Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 5 5. Rust

Ruster's house is closer to Strip Avenue than Dean's house, fully showing the bustling side of this metropolis.

Rare trees and exotic flowers from all over the world have been transplanted to the core of the city at a high price, and they bloom all year round and reveal their fragrance.

Along the main road, there are buildings with strange shapes, shopping malls, cinemas, and casinos with slot machines at the entrance, which resemble pyramids, pirate ships, and iron towers. They are painted in various strong and bright colors. Even in broad daylight, a large area on the roof and The neon billboard at the gate is still dazzling and eye-catching.

All kinds of luxury cars flow on the road.

On the side of the street and in the middle of the square, clowns with funny paint on their faces ride unicycles to throw and catch balls,

A man in a tuxedo with colorful balloons hanging behind him on stilts is showing a beautiful singing voice comparable to that of a dolphin.

The bare-chested black man folded his body back like a snake,

The third brother from India performed cross-legged levitation like an eminent monk, and the statue man painted in brass suddenly yelled, making the passing women giggle in fright.

……

Dean watched it with gusto, but in the 80s, the famous Venetian and Bellagio hotels had not yet been established.

Today's Las Vegas Strip lacks some of the top luxury.

……

The two gradually moved away from the hustle and bustle, pushed their bicycles for 10 minutes in a narrow and dark alley behind a department store, and entered a dilapidated apartment.

Dean met Ruster's mother, Grace Spencer, who was completely different from the middle-aged woman he imagined fattened by the pressure of life, with thick red hair, tall figure, beautiful features, and a fashionable red dress.

"Hi, Grace."

"Dean? Welcome, Rust mentions you a lot, says you're his best friend!"

Grace welcomed the little guests into the house and treated them warmly.

It was just around time for dinner.

In order to thank Dean for his help with his son's studies, Grace carefully prepared milky golden mashed potatoes and sweet crepes. Dean was not used to this kind of sweetness, but in order not to let him Disappointed, the two overly enthusiastic hosts ate up.

Pan-fried pork chops for the main dish was a big surprise. The skin was crispy, the inside was soft and juicy, and there was no smell of pork. Dean, who was hungry after training for an afternoon, dried up three pieces, and there was no soup left. Ms. Si was elated and couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear.

……

After dinner, the hostess dressed up and went to the hotel for the night shift.

Dean and Ruster are left at home.

Dean, who was paralyzed on the sofa, twisted his neck to the music while enjoying "Grease" being played on the CRT TV with a big black buttock - the man with the oily hair and the Australian girl with the best body danced excitingly disco.

He turned his head and glanced to the side, where Ruster was staring out the window in a daze.

"Dude, don't you like Travolta? You change the channel."

Rust smiled embarrassingly, "I don't like watching TV, nor do I like boring movies."

Dean looked puzzled.

Last explained,

"Before I was 17, I didn't watch TV. My dad made this rule... He said that 90.00% of TV, movies, music will have a negative impact on people's brains, more harmful than DND (Dungeons and Dragons) It is more sexual. Not only the radiation, but also the bad content in it. If you contact too many people, you will not be able to calm down and study and work steadily."

Dean was stunned.

Could it be that his father traveled from the future?
The short videos in the future will not make people more and more addicted, and the more addicted, the more impatient.

"There is no TV, so how do you spend the long night reading and studying?"

"Sometimes when I read a book, I also look at the starry sky outside the window. I was born in Texas, but then I lived in Alaska for a long time. The starry sky in the countryside is completely different from the constant lights in the city here. The vastness is quiet and clear, suitable for divergent thinking and quiet thinking."

"What are you thinking about? Get into a good university and have a beautiful girlfriend?" Dean joked,

"This is just one of them... I prefer to make up some stories, the dark night sky and the twinkling stars, just like the dark Satan and the bright angel." Ruster paused and said seriously,
Dean pondered for a while, what kind of family would raise such a second-year child.

"By the way, why didn't you see your wise father today? What does he do?"

This question is like a switch that turns off the lights in the house.

A dark mood crept quietly.

Ruster suddenly lowered his face, gritted his teeth, and remained silent for a long time, then suddenly raised his head, as if he had made up his mind.
"I never told anyone, but I admire your bravery in the cafeteria today, so I'll tell you. My dad is long gone. Grace and I didn't know he was a policeman until we got the death benefit .”

The frozen smile on Dean's face instantly shifted into the void,
"Sorry, man. I shouldn't have brought this up."

"Why apologize? I'm much luckier than you."

Ruster looked over seriously,

Dean's cheeks stiffened, and his heart was stabbed twice like being pricked by a needle.

Correct!
He also forgot that the disappearance of both parents in the previous body was much more miserable than that of Rust, whose mother was still alive.

"Then your father, is an undercover anti-narcotics policeman?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. His colleagues never disclosed his specific work. But when he was a child, he was always elusive, and he never saw each other all year round." Rust looked at the night sky outside the curtain and paused for a moment, "The last Once, I haven't seen him for two years, and when I saw him again, he was already lying in a coffin."

"You know, Dean." Rust turned around, and a touch of fear permeated his young face, "At that time, his face looked so strange, I could hardly recognize it. Although it was given by a skilled makeup artist He put on makeup, but he's still a bit... out of shape, bullet holes, knife wounds, burns? I don't know what kind of inhuman torture he suffered before he died."

Dean listened quietly, and asked with awe in his heart, these anonymous workers risked their lives, they were a great group of people.

"Since then, I have always had an inexplicable fear. It seems that someone will come out of the dark and kill me... Then, I will also lie in the coffin like my father, and I will start having nightmares. I couldn’t sleep well at night. For the sake of my health, Grace took me to Las Vegas... took me to see a lot of psychiatrists, and I slowly walked out of the shadows.”

It was rare for Ruster to bring his friends home, and he couldn't help but spit out all the bitterness in his heart,

"The law and order in downtown Las Vegas is very good. There are police patrolling the streets 24 hours a day, which gives me a huge sense of security. I can finally sleep soundly. But I didn't expect... to meet Bob Lowe's kind Damn rich second generation, he also has a group of sycophants... There is no doubt that 'darkness' is much stronger than 'light' here!"

He suddenly came to a conclusion,

"Dude, don't worry..." Dean put his arms around his shoulders and said seriously, "I'll cover you from now on... If Bob dares to beat you, I'll take you to beat him together."

By the way, practice skills.

Ruster's eyes lit up,
"But Bob is a ruthless character. People who offended him in the past either transferred to another school, or dropped out of school, and finally disappeared. He will never let it go! Don't you think about apologizing?"

Dean's heart shuddered after hearing this, is this rich man so cruel?
He began to rejoice at his decision to stay overnight, and at the same time prayed that his family would not be murdered.

"Sorry, it's impossible."

Ruster glanced at his friend's face. He had never seen such a firm expression before, and he couldn't help but blurt out his doubts in his heart.

"Man, I'm 100% sure, you're not the same as you were yesterday, and ever! You used to see Bob and the others like a mouse saw a cat. And you can't remember a lot of things!"

"What happened to you?"

Dean was silent, rubbing his fists, and tried to look hesitant. Then, with great determination, he pointed to the strangle marks on his neck that had faded and said with lingering fear,

"I was attacked, probably by Bob's gang, or someone else. They nearly strangled me... For a split second, I felt like my brain was starved for oxygen, my mind was blurry, and everything was on Disappeared before my eyes. The darkness swallowed me like a vortex."

"When I woke up, part of the memories in my mind seemed to be swallowed up by the indescribable darkness. I forgot most of the school experiences, the names of classmates and teachers, the past experiences at school, but other memories still remained. exist."

Ruster picked up the orange soda on the table and took a few big gulps, suppressing his shock.

His first feeling was that the other party was joking, but the scar on the other party's neck could not be faked, and he couldn't help but not believe the serious expression on his face.

A gleam of surprise flashed in his eyes, can partial amnesia make people more courageous?
"You should see a doctor."

"What if I recover from my illness and become a coward again? Let's keep it as it is." Dean took a deep breath, "Dude, I told you my biggest secret, please keep it for me."

"I swear to God..."

"Well, tell me now, besides Bob Lowe... have I offended anyone else? Or, is there anyone who hates me in particular and who is most likely to sneak up on me?"

Luster shook his head without thinking,
"The most outrageous sarcasm anyone can make about you is Bob in the baseball field."

"Then have I been behaving strangely lately?"

Rust took a licorice-flavored twist candy from the desk, and while chewing, looked at his companion's expectant eyes,

"Does it count as being depressed? You haven't laughed much in the past half month, and you obviously have something sad in your heart, like a broken relationship, but you refuse to tell me, and you always cover it up."

Persistent low mood?

The progress of the investigation somehow jumped by 5.00% to 20.00% five!
has a problem!
Depression, sadness, are all linked to suicide.

Dean couldn't help tensing his body. He suddenly had a strong feeling that his predecessor's departure might not only be related to what Bob and his group did yesterday.

"Rast, your answer helped me a lot."

Rust patted his chest, "We've always stood on the same front!"

"I still have a request."

"Just say it!"

"Do you have a camera at home?"

"Grace bought a new Nikon F3."

"Can you use it?"

"I've used it a few times to take landscape shots in bird watching areas."

"How about taking a few pictures with me? As I said in advance, I'm going to teach one of Bob's followers, a big fool on the baseball team."

Taking the initiative to offend the rich second generation's accomplices?
There was a look of fear on Ruster's young face, and he shrank his shoulders unconsciously. He didn't want to be hung up on the baseball field again.

"Last, now there is a bright road in front of you. Together with me, we will regain our lost self-esteem. I have already made a plan, and I will not alarm outsiders. And when the time comes, I will stand in front and bear everything Consequences, you just need to cooperate from the side - if you miss this opportunity, you will always live under the shadow of those bastards, unable to stand up!"

Ruster's lips moved, but it seemed that an invisible force sealed his mouth, and he couldn't respond.

"Rust, answer me! Are you still a man?"

Dean suddenly yelled, the sound echoed in the living room, his expression was as cold as ice.

Ruster was taken aback, and finally, weakly stretched out a trembling finger,

"I just take a picture?"

"Maybe there are other benefits, let you take revenge, let them pay a little interest for what they did in the past!"

"Then... OK!"

Ruster gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Happy cooperation!"

Dean bit the hard candy in his mouth, smiled, got up from the sofa, and shook hands with his companion forcibly.

Then twist the neck and wrist.

There was a crisp sound of muscles and bones.

He glanced at the system——

Fighting lv0 (9/100)
"Now we're real allies! You don't mind if I use your living room for an after-dinner workout?"

(End of this chapter)