Solo journey
After parting with Lin Zhouze, Shi Youchen returned to the dormitory. The lights were off in the living room. He knelt at the small table by the window, staring at the chat screen that had been frozen for a month and a half.
Everything else seemed to be going on much the same as before the Maintenance Bureau declared war. Everything was progressing smoothly. The Association's psychics continued to go about their business as usual, accepting and dispatching missions and reporting back to base. Workers like Lin Zhouze also went to work as usual. And ordinary people like me, who had no access to the psychic world, continued to struggle to make a living.
Except for Ying Yungui's departure.
Perhaps it's some kind of innate nature that the more out of reach something is, the more delusional it becomes. And when it comes to things we've both had and lost, we become timid and cautious. Whether it's an object or a person.
So after making a decision, he subconsciously closed the chat interface with Ying Yungui. A few minutes later, he took out his long-unused phone and made an inter-region call.
"...Be safe. Okay, bye." He hung up the call, then stood up and walked into the room Ying Yungui had briefly stayed in. The room was still furnished, though a light layer of dust had accumulated, as he hadn't had time to clean since he'd been in such a hurry to get back from City A.
He put Lu Shen's notebook, which contained many memories, on the bookshelf, and then began to clean skillfully.
Honestly, Shi Youchen didn't enjoy cleaning. The process of removing minute traces of life bit by bit didn't make him feel clean and happy in the end. He always believed that dust didn't just appear from nowhere; it had always existed in this space, and it was only when it was quiet that the dust could lie down and rest.
The process of sweeping away the dust is like removing something that has been with a person for a long time from his life, like... erasing all traces of his existence.
He didn't like it, after all, he couldn't guarantee whether anyone would come back here.
But even so, he completed the cleaning work meticulously and left the association base alone before dark.
...
The director on duty at the Z City Funeral Home hadn't expected someone to arrive at night, but once she saw who it was, her somewhat casual demeanor suddenly became respectful. "What do you need so late at night?" The woman's face bore the marks of time, yet also betrayed her wealth of experience.
She was deeply impressed by this young man because it was here that the staff of the Supernatural Association took him away and strictly prohibited the spread of what happened that day.
Shi Youchen suddenly remembered the notice board he had just seen in the corridor and asked, "Excuse me, can you accept cross-regional orders?" Although such a request sounded a bit ridiculous, he still wanted to give it a try.
Sure enough, the curator's expression was a little awkward. If he hadn't known the identity of the person before him, he would have suspected that he was out to cause trouble and would have exploded on the spot. "Uh...you mean the deceased in other districts?"
Shi Youchen explained, "Yes, but the body will most likely be sent back to the District 8 Association. As long as you can go and claim it... As for the other procedures, I will take care of them."
The curator weighed the pros and cons in his mind, then spoke after careful consideration: "If we are the only ones who need to go and collect the transfer, then that's fine. However, if any of the processes are obstructed along the way, then the corresponding responsibility will no longer be on our side."
"Okay, may I ask for the file registration?"
"Please follow me."
The procedure was completed smoothly. The curator wanted to provide personal guidance, but he saw that the young man filled out a series of information without any questions or ambiguities, and the format was very standard, which did not seem like the first time he filled it out.
But due to some unwritten rules, she did not call out Shi Youchen's name, but only said: "Sir, please confirm again whether the above information is correct." The lines on her fingers were deeper than those on her face, and her fingertips slowly moved from the name and number at the top down to the date of birth, place of origin, address, etc.
The old curator was thinking, "He's actually booking a funeral service for himself?"
Shi Youchen said calmly, "Everything has been confirmed." He stood up, stacked the thick documents into a file bag, and handed it to the director with both hands. "Thank you for your help."
When leaving, Shi Youchen passed by the sign embedded in the wall again. He looked at the sentence "It is forbidden to look back when you hear your own name" and found it a little funny. Then he walked out of the door with mixed feelings and walked towards the rented car parked nearby.
As he just gripped the car door handle, he heard a faint voice calling "Chenchen" in his ear.
...
Somewhere on the coast of Area 4, the beach was bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, and several figures emerged from the distance.
"Ying, don't be so anxious. At least we've got a valuable clue." The man who spoke had side-parted, curly blond hair and a tight-fitting outfit that highlighted his defined physique. He pushed the transparent goggles on his nose with two fingers, and faint red and blue lines flashed across the four-finger-wide lenses.
The person walking in front of him had a high ponytail, and from behind, black and purple colors blended together. It was Ying Yungui.
"Kulin, I need to apply to headquarters for permission to explore the deep sea." Ying Yungui's steps were a little hurried, and the blond man named Kulin looked at Ying Yungui's back thoughtfully from behind his glasses.
"Okay, but you know the rules. You have to report the results first." Kulin flicked his wrist and said nonchalantly, "You know, the people above are very cautious right now. They won't agree to our unauthorized actions unless they see something real."
A shrill voice suddenly came from behind Kulin: "Ying, you are acting strangely today. Why?"
Ying Yungui frowned and tutted at that. After almost two months on the team, he still hadn't gotten used to his teammate's voice. He even felt a slight irritation from it. "Red, didn't I tell you not to speak so easily?" Kulin said, smiling and trying to smooth things over, sandwiched between the two of them.
Red brushed his long, loose black hair. His feminine face, in the afterglow, unexpectedly took on a compassionate look. "Sorry." He winked ingratiatingly at Kulin, who turned around and whispered a rebuke, then fell silent.
Ying Yungui, walking in the front, didn't continue talking to his two teammates. He, Kulin, and Red were all members of Team α-VII. "α" represented the first official all-superpowered team established by the Superpower Global Management Association to counter the Maintenance Bureau. All members of Team α were divided into threes to form subordinate teams, numbered I, II, and III.
Ying Yungui had never revealed to anyone his primary purpose of joining α - to find and rescue He Xian, and his past high activity in the association's standings perfectly concealed it for him, so at this moment Kulin and Reid could not understand his complicated feelings at all.
Just a few minutes ago, Kulin had used his "Technology Eyes" to detect a massive amount of residual energy in a nearby sea cave. Kulin's ability was a typical biological bloodline inheritance; his eyes could be transplanted and utilize a chip containing the Association's most advanced scientific research without any burden.
To put it simply, Kulin can use his eyes to perform tests or analyses that usually require various instruments, provided that his energy is sufficient to support their use.
How many types of technology can be used depends entirely on the level that the person with this ability has reached.
The ability Kulin, a Level 7 "Technology Eye" psychic, had just used was one of the chip's functions, "Scan." The scan revealed an extremely complex array of energies remaining in the sea cave, among which were precisely "light" and "spiritual comfort."
While these two abilities weren't particularly rare, Ying Yungui wouldn't let go of any clues that might be connected to He Xian. Furthermore, according to Kulin's analysis, the residual energy concentration here far exceeded the natural dilution range, and professional measures had to be taken to prevent it from affecting the surrounding area or any ordinary people who accidentally strayed in.
It is almost certain that this place is related to the Maintenance Bureau.
Ying Yungui stretched out his long legs and stepped into the car door, throwing the controller to Kulin who was about to follow in: "Go back and drive, call me when you arrive." After saying that, he got into the back seat and lay down without caring whether the other party agreed or not.
Kulin gripped the controller tightly, gritted his teeth, took a few deep breaths, and then walked into the cab with determination.
There is no way, since Ying Yungui is the captain of the α-VII team.
...
The cemetery welcomed its first visitor early in the morning.
Shi Youchen finally found his grandmother's resting place, relying on the numbered plaques he remembered and the zoning map outside. Ironically, this was his first visit, and he even came empty-handed.
"...A lot has happened in the past six months. On the surface, my life seems completely different from before, but underneath, it's just as boring." Shi Youchen sat on the ground, leaning against his grandmother's tombstone. Usually a man of few words, he unknowingly chattered for a long time. "But fortunately, I recently found something I want to do."
He reached out and pushed aside the crooked weeds. A small insect crawling on the blade accidentally fell into the soil. The way it struggled to turn over made Shi Youchen laugh. "If everything goes well, I'll come see you when I get back."
"If things don't go well... you'll be able to see me soon." He stood up and left as if he was tired of talking. A gentle breeze sent the lonely man away.
...
"Are you sure you want to accept this task?" the staff of the association's base task management center asked again.
This was the first time that Shi Youchen took the initiative to go to the mission hall to accept a mission. Unexpectedly, the system prompted him to go to the nearest association base mission center for face-to-face confirmation, which led to the above conversation.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay, it's been processed for you," the staff member replied respectfully. "B-level mission: Rescue in the epidemic area, mission location: Area 5, mission points: 300. Dear Mr. Psychic, I wish you a safe journey and a safe return."
Shi Youchen's bracelet immediately displayed a message: "Number: 8463, Shi Youchen, please gather at Gate H of the Area 8 base at 12:00 today to proceed to the mission location (Area 5). Mission points: 300. - Mission Management Center"
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