ACIFITFDB – Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Preparing to be a School Bully or a Campus Heartthrob?

Qin Xian opened his eyes, but everything remained blurry. Sharp pain made him believe he had gone blind. This was the price of prolonged use of the [Insight] ability, which hadn’t fully recovered even by the next day.

However, it was just eye strain; a little rest would fix it.

His sensitive eyes couldn’t handle bright light, so he found a pair of sunglasses and put them on. After breakfast, he poured a bag of milk and an egg for Tangyuan, along with some dog food.

Tangyuan seemed completely unaware of Qin Xian’s threats from yesterday, lowering its head and devouring the food. Qin Xian smirked, grabbed the dog’s tail, and stroked it from the base all the way to the tip.

Then, ignoring the dog, whose ears perked up as it looked at him, he headed straight out for his appointment.

The meeting place was a private room in a Hunan cuisine restaurant. When Qin Xian pushed the door open, he saw two strangers sitting inside. Huang Dehui was not present.

There was a man and a woman. The woman was approaching forty, wearing a tracksuit, with short hair neatly falling by her ears and an air of heroism between her brows. The man was much older, his hair streaked with white, appearing to be near retirement age.

The older man was the first to stand up and extend his hand to Qin Xian. “Hello, Mr. Qin. My name is Kang Ming. I am the Commander-in-Chief of the National Abnormal Event Processing Center, and also a General.”

His expression was gentle, his tone kind yet authoritative, and the aura of a soldier emanated from him. He looked like both a family elder and a shrewd strategist.

He hadn’t expected the country to take him so seriously.

Qin Xian also became serious, extending his hand to shake Kang Ming’s. “Hello, Commander Kang.”

Kang Ming smiled warmly and turned to introduce the other woman. “This is the leader of our center’s First Squad, Yuan Fengying. She is a very capable ability user.”

Qin Xian asked, “Ability user? Not a player? Could it be that killing anomalies in this world also has a chance of granting special abilities and items?”

Kang Ming nodded. “Yes, though the probability is very low, likely lower than in the Infinite Flow Worlds you experience. But some ordinary people have still gained special powers, and Yuan Fengying is one of them.”

If ordinary people with a sense of justice could also gain abilities and items, the situation would be much better.

Qin Xian asked, “However, can those ‘players’ also take advantage of this to improve themselves by grinding anomalies?”

Kang Ming shook his head. “We don’t have conclusive evidence of that yet, but we have conducted some experiments.”

Qin Xian raised an eyebrow and asked, “Did you capture ‘players’ for experiments, or did you lead teams to grind anomalies?”

Kang Ming smiled. “More than that. If you’re interested, I can take you on a tour of our laboratory if you join us.”

Heh, although he was a little interested, he wouldn’t join just for a tour.

“You won’t conduct any human experiments, will you?”

“How could we? We would never experiment on humans. Other countries have, and they almost caused major disasters. But for the future of humanity, we will do our best to understand anomalies and enhance our strength.”

That was only natural. Perhaps soon, the country’s understanding of anomalies would surpass his as a cleared player. No, perhaps it already had…

How were anomalies born? What was pollution? Besides rules, what common weaknesses did they have? Was there a way to permanently kill the Main God? How were those items and abilities produced?

Qin Xian’s hand on the dining table gradually clenched, his expression unclear in the shadows.

No, these questions were likely difficult to answer. If they had truly figured it out, they would have launched a large-scale counterattack long ago.

“If Mr. Qin is unwilling to join our center, we will consider cooperating with you. We have a rather urgent matter we’d like to ask Mr. Qin to help with, with a reward of fifty thousand afterward. In addition, we will also give you some of our current research findings.”

“Oh?” Qin Xian’s interest piqued. “What matter?”

The smile disappeared from Kang Ming’s face, and he said in a deep voice, “City No. 1 High School. The third-year students and teachers who are about to take their college entrance exams have all disappeared overnight.”

“Disappeared?!”

“Yes, they’ve been missing for three days now. We organized people to go on the first day, but we couldn’t get in. We haven’t caused public panic yet, but if it drags on for another two days, parents might start noticing something is wrong.”

Kang Ming’s expression turned stern. “Moreover, City No. 1 High School is the largest high school in the city. More than a thousand children who are about to take their college entrance exams have disappeared. They are the hope of over a thousand families.”

“I promise you, I will go.”

Qin Xian continued with a grave tone, “I suspect this matter was done intentionally. If they succeed in causing the deaths of the third-year students, it could cause nationwide turmoil.”

Kang Ming firmly grasped Qin Xian’s hand. “Thank you. If you can save all the children, the reward will be increased by another twenty thousand.”

Qin Xian nodded.

Even without the reward, he would have come upon hearing this news. Of course, having a reward was even better.

Leaving the restaurant, Qin Xian slowly walked home. He took out a small glass bottle from his pocket. Kang Ming had given it to him before he left.

He said it was a small gift from a new development as a token of his gratitude for accepting the commission.

The glass bottle contained half a bottle of black, viscous liquid that tilted slowly with movement. Upon closer inspection, it was quite chilling, because the black liquid was actually made up of countless tiny black insects, wriggling densely inside the bottle.

Qin Xian knew what this was. It was a type of “creature” commonly found in anomaly domains. They were incredibly weak, surviving by absorbing negative energy within the domain.

However, when they gathered in large numbers and encountered a human who had lost consciousness, they could become quite terrifying.

It was like snails and worms at the bottom of the water; when they encountered immobile food, they would swarm and slowly gnaw.

If a living person fainted near these small black worms for half a day, they might never wake up again. After a day, they would be gnawed down to a skeleton.

However, these little things were very timid. They would hide at the slightest disturbance. A gentle squeeze could crush them into dust. In a domain, they would also avoid anomalies stronger than them.

He wondered how Kang Ming’s people had managed to bring these little creatures out, cultivate them, and place them in special containers. This way, their characteristics could be well utilized for detecting the presence of anomalies.

When there were anomalies nearby, these little creatures would vibrate violently, attempting to escape in the opposite direction. Currently, the little insects in the bottle were listless, swaying with Qin Xian’s movements.

The surroundings appeared safe.

However, this thing could only be used in the real world. In a domain, where danger lurked everywhere, these little creatures would explode into fireworks inside the bottle.

Qin Xian thought and put away the quiet little bottle.

When he reached the apartment building, Qin Xian took out the small bottle again and held it up, pointing it at his own window. The little insects in the bottle still showed no reaction.

He slowly went upstairs with the bottle in hand. Standing at the doorway, he looked down again, and the little insects were still very quiet.

Qin Xian used his key to open the door, pushed it open, and saw Tangyuan in the same spot. It was still standing behind the sofa, poking its head out. Upon seeing Qin Xian, it wagged its tail a couple of times.

However, this time was different. It actively approached and suddenly raised its front paws, attempting to climb onto Qin Xian’s leg.

Qin Xian immediately took a step back, causing the dog to miss its jump.

“Hmm?”

Tangyuan’s front paws hit the ground, and it tilted its head to look at Qin Xian.

“You haven’t bathed yet, don’t paw at me.”

After saying that, Qin Xian coolly walked past it and sat down on the sofa.

The bottle in his hand still showed no reaction.

Heh, it seemed to be just a basic product.

The next day, Qin Xian woke up early and packed items suitable for taking to school: a large pot of water, a set of quick-drying clothes for changing, dry rations, first-aid supplies, a folding knife, a small hammer, and a durable flashlight.

After preparing everything, he added more dog food and water to Tangyuan’s bowl.

Tangyuan walked over, looked at the mountain of food, and then looked up at Qin Xian.

Qin Xian said to the dog, “I’m going out again. You stay here and be good.”

If Tangyuan were a normal dog, he would definitely give it away for adoption. Given his current situation, it was truly unsuitable to keep a pet. He would sometimes stay in domains for days without coming out, and could even die at any moment. In such a scenario, a pet confined at home would most likely face death.

“Woof…”

Tangyuan barked and took a couple of steps forward.

Qin Xian reached out and firmly patted the dog’s head, giving it a final pat before standing up and opening the door.

This time, Tangyuan did not bark, but walked to the entryway and stared outside until the door closed, disappearing from Qin Xian’s sight.

Qin Xian quickly drove to City No. 1 High School. The taxi stopped outside the school gate. Pedestrians occasionally passed by outside, but there were few. This was because a cordon had been set up nearby, and the concrete road had been dug up, with broken stones piled up beside it.

It seemed like construction was underway, but it might not be. It was highly likely a deliberate measure to prevent passersby from approaching the dangerous area.

Qin Xian, wearing a black mask and a baseball cap, looked up at the campus within the walls.

The weather was somewhat overcast. There was no sound or people within the campus, making it appear normal from the outside. However, those with sensitive senses would feel a sense of oppression and discomfort when staying near this area.

“Hello, Mr. Qin.”

A female voice interrupted Qin Xian’s thoughts. He turned his head and saw the team leader he had met at yesterday’s dinner standing beside him, wearing plain gray clothes, looking sharp and heroic.

However, what was her name again? It seemed to be Yuan Fengying.

Qin Xian extended his hand. “Hello, Captain Yuan.”

Yuan Fengying shook his hand briefly and then released it, turning to look gravely at the school gate. “Many of our team members cannot enter the school.”

Qin Xian asked, “Domains cannot be entered casually. Only by triggering specific conditions or by being the ‘food’ the domain owner likes can one enter. Can those who entered be contacted?”

Yuan Fengying shook her head. “No, communication equipment is malfunctioning. Because of this, we don’t know what conditions to trigger to enter. Do you have any suggestions?”

Qin Xian thought for a moment and replied, “According to normal logic, schools are generally places that refuse entry to outsiders.”

Yuan Fengying’s eyes lit up. “I understand. You mean we need to create an identity that allows us to enter the school, right?”

Qin Xian nodded. “Yes. You would be more suitable as a teacher… As for me, I’ll try to be a student.”

Yuan Fengying looked at his long legs, his exquisite eyebrows partially hidden under the brim of his hat, and his medium-length hair. After a moment of contemplation, she asked, “Are you preparing to be a school bully or a campus heartthrob?”