

He Jueyun stood up, leaning over the table with both hands, and got closer to the screen. “Zoom in on the image again for me,” he said.

Once the image was zoomed in, the quality became blurry. He Jueyun stared intently, his brow furrowing deeply. Then, his eyelid twitched, and he cried out, “That zero! Change that zero to a C and search again! She didn’t have time to get a cloned plate. She must have just made a minor alteration to the original license plate!”

The Player quickly typed in the correct license plate number, and a line of personal information popped up. He dialed the registered owner’s number, and a middle-aged man answered.

Everyone fell silent, straining their ears to hear the response.

“Hello, this is the traffic police. Is the vehicle with license plate XXX yours?”

“Yes, it’s mine,” the voice on the other end replied.

“Are you currently driving your vehicle?”

“No. I’m having dinner, and my car is parked in a street-side space. Why? Is parking not allowed there…?”

Zhang Wuping only needed to hear half of it to confirm that the person in the car was the one they were pursuing. He closed the surveillance video in front of him and pulled up the city traffic map instead.

“The train station, the bus terminal, the highway entrances: it has to be one of these places. Ning Dongdong will definitely take this opportunity to head to these locations. She has her own car, so for now, we’ll prioritize the routes leading to the highway entrances. Right now, she doesn’t know we’ve discovered her, which is our greatest advantage!” Zhang Wuping’s finger slid continuously across the complex traffic routes, mapping out multiple paths in his mind. Using the management and analysis functions of the geographic information system, he quickly determined a tracking plan.

“We must employ both active and passive measures! First, let’s make sure we can intercept Ning Dongdong from ahead. The time the black vehicle passed this surveillance point was… 2:02. A total of five minutes has passed since then. According to the nearby traffic conditions, this stretch of road is still congested. In five minutes, she definitely couldn’t have gone far. Officers at surveillance point five, flank her from the side immediately and try to intercept her at the Jiefang Road intersection!”

A Player majoring in mathematics quickly entered the data on his computer, refreshed it, and mapped it out. Nodding, he said, “Let’s build a model first… If we calculate based on the traffic conditions and time from the navigation system, this is promising.”

Zhang Wuping nodded, then turned and asked, “Have you pulled up the surveillance footage nearby?”

“I’m looking at it now,” He Jueyun said. “A new surveillance system is installed at the Jiefang Road intersection. Currently, the system hasn’t detected any car with this license plate passing through. Neither the real one nor the fake one.”

With the aid of technology, traveling by car actually made it easier to expose one’s whereabouts than traveling on foot.

Zhang Wuping said, “Good! Keep a close eye on it. We must track Ning Dongdong’s movements!”

Everyone could hear the faint excitement in Zhang Wuping’s voice. The pursuit had been stagnant for a long time, and now that there was finally progress, the team members were equally thrilled and felt a massive wave of relief. The atmosphere in the monitoring room lightened, and even their breathing began to ease.

“No, she didn’t go to Jiefang Road.” At this moment, the Player responsible for monitoring another road spoke up, making everyone’s hearts leap into their throats again. “The surveillance footage from 2:07 shows that Ning Dongdong turned right at the first intersection. She entered Shengli Road.”

Zhang Wuping leaned down and drew a new red line on the map to trace Qiong Cang’s driving path.

She had made a sharp right-angle turn, driving in the opposite direction of the pursuing vehicles as if she had anticipated their moves.

“Shengli Road leads to the East Bus Station, or if she continues for another six kilometers, she can access the second highway entrance.” Although Zhang Wuping believed the chances of Ning Dongdong leaving by bus were slim, he still told the team stationed at the terminal to get ready and select a skilled driver to go out and receive the “gift package.”

Meanwhile, the Players in the monitoring center continued to look for Qiong Cang using the surveillance cameras along Shengli Road.

However, the speed of retrieving surveillance footage could not keep up with the speed of a moving vehicle. Moreover, Shengli Road was highly connected with many intersections along the way. They could not be sure if the target would turn into another street midway or park by the roadside to buy time.

The red dots representing the police vehicles moved continuously across the map, while the green marker predicting Qiong Cang’s vehicle trajectory also kept drawing closer. It looked as though the two were about to intersect.

The pursuing vehicle passed the intersection point predicted by the system, but they did not see any SUV matching the target. The driver slowed down and drove forward in confusion, still unable to spot the Ning Dongdong he was looking for.

Zhang Wuping pressed his lips into a tight line, pressing one hand flat against the table, his eyes glued to the screen.

“She didn’t go to the East Station, and she didn’t go to the highway entrance.” He Jueyun was a step behind in spotting Qiong Cang’s trail on the surveillance footage. “At 2:16, she turned left and entered the ring road.”

“The ring road? Does she want to go to the airport? But she can’t possibly go to the airport,” Zhang Wuping instinctively countered. “The airport requires facial recognition. She has no way of leaving by plane.”

The airport was the first possibility Zhang Wuping had ruled out.

One player said hesitantly, “She wouldn’t be playing us for fools, would she?”

Remembering Qiong Cang’s terrible personality, He Jueyun’s lips twitched. “It would be stranger if she wasn’t playing us.”

“The opposing player is so smart, is it possible she already guessed she was being followed?” one player said solemnly, trying to sound like a wise sage. “Does this game support spy mechanics? The way she looped around is too coincidental. I suspect we have a mole among our players.”

He Jueyun said with absolute certainty, “…No, this game doesn’t support such wild faction mechanics.”

Zhang Wuping raised a hand to rub his chin, rubbing so hard his skin was turning red, before he spoke. “If she’s a very cautious person, then even if she hasn’t realized she’s being followed, she might still deliberately lead us in circles to throw us off. As long as she intentionally avoids the most likely locations, she can achieve this effect.”

A newcomer asked, “Are we still pursuing?”

“Of course we are!” Zhang Wuping said. “Wait at a few key exit points. I refuse to believe we won’t catch her! Keep tracking the surveillance footage, don’t let her out of our sight.”

·

In the Live Stream Room from Zhang Wuping’s perspective, the viewers were practically beating drums and gongs, eager to watch the drama unfold.

They had been watching surveillance footage in the Pursuer’s Live Stream Room for a whole day, literally a whole day. They had originally thought they were getting a thrilling, omniscient God’s-eye view, only to end up watching the miserable daily grind of grassroots law enforcement. It was entirely a stubborn refusal to admit defeat that had kept them going until now, all for this very moment.

The moment to vent their frustration and finally come out on top!

“Hurry up, hurry up!”

“The police search is really fast. Multi-department coordination, and being able to pull this off on a holiday, that’s amazing.”

“The big boss probably didn’t expect to get caught less than five minutes after escaping the checkpoint. She made so many arrangements and found blind spots in the surveillance. What a pity. 【Holding back laughter】”

“Exciting, a real cat-and-mouse game.”

“I feel like ‘cat and mouse’ is a death flag. After all, the cats in my childhood cartoons could never catch the mice.”

“I can’t resist spoilers, I’m going to take a peek at the big boss’s Live Stream Room next door first.”

“Isn’t the surveillance on the ring road even easier to check? It’s a one-way road. Oh! Looks like they’ve already tracked her down.”

·

Based on model calculations, He Jueyun and the others finally tracked down the vehicle’s real-time surveillance, watching with their own eyes as the black car exited the elevated highway midway and drove into a surveillance blind spot.

However, on the other side of the blind spot, officers they had deployed in advance were already in position.

When He Jueyun saw the black car appear exactly as they had anticipated, for some reason, a strong feeling arose in his heart that their side was about to lose. He looked up, sweeping his gaze over the shining eyes of Zhang Wuping and the others, and silently swallowed the thought.

Perhaps it was just a conditioned reflex from being messed with by Qiong Cang too many times. It didn’t mean anything…

The SUV was forced to pull over by three cars. Several officers wearing body cameras ran out, surrounding the vehicle, and shouted excitedly, “Get out of the car!”

The video feed was transmitted to their computers in real-time. Everyone crowded in front of the screen, waiting to witness the crucial moment of Ning Dongdong’s capture.

The car door opened, and a young man wearing a mask and a cap stepped out timidly. His steps were hesitant, his movements filled with bewilderment, and he raised both hands above his head as he tentatively approached them.

One look was enough to tell that this person was not Ning Dongdong, nor was he the person they had spotted on the surveillance footage earlier.

Zhang Wuping stared so hard his eyes nearly popped out. He slammed his hand on the table and voiced the question on everyone’s mind: “Where is he?!”

The players at the scene felt much the same.

An officer stepped forward, his eyes darting back and forth between the car and the man. Refusing to believe it, he ran to the back seat to confirm there was no one else inside before returning, thoroughly frustrated. “Is this your car?”

“No!” the stranger NPC cried out, feeling wronged. “I’m just a designated driver^[1]!”

“Who hired you?!”

“A person!” the young man said aggrievedly. “Someone gave me three hundred yuan and said he had an urgent matter, asking me to go to the airport to pick up a friend for him. He just told me to wear this mask and cap, saying his friend would be dressed the same way. I didn’t do anything wrong! Are you undercover police officers?”

The officer gasped. “Where did you swap places?!”

“Garden Community!” The young man’s voice grew louder along with the officer’s shouting. “I’m a security guard there, you can ask them yourself if you don’t believe me! I… I’m a law-abiding citizen!”

A player wailed in despair, “Then where is Ning Dongdong?!”

“How should I…” The young man froze as the realization hit him, saying in disbelief, “That person was Ning Dongdong? No way, right?”

Dozens of people stared at each other in silence, an awkward quiet filling the communicator.

Zhang Wuping clutched his forehead, making a final, desperate struggle. “Search again. Check the road surveillance around Garden Community, and check the security cameras of nearby businesses. Find out where she ultimately went.”

The chances of re-establishing their target were slim, because less than a kilometer away from Garden Community was a highway entrance.

Qiong Cang seemed to be very familiar with traffic surveillance. Cautious as she was, she would definitely avoid any locations that could expose her whereabouts.

At this time, because the highway tolls were free^[2], the traffic flow at the entrance was massive. If Qiong Cang hid herself in the back seat of a car or in some position that could avoid the cameras, it would be virtually impossible to find any trace of her.

The bird had flown the coop.

·

Qiong Cang stood on the small road leading to the highway entrance, holding a piece of paper in her hand, looking to hitch a ride.

There were many vehicles on the road due to the holiday, and she had changed back into her traditional costume. Perhaps because this outfit was rather deceptive, she had stood there for less than five minutes before a car pulled over in front of her.

“Hi, are you heading out of the city?” Qiong Cang bent down and smiled at the people inside. “I can pay a hundred yuan. I want to get off at the XX highway exit. Could you give me a lift?”

The driver and the front passenger were both young, a man and a woman. Seeing Qiong Cang’s clear eyes and gentle manner, they didn’t raise their guard and stopped by the roadside to chat with her.

“We don’t need the money. What’s wrong?”

Qiong Cang looked down, glanced helplessly at her clothes, and sighed. “It was a total mess. After my club activities ended today, I saw I had some time, so I went to the commercial street for a bit. But suddenly a bunch of police showed up, blocked all the roads, and started searching. I don’t know what they were looking for. I took a taxi and waited in line forever to get out. By the time I did, my ticket had already expired. My friend said he was heading back too and could pick me up halfway. He’s near the XX highway right now.”

The woman in the passenger seat chimed in, “I just saw the news. It said a warehouse caught fire over there, and even the fire trucks were blocked outside.”

“Yeah, and I got out relatively early!” Qiong Cang said with a grimace. “The main thing was the police were checking too strictly, grabbing people and questioning them constantly. They held onto my ID card and said I didn’t look like the photo. Well, of course I don’t! Who actually looks like their ID photo?”

“They must be looking for Ning Dongdong, right? The news has been all about him today. I think he’s so pitiful. But you don’t look like him either. It’s such a waste of time for the police to stop and question you for that.” The girl in the passenger seat asked, “So what happened next? How did you prove who you were?”

Qiong Cang said, looking utterly defeated, “In the end, I recited a passage from my major’s textbook, and he let me go.”

Both of them burst out laughing.

The girl said, “Good thing you paid attention in class. These days, it’s not even safe for bad students to go out.”

Qiong Cang pressed her hands together and said pleadingly, “Give me a lift, big brother, big sister.”

The young man waved his hand and said generously, “Hop in. We’re heading that way anyway.”

Qiong Cang looked relieved. “Thanks, big brother. You guys are such good people.”

“You could have called me handsome, but you called me a good person^[3],” the young man joked. “Thinking about it, it doesn’t make me feel very proud.”

Qiong Cang got into the back seat, put her bag aside, and said, “I’ve been walking all day. Can I lie down and rest for a bit?”

“No problem, go ahead and sleep. We’ll call you when we get there.” The girl teased with a smile. “A good-looking boy like you traveling alone doesn’t even know how to protect himself. It makes me want to sell you off.”

The young man chimed in, “Sure. Trafficking women and children is illegal, but trafficking adult men^[4] doesn’t seem to be. That’s a business with zero cost and pure profit.”

Qiong Cang cried out, “Don’t do that!”

The young man started the car and laughed, “Ah, our illegal taxi finally picked up a fat sheep.”

Girl: “Who told you to get into a stranger’s car so easily? Run, run!”

Laughing and joking, they went through the ETC lane and onto the highway.

Before the car had gone very far, the sky, which had been overcast all day, finally began to rain. Raindrops pattered down, wetting the road, drifting diagonally through the air like a thin sheet of grayish-white gauze hanging from the sky.

The two in the front seat spoke in low voices, laughing together from time to time like an inseparable family. They probably were.

Qiong Cang sat up, pulled her bag over, and felt the few clothes and the little cash left inside, falling into a daze.

The two dropped her off at the designated XX highway exit, kindly gave her an umbrella, and said goodbye.

Qiong Cang walked through the rain under the umbrella. Her oversized hem was soaked by the muddy water from the roadside. Looking in all directions, there was not a soul in sight, making the road feel like a wasteland.

After getting off at this highway exit, a walk of about half an hour would lead to a passenger van that ran between towns. This kind of minivan was not strictly regulated and could pick up passengers along the way.

Qiong Cang stood by the rickety bus stop sign and waited until the white minivan arrived.

The temperature inside the vehicle was much warmer than outside. The ticket seller glanced up, gave her a few extra looks, and said, “Let me see your ID. Twelve yuan, scan here.”

Qiong Cang handed over both her ID and the cash. The man took the money without looking at the ID, handed her a ticket, and told her to find a seat in the back.

As Qiong Cang took her seat in the back row, the notification for clearing the game successfully rang in her ears.

The screen froze on her well-defined profile. Her dark pupils reflected the overhead lights of the vehicle. Though her eyes shone, they seemed to carry a hint of gloom.

The netizens in the Live Stream Room began to celebrate enthusiastically.

“Big Boss: Peaceful times. Brother Q: A total mess. Horizontal scroll^[5]: Fuck my life.”

“Congrats on clearing the game! Throwing flowers~ Jump up and throw them!”

“As expected, only by acting deep can the big boss look so unfathomable.”

“Where on earth is Ning Dongdong going?”

“It would be perfect if Sanyao switched to the 【Pursuer】 screen right now. Then I wouldn’t have to manually switch rooms to watch.”

“Can you imagine the scene next door? A bunch of grown men smoking sadly and lamenting the impermanence of life? 【Laughing and pounding the floor】”

“This Live Stream Room is so fast! Has she already completely left the search area?”

“Just kneel in worship. 【Just as planned】”