GRMFBS CH112

Zhan Suiru was no longer in the mood to confide in her idol, Tianshi, and hastily concluded the conversation.

In short, the deal was that the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau would give her the fragment of the Apocalypse, and she would help them develop a high-precision, low-cost, mass-producible pollution monitoring system.

Ji Yueming communicated with Ning Xi and agreed to this condition.

Ning Xi expressed, “Let’s see if we can take this opportunity to poach the Craftsman for the Bureau.”

“The contents of this trade are very precious. How does he plan to make the exchange?”

Ning Xi’s abacus was clattering loudly.

The Craftsman’s research data could be sent via transmission, but the world fragment left from the Apocalypse was a physical object. A transaction would likely require an offline meeting. This was a great opportunity to recruit him. They could meet and talk, clear up any misunderstandings the Craftsman might have about the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau. He didn’t have to join immediately; they could first arrange for some researchers to collaborate with the Craftsman. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to expand their thinking together?

Tianshi: “The same as before, through a broker.”

Ning Xi’s wishful thinking was shattered, and she was very unwilling to accept it.

“A broker is not a trustworthy person. Isn’t the Craftsman afraid he’ll pocket the goods?”

Tianshi: “The Craftsman said he helped set up the black market’s security system.”

So, there was no fear. If the broker dared to double-cross her, his black market would be gone.

Ning Xi could only give up with great regret.

Sigh, the work of talent acquisition was always so difficult. The Craftsman couldn’t be poached, and neither could Approaching Science.

Mentioning Approaching Science, Ning Xi remembered something else.

Ning Xi: “I think with a little effort, Approaching Science might not be impossible to poach. He’s been arguing on your behalf on the forum, did you see?”

Ji Yueming hadn’t seen it. Her interest was piqued, and she logged onto the forum.

The battle on the forum had already died down. Those who had cursed the Chongming Demon King had been muted or banned by Luo Wang, and those who had cursed Tianshi didn’t dare to make a peep—Approaching Science’s combat power was far too high! The Craftsman could at best use his money-power to gather a crowd to curse back, but thick-skinned people could continue to be unreasonable even when under siege. Approaching Science was different; he would dig up real black history at the slightest disagreement!

A new mission quietly appeared in the mission area. The publisher was anonymous, and the mission content was to find the black history of Approaching Science.

This anonymous mission was quickly moved to the water-cooler section and mocked.

2L:
Just here for the drama. How long do you guys think it will take for Approaching Science to dig up who wants his black history?

3L:
Posting a mission to dig up the black history of an information-type master? Has his brain been muddled by anger? Is he afraid others won’t be able to find him?

4L:
Can you really dig up an anonymous user? There’s not even a screen name. If that can be dug up, is the forum’s security still trustworthy?

5L “Pure White Puzzle“:
An anonymous user definitely can’t be dug up, unless one has a special ability like Luo Wang’s that can directly trace desires.
But for this mission to be posted at this particular time, eighty percent of the time it’s someone who just argued with Approaching Science, and the remaining twenty percent are people who had conflicts with him on the forum before.
Starting from these people, you could probably find him.

7L:
Master Pure White Puzzle!

This was also a famous information-type master on the forum, usually lurking. It was a surprise to see him appear.

The thread went off-topic for a few floors, with some asking if Pure White Puzzle and Approaching Science knew each other, and others asking how long he thought it would take Approaching Science to find the mission publisher. A whole mess of questions were asked, but Pure White Puzzle didn’t answer. He only appeared once more later.

49L “Pure White Puzzle“:
Stop derailing the thread. I’m just here out of curiosity to eat some melon.

Pure White Puzzle stopped appearing in the thread, but messages were flying fast in a private group chat.

Happy Guessing Game: “Come on, come on, placing bets! Everyone bet on how long it’ll take Approaching Science to dig up who wants his dirt?”

Pure White Puzzle: “I bet it’ll be out today.”

Happy Guessing Game: “Tsk!”
“You’re no fun. What’s the point of guessing by the day? We need to be precise, down to the hour!”

Pineapple Bun Lover: “I bet 5 hours.”

Waltz: “I bet 4 hours.”

Arcane Book: “Not betting. Gambling is harmful to physical and mental health, and it wastes money.”

Happy Guessing Game: “Ao Ao, you’re so boring.”
“Being so serious will make you old fast.”
“I bet 3 hours.”

Arcane Book: “Boring.”

Unbeknownst to Zhan Yan, Approaching Science had long been the focus of the information-type masters’ circle.

A group of masters were all lurking, reading his posts and trying to get a scoop on him.

Because of Approaching Science’s surprising debut, he had caught the attention of this group of masters as soon as he appeared on the forum.

These information-type superpowered individuals generally had extensive networks and mostly knew each other. High-level information-type superpowered individuals would form a circle; this was a result of their ability’s nature.

Information-related work was not a job that absolutely required superpowers; ordinary people could also become information brokers, and these superpowered individuals were certainly not rigid.

No single information-type could handle all types of information alone, so they would communicate and exchange information with each other, while also being wary of one another.

When a newcomer emerged, they would observe and evaluate before deciding whether that person could enter their circle.

The higher up the circle, the fewer the people. In the very top circles, the most important assessment criterion was not ability, but character.

A lot of the information circulating in their circle could not be easily leaked. If someone with poor character got in, who knows how many people would be screwed over.

The circles of information-type superpowered individuals varied in size. Generally, after a new information-type superpowered individual appeared, someone would soon invite them to join a circle. The scope of abilities and information in these circles was not very high, but they could allow the newcomer to quickly understand the unique ecosystem of information-type superpowered individuals, and also allow the superpowered individuals in the circle to get a preliminary impression and further judgment of him.

After that, he would enter some new circles and leave some old ones. During this process, top-tier information-type superpowered individuals like Pure White Puzzle and his group would also understand and judge from the circles they were involved in, deciding whether to absorb him into their own circle.

But Approaching Science was an oddball. After he appeared on the forum, he hadn’t joined a single circle!

At first, they thought Approaching Science just hadn’t joined a circle they were a part of, but after asking around, they discovered this guy hadn’t communicated with any other information-type superpowered individuals at all! It was as if no one had ever sent him an invitation.

Zhan Yan had, of course, received invitations, quite a few in fact, but he hadn’t replied to a single one.

When Zhan Yan first joined the Chaofan Forum, he was extremely cautious, afraid that others would dig up his identity. Because he had been unable to open his Yin-Yang eyes, he always felt he couldn’t be considered a true superpowered individual, but was essentially an ordinary person. Therefore, he had always avoided these information-type superpowered individuals.

This made it extremely difficult for these information-type masters to understand him. Any attempt to investigate him would be blocked by a layer of information gray fog. The only thing they could determine was that his information security ability was definitely of the highest level. The only other way to understand him was to judge based on his replies on the forum.

This group of masters even started a betting pool on him.

Happy Guessing Game: “Is no one else joining?”
“Friends, has anyone found any other news about Approaching Science?”
“The prize pool has accumulated very, very high!”
“Does nobody want all these points?”

Waltz: “Nope.”
“That layer of information gray fog of his is too difficult to deal with.”
“I try once every day, and I still haven’t broken through.”

Chewing Big Melons: “+1 on failing to chew this melon so far.”

Arcane Book: “Approaching Science has good relations with both the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance.”
“He often takes missions directly from both sides.”

Happy Guessing Game: “What the heck!”
“Does the prize pool have a winner???”

Pure White Puzzle: “@Arcane Book Master! How did you break through the information gray fog?! Teach me!”

Waltz: “@Arcane Book Master! How did you break through the information gray fog?! Teach me!”

Chewing Big Melons: “@Arcane Book Master! How did you break through the information gray fog?! Teach me!”
…

Arcane Book: “I didn’t break through.”
“Found out through outside means.”

This meant he got the information through his own network, without using his superpower.

Happy Guessing Game: “Outside means is still impressive, at least it’s a breakthrough.”
“But the prize pool won’t be distributed.”

Pineapple Bun Lover: “His connection with the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau should be from the ‘Youth’s Grudge’ incident when he connected with Ling Yu. But how did he connect with the Wan Yao Alliance?”

Too Lazy to Pick a Screen Name: “Is it because he’s a fan of the Chongming Demon King?”

Chewing Big Melons: “Isn’t he also a fan of Tianshi?”
“Look at his fighting power when he stood up for Tianshi this time.”

Pure White Puzzle: “And yet the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau still couldn’t poach him.”

Arcane Book: “The Wan Yao Alliance is also trying to poach him.”

Pure White Puzzle: “Hey, the relationship between those two organizations is so bad. Hasn’t he crashed and burned playing both sides?”

Being poached was normal, and being poached by two sides at the same time was also normal. But one either had to choose a side or reject both. There was no such thing as wavering between the two, stringing both along to let them compete while you profit. The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance were not fools.

Judging from Black Wolf’s public recruitment attempt a while ago, it was clear they thought there was still hope for Approaching Science to join their Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau. And Arcane Book said the Wan Yao Alliance was also trying to poach him now. Did this mean he hadn’t completely rejected either side? It couldn’t be that he had rejected both, but was so amazing that both the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance were unwilling to give up and were still trying hard to recruit him, right?

Chewing Big Melons: “Approaching Science is awesome. I’ve discovered he never plays by the normal rules!”

Too Lazy to Pick a Screen Name: “And he hasn’t crashed and burned! A water-balancing master!”

Waltz: “Water-balancing master!”

Pineapple Bun Lover: “Water-balancing master!”
…

Happy Guessing Game: “So when can we pull him in so I can learn some water-balancing experience?”

Arcane Book: “Stop messing around.”
“The black history mission on Approaching Science has been accepted.”

Happy Guessing Game: “???”
“Who accepted it?”

Pure White Puzzle: “Not me.”

Waltz: “Not me.”

Chewing Big Melons: “Not me.”
…

After asking around, no one admitted to it.

Arcane Book: “Go see for yourself.”
“Approaching Science accepted it himself.”

Happy Guessing Game: “???”

Zhan Yan saw the mission. He couldn’t be bothered to figure out which guy was behind it and directly clicked “Accept Mission.”

Accepter:
Approaching Science

Submission Content:
My biggest black history is lowering my standards to argue with you bunch of dark clowns.