Chapter 92 : Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Bai Xuechao knew that Xia Xiaoxi was ultimately safe and sound, and still full of life, but the readers didn't know.
The bullet comments popped up one after another, densely covering the entire cover, showcasing Xia Xiaoxi's popularity as the female lead of the comic to the fullest extent.
【QAQ Xiao Xi should be fine, right? (worried)】
【Don't panic, what kind of shonen manga kills off a member of the protagonist group right after the plot starts unfolding? Killing off a protagonist is a huge taboo, okay?】
【Uh, you can't be so sure... Is this your first time reading a simulated world work? Simulated world works don't follow that rule you mentioned. Their main feature is an uncontrollable plot that can shock readers at any time. In that other one that's being criticized, all the good guys are dead now except for the male lead...】
【Ahhh no, my Xiao Xi! She's not really going to die, is she?】
【Everyone, rest assured, I've already finished reading the update! My daughter was hit with an inhalant anesthetic. For now, she's just been locked up. Brother Hao and Ling Feng Maomao have gone to save her.】
【Key point: For now (.)】
Bai Xuechao clicked to the next page.
Because the comic had been on hiatus for a week, the plot was still right after the end of the Kunpeng Marine Floating Island Park incident.
The first page of the comic showed several printed mission reports, stacked messily on a desk. The pages partially covered each other, but the writing was clear. The author, Bai Guzi, had not blurred it, allowing Bai Xuechao to clearly read the content.
The report at the very bottom only revealed a few columns of incoherent words. The report on top of it showed its upper half. Judging by the tone, it was likely Zhou Chenhao's, narrating the events at the marine amusement park from his perspective and mentioning the assistance provided by an underground special ability user named Bai Xuechao.
The topmost report was written in concise language and with clear descriptions. It was the last page of the report, detailing how Qiao Jing had coughed up a special ability energy crystal, and the events that occurred after the appearance of the black-ponytail boy. It judged the other party to be at least a level 7 special ability user and also mentioned that the other party had extracted another red crystal, similar in appearance to the special ability energy crystal, from within Qiao Jing's body. The signatory of the report was Ling Feng.
Bai Xuechao finished reading the visible parts of the reports.
Currently, the "Bai Xuechao" identity was in good standing with the SAIDB, and it should be possible to elevate it further after the Dream Game City arc.
Also, his black-ponytail-boy persona had already attracted attention and could continue to be developed. He thought with some malicious amusement, looking forward to the day the protagonist group discovered the truth—the expression on their faces when they realized the black-ponytail boy was actually him.
He clicked to the second page.
The opening panel was the SAIDB office in Y City.
"You've worked hard in D City." The leader sitting behind the desk was a kind-faced middle-aged man. The documents were placed on his desk. "Don't be nervous. I've called you here this time to talk about the special ability energy crystals."
The next panel showed the people standing before him—the three members of the protagonist group. Zhou Chenhao stood in the middle, flanked by Xia Xiaoxi and Ling Feng.
Zhou Chenhao was a bit puzzled, "Special ability energy crystals?"
Xia Xiaoxi also had a confused expression, with a question mark popping up above her head.
Ling Feng tilted his head towards Zhou Chenhao and explained, "It's that red crystal Qiao Jing spat into your hand."
The comic gave a close-up of Zhou Chenhao's expression here. He seemed to have recalled something unspeakable, his eyes turning dead-fish like. Bai Guzi even added a green-face special effect on him.
【LMAO, Brother Hao: My face has turned green.】
【Brother Haozi: I finally managed to forget about that, and you just had to remind me.】
【This expression probably comes from remembering the feeling of the special ability energy crystal being covered in spit, all wet and warm~ (doge emoji)】
The leader began to explain, "The special ability energy crystal is a type of mineral, first discovered three years ago..."
Next, this leader explained to the protagonist group—mainly to Zhou Chenhao and Xia Xiaoxi who didn't know about them—what special ability energy crystals were. While the leader was explaining, the author added some illustrations on the side showing Xia Country obtaining and researching the crystals.
He said, "Currently, our country's SAIDB has only obtained eight special ability energy crystals. Our Y City SAIDB has one of them."
【Hiss, the country only has eight? That's so few. The Dark Organization already has three.】
【I wonder how many the Apocalypse Society has?】
So the SAIDB had eight.
The authorities had kept the information about the special ability energy crystals very well hidden. Even the Dark Organization's mole in the SAIDB couldn't find out exactly how many the authorities had. Back then, the organization's intelligence department could only deduce from other information that the SAIDB had more than five but no more than ten. Therefore, this was the first time Bai Xuechao had learned the specific number.
Eight might not seem like much, but it was definitely not a small number.
Readers felt it was a small number because they weren't in this world and didn't understand the actual situation. In reality, special ability energy crystals couldn't be found just by looking for them; luck played a huge part.
In the comic, the leader continued, "The effects of special ability energy crystals are very unique. They can allow a special ability user to temporarily increase their special ability power value, promote biological mutation, and can also be used as an energy source. To prevent them from being obtained and used by those with ulterior motives, the fewer people who know about them, the better. We have also maintained internal secrecy, so only a small number of people know of their existence."
Zhou Chenhao raised his hand to speak, "Is it okay to tell us about something so important?"
"This is precisely why I called you here." The leader's smile was very kind. "Within the SAIDB, the teams that are aware of the existence of special ability energy crystals and are responsible for investigating and searching for their whereabouts are called 'Special Teams'. I would like to invite you to become the third Special Team of the Y City SAIDB and accept the long-term mission of searching for special ability energy crystals. Are you willing?"
He added, "Becoming a Special Team will not affect you accepting other missions, but if other missions conflict with the task of searching for special ability energy crystals, you must prioritize the search for special ability energy crystals."
His words caused the number of bullet comments to surge.
【Ahhhhh Special Team! I'm getting fired up!】
【As expected of the protagonist group's treatment, getting to be involved in such an important matter at only level 4.】
【Wait, the leader has already told them the secret of the special ability energy crystals. Can they even refuse? (laughing-crying emoji)】
【It seems the main storyline will be the protagonist group collecting special ability energy crystals.】
【=-= In the future, will the protagonist group be called Team Seven or Team Three?】
【Whatever you like. By team number, they're Team Seven. By Special Team designation, they're Team Three~】
Zhou Chenhao exchanged glances with Xia Xiaoxi and Ling Feng. The comic showed their expressions; each person's eyes were serious and determined.
They answered without hesitation, "We are willing."
"Very good. Later, the SAIDB's internal software will send you a private message, inviting you to certify as a Special Team and unlocking your access rights to information about special ability energy crystals," the leader said with a smile. "Welcome to the Special Team."
In the blank space next to this page's panel, a line of text was written: The world unfolds a new chapter before them, and they are about to face brand new challenges!
The bullet comments were all in unison:
【Welcome to the Special Team.】
【Welcome to the Special Team!!】
【Welcome Brother Haozi, Xiao Xi, and Ling Feng Maomao to the Special Team!】
Bai Xuechao clicked to the next page.
The opening panel was a blank box with the words "One Week Later" written on it.
The panel below depicted nighttime. A plant that looked very much like a Venus flytrap was running on a suburban main road, supported by several thick roots. In front of it was a mutated rat. The rat wasn't large, but it was covered in muscles, looking quite robust.
In the next two panels, the Venus flytrap caught up to the mutated rat and opened its shell-like leaves, biting down on it in one gulp.
The following full page was a large illustration.
The three members of the protagonist group were walking on a deserted road illuminated by streetlights.
Ling Feng walked on the side with his hands in his pants pockets, his face expressionless, looking cool; Xia Xiaoxi, on the other side, was looking down at her phone. The Venus flytrap, with the rat in its mouth, was running towards her; in the middle was Zhou Chenhao, his hands clasped behind his head in a relaxed and casual posture.
On the next page, Zhou Chenhao gave a lazy yawn and said with droopy eyelids, "It's already been a week since we became a Special Team, but there haven't been any missions related to special ability energy crystals."
Upon hearing this, Ling Feng said, "Special ability energy crystals are rare. Investigative missions for them aren't that easy to come by."
He added, "We can also keep an eye out during our missions. If mutated species appear frequently in a certain area, or if a large number of animals and plants mutate into mutated species in a short period, it might mean a special ability energy crystal has appeared."
"Is that so..." Zhou Chenhao sighed. "Alright, I got my hopes up for nothing."
【Sob sob sob, I got my hopes up for nothing too.】
【It's okay, the mission will arrive at the scene in two pages!】
At this moment, Zhou Chenhao caught sight of Xia Xiaoxi holding her phone out of the corner of his eye. He leaned over and said, "Xiaoxi, you've been staring at your phone for ages. If you want to send a message, just send it."
The comic gave a close-up of Xia Xiaoxi's phone screen.
The screen showed the interface of a chat application. The contact at the top was labeled "Bai Xuechao". The interface only had two speech bubbles of them sending their own names, and nothing else.
【So she wanted to message her wifey.】
【Hiss, why message him?】
【Maybe she wants to ask about her brother? They're the family reunion group, after all.】
Bai Xuechao was slightly taken aback. It turned out Xia Xiaoxi had wanted to message him, but just hadn't.
In the comic, Ling Feng's azure eyes glanced in Xia Xiaoxi's direction, and he also tried to persuade her, "Although he hid his special ability level from us, the matter concerning his sister is very likely true. If you want to send a message, just send it. Perhaps you can get news about your brother."
"Forget it." Xia Xiaoxi put down her phone, her emerald eyes lowered. "If there's news about my brother, he would probably contact me."
"What are you afraid of?" Zhou Chenhao asked, puzzled.
【Afraid of not having news about her brother, yet also afraid of having news about her brother.】
【Xiao Xi is afraid of getting bad news about her brother QAQ】
Zhou Chenhao held out a hand and said, "Why don't you give me your phone, I'll send it for you."
"Ah, no, no!" Xia Xiaoxi hid her phone behind her back.
The next panel was three frames pieced together, showing the three of their phones vibrating simultaneously in different places.
"Eh?" Xia Xiaoxi took out her phone, looked at the content on it, and said in surprise, "The system has assigned us a mission, and it's related to special ability energy crystals!"
On the screen was a mission notification marked with a red diamond-shaped pattern, instructing them to head to H-district immediately. The car to pick them up was on its way.
Next was a shot of a night scene.
Further down were three unfamiliar faces that hadn't appeared in the comic before—two men and one woman. A small box in the bottom right corner read: Y City SAIDB Second Special Team.
The man standing in the middle had short, dark blue hair and wore black square-framed glasses. He had a friendly smile on his face and looked gentle and refined.
"You must be Team Y3, right?" the man said. "I am the captain of Team Y2, Qiao Wenjie, and these two are my teammates."
"Yes," Zhou Chenhao greeted him. "Hello."
Xia Xiaoxi and Ling Feng also greeted them, "Hello, seniors."
Qiao Wenjie didn't exchange too many pleasantries with them and got straight to the point, "Hello. Time is tight, so I'll be brief. We discovered that a special ability user traded a ruby at an underground exchange, which has been confirmed through investigation to be a special ability energy crystal. The other party seems to know its use. In order to get it out of Y City, they sent people in four different directions to mislead us."
As he spoke, his teammate beside him sent them pictures through the SAIDB's software.
Ling Feng opened the picture and took a look. It was a photo of a small red crystal placed in a palm-sized velvet jewelry box, much smaller than the one Qiao Jing had coughed up.
"There are only three of us. Even if we each chase one, we're still short one direction, so we're seeking your support," Qiao Wenjie said. "This mission isn't very dangerous. The target is a level 5 special ability user, and the people they found to mislead us are also level 4 and 5. I heard you're only level 4. Can we entrust you with the task of tracking one of the level 4 special ability users?"
Zhou Chenhao replied, "Oh oh, no problem!"
Xia Xiaoxi clenched her fist, looking motivated, "You can count on us!"
The teammate beside them said, "The information has been sent to you. Please check it."
Qiao Wenjie said, "We're in a hurry, so we won't say more. We wish you a successful mission."
After speaking, the three members of Team Y2 turned and left.
The comic gave Qiao Wenjie a panel. His face was expressionless as he pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose with his middle finger, his hand covering half of his face.
The lenses refracted a gleam of light.
【This panel is so creepy. The way Qiao Wenjie pushes his glasses doesn't make him look like a good guy.】
【Take off your gloomy filters, this is someone from the SAIDB!!】
【Thanks, I wear glasses and sometimes I make this gesture too. I feel a little offended (tears)】