Chapter 21: The Casino

Chu Cheng stood outside his building, watching as Detective Luo's car disappeared from his sight. He didn't know what to say at that moment.

There's a saying that working overtime is tough, and it's even more painful when you don't have money to spend. Some people may not even have reached the end of their regular working hours at this time, yet a prestigious super agent simply clocked out and left.

Even if we say that the investigation and cleaning of the infection source are the responsibility of the prevention and control department, shouldn't it be done without delay? Even if we don't talk about working overnight, isn't it inappropriate to finish work and leave so early?

But it's also a good thing. This way, Chu Cheng can have some freedom to move around.

He returned to his room, turned on his computer, and launched the game. In no time, his screen transformed into the third-person perspective of Batman, with his character still in the same location where he logged off last night.

Chu Cheng stretched his fingers, adjusted his sitting position to a comfortable one, and prepared some snacks and drinks. The night was just beginning.

Chu Cheng had also noted down the details discussed during the "friendly conversation" between Shao Risheng and Detective Luo. He entered the address in the game map and quickly located the hideout of the gang they mentioned.

At first glance, it appeared to be a casino. Dimly lit Gothic-style architecture with a signboard displaying glowing letters that read "Beyond the Law." It was unclear whether it was simply highlighting individuality or subtly mocking something.

Batman landed on a nearby high point. Instead of moving, Chu Cheng activated the detective vision to scan the building's structure.

Luo Yajun said it was just an insignificant loss of life, and similar incidents might have occurred many times before. Perhaps every month, someone would mysteriously die without anyone caring or paying a price.

He was wrong.

Maybe it didn't matter before, but it would matter now.

During these past few days of exploration, Chu Cheng discovered another clever use for the detective vision.

Similar to traditional Batman games, the detective mode in the game marked enemies and civilians. It presented a clear and concise display in a cool-toned visual, informing the player of the enemies that needed to be defeated and the innocent civilians or teammates.

Even when there were no main missions controlling Batman's roaming through the streets, this feature allowed players to quickly scan the area for enemies and criminals. Players could easily guide Batman to any street in the city and break a few bones.

In this game, this feature also helped players identify which targets would earn them hero points upon defeating them, and which ones wouldn't.

During his experience controlling Batman's actions last night, he witnessed someone who initially had a civilian designation in detective mode but, while they were acting suspiciously and attempting to steal a car battery, their designation changed from "civilian" to "enemy."

At that time, Chu Cheng speculated that the identification of enemies in detective vision was determined by the game system or, more precisely, by the character of Batman himself.

But now, as Chu Cheng controlled Batman and arrived at the "Beyond the Law" casino, he suddenly remembered that he had passed by this place while patrolling the city as Batman last night.

Back then, he also activated the detective vision, but there were no enemies marked in his field of vision; it seemed that everyone inside was recognized as civilians.

However, when he arrived at the same address today and activated the detective vision again to scan the building, the field of vision was filled with a dense mass of enemies.

Could it be because he discovered that this place was a criminals' hideout? But logically speaking, he, Chu Cheng, was the one who obtained this information, so what does it have to do with Batman?

Or could it be that the character in the game can actually share the intelligence he gathered during the day?

Chu Cheng's initial reaction to this thought was one of absurdity. But then he realized that the idea of controlling a game character to act in the real world was already inherently absurd.

After surveying the exterior of the building for a moment, he quickly found a suitable entrance. Batman entered the interior through an open skylight and silently landed on the circular corridor of the high-rise.

Chu Cheng had never personally been to a real casino in his two lifetimes, so his understanding of such places was limited to what he had seen in movies and TV shows.

His impression of these settings involved champagne, fine wines, roulette tables, heaps of chips, reckless gamblers throwing away fortunes, and shabby dealers dealing cards.

Wait a minute, upon summarizing it, it didn't seem so unfamiliar to him. After all, he had explored Azur Lane and Girls' Frontline, mobile games that featured similar elements. It didn't feel too different.

However, none of those elements were present today. The beautifully decorated hall was quiet, without a single gambler or dealer. Instead, heavily armed individuals with dark sunglasses were scattered throughout the hall.

Faint shouts and curses could be heard from further depths of the hall.

Chu Cheng carefully observed and memorized the positions of all the sunglasses-wearing individuals in the hall, quickly planning his assault route.

Batman silently landed behind the two individuals on the elevated platform. Their position provided the best vantage point, making it difficult to launch an attack on other positions without being noticed by them. Thus, they needed to be dealt with first.

Initially, Chu Cheng had prepared a response plan in case they were discovered or seen by other sentries. However, he quickly realized that he was overthinking. These two individuals with dark sunglasses appeared to be on guard but were actually engaged in idle chatter. They were completely oblivious. Even if he jumped right in front of them from the opposite side, they probably wouldn't notice.

Dealing with these two took only a moment. Prior to that, Chu Cheng had been hiding in the shadows, using the enhanced hearing of the detective vision to eavesdrop on their conversation.

The conversation was quite simple. In short, the entire gang was terrified by the strange events, and as a result, the casino had temporarily ceased operations.

At this moment, the boss, along with the second and third-in-command, and others were discussing countermeasures within the casino. Based on the current situation, either they would collectively surrender and seek official protection, or they would all pack up and flee, hoping to escape this curse.

One of the underlings was lamenting about his youthful recklessness, inadvertently getting caught up in this quagmire. If he managed to escape this incident, he vowed to turn over a new leaf and get married to his girlfriend.

Chu Cheng obtained the information he needed from their conversation and had no interest in dealing with the small fry in a repetitive manner. He quickly incapacitated the two individuals.

Chu Cheng wasn't just randomly picking fights to punish evil and uphold justice. Although it was satisfying to beat up these arrogant and oppressive guys, what mattered more was gaining experience and points.

As soon as they were marked as enemies in the detective vision, these individuals transformed from nameless thugs into walking experience packages in front of Chu Cheng. As he hammered them one by one, his hero points skyrocketed, providing a gratifying experience, much like harvesting crops.

In retrospect, Chu Cheng realized that the tutorial he played through was filled with elite henchmen, all of whom were highly vigilant. They seemed to have transformed into elites. It was a stark contrast to the real gang thugs he encountered now.

Perhaps in the world of e-sports, good eyesight wasn't required, and it seemed that street thugs didn't need it either.

That's not to say that the thugs in front of him had poor eyesight. Their vision was comparable to a referee with disabilities but still striving in the front line of the Olympics. Or maybe it was akin to a certain country's police officer examining a body riddled with seven gunshot wounds from behind, pondering for a long time before coming to the conclusion, "Hmm, the cause of death is probably a stroke, right?"

Of course, it would be best if all the villains had such vision. The game levels would automatically downgrade to easy difficulty.

He assessed the situation and realized that it wouldn't be feasible to eliminate all twenty-two armed enemies while avoiding their line of sight. However, he could try to take out a few of them strategically, using the cover of darkness and then finish off the rest when the lights went out.

As he was about to proceed along the planned route after dealing with the two individuals on the vantage point, he suddenly froze.

In the detective vision, a new guest appeared from the direction of the main entrance.

A cylindrical object had been thrown into the room, rolling to the feet of the two black-clad individuals who were patrolling.

It was a grenade.

Boom!

A dazzling burst of fire erupted, leaving the black-clad individuals dumbfounded. The two closest ones were sent flying by the explosion, and the shrapnel flying in the flames knocked down two more. The injured individuals writhed on the ground, groaning in pain.

The entrance was kicked open.

From the computer screen, Chu Cheng clearly saw the Luo Yajun detective whom he had parted ways with not long ago, appearing in the lobby.

He had a cigar in his mouth and was holding a submachine gun, spraying bullets directly into the hall..