A mysterious object buried underground.
This situation was all too familiar to Xiao Jinyu. His first thought was that it might be a pollutant.
At the moment, it was uncertain whether the mysterious object hidden underground was a pollutant, but Xiao Jinyu couldn’t take any chances. He quickly contacted the User Committee to report the progress of the mission.
Li Xiaoxiao, upon receiving Xiao Jinyu’s call, was greatly surprised. She immediately notified the extermination squad.
“Between the Bishan area and Zhongdu city district, there are more than a dozen pollution zones, but fortunately, the subway to the Bishan area is still operating normally,” said the smart and efficient woman in the spacious and airy meeting room. She worked on the computer, creating a detailed task sheet to send to the extermination squad. After setting down the mouse, she looked serious: “In about an hour, the extermination squad will arrive at Kangding Gardens. Xiao Jinyu, please keep us updated on the mission’s progress.”
“Understood.”
It would take an hour for the extermination squad to arrive at the scene, and Xiao Jinyu didn’t waste any time.
Although the likelihood of two high-level pollutants appearing consecutively in Zhongdu City was extremely low, one must always be prepared for the worst and proceed with caution. The authorities issued a direct order, and all police officers from various stations in the Bishan area were mobilized to evacuate the residents of Kangding Gardens and another nearby residential area.
Officer Wang never imagined that the situation would be this serious.
This young policeman, upon receiving the notice from his superiors, anxiously asked, “Mr. Xiao, is this incident really related to a radiation leak?”
Xiao Jinyu nodded slightly, “Kangding Gardens is too close to the radiation residue area. We’re not sure what exactly has happened yet, but we must evacuate the innocents immediately.”
“Roger that!”
The Chinese authorities were always quick to execute. In less than half an hour, all residents of Kangding Gardens were evacuated.
Under the high-hanging crescent moon and the dark, deep night sky, a slender and elegant young man stood calmly outside the gate of Building 3, holding a shovel in his left hand. Beside him, a woman in a trench coat and wearing a mask was sprawled on the ground. Her cheek pressed tightly against the dusty floor, she closed her eyes to listen intently.
After a while, she spoke, “The interval between the ‘thud-thud’ and ‘ah-ah’ sounds is getting longer.”
Doggy Hero raised her head, showing a worried expression: “It seems like it’s about to enter a ‘dormant period’ again, not making any more sounds.”
Xiao Jinyu furrowed his brows: “Which direction should we dig now?”
Doggy Hero lay down again to listen for a while, then sat up, pointing towards a garbage disposal station ten meters to the southwest: “Over there. The sound seems closer from that direction.”
Without a word, Xiao Jinyu picked up the shovel and forcefully smashed it into the concrete ground.
The flooring of this old neighborhood, built over forty years ago, had already loosened. With the powerful force of a level-three user, the shovel easily broke the brittle concrete into small pieces. After digging a hole about one meter deep, Doggy Hero once again lay at the bottom of the pit to listen.
The frequency of her listening slowed down, as the source of the sound gradually stopped making any noise.
After the sharp shovel had created uneven holes in Kangding Gardens, the two stood at the southern corner of the residential complex. This time, Doggy Hero listened for a full ten minutes. She raised her head with a look of disappointment, wiping the dirt off her cheeks, and said, “I can’t hear it anymore.”
Xiao Jinyu’s gaze lingered on the dust covering the young girl before speaking, “It’s okay, we’ve roughly outlined an area. It should be in the southwest of this neighborhood, or even further out. When the extermination squad arrives, we can start searching directly from this direction.”
Kangding Gardens was different from Kangxin Middle School.
In the Ivy Incident, Su Jiuzhou was certain that the logic factors’ anomaly was only related to the school, confining the abnormal range within the campus. However, this time, the mysterious object didn’t show any logic skill effects; it only emitted strange sounds.
Using her logic skill, Doggy Hero pinpointed the location of the mysterious object to the southwest of Kangding Gardens. This significantly reduced the difficulty of the search, providing a specific area to focus on.
Getting up from the ground and briskly dusting off the dirt, Doggy Hero said, “Then my task is considered complete.”
Xiao Jinyu responded, “Yes, your mission reward will be provided through the User Committee.”
“Thanks.” After a moment, seeming a bit hesitant, Doggy Hero mustered up her courage and said with an evasive look, “…There’s something I need to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
“You already know I’m a girl and the cause of my logic chain is to ‘sit like a dog’… Please, don’t tell anyone about this!”
“…”
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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“Let?” Rba ecvfgrajcvlcu kts tf kbeiv jrx atlr defralbc, yea rfflcu cb tjgw lc jcrkfglcu, Gbuus Lfgb gfqilfv, “Ojra Zjgmt.”
Wljb Alcse rjlv, “J4873-Gbuus Lfgb. Tbe’nf yffc jkjxfcfv obg j sfjg jcv j tjio cbk, meggfcais j ifnfi akb erfg, gjcxfv 4873.”
Doggy Hero became alert, “What’s the matter?”
“Your logic skill is actually very strong.”
Doggy Hero was momentarily confused, “???” Is this a compliment?
Xiao Jinyu spoke calmly, “Levels one to three can be considered as one major segment. The fact that you’ve advanced to level two indicates a strong possibility of reaching level three. And it’s already been a year and a half. Logic skills don’t just wait for you to level up; globally, every year, 8,000 users die from logic breakdowns. Seventy percent of these are level one users. But that doesn’t mean users of other levels are immune to death.”
In the cold night breeze, the young man’s voice was low and steady, like a gentle wind brushing over a smooth lake, indifferent and serene.
Xiao Jinyu said indifferently, “—Keep thinking.”
Doggy Hero stood frozen in place.
Xiao Jinyu did not say more.
He and Doggy Hero were neither friends nor relatives, merely acquaintances brought together by chance to complete a mission.
This girl was strong and willing to work hard, but she had one major flaw: she was unwilling to confront her own logic skill.
Being ashamed to show her logic skill, fearing that others would discover her user ID with such a name, was just an external manifestation. In reality, this mindset meant she would not thoroughly think about her logic skill because she subconsciously avoided it.
If you can’t even accept your own logic skill, how will you think about it and discover how to improve it?
His phone buzzed.
The cold wind brushed past his eyes, and Xiao Jinyu looked down at the screen.
…
“They’ve arrived.”
The excavation of the mysterious object in Kangding Gardens was unlikely to be as efficient as the ivy excavation a week earlier.
Bishan area is now a residential district, with most of the User Committee’s resources concentrated in the urban areas. They were able to temporarily deploy five heavy excavators, and along with the special object substance detectors brought by Wang Tao and Zhao Hen, the team of more than ten members immediately began searching for the mysterious object buried deep underground.
Having done similar work before, the team was experienced and efficient.
In less than ten minutes, they ruled out the interior of Kangding Garden: the mysterious object was not buried within the residential complex.
“If it really is a pollutant, then Xiao Jinyu, you seem to have a special connection with pollutants,” remarked the burly man holding a tablet-like detector. “Normally, pollutants are found within polluted areas, with a frequency of about every three months. That is, every three months, our team discovers a new pollutant. But you, taking on two missions in a row, have discovered new pollutants both times… It’s amazing, you really have a shared destiny with pollutants.”
“…”
Xiao Jinyu glanced down at his phone with a blank screen.
He seemed to envision a mouthy, show-off little robot.
Xiao Jinyu, unfazed, stated righteously, “The ivy incident was Colonel Su’s issue. He wanted me to take on that mission.”
Zhao Hen was momentarily surprised: “That’s true. Speaking of which, Colonel Su also has quite the connection with pollutants.”
Changing the subject, Zhao Hen said, “Right, Haidu City has confirmed; they want us to assist with an investigation there tomorrow.”
“We’ve just discovered a suspected pollutant in Zhongdu City,” Xiao Jinyu said with a slight frown, “and my mission isn’t complete yet.”
Zhao Hen sighed, “They’re quite urgent about it because something happened.”
“What?”
“A level five user has gone missing.”
Zhao Hen spoke with a hint of helplessness in his voice, “A55-Piggy Shampoo, you might have heard of him. Half a month ago, he assisted Captain Luo in capturing the Holy Sacrifice. At that time, there were at least three level five users in Haidu City, but only he took on the mission because no one wanted to get involved in a battle between two level five users. Of course, he had his conditions; his family member was ill, not a matter of money, but needing the best doctor in all of China. So, he needed help from officials.”
Xiao Jinyu was, of course, aware of Piggy Shampoo.
A thought flashed through his mind, and without hesitation, Xiao Jinyu asked, “Did he disappear during the days when Zhang Haixiang broke out of prison?”
Zhao Hen was surprised, “How do you know?”
Xiao Jinyu explained, “He’s a high-level user and was the first one not to be anonymous in the high-level rankings. I remember during the days Zhang Haixiang broke out, he suddenly dropped from A54 to A55.”
Zhao Hen confirmed, “You’re right. Piggy Shampoo mysteriously disappeared the day after Zhang Haixiang’s escape.”
Xiao Jinyu raised an eyebrow, “Such precise timing?”
“Because the authorities in Haidu City have already confirmed Piggy Shampoo’s real identity. Coincidentally, he shares your surname, Xiao, and his name is Xiao Sinian, only fifteen years old. His mother is in the late stages of lung cancer and is staying in the oncology department of Haidu City’s First Affiliated Hospital. The day after Zhang Haixiang’s escape, suddenly, Piggy Shampoo disappeared.
“At first, the hospital thought he went home to gather medical funds because Piggy Shampoo had told the family of another patient in the same ward that he was going home to get money. Later, when Haidu City conducted a large-scale screening of all users within its territory and couldn’t contact Piggy Shampoo, they just thought he wanted to hide his identity and not expose himself. The Haidu officials were quite confident in Piggy Shampoo; he never committed any illegal activities and even took on missions to help, so they didn’t specifically look for him.”
Zhao Hen continued with a sense of irony, “Talk about coincidence. The hospital was busy too, and it took two days before they reported his disappearance. During this time, the local police station was also busy assisting the User Committee in searching for users hidden in Haidu City. This delay lasted for three or four days, and by the time the committee realized Piggy Shampoo was missing and confirmed his disappearance, it was already yesterday.”
In a world full of coincidences, it just so happened that the User Committee in Haidu City was busy dealing with the fallout from Zhang Haixiang’s prison break and the theft at the court of judgment. As a result, it took a week for them to realize that a level five user had gone missing.
Zhao Hen said, “Piggy Shampoo is, after all, a level five user. The hospital’s surveillance footage showed that after he entered the hot water room, he never came out. The situation is urgent, so I’ll go to Haidu City with you tomorrow. The task here will have to be handed over to the team leader. Speaking of which, it’s been almost a month since we last went to Haidu City.”
Xiao Jinyu nodded slightly, “I’ll go with you tomorrow. It hasn’t been a month; we arrived in Zhongdu City on the morning of the 12th last month.”
“Oh right, the 12th, it’s a few days short of a month.”
…Hmm?
The young man’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Xiao Jinyu picked up his phone and opened the Grow Some Brains APP to check the task list.
[…November 12th, 3 PM, the third occurrence of the howling phenomenon.]
He was in Haidu City when the third howling incident occurred in Kangding Gardens.
Three o’clock…
At that time, he and Zhao Hen had arrived at the coffee shop and caught Zhang Haixiang.
His fingers unconsciously touched his lips. After pondering for a moment, Xiao Jinyu opened his notes.
[004, is Piggy Shampoo still alive?]
【Rah, dad!】
【Let me check… Yup, still alive~】
【Dad, muah（づ￣3￣）づ】
【When can you take me home to see?】
[…It might take some time.]
【Oh, okay ( =·ω·= )】
…
Piggy Shampoo was still alive.
The fact that he hadn’t died despite being missing for so long suggested that the kidnapper didn’t want to kill him immediately, and he wouldn’t die in the short term.
“Mr. Xiao.”
A crisp, youthful female voice suddenly sounded. Xiao Jinyu was startled and turned to look at the girl behind him.
Zhao Hen, too, was surprised. He knew a level two user was assisting Xiao Jinyu on the mission but hadn’t expected her to be a young girl.
With her face hidden behind a tight mask, Doggy Hero gazed steadily at the young man.
Xiao Jinyu asked, “Is something the matter?”
After a pause, Doggy Hero said, “I’m just a level two user, and dealing with pollutants is quite dangerous. My task is complete; may I leave?”
This was reasonable. Doggy Hero was here only to assist with the investigation and hadn’t received much reward. Besides, she had already confirmed that the mysterious object was no longer making noise. There was no need to forcefully keep a user to continue the search, especially since Xiao Jinyu would be leaving the scene tomorrow.
“Of course, you may leave.”
Doggy Hero hesitated before speaking again, “There’s something I think… you were right about.”
Xiao Jinyu looked up, curious, “What is it?”
“My user ID is strange, but it’s my logic skill. This is my logic skill, and it is me. I am Doggy Hero.” Her voice grew louder and more confident. Her eyes shone with determination as she raised her hand and pulled at her mask strap. “Like the friend you mentioned, who has a weird ID but is still decisive and confident. The ID isn’t important, and I have nothing to be embarrassed about. If your friend can improve their dance skills, I can become stronger too.”
With that, she removed her mask.
The pretty girl, who seemed to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, still just a child, pouted and spoke loudly, “I’m leaving now, contact me if there’s anything else! Keep thinking!”
Xiao Jinyu didn’t expect Doggy Hero to suddenly make up her mind and transform from being timid to so boldly confident.
…Women’s thoughts are indeed hard to guess.
“Is this user named Doggy Hero?”
A bewildered, robust voice came from the side.
Xiao Jinyu was taken aback.
Zhao Hen scratched his head, “What does she mean, she used to feel embarrassed about her ID? Oh right, which friend of yours was she talking about… Dancing Skills, Prancing Silks?”
Zhao Hen burst into laughter, “You probably don’t know the IDs of Qi Simin and Li Xiaotong. Besides me, do you know any other friends with strange IDs… um…”
His voice trailed off suddenly.
Their eyes met.
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
Zhao Hen: “…”
The author has something to say:
Zhao Hen: Is this what people do? Is this really what people do???
Little Goldfish: ……………………Sorry, Zhao Hen!
Fuwa:【Writing in the diary】Today’s mission of only Zhao Hen being hurt in this world has been accomplished √
The translator also has something to say:
Hey… Zhao Hen was already self-conscious about his ID being Sexy Samba, you didn’t have to kick a man while he’s down, right?
He he
Yeah, you only knew a handful with strange name/IDs..🤭
I’m so glad Piggy’s still alive! Now he just needs to be rescued! Doggy Hero, don’t go! You need to rescue Piggy!