Chapter 236
Leaving Quanjude, the four of them headed straight for Universal Studios.
Right at the entrance, Ye Jinliang's legs already felt like lead.
The scene before them was an absolute sea of people.
Meandering lines packed every attraction so tightly that not even a drop of water could slip through, with only the massive Decepticon statue tirelessly blasting its mechanical sound effects.
Screams rose and fell in waves, making their scalps tingle.
"Holy mother of..."
Ye Jinliang clung to a lamppost and refused to let go. The aftermath of climbing the Great Wall that morning was hitting him in full force, leaving his thigh muscles aching and completely disobedient.
He pointed weakly at a bright red electronic sign nearby.
"Decepticon Rollercoaster, wait time... 120 minutes?"
"Two hours? By the time it's my turn, you might as well send me straight to the crematorium."
Pei Susu frowned as well. She checked her phone, looking miserable.
"This is ridiculous. It's already 2 PM. After lining up for two rides, it'll be dark. Did we come here just to stand around as punishment?"
Despite her tough talk, she was just a girl. After conquering the "Hero's Slope" on the Great Wall that morning, the soles of her feet felt like they were stepping on hot coals—swollen and painful.
"How about... we bail?"
Ye Jinliang looked at the group tentatively, his eyes screaming, "I just want to lie down and do nothing."
"Wouldn't it be nice to just go back to the hotel and play cards?"
"Pathetic."
Gu Ran shot him a glance and leisurely pulled four lanyards from the side pocket of his backpack.
Black and gold, exuding a premium feel.
Printed boldly on them were the words: "Universal Express Unlimited."
"Put it on."
Gu Ran casually tossed one to Ye Jinliang.
"What's this? A get-out-of-jail-free card?"
Ye Jinliang scrambled to catch it.
"A lazy person's savior, or... a pay-to-win player's cheat code."
Gu Ran's lips curled into an "I'm going to carry you guys" smirk.
"Unlimited Express Pass. No queuing. Ride as many times as you want, VIP lanes all the way."
A few nearby tourists, sweating profusely and staring blankly from waiting in line, turned their heads at his words.
Pei Susu's eyes instantly lit up. She snatched a lanyard, threw it around her neck, and gave Gu Ran a thumbs-up.
"Boss Gu is so generous! I knew it, traveling with a capitalist means we'll never suffer. We are destined for luxury!"
"Let's go."
Gu Ran took Ye Zhenzhen's hand and walked straight toward the exclusive lane marked "Express."
Suddenly, Ye Jinliang's back didn't ache, and his legs didn't hurt anymore.
He swaggered in the front, basking in the envious stares from both sides, looking even more punchable than when he had reached the top of Hero's Slope.
"This feeling of cutting the line..."
Ye Jinliang took a deep breath, looking absolutely intoxicated.
"It's so sweet! It's good to be rich!"
Ye Zhenzhen looked at Gu Ran's profile and muttered softly.
"Are you the reincarnation of Doraemon? How do you have everything in your pockets?"
Gu Ran squeezed her palm and chuckled softly.
"This is called using cheats, babe."
Five minutes later.
The four of them were seated in the ride vehicle for "Transformers: The Ride-3D."
3D glasses on, the safety lap bar clicked into place.
With a deep command from Optimus Prime, the vehicle surged into the darkness.
Over the next few minutes, weightlessness, spinning, explosions, and water sprays delivered a full-sensory bombardment.
"Ahhhh! Megatron is going crazy!!"
Pei Susu screamed in excitement, completely immersed in the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, looking as if she wanted to rush up and hand Optimus Prime a wrench.
Ye Zhenzhen gripped the handrails tightly too. Though scared, she was mostly thrilled by the novelty of it.
The young woman's eyes were wide open, afraid of missing a single frame.
The two grown men, on the other hand...
Ye Jinliang was deathly pale, his eyes squeezed shut as he activated a "fusion of East and West" prayer mode.
"Namo Amitabha... Hallelujah... Taishang Laojun, hear my plea..."
Gu Ran had his eyes open, but his expression was stiff.
Every time the vehicle jolted violently, his Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably.
This thing...
Completely defies ergonomics!
Who designed this?!
Coming out of the ride, Ye Jinliang was staggering wildly in an S-shaped path.
"I can't... I think I'm going to throw up..."
He clung to a trash can, looking like he was about to hurl his guts out.
"This isn't risking your life, this is ending your life!"
Gu Ran handed him a bottle of water and unscrewed his own to take a sip.
He forcefully suppressed the churning in his stomach, putting on a calm and collected facade.
"Weak is weak, don't make excuses."
"You're not weak? Then why are your legs shaking?"
Ye Jinliang exposed him mercilessly.
Gu Ran glanced down at his slightly trembling calves without batting an eye.
"This is muscle memory. It's excitement. You're still young, so it's normal you don't understand."
Before the two men could recover, an unsatisfied Pei Susu had already cast her gaze toward the deepest part of the park.
Twisted steel tracks spiraled straight into the clouds.
The Decepticon Rollercoaster.
Every few dozen seconds, a car full of people would roar past overhead, leaving behind blood-curdling screams.
"Umm... Since we're already here!"
Pei Susu waved her arms excitedly.
"We have to do this one! If we don't ride it, we might as well not have come!"
Gu Ran savored that classic and familiar phrase—"since we're already here"—and immediately felt his scalp go numb.
Hearing this, Ye Jinliang's knees went weak, and he almost dropped to the floor on the spot.
"Sister... dear sister... spare this old servant."
"I have elders above and children below... Oh wait, I don't have children yet, I don't even have a girlfriend! I don't want to die young! I haven't even carried on the Ye family line yet!"
Gu Ran looked at the nearly vertical drop of the track, his brain working in overdrive.
He did a quick mental calculation of the G-force and centrifugal force.
This thing could kill someone.
"Well..."
Gu Ran cleared his throat, trying to reason with them.
"We just ate. Strenuous exercise can easily cause stomach ptosis. Plus, from a medical standpoint, this kind of G-force isn't good for cerebral blood vessels and can easily cause a transient ischemic attack..."
Before he could finish, he was silenced by Ye Zhenzhen's half-smiling gaze.
The girl tilted her head, a sly gleam flashing in her eyes.
"Don't tell me you're... scared?"
"Scared?"
Gu Ran raised an eyebrow, staying stubborn to the bitter end.
"The word 'scared' doesn't exist in my dictionary. Only 'self-preservation'."
"Then let's go!"
Ye Zhenzhen and Pei Susu exchanged a glance. With perfect tacit understanding, they each grabbed one of the guys and dragged them toward the queue without another word.
"Help! I'm not going!!!"
Ye Jinliang abandoned all sense of dignity, letting out screams like a pig being slaughtered.
Gu Ran, meanwhile, had a look of utter despair. Letting Ye Zhenzhen drag him along, he silently calculated in his head.
If he pretended to faint right now, could he escape this ordeal?
Waiting online for an answer, it's urgent.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
