Doomsday Dealer

Chapter 4: Beautiful New World

[Longshan Mental Hospital]

"What the hell... where the f**k did they send me..." Marcus Sullivan muttered to himself, staring at the massive mental hospital sign in front of him.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the air.

Marcus spun around like a startled bird, immediately spotting a blue and white trolley car dragging its long cables as it rolled across the asphalt road behind him. Sparse automobiles followed in the trolley's wake.

Not far away stood rows of shops with wooden windows half-open, painted in various colors. Through the windows, he could see glass display cases inside, the décor style distinctly vintage. At the street corner, an old man was cleaning up his popcorn stand.

The earlier noise had been the sound of the popcorn machine popping.

The sunlight was scorching, and the air was filled with a mixture of popcorn, diesel, and asphalt scents. Marcus's heart pounded with unease, his pupils dilating with shock.

The scene before him was both strange and familiar.

The slightly reddish sun, the people on the street... they still appeared to be Asian, and aside from their somewhat rustic clothing, there was nothing particularly unusual about them. The cars and architectural style also seemed rather 'simple.'

His fashionable trench coat outfit, combined with standing in the blazing heat, made him look quite out of place. Some passersby on the street were giving him sideways glances.

Seeing this, Marcus quickly removed his trench coat, draping it over his arm to cover the briefcase.

Turning back to look at the mental hospital again, his heart pounded wildly.

He had really crossed over!!!

Just moments ago he'd been in his rental apartment, and in the blink of an eye, it was broad daylight and he was standing on a main street. Though this place looked roughly familiar at first glance, the details were definitely not from the world he knew.

The shocking experience of crossing over was truly indescribable.

That mysterious company had been telling the truth about everything!

But a dying world, an apocalypse... this world looked completely peaceful no matter how he observed it. It didn't seem like the end times were approaching, nor did it appear to be in a state of emergency preparation.

Marcus tremblingly wiped his face and took two deep breaths to quickly stabilize his emotions. Forget crossing over – even if someone had instantly transported him abroad, his heart couldn't handle it.

But now there seemed to be no way back... either complete the mission or maintain contact with the company. This wasn't the time to consider those two problems – the urgent matter was to quickly find that client.

It must be guidance provided by the mask. In his vision, a red dot was conspicuously blinking inside the mental hospital.

There was a security booth at the entrance, and the guard inside was staring directly at him with both eyes.

Marcus frowned and quickly walked past the security booth toward a distant corner, stopping under some inconspicuous tree shade. He crouched down and began searching through his trench coat pockets and briefcase.

Soon, he pulled out a stack of bills and an ID card from his clothing pocket. The bills were marked "Longshan Union Bank," and the ID card had a unique layout – vertical formatting like a work badge.

Marcus pressed his lips together, feeling slightly reassured. It seemed the company notice hadn't lied to him – they really did provide currency exchange and identity documentation. The Chinese characters everywhere on the street must also be the company's translation work.

Heavenly Dao Responsibility Unlimited Company – he had no clue about it and would probably have to rely on the client to understand more. Since they were a client, they must have communicated with the company before.

It's just that this client was in a mental hospital... he hoped they were a doctor or nurse.

Marcus silently prayed, put the money and g*n into his bag, and put his trench coat back on.

Beside him was the mental hospital wall – a low wall less than two meters high. Marcus reached up to grab the wall's edge, looked around to confirm no one was watching, then pushed off with his legs and vaulted over.

Entering the courtyard, he jogged directly into the building.

Marcus nervously glanced left and right. There were quite a few nurses and patients walking around inside the building, but he could completely understand the language they were speaking. He could also read all the text signs on the walls clearly. Ahead was... the restroom!

Marcus darted inside without hesitation.

.....

Longshan Mental Hospital, multi-purpose hall.

Sophia Mitchell sat dejectedly by the window, wearing a patient gown.

Sunlight streamed through the window, green trees provided shade – a pleasant scene. But the creaking of the ceiling fan overhead, the surrounding patients who were either catatonic or screaming, combined with her heavy worries, left her in no mood to appreciate the view.

Gradually, Sophia's eyes reddened as her small hands clenched the corners of her gown.

Time was running out... she had tried so hard for so long, but in the end, no one believed her or helped her. Was there really no escape?

No, there was still one chance.

The voice in her dreams told her that man would come looking for her. As long as she waited for that person to arrive, maybe everything still had a chance. If he didn't come... that would actually be good news, likely meaning the dreams were false and the apocalypse wouldn't happen!

As long as there was no apocalypse, even getting a mental illness would be worth it!

Thinking of this, Sophia wiped the corners of her eyes, and her mood became somewhat brighter again. Though her emotions had been fluctuating like this for the past few days...

Growing tired of the view outside the window, Sophia stood up to head back to her room. But just as she turned her head, a dark silhouette appeared in the dim corridor – a figure in flowing clothes carrying a briefcase!

The image in her mind of a figure under dark skies, amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood, holding a briefcase in one hand and a g*n in the other, perfectly overlapped with the silhouette before her eyes!

Like a bolt from the blue!

Tears instantly streamed down Sophia's cheeks. At this moment, only one thought remained in her mind.

It was over... the apocalypse was really coming.

...

After washing his face in the restroom, Marcus emerged from the bathroom, his panic considerably subdued. The restroom was similar to those on Earth – it had running water, just with squat toilets... especially that familiar smell of urine, which was truly comforting.

It was just like the scent of home!

Walking to the middle of the corridor, he immediately spotted Sophia Mitchell. His heart instantly sank to the bottom... a child wearing a patient gown, probably high school age.

Though she was exceptionally beautiful, appearance didn't matter at all right now!

Before entering the building, he had been praying that even if the client was mentally ill, as long as he was granted a strong, sturdy man, he could accept it!

But reality was...

Mentally ill! Student! Beautiful girl! Any one of these was a negative factor!

Walking into the hall, Marcus surveyed the surrounding environment, casually grabbed a chair, and sat down facing Sophia Mitchell. The moment they faced each other, the red dot above Sophia's forehead suddenly disappeared from his vision.

Neither spoke. Marcus studied Sophia, who was looking down with her small hands twisted together.

After a moment, Marcus tentatively asked, "The company... has already contacted you in advance, right?"

Sophia nodded, her heartbeat already reaching its limit! The figure from her dreams had appeared in reality, representing the coming of the apocalypse.

"What's your name?"

"Sophia Mitchell."

"Brother... I still don't know how to address you..." Sophia said quietly, keeping her head down.

How to address me?

Marcus hesitated for a moment. Currently, the other party didn't seem to have mental illness. Telling her his real name directly wouldn't be a big deal, but that damn company policy didn't allow revealing company information.

He was associated with the company – who knew where the confidentiality boundaries lay? Logically, there shouldn't be anything to guard against with clients, but he couldn't risk the client saying the wrong things... it was better to make up a story. These were all trivial matters anyway.

The most important thing right now was gaining the client's maximum trust and understanding more intelligence.

After a moment of silence, Marcus sat up straight: "The following conversation is strictly between you and me. I hope you won't reveal my identity to anyone. Can you understand that?"

Sophia nodded emphatically, her eyes full of seriousness.

"I'm the Director of the company's Special Operations Department and an elite operative. My name is David Harrison. You can call me Director, or you can call me Dave. From today on, I hope we'll present ourselves as cousins in front of others. Can you understand that?"

"I understand... cousin."