Among the 29 households in Kangding Gardens where abnormal incidents occurred, 12 of them were elderly individuals living alone.
After the third occurrence of dogs and cats going berserk, the community arranged for the removal of these 12 elderly residents and placed their pets under separate supervision to prevent any accidents. Apart from them, the remaining 17 households, though still residing in Kangding Gardens, had their pets temporarily taken to the community for unified observation and management.
As early as after the first incident of dogs and cats going berserk, these abnormal animals underwent physical examinations, but no problems were found.
Xiao Jinyu followed Officer Wang and arrived at a six-story affordable housing building. “Mr. Xiao, watch your head,” Officer Wang cautioned. With a creak, the rusty green iron door, covered in accumulated rust, swung open, and both of them slightly bent their heads, bypassing the cobwebs above the door, entering the dim and damp corridor.
Wang Grandma lived in Room 103 on the first floor of Kangding Gardens, which was the third apartment in the first building.
Officer Wang took a key from his pocket, unlocking the door that had been sealed with dust for a long time. Because the homeowner had already been taken to the community for care a month ago, the room was now filled with a heavy musty odor.
Officer Wang handed over a mask to Xiao Jinyu.
Xiao Jinyu took it and said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The young officer shook his head, explaining, “The management is quite busy, responsible for two nearby neighborhoods and many elderly residents. So, there was no time to help with cleaning the house.” He went on to introduce, “At 3 a.m. on October 18th, Grandma Wang was sleeping in the bedroom, and her Golden Retriever was lying on the bedroom floor. Right in this spot.”
The apartment layout in Kangding Gardens was quite simple, with all units being two-bedroom, one-living-room apartments, similar to Xiao Jinyu’s home.
The house had windows on both the north and south sides, square and straightforward. As soon as you entered the room, you could see all the doors and windows.
The two walked into the bedroom, and Xiao Jinyu squatted down. He subtly raised his hand and moved his eyelids. After a while, he raised his head and spoke calmly, “Was it barking continuously in this spot?”
Officer Wang thought Xiao Jinyu was checking for any clues or details left on the floor and didn’t think too much about it. “No, according to Grandma Wang, she was awakened by the noise, and her Golden Retriever, Xiao-Na, had already run to the kitchen, howling wildly in the kitchen. Later, it went to the bathroom and barked for a while.”
“Kitchen, bathroom…” Xiao Jinyu repeated softly.
Officer Wang immediately said, “In the other 29 households, 20 of them also mentioned that the most common places their cats and dogs went to when they were howling and barking wildly were the kitchen and bathroom.”
This was an important clue.
Xiao Jinyu walked into the kitchen first.
He activated his Fourth Perspective.
He pursed his lips slightly and then walked to the bathroom.
After a while, Xiao Jinyu asked about the condition of Grandma Wang’s Golden Retriever and whether anything unusual had happened recently. Officer Wang shook his head and said, “No, there haven’t been any issues. Those cats and dogs at the community shelter are all quiet now. Besides their initial stress reactions, they haven’t shown any other symptoms.”
Xiao Jinyu contemplated for a moment. “Let’s go to the next house.”
“Alright.”
Pets showing unusual behavior might seem like a minor issue, but Xiao Jinyu didn’t take it lightly.
Before the conspiracy orchestrated by Huo Lanxu had fully unfolded, there were already two victims who had developed symptoms due to Huo Lanxu’s inexperienced use of the “Pope’s Crown” logic chain. One was his mother, and the other was reportedly a victim of the decapitation murder case that occurred in the Bojiu Apartments.
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.
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However, the user who handled the case at the time did not recognize it as a logic chain incident.
Of course, even if Xiao Jinyu had reported his mother’s situation at that time, the User Committee would not have been able to recognize the relation between his mother’s condition and the Pope’s Crown logic chain. At most, they would have suspected that she had been killed by the logic chain of another user, resulting in a special state, and would have launched an investigation, but they still wouldn’t have found the killer.
—Because Pope’s Crown had already been dead for six months.
In summary, no one knew the mysterious and enigmatic logic chain conspiracy hidden behind what appeared to be simple cases.
No seemingly insignificant anomaly should be underestimated.
For the entire afternoon, Xiao Jinyu followed Officer Wang and visited all 29 households that had experienced anomalies. When they visited, some of the households had people at home. Xiao Jinyu asked them a few questions, and they all answered similarly.
The answers were mostly the same as what Officer Wang had told him.
The pet cats and dogs all started barking wildly at the same time and often ran towards the kitchen and bathroom.
Xiao Jinyu cautiously used his fourth perspective to check all 29 households.
“…Hm, having none is actually normal.”
After visiting the last household, Officer Wang was descending the stairs when he suddenly heard the young man muttering softly behind him. He turned back and asked, “Is there something wrong, Mr. Xiao?”
Xiao Jinyu hesitated for a moment and then shook his head gently. “It’s nothing, just a passing thought.”
“Oh, I see.”
…Having no logic factors is actually normal.
Xiao Jinyu had long since gotten used to the fact that every time he accepted a task, he couldn’t even see the outline of a complete logic chain, let alone the shadow of any logic factors!
Not! A! Single! One!
Don’t question it; if he does, it’ll be out of habit.
However, these past tasks all turned out to be genuine logic chain incidents, not just false alarms.
For instance, when he took on the task from the Meat King, he didn’t find any logic factors in the coffee shop but used reasoning to capture Zhang Haixiang in the restroom. Similarly, in the case of Chu Wenting, he couldn’t see any traces of logic factors no matter how long he looked, and it was only when Chu Wenting removed her own head that he could confirm it was a logic chain incident.
As for the incident with the ivy, it was even more perplexing. The Fourth Perspective couldn’t see the logic factors responsible for the ivy’s actions.
Xiao Jinyu sighed deeply.
Perhaps his unique skill should instead be called “the inability to see logic factors.”
Suddenly, Xiao Jinyu realized that every time he solved a logic chain incident, it wasn’t due to his Fourth Perspective seeing logic factors at all.
Lost in thought, Xiao Jinyu followed Officer Wang as they conducted an inspection in the residential area.
The Fourth Perspective, as reliable as ever, still couldn’t spot a single logic factor.
After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Jinyu said, “If it’s possible, could I stay at Grandma Wang’s house tonight? Except for the third instance of excessive barking that occurred on November 12th at 3 PM, the other two incidents happened at night. I plan to stay at Grandma Wang’s house for a full day and night to see if anything unusual occurs.”
Officer Wang asked, “Just staying there?”
Xiao Jinyu remained composed and replied, “I’ve already asked my colleagues to bring specialized measuring equipment.”
Officer Wang’s eyes lit up, “Grandma Wang shouldn’t be opposed. I’m quite close with her, so she’ll definitely agree. Xiao Jinyu, do you need me to stay with you?”
“…No need. I’ll bring over a colleague; we need to conduct some experiments.”
Officer Wang hesitated for a moment and then said, “Alright, but if you need anything, just let me know. Our police station’s duty post is only two streets away. Call me anytime, and I can be here within ten minutes.”
…
With a temporary farewell to the enthusiastic Officer Wang, Xiao Jinyu held Grandma Wang’s house keys and watched the back of the young police officer as he rushed away.
Since becoming a user, Xiao Jinyu had taken on four tasks, and two of them had involved interactions with law enforcement personnel. Each time, these young police officers had been particularly enthusiastic.
This Officer Wang seemed more mature and composed than Police Officer Xiao-Wu.
He also recalled the newly assigned police officer with a very proactive attitude and lowered his gaze.
Officer Xiao-Wu had also been captured by the logic chain of Pope’s Crown. Although he could now lead a normal life and didn’t forcefully remove his own head because the ashes of the Pope’s Crown had completely disappeared from this world, Xiao-Wu’s neck was still severed.
Not dwelling on it further, Xiao Jinyu took out his phone and found a name, dialing the number.
“Department Head Li.”
On the other end of the line, there was the sound of flipping through paper documents. Department Head Li, with a fast-paced speech and no wasted words, got straight to the point, “Xiao Jinyu, if I remember correctly, you accepted a Class C task this morning, a task issued by our User Committee, with the location in the Bishan area. Is your call related to needing assistance for that?”
“That’s correct; I do need assistance,” Xiao Jinyu responded promptly. He didn’t want to waste Department Head Li’s time, as the other had responsibilities not only for him but also for other users and tasks. “Does the Logic Research Institute have equipment that can detect extremely faint sounds or odors?”
“Faint sounds and odors?” Department Head Li expressed surprise.
“Yes,” Xiao Jinyu concisely described his current task, “If there’s anything that would make cats and dogs bark but goes unnoticed by humans, it would likely be sounds and odors. For example, dogs have an auditory range of up to one million hertz, enabling them to hear sounds that humans can’t. Their hearing level is roughly sixteen times that of humans, so they can detect extremely faint sounds. Another factor is their sense of smell. Cats and dogs can detect scents that are imperceptible to humans.”
Department Head Li pondered for a while before responding, “The Logic Research Institute has similar equipment, but it may not achieve the results you’re looking for. However, I can recommend someone to you.”
“Someone?” Xiao Jinyu was slightly surprised.
A smiling tone came through the phone, “C4873, ID…’Doggy Hero’.”
***
The crescent moon hung high in the middle of the frigid and pitch-black night, its slender shape resembling a sickle.
A slender and frail youth stood at the entrance of Kangding Gardens. In the far distance, a small, frail figure, wrapped tightly in a trench coat, timidly approached.
Xiao Jinyu’s gaze lightly swept over the person’s wide-brimmed white hat, and he examined the black trench coat worn by the newcomer.
As per Li Xiaoxiao’s description, this person should be Doggy Hero.
When users executed tasks, they occasionally encountered situations where they couldn’t complete the task smoothly on their own. If they didn’t want to give up the task, they would seek help from other users.
Sometimes, they privately posted a task, describing the difficulties they were currently facing and waiting for other users to accept it. Other times, they sought assistance from the User Committee, offering a portion of their task reward to other users willing to help.
“Dog…” the voice stopped abruptly, and Xiao Jinyu lowered his gaze, observing the back of the person’s head. “What should I call you?”
“My last name is Gu,” the voice, though restrained, was crisp and sudden.
Xiao Jinyu was slightly taken aback and couldn’t help but give the person another look.
Since entering his field of vision, this Doggy Hero had kept their head buried beneath the hat and refused to lift it. They were fully dressed, wearing a hat, scarf, gloves, and a mask, covering everything. Even their eyes were shielded behind pure black sunglasses. On this bitterly cold December night, in the pitch-black depths of a late night where one couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face, this person, wearing sunglasses, seemed out of place in the entire world.
However, Doggy Hero still refused to lift their head or even glance at Xiao Jinyu. Their voice was deliberately made husky.
However, it could still be discerned that they were likely quite young, at most in their early teens.
Xiao Jinyu said, “Miss Gu, I’ve already explained the task to you. Now, please accompany me into the community to take a look…”
Doggy Hero suddenly raised their head, shocked. “How did you know I’m a girl?!!!”
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
“I’m not blind.”
“How can you tell I’m a girl? You don’t even know what I look like, and I’ve covered myself completely. How could you recognize me?”
Hearing the unmasked voice of the other person, Xiao Jinyu furrowed his brow. “Are you sixteen years old?”
Doggy Hero fell silent.
Letting out a deep sigh, Xiao Jinyu spoke calmly, “I’m not interested in your true identity, nor do I want to uncover who’s behind this ID. I’ve seen user IDs even more peculiar than yours, and they’re doing just fine. Very decisive and confident, they even immersed themselves in their logic chains and improved their dancing skills…”
“Dancing skills?”
Xiao Jinyu remained unfazed and changed the subject. “Next, I need your help. We’ll probably have to stay in this residential community for a few days. If we don’t find anything unusual within three days, I’ll think of a plan B.”
Author’s Note:
Piggy Shampoo: Don’t you see? This is the real Doggy Hero! I’m not called Piggy Hero!!!
Doggy Hero: ??? That came right out of nowhere, why are you being such a dog, you’re the real doggy hero, aren’t you?!
Fuwa: I’ve been updating so infrequently lately. 【Tumultuous Nature of Life】
For a second, I thought she was going to have dog characteristics, which is why she hid.
I also think the same 😁
Thank you for the chapter! <3
Thank you for the chapter 💛💛💛