Chapter 56: Chengnan Bookstore 3
The injured monster disappeared without a trace, leaving the crowd who had been forcibly dragged in feeling uneasy, each huddling in a sheltered corner, whispering about the various urban legends of the Zeus Grand Hotel. Because so many deaths had occurred here, the local government had specially brought in a team of armed police to lay the foundation and break ground when they demolished the hotel for reconstruction—it was said that their strong masculine energy could suppress things.
The investigation team had already sent over detailed information on all the murder cases.
Zhuang Ningyu had a habit of quickly scanning the pictures first. When he flipped to the fourth one, a face, blackened by smoke, abruptly dominated the entire screen. The corpse’s features were twisted into a bizarre smile. It was clear that this was the deceased from the arson case back then, or more accurately, the deceased from the kidnapping, explosion, and arson case.
The developer of the Zeus Grand Hotel was named Bao Yuzhou. At that time, it wasn’t the only project of his that had gone belly-up; there were also two residential buildings in the city. The residential area was positioned as housing for essential needs, so most of the owners had to empty the pockets of six family members to buy a property. The deceased, Dou Dekai, was no exception. He was an ordinary working-class person. The unfinished building meant that in the days to come, he would have to earn money to support a building he might never be able to live in. In a moment of desperation, and it’s unknown how he found out, he learned that Bao Yuzhou had a sixteen-year-old illegitimate son. He stalked and followed him for three months, ultimately creating this sensational case.
Dou Dekai demanded a price of three million from Bao Yuzhou. Although Bao Yuzhou was already deep in debt at the time, not wanting to pay back the bank didn’t mean he had no money on hand. His wife was infertile, so trading three million for his only son’s life was a worthwhile deal. He chose not to report it to the police and quietly took a bag of money to the construction site specified by the kidnapper—the Zeus Grand Hotel—to ransom his son.
As instructed, Bao Yuzhou placed the money in the corner of the warehouse and then turned to go back to his car to wait for the pickup. But a few seconds later, with a “boom,” the ground trembled, and a pillar of fire shot up from the warehouse. The heavy, rusty gate was blown into twisted, fragmented pieces, flying in all directions. In the deafening roar, Bao Yuzhou and his car were overturned, but he didn’t die. The seatbelt he habitually wore and the deployed airbag saved his life. He lay in the ICU for a full two months before being transferred to a regular ward.
Because the Zeus Grand Hotel was in a remote location, the accident did not affect the surrounding residents. The fire was extinguished by the fire department, and the police found two incomplete corpses in the charred ruins. Forensic examination confirmed one was Dou Dekai, and the other was Bao Yuzhou’s illegitimate son, Bao Mingming. On the second day after the incident, Dou Dekai’s personal social media account posted a scheduled suicide note, recounting his years of suffering and stating his intention to drag Bao Yuzhou and his son to hell with him, to avenge all the “housing friends” who, like him, had bought unfinished buildings, and to become a “hero who shook the world.”
Zhuang Ningyu swiped past the horrifying photo of the charred corpse. The next one was a photo of Dou Dekai. This face… Yi Ke also leaned over to look. He said, “This seems to be the monster from just now? When the explosion first happened, these private photos were all over the internet. No wonder we thought he looked familiar.”
“It does look like him, but there’s something strange,” Zhuang Ningyu frowned slightly. “When he appeared, he was wearing a tuxedo.”
Every rule zone is a small world with a fundamental chain of logic. Over the years, rule-breaking departments around the world have compiled and analyzed a six-figure number of actual cases, discovering that the behavioral logic of all monsters born from rules never deviates from the basic logic of that rule, and this logic is largely consistent with human society. In other words, things that violate basic logic in real life are equally incongruous in a rule zone.
So, as an ordinary programmer, why would Dou Dekai, all of whose photos showed him in plaid shirts and jeans, appear in the rule zone wearing a pristine white tuxedo? When Jiajia appeared, she was wearing a blue and white dress. Although it was also a special costume, it was because she liked Dorothy, which was logical. But how to explain Dou Dekai’s tuxedo? Diplomatic occasions, award ceremonies, musical performers, formal balls, and, Zhuang Ningyu looked at Yi Ke, “The closest occasion to Dou Dekai where one would wear a tuxedo, I think, would be a wedding.”
“Was he married?”
“Unmarried.”
Not only was he unmarried, his romantic history was also blank. After the incident, the police retrieved all of Dou Dekai’s chat records and found that he had signed up for a “Subway Pickup Training Class” three years prior. He had added and deleted at least fifty young beautiful women on his phone, but due to his own poor conditions and questionable emotional intelligence, he had not succeeded in chatting with any of them for a full week.
Unmarried, but clearly very eager to develop relationships with the opposite sex. Yi Ke guessed, “Could it be that he grabbed Ni Ruiling as soon as he appeared because he wanted to take her to get married?”
Zhuang Ningyu glanced at the woman in the corner. Coincidentally, Ni Ruiling was also looking this way. The great beauty was as cold and stunning as a blade. From a worldly perspective, Dou Dekai’s social circle should have nothing to do with her.
“Carrying a knife when she goes out, she’s no pushover either,” Yi Ke said. “I’ll go talk to her. From entering the rule zone until now, her behavior has been completely out of line with the basic norms within the rules. If this continues, everyone will be trapped here.”
Ni Ruiling’s attitude towards Yi Ke was much friendlier. She didn’t hold a grudge against him because of Zhuang Ningyu, and proactively stood up from the tattered high chair, greeting him politely, “Young President Yi.”
Yi Ke held his phone up to her. “Do you know him?”
Ni Ruiling glanced at it and shook her head. “I don’t.”
“He was the monster just now, Dou Dekai, the mastermind of the Zeus Grand Hotel kidnapping and arson case six years ago,” Yi Ke put his phone away. “After entering a rule zone, the sooner the specific rules are triggered, the faster the trapped personnel can leave. Furthermore, an injured monster can become extremely aggressive. Your stab just now can already be classified as a deliberate sabotage of the breaking operation.”
“I greatly admire Mr. Yi Shen,” Ni Ruiling crossed her arms. “So I really can’t understand why his younger brother would choose to join the Order Maintenance Department. In my opinion,” her red lips parted slightly, spitting out the words one by one, “it is the most useless department.”
Zhuang Ningyu pressed his earpiece and continued to flip through the materials.
Due to the existence of rule zones, the status of the Order Maintenance Department had risen significantly. Whether the general public was willing to join was another matter, but at least they were genuinely grateful for and supportive of the personnel in service. After all, when faced with the white fog, the vast majority of people were in a state of “helpless, save me.” The Order Maintenance Department was a savior born specifically for the rules. A savior, if not a world-shaking hero, was at least not associated with the word “useless,” right?
Yi Ke asked, “Reason?”
Ni Ruiling toyed with the excerpt card in her hand and borrowed a line from it. “I simply ‘do not accept his world.'”
Yi Ke smiled. “I can tell you have strong opinions about rule zones.”
“Don’t you find it absurd? One day, the world suddenly becomes a giant game lobby, and humanity is not the players, but merely ‘the played,'” Ni Ruiling said. “Although governments around the world are deliberately avoiding panic-inducing words like ‘main god’ or ‘controller,’ the facts are right in front of us. We, all of us in the rule zone, are the playthings of the ‘controller.’ They can set the rules arbitrarily, while we can only obey them. And you, the Order Maintenance Department, are responsible for forcing the masses to obey the rules. Isn’t that useless enough?”
“Outside of a rule zone, I understand and respect all your views. But inside a rule zone, I’m sorry, Ms. Ni, you can only listen to me,” Yi Ke did not refute her long speech, but simply reminded her, “The next time the monster appears, I hope you will cooperate.”
“Impossible,” Ni Ruiling refused flatly. “What was that programmer’s name, Dou Dekai, or Dou Kaide?” She made no effort to hide the disgust on her face. “A low-level man who couldn’t even get close to me in the real world, just because he entered a rule zone and became a monster, can openly carry me away, and I have to cooperate?”
“After he carries you away, the rules must generate a chain of logic to rationalize the fact that ‘you were carried away,'” Yi Ke said. “The more chains of logic, the sooner it will help us leave.”
“I said, I will not be a ‘played one,'” Ni Ruiling’s tone was icy. “Besides, I have already cooperated just now, by ‘seeking help from professional personnel at the first opportunity’ as stipulated. The result was that your Order Maintenance Department’s people pushed me to the front.”
“According to current law, Ms. Ni, if you still refuse to cooperate and insist on using the rest of the public as a stepping stone for your resistance against the rules,” Yi Ke raised the gun in his hand, “I have an obligation to protect them.”
“Will you shoot me?” There was a hint of contempt in Ni Ruiling’s voice. “Don’t forget, the monster chose me.”
“Weren’t you unwilling to be a ‘played one’?” Yi Ke’s eyebrow arched slightly. “Why are you now using ‘being chosen by the monster’ to protect yourself?”
Ni Ruiling was at a loss for words.
“To reiterate, my responsibility is to protect everyone’s safety,” Yi Ke said. “The rules haven’t appeared yet. Even if I shoot, it won’t cause the logical chain of this world to collapse. At most, it will only provoke the monster. But since you’ve been provoking the monster all along, there’s no essential difference between the two.”
Ni Ruiling’s gaze moved from the gun to his face, as if weighing the pros and cons. A moment later, she finally compromised. “Fine, I will cooperate.”
Yi Ke nodded. “Thank you. I will apply for a Friendly Citizen award for you after we get out.”
Ni Ruiling asked resentfully, “Have you never tried to resist the rules?”
Yi Ke thought of Zhuang Ningyu’s scar-covered knees. He looked back at her. “How do you know we haven’t?”
Zhuang Ningyu watched Yi Ke walk over, took off one side of his earpiece, and spread his hands. “Another ‘orator,’ kill me.”
“Orators” like Ni Ruiling were not uncommon. The internet was full of them. There were always people who thought their considerations were more thoughtful and comprehensive than the country’s, disregarding the actual situation, wishing they could wipe out all the rule zones in the world in one day with just a keyboard. In reality, their views were just the same few things repeated over and over. When the Order Maintenance Department was on a mission, they were most afraid of encountering such masters of oratory. Last time, an old man held onto Zhuang Ningyu and pontificated about how all men are born equal, and why rules could be placed above humanity. His words brought tears to the eyes of the surrounding trapped crowd and roused their passions. The result was that when the monster attacked, he wished he could hang onto Qing Gang’s entire body, screaming for more than ten minutes, “Forget them, save me first!”
“At least she’s willing to cooperate for now. Let’s leave the rule zone first,” Yi Ke covered his knee. “It’s too cold here. I’ll go find you a heat pack.”
“No need,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “Let’s have some water. My mouth is dry.”
The thermos was still there. Yi Ke casually grabbed one, unscrewed it, and after two sips, realized something was wrong. He said suspiciously, “You were gulping this cup down in the bookstore for a long time. How is it still full?”
Careless. Zhuang Ningyu denied it in a second. “No such thing.”
Yi Ke firmly squeezed the back of his neck, never expecting that this person could even fake drinking water. He said fiercely, “Next time, I’ll get you a transparent cup.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “Transparent cups have no privacy.”
Yi Ke: “What privacy do you need for drinking water!”
Fine, fine, if you say no, then no. Zhuang Ningyu forcefully suppressed a cough, lest he be held down and force-fed water again. He said, “Why didn’t you ask Ni Ruiling about her relationship with Fu Han just now?”
“She might not tell the truth even if I asked,” Yi Ke shook his phone. “It’s better to ask others.”
Zhuang Ningyu glanced at the chat interface. The group name was “Super Perfect Human Praise Group,” with 58 members. Yi Ke’s popularity in his circle was as ridiculously good as Zhuang Ningyu’s. In any case, a normal person chasing after a wife certainly wouldn’t be able to assemble 57 cronies as military advisors; the number was almost equivalent to two platoons. Zhuang Ningyu, at this moment, was still unaware that the super perfect human being praised was himself. He thought this group of people were just being narcissistic with each other and asked casually, “Are they all your friends?”
Yi Ke nodded. He had already sent a message about Ni Ruiling and Fu Han. But the people in the group hadn’t read it carefully. Anyway, whenever Brother Yi sent a message in this group, it always had the same theme. Praising first was never wrong. Because the first person who didn’t read and replied randomly was also a literary youth, the rest of them queued up and sent about thirty messages of “Wow, just this beauty alone is so fascinating. My nature, my soul, and I myself are deeply intoxicated by it,” before realizing, holy crap, how is Fu Han the protagonist of the story? They then frantically clicked retract. Those who missed the time limit could only cry profusely, expressing that they would definitely make up for it and go ask right away.
The result of the inquiry was that Ni Ruiling had no relationship with Fu Han, but she had some connection with Fu Han’s sister-in-law. The beauty salon she opened was very high-end, so she was on very good terms with many wealthy wives.
“Besides that, there’s this,” Yi Ke clicked on a photo.
Zhuang Ningyu looked at the humanoid male on the screen. “My heavens.”
“Ugly beyond belief, but he’s Ni Ruiling’s current boyfriend,” Yi Ke said. “Married, a big shot in the beauty industry. Compared to his industry, You Hong’s Star Beauty is nothing.”
“So Ni Ruiling doesn’t reject the rules, she just rejects not being a vested beneficiary of the rules,” Zhuang Ningyu took his phone and scrolled down two more messages—
New message.
AAA Professional Fishing Xiao Wang: Brothers, I just commissioned a famous Viennese pianist to compose a piece for “When Everyone Has No Flowers to Look at in Winter, Brother Zhuang Should Be in the Garden.” I think it can be our group anthem in the future!
Zhuang Ningyu’s pupils quaked.
What is this?
