GRMFBS CH237

Zhan Yan continued scrolling through the gossip strips, only to realize that the toy Gu Jiancheng had picked was a model not yet stocked in physical stores.

In that case, it really wouldn’t be easy for his sister to make the connection. But it wasn’t completely impossible either!

[Gu Jiancheng believes he has farmed enough favorability with Zhan Suiru to risk a slight chance of dropping his secret identity to give you a gift.]

Propping up his cheek with a hand, Zhan Yan let out a quiet sigh. His sister wasn’t the only one wearing a secret identity in this house. Mom was also in the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau. Even though he didn’t know whether Mom was familiar with Polar Radiance, that was still a potential leak waiting to blow his cover.

Besides, he couldn’t drop any more hints to Xiao Gu. It was fine if Xiao Gu dug things up on his own, but if he were the one who told him, then once the entire family’s secret identities fell and they found out he had kept Xiao Gu’s identity a secret from them while leaking all of theirs to Xiao Gu first… Game over. Xiao Gu wouldn’t even dream of farming any favorability with his family for the rest of his life.

So he could only temporarily turn down the gift, even though he really, really wanted to play with a wand-controlled magic circle.

Pretending he had no interest in oversized toys, Zhan Yan regretfully declined Gu Jiancheng’s gift.

Gu Jiancheng grew worried. His judgment seemed to have missed the mark again. But toys weren’t important; what worried him right now was another matter entirely.

“Yan Yan, what have you been busy with lately? You sound so exhausted,” Gu Jiancheng asked.

Zhan Yan thought to himself: As long as you don’t grind me into the ground, I won’t be tired at all.

He still had to keep lying: “Nothing much, just that the game Mom’s company invested in is participating in an expo soon, so things have been a bit busy.”

Gu Jiancheng understood. So it was family business matters. Ah, Yan Yan is bound to face more issues like this in the future. Corporate warfare and the like sound utterly mentally draining. How can I help Yan Yan? I don’t know the first thing about business operations… Should I make a self-study plan?

Still, that would be starting from scratch for me; trying to juggle two things at once might mean failing at both. Mmh… so I still need to work hard on taking down Infinite first. Even if I can’t wipe them out completely, at the very least I need to get rid of Monster Doctor.

If that pervert finds out about my relationship with Zhan Yan, he will definitely try to use Yan Yan.

[Gu Jiancheng decided to grind Approaching Science into helping him track down Monster Doctor so that he can be of help to you as soon as possible.]

Zhan Yan: …

A blissful agony.

Xiao Gu was truly so sweet, but he was also truly such a hardcore grinder.

Sure enough, right after hanging up the call, Approaching Science received a message from I Just Saved the World! asking him to look into Monster Doctor.

Approaching Science: [Looking into it, looking into it already.]

Zhan Yan sighed and resumed organizing the list of anomalies compiled in cooperation with the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.

By now, they had already uncovered quite a few anomalies. Even if these anomalous phenomena weren’t all interrelated, there were enough for him to try finding a common denominator to dredge up the big fish lurking beneath.

[Chao Wei felt his university dorm was far too hot without air conditioning, so he set up an inflatable pool inside the room.]

……

[Dong Jiaming grabbed an ice pop at random, only to realize at checkout that it actually cost 12 yuan. Dong Jiaming remarked: “Never mind. Just seeing the price has already chilled my heart.”]

……

[Hu Yihang was woken up by a cicada clinging to his window screen. He scrambled up to film a video and post it online, saying: “Truly my dear lord and master, refusing to sleep in the dead of night.”]

……

No matter how you looked at it, these were just ordinary summer daily life snippets.

Zhan Yan combed through all the gossip strips and closed his eyes to organize them inside the system backups.

He focused on the gossip strips where problems had cropped up, paying special attention to entries within three days before and after. Comparing, filtering, sorting…

Half an hour later, Zhan Yan snapped his eyes open.

Approaching Science: [It’s cicadas.]

Approaching Science: [Out of 45 anomalous phenomena, whether people or locations, 23 of them came into contact with a cicada before the anomaly manifested.]

Cicadas were among the most common insects in summer. They crawled out from underground, shed their molts, dried their wings, perched on trees to drink sap, and generated deafening noise.

Even if one hadn’t laid eyes on a cicada during summer, it was almost impossible to avoid hearing their droning cries.

Precisely because they were so ubiquitous, Zhan Yan had skimmed right past these cicada-related gossip strips at the start.

Yet through comparative analysis, their high frequency immediately leaped out.

23 out of 45—that was more than half. Even words with high summer frequencies like “ice pop” and “air conditioner” didn’t match this rate.

Zhan Yan had cross-referenced this against the gossip strips of other ordinary people; in randomized comparisons, the frequency of “cicadas” in the lives of normal people with no issues fell far short of 50%.

Even so, having identified the problem as lying with cicadas, Zhan Yan couldn’t simply search using “cicada” as a keyword, just as he couldn’t search with “person” as a keyword.

The gossip strips this time around were very bizarre, possessing exceptionally powerful concealment. Nearly everything retrievable consisted of anomalous “phenomena” rather than specific names of anomalies. This looked far more like a certain ability.

Administrator Lingyu: [Wait a moment, I’ll go check.]

Cicada, insect, Bug King—Nie Yu immediately thought of this player.

Several hours later, Nie Yu contacted him again.

The Bug King possessed an ability known as “Molting Cicada.” Cicada molt, molting cicada—the cicada conceals itself beneath its shed husk; prior to shedding, the nymph and the cicada are one and the same, impossible to distinguish. This was an extraordinarily powerful stealth skill, capable of completely shifting oneself into another identity and using someone else’s “shell” to mask one’s presence.

This explained why the names of anomalies couldn’t be found in the gossip strips: the moment an anomaly arose, it had already thoroughly transformed into the identity it chose to inhabit.

Administrator Lingyu: [The Bug King doesn’t remember having this ability. We confirmed it through other means.]

A new entry had already been added under the “Ability” column on Zhan Yan’s information plate. He typed “Molting Cicada” into the search bar.

[Loading…]

Splendid, the familiar gossip strips.

Zhan Yan added these loading gossip strips to his special watch list and dragged them into the “Favorites” folder, giving them a distinct marker.

Afterward, he began searching through the heavy hitters for [Loading…] entries.

First was Monster Doctor. Among his long chain of [Loading…] gossip strips, the specially marked [Loading…] did not appear.

Switching to the Chronicle of the World…

Approaching Science: [It’s the Chronicle of the World.]

The Chronicle of the World possessed the ability to steal others’ abilities. He should have checked the Chronicle of the World’s gossip strips first, but Xiao Gu’s crazy grinding had driven him so dizzy that he ended up searching Monster Doctor first.

Locating the Chronicle of the World was huge news too; this was the very bastard who had threatened his sister using Yang Ran’s soul!

Old grudges and fresh hatred surged up at once. Zhan Yan swiftly synchronized the intel with both Xiao Gu and his sister.

At any rate, everyone was cooperating now, so there was no fear of poor communication holding them back—there would never again be a repeat of asking Deep Shadow for help only to have him get cornered by the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau!

I Just Saved the World!: [Very good.]

I Just Saved the World!: [I knew the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau was useless.]

I Just Saved the World!: [Look how you caught the scent within days of joining in.]

I Just Saved the World!: [Keep up the hard work next time.]

Zhan Yan: …

Artisan: [Thank you.]

Look at how normal Sister’s reply is.

Because it involved Infinite, the vast majority of the Chronicle of the World’s gossip strips were blocked on Zhan Yan’s end. However, once the “Molting Cicada” ability was exposed, it served as an anchor he could utilize to trace the Chronicle of the World’s movements.

Still, the Chronicle of the World likely harbored other tricks; “Molting Cicada” couldn’t yield a precise location, offering only a rough area that was prone to delays. Whether he could actually be caught still depended on the operatives searching on the ground.

Opportunities were scarce. No one knew when the Chronicle of the World might notice something amiss and abandon the “Molting Cicada” ability. Just as no one knew how many stolen abilities he still held in reserve.

If he realized he was being pinpointed because of “Molting Cicada” and switched to another technique, tracking him down again would become an uphill battle.

[Zhan Suiru considers this opportunity to capture the Chronicle of the World extremely rare, and decides to hand over Lin Yuan Ghost King’s commission to Yang Ran.]

Although Yang Ran’s soul had not yet recovered enough to channel his supernatural power, his experience and innate talent in this craft surpassed hers; all he lacked was hands-on execution. He could consult with Lin Yuan Ghost King first, and she could dive into practical crafting once she returned.

Zhan Yan felt this wasn’t an issue.

[Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng believes capturing the Chronicle of the World is an excellent chance to score good-impression points, and decides to partner with Zhan Suiru to hunt the Chronicle of the World. If Lin Yuan Ghost King forces the Artisan Zhan Suiru into overtime, he will go have a chat with Lin Yuan Ghost King.]

Zhan Yan felt this was a massive issue!

Step aside! Let me handle this!

He went straight to his brother.

This was such an easy fix.

He first informed his brother that the “Artisan” was Rong Sui—there was no point hiding this identity anyway. Following the border merger of the apocalypse, this secret identity was bound to be exposed; both the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance knew, and Mount Chaofu’s ignorance was solely because the only Ghost King managing affairs was entirely focused on the Underworld.

Lin Yuan: [Understood.]

[Lin Yuan Ghost King Zhan Jinli understands Rong Sui’s feelings and agrees to the Artisan Zhan Suiru’s request to modify the custom crafting schedule.]

Look at how straightforward that was! Zhan Yan hadn’t even had the chance to mention that Yang Ran was far more proficient in artifact crafting; clearing it with him in advance ensured zero delays down the line.

Brother was truly wonderful.

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau reacted swiftly as well, rapidly hammering out an operational framework.

Approaching Science’s ability could define a general perimeter, but precise coordinates required complementary intel. Approaching Science was quite adept at synthesizing information, but in terms of pure efficiency, he couldn’t hold a candle to Librarian Tu Yue.

Therefore, in the upcoming operation, Approaching Science would establish the general perimeter where the “Molting Cicada” ability manifested. The information-type users of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau would handle potentially related details in neighboring spots, and Tu Yue would synthesize and filter these leads to yield the most probable locations for the Chronicle of the World before forwarding them to Deep Shadow and Rong Sui.

As for locations with lower probabilities, other personnel from the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau would keep them under surveillance.

Using a business trip to meet clients as a pretext, Zhan Suiru left home.

Zhan Yan quietly let out a breath of relief; he no longer had to dodge his sister at home. Over the past few days, he had repeatedly used his parents as meat shields. His dad, annoyed by the third wheel, had already begun making up all sorts of excuses to take Mom out on dates. In a few more days, he really wouldn’t have had any excuses left to avoid his sister.

Standing at the front door before departing, Zhan Suiru gave him an intent look and teased her brother: “Are you really that happy that I’m going on a business trip?”

Zhan Yan: Heh!

“How could that be? I’m still waiting to eat the cookies you bring back for me.”

I’m not the only one secretly dating. Mutual leverage, Sister.

His sister stopped pretending to be heartbroken.

His brother plunged into contemplation.

Cookies? Does Brother think cookies taste better than my bread now?

Zhan Jinli began staring intently at Zhan Suiru.

He typed:

Zhan Jinli: [Bring a portion for me too.]

He rather wanted to taste what those cookies were like too.

Zhan Suiru felt her brother’s gaze was slightly bizarre.

Whatever, too lazy to analyze it. If he wanted to eat them, so be it; she’d just tell Xiao Ran to bake an ultra-sweet batch for him.

Over the following days, Zhan Yan put other tasks on hold, temporarily dedicating himself to tracking the Chronicle of the World’s whereabouts.

The Chronicle of the World soon sensed he was being hunted, but remained oblivious to the fact that he was being pinned down through the “Molting Cicada” ability.

Zhan Yan compiled the latest retrieved gossip strips and sent them to Tu Yue.

Ah, having to search the Chronicle of the World’s gossip strips every single day and face an endless sea of [Loading…] is so annoying. I hope he gets caught tomorrow!

After a long day’s work, it was time for the goodnight phone call with classmate Xiao Gu.

Zhan Yan glanced over the gossip strips.

Xiao Gu and Sister had been cooperating smoothly these past few days. Boss Deep Shadow knew how to protect his secret identity, so there was nothing to worry about.

Zhan Yan stretched his arms, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep. Even while taking Mom out on dates every day, his dad still managed to supervise his workouts.

Meanwhile, Tu Yue, who was synthesizing the intelligence, couldn’t resist indulging the curiosity that had puzzled him for ages.

He sent Rong Sui a private message.

Librarian: [Are you fairly familiar with Deep Shadow?]

Rong Sui: [Decently.]

Rong Sui: [What’s up?]

Given their respective skill sets, there was no need for her and Deep Shadow to move together; splitting up offered far greater efficiency. However, both wanted to test whether Rong Sui’s spiritual imprint left on Infinite could track Infinite’s will, as well as the Chronicle of the World, who was hopelessly tangled with Infinite’s will.

She and Deep Shadow had grown slightly more acquainted over the last two days, but even adding the three months of hunting in the past, their total time in contact didn’t exceed four months.

Deep Shadow had stepped away briefly for some personal matter just now. For Tu Yue to pick this exact moment to inquire about Deep Shadow—was there some kind of problem?

Librarian: [Deep Shadow seems to have a healing-type boss beside him. Have you noticed anyone he contacts frequently?]

Librarian: [It might not be a healing-type either, but in short, someone with a very intimate relationship with him.]

Zhan Suiru: ?

So you went behind Deep Shadow’s back to message me privately just to gossip about him?

Associating the word “intimate” with Deep Shadow was jarring in the extreme.

She knew Deep Shadow had an information-type partner he worked with and occasionally maintained contact with players in the Retirees’ Alliance, but none of those could remotely be labeled as “intimate”.

Rong Sui: [I haven’t heard of Deep Shadow being close with anyone.]

Rong Sui: [Why do you ask?]

Tu Yue laid out the explanation to her in detail.

Librarian: [Therefore, someone beside Deep Shadow must have resolved his aftereffects.]

Librarian: [I suspect he’s in love.]

Librarian: [This possibility was originally proposed by Approaching Science.]

Librarian: [Even though it was just a hypothesis when he said it.]

Zhan Suiru completely missed whatever Tu Yue said next. Staring fixatedly at the words “in love,” a mental window paper seemed to suddenly burst open in her mind, instantly slamming together two disparate threads she had never once connected before.

Gu Jiancheng had just wrapped up his goodnight call with Zhan Yan. Stepping back in, he noticed Zhan Suiru staring at her screen with an unusual expression: “Rong Sui?”

Zhan Suiru slowly turned her head to look at Deep Shadow.