Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Tricked?

Jiang Yan recalled the heavy “plop” “plop” sounds of something falling into the water she had half-heard in her drowsy state that night, furrowing her brow slightly.

It seemed that she hadn’t been sleepwalking or hearing things at the time.

The likelihood was that it was that middle-aged couple, who had been thrown into the water alive.

Had it not been for the surveillance footage in place, it would have been hard to imagine that such things were happening silently, just beyond the wall.

However, she was somewhat baffled as to why Zhou Wei and Wang Jin would try to pry open Su Dai’s door.

Considering the footage of Ma Longbiao and his gang after they had arrived, breaking into the door was clearly a unilateral move by Zhou Wei and Wang Jin.

“Cackle cackle cackle!” Mom, come into the space quickly!

Jiang Yan was about to check the real-time surveillance footage to see what was happening on the 31st floor when she heard Hua Bao urgently calling her from inside the space.

Earlier, while she was at Su Dai’s place, Hua Bao had already urged her telepathically once.

After coming back, she had been busy watching the surveillance and had almost forgotten.

Jiang Yan turned off the surveillance recording, got up, and with a thought, entered the space.

Outside, the light was dim and chilly, but inside the space, it was sunny and warm.

It was only because her constitution had improved that she could adapt to it so well.

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Otherwise, such sudden changes from cold to hot could easily lead to a cold.

Hua Bao had bounced out from the Apple Cabin.

“Cackle cackle cackle!” Mom, look!

Jiang Yan, who had just stepped into the space, followed Hua Bao’s gesture toward the sky and almost felt her heart leap into her throat with excitement.

The progress bar for the space upgrade was finally at 99.6%!

She lowered her gaze, and the stream had vividly appeared before her eyes.

The clear stream water flowed slowly over the shiny, translucent pebbles, gently caressing the tender green waterweeds.

At first glance, it looked beautiful and healing.

However, when Jiang Yan crouched down to dip her hand into the water, it was still just reaching into an illusion.

Jiang Yan knew it was because the upgrade wasn’t complete yet.

Only when the upgrade progress reached 100% would the stream turn from a lifelike holographic projection into a tangible reality.

“Hua Bao, just a little more and we can upgrade! Keep it up, yeah!” Jiang Yan said to Hua Bao with joy in her heart.

Hua Bao pouted, “Cackle cackle cackle!” Mom, it’s not that I’m not trying, but there’s no food left to work with, so that’s why I called you in here!

Jiang Yan: “Ah?!”

She sensed it with her mind.

Indeed, there wasn’t any trace of gold and silver jewelry or luxury watches left in the space…

“Did you eat that jade pendant too?” She remembered the jade pendant that Tian Jiliang had brought in exchange for medicine.

Hua Bao nodded, “Cackle cackle cackle!” Yes, of course!

Jiang Yan: “…”

Well, that’s great.

0.4%!

This was just the final step, and now it had come to a halt.

Especially since that batch of jewelry was quite a large and valuable lot!

She suddenly felt tricked by the space.

Ah, there was no one to reason with.

Hua Bao’s little eyes twirled around, “Cackle cackle cackle?” Mom, what should we do?!

“Well, it’s not like there isn’t a way,” said Jiang Yan, quickly regaining her composure. She took a deep breath, already brimming with ideas in her mind.

Now that the outside was an ocean, it was no longer realistic to go on an underwater shopping spree for free.

However, fortunately, they were not short by much.

She remembered Ye Qing mentioning that Ma Longbiao and his gang had gone looting in the shopping center during high temperatures.

Those gold and jewelry pieces were unlikely to be used during this time.

Although Ye Qing had only heard about this from Tian Jiliang and others and it wasn’t confirmed, it couldn’t be groundless.

If worst came to worst, there was a last resort:

There were many homeowners in Shallow Bay, and each home had some gold jewelry to a greater or lesser extent.

If necessary, she could just barter.

However, if the homeowners were currently under the control of Ma Longbiao’s gang, then all their gold and jewelry likely ended up with them.

Therefore, in any case, she had to deal with that gang first.

It was while thinking of this that Jiang Yan felt cheerful again in her heart.

“Hua Bao, I’ll take you out of the space later,” Jiang Yan said, hooking her finger at its little leaf.

Hua Bao was naturally overjoyed, “Cackle cackle cackle!” Great, great!

When Jiang Yan went downstairs later, she would definitely bring her gun.

For safety’s sake, she also planned to keep Hua Bao with her.

She could sense everything in the space with her mind, but Hua Bao was the only thing that needed physical contact with her to enter and exit the space.

So she had to carry it with her in advance.

After all, Hua Bao could transform into an invisible state, unseen by others.

However, considering that Hua Bao could only Devour once a natural month, and that it was ineffective if not used in time, she wouldn’t deploy Hua Bao, her trump card, unless absolutely necessary.

Thinking this way, Jiang Yan had already walked up to the incubator.

She opened each thermostatic box in turn, flipped the three eggs inside to make sure they were evenly heated.

After ensuring the humidity and temperature were correct and carefully recording the details, Jiang Yan then returned to the Apple Cabin.

Typically, incubating chicken eggs took about 21 days.

Duck and goose eggs took longer, at least 28 days.

However, Jiang Yan guessed that with the boost from the space, she’d probably see chirping chicks in the space after a while.

She was looking forward to it.

*

At noon, Jiang Yan had a simple lunch and then rested for a bit.

She retracted the Cannibal Flower into her palm and, gauging the time was almost one o’clock, she left her room.

She carried her usual black backpack and wore a mask.

Sun Jingtao and two others were already waiting for her at the fire escape.

Ye Qing had even changed into a set of black clothes that resembled the professional combat uniform of a police officer.

However, there were no police emblems or badges on it, likely removed by hand.

Although the clothes looked somewhat faded and aged, paired with Ye Qing’s upright posture, they did not diminish his authoritative presence.

“That uniform looks very professional,” Jiang Yan said in a lower voice as she approached.

A hint of a smile fluttered in Ye Qing’s eyes, “Thank you, it belonged to my father.”

Jiang Yan responded with an “oh” and didn’t inquire further.

“Jiang Yan, Xiao Ye, be careful when you go down. If there’s any unusual situation, just shout,” Sun Jingtao and Su Dai looked at them with some concern and quietly instructed.

Both of them were carrying weapons.

Sun Jingtao had a fire axe, while Su Dai held a watermelon knife.

“Okay,” Jiang Yan and Ye Qing nodded and proceeded downstairs.

Jiang Yan had specifically checked the stairway cameras before coming out.

Now, the water had reached up to the 22nd floor, and only the 31st and 32nd-floor cameras remained.

What surprised her was that the 31st floor, which had been crowded with people before, was now empty in the surveillance footage.

Many strange locks hung on the fire escape door, and behind it, the passage was crammed full of oddly shaped tables, chairs, and benches.

It was apparently a defense set up by the downstairs residents against Ma Longbiao and his gang.

The 30th floor was also securely closed; when she pushed on the door, it didn’t budge.

Seemingly the same as the 31st floor.

Jiang Yan remembered what Tian Jiliang had said, from the 29th floor onwards, the territory belonged to Ma Longbiao and his gang.

So, she simply bypassed the 31st and 30th floors, and together with Ye Qing, headed straight for the 29th floor.