GRMFBS CH229

When Ji Yueming arrived at the headquarters of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, she happened to see Black Wolf looking utterly indignant, with no interest in sparring with her at all.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Yueming asked.

“Deep Shadow and Rong Sui have zero taste!”

The food cooked by the head chef was so delicious! Yet those two merely offered polite compliments, not putting their hearts into it in the slightest!

Ji Yueming understood.

Black Wolf had two great hobbies: one was challenging her, and the other was eating the food cooked by the head chef.

The head chef had no combat capability; aside from an exceptionally sensitive tongue, he was an ordinary human who respected food to the absolute extreme. Earlier, someone having a neurotic fit had spit tapioca pearls from their bubble tea like a Peashooter in the cafeteria, which infuriated the head chef—those were all meticulously sourced cassava flour, hand-kneaded into pearls by his apprentice! You can dislike it, but you cannot waste it!

Black Wolf had pinned down the pearl-spitter, letting the head chef take a giant ladle and clobber his head thump thump—as many pearls as were embedded in the wall was as many times he got clobbered on the head.

Ning Xi had sent Ji Yueming a message in advance:

Ning Xi: [Deep Shadow mentioned that a friend of his is a fan of yours and wants your autograph.]

Ji Yueming: [A fan? Who is it?]

An autograph was simple enough. But she was very curious. Someone on good enough terms with Deep Shadow for him to help ask for an autograph, while also being a fan of hers. She ran through candidate names in her head. Approaching Science certainly fit the bill, but if he wanted an autograph, he could have just asked directly instead of taking a whole detour through Deep Shadow.

Ning Xi: [Don’t know. Deep Shadow didn’t say.]

Ji Yueming: [Alright. When should I give it to him?]

Ning Xi: [They are in the isolation chamber right now; after they come out, probably.]

It was already afternoon; the sun slanted westward, and the shadows of all things began to tilt. In a few more hours, night would fall.

Inside the isolation chamber, Gu Jiancheng and Zhan Suiru were familiarizing themselves with each other’s powers.

Long ago, Deep Shadow and Rong Sui had fought for three full months, and during the truce battle, they had even joined forces to clear out a black nest. Both were intimately familiar with each other’s abilities. But in this exchange, both sensed the changes within the other’s powers.

Her snow-like spiritual energy lacked its former biting chill, and the sluggish shadow had become light and nimble. Misfortune had once settled like limescale within their powers, but now those impurities had all been washed away.

Looking at Deep Shadow, Zhan Suiru thought: Deep Shadow really has changed; like her, he found peace in this world. Who was it that healed him?

Looking at Zhan Suiru, Gu Jiancheng thought: Rong Sui has walked out of her past—is it because of the family she found in this world? Yan Yan’s efforts definitely played a huge part!

Thousands of miles away, Zhan Yan sat cross-legged on the beanbag chair, staring nervously at the gossip strips.

[Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng’s shadow and Zhan Suiru’s spiritual energy are adapting well to each other.]

Zhan Yan breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Very good. Both bosses were dependable people. Nothing would go wro—ptui ptui ptui! Smooth sailing in everything! All wishes fulfilled! Total success!

Zhan Yan grabbed Xingxing’s two little front paws, holding them together in prayer: “Instant success! Smooth execution! Fortunate stars shining bright!”

Xingxing’s literacy level hadn’t reached the point of understanding four-character idioms. He looked at Zhan Yan in bewilderment: “Meow?”

Zhan Jinli came knocking on the door, bringing his brother freshly baked sweet bread, piping hot, sweet, and soft.

Seeing them, Zhan Yan felt as if he were looking at his oversized battery packs.

He kept holding Xingxing’s little paws together, bowing them in thanks toward Zhan Jinli: “Thank you, Ge.”

Xingxing: …

He understood this sentence!

Xingxing pulled his paws out of Zhan Yan’s hands and hopped to the floor.

The lowest-ranked poop-scooper didn’t cook tasty food anyway; utter disdain.

Xingxing sniffed the bread; it smelled so fragrant!

Then he recalled his previous experience of eating the egg tart.

Gag!

Ignoring the little kitten, Zhan Jinli ruffled his brother’s curly hair.

After Zhan Jinli left the room, Zhan Yan continued rolling breadballs. These were all his combat reserves for tonight!

Once the breadballs were finished, Zhan Yan escorted Xingxing out of the room.

“Alright, Xingxing, I have things to handle tonight. Sleep by yourself, okay?”

The blazing summer sun sank to the west; the sky’s color looked as if ink had melted into it, and the wind clinging to the skin gradually turned cool.

Zhan Yan’s phone vibrated, the screen lighting up with a message from Gu Jiancheng.

Gu Jiancheng: [I have something to do in a bit, so it won’t be convenient to call.]

Gu Jiancheng: [Saying goodnight to you in advance.]

Zhan Yan unlocked the screen, his finger hovering, then tapping down.

Zhan Yan: [Goodnight.]

Zhan Yan: [May everything go smoothly.]

Zhan Yan: [[Kiss]]

The warm orange afterglow faded in the west, and the shadows of the world climbed across the sky.

Gu Jiancheng put away his phone and entered the isolation chamber.

Yang Ran’s puppet body lay on the platform, his chest cavity already opened to reveal an exquisite, intricate hidden casket. Rong Sui sat beside him, holding his hand.

He turned his eyes to look at Deep Shadow, flashing a smile.

Don’t be nervous, it’s alright.

He squeezed Rong Sui’s hand twice.

Gu Jiancheng couldn’t hold back a snort after all.

Who’s nervous?

“I once entered the core of Infinite and saw its rules.”

He hadn’t failed even in the direst moments, so don’t even consider failing now!

Zhan Suiru curled her lips. Her hand covered the puppet’s eyes.

“Xiao Ran, sleep.”

Yang Ran closed his eyes, his consciousness withdrawing as his soul slipped into slumber.

Zhan Suiru opened the hidden casket, revealing the bronze supernatural core.

Shadows rolled out beneath Gu Jiancheng’s feet, gradually enveloping the entire isolation chamber.

Neither of the two who had bid each other goodnight went to sleep.

Under the same night sky, one prepared to save a life, while the other watched over him.

Zhan Yan swallowed a large handful of breadballs, entered the Gossip System’s information astrolabe, and simultaneously touched the stars of “Gu Jiancheng,” “Zhan Suiru,” and “Yang Ran”.

Only upon truly witnessing the entire process of purging the curse of Infinite could one realize that Gu Jiancheng carried the greatest burden.

The isolation chamber was a verified, stable inanimate structure, with its conditions jointly monitored by Da Wule and Nie Ling; if anything went wrong, Tianshi was stationed outside, capable of buying them sufficient time.

The soul map had already been prepared in advance, and Yang Ran’s soul harbored zero defenses against Zhan Suiru, resting peacefully enveloped within her fine, snow-like spiritual energy.

Only Gu Jiancheng was the sole wielder of the scalpel on the operating table, sweeping away contamination through the soul fissures Zhan Suiru cleared for him.

The tranquil, profound dark shadow touched the dense, clustered foul patterns inside Yang Ran’s soul; those parasitic, dodder-like things embedded deeply within the scars dissolved upon contact with the shadow.

The bright moon rose gradually from the eastern horizon to the zenith, tracking across the star-studded galaxy.

The clear moonlight dissolved all murkiness; the night was as transparent as a pristine black crystal, and the dark shadows were just as clear, tranquil, and peaceful.

Yang Ran’s soul slept peacefully amidst the fine snow, the hideous foul marks suppressed into complete immobility.

Dissolving, devouring, clean wounds were revealed wherever the shadow passed.

The fine snow filled the fissures, like a gentle embrace.

As the morning star lit up and the full moon descended toward the west, Zhan Yan finally refreshed the gossip strip he had long been waiting for:

[Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng has devoured all the power of Infinite within Yang Ran’s soul, leaving no residue.]

Awesome!

Zhan Yan couldn’t help cheering in his heart.

Inside the isolation chamber, Gu Jiancheng and Zhan Suiru were carrying out post-purging inspections.

Zhan Yan cheerfully logged onto the Approaching Science account and sent a message to the group chat for Yang Ran’s treatment.

Approaching Science: [It’s all cleaned up! Zero residue!]

The two carrying out checks inside the chamber couldn’t see the message, but outside the chamber, Ning Xi, Da Wule, and Nie Ling saw it first.

Seeing the message Ning Xi forwarded to her, Ji Yueming smiled faintly.

The isolation chamber no longer required her continued protection, but she did not leave; the dense web formed by lightning firmly guarded this place. The two inside were surely still conducting thorough, repeated checks.

When dawn woke the sleeping birds and the first chirp rang under the grayish-blue sky, the doors of the isolation chamber opened from the inside.

Gu Jiancheng took out his phone, and seeing the message Approaching Science sent in the small group, the corners of his mouth tilted up.

Of course he wouldn’t slip up.

At the same time, his direct messages on the chaofan forum were flashing incessantly. Opening them, it was Approaching Science again.

Approaching Science: [Boss is badass!!!]

Approaching Science: [Handled it all in a single night!]

Approaching Science: [And not a speck of residue left!]

Approaching Science: [Too cool, way too cool!]

Approaching Science: [Ah, is this the power of a true big shot?]

Approaching Science: [[Confetti][Confetti][Confetti]]

Gu Jiancheng’s brows involuntarily lifted, the corners of his mouth curling higher and higher.

He looked up and saw several people waiting outside.

A layer of lightning web blanketed the exterior, extending underground along pre-laid metallic grounding grids, wrapping the entire isolation chamber within.

Da Wule and Nie Ling stood inside the lightning web, while a figure clad in long robes wearing a lightning-patterned mask stood outside it. Although he couldn’t see her face, Gu Jiancheng felt she was smiling at him.

“It’s over. Rong Sui is inside treating him,” Gu Jiancheng said.

The curse of Infinite had essentially seeped into the wounds of Yang Ran’s soul, prying open the fissures and gripping tightly. Now that the power of Infinite was cleared out, Yang Ran’s soul had lost part of its support structure. Zhan Suiru had to seize this chance to patch up his soul as much as possible, giving it new support.

Nie Ling exhaled in relief; sporting two dark circles under his eyes, his pupils gleamed, and stream after stream of data refreshed across his monocle.

Ah, wonderful! Using the isolation chamber this time allowed him to collect massive amounts of precious data, which might just solve the bottlenecks in his upcoming research.

Plunged into research mode, Nie Ling lost all of his usual mature and composed demeanor, turning to stand before the lightning web: “Captain, let me out.”

Seeing his hyper-stimulated state, Ji Yueming said, “Go back and sleep; you are not permitted to go to the lab.”

Nie Ling had purely awakened supernatural abilities without cultivation. Physical exercise and meditation were only done because the bureau mandated them as missions. With his constitution, he couldn’t handle pulling all-nighters back-to-back.

Nie Ling: “I’m very awake right now.”

Ji Yueming: “This is an order. Protest again and I’ll revoke your lab access permissions.”

Nie Ling: …

“Oh.”

Crestfallen, he left through the opening Ji Yueming cleared for him.

Leaning against the wall, Da Wule chuckled: “How about it? The benefits in our bureau are very humane. Perhaps we can try synchronizing in the future and play support for you.”

“Thank you, no need.” Gu Jiancheng shifted his gaze to the other person, “Tianshi?”

He and Tianshi had never truly met face-to-face.

Over the past twenty-seven years, Gu Jiancheng had spent most of his time roaming around hunting anomalies, avoiding the personnel of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau, while the bureau had also been actively preventing a compromised Tianshi from clashing with him.

Twenty-seven years ago, while seated upon Infinite’s Supreme Balance, he had seen Tianshi on the battlefield of this world; back then, she used more than just lightning arts, and back then her lightning was not yet so terrifying.

Later, when he broke through the Supreme Balance and smashed his wager with Infinite, charging toward Infinite’s core, he knew he could at most point out a path—breaking through the layers of barricades around the core had already exhausted him, leaving him without strength to damage Infinite further.

Nor did he know whether the people of this world could seize that fleeting chance he carved out to deal a devastating blow to Infinite before it hid its core away again.

Without hesitation, a beam of light exploded behind him. The fiercest lightning he had ever witnessed chased closely behind, slamming into Infinite’s core with its most savage fury.

Being a fan of such a person—Approaching Science didn’t have bad taste after all.

[Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng assumes that you crazily showered him with praise in DMs because you were afraid he’d forget to ask Tianshi for her autograph.]

Zhan Yan: …

I clearly did it to put you in a better mood so you wouldn’t do something in front of your future mother-in-law that you’d regret later, okay!

[Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng obtained the autograph for you.]

[Tianshi Ji Yueming feels curious about Deep Shadow’s Tianshi-fan friend (you).]

[Tianshi Ji Yueming noticed the difference in Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng compared to twenty-seven years ago, feeling curious about the person who brought about this change in him (you).]

Zhan Yan: Alright, alright, got it. My mom is curious about me right now and wants to peel off my secret identity. But that’s not important; what’s important is what she currently thinks of classmate Xiao Gu!

His mother’s hadn’t refreshed yet, but his sister’s did. His sister had preliminarily stabilized Yang Ran’s soul and had packed him back into her miniature workshop.

[Zhan Suiru sincerely expressed her gratitude to Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng.]

[Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng feels smug and in great spirits over successfully boosting his favorability with his future elder sister-in-law, Zhan Suiru.]

Aww, Xiao Gu…

The phone alarm suddenly rang. Zhan Yan checked the screen and realized it was already 6:30 AM—time to wake up for morning exercise.

Ah… pulled an all-nighter without even realizing it.

After shutting off the alarm, the screen remained lit.

A message Gu Jiancheng had just sent rolled across the screen:

Gu Jiancheng: [Did you sleep well?]

Having stayed up all night, Zhan Yan tapped his screen to reply:

Zhan Yan: [Very well.]

He paused, unable to resist asking:

Zhan Yan: [What about you? Is everything good?]

Although he had already seen it in the gossip strips, he still wanted to hear confirmation directly from him.

Gu Jiancheng: [I’m very good too.]

He seemed unable to resist sharing his excellent mood, sending messages one after another:

Gu Jiancheng: [My matter last night went very smoothly.]

Gu Jiancheng: [Do you know why?]

Zhan Yan played along and asked:

Zhan Yan: [Why?]

Gu Jiancheng: [Because before it started last night, you told me that everything would go smoothly.]