3:00 AM
In the sticky night fog, a thin young man lowered his head and quickly walked towards the nearest subway station.
Xiao Jinyu’s pace was swift, and he darted out dozens of meters in a few flashes. However, when he reached a street corner, he suddenly looked up and saw a middle-aged man standing quietly on the opposite side of the intersection.
The moment their eyes met, they both understood each other—
This was a user.
Xiao Jinyu immediately lowered his head and calmly pulled up his scarf to cover the lower half of his face.
The middle-aged man squinted his eyes and glanced at him from afar, coldly looking at him like a slippery snake, winding up on Xiao Jinyu. But when the green light came on, the man withdrew his gaze and walked toward the direction of Kangxin Middle School without paying attention to Xiao Jinyu.
Xiao Jinyu swept him a cold glance.
Just as Zhao Hen mentioned, the commotion caused by transporting the ivy was indeed very large, and other users in Zhongdu City must have noticed it. With just a little inquiry, they could find out about the demolition of Kangxin Middle School, and at that time, locate this place to investigate and uncover the truth.
Along the way, Xiao Jinyu also encountered two other users. These two were also going to Kangxin Middle School, one of them was a young woman, and the other was much more cautious. When Xiao Jinyu discovered their traces, he could only see a short and hunched back.
Kangxin Middle School had been sealed off for five kilometers long ago, and except for users with agile skills, no one else could get in, and the subway in the area was also stopped. It took half an hour to go through various alleys, and Xiao Jinyu finally arrived at a subway station that was not blocked off five kilometers away.
However, it was not yet time for the subway to run.
The earliest subway in Zhongdu City starts running at six o’clock in the morning, and there are more than two hours left.
Since his mother passed away, Xiao Jinyu returned to the temporarily rented house and moved back to the old neighborhood where he had lived for more than ten years. This was Zhongdu City District, and there was about ten kilometers distance between Xiao Jinyu’s neighborhood and the one he lived in, and there were also four polluted areas in between. Xiao Jinyu did not intend to risk crossing the polluted areas, and he was not in a hurry to go home anyway, he still had the patience to wait for two-ish hours.
He looked around and soon saw a faint light at the street corner opposite the subway station.
In the gloomy fog, Xiao Jinyu squinted his eyes and looked carefully.
He observed left and right and made sure there was no one nearby.
Xiao Jinyu walked towards the 24-hour coffee shop.
…
The name of the coffee shop was “Liuhua Guest”, and two hand-carved regular words were engraved on a long wooden board. When Xiao Jinyu pushed the door open, the glass door hit a small wind chime hanging above the door, making a crisp ding-ling sound.
The waitress who was sleeping at the front desk immediately woke up, she lifted her round face and was stunned.
“So early… coffee or breakfast?”
Xiao Jinyu was taken aback: “…A cup of coffee.”
“Okay, scan the code to pay here.”
Xiao Jinyu casually found a table inside and sat down. He had already left Kangxin Middle School far away, and there would be no more users passing by nearby. But just in case, he still chose a position far away from the door and the floor-to-ceiling window. From his angle, people outside the shop could not notice him, but he could quietly observe the outside situation through the glass window.
Soon, the waitress brought the coffee over.
The waitress didn’t think too much, she delivered the coffee and once again put her head down and resumed sleeping.
Xiao Jinyu took a sip of coffee.
It was a very ordinary taste, nothing special. He put down the cup handle and looked up at the string of small wind chimes hanging on the door.
Coffee shop, wind chime… Haidu City.
He thought of someone.
Xiao Jinyu took out his phone, opened notes, and typed a line of words.
[Are you there, 004?]
The next second.
【Dad Q^Q!】
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
[Ahem, I have something to ask you. If a user dies, can you tell right away?]
【Of course I can, I am the invincible 004…】
The barrage stopped halfway.
Xiao Jinyu: Huh?
…Oh.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Jinyu typed very seriously on his phone: [Dad really loves you, muah muah.]
【！！！！】
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
【Waawaawaa I really love dad the most waawaawaa! Who cares about that new pollutant: it’s nothing compared to me, the amazing 004, heh, if it dares to enter into my territory, I will make it learn how to write these three numbers of my 004 (○｀ 3′○)!】
Wljb Alcse: “…”
Ciatbeut lc j rfcrf, atfgf jgf bcis akb cewyfgr. Dea jr ibcu jr sbe jgf tjqqs.
【Gjv, ktlmt erfg vb sbe kjca ab jrx jybea yflcu vfjv bg cba? Clsj, la vbfrc’a wjaafg lo atfs jgf vfjv bg cba, atfs jgf jii atf rjwf, j iba bo qfbqif vlf fnfgs vjs.】
[C180 Wind Blowing Fart Zhang Haixiang.]
【Let me check.】
【He’s not dead, he’s alive and well-V-】
【Dad, a new day has arrived, did you miss me today?】
【Dad, aren’t I your best son? You haven’t been confused by that new bad guy, right?】
【Dad…】
Xiao Jinyu stared at the phone screen, and as for the bunch of cheesy words that 004 said later, he didn’t pay any attention.
Zhang Haixiang is still alive.
So, he really did, in an instant, escape and steal away the “Court of Judgement”.
Before waiting for the ivy to be dug up at Kangxin Middle School, Zhao Hen had mentioned that every underground prison in any city must be equipped with monitoring equipment, constantly watching the prisoners’ every move.
Haidu City certainly could not make such a big mistake, and Zhang Haixiang must have been closely monitored by multiple cameras. But under such circumstances, he still escaped.
Xiao Jinyu’s eyes tightened, and he quickly typed: [004, are you sure Zhang Haixiang is just a second-level user?]
【Oh~~my dear dad…】
【Ah, Zhang Haixiang? Oh, that C1804.】
【It’s true, he is definitely a second-level user.】
[There are 53 users in Huaxia who have their information hidden, they are anonymous. Could Zhang Haixiang also have a way to hide himself?]
【…】
【Those 53 guys don’t count, but I still know a few second-level users! T^T】
【I am the strongest 004. Dad you can’t doubt my strength!】
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
That’s true.
Zhang Haixiang was definitely a second-level user, and this was confirmed by both 004 and Haidu City. Even when Xiao Jinyu arrested Zhang Haixiang in the coffee shop, Xu Qi also brought Zhang Haixiang’s information with him, confirming that the wretched and shriveled short middle-aged man was Zhang Haixiang.
[I don’t doubt you.]
Suddenly, Xiao Jingyu remembered something: [Apart from those 53 anonymous users, you can also keep track of the other more than 20,000 users, right?]
【Of course!】
[Have any of the high-level users shown abnormalities? Like a sudden abnormal rise in ranking.]
【Hmm, let me see…】
【No, everyone is quite normal, no accidents have occurred.】
【Oh, there’s a high-level user whose ranking has dropped by one.】
[Hm?]
【A54 Piggy Shampoo… Oh, it’s A55 now.】
The change of just one ranking was not particularly remarkable. Xiao Jingyu asked 004 a few more questions, and all 004’s answers were “no abnormalities.”
Zhang Haixiang had not died.
The high-level users also had no movement.
At least from the leaderboard, there was no abnormal behavior.
As Xiao Jingyu pondered, he saw a girl, who looked like a student, push open the glass door of the cafe and walk to the front desk.
The wind chime tinkled softly, and Xiao Jingyu immediately became alert. He glanced at the wall clock without showing any emotion.
It’s only 4:30 in the morning.
Could this be a user?
He didn’t feel any fluctuation of the logic chain from the female student and instinctively opened the fourth perspective.
Still no trace of logic factors.
“Xiao Ying-Jiejie, a sandwich set, please.”
“Coming up. Do you want it to go?”
“Yes! Otherwise, I’ll be late to my early morning cram class.”
The female student took the packaged sandwich, smiled as she paid, and quickly left the coffee shop. Xiao Jingyu was stunned for a moment, and soon after, he saw two male students walking in, arm in arm.
By five o’clock, the cafe had already become lively. But all the students were simply taking out breakfast and not dining in the shop.
It was only then that Xiao Jingyu understood why there was a 24-hour coffee shop open here. It turns out there was an early morning cram school nearby.
…Quite peculiar indeed.
The students coming in for breakfast hardly noticed Xiao Jingyu in the corner, and amidst the noise, his phone suddenly rang.
Xiao Jingyu picked it up.
[Zhao Hen: The ivy has been successfully delivered to the underground warehouse of the Logical Research Institute. You’ve worked hard these past few days, Xiao Jingyu.]
[Xiao Jingyu: It’s nothing.]
After a moment.
[How’s the ivy? It didn’t attack anyone, did it?]
[No, it seems to have no interest in humans. It didn’t say a word when we moved it, but it did say something when we took it to the underground warehouse.]
Xiao Jingyu was curious: [What?]
[“…Ah, can you give me some sunlight?” It seemed to say that.]
Xiao Jingyu: “…”
Depriving a plant of sunlight, indeed something humans would do.
[We can’t solve the sunlight issue for now. There are thirty-six floors in the underground warehouse of our Central City, and we can only put the climbing vine on the thirty-fifth floor for now. But according to its danger level, we might dig a few more levels down later.]
Xiao Jingyu keenly caught the key point: [Why not put the climbing vine on the thirty-sixth floor?]
[Oh, because 004 is on the thirty-sixth floor, that’s the high-level pollutant controlling the Grow Some Brains APP.]
Xiao Jingyu suddenly felt apprehensive. Immediately, before he could even get a word out, Zhao Hen sent a message: [Bad news, 004 has rioted! The Grow Some Brains APP across all of China has crashed again. I’m going to deal with 004 now. I’ll be in touch later.]
As soon as Xiao Jingyu finished reading the message, barrage after barrage of comments like a tsunami started to flood the screen.
【Those bad humans actually brought that new one back and put it above me!】
【They actually put it on top of me!】
【They actually let it defecate on my head(ノ*｀皿??)ノ┻━┻!!!】
Xiao Jingyu: “…”
【Dad! When can you save me?! I can’t live like this anymore!!!】
【I have to fight them now!!!】
After a while.
Xiao Jingyu couldn’t help saying: [They may actually be planning to dig a few more floors down and place that new pollutant below you…]
【???】
【What? They actually think this newcomer is stronger than me?】
【The newcomer is stronger than me???】
【How dare they think it’s stronger than me, how, dare(ノ*｀皿??)ノ┻━┻!!!】
【Dad, I’m going to fight them now! Wait for me, I’ll definitely be back!!!】
“…”
Xiao Jingyu lowered his voice and softly called out “004” a few times. However, aside from that time of being silenced by Su Jiuzhou, this was the first time 004 did not respond to his call.
…It became apparent, the big baby really cared about its reputation.
Xiao Jingyu could roughly guess what was happening on Zhao Hen’s end. Now that Su Jiuzhou had left for Haidu City, and Wang Tao had been injured, this time 004’s tantrum might be hard to appease. Sighing lightly, Xiao Jingyu typed on his phone: [Come back early… hm, Dad misses you.]
He tried his best, hoping 004 would regain its sanity soon.
Looking at the unresponsive phone screen, Xiao Jingyu picked up his cup and took a sip of coffee.
The students rushing to class gradually disappeared from the shop, replaced by a few office workers waiting to take the subway. Scattered here and there, they sat in various corners of the coffee shop, and Xiao Jingyu glanced at the time.
5:45 a.m.
In fifteen minutes, the subway would start its morning service.
Xiao Jingyu stood up and walked to the restroom.
After five minutes, he came out of the restroom.
Standing in front of the communal sink, Xiao Jingyu turned on the faucet and bent his head to wash his hands carefully. The clear, bright stream washed over his slender fingers. The youth’s hands were not large, but his fingers were long and fine, with slightly protruding knuckles and very white skin.
He washed his hands quietly like this, until next to him, the door to the restroom was pushed open.
Xiao Jingyu abruptly paused.
The motion of washing his hands stiffened for a moment, and from the corner of his eye, it seemed as if he saw a tall, lean silhouette passing behind him, moving towards another sink.
After a while.
Xiao Jingyu calmly raised his head and looked in the mirror.
He saw himself in the mirror, as well as the young man washing his hands beside him.
In the bright reflection, an out-of-the-ordinary visage was revealed. A pair of long eyebrows hung slightly, and in the light brown pupils, a subdued and quiet color swirled.
He was washing his hands quietly.
The water flowed over the colorful stones strung on his left wrist, making their hues even more vivid, and that hand appeared even more fair and slender.
All the stones were multicolored, except for the one in the center, which was dark and lightless, a pure black that soaked in, not letting out a single ray of light.
…
Xiao Jingyu indifferently withdrew his gaze and turned to leave.
“User?”
Xiao Jingyu turned his head back.
The young man had already washed his hands and was leisurely drawing out a cotton towel to wipe his fingers. He then curved his lovely brows and eyes, gazing steadily at Xiao Jingyu with a smile in his eyes.
This person was slightly taller than him…
Xiao Jingyu said coldly: “Yes.”
“I am too.”
“…”
Xiao Jingyu: “Is there anything else you need?”
“What’s your name?”
Xiao Jingyu glanced at him with lifted brows, his voice calm: “User.”
The man seemed not to expect such an answer from him, pausing for a moment.
Xiao Jingyu looked at him indifferently and turned to leave again.
It was the first time he had seen such a strange user, but he had already secretly used the fourth perspective to check the logic factors spilling from the other person. Not too many, roughly similar to the logic factors that surround a third-level user.
“Shang Sijin.”
His steps halted.
“My name.”
Xiao Jingyu did not turn back.
The soft, crisp sound of the wind chime rang out as the youth pushed open the door of the coffee shop and stepped onto the street.
In the coffee shop, the early-rising office workers also quickly finished their last breakfast, put down their coffee cups, and left the shop to catch the subway.
Only that man did not leave.
He walked to a table in the corner, pulled out a chair, and took a light sip of his coffee. Suddenly, as if he recalled something amusing, he lifted the corners of his mouth and let out a soft chuckle.
“…Heh.”
The translator has something to say:
Keep an eye out: this Shang Sijin guy may play an important role later on in the story (；^ω^）
On a logistics note:
For those who have been following my posting of translations, you may have already noticed that I’ve been consistently releasing new FP chapters weekly on Thursdays. I’m formally announcing this as my schedule so look forward to the next chapter next Thursday (◍•ᴗ•◍)
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
this guy is mysterious and even git named… how could he be an unimportant character 😭
Hurray! Official release announcement! Thank you!
Thanks for the update
Thank you for the update ❤️❤️
Hello, author? How about our og duo?? Qi Simin and that little brother??? I’m pretty sure they are not caught by Holy Sacrifice, so that should be someone else. Seriously, why are we forgetting about them 💀