The night was thick with darkness, on deserted streets.
Footsteps landed quickly, stepping on the dry, yellowed leaves of the plane trees covering the ground. With a crisp sound, the lifeless leaves turned into a heap of debris.
Xiao Jinyu lifted his head, watching a cluster of colorful lights speeding rapidly toward the west.
Like the iridescent halo of soap bubbles, under the pitch-black night sky, these brightly colored lights were dazzling. At this moment, they were speeding westward at an incredible pace, searching for their owner.
Xiao Jinyu exclaimed, “Here, he turned!”
A third-level user’s speed could barely keep up with these lights.
Xiao Jinyu continuously activated his fourth perspective as a guide, with Zhao Hen and Jiang Wentao following closely behind. The three of them moved like lightning, breaking through the cold air with a swoosh as they turned the corner onto the next street.
Relativity was an anonymous fifth-level user, undoubtedly with much stronger physical abilities than them. But his logic factors were not as terrifyingly fast as his speed.
The bald man ran faster and faster, his logic chain trailing further behind. However, they never lost their way. Even as the distance grew, they firmly followed their owner.
This was an unstoppable logic chain.
The “cause” had already been planted by the bald man on over three thousand victims at the affiliated Haidu Hospital. As he approached the hospital, this logic chain officially began moving towards its “effect,” beyond his control.
—The user himself could not stop a logic chain that had already started cause and effect.
The cold wind was like a knife, cutting through their faces.
“Fuck!” The bald man cursed loudly. His powerful intuition and perception made him keenly aware that those three users were still following him!
He had run ten kilometers at his fastest, yet these three people seemed to have cameras fixed on him, always closely following. Well, not exactly “closely” because he was indeed increasing the distance. But these three users never took a wrong turn! No matter which direction he went, they would follow.
Why?
What strange tracking ability is this?
Is it a bizarre logic chain? Is its purpose to track people?
The bald man squinted, his mind racing with countless thoughts in an instant.
When he was near the hospital, he sensed it. He found his users, the highest of whom was only at level four. Water Punishment and his strength should be similar; there was no way Water Punishment could shield his perception, making him unaware of Water Punishment’s presence.
So, the truth was: Water Punishment was not in Haidu!
Among the users tracking him, Water Punishment was not among them.
In all of Haidu City, apart from Water Punishment, who posed a certain threat to him, there was only…
The bald man smirked dangerously.
The A01 Spear of Judgment must have already left Haidu. If the Spear of Judgment were present today, he would have had no chance of escape at all. The gap between a fifth-level user and a sixth-level user was immense, far surpassing the difference between level four and five users.
Both the Spear of Judgment and Water Punishment were not in Haidu.
That left only two users settled long-term in Haidu, both willing to actively oppose a high-level fifth-level user, weaker than him.
In that case, why was he still running?
In the next moment, the man slammed on the brakes.
Due to the prolonged running, thin beads of sweat formed on the bald man’s shiny scalp. Despite the bone-chilling winter, he wore only a thin t-shirt. His explosively muscular body seemed like tightly coiled muscle clusters, pressing against his taut skin, ready to burst forth.
He looked around.
Unconsciously, he had arrived at a polluted area.
After roughly observing the surrounding buildings and comparing with the map of Haidu City.
“Oh? Pollution Zone 145 of Haidu City?”
As the second-largest city in China and the second-largest population center, Haidu occupied a larger area and had more than 300 pollution zones alone, surpassing even Zhongdu City.
Pollution Zone 145 was located in the Changning District of Haidu. While it was not a high-risk pollution zone, it was also not entirely safe. Only users of level three and above were allowed to enter, with all level one and two users strictly prohibited.
Choosing Pollution Zone 145 as a battlefield was a good choice.
“After killing someone, it’s also a good place to bury the body.” The bald man chuckled darkly, crossing his arms. He stood in the middle of a flat square, refusing to retreat, waiting for his opponent to arrive.
However, three minutes later.
“Hmm?”
The bald man furrowed his brow, feeling the return of the logic factors chasing him, completing an entire cycle of the logic chain.
The logic factors had returned.
But, where were those three guys tracking him?
Where were they?
…
Of course, the bald man didn’t know that when Xiao Jinyu and the others chased near Pollution Zone 145, the three of them stopped simultaneously without any prior agreement.
This time, Xiao Jinyu didn’t explain where the logic factors went. He tilted his head back, eyes shimmering with determination as he watched the colorful lights fly over the tall walls and into the pollution zone.
Jiang Wentao gasped for breath. “If it’s just the three of us, it’s better not to chase further. Let’s stop here!”
Zhao Hen agreed, saying, “Right. Because he has been running as if afraid of us catching up, we overlooked the most important thing — we are just a group of third and fourth-level users, while he, the anonymous fifth-level user! Among fifth-level users, ‘Relativity’ is a prominent figure.”
The bald man’s actions had given Zhao Hen and the others a momentary illusion.
It was like a game of cops and robbers. It didn’t mean that criminals always lost to the police, or that standoffs between them always ended in the police’s victory. In reality, when a criminal starts running, the police focus on tracking to avoid losing them. They had overlooked something crucial: in this chase, they might be the disadvantaged group.
This was not a typical cops and robbers game; both sides were users!
The difference between users had already surpassed ordinary human disparities and weapon differentials. With just the three of them, Relativity might need only a second to defeat them thoroughly.
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.
Mbgaecjafis, atfs fcmbecafgfv j qbiiealbc hbcf, jcv la kjr j wbvfgjafis vjcufgber bcf. Mjmlcu Ubiiealbc Ibcf 145, Itjb Lfc jcv Aljcu Qfcajb lcrajcais kbxf eq. Ktfs gfjilhfv atja atf xliifg, klatbea tfrlajalbc, tjv gec ragjluta lcab atf qbiiealbc hbcf. Vajcvlcu yfobgf la, atfs ofia j wbwfca bo tfrlajalbc.
Ktlr kjr atf njra vloofgfcmf lc atflg ragfcuatr!
But…
Jiang Wentao said angrily, “Are we just going to let him go like this?! If we don’t chase now, we’ll never find him again. He’s a powerful fifth-level user. If he intends to hide his whereabouts, even a sixth-level user won’t be able to find him!” Otherwise, there wouldn’t be sixteen fifth-level users in China perfectly concealing their IDs, beyond the reach of even the national government!
After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Jinyu said, “Perhaps he also didn’t react in time and instinctively fled. We should be glad that he didn’t unleash carnage at the hospital. If he had gone on a killing spree there, perhaps we and everyone at the hospital would have already perished at his hands. Of course, that would have amounted to declaring war on all of China, which he probably wouldn’t do. But the only good thing now is… he’s not an unknown anonymous fifth-level user.
“His name is ‘Relativity.'”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hen and Jiang Wentao looked at him.
Xiao Jinyu continued calmly, “While his ID is anonymous on the Grow Some Brains APP leaderboard, the ID ‘Relativity’ has been recorded by the Chinese User Committee. This includes his approximate logic chain effects, as well as his appearance, name, and various other information from childhood to adulthood… As long as the authorities want to know, they can find out. So, there is still a chance —
“We might not fail to catch him!”
December 25, 2046, Christmas Day.
Haidu Affiliated Hospital, Gynecology Department.
Zhou Wenqi swiftly packed her personal belongings, dragging her suitcase out of the cabinet and neatly arranging the items she brought into the hospital two weeks ago. After finishing packing, she looked up and smiled at her roommate in the next bed, “I’m leaving the hospital now. I hope you all recover soon too!”
“Wow, young people recover so quickly, your movements are so agile.”
“Indeed, Xiao-Zhou, take care of yourself after leaving the hospital, it was a major surgery after all, you need to take care.”
Zhou Wenqi replied, “I know, thank you, Aunt Wang, Aunt Li. Take care of yourselves too. But I’m not that young anymore, I’m in my thirties already!”
“Compared to us, you’re not young either!”
“Hahaha.”
After Zhou Wenqi finished packing, she went to complete her discharge procedures.
Busy for an hour, she finally dragged her suitcase out of the hospital building.
Suddenly seeing the long-lost bright sky, Zhou Wenqi instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes from the glaring sunlight. After standing there for a while, she finally dragged her suitcase towards the hospital gate.
The surgery Zhou Wenqi underwent wasn’t minor, but it wasn’t major either, yet it was quite taxing. Regardless, she shouldn’t have stayed in the hospital for a full two weeks for this type of surgery.
According to common sense, she should have been discharged a week ago. However, for some reason, on the second day of her admission, the authorities suddenly locked down the hospital. That night, there was even a strange operation where some patients’ families were forced to leave the hospital, only to be asked to return later.
After that incident, the discharge schedules of these patients were no longer under their control—
Higher-ups didn’t allow them to leave at will.
Many patients who should have been discharged earlier were forcibly kept in the hospital, supposedly for internal infection checks, causing much anxiety.
But fortunately, after her check-up yesterday, she was allowed to leave the hospital.
Zhou Wenqi couldn’t figure out what illness she had. Her surgery was successful, and her recovery was quick. She didn’t seem like a patient at all; she had already fully recovered.
As Zhou Wenqi reached the hospital entrance, she suddenly froze. She looked around.
The patients and their families around her looked at each other in surprise.
No one expected that today, so many patients would be discharged at the same time!
Previously, everyone was not allowed to leave for two weeks, even family members had to stay in the hospital and were not allowed to go out. Suddenly, now, hundreds of patients were discharged at once.
In a daze, Zhou Wenqi headed towards the subway station, inexplicably thinking: Could these over 100 patients have something special? There are still hundreds of patients in the hospital who could be discharged, but they are being held back, allowing only these 100+ people to leave.
But among this group, there are old and young, men and women, and they seem to be from different departments…
What makes them so special?!
…
With a sense of confusion and puzzlement, over a hundred patients and their families, like Zhou Wenqi, anxiously took the subway back to their homes.
Zhou Wenqi lived in an old tube-shaped building in the Minhang District of Haidu.
She was born before the A-type radiation, her parents died in that dreadful radiation incident, and she could only rely on her elderly grandmother. Her grandmother also passed away five years ago, leaving her alone without a spouse or children to care for her. After falling ill, she hired a caregiver to look after herself.
All her relatives had long died in the brutal radiation incident thirty-five years ago.
A woman who had just recovered from a serious illness struggled to carry her suitcase up a few flights of stairs. Zhou Wenqi put down her suitcase, leaning against the old staircase railing, catching her breath heavily. After enduring hardships to reach the third floor, only one more floor remained before reaching her home. Zhou Wenqi, enduring her weakened body and the pain from her surgical wounds, finally made it to the fourth floor.
As she lifted her head, she froze.
“What is this thing?”
At her doorstep, between two neighboring households, there was suddenly a black machine mounted on the wall!
It resembled a utility meter, similar in size to a normal electricity meter, entirely black and gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.
Zhou Wenqi curiously stared at it for a while. She guessed it must be some new device installed by her neighbors. Without paying much more attention, she took out her keys and entered her home.
Little did she know, the same situation was happening in various corners of Haidu City.
As the over 100 patients and their families returned home, they noticed these strange black “meters” not far from their homes.
None of the patients connected these devices to the “hospital leaks.” They curiously asked their neighbors, who simply said it was a government-installed device and they didn’t know much about it either. Everyone was puzzled, staring at these black metal knots with bewilderment.
However, if someone were to observe the situation from high above Haidu City, they would be surprised to see that these over 100 patients and their families, along with many medical staff who were allowed to leave the hospital today, were perfectly distributed throughout the city, surrounding it entirely!
On average, there was one discharged patient or medical staff member from Haidu Affiliated Hospital for every ten square kilometers. And each of their residences had one of these black devices installed nearby!
When everyone left the hospital, it was already 5 p.m.
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By the time everyone returned home and settled in, after enduring two weeks of being trapped in the hospital, most were exhausted and quickly fell asleep in the warmth of their homes. Only a few stayed up chatting with friends about the hardships in the hospital and gossiping about the real reasons behind the hospital’s refusal to discharge them.
【Wenqi, what’s going on? Why did you only get discharged now?】
【I’m not sure either, but at least I’m out of the hospital now. I should be able to return to work next week.】
【Hey, why don’t you take some more rest!】
After chatting with her colleague for a while, Zhou Wenqi glanced at the clock on the wall.
1:30 in the morning.
It was time for her to sleep.
She turned off her phone and curled up under the covers. After a while, she seemed to enter a dream state. It was a chaotic and fast-paced dream, with the world surreal and scenes flashing before her eyes like a carousel spinning rapidly. Suddenly, there was a tinkling sound.
Zhou Wenqi woke up abruptly.
She hurriedly got out of bed and checked, finally staring in astonishment at her tightly closed door. Through the small peephole, she looked at the black metal knot outside the door.
…The metal knot was gently vibrating!
A small red dot on the surface of the metal knot was flashing rapidly!
Wh-what is this?!!!
…
What is this?
These black square metal boxes are precisely the Logic Factor Detector urgently modified by the Logic Research Institute of Haidu City!
The production of logic factor detectors is extremely intricate, with one type of rare earth material being particularly scarce. Thus, across the entire region of Huaxia, there are only slightly more than three hundred detectors. Thirteen days ago, the Haidu City requisitioned detectors from the other eight major user committees nationwide, concealing this action from all users, and secretly delivering them to the Haidu Logic Research Institute through private channels.
After more than a week of modifications, all these detectors were equipped with accelerators.
They were covertly installed near the residences of over a hundred discharged patients, constantly monitoring the activities of logic factors on these patients.
Simultaneously, at the Haidu Logic Research Institute.
In the damp and chilly cave laboratory, the gray-haired female captain stood with her arms crossed, coldly staring at the full wall of display screens.
From the moment these discharged patients left the hospital, including Luo Sheng, Xu Qi, Jiang Wentao… and Xiao Jinyu, everyone stood in front of this wall, not missing a beat, carefully observing the reactions of over two hundred detectors.
Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded.
Xu Qi: “It’s in Minhang District, detector number 48!”
Jiang Wentao: “I found it, at Jiazhi Road in Minhang District, in the dormitory building of the textile factory!”
Xiao Jinyu quickly glanced at the electronic clock on the wall, looking at the “02:00” digits, a faint smile tugged at his lips.
The next moment.
Luo Sheng: “Everyone, move out immediately!”
“Yes!”
Luo Sheng turned back: “We’ve troubled you, thank you.”
After a brief pause, Xiao Jinyu remained calm, speaking softly, “You’re welcome.”
In an instant, the Haidu Extermination Squad mobilized all members!
In the deep hours of the night, thick darkness shrouded the sleeping city.
Amidst the night, agile figures darted between skyscrapers, racing towards Minhang District in Haidu.
Also at two in the morning, inside a quiet and low-profile private villa.
The bald man, resting with closed eyes, suddenly snapped them open. His robust muscles tensed instantly, a moment of confusion crossing his face as he tilted his head, then he raised his powerful hands, gazing at them under the moon’s radiant light.
“…What’s going on? Did my logic skill complete automatically?”
After a moment, he snapped back to alertness.
“Darn it, are there patients around me?!”
In a brief moment, the bald man’s brain raced.
“That bunch of idiots from the Extermination Squad have sealed off the affiliated hospital for 13 days, not allowing anyone to leave. Why are they suddenly letting them all out now?
“Do they think my logic skill has failed, and those people are safe now?
“No, the timing is off. It’s not supposed to expire until tomorrow. Why are they letting those people out now? If they could detect my existence 13 days ago, then they must have used some special means, like some logic skill I don’t know about, to detect my logic skill!
“Since they could detect my logic skill back then, they would also realize that the logic skill on those patients hasn’t disappeared now.”
…
“Why did they let the patients leave the hospital?!
“Darn it, darn it, darn it!”
Since awakening his logic factors, his upgrades had always gone smoothly. Unlike the Holy Sacrifice Huo Lanxu, the bald man had never worried about his logic collapsing. He would not collapse. Even as rumors spread of the A01 Spear of Judgment crumbling, he firmly believed he would not falter.
His path of upgrading was accompanied by introspection of his logic factors.
And now, this was the first external problem he encountered.
Why? Why did the authorities suddenly release those patients today?
If it weren’t for the fact that discharged patients happened to be within two kilometers of him, he might not have noticed.
…Wait, happened to be around him?
Was this a coincidence?
After a long pause.
“Darn it!!!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the bald man grabbed his phone. Ignoring everything else in the villa, he leaped out of the bedroom window on the second floor and landed in the garden.
Then, he ran like mad.
As he ran, he dialed a number on his phone.
The person on the other end of the call took a long time to pick up, amidst the whistling wind sounds in the background, a pleasant male voice with a hint of laughter came through, “Hello.”
The bald man shouted, “What the hell is going on?! Damn it, why does it seem like the Clearing Team has discovered that my logic factor operates on a cycle of 13 days, and they also seem to know that my logic factor only works within a certain range?!”
“Pan Yue, are you talking to me?”
The voice suddenly stopped, and the man’s running feet paused for a moment.
The bald man lowered his voice, “Boss Jin, what the hell is going on now?! I’m willing to pay ten million to buy an answer from you!”
“Oh…” A mocking laugh came through the phone, and the man sounded pleased, “I don’t know.”
“…”
“How could you not know?!”
“Why should I know everything?”
“It seems like they not only know the cycle and range of my logic factor but also discovered that my logic factor automatically activates at 2 a.m. Why can they detect my logic factors? It’s impossible! For so many years, no detection device could sense it. Why, why, why?!”
“By the way, did you know that a new user awakened in Zhongdu last month?”
“Why are you telling me this? Damn it, I’m not afraid of Luo Sheng. I’m asking you now, is the Spear of Judgment in Haidu?!”
“No, but he might be there tomorrow.”
“The Spear of Judgment isn’t here…” The bald man breathed a sigh of relief. “Then it’s fine. Hehe, as long as I kill Luo Sheng.” Suddenly pausing, he remembered something, “Mr. Jin, you just said that a new user awakened in Zhongdu last month?”
The superior Jin chuckled softly, “Yes.”
“Is his logic factor being discovered related to mine?”
“I don’t know…”
“…”
“He’s quite clever, though.”
“What?”
“He seems to dislike the wind chime sound at the coffee shop. Every time the chime rings, his speech speed slows down a bit, and the decisiveness in exposing lies also weakens momentarily, umm, although it quickly recovers. It’s like he hasn’t even noticed it himself. Maybe he dislikes sharp sounds? Hehe, it’s really strange.”
The bald man: “…”
Fucking crazy.
The bald man hung up the phone.
He dashed forward, fleeing the scene at the fastest speed possible.
However, he soon realized something was wrong.
No matter where he ran, no matter where! He could constantly feel logic factors returning to his body. His logic factor was running automatically every moment! Wherever he went, his logic factor followed, and wherever he went, there was Relativity!
It was as if the entire Haidu was filled with logic factors he spread.
The bald man’s heart skipped a beat, and his face darkened. He had no choice but to change direction and continue running.
And behind him, Xiao Jinyu followed closely behind the Haidu Extermination Squad, steadily closing in.
Everyone wore a wireless earpiece, listening attentively to Xu Siqing’s calm voice coming through. He was in the distant Logic Research Institute, staring at a wall of display screens, commanding the real-time positions of “Relativity.”
“Now, at Minhang District, the 57th detector has detected the disappearance of logic factors. This monitoring is related to the one located at Kangpu Road, No. 137…
“Now, it’s the 59th detector; he’s heading towards Little Rock Street. Is he trying to escape to Changning District?”
Across the entire Haidu, a vast net descended from the sky, capturing the exhausted and fleeing Level Five user.
Suddenly.
Xu Siqing: “Hmm, you’re about to collide. The 87th detector in Changning District just gave a response; the logic factors on the patient disappeared, devoured back by ‘Relativity.’ The approximate location is… your 11 o’clock direction, five kilometers away!”
Xu Qi exclaimed, “At this distance, he can sense users weaker than Level Five!”
In other words, they had been discovered.
Luo Sheng squinted his eyes. “Level Five users before A20 can sense users much weaker than themselves within a five-kilometer range. But if he and I want to sense each other, we have to get closer… within a one-kilometer range.” This meant that Relativity had found them, but they hadn’t pinpointed Relativity’s exact location.
Luo Sheng turned to Xiao Jinyu. “It’s up to you now!”
Xiao Jinyu remained composed, nodding lightly.
The next moment, he raised his finger.
The fourth perspective opened!
Xu Siqing’s command came through the earpiece, “Just now, the 91st detector in Changning District reported a wave of logic factors likely returning to the ‘Relativity’ core. The specific direction should be… from northeast to southwest! Xiao Jinyu, it will pass by you; we don’t know the exact time. Keep a close watch…”
“I’ve already spotted them.”
The calm and indifferent voice of the young man made Xu Siqing abruptly fall silent.
In the chilly evening breeze, the young man tilted his head back, gazing at the swiftly departing cluster of colorful lights above his head.
Xiao Jinyu said coldly, “Right there!”
daaamn who’s that guy on the other end of the phone who seems to know a little too much about jinyu?
I think it was the guy who disguised himself as the Meat King killer (who I think is the same guy the MC found in the cafeteria 24 hours after the school incident)
Isn’t it the Shang Sijin guy from chapter 52. The one who was washing his hands at the communal sink? I’m guessing he’s probably the final boss for this arc?