Edited by Cloud Chip Cake.
“I’ll be heading to Haidu soon.”
Xiao Jinyu paused with a forkful of pasta halfway to his mouth. “Hmm?”
Su Jiuzhou, holding his knife and fork like an artist meticulously sculpting a masterpiece, elegantly cut his steak. Without looking up, he said, “‘Zhang Haixiang’ has appeared.”
Xiao Jinyu didn’t hesitate, “The user who stole the Court of Judgement?” He paused, then continued, “He hasn’t been caught yet. If he had been, and it was urgent, you would already be on your way to Haidu—has he created another faceless man?”
Su Jiuzhou: “Seems I wasn’t clear enough?”
Xiao Jinyu frowned.
“It’s a clue about ‘Zhang Haixiang’ that has surfaced.”
Various colorful images flashed through Xiao Jinyu’s mind, and he said in surprise, “Huo Lanxu knows ‘Zhang Haixiang’?”
Su Jiuzhou’s eyebrows twitched slightly, “Go on.”
Xiao Jinyu had long suspected, but any baseless speculation he kept to himself. He leaned back in his chair, “Huo Lanxu can use the ‘Pope’s Crown’, and similarly, ‘Zhang Haixiang’ can use the true Zhang Haixiang’s Wind Blowing Fart. Now there’s suddenly a clue about ‘Zhang Haixiang’ in Haidu, so, did Huo Lanxu reveal her accomplice? Is she actually in cahoots with ‘Zhang Haixiang’?”
“This line of thinking is interesting, but unfortunately, the captured Holy Sacrifice has the tightest lips in all of China.” Su Jiuzhou methodically cut his medium-rare steak, the sharp, cold knife slicing through the meat, releasing a pool of red juices into half the plate. “Huo Lanxu hasn’t said a word, but someone else has.”
Xiao Jinyu was stunned for a moment, then the name came to him. He said in surprise, “Relativity—”
Pan Yue.
It had only been five days since Relativity was captured. No one had expected that this formerly top-ranked user in China would crack so soon.
He surrendered too quickly. The Extermination Squad hadn’t even had a chance to use any coercive tactics or think of how to pressure him verbally, yet Relativity had already confessed.
And even more unexpectedly, he knew ‘Zhang Haixiang’.
“What did he say?” Xiao Jinyu’s expression darkened.
‘Zhang Haixiang’ was the first opponent who had ever made him feel defeated.
The steps taken in the coffee shop to unveil the other party’s true identity were relentless, and looking back now, it felt like being left with a face full of ashes. You thought you had defeated a cunning enemy, only to realize in the end that you had walked right into the trap set by the other party, becoming a pawn in their game.
This feeling was unwelcome to anyone with even a modicum of intelligence.
Su Jiuzhou: “Pan Yue provided two clues. First, there’s an anonymous user in Haidu ranked above him; second, this user can freely change their appearance to look like anyone.”
Xiao Jinyu put down his fork. “It’s him.”
Su Jiuzhou raised an eyebrow, giving him a glance. “But there’s no face, no name. Pan Yue never saw the person himself, and the contact information that the person provided turned out to be a disconnected number. He could only provide a verbal nickname.”
“What?”
“Boss Jin.”
…
The automatic door of the coffee shop “dinged” open, and a few young students walked in, smiling as they ordered a few cups of coffee. Soon, the rich aroma of coffee beans filled the warm and narrow interior of the shop.
Xiao Jinyu: “Jin? The ‘Jin’ used in ‘cautious’?”
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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Xiao Jinyu: “These few clues are equivalent to having no clues. But it’s better than nothing.”
Su Jiuzhou suddenly withdrew his gaze. “Hmm…”
Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, Xiao Jinyu saw the group of students who had bought coffee laughing as they entered the restroom. He was momentarily taken aback, then turned abruptly, “I once encountered a user named ‘Jin’!”
“Hmm?”
Xiao Jinyu immediately sat up straight, his brain working quickly. He recalled, “Shang Sijin—these three syllables. I don’t know the specific characters, but that’s what he was called.”
“Why bring him up all of a sudden?”
Just because one syllable of the name matched didn’t necessarily mean it was the same person, but Xiao Jinyu immediately thought of him.
“Because I don’t know him.”
Su Jiuzhou narrowed his eyes.
Xiao Jinyu continued, “And it was also at a very specific time. Last month, November 30th.”
Su Jiuzhou blurted out, “The day after Pollutant 002’s discovery?”
“Yes.” Xiao Jinyu nodded. “Do you remember? On the afternoon of the 29th, the Court of Judgement in Haidu was stolen, causing your logic to suddenly collapse. In the early hours of the 30th, the Extermination Squad successfully excavated Pollutant 002 and transported it to the research institute’s warehouse. And it was around 5 a.m., on the 30th, that I met this person.”
“Shang Sijin. He was also in the coffee shop. Since the subway wasn’t running at that time, I was waiting for the first train of the morning. Just as it was about time, I went to the restroom. When I came out,” he pointed to the coffee shop’s sink, “Right there. I was washing my hands, and he came out of the restroom too. The logic factors attracted each other, and at that moment, both he and I understood that the other was a user.”
“Would you talk to a stranger user?”
Xiao Jinyu raised his gaze. “No.”
“So?”
“He suddenly introduced himself. And mentioned his name. He said his name was Shang Sijin.”
…
“The sound ‘shang’ is quite rare, making it difficult to determine his exact surname. As for the ‘si’ and ‘jin’ afterwards, his specific name is also unclear.”
However, Xiao Jinyu stared intently at the man in front of him, and he deduced that this “Shang Sijin” didn’t appear at that coffee shop for no reason. It was an unfounded speculation. The timing of this man’s appearance was extremely peculiar; just twelve hours after the Court of Judgement was stolen, he suddenly appeared in front of Xiao Jinyu.
At the same time, his behavior was frivolous and strange.
He struck up a conversation, introduced himself.
As if he didn’t just randomly appear there, but rather traversed mountains and rivers, for a certain goal, a certain person—
He had to be there.
Xiao Jinyu: “Could it be the same person?”
Su Jiuzhou: “What do you think?”
“…”
“Yes.”
“I trust you.”
Xiao Jinyu’s lips twitched.
Su Jiuzhou: “Do you remember his height, appearance, any distinctive features?”
Xiao Jinyu: “Those don’t have much significance. According to Relativity, he can change his appearance and transform into anyone’s likeness. Perhaps the person I saw wasn’t his true appearance. But I remember.”
Xiao Jinyu closed his eyes and recalled, “There weren’t any particularly outstanding features, he looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six, with fair skin and slightly long hair, reaching his ears. He’s somewhat feminine and enjoys smiling. At least every second I observed him, his lips never stopped curling up.”
“That’s also a clue. You can go to the Logic Research Institute and have them help draw his appearance. But don’t make contact with him. If you discover any trace of him again, inform me immediately.”
“Hmm?”
“He might be a level six user.”
…
The two exchanged a bit more information.
The time Xiao Jinyu spent with that mysterious user was too short, and there wasn’t much to recall. It’s just that the man’s behavior was too peculiar, otherwise he wouldn’t have left such a strong impression.
The metal fork dipped into the rich sauce, piercing through the thick strands of spaghetti, as Xiao Jinyu silently contemplated.
–If that person truly was ‘Zhang Haixiang’, why did he come to Zhongdu?
Was he coming to… find me?
Yes, just after stealing the Court of Judgement, he didn’t think to quickly hide the loot or evade the Extermination Squad’s pursuit, instead he traveled a long way to the Zhongdu.
Was he coming to find him?
And for what reason?
Xiao Jinyu mechanically took a bite of his pasta. “If you’re going to Haidu, what about the logic collapse incident?”
Su Jiuzhou: “I should be back soon. Or…” He paused.
Xiao Jinyu stared at him expressionlessly. “If things are resolved here in Zhongdu, or if there’s no progress, I can go to Haidu.”
Su Jiuzhou smiled.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a good person?”
“It’s usually me saying that to others.”
“Oh?”
“Thank you. You’re a good person.”
The hand gripping the knife handle paused abruptly in midair.
Su Jiuzhou looked at Xiao Jinyu meaningfully for a long time.
“Is the pasta good?”
Xiao Jinyu stopped moving, looking up at him.
“Can I taste it?”
…
The food at this restaurant, unexpectedly, turned out to be very good. Both of them were quite satisfied with the taste of the pasta and steak, only the coffee fell a bit short.
Su Jiuzhou took only a sip of coffee before grabbing his coat and rushing to Haidu.
With the porcelain wall of the coffee cup warming his fingertips as the heat permeated through its body, Xiao Jinyu suddenly wondered how level six users managed to traverse cities.
Taking the subway train was definitely an option, but it was evident that Su Jiuzhou could ignore the contamination zones between cities and move freely within them. Whether within a city or between cities, he could navigate effortlessly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to make a round trip between Zhongdu and the capital in just one night, fetching Pollutant 008… um, 009, to save the lives of thousands of innocent beings involved in the protest.
Glancing at the wall clock, Su Jiuzhou had been gone for half an hour already.
Xiao Jinyu took out his phone.
[Are you there, 004?]
After a while.
【Dad】
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
[If you can only manage to squeeze out one word at a time, you can skip some unnecessary words, as long as I can understand your meaning.]
【Hmm】
After 60 seconds.
【（○｀ 3′○）】
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
You can also skip the emoticons directly!!!
【So】
Hmm?
【Cute】
Xiao Jinyu was bewildered.
【My】
【Dad】
【!】
Xiao Jinyu: “…”
Looks like you didn’t listen to a single word I said!
hm hm He really got me here, during the whole chapter I doubted myself..but I still think that he is Boss Jin! (or not..haha) His power (or rather him) is really scary. I can’t wait for the reason behind his interest in XJ.
004 is still in shock from the cuteness. I really want to see that pic as well!!!
Thank you for the update!☺