Death Progress Bar 149
Sweet Potatoes
When the first snow fell, news of Gua Five’s death arrived.
At the time, Shi Jin was organizing the key review points his teacher had marked for the final exam. When he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, as if having a premonition, his heart suddenly sank.
{Gua Five is dead.} Once the call connected, Lian Jun’s voice came through the receiver, sounding right next to his ear and piercing straight into his heart. {While retreating after assassinating his target, he unfortunately ran into Tarantula’s main force that was retreating back. They trapped him on Treasure Island. Fearing that being captured would turn him into a bargaining chip for Tarantula to threaten me, he chose to end his own life. He jumped into the sea and died; his body hasn’t been found.}
Shi Jin knew very well that all of this was staged, but hearing it still made him feel uneasy. Exhaling a shallow breath, he asked, “Is he safe right now?”
{During that time of day, fishing boats often pass by the coast.} Lian Jun didn’t answer in too much detail, then asked, {Shall I pick you up this weekend?}
Shi Jin still refused: “Don’t. It’s not safe.”
Lian Jun was silent on the other end for a moment before asking, {Then should I send Gua Three?}
Shi Jin hummed in agreement. He wanted to ask if the next person to leave would be Gua Three, but as he opened his mouth, he quietly closed it again.
What was the point of asking? Wasn’t it already obvious?
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!
Accidentally hounding Gua Five to his death did not make Lu Shan feel happy at all. Slightly agitated during the meeting, she slammed the table twice and said, “Don’t disbelieve me—Lian Jun is a fucking lunatic! Gua Five has followed him for so many years, and now he died on my turf. I really… Don’t call me a coward, but from now on, I’m going to guard my own piece of land back home to the death. Don’t any of you try to drag me out again. Nobody can withstand Lian Jun when he goes crazy. I have to stabilize my foundation.”
Yuan Peng didn’t understand her anxiety and even thought she was out of her mind. He said, “You were the one who insisted we had to make a move against those Guas. Now that you were lucky enough to kill one, why are you panicking yourself? Lian Jun lost a subordinate—shouldn’t you be happy?”
“Is the situation now the same as back then?! I lost six subordinates—a full six of them! If six of your regional managers died on your side, wouldn’t you panic?!” Lu Shan slammed the table again. Seeing Meng Qing and Qi Yun both frowning at her, she paused, reined in her temper slightly, and spoke in a calmer tone, “It’s not that I’m trying to spread alarmist talk, but Lian Jun is simply too smart! I haven’t guessed correctly a single thing he wanted to do. Right now, Annihilation’s overseas business is a complete mess. Instead of trying to fix it, he actually sent people over to kill my men. Can any of you guess his goal in doing this? Can you? If any of us seated here were in his shoes with our overseas business in such chaos, would we act the way he did?”
Nobody answered. Lu Shan had hit the nail on the head. If they were Lian Jun, with Annihilation already in such disarray, they indeed wouldn’t do what he did—specifically dispatching a capable subordinate to assassinate several enemy personnel who seemingly had no impact on the current situation.
“Lian Jun seems to have no intention whatsoever of saving his overseas business,” Qi Yun spoke up, his pace somewhat slow, as if thinking while speaking, choosing his words carefully. “From MZ to the current X Region and DL Region, he has fought and retreated all the way, waiting until a business is completely dead before retaliating, without taking any effective market-rescue actions. I always feel… It’s a bit strange. Given Lian Jun’s abilities, he shouldn’t have let the situation deteriorate like this.”
“Exactly that!” Lu Shan sat up straight, looking as though someone had finally understood what she had been trying to say. “Strange! That is the point! Every time I feel that what Lian Jun is doing is strange, I end up suffering a major setback later! In any case, I feel something is off with the current situation, and everyone needs to be extra careful.”
Meng Qing also frowned, carefully pondering the current situation before saying, “But the current situation was indeed fought out through the resources we expended, unless… the information we got from Gua Nine was fake, and we walked into a trap right from the start.”
“Impossible!” Yuan Peng was the first to reject the idea, stating firmly, “We verified that information right at the beginning, and all of you agreed that it should be genuine. Calling it fake now—don’t you think that’s absurd? Lu Shan, stop spreading alarmist claims and disrupting our morale. You’re far too afraid of Lian Jun, so you unconsciously exaggerate his actions. Someone with an unsettled willpower like you is truly unsuitable to lead this operation.”
Lu Shan sneered: “I’m unsuitable? Are you suitable then? Just acting with caution becomes ‘unsettled willpower’ in your mouth—your prejudice against me is deep indeed. Yuan Peng, do you know why Snake Fang can never amount to anything significant? It’s precisely because of your recklessness and lack of strategic vision!”
“You—”
“Enough!” Meng Qing slammed the table, sweeping a dark look across the two of them. “Now is not the time to quarrel. Both of you calm down.”
Both Lu Shan and Yuan Peng closed their mouths. Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, Lu Shan defended herself: “They call this a four-faction alliance, but among our four groups, Meridian Gate and Snake Fang reaped the benefits, Epoch hid on the secondary front completely unaffected, and only my Tarantula was poked full of holes by Lian Jun. Don’t blame me for my attitude—it’s only because the hammer hasn’t hit your heads, so you don’t know the pain.”
What she said made sense. With the situation having developed to this point, Tarantula had indeed been suffering losses all along.
Meng Qing softened his tone and said, “Rest assured, everyone will help Tarantula pull through this difficulty together.”
Lu Shan pressed her forehead, saying nothing.
Qi Yun suddenly remarked, “Could this be Lian Jun’s true goal? Defeating us one by one and dividing us from within. Taking on four factions at once is clearly unrealistic and arduous for Annihilation, but targeting and striking just one is well within Annihilation’s power. Gua Five held a high status in Annihilation, and Lian Jun specifically sent him to assassinate key Tarantula leaders, which suggests he attached great importance to this operation against Tarantula. Lu Shan is right—Lian Jun never does anything meaningless.”
The other three all looked at him, following his train of thought.
Qi Yun continued, “There is another possibility. Could Lian Jun’s massive effort to assassinate Tarantula’s high-ranking members be a deliberate attempt to pressure Lu Shan into pulling her forces back, thereby creating a gap in our overall overseas suppression and offensive against Annihilation, giving him an opportunity to strike?”
As soon as this speculation was voiced, Meng Qing and Yuan Peng’s expressions immediately turned grave. Most of the overseas profits were currently split between their two factions. If Lian Jun was truly planning to lure away Tarantula’s forces and exploit the breach, then they were in danger.
They couldn’t help but look toward Lu Shan.
Receiving their gazes, Lu Shan refused without a second thought: “No, I cannot redeploy forces overseas. What if Lian Jun sends someone else to assassinate my subordinates again? I truly cannot bear such losses anymore.”
Meng Qing and Yuan Peng frowned deeply; one began calculating carefully in his mind, while the other grew visibly agitated.
“Only caring about yourself like this—what kind of ally are you?” Yuan Peng couldn’t help questioning her.
Lu Shan’s face darkened as she snapped, “I’m only your ally, not your mother! Asking me to risk my own ruin just to protect you and gamble on an uncertain possibility—I can’t do it! If you ask me, you’re the one who doesn’t treat me as an ally, thinking only of yourself in everything!”
“Stop arguing!” Meng Qing cut them off, turning to Qi Yun and asking, “What are your thoughts?”
Qi Yun glanced at the hostile Lu Shan and Yuan Peng before replying, “Tarantula’s current situation is indeed very dangerous. How about this: I can assign some personnel to help Tarantula. As for the overseas portion, Lu Shan, I hope you can hang in there if possible. We operate in different regions, and right now, certain outer area operations can only be handled by Tarantula. If you withdraw, it will indeed be disadvantageous for us.”
“I can also assign personnel to help,” Meng Qing added, seemingly satisfied with Qi Yun’s proposal. Looking at Lu Shan, he said, “Don’t panic. We are allies—if you’re in danger, everyone will definitely assist you.”
Yuan Peng made no stance; making him help Lu Shan would be worse than killing him.
With both Qi Yun and Meng Qing making concessions, Lu Shan’s expression finally softened a bit. She compromised, “Then I’ll hold on a bit longer… Everyone must find a breakthrough as soon as possible. This stalemate cannot last. We either press forward or call it quits. If we drag this out, there’s no telling what else Lian Jun might cook up.”
Hearing her make sarcastic remarks again, Meng Qing nearly couldn’t hide his impatience. Fortunately, Qi Yun quickly stepped in and responded to Lu Shan.
“Calling it quits is no longer possible—Annihilation and us are now in a fight to the death. Continuing the stalemate is indeed untenable either. I believe we should return to our original plan. Regarding the overseas business, the reason Annihilation can still struggle on its deathbed under our fierce assault is that Gua Eight and Gua Ten are helping hold the line. We failed to kill them last time; this time, we must find a way to eliminate them.”
This was the first time Qi Yun proposed a plan. All three looked at him, and Lu Shan asked, “So do you want to lead this assassination operation?”
Qi Yun smiled and replied, “Everyone has their own matters to attend to. I’ll take charge of it this time.”
If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.
Resort Villa, Study Room.
Lian Jun burned the file belonging to Gua Five, then pulled out the files for Gua Eight, Gua Ten, and Gua Three all at once.
Coincidentally it was the weekend, and Shi Jin had returned to the villa. At that moment, he was curled up on the sofa in the study, reviewing final exam outlines with Mr. Feng. Having overheard bits of Lian Jun’s phone call with Lu Shan, and now seeing Lian Jun burning paper and pulling out files, he quickly realized what was happening. Turning his head toward the three sheets of paper in Lian Jun’s hand, he asked, “Are you sending three people out this time? Don’t tell me Gua One and Gua Two are also…”
“Not them. It’s Gua Eight and Gua Ten, who have been outside all along,” Lian Jun replied. Looking at the tablet in front of Shi Jin showing a call screen, he asked Mr. Feng on the other side, “When would you like to leave, sir?”
Mr. Feng’s hair had grown a bit whiter, but his spirits remained high. Hearing this, he snorted coldly and said, {Worry less about me and arrange the boys properly first. I have a clean record—when the time comes, I’ll just find a training school to hang out at, and that’ll be enough for my retirement.}
“You can’t say that; it’s better to be careful in everything,” Lian Jun shook his head and asked, “How about after Shi Jin finishes his final exams, I arrange a round-the-world trip for you? Or I could set up a senior research tour group so you can do things you enjoy?”
Hearing this, Mr. Feng’s face darkened, and he said, {You’ve already arranged everything, so why bother asking! Presumptuous brat, showing zero respect for your elders!} With that, he hung up the call directly.
Shi Jin turned back to look at Lian Jun.
Lian Jun looked back at him, turned the files face down on the desk, walked over, reached out to pat his head, and said softly, “This New Year might be a bit quiet… I’ll find a way to invite Li Jiuzheng over. And Shi Weichong—he’s staying alone in an overseas nursing home, and with his mother in that condition, his New Year probably won’t be easy. How about we bring him over too?”
“No need,” Shi Jin quickly stopped him. Looking at the files turned face down on the desk, he asked, “Can I see those?”
Lian Jun remained silent, patted his head again, and said, “Shi Jin, how they choose to live a new life is their freedom. The only thing we can do is offer our blessings.”
Shi Jin withdrew his gaze, wrapped his arms around Lian Jun’s waist, and buried his head against his chest.
“Bring Fifth Brother over,” he said after a long moment, adding, “As for Big Brother, mention it to the nursing home to take good care of him. I’ll also ask Second Brother to keep an eye on him.”
Lian Jun gave a soft hum of agreement, leaned down, and kissed the top of his head.
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!
For this week’s return to school, Gua Three was still the one driving Shi Jin. Neither spoke until the car pulled up at the school entrance. As Shi Jin was about to get out, Gua Three finally spoke up: “Shi-shao, Happy New Year.”
This New Year’s greeting was far too early. Shi Jin paused his movement to open the door, lowered his head, blinked hard several times, and replied with a smile, “I still prefer hearing you call me by my name.” With that, he opened the door, got out, and walked toward the school gate without looking back.
Gua Three watched his figure disappear inside the school gates, leaned back against the seat while lost in thought for a moment, then wiped his face with his hand, turned the car around, and drove off.
If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.
The hellish review week began. Shi Jin spent full days soaked in the library, carrying an air of total detachment from outside affairs, wholly devoted to studying. In the blink of an eye, the weekend arrived. After school, Shi Jin went to the gate, located the familiar car, and opened the door to sit inside with an expressionless face.
Gua Two looked dissatisfied: “What kind of expression is that? Are you unhappy seeing that it’s me picking you up?”
“You talk too much.” Shi Jin remained expressionless, pulling out his study materials. “Every time you pick me up, my ears get no peace. Be quiet today; I need to review.”
“Tsk, so unpleasant to hear. Aren’t you afraid of getting carsick reading while riding?” Gua Two grumbled disdainfully and started the engine.
That weekend, Shi Jin didn’t see Gua Three at the villa. He set up a bonfire in front of the small building, wrapped several sweet potatoes in tin foil, buried them in the embers, roasted them with gathered firewood, and shared them with everyone.
In the end, three sweet potatoes were left over. Gua Two wanted to eat more, but Shi Jin didn’t allow it, expressionlessly burying the sweet potatoes into the soil.
“Even if cooked sweet potatoes are buried in the soil, they won’t sprout next spring or grow into new sweet potatoes. Wasting them like this, you might as well let me eat them.” Gua Two still eyed those sweet, fragrant roasted sweet potatoes greedily.
Shi Jin rolled his eyes at him, touched some firewood ash with his fingers, and wiped it across his face.
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!
After final exams concluded, winter break arrived. Shi Jin returned to the villa and spent all day shut in the kitchen, researching all kinds of dark or weird culinary creations. Gua Two ate until his scalp went numb and ran whenever he saw him. Their noisy bickering made the sparsely populated villa feel a bit livelier.
Xiang Aoting, who had been out of contact, suddenly called Shi Jin on a snowy day, asking when this year’s reunion dinner would be.
Shi Jin leaned by the living room window of the small building, watching the thick snow piled up outside, and replied with a smile: “We won’t be having a reunion dinner this year… Once the weather warms up next year, let’s find time to gather. Fourth Brother, what have you been busy with lately? Why haven’t I been able to reach you?”
{I was out on a mission,} Xiang Aoting answered, then suddenly said, {Xiao Jin, don’t be sad.}
“Fourth Brother, what are you saying? What do I have to be sad about?” Shi Jin’s voice still carried a smile.
Xiang Aoting didn’t answer. After a long pause, Shi Jin lowered his tone as if conceding: “Fourth Brother, my chest feels suffocated.”
Xiang Aoting comforted him: {It’s alright. Hang in there a bit longer. Before next summer, everything will be over.}
Shi Jin froze, his heart tightening. He quickly sat up and asked, “What do you mean by that? Why are you so certain everything will end before next summer? Are the official authorities planning a move?”
{Don’t rush,} Xiang Aoting quickly soothed.
“How could I not be anxious? Fourth Brother, you—” Shi Jin suddenly realized something, suppressing the urge to keep probing, and said, “It’s a secret operation, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pried… Fourth Brother, will Lian Jun be in danger?”
{He won’t,} Xiang Aoting answered with certainty and promise. {Both you and he will be fine. Xiao Jin, don’t rush. What the authorities are working on, Lian Jun might not necessarily be unaware of.}
If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.
No one expected Qi Yun’s operation to be so efficient. Just the day before at the meeting, they had finalized a plan to find a way to kill Gua Eight and Gua Ten while defending themselves, and by the very next day, Qi Yun had already pinned down their locations.
Meng Qing was somewhat suspicious: “Did you plant a mole inside Annihilation?”
Qi Yun waved his hand amusedly and said, “I wish I could have planted a mole. I’ve simply kept people closely tracking Annihilation’s recent business movements and managed to deduce and lock onto their positions through luck and guesswork. Setting that aside, no one is quite sure what Gua Eight and Gua Ten actually look like. To avoid targeting the wrong people this time, I need your help.”
“How should we help?” Lu Shan asked.
“For this operation, it’s best not to let a single fish slip through the net. I hope you’ll help me seal off Gua Eight and Gua Ten’s escape routes. I want to shut the door and beat the dogs.”
“Agreed,” Yuan Peng was the first to voice support, responding eagerly. “The overseas situation can’t remain at a standstill like this. Gua Eight and Gua Ten must die.”
Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations. Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!
The manhunt targeting Gua Eight and Gua Ten commenced. Qi Yun indeed possessed real skill—in just one week, he forced Gua Eight and Gua Ten into separate, isolated island environments where no assistance could reach them.
However, Qi Yun didn’t move to kill them immediately; instead, he set his sights on capturing them alive.
Yuan Peng disliked this habit of changing plans on the fly and couldn’t help urging, “Can’t we just kill them directly?! Seeing that they’re about to die, these two have recklessly begun destroying their own businesses, trying to drag us to hell with them! Besides, Lian Jun has certainly noticed something is wrong, and reinforcements might already be on the way. Don’t drag this out!”
Qi Yun maintained a calm demeanor and soothed, “Stay calm. If reinforcements come, all the better—it will make negotiations even easier. Lian Jun values loyalty; living Gua Eight and Gua Ten are definitely worth far more than dead ones.”
“Then capture them quickly,” Lu Shan frowned, feeling somewhat irritable. “My side really can’t afford to stall. Just as Yuan Peng said, Gua Eight and Gua Ten have launched a desperate economic backlash. I have to allocate resources and personnel to guard and organize—it’s too difficult.”
Meng Qing calculated in his mind for a moment before saying, “Do you need my help? I can send men to capture them with you.”
Qi Yun glanced at him; his face showed nothing, but his fingers tapped displeasure against the desk. He replied, “We’ll capture them right away. Everyone please stay calm.”
That night, Epoch’s forces began closing the perimeter to capture Gua Eight and Gua Ten alive. However, just as they approached their respective hiding spots and prepared to storm in, explosions rang out.
Gua Eight and Gua Ten died—self-detonated, leaving no intact remains. Just as the explosions went off, Annihilation’s branches across various overseas regions suddenly mobilized in unison, fiercely attacking every stronghold of the four alliance organizations. At the same time, Tarantula’s domestic strongholds on Treasure Island and G Province were hit without warning. Overseas and domestic fronts exploded simultaneously into an unannounced all-out war.
Lian Jun escalated the clash directly from the economic level to the most irreversible phase of armed conflict and territory attacks. Organizations like Meridian Gate were completely unprepared and caught off guard.
Snake Fang bore the brunt of the assault, with several strongholds in the X Region pried open overnight. Because it had previously spread its network thin to expand business, its personnel were overly dispersed. Furthermore, having moved men away to help Epoch corner Gua Eight and Gua Ten, its strongholds were dismantled with almost no ability to resist Annihilation’s ferocious onslaught.
“Is he insane?!” Yuan Peng bellowed in shock and anger, unable to believe it. “Opening fire directly like this—what on earth does he want? Does he really not care about his overseas business anymore?!”
“I told you to guard against Lian Jun’s retaliation, not to be greedy, not to act recklessly… Damn it, Lian Jun really is crazy!” Tarantula’s situation was even worse, taking hits on both domestic and international fronts. Lu Shan was overwhelmed and cursed repeatedly.
Hanging up the phone call from a subordinate, Meng Qing frowned deeply and said, “The one leading the overseas offensive this time is Gua Three. Lian Jun was prepared long ago—their goal from the very beginning was direct armed warfare; they never intended to fight an economic war with us!”
Qi Yun’s brows were tightly knitted, his mood extremely foul. He had thought he finally gained the upper hand over Lian Jun and grasped his true motives, only for reality to deliver a harsh slap to his face. However, he quickly reined in these emotions, recalled Annihilation’s movements over the past few months along with the present situation, and shuddered internally.
“I understand now,” he suddenly spoke, his voice dry and raspy. “Making no effort to save his business, daring to kill even customers, allowing us to spread networks and seize profits, treating his subordinates’ lives as bait and pawns, and then launching a fierce counterstrike when our forces are spread too thin…”
Meng Qing frowned at him and said, “What are you talking about? It’s all nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense at all.” Qi Yun looked at him, his expression terrifyingly solemn. “Think carefully about what Lian Jun has done during this period. He made no attempt at self-preservation or self-rescue, allowing Annihilation to be heavily battered step by step by us, only to turn around and drag us into the abyss. Only someone bent on seeking death would consume his own resources so recklessly! Meng Qing, stop holding back your strength. If everyone doesn’t put out full force this time, I’m afraid all of us will be dragged to hell together by Annihilation!”
If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.
Translator: GoldBerry
