Chapter 324: A Poor Wretch

As the subway pulled into the station and he saw the crowded carriages, Chen Ling realized he had been happy too soon.

Even if he had three heads and six arms, as long as he couldn't fly, he would never be faster than the subway in this traffic-congested city. And there were thousands of office workers and students taking the subway too…… As the subway doors opened, Chen Ling hesitated for a long time before biting the bullet and squeezing in.

The subway sped toward the airport. Chen Ling, wearing his brown coat, stood as steady as a mountain in the crowd. The next thing he had to consider was how to get a mobile phone on the way.

In this era, without a mobile phone, everything was quite inconvenient. Let alone flight information, he couldn't even tell the time.

He could only move freely in the save file for 12 hours, and he had to control every minute and every second precisely.

Just as Chen Ling was thinking, his peripheral vision seemed to discover something…… In the corner near the subway door, a figure was standing sneakily, wearing black clothes and a mask, his eyes carefully scanning the surroundings as if observing whether anyone was watching.

Of course, for Chen Ling, who possessed the 【Secret Pupil】, his movements were too conspicuous in the crowd. Chen Ling pretended to look elsewhere, but in reality, he took everything in.

Behind the railing the man in black was leaning on was a white-collar worker with his head tilted in sleep. After confirming that no one was paying attention, the man in black reached out his hand and pinched a mobile phone from the half-open bag, quickly stuffing it into the inner pocket of his windbreaker.

After doing all this, he pretended to scratch his head as if nothing had happened and squeezed straight into the crowd……

That white-collar worker wasn't his only target. He stopped in front of two sleeping passengers in succession and used the same method to swipe their mobile phones, and even their wallets and cardholders. In this crowded carriage, everyone who was awake was looking down at their own phones, and no one noticed his abnormality.

When he passed through the carriage and squeezed past Chen Ling, he even boldly reached into Chen Ling’s pocket. After finding it empty, he turned back and glanced at Chen Ling with a strange expression, muttering in a low voice:

“……Damn, ran into a poor wretch.”

Chen Ling: ……

【Audience expectation +4】

Very good, Chen Ling already knew where to get a mobile phone…… Not only that, but the problem of expectation could also be solved along the way.

Chen Ling squinted at the man in black huddled in the corner, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes. The next moment, a phone ringtone with the volume turned to the maximum suddenly rang out from his pocket!

“In the first lunar month~~ it’s the New Year~~ every family pastes spring couplets~~”

This sound instantly spread throughout the carriage. Everyone’s eyes turned to the man in black in the corner, whose face instantly turned deathly pale!

He hurriedly searched his pockets, but because there were too many phones, he couldn't determine which one was ringing for a moment. At the same time, the white-collar worker sleeping in the corner woke up with a start and looked at the corner blankly, seemingly surprised that someone had the same taste in ringtones as him.

She subconsciously reached into her bag and suddenly froze in place.

The sweating man in black finally found the ringing phone, but his fingers pressed the button several times, and he couldn't hang up. Immediately after, more and more phone ringtones rang out from him!

“Your shallow smile is just~~ like~~……”

“Beep-beep-doo-doo-beep-beep-doo-doo……”

“I want to see you, I just want to see you~~ future, past~~ I just want to see you~~……”

“……”

When five completely different phone ringtones rang out from the same person, everyone realized something was wrong.

The man in black himself was stunned. He had been in this line of work for so long and had never encountered such an eerie situation…… Coming back to his senses, he turned and wanted to run to the carriage behind him, but was tripped to the ground by a foot stretched out from the crowd.

“Catch the thief!!”

Several victims who had lost their things rushed up and surrounded him. This commotion alarmed the subway staff, who rushed over one after another.

After everyone’s accusations, the staff’s expression toward the man in black became extremely gloomy. They grabbed the man in black, and after the subway arrived at the station, they escorted him off the platform, where real police were already waiting.

“Open your clothes.” A police officer scolded in a deep voice.

The man in black seemed to know he couldn't escape this disaster today and opened his coat in despair, revealing the stolen goods.

His mask was also taken off. It was a weathered face, looking about forty or fifty years old, with bloodshot eyes and almost no hair left.

“This is my phone!”

“This is mine!”

“Damn, dead thief…… Comrade Police, please punish him severely!”

Watching the phones being taken away one by one by the victims, the man in black didn't dare to look up. At the same time, a police officer looked at him coldly:

“ID card.”

“……No, none.”

“None?”

“Comrade Police, it’s like this…… I lost money gambling at a casino in Las Vegas, and everything was taken away…… I managed to escape back with great difficulty. If I hadn't been at the end of my rope, I wouldn't have stolen phones here……”

The man in black said bitterly. At this moment, only his own old-fashioned flip phone was left on the ground. That was something he had bought from a street stall in Las Vegas for two hundred yuan.

The police officer glanced at him. “Make it up, keep making it up…… I haven't heard this version much.”

“Everything I said is true…… I escaped death to come back!”

“If you don't believe me, you can check my phone. I secretly recorded a video in that casino! Everyone else said my video was photoshopped, but I really didn't…… That casino is too eerie, and that boss is simply a man-eating devil!!”

The man in black was about to bend down to pick up his phone. Just then, a young man in a brown coat walked up and picked up the flip phone first.

The man in black froze.

“Sorry, Comrade Police.” Chen Ling smiled slightly. “I’m here to get my phone.”

“？？？” The man in black cursed, “What’s your phone? This is my phone! I bought it for two hundred yuan after being scammed at the border!”

A police officer walked up and asked Chen Ling suspiciously:

“Is this really your phone?”

“Yes.”

“Is it convenient to prove it?”

Chen Ling pondered for a moment, lowered his head, and shouted at the flip phone: “Hey, Siri.”

“I’m here.”

【Audience expectation +3】

Man in black: ？？？？？？

The police were also stunned. They had never seen an Apple phone of this style in their lives.

“No, no…… this phone has no lock screen password, the wallpaper is a sports car, and there are my call records inside! The name of the last person called is Tiger Brother!” The man in black said with wide eyes.

Chen Ling didn't open the flip but handed the phone to the police officer with an innocent face. After the latter opened it, he gave the man in black a strange look.

“Didn't I say this phone was mine?!” The man in black looked at Chen Ling, his teeth itching with anger.

The police officer silently opened the flip.

As the screen lit up, Chen Ling’s cold selfie appeared in the man in black’s eyes, and he was even making a peace sign.