Edited by Cloud Chip Cake.
Xiao Jinyu didn’t hesitate, immediately activating Fourth Perspective. In the next moment, his right fist swiftly flew out and, in the blink of an eye, appeared ten meters away in front of a team member who had lost consciousness due to excessive bleeding.
Xiao Jinyu: “Stay with me, don’t fall asleep!”
The range of influence of “Bonfire Party” was ten meters, but since Xiao Jinyu’s ranking upgraded to B07, as an advanced user the range of his Flying Fist had expanded from ten to twenty meters.
With his slender right hand, Xiao Jinyu firmly pressed down on the team member’s bleeding neck wound. With a low shout, he exerted all his strength, moving his fist and using one hand to grab the team member’s neck, dragging him out of the range of “Bonfire Party”.
However, the team member’s body continued to dance.
Because Xu Qi was still dancing.
Of course, Xiao Jinyu knew that even if he rescued Xu Qi now, Xu Qi would still dance outside the range of “Bonfire Party”. Once this pollutant was activated, the affected individuals had to dance for the required time before the control over their bodies would end.
The plan to capture Relativity must not have any mishaps. To completely suppress Relativity, Luo Sheng chose to use thirty team members to activate this pollutant, precisely reaching the upper limit for “Bonfire Party”.
In other words, outside “Bonfire Party”’s illumination, these team members would continue dancing for thirty minutes, and Relativity would lose control over their bodies for the same duration.
And these thirty minutes were Xiao Jinyu’s window to save people.
It was an extremely eerie scene.
Under the dark night sky, the river water crashed against the rocky shore. Near the bustling and magnificent Bund, on the bronze sculpture square, a group of powerful advanced users danced under the night, while a young man who looked like a student repeatedly raised his right arm, sending out his fist in thin air to pull injured team members back.
From a distance, thunderous footsteps echoed on the street, causing the ground to tremble.
Xiao Jinyu had already pulled more than twenty level three team members out of “Bonfire Party”’s illumination range. He turned his head and, with a calm heart, called out loudly, “Over here! Quickly, come and help these people!”
User Committee staff members rushed towards the sound, and medical personnel had already arrived on the scene. Seeing that the area was almost soaked with blood, the experienced doctors and nurses were momentarily stunned, but their professional demeanors quickly kicked in, halting their shock and prompting them to swiftly attend to the injured.
“He’s still alive, amazingly. His windpipe is mostly severed, yet he’s managing to maintain an extremely weak breath.”
“This person is in a very dangerous condition. Dr. Liu, please come quickly. We need to intubate him urgently!”
“Why is he still… dancing? Quickly, restrain him.”
Xiao Jinyu interjected, “There’s no need to restrain them; they have to keep dancing. In about thirty minutes, they won’t dance anymore.”
Soon, the doctors began a series of emergency hemostasis procedures.
Researchers from the Logic Research Institute also arrive at the scene.
Holding a black machine resembling a camera, Xu Siqing lowered his gaze and watched the screen, which showed Relativity performing the peacock dance. The entire screen was split into two parts, with the left side showing the current scene of Relativity dancing, while on the right side, prominently displayed, was Xu Qi performing an identical peacock dance.
Any object illuminated by “Bonfire Party” will randomly dance a routine. For instance, Xu Qi was now dancing ballet, Luo Sheng was dancing cha-cha, and Relativity was dancing the peacock dance.
The video on the right side of the screen was precisely the same peacock dance Xu Qi had performed last week.
After careful comparison and calculation by the computer, Xu Siqing finally came to a conclusion, “He has completely lost all bodily autonomy. Even his breathing rate is controlled by “Bonfire Party”. It’s time to extinguish “Bonfire Party”.”
“Roger!”
At the command, several researchers lifted a black iron box and extended a mechanical arm cautiously, placing the box above the still-burning half of the severed wood.
Pan Yue was no longer stepping on “Bonfire Party”; he was focused on dancing by the bonfire.
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.
Veggbecvlcu atf mbcafcar klat atf ygfjat bo ilof, atf lgbc ybz oeiis yibmxfv bea Qjafg Ueclrtwfca’r fnjqbgjalbc bo kjafg wbifmeifr. Ktf gfrfjgmtfgr qgfrrfv j yeaabc, jcv kjafg oibkfv bea, bcis tjio fnjqbgjalcu, fjrlis fzalcuelrtlcu atlr rffwlcuis lcmbcrqlmeber qlfmf bo rfnfgfv kbbv.
Ktf wbwfca “Dbcolgf Ujgas” kjr fzalcuelrtfv, Wljb Alcse jcv atf rajoo gertfv obgkjgv.
As the only advanced user currently with bodily autonomy, Xiao Jinyu didn’t dare to be careless. Under Sacred Suppression, he quickly restrained the bald man’s muscular limbs. His muscles tense, constantly wary of any counterattacks from this now defenseless level five user.
However, the bald man was truly powerless to resist.
He had even been deprived of the ability to move his eyeballs by “Bonfire Party”.
Xiao Jinyu didn’t know what thoughts ran through the head of the peacock who had been dancing all along, but he didn’t dwell on it. With a determined expression, he firmly grabbed the robust arms of the bald man, exerting force and decisively tossing him into the oversized iron breath of life cage specially made for him.
…
“December 26, 2046, A09 Relativity was successfully captured in Haidu.”
***
The next day, at Haidu Affiliated Hospital.
A09 Relativity’s logic chain cycle spans 13 days, a number that has been confirmed by the research institute through experimentation. However, the significance behind this number is still unknown. For now, the lingering logic factors around Haidu Affiliated Hospital have completely dissipated.
This hospital had escaped from a globally top-tier logic chain rated at level five.
Currently, members of the Haidu Extermination Squad were being treated nearby in the affiliated hospital for recovery.
Under the bright morning sun casting its light on withered sycamore leaves, a gentle breeze stirred, causing scorched leaves to fall. Stepping on the dried leaves, Xiao Jinyu strode purposefully into the hospital.
Entering the emergency ward, he overheard snippets of conversation among the nurses.
“Their injuries are so severe. If they were normal people, they wouldn’t have made it to the hospital in time. They would have died long before.”
“They are all from a special group. We know that privately, but don’t spread it around.”
“Of course, I know. But there’s still one in the ICU, it’s unsure if he’ll make it through tonight. His condition doesn’t look good at all…”
Xiao Jinyu glanced at the chatty nurses and then averted his gaze.
The members selected for the capture mission involving A09 Relativity were at least level three users. Their robust physical constitutions had temporarily saved their lives, but even for them, recovery from such serious injuries would take a long time.
However, this was also a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
If A09 Relativity had not merely cut their throats but instead decapitated them, they wouldn’t have had a chance for resuscitation and would have become bodies manipulated by “Elephant Dance”, causing the activation of “Bonfire Party”.
Many of these squad members had already lost family due to radiation exposure, and so both the Extermination Squad and the User Committee had arranged for dedicated caretakers for them.
Today, Xiao Jinyu wasn’t here to visit the squad members.”
The corridor was empty and quiet, with dim lighting. As Xiao Jinyu ventured deeper, the number of people around him dwindled. He walked all the way to the end of the corridor, where a glass door secured with a triple password lock blocked his path.
The guard stationed there already knew him and promptly stood up to help him open the door.
Xiao Jinyu quietly murmured his thanks. Then, he asked, “How is his condition?”
The guard, a level two user who wasn’t part of last night’s capture mission, but assigned to watch over the faceless man Zhang Haixiang, replied, “Same as usual. No communication whatsoever. He has no senses, and his emotions are in shambles. According to the experts, Mr. Xiao, for this faceless man, being in the hospital now is no different from being locked in the previous contaminated zone warehouse. He can’t see, hear, smell, or feel any touch… He’s like a living dead.”
Xiao Jinyu pursed his lips.
But he was Zhang Haixiang.
Xiao Jinyu said, “I’ll go in first.”
The guard nodded. “Alright, Vice Captain Xu is also inside.”
The glass door opened, and Xiao Jinyu stepped inside.
Fourteen days ago, Luo Sheng and Xu Qi personally went to Zhongdu and brought back the suspected faceless man, believed to be Zhang Haixiang.
This skeleton wrapped in snow-white skin lacked any identifiable features. Apart from bones, veins, and organs, everything about him was covered in glowing, smooth, white skin. Although the broken right molar almost confirmed his identity as Zhang Haixiang, the Extermination Squad couldn’t solely rely on a fractured molar to confirm his identity.
Therefore, while devising a plan to capture Relativity, they also spent ten days finding all the users who had contact with Zhang Haixiang.
Based on the descriptions provided by these users, they meticulously and accurately determined every injury Zhang Haixiang had suffered, and accurately deduced how these injuries would accumulate over time.
Then, based on the damage to bones, blood vessels, and internal organs, they finally had a hundred percent confirmation—
This was Zhang Haixiang.
As Su Jiuzhou once said, if someone could flawlessly replicate a “Zhang Haixiang” to the point of perfection and create a false faceless Zhang Haixiang to confuse them, DNA testing would be meaningless. Because, he must have tampered with the DNA as well.
Users need to think, users also need bold speculation.
When Xiao Jinyu saw the faceless man for the first time, somehow a thought flashed in his mind: he was the real Zhang Haixiang.
Closing his eyes, in Xiao Jinyu’s mind, the image of that sneaky and cunning short man in the café flickered.
So, who was he?
…
“Beep—”
The automatic door suddenly opened, and Xu Qi, standing beside the hospital bed, raised his head. After seeing the person clearly, he asked, “Are you about to return to Zhongdu?”
Xiao Jinyu nodded gently, “I should be back the day after tomorrow.”
Xu Qi smiled and said, “Thank you so much for last night’s capture plan. Without your flying fists, more team members might have been in danger, or even lost their lives.”
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
You just casually called it “flying fist”…
Xu Qi naturally didn’t think much about it and continued, “Now, except for Xiao Li, who is still not completely out of danger, everyone else is waking up. This result is really good. By the way, this morning there was news from the research institute that Relativity is almost unable to use their logic skill.”
Xiao Jinyu’s body tensed slightly as he looked up at Xu Qi.
Xu Qi sighed, “Indeed, it’s just as you, Captain, and Dr. Xu speculated. Such a powerful logic skill, if it couldn’t become the strongest among those of the same level, it must have a super terrifying limit affecting it. Thirteen days, this is not just the victims’ cycle of escape from the logic skill, but also the expiration date for “Relativity”s stored time. Once it exceeds thirteen days, and he doesn’t steal time from a new source, all the time in his ‘time warehouse’ will expire. The ‘time’ he stored is only valid for a period of thirteen days.
“In the past thirteen days, he only managed to collect a very small amount of time yesterday evening.
“Now, except for his strong physical qualities, he’s almost like an ordinary person. Moreover, he seems very anxious and panicked. Haidu Affiliated Hospital is no longer his ‘stealing’ grounds, and he has no new ‘stealing’ grounds. He seems very worried about this. According to the Captain, she believes that Relativity should soon voluntarily spill all of his information, including his logic skill.”
After pondering for a moment, Xiao Jinyu said, “To make a user anxious enough to prefer exposing detailed information about their logic skill…”
Xu Qi understood his meaning, and the plain-looking man winked at Xiao Jinyu. “There is indeed only one reason for that.”
Xiao Jinyu remained calm as he said, “His logic skill is about to collapse.”
Xu Qi chuckled, “That’s the only possibility.”
Relativity’s logic skill was so powerful that it almost felt like a cheat, yet it had so many unique aspects.
Xiao Jinyu had never heard of a logic skill expiring before. However, seeing the anxious expression on the bald man’s face, it was highly likely that his logic skill needed constant activation. No one knew what would happen when the bald man’s “time warehouse” completely expired without storing any more time, but the bald man’s reaction was already hinting at it—
This outcome meant logic collapse.
What a peculiar logic skill it was.
Suddenly, Xiao Jinyu thought inexplicably: if there’s no time stored, it will collapse. So, if there is always time stored, does that mean it will never collapse?
Realizing this, he was suddenly startled.
Everything seemed to have an explanation now.
A year ago, Relativity was just a level three user. In just one year, he skyrocketed to level five and effortlessly became a powerful user ranked as A09.
His rate of advancement is terrifyingly alarming; perhaps this is also one of Relativity’s characteristics? As long as there is time stored, the user will never have a logic collapse, and might even upgrade effortlessly?
Xiao Jinyu: “Has the research institute figured out any special meaning behind this 13-day cycle?”
Suddenly asked this, Xu Qi pondered for a moment. “Not yet. Perhaps 13 days is just a random number? Although the number 1314 isn’t random but signifies that every 1314 seconds, 0.5 seconds are stolen from the victim. But in a sense, the number 0.5 is random. So, 13 days might also be random?”
“0.5 seconds stolen every 1314 seconds?”
The crisp sound of the automatic door opening interrupted them, and from behind came a deep and familiar male voice.
Xiao Jinyu was slightly stunned. He instinctively turned around hurriedly, his gaze immediately falling onto a pair of dark and profound eyes.
The man wore a black coat, his hands in his pockets, his deep eyes containing a faint smile, and his lips seemed slightly pale. His complexion was a bit paler than it was fourteen days ago. Sensing the young man’s gaze, Su Jiuzhou lowered his eyes to meet it.
Their gazes were locked on each other.
For quite a while.
Su Jiuzhou raised his lips, abruptly asking, “In a person’s life, if we calculate based on 100 years, how many seconds are there in total?”
Xu Qi looked at Su Jiuzhou. “Huh?”
Xiao Jinyu looked at him indifferently, without any hesitation and his voice calm. “3153600000 seconds.”
Xu Qi turned his head abruptly, then looked at Xiao Jinyu in shock: Damn, that was fast!
Su Jiuzhou chuckled and asked again, “How many sets of 1314 seconds is that?”
Xiao Jinyu paused momentarily, then quickly answered, “2400000 sets.”
Just as Su Jiuzhou was about to speak, Xiao Jinyu’s expression changed slightly. He exclaimed in surprise, “With 2400000 sets of 1314 seconds, that means with a total of 2400000 there’s 0.5 seconds less for each, which is 1200000 seconds, 20000 minutes, 333 hours…”
After a brief pause, Xiao Jinyu raised his head, looking at the man in front of him with astonishment.
“…which is also, 13 days.”
damn we can always count on su jiuzhou to help clear the haze 😫
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
How do you math that hard?!