ARBW Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Pei Yuhuai had deliberately cleared the area, not because he wanted to hide his relationship with Lin Mian. He simply didn’t want Lin Mian to find out about the things circulating online.

Lin Mian’s world had long been plunged into a post-apocalyptic state.

As a member of the Lower Class, Lin Mian was somewhat distant from the online world.

He wasn’t yet aware of the extent of malice strangers could harbor on the internet.

Especially toward those who married into wealthy families or were particularly good-looking—some people, driven by jealousy, would spread all sorts of slander and rumors.

In Pei Yuhuai’s world, money and power reigned supreme.

A man like Pei Yuhuai, who was both wealthy and handsome, was highly sought after. Even if he made a mistake, the number of people praising him would far outweigh those criticizing him.

However, if it were an ordinary woman or a man from an average family, society would be far more harsh toward them.

Many people online acted like malicious in-laws, looking down from their high horses to nitpick their flaws.

Although Pei Yuhuai’s company had a formidable public relations team and wasn’t afraid of those who might cause trouble, he still didn’t want anyone to insult Lin Mian, nor did he want Lin Mian to feel hurt by it.

Later, Pei Yuhuai took Lin Mian to buy a phone. Lin Mian, unfamiliar with the prices in this world, simply chose what he thought looked good.

He picked out a small foldable phone, a cute and compact model.

Seeing this, Pei Yuhuai also selected a standard smartphone for him.

The foldable phone might have looked adorable, but it wasn’t particularly practical to use.

Since Lin Mian was young and likely to spend more time playing mobile games, Pei Yuhuai also picked out a gaming console for him.

After buying the phone, they needed to get a SIM card, which required an ID.

Pei Yuhuai would need to pull some strings to get an ID for Lin Mian.

It was too late to do it today, so they’d have to wait until the ID was ready before they could get the SIM card.

However, even though Lin Mian couldn’t get a SIM card yet, Pei Yuhuai could set him up with a secondary line under his own number.

The secondary line could make calls and handle online payments, making it quite convenient to use.

Shopping was exhausting.

Pei Yuhuai found it more tiring than his work. In the past, he’d always had Xiao Su or his secretary handle his shopping.

He’d never been this hands-on with his own purchases, but now he was accompanying Lin Mian, store by store, feeling both tired and strangely intrigued.

While Pei Yuhuai was feeling a bit worn out, Lin Mian wasn’t tired at all.

He was in high spirits, seeing so many new things, and didn’t feel the least bit fatigued.

They bought shoes, hats, and even visited a large supermarket to stock up on daily necessities.

Noticing that Mr. Pei was tired, Lin Mian decided not to continue shopping, and they found a place to rest.

When it was time for lunch, they went to a restaurant.

Pei Yuhuai had Xiao Su book a private room in advance. As they were heading to the room, they encountered a fully disguised celebrity.

The person was wearing a baseball cap, a mask, and sunglasses, looking quite mysterious.

Pei Yuhuai knew he was a celebrity because the man greeted him first.

“Oh my, President Pei, is that really you?”

The man spoke, then seemed to realize his approach might have been impolite and quickly introduced himself.

“Hello, President Pei, I’m Han Youxing. I’ve visited your company before.”

Pei Yuhuai glanced at him, not recalling who he was.

He wasn’t involved in the entertainment industry and didn’t pay much attention to these minor celebrities.

Previously, when his family was arranging potential matches for him, they had indeed introduced some celebrities.

Those who were willing to meet Pei Yuhuai were all hoping to marry into wealth.

Pei Yuhuai had never taken it seriously, and even when they were sent to his company, he hadn’t met them.

Hearing the man’s introduction, Pei Yuhuai nodded out of politeness but had no intention of engaging in small talk.

Pei Yuhuai didn’t pay much attention to the minor celebrity, but Lin Mian was curious and searched for him online.

Using Pei Yuhuai’s spare phone, he clumsily looked up Han Youxing’s name.

He discovered that Han Youxing was quite popular, a big celebrity with millions of fans.

Seeing this, Lin Mian said, “He’s a big star, he’s acted in many TV dramas.”

Pei Yuhuai wasn’t particularly interested. “Oh? Do you like watching TV dramas?”

“I haven’t watched any, I just found out online.”

“Are you interested in him?”

“No, I’m interested in being a celebrity.”

Hearing this, Pei Yuhuai remembered Lin Mian mentioning that he had wanted to be a celebrity when he was younger.

“Still want to be a star?”

“A little, but not really. What I want most now is to stay by your side and learn to be a secretary.”

“Alright, whatever you want to do, I’ll support you.”

Even if Lin Mian didn’t want to stay by his side all the time, Pei Yuhuai would still support his aspirations.

He wasn’t a domineering person, nor did he have any desire to be a controlling CEO.

He wouldn’t treat Lin Mian like a plaything, keeping him caged like a canary.

If Lin Mian wanted to fly, Pei Yuhuai would let him fly.

After lunch, Pei Yuhuai took Lin Mian to watch a movie.

As a couple, they should have watched a romance film.

But there weren’t any good movies about men falling in love with men, and other romance films tended to be overly melodramatic. After some discussion, they decided to watch a sci-fi movie instead.

Lin Mian was young and at the age where he enjoyed sci-fi, action, and horror films.

Coincidentally, a decent sci-fi movie had recently been released, so they went to a couple’s screening.

This time, Pei Yuhuai didn’t book the entire theater because Lin Mian wanted to watch the movie with others. He had never experienced watching a film on the big screen with an audience, so he was quite excited and happy.

Halfway through the movie, Pei Yuhuai started feeling sleepy.

He didn’t enjoy watching movies or TV shows—they always made him drowsy.

Today, he had forced himself to stay awake to accompany Lin Mian.

Seeing that Pei Yuhuai was tired, Lin Mian let him lean on his shoulder.

With a good movie on one side and the person he loved by his side, Lin Mian felt incredibly happy, his lips curling into a smile as he watched.

Later, they didn’t go to the amusement park as planned because some issues had arisen in Scarlet Town, requiring Pei Yuhuai to log in and handle them.

Coincidentally, Lin Mian was also tired by then, so he went back with Pei Yuhuai.

On the way back, Pei Yuhuai logged into the game, and Lin Mian watched from beside him.

Scarlet Town had visitors again today—this time, it was a group of Nobles.

These Nobles were avid players of the town game and had always been dissatisfied with Pei Yuhuai.

Now that Pei Yuhuai had openly clashed with the Nobles, they had gathered a number of Mutants, hoping to take over Scarlet Town while Pei Yuhuai was away.

What they didn’t expect was that Pei Yuhuai received word of their arrival as soon as they reached the outskirts of the town.

Seeing these forgetful troublemakers return, Pei Yuhuai didn’t waste any time.

He unleashed a Lightning-based Ability, instantly taking control of one of the Mutants.

One of the Nobles, seeing this, shouted to the others, “Don’t look into his eyes! His eyes can control people!”

The controlled Mutant stiffly turned around and decisively killed one of his companions.

The others, seeing this, didn’t care if he was one of their own and immediately opened fire, killing him.

In an instant, two Mutants were dead.

The town’s Ability users, hearing the commotion, rushed over. An Earth-based Ability user quickly sealed off the entrance to the town.

A Plant-based Ability user planted a patch of mutated plants on the earthen wall.

The fact that their Abilities had improved was thanks to Lin Mian.

When Lin Mian had logged in the previous day, he had shared some of his crystal cores with them.

Crystal cores were hard to come by, and without them, they couldn’t level up.

To better protect the town, Lin Mian had distributed some of his crystal cores.

Even so, their Ability levels were still too low.

Facing these high-level Mutants, their Abilities weren’t enough.

As they watched, some Mutants breached the earthen wall and entered the town.

Many of the townspeople began to panic.

The Mutants not only had Abilities but also guns. Once inside, they started attacking indiscriminately, seemingly intent on leveling the entire town.

Just then, Lin Mian’s two robots arrived.

The female robot, Langlang, executed a graceful slide tackle, knocking down a Mutant.

The small robot, Yuanyuan, flew high above, locking onto all the strangers and unleashing a barrage of laser fire.

The agile Mutants dodged, but the slower ones lost limbs in the laser onslaught.

In an instant, Scarlet Town became a blood-soaked town.

Watching the scene on his phone, Lin Mian felt a surge of anxiety.

He said, “Mr. Pei, I want to go back.”

Pei Yuhuai didn’t look up but asked, “It’s very dangerous there right now. Are you sure you want to go back?”

“Yes, Xiaowan and the others are still there. I have Abilities; I can protect them.”

“Alright, I’ll teleport you back. Be careful when you get there.”

Pei Yuhuai always respected Lin Mian’s decisions, even if he thought it was dangerous. He teleported Lin Mian back.

Lin Mian was sent directly from Pei Yuhuai’s residence back to the game.

As soon as he arrived, Lin Mian armed himself, confirmed that Cheng Xiaowan was safe, and headed to the town entrance to find Mr. Pei.

When he arrived, he witnessed Mr. Pei’s death.

Yes, Mr. Pei had died.

There were too many Mutants, and Pei Yuhuai hadn’t had time to use a health potion before his health bar plummeted.

Fortunately, he had a resurrection ability and would revive at full health in 30 seconds.

So he wasn’t particularly worried, and Lin Mian, seeing this, wasn’t scared either.

Lin Mian had been to Pei Yuhuai’s world and played the Scarlet Town game himself, so he knew Pei Yuhuai wouldn’t truly die. He wasn’t overly concerned.

But the other townspeople didn’t know this.

While Pei Yuhuai was in the process of resurrecting, a few townspeople suddenly ran out, begging the Nobles for mercy.

The leader was none other than Song Yuli, whose leg Pei Yuhuai had broken earlier.

Song Yuli shouted to the Nobles, “We surrender! We surrender! We’ll go with you willingly, we’ll be your slaves!”

“Yes, yes, we beg for mercy. Please spare us. We have nothing to do with Pei Yuhuai; we never wanted to betray the Nobles.”

“That’s right, we never wanted to resist. It was Pei Yuhuai who came here on his own, forcing his way into saving us.”

The Nobles, however, remained unmoved. They coldly looked at the people begging for mercy.

In their eyes, Scarlet Town was already tainted.

Many of its inhabitants had followed Pei Yuhuai.

Now that Pei Yuhuai was dead, even if some came to beg for mercy, their words couldn’t be trusted.

In their view, the best solution was to kill them all.

With that thought, one of the Nobles raised his gun and shot Song Yuli.

Thus, these people who had come out to beg for mercy became the first in the town to die, aside from Pei Yuhuai.

Lin Mian felt a pang of pity but, remembering their betrayal of Mr. Pei and the town, decided they didn’t deserve sympathy.

People like them were better off dead—it would save Mr. Pei some resources.

As Lin Mian was thinking this, the Nobles began to celebrate.

One of them turned on a live stream, wanting to show the pacifists the gruesome death of Pei Yuhuai.

When they had set out, many had tried to stop them.

They argued that once war broke out, there would be no turning back.

Now that Pei Yuhuai was dead, he wanted to see what those cowards would say.

He started the live stream, waiting for the viewer count to rise before smirking and saying, “I thought this Pei Yuhuai was so tough, but it turns out he’s just average. Sure, he cost us some brothers, but killing him was worth it.”

As he spoke, he aimed the camera at Pei Yuhuai’s corpse.

The live stream’s title was sensational, so the viewer count skyrocketed. Within minutes, hundreds had joined.

When they heard that Pei Yuhuai was dead, many refused to believe it.

“No way!”

“He’s too strong to die so easily.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he’d go down like that.”

“Did you kill the wrong person?”

“Is that really Pei Yuhuai?”

“Is he really dead?”

…

Seeing the comments, the Noble grew impatient.

He pointed the camera at Pei Yuhuai’s body, zooming in on the couple’s ring on his finger. Pei Yuhuai had worn it ever since he and Lin Mian got together—it was proof of his identity.

When the viewers saw that Pei Yuhuai was indeed dead, the comments turned celebratory.

“Great, he’s really dead!”

“I thought he was so tough, but he’s just a paper tiger.”

“Yeah, if we’d known he was this weak, we should’ve killed him sooner.”

“Serves him right for acting all high and mighty.”

“Still, it feels too easy.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of…”

“OMG, host, host, look behind you!”

“Look behind you!”

“OMG, be careful!”

…

The Noble, seeing the sudden flood of comments telling him to look behind him, felt a chill run down his spine.

He swallowed hard, not daring to turn around immediately. Instead, he used the live stream camera to see what was behind him.

There, standing behind him, was Pei Yuhuai—alive and well, his cold eyes staring directly into the camera.

“OMG, don’t look into his eyes!”

“Oh no, I looked!”

“I…”

“Me too…”