Ship’s resting area.
Dong Xuebing looks around for a phone. He wants to contact China to inform them that he is still alive but could not find any communication devices.
Suddenly, Dong Xuebing hears footsteps outside. Someone is coming!
Dong Xuebing quickly tidied up the room and stood behind the door.
The door opened, and the middle-aged man, who was smoking on the deck earlier, entered.
Dong Xuebing mumbled STOP in his heart and squeeze himself through that man and the door to the corridor. He looks around and quickly walks towards a dimly lit corner before resuming time.
“Eh? Where’s my bread?!”
“… Bro, what happened?”
“Which one of you touched my coffee and bread?! Eh? Why are my clothes gone?”
“Huh? I don’t know. Why…”
“You have been guarding outside! What do you mean by you don’t know?!”
“Bro, I don’t know. No one had entered your room earlier!”
The shouting continued for around three minutes before it quiets down. Dong Xuebing looks out from the corner, where he was hiding, and noticed no one is along the corridor. He crept his way to the end of the corridor and entered a dark room. There’s no one around, and he closed the door behind him. After that, he sat behind the door and rest.
One hour…
Two hours…
Three hours…
Dong Xuebing fell asleep, and it was dark when he woke up. He does not know what time it is and wonders why the ship had not docked. Eh? The ship had stopped? He froze. Although the ship is stable, he can feel the difference whether if it was moving. Is the ship docked? He quickly tidied his clothes and pressed his ear against the door.
It’s quiet. No one is talking or walking around.
Something’s wrong. Dong Xuebing has a bad feeling.
Just as Dong Xuebing is wondering what happened, he heard some gunshots. Bang! Bang! Bang! It sounded it was fired from the deck!
Gunshots, screaming… it was chaotic outside!
“Arrghh!”
Bang, bang, bang!
Bang, bang, bang!
Bang! A bullet hole suddenly appeared on the cabin’s door. It was just beside Dong Xuebing and almost hit him.
Dong Xuebing knows he cannot hide here anymore. Something must have happened on the ship. He sticks his head out of the room, and no one is along the corridor. The gunshots and screams are from the deck, and it’s getting closer. He quickly rushed to the stairs at the end of the corridor and lowered his body to avoid getting shot. He climbed up slowly and opened the door at the top of the stairs.
Bang, bang, bang!
The gunshots are louder!
Dong Xuebing saw the sparks from guns firing in the dark when he peeped outside. Two men were lying in a large puddle of blood on the deck. The bullets had killed them, and a few crew members are firing towards the diagonally opposite direction. Splash! One of the crew threw his pistol aside and jumped into the sea to escape. The cargo ship had docked, and Dong Xuebing can see the lights from a nearby city. A few Japanese Police Officers are firing at the cargo ship from land, and two Officers had almost reached the ship.
Gunfight between the cops and smugglers?!
Police had surrounded the smuggling ship?!
Dong Xuebing does not want to get involved. He only wants to return home and tell his mother, Sister Xie, Aunt Xuan, and the rest that he is still alive. Furthermore, he cannot speak Japanese, and he is onboard the ship. He cannot explain why he is on board to the Police.
The best way is to leave!
STOP!
The world becomes quiet, and time stopped!
Dong Xuebing quickly runs out while checking how much time he has with MENU. He started running across the deck. The port is not the usual port, and it is located in a secluded place. This place looks like a fishing village, and a few bullet heads had stopped in mid-air. The sparks from the gunfire, the night, and the stars formed a beautiful picture.
Dong Xuebing jumps off the deck onto the shore.
He is excited to step on solid ground after being trapped on that reek rock for almost two weeks. This is what he had been thinking every day while on the reef.
Dong Xuebing is finally on land!
He can finally return home!
Dong Xuebing quickened his pace and ran past the defense line formed by more than a dozen Japanese Police Officers. He hid behind a small warehouse behind the port before resuming time!
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots continued!
Dong Xuebing doesn’t care about the situation here and is only thinking about how to get home. He looks around, but there are no cars. He took a glance at the map he gotten from the ship. Hmmm… this should be the location where the captain circled on the map. Tokyo is located north of this place… North… Which direction is north?! He looked up at the sky and used the stars to confirm the direction. He needs to move towards a direction on his left!
But when Dong Xuebing was about to move, a pair of bright headlights shone on him!
It’s a Police car! Two Police Officers alighted and pointed their guns at Dong Xuebing.
“@#@%@$%$$^…?”
“@#[email protected]% ^$#%#…!”
Both Officers shouted something in Japanese!
But Dong Xuebing could not understand them. Damn! Why is there an ambush here?! These Officers are too careful! He turned and started running to take cover behind the corner of the warehouse. He can hear the Officers’ footsteps getting nearer as they ran after him. He did not wait for them to get close and shouted STOP! He sticks his head out and saw both Officers standing there like statues. He ran past them and got into the Police Car before resuming time!
……
Time resumed!
Dong Xuebing stepped on the accelerator and sped towards the north. Those Officers should not see his face clearly as it was very dark. There are no other vehicles around except police cars, and he will use STOP to escape if he was caught. Nothing will happen.
Let’s go!
Tokyo!
Bang! Bang! Bang! The Officers fired at Dong Xuebing.
Dang! Dang! Bullets hit the car, and the rear windshield was cracked.
Dong Xuebing quickly lowered his head and sped off!
Swoosh! The Police car quickly disappears from the road.
He peeps at the rear-view mirror and saw those two Officers shouting into their radio for backups.
Dong Xuebing had faced off Japanese Police when he came over to steal the relics from the National Museum previously and thought nothing about it. He took a last glance towards the direction of the smugglers’ ship before entering the highway.
One kilometer….
Five kilometers….
Eight kilometers….
Soon, Dong Xuebing can see the bright lights of a city in front of him. He knows there will be multiple roadblocks waiting for him in front too. Driving a stolen Police car into the city is courting death. It’s too obvious, and other Police cars behind him are catching up.
Abandon car!
Dong Xuebing made his decision and saw a young man stopped his car by the roadside. He is talking on his phone, and Dong Xuebing brakes. That young man saw it in a Police car and thought it was because he had stopped his car on the highway to make a phone call. He quickly gestured that he is moving off after hanging up. But Dong Xuebing does not want to let that young man see his face and quickly uses STOP. He ran over and gave that man a knife-hand blow on his neck!
STOP!
The young man fainted, and Dong Xuebing dragged him into the bushes by the roadside. After that, he drove that old Honda Accord towards the north!
The young man will surely call the Police after he wakes up, and Dong Xuebing must reach Tokyo before the Police catch up with him. Only Tokyo has flights back to China.
One hour….
Three hours….
Five hours….
Dong Xuebing doesn’t know his current location after driving through the night. He only knows that he is driving towards the north, and the bustling streets around him indicate he should have reached or is very near to Tokyo.
Suddenly, Police sirens got closer.
Dong Xuebing frowned and looks at his rear-view mirror. Two Police cars are behind him, and an Officer is sticking his head out of the window with a gun.
Bang! The rear windscreen shattered!
I’m exposed?!
Dong Xuebing quickly changed lanes and turned into another street!
Screech!!! Dong Xuebing slammed the breaks and shouted STOP!
He got out of the car and ran into an alleyway towards another street. He disappeared into the crowd before resuming time!
Dong Xuebing cannot afford to waste STOP anymore. He is wanted by the Police and has no identification and money with him. How is he going to buy air tickets? That’s why he needs to save his remaining time to sneak on the plane. This is the only way for him to get home without trying to explain himself. Who knows how long the investigation will take if the Police catch him?
Dong Xuebing looks at the road sign. He is in Tokyo!
Airport! Here I come!
Ten seconds later, two Police cars stopped by the roadside. Four fully equipped Officers stepped towards the Honda Accord cautiously with their guns.
But they were shocked when they got nearer. They had not let this car went out of their sight, and no one had opened the doors. But there’s no one in the car!
