GRMFBS CH45

Not many people were following this post at first. The matter was limited strictly to Beiling City, so there weren’t many relevant parties. But as soon as “I Just Saved the World!” came out to reply—especially with such a provocative response—the thread instantly exploded.

Below, a crowd was cursing up a storm.

OP:

@I Just Saved the World! You don’t actually think that being ranked sixth on the points leaderboard means your strength is really only sixth, do you?

Gu Jiancheng was in a terrible mood right now; otherwise, he wouldn’t even bother acknowledging this kind of thread. Heh, of course I don’t think I’m sixth. I’m top one!

OP:

@I Just Saved the World! You’re in Beiling City right now, aren’t you? Don’t run if you have the guts!

49L “I Just Saved the World!”:

Wait here for you to catch your first anomaly? I’m afraid I’d be waiting until New Year’s and still not get home.

Zhan Yan was also reading this thread. The word “again” in the original poster’s title was used with brilliant nuance.

He recalled the long streak of anomaly cleanups when flipping through Deep Shadow’s gossip logs. Deep Shadow had just sent him a private message asking to buy intel on anomalies in Beiling City. Without bounties to earn from, he simply spent his own points; with this level of consciousness, he was somehow a wanted criminal.

Zhan Yan had only scrolled through a few replies before seeing Deep Shadow’s provocative retort. This wild arrogance was truly supreme—taunting people right to their faces, worthy of him!

Could Deep Shadow being wanted by all three factions be a direct result of him taunting all three factions to their faces?

Dozens of replies below gathered to watch the drama and fan the flames. After scrolling for a while, Zhan Yan couldn’t be bothered to read further. Using “Beiling City” and “anomaly” as keywords, he pulled up five pieces of intel on still-living anomalies from the Gossip System, packaged them, and sent them over to “I Just Saved the World!”

The points arrived in his account instantly.

Approaching Science: [Seeing how prompt you are with the payment, here’s a bonus piece of info.]
[The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau has also been active in Beiling City recently.]
[Don’t get caught.]

Otherwise, where would he go to earn points this easily?

I Just Saved the World!: [Heh.]

Zhan Yan: …

Whatever. Isn’t he just a wealthy chuunibyou?

Exiting the Gossip System, Zhan Yan lay back on his bed and rubbed his temples.

Phew… He had been sifting through gossip logs a bit too frequently lately. That was enough for today; he couldn’t keep digging. He needed to replenish some sugar.

Thinking for a moment, he pulled out his phone and sent Gu Jiancheng a message:

[Have you left the cafeteria yet?]

Gu Jiancheng: [Not yet. Need anything else?]

Zhan Yan: [I want some fruit candy from the supermarket.]

By evening, everyone had returned to the dorm except Bao Qingshan. Bao Qingshan had even skipped his afternoon classes today, not showing his face the entire day.

Duan Hong was naturally a worrier: “Where did Old Bao run off to again?”

Zhan Yan munched on candy and said, “Not sure. He’s skipped class quite a few times this semester already, hasn’t he?”

Duan Hong sighed: “Skipping every two or three days. He was never like this before. Did he run into some kind of trouble?”

Having finished his meal, Zhan Yan crunched through more candy. Feeling like his mental fatigue had eased slightly, he opened the Gossip System to look into what was going on with Bao Qingshan recently, only to find he couldn’t flip through the gossip logs.

Did I eat too little? Zhan Yan unwrapped another candy. Just as he was about to pop it into his mouth, his wrist was suddenly caught in Gu Jiancheng’s grip.

“Yan Yan, are you addicted to sugar?” Gu Jiancheng asked seriously.

Zhan Yan blanked for a moment, then glanced down at the desk. The oversized bag of fruit candy Gu Jiancheng had bought was already more than half gone. That was eating a bit too much.

When eating, he hadn’t paid attention to the quantity, only watching whether the Gossip System had recovered; if not, he just kept going.

But last time, didn’t I recover just from eating a single slice of sickly-sweet bread from my brother? Could that single slice of bread really contain more sugar than more than half a bag of fruit candies?

Zhan Yan vaguely felt something wasn’t right, but before he could ponder it, Gu Jiancheng’s handsome face leaned closer.

“Eating this much sugar isn’t good. You’ve been so drowsy lately; it might be caused by your blood sugar fluctuating too wildly,” Gu Jiancheng said earnestly. “You need to cut down on sugar and go outside for walks more often.”

Zhan Yan thought it over: “I’ll control the candy. Since I have morning workouts, skipping walks should be fine.”

Eating sugar seemed to be purely a psychological placebo, having little real effect on restoring the Gossip System, so quitting it was fine. As for going outside for walks, he genuinely didn’t have the time.

Gu Jiancheng looked at him with longing eyes: “I think going out for walks is pretty important too.”

Zhan Yan suddenly saw the light, rubbing his wrist with a chuckle: “Aren’t our morning workouts also one-on-one time?”

Gu Jiancheng: Waking up early for morning workouts cannot be called a date!!!

Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau

Nie Yu suddenly burst into loud laughter.

Nie Ling looked at his younger sister, suspecting she had gone mad from recent overtime, and began wondering if he should apply for some leave on her behalf.

“Look what I found!” Nie Yu pushed her desk in delight, rolling backward in her swivel chair as her ponytail swung behind her head. “Approaching Science! This guy is hoarding points because he wants to trade for a Lightning Talisman! He thinks lightning is cool!”

“This guy isn’t a fan of the Chongming Demon King; he’s a fan of our Captain!” Nie Yu frantically fired off messages summoning their captain.

Ji Yueming:

[Hmm?]

[Isn’t Approaching Science that fast-moving, information-type supernatural user?]

Her records hadn’t been updated yet; her impression of Approaching Science was still frozen in their initial encounter.

She had been quite busy lately. Being a senior captain of the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau wasn’t just about taking missions and charging in with a squad. As Tianshi, she was a weapon of mass destruction; most missions never escalated to the point of requiring her intervention, but those tasks still needed to be assigned, and the operational plans and execution processes required her supervision.

Nie Yu:

[He collaborated with us again later. The Wan Yao Alliance has been trying to recruit him the whole time.]

[I’ve uploaded all of this into our independent clearance group’s database.]

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau’s database was finely compartmentalized. The baseline tiers ranged from low to high, categorized from F to A; only those with sufficient clearance could unlock the corresponding database.

Beyond that, there were departmental divisions. Generally, materials from the Research Institute and the Field Department were kept separate. This was to deal with bizarre anomalies, preventing a leak of all materials should a high-clearance individual encounter an issue.

The most unique were the independent clearance groups. That intel was restricted strictly among a few relevant personnel; only by joining an independent clearance group could one access the information within. This partition was primarily set up for convenience during inter-departmental collaborations, and the files inside weren’t necessarily precious.

Ji Yueming hadn’t been assigned such missions recently, so she hadn’t looked at the messages in the independent clearance group she belonged to.

Ji Yueming:

[I haven’t read them yet.]

[Ning Xi dumped a whole bunch of missions on me recently.]

Ning Xi:

[Settle down and stop constantly thinking about doing field duty, and I’ll give you fewer missions.]

Nie Yu: … Pfft.

Nie Ling joined her in watching the two big shots bicker in the chat group.

The Captain had run into an issue during the great battle twenty-six years ago, yet lacked self-awareness about it, eager to unleash her ultimate move at the slightest disagreement. Those who cared about her tried everything to keep her from fighting.

Recently, Garbled Anomaly No. 2 had surfaced, and the Captain was itching for action again.

The missions the Deputy Bureau Chief dumped on her were all small tasks that didn’t require field duty but needed supervision, forcefully hemming her into the bureau with paperwork.

Ji Yueming:

[The Bureau has seven squads, and he dumped half of the missions onto ours.]

[You youngsters simply don’t know how to fight for your own perks.]

[Overtime pay, paid leave—don’t you know how to protest?]

Ning Xi:

[Go to finance for overtime pay, I’ve already approved it. Leave will be granted after this busy spell.]

[Keep an eye on your captain. Don’t let her run around.]

[If you can recruit that Approaching Science into the Bureau, I’ll waive your missions.]

Ji Yueming:

[Heh.]

[Having my squad members watch me, and you still expect me to work for you?]

[Were you the one who stole and ate my steamed bun last time?]

Bickering aside, Ji Yueming still went to check Approaching Science’s file.

My, he really is a newbie. He seemed to lack basic supernatural knowledge, even consulting Lingyu on fundamental issues like spiritual pollution.

Looking back now at his reaction when first contacting Administrator Lingyu, she could taste a beginner’s cautious, vigilant wariness. Suddenly, he seemed quite adorable!

Such an innocent newbie fan had stepped right into a major crisis like an unnamed anomaly upon entry, yet handled it well. He acted uprightly, merely obsessing over points—and that was just to buy her Lightning Talisman!

However, stepping into the supernatural world brought danger. The basics on the forum were scattered and incomplete; without systematic training, an information-type was the most vulnerable to pollution.

The senior Tianshi’s sense of responsibility flared right up!

As the senior master idolized by a newbie, how could she stand by and watch the kid stumble through the dark?

Ji Yueming went ahead and registered a forum account, sending Approaching Science a private message.

After sending it, Ji Yueming privately messaged Ning Xi to discuss official business:

[How’s the situation over in Beiling City?]

Her youngest son was attending university there! She was only waiting here because the situation remained stable; once Garbled Anomaly No. 2 exposed itself, no one was going to stop her!

Ning Xi wouldn’t let her go, but he kept her updated on the situation. Keeping her away right now was based on multiple considerations; if he truly tried to bar her when the time came, he feared Ji Yueming would pick a fight with him.

Ning Xi:

[No need to worry, I’ve invited people from Withered Pine Ravine to help.]

Ji Yueming:

[Doesn’t Withered Pine Ravine practice reclusive seclusion? Why were they willing to come out?]

The cultivation method of Withered Pine Ravine was very peculiar; they trained “inspiration,” an entirely illogical method.

Ji Yueming had witnessed with her own eyes how the ancestral matriarch of Withered Pine Ravine tracked down a wanted criminal who was exceptionally good at hiding:

“I reckon something’s off over yonder.”

And then she actually found him right there.

In this era where all arts of divination and deduction had failed, Withered Pine Ravine’s method of “inspiration” was, in certain respects, invincible!

With them around, it would indeed be a huge help in locating Garbled Anomaly No. 2. However, Withered Pine Ravine had high requirements for practicing the “inspiration” method, and they spent most of their time living in secluded isolation. They rarely came out for ordinary matters, and generally didn’t emerge for non-ordinary matters either.

Ning Xi:

[Their new successor feels he should follow the path of great recluses hiding within the bustling city. He just happens to be attending school in Beiling City right now.]

Ji Yueming:

[Oh my! Then he’s studying in the exact same city as my son.]

[Did you know my son attends Northern Agricultural University?]

Ning Xi remained deadpan: Yes, yes, I know your son has great grades.

That evening, when Zhan Yan logged into the chaofan forum, he discovered a private message from someone claiming to be “Tianshi”.

The senior Tianshi had never even registered on the forum—did this person think he didn’t know that?

Approaching Science: [Heh, scammer.]