GRMFBS CH69

The overly pure darkness of space suddenly had a piece bitten away.

The anomaly that fell into this shadow vanished noiselessly, as if it had abruptly slipped into another dimension.

Gu Jiancheng’s expression didn’t change as he gathered the shadow back in.

It was a newly born anomaly. Aside from the endless nauseating stench, there was another kind of irritating, grating feeling.

Every Infinite Player knew that all monsters were born from the “Black Nest,” and that each dungeon contained at least one Black Nest. It was the brood chamber of monsters, the players’ inescapable deathtrap.

But very few players knew that every monster born from a Black Nest carried the imprint of its mother nest. If one could discover this imprint, it could be used to trace the monster back to its origin.

This was cold knowledge—useless to most players.

A monster’s imprint wasn’t something like a tattoo, clearly visible. It shifted: sometimes distorted blood vessels, sometimes oily glimmers of light, sometimes frenzied murmurs.

Not many people could kill a monster while enduring its pollution and still manage to extract an imprint from the corpse. Even fewer had the ability to trace it back.

So far, the third newly born anomaly had already fallen into his shadows.

Gu Jiancheng wasn’t one for patient dissection or careful experimentation. He had only one method of finding imprints: simple, brutal.

He devoured and dismantled the anomaly, stripping layer by layer of its filthy power, and when everything else had been consumed, what remained was its imprint.

The process was unpleasant. A gnawing agitation he couldn’t name—was it a headache, or simply irritation—kept worsening. Perhaps it was because he was too far from Zhan Yan again, the sequelae clamoring for attention. Or maybe it was nothing but a trick of his own psyche.

He had already left the Infinite World, yet it still seemed to cloak him in its shadow, denying him peace.

With an annoyed click of his tongue, he logged into the Supernatural Forum.

“Approaching Science” was dragging their feet this time—he hadn’t gotten much of a list out of them yet.

Just after he pressed them, a reply came through.

They’d gotten his hidden wanted order.

Gu Jiancheng raised his brows.

[IJust Saved the World!]: “Filter out missions in the hidden wanted list related to anomalies. Provide the info, I’ll handle them. We keep working together.”

“Points—you decide the split.”

Zhan Yan read this reply and thought: …Well damn. No wonder he’s called the Anomaly-Slaying Maniac! The moment he learns about the hidden wanted list, his first thought is to team up and clear anomalies out of it!

Of course, someone willing to put in effort to clean up anomalies was a good thing.

[Approaching Science]: “OK.”

[I Just Saved the World!]: “Prioritize healing missions.”

Zhan Yan: ……

Lately his attention had been on Candle Dragon matters, and besides, he wasn’t short on points anymore. He really wasn’t interested in tackling the troublesome “Deep Shadow” mission.

He pulled up a gossip thread about Deep Shadow.

[Deep Shadow saved a homeless man from an anomaly attack, only to have the man’s dog bite his calf.]
[Deep Shadow calmed the terrified dog trying to protect its master.]
[Deep Shadow devoured anomaly %￥Q>, and is enduring sequelae.]

Another garbled anomaly…

Deep Shadow… Zhan Yan had seen his complete wanted order before. Normally, a wanted order listed both the target’s information and their crimes. But Deep Shadow’s had no crimes recorded.

He had committed no crimes. He was wanted simply for being “high-risk” and “uncontrollable.” The order only requested information.

Now Zhan Yan understood why. A superpowered individual who could devour anomalies—yet one with severe sequelae.

Anomalies and pollution were inseparable. His sequelae must be tied to pollution as well.

And yet he hated anomalies with such vehemence, and after the mess with the second garbled anomaly, he immediately tracked down a third…

This kind of setup practically begged people to imagine him as a tragic, overpowered figure.

Was Deep Shadow seeking a healing-type superpowered individual to cure his sequelae? Judging by his request, ordinary healers probably weren’t enough anymore.

Zhan Yan bumped the mission—one he had been lowering in priority—back to the top.

[Approaching Science]: “I’ll hurry.”

Feeling soft-hearted, Zhan Yan spent half the night digging up information on healing-type superpowered individuals. By the time exhaustion won and he collapsed into sleep, it was nearly dawn. When his alarm yanked him awake the next morning, he remembered—he still had a flight to catch!

Ah… seriously. Why had he gotten so caught up in Deep Shadow’s mission? Even if it was “urgent,” he didn’t need to pull an all-nighter.

He packed what little he had to bring: some changes of clothes, toiletries, plus the pastries Luán Jīn had packed for him, and that stone.

He lifted the box with the stone inside. His luggage was definitely overweight…

[This is a stone imbued with traces of demonic power, solidified drops of Candle Dragon’s wax tears. It contains a sliver of Candle Dragon’s mystical force, and may trigger fragments adrift in the long river of time.]

There was no “Parsing…” following. That was all the description.

Zhan Yan: …That’s it? What do you mean, “fragments adrift in the long river of time”? Aren’t item descriptions supposed to be clear? Why are you acting like a riddle-monger?

As if sensing his dissatisfaction, the description added a “……” and began updating in real time:

[……SiO₂ content 99.28%, Al₂O₃ 0.10%, Fe₂O₃ 0.097%, Ca……]

Zhan Yan: “Enough already!!”

He’d asked it to explain the riddle, not run a chemical assay. He was about to become a walking lab report!

The item description stubbornly finished the composition analysis, then started listing hardness, toughness, and other irrelevant data.

Zhan Yan shut the description window.

He’d been so busy last night digging up healers for Deep Shadow that he hadn’t even checked the new forum boards.

On the plane he caught up on sleep. He was still dozing when it landed, and was woken only by the noise of disembarking.

Gu Jiancheng came to pick him up at the airport. Seeing his groggy state, he took his luggage: “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Zhan Yan pressed his forehead against Gu Jiancheng’s shoulder, mumbling: “Mm… so tired. Let me lean a bit…”

He’d managed fine before boarding, but being forced awake mid-nap had left his brain a yawning mess.

Gu Jiancheng’s shoulder was firm, his clothes carrying a clean scent of soap. It felt safe…

Just as Zhan Yan was about to nod off, something cold pressed against his cheek.

He shivered awake, and saw Gu Jiancheng holding a chilled drink, pressing it to his face.

“You can’t sleep here. Hold out a bit longer—rest once we’re back.” Gu Jiancheng twisted open the drink and handed it to him.

Zhan Yan yawned again: “Did I really fall asleep? How long were we standing here?”

His eyes were wet with drowsy tears, his voice soft and low.

Gu Jiancheng’s throat moved slightly: “Not long.”

Just five minutes and forty-two seconds. Any longer, and Zhan Yan really would have fallen asleep standing.

They took a cab back to the university, dragging the suitcase across campus, wheels rattling over the brick pavement. Zhan Yan held the now-warm drink in one hand, his other arm linked with Gu Jiancheng’s: “Have you eaten? I brought back a lot of pastries.”

A long-haired white cat walked up to them, sat, and gazed up with golden eyes.

Zhan Yan froze at the familiar sight: “Ah…”

Gu Jiancheng: “What is it?”

Zhan Yan: “Looks familiar. Back at my neighborhood, a white cat like this blocked me too. First time it ate my cat food, second time it ate my chicken wings.”

But he didn’t think it was the same cat. Yunjin City and Beiling City were hundreds of kilometers apart. How could it have followed him?

Maybe this was the third little animal unafraid of him.

“Come on,” Zhan Yan said. “I didn’t bring anything to feed you.”

They skirted around the white cat.

The cat darted ahead of them and sat down again.

That persistence… looked even more familiar.

“Is it you?” Zhan Yan crouched, peering at the cat. “The stubborn little kitty?”

The white cat meowed.

[The extremely persistent, never-give-up, digestion-enhanced white cat thinks your ability to recognize cats by sight is poor. But that’s okay—humans are like that. The white cat magnanimously forgives you.]

Zhan Yan: “…So it is you! How did you get here?”

[The white cat decided your food was delicious, so it followed you all the way to Beiling Agricultural University.]

Zhan Yan was stunned. He finally understood what those four words—“extremely persistent”—meant. To travel hundreds of kilometers for a bite of food—what kind of foodie spirit was that?!

The white cat rubbed against his leg, then looked up with another meow.

“Want.”

Its golden eyes seemed to say: I’ve already paid in advance. How could you not deliver?

“I don’t have cat food or chicken wings now—nothing you can eat.” Zhan Yan tried to negotiate. “How about this: tomorrow, I’ll make cat food for you, okay?”

The cat stood. Zhan Yan thought he’d convinced it.

But just as he stood too, the cat ran around to Gu Jiancheng’s side and slapped a paw on the suitcase.

“Meow.”

“Want.”

Zhan Yan’s eyes widened: “You can smell that?”

Gu Jiancheng lifted the suitcase between them. The white cat glanced at him, then sat down in front of it again.

Gu Jiancheng couldn’t help but laugh: “It’s after the pastries you brought back?”

“Is it male or female?”

“Neutered yet?”

“Should we take it in for the procedure?”

The white cat shrank back two wary steps, planting its rear firmly on the ground.

[The white cat thinks your boyfriend is also a pervert.]