Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
At this moment, He-Gu seemed to understand.
Why nothing could be found on 449 or in the storeroom, yet 449 always appeared so confident.
Their plan was to have the manager deliver the items to him close to midnight.
If He-Gu wasn't mistaken, the fanny pack the supervisor was wearing just now probably contained things like black cat blood and blades.
Although He-Gu hadn't figured out how to break the situation yet, knowing the opponent's cards made him feel less uneasy.
He-Gu sat in the storeroom, deep in thought.
***
A few minutes later, He-Gu suddenly felt a slight dizziness and a faint weakness in his limbs.
The sensation wasn't severe, but it was there, affecting He-Gu to some extent.
He-Gu tensed up and checked his phone: 00:01.
Midnight.
Was this the legendary period of weakness?
He-Gu frowned slightly, stood up, and tried to move his body, then attempted to lift a wooden box.
It was then that He-Gu realized his strength had increased significantly; he could easily lift the wooden box that weighed several dozen kilograms.
After trying, He-Gu felt something was off.
This so-called "period of weakness"… didn't seem very weak?
The discomfort did have some effect on He-Gu, but overall, it might have reduced his abilities by only 5%-10%?
Is this all the period of weakness is?
But He-Gu remembered that from 411's performance last night… the impact on him was definitely more than just this!
Could it be because it's just the beginning, the weakness isn't obvious, and the feeling will gradually intensify later?
While feeling the changes in his body, He-Gu pondered.
However, after waiting in place for a few minutes, He-Gu found that the feeling of weakness not only didn't intensify but actually subsided!
About four or five minutes later, He-Gu couldn't feel the discomfort at all!
The period of weakness ended this quickly?
He-Gu was shocked, then overjoyed.
No! The period of weakness couldn't be this easy, nor could it end so quickly!
Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have been able to take down 411 last night!
That meant it wasn't that the period of weakness ended quickly, but that He-Gu seemed to have a different constitution from others!
Could it be because he hadn't taken any medicine?
Thinking of this, He-Gu secretly rejoiced.
If that was the case… this could definitely be a trump card that would catch others off guard!
After a brief thought, He-Gu quickly left the storeroom and headed to the second-floor office.
Arriving at the office area, He-Gu stood in the corridor and discreetly glanced into each glass room.
He saw the supervisors in each office, one by one, pale-faced, either lying back or slumped over their desks, looking like they had just had a night of drinking and felt uncomfortable.
Seeing this, He-Gu made a clear judgment.
Clearly, during this interval from midnight to one o'clock, the other supervisors were truly weak!
And He-Gu himself was almost unaffected!
If that was the case, his situation didn't seem so passive anymore!
To avoid arousing suspicion, He-Gu also pretended to feel unwell, weak in the arms and legs, and slowly left the office area to return to the storeroom and slumped over the desk.
Time slowly passed until after one o'clock, He-Gu straightened up from the desk.
For the next few hours, the entire warehouse area was quiet.
He-Gu sat on the chair, habitually sorting and pondering various clues, as time flew by.
Around four in the morning, the manager came to check on him again.
The manager still didn't show He-Gu a good face, but he didn't cause any trouble either; he just came to see that He-Gu was on duty and then left.
At four-thirty, a batch of goods was delivered for storage.
The whole process went smoothly without any incidents, everything proceeding as usual.
After He-Gu finished receiving the goods, it was already 6:14.
Time to get off work!
He-Gu exhaled softly, suddenly feeling much lighter.
Surviving tonight was a phased victory for He-Gu!
But tomorrow night might not be so easy…
With that thought, He-Gu shook his head.
He locked the storeroom door, went to Canteen No. 4 for breakfast, and then headed straight back to the dormitory.
***
Just as he arrived at the dormitory building, He-Gu saw a figure standing at the entrance of the stairs—it was his alumnus, 111, whom he had just met yesterday.
"Not bad, you made it back alive."
111 smiled and patted He-Gu's shoulder: "How about it, do I deserve a big thank you this time?"
He-Gu thought 111 was referring to the crutch he gave him that had come in handy yesterday and was about to agree when he heard 111 continue: "If I hadn't decisively given up a fruit, you would have been in trouble last night."
Hearing this, He-Gu's heart skipped a beat and he quickly asked, "What do you mean?"
111 shook his head with a smile: "You're still in the dark?"
"That 369, I arranged for someone to take him down for you."
He-Gu was stunned and looked at 111 warily.
369 was taken down by his arrangement?
This guy had taken down He-Gu's ally, nearly putting He-Gu in a deadly situation last night, and now he said it was to help He-Gu?
Seeing the confusion in He-Gu's eyes, 111 explained: "You were deceived by him. Did he approach you to form an alliance and promise to help you through a crisis?"
He-Gu watched 111 warily: "How do you know?"
111 shook his head with a laugh: "Alumnus, you're too careless. How can you trust someone so easily? That 369 was not well-intentioned.
I won't beat around the bush. Simply put, he can't take you down right now, but he wanted the green-clothed ones to eat you, then he would eat the green-clothed ones. You probably don't know, this is also a form of predation.
So if you had really let him help, you wouldn't be standing here now."
Hearing 111's words, He-Gu's heart sank.
It was like that? This form of predation, wasn't it just like Old Ma?
After a moment of thought, He-Gu asked, "So… the 449 under me was actually arranged by 369?"
111 was taken aback: "449? You mean the newbie assigned to your team today? No, that's not it. 369 doesn't have the ability to manipulate personnel assignments. 449 must have been arranged by your manager. 369 just wanted to be lazy and take advantage."
Hearing this, He-Gu nodded slightly, realizing his crisis was still unresolved.
At that moment, He-Gu suddenly remembered: "Wait, what did you mean by sacrificing a fruit just now?"
111 smiled slightly: "That 401, he's my man. I originally planned to keep him to help me hunt other targets, but last night things were urgent, and to protect you, I had to let him expose himself early and take down 369 for you."
He-Gu didn't feel much joy at hearing this but instead felt uneasy.
111 had made such a sacrifice to protect him; it couldn't just be for the sake of "alumni friendship"!
As He-Gu was thinking this, 111 changed the subject: "Of course, I helped you this time for my own reasons. As compensation, I need you to do something for me."