Logic collapse is irreversible.
Once a user experiences a logic collapse, unless they successfully advance to a higher level, the collapse is inevitable.
Even if the user themselves have died.
—— 《Grow Some Brains, Everyone Has a Responsibility App Beginner’s Guide》
***
“No way, they just told us to leave and now they want us to go back, what’s going on?”
“I heard that whatever danger there was has been eliminated, so everyone can return now.”
“This is such a hassle!”
…
The crowd that had just been evacuated gradually returned to the hospital, with the fine, flickering colored light points hovering around them. Xiao Jinyu stood by the entrance, his gaze deep and probing, continuously scanning over each family member of the patients, constantly activating his Fourth Perspective.
Once everyone had returned to the hospital, Xiao Jinyu approached Zhao Hen and Jiang Wentao, gently shaking his head, “It’s not because of the hospital; they have already entered the logic skill.”
Almost every family member of the patients who had left the hospital was entangled with several high-speed flickering logic factors.
Since they were already caught in the logic skill, evacuating the victims elsewhere was pointless. It was better to gather them in one place without making unnecessary moves, making it easier to observe and investigate.
By now, it was certain that this mysterious logic skill belonged to a fifth-level user.
Only a fifth-level user could possess such a high concentration of logic factors, capturing so many people into their logic skill at once.
Haidu City’s top fifth-level users were not present, but the squad members at the affiliated hospital had rich investigative experience. Jiang Wentao quickly divided his subordinates into two groups to carry out tasks simultaneously.
One group was tasked with conducting detailed investigations on the patients, their families, doctors, nurses, and others in the hospital. They inquired about any unusual events they might have encountered in the past month, any unusual people they might have met, or any oddities they felt about themselves.
The other group contacted the higher-ups of Haidu Affiliated Hospital to compile a complete record of all major and minor incidents that occurred in the hospital over the past month.
“Wait a minute,” Jiang Wentao suddenly spoke up, stopping a team member.
The team member halted, “What’s up, Jiang-Ge?”
Jiang Wentao pondered for a moment, “One month is not enough. Piggy Shampoo disappeared two weeks ago, but the hospital’s anomalies may not be related to his disappearance. It’s possible that these issues started even before he vanished. His mother was transferred to this hospital three months ago, so we should at least compile a record of any unusual incidents in the hospital over the past three months… No, make it a year! Compile as far back as the records go.”
“Understood!”
A large number of personnel plunged into the investigation and evidence gathering.
Not just the members of the Eradication Squad, but also officials from the Users Committee and other civil servants came to Haidu Affiliated Hospital.
Zhao Hen looked worried, “So many people are caught in a logic skill, I have a bad feeling about this. The last time we saw such a large-scale logic skill incident involving numerous victims… was the Beheading Parade orchestrated by Huo Lanxu!”
Jiang Wentao also looked concerned, “Yes, but the only good news is that we still don’t know what this logic skill does. Its cause and effect are unclear. At least for now, it doesn’t seem to want to ‘kill’. But perhaps, like the Beheading Parade in Zhongdu, it has already activated the ‘cause’ and just hasn’t triggered the ‘effect’ yet.”
At this point, Jiang Wentao’s voice trailed off, his eyes widening as he grabbed a passing team member, “Censor the news, no media are allowed to report anything about Haidu Affiliated Hospital! Also, contact the Maintenance Department to have them delete all related discussions from the internet!”
“Ah… Right away, Jiang-Ge!” The team member quickly responded to Jiang Wentao’s urgent command.
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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Such a logic skill was even more terrifying than the Pope’s Crown!
At least during the Beheading Parade incident in Zhongdu City, Xiao Jinyu and others had already identified the logic skill as the Pope’s Crown. Knowing who the opponent was allowed them to devise a strategy. But now, they only knew that thousands of innocents were caught in a logic skill, without any idea who was behind it.
An unknown enemy and a clear target — this was the worst-case scenario.
Fortunately, due to the patients’ relatives and medical staff being busy leaving the hospital, they hadn’t had time to post about it online and spark discussions. Additionally, the late hour of the night meant that the media had just received the news and hadn’t yet reported it.
The committee swiftly suppressed the emerging public opinion.
A quiet and profound mist slowly enveloped the Haidu Affiliated Hospital’s inpatient building. The moonlight, filtering through the layers of fog, left a cold, pale sheen on the steel buildings.
Three hours later, team members began to report their findings.
“We’ve temporarily accounted for 724 people, including patients, their families, and medical staff. They all stated they haven’t encountered anything strange in the past year. Apart from suddenly falling ill, everything else seemed normal. Of course, they were admitted to the hospital after getting sick, so the illness happened before entering the hospital and can be ruled out.”
“The hospital provided a lot of data, mainly patient and medical staff records. As per Jiang-Ge‘s instructions, we focused on mortality. Haidu Affiliated Hospital ranks in the top three in Haidu City and is a Grade III hospital, admitting hundreds of new patients every day.”
“Surgery always carries risks. The departments with the highest patient mortality rates in the hospital are the Emergency, ICU, Oncology, and Internal Medicine departments. We have obtained the mortality data for these departments over the past three years. The mortality rates in 2044 and 2045 didn’t vary much, differing only by 1%. This year, however, there was a slight increase, but the mortality rate only increased to 1.9%, which is still within the normal range.”
The team member paused and continued, “There has been some change in patient admission. In 2044, the number of patients was the highest due to the ‘7.23 Major Earthquake and Tsunami Incident’ in Haidu City, also known as the ‘Aurora Girl Logic Collapse Incident.’ The patient count in 2045 was normal, returning to the usual levels of previous years. This year, because of the recent capture of the Sacred Sacrifice, the hospital admitted a bunch of injured onlookers…”
Jiang Wentao interrupted, “Get to the conclusion.”
The team member put down the documents and declared loudly, “The conclusion is that there’s nothing abnormal! The hospital staff also said that in recent years, this hospital hasn’t experienced any particularly unusual incidents. Whether it’s the number of patients treated, the rate of recovery and discharge, or the mortality rate, there hasn’t been much difference compared to other hospitals in the city. Even the frequency of medical accidents is roughly the same as in other hospitals.”
At this point, another team member interjected, “If I have to mention something, there was indeed a slightly unusual incident.”
Jiang Wentao immediately turned to the young team member, “What happened?”
The crew-cut team member turned to him and honestly said, “I heard from a doctor in the gynecology department that at the beginning of this year, around February 2046, a big shot from Zhongdu City was transferred to their hospital to take up the position of department head. But this professor, just half an hour after arriving at the hospital, and while still in a meeting, suddenly suffered a fatal acute myocardial infarction.”
Xiao Jinyu was startled, “A professor from Zhongdu City?”
“Yes, he was specially invited from Zhongdu City, from some… what was it… Jiuhua Hospital in Zhongdu City?”
Xiao Jinyu: “Jiuhua Hospital?”
“Right, right, that’s the one. This professor used to be the head of the gynecology department at Jiuhua Hospital.”
After a long contemplation, Xiao Jinyu looked up at Zhao Hen and Jiang Wentao. The three nodded in unison, silently reaching a consensus.
Soon, they headed to the gynecology ward on the sixth floor.
Zhao Hen called Wang Tao to explain the situation in Haidu. When Wang Tao heard that another logic chain incident might be related to Zhongdu City, his face darkened. However, the incident needed to be thoroughly investigated, so he immediately sent people to Jiuhua Hospital to prevent a similar situation from occurring there.
Deep into the night, many staff members were busy inquiring information from patients and their families.
The narrow corridor of the gynecology ward was crowded with people, and several nurses in the nurse station were being questioned by the police. They all looked serious and detailed every special event they remembered from the past few years.
Everyone was working against time.
People in the hospital gradually realized that this incident couldn’t possibly be a so-called “safety accident.” However, their phones had been confiscated by the authorities to prevent the spread of news from the hospital.
Some expressed dissatisfaction, but most chose to trust the government and comply with the arrangements. Amidst the waves of agreement, the few dissenting voices were like pebbles thrown into the sea, making no impact.
Xiao Jinyu and the others searched for a while and found the gynecologist on duty today in the medication room.
The young resident doctor, appearing to be in her late twenties with neatly trimmed short hair, calmly set aside the medication she was handling as she was questioned again. Recalling the events, she answered, “I remember Professor Huang, who came from Jiuhua Hospital in Zhongdu City. He was well-known in the field and was invited to our hospital to take up the position of head of our department.”
Under the scrutiny of Zhao Hen and Jiang Wentao, the young doctor nervously swallowed before continuing, “Professor Huang was highly respected in the medical community and famous at Jiuhua Hospital. Our department was preparing a welcome ceremony for him since he was about to join us after our previous head was retiring. But unexpectedly, he had a sudden heart attack during a meeting with the hospital’s senior staff on the day he arrived, February 19th.”
Sighing deeply, the doctor added, “Acute myocardial infarction is a condition where, even with timely aid, survival isn’t always possible. Professor Huang was in the hospital when it happened. The heads of cardiology and emergency medicine were in the meeting room and immediately started resuscitation efforts. They got him into surgery right away, but still, he didn’t make it.”
“Was the cause of death only acute myocardial infarction?” Xiao Jinyu asked.
The doctor looked up at the young man who spoke, slightly startled at first, then nodded earnestly, “There was nothing suspicious; it was definitely due to acute myocardial infarction. His sudden death was taken very seriously by the hospital. The police were involved, and a top forensic expert from the capital was brought in to perform the autopsy, confirming it was a normal heart attack.
“Professor Huang’s family mentioned that he had a myocardial infarction incident last year but was treated in time without issues. Plus, he had a history of arrhythmia. The few days before his death, he was working intensely due to his new role at our hospital. So his acute myocardial infarction was a normal occurrence.”
Neither Xiao Jinyu nor his companions were familiar with acute myocardial infarction.
The doctor suggested, “You can ask other doctors and nurses in the hospital. They all know about this.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Wentao immediately dispatched team members to inquire with other medical staff.
Every doctor and nurse they spoke with corroborated the woman’s account. Professor Huang’s death was seen as unremarkable in terms of its cause; it was just the suddenness of it happening before he could officially start his new role that made it seem unusual to everyone.
“Even if there were something suspicious, the doctor has been dead for almost a year. There’s no way to start an investigation from him,” Zhao Hen sighed. “But how is this getting connected to Zhongdu City again? The captain is already overwhelmed. If another major logic skill event occurs in Zhongdu City, the remaining citizens might all move to other cities!”
Jiang Wentao smiled bitterly, “Our Haidu City isn’t much better off. Speaking of which, I’m actually from Zhongdu myself.”
Upon hearing this, both Zhao Hen and Xiao Jinyu looked at him in surprise.
Jiang Wentao recalled, “When I was in middle school, my parents’ jobs were transferred to Haidu, and that’s when we settled there. Before that, I had always lived in Zhongdu City.”
Zhongdu and Haidu are two neighboring major cities, both among the nine largest population centers in Huaxia. The fact that Jiang Wentao came from Zhongdu was surprising, yet, on second thought, it made sense.
Filled with logic factors pervading the entire hospital, rapidly flickering beyond human perception…
The mysterious disappearance of a Level 5 user, an old doctor who suddenly died of acute heart attack upon entering the hospital…
Xiao Jinyu began to ponder deeply.
No one knew which of these pieces of information was the real clue and which were just unrelated incidents.
For example, the disappearance case of Piggy Shampoo – was he really kidnapped by the master of this logic skill?
Not necessarily.
And what about the elderly doctor who died of acute heart failure? Was his unexpected death really related to this logic skill?
Not necessarily either.
These clues might not be parallel and connected; they could even be false leads.
“I personally think that the death of this doctor has nothing to do with the logic factors in the hospital,” Jiang Wentao pondered for a long time before speaking. “There’s more than one elderly doctor in the hospital, and many patients were transferred from Zhongdu City. The criteria of ‘Zhongdu residents’ plus ‘elderly’ might seem strict, but I believe there must be patients who meet these conditions. There’s a ninety percent chance that the old doctor’s death was just a normal accident.”
Zhao Hen agreed, “If the old doctor’s death was really related to this logic skill, it wouldn’t make sense for only one death to occur after so long. Moreover, a logic skill shouldn’t have geographical distinctions. ‘Zhongdu residents’ definitely can’t be a factor in the cause and effect of a logic skill. I’ve never heard of such a thing, and I certainly don’t believe it.”
Xiao Jinyu didn’t speak, but he also agreed with their speculation.
Firstly, there were no suspicious points in the old doctor’s death. A heart attack is a common ailment among the elderly.
Secondly, there was no second case.
Xiao Jinyu concentrated, his gaze wandering and casually landing above Zhao Hen’s shoulder.
Suddenly, his eyes focused. His clear eyes slowly widened as he stared intently at something over Zhao Hen’s shoulder.
Zhao Hen noticed his gaze, “Xiao Jinyu, what’s wrong?”
The young man didn’t answer.
He continued to stare straight at the burly man’s shoulder, watching a tiny, shimmering, colorful light particle in the heavy air.
The next second.
Xiao Jinyu said, “We need to leave this hospital now!”
Zhao Hen and Jiang Wentao were startled, but seeing the seriousness in Xiao Jinyu’s expression, they didn’t ask any questions and followed him to take the elevator downstairs.
As soon as they stepped out of the hospital building, a bone-chilling wind hit them in the face.
In the thick of night, three tall and lean figures braced against the cold wind, arriving at the hospital’s main entrance.
A team member spotted them and shouted, “Jiang-Ge?”
Jiang Wentao waved his hand to indicate that everything was fine. The team member retracted his head, merely watching curiously.
Xiao Jinyu didn’t stop. He walked out of the hospital’s main gate and kept going until he reached the subway entrance across the street. Standing on the high curb, he turned to face Zhao Hen and Jiang Wentao, who were following him.
“This should be far enough.”
Jiang Wentao asked, “Mr. Xiao, what’s happening? Why did you have us leave the hospital?”
Xiao Jinyu explained, “I mentioned before that this hospital is full of logic factors – in the air, in corners, everywhere you look. But here, there are no logic factors.”
Jiang Wentao suddenly felt an ominous premonition, “What are you trying to say? Why specifically make us leave the hospital’s logic factor environment?”
Xiao Jinyu lowered his gaze, staring at a logic factor next to Jiang Wentao’s neck.
After a moment, he raised his right hand, looking at a rapidly flickering logic factor floating near his middle finger.
“The reason, you should understand by now.
“It’s not just the patients, their families, and the medical staff in the hospital…
“In fact, now, we have also been caught in this mysterious logic skill!”
Why do I feel like both disappearing accident is related
Xiao Jinyu please go to prison and take a look maybe you can find if it is related or not
Oh God please keep piggy shampoo safe I still believe he is Jinyu brother