Chapter 51 Friends 2
Chang'an was immediately panicked and stood up from in front of the long table.
"Is there anything I can do to help? Or you could just tell me the truth and we can figure it out together! Don't worry about me being implicated!" he said anxiously.
The surrounding customers and staff glanced at him, then looked away; no one seemed particularly concerned about what was happening here.
Seeing Chang'an so flustered and anxious, even I couldn't help but feel ashamed and guilty.
But since the lie has already been told, all we can do now is stick to it.
"Don't be so nervous." I consciously adopted a strong and confident tone. "This matter is not as dangerous as you think. I have prepared a complete solution. Just think of it as me having contracted a rather special infectious disease, and it's not convenient for me to casually interact or talk with acquaintances lately... especially those who, like me, witnessed that cave."
"Is it also related to whether or not you have witnessed a cave?" he pressed.
"I cannot reveal more," I said, adopting a mystical approach.
Actually, no, it was all made up from beginning to end. I only added this patch because I was worried that Chang'an might accidentally witness me having normal conversations with others afterward.
My plan is very simple: I intend to distance myself from him "temporarily" initially, then gradually extend this period until our relationship fades. If he tries to contact me during this time, I can come up with more reasons, such as "your approaching will only escalate the situation and make our situation dangerous," and so on.
I feel really bad for him, but this is also to avoid him being affected.
Chang'an sat back down, but was still unwilling to give up, and asked, "Is there really nothing I can do to help?"
I answered decisively: "No."
“Oh, I see…” he said dejectedly.
This time it was my turn to get up.
"Then, let's part ways here."
Looking at his face, and thinking that this might be the last serious conversation, I didn't know what to say for a moment, so I could only repeat the same old thing: "Don't go to nightclubs all the time in the future. Be more self-disciplined. It's not like you can't find a girlfriend. Isn't it much better to date a female classmate than to go to nightclubs to find women?"
He gave a dry laugh and retorted, "How can you compare them? Going to a nightclub to find women establishes a pure relationship based solely on sex and money, while going to a female classmate involves all sorts of messy emotions. I'm not stupid, why would I walk into a trap?"
This was a conversation that had been repeated many times before. I wasn't angry at his rebuttal, but rather felt an indescribable sense of emotion and sadness, and then I left the place.
-
Walking home, I lowered my head and pondered.
Given Chang'an's personality, he probably wouldn't give up so easily; he's just that kind of stubborn person. Perhaps he'll go back to the fifteenth-floor room later, but the ritual array there has already been erased by Zhu Shi.
Even if we take a step back and assume the ritual array still exists, it's a flawed product with an astronomically low activation probability, so there's nothing to worry about... No, we still need to be a little worried, because Chang'an has also triggered the ritual array when he was alone.
If I was able to open the cave because of Asaho's favor, was Chang'an the same? Was it simply because he was someone close to me and had also been affected by Asaho's jinx constitution?
Fortunately, the ritual array has been erased, removing the last dangerous element. Although I did feel regret over its disappearance, I still have video recordings of the ritual array, so it's not impossible to reopen the entrance to that "space that does not exist in reality" elsewhere.
I bought two servings of spicy roasted pig's trotters on my way home, and then entered my residential compound. First, I went to the parcel locker to pick up my package, and then I returned to my front door.
Through the "fireflies" I set up in my home, I saw Asa's current state. She was still sitting on the sofa as always, gazing blankly at the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling window, looking like a canary imprisoned by bad guys.
When she's alone, she reads or turns on the TV to learn about how modern society works through current affairs news. She also frequently finds herself lost in thought, whether reminiscing about her past life in a post-apocalyptic world or simply enjoying the quiet passage of time like a plant.
I've now designed a basic "firefly" that can store preset commands, allowing it to monitor Mazao's activities even while I sleep. However, just as the human mind gradually forgets the past, the "firefly" will also forget my preset commands over time. To maintain its function, it must be periodically corrected.
The preset command I left for the "fireflies" near Asahi was to "send an alarm to me if Asahi steps outside the area of this house." And recently, Asahi has indeed kept her promise and has not tried to leave even once.
Sometimes, however, I have other worries. In the past, I didn't let the "firefly" follow me because I was worried that Zhu Shi would notice it. But since Asa is also a "superpowered person" with extraordinary abilities (at least that's what I believe), is it possible that she might also be able to detect the "firefly"?
Until now, she always seems unaware of it. Is it because she truly cannot perceive it, or is it because her soul is wounded, making it impossible for her to perceive it?
Or perhaps... she actually knew all along that I was monitoring her?
Once I realized this possibility, my heart couldn't help but race.
But compared to this problem, I actually have a more serious and pressing issue right now.
Now it's "day three".
Three days ago, Ma made an agreement with me that she would only stay at my house for three days, and now is that "third day." In other words, she will leave tomorrow, but I still haven't found a way to persuade her to stay longer.
If we only need to extend the stay by two or three days, that should be achievable. Her recovery isn't progressing as well as expected, so we can't use the so-called "blessing power" yet. But what about after the extension ends? If possible, I naturally hope she can stay by my side voluntarily.
Of course, it's not that I can't keep her just because she doesn't want to; otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to say goodbye to Chang'an earlier. If all else fails, I can still use force. Even if she can teleport away, it won't matter; I've already left my "mark" on her so I can always track her location and, if necessary, enter my "second form" to teleport myself directly to the target location.
It's not just Asahi and Agent Kong who can "teleport"; I can also imitate similar skills.
The so-called "mark" does not refer to "fireflies." Ultimately, the "fireflies" are tools used to monitor her from the outside, unable to penetrate her body. In other words, when she uses spatial teleportation to leave, the "fireflies" can no longer locate her.
The true identity of the mark is a piece of "heat".
My superpower isn't just about conjuring flames with my mind; I can also manipulate the heat of those flames, which is a manifestation of my mind. The reason I was able to track down Agent Kong, who escaped through the shadow world, was because he still had residual heat from my flames within his body.
Leaving such a thermal mark on Ma Zao's body should, in theory, be even more easily detected than a "firefly." Think about it: anyone with a spot on their body that's hotter than the rest of their body and inexplicably won't let the heat dissipate would definitely find something amiss. But it was thanks to the battle with Agent Kong that my thinking was opened up.
Why do I have to put the thermal energy mark on the other person's body surface? Can't I just put it directly into their internal organs?
Human internal organs are not as sensitive to temperature changes as the skin, and since internal organs are naturally warm, even a slight increase in temperature in one area will go unnoticed. To be on the safe side, I placed the heat sensor while Ma was asleep, so her body would likely adapt before she woke up, making the change even less noticeable.
I placed the heat symbol on her stomach, just to warm it up.
However, I feel that simply doing this much is still not enough to be safe.
I need to do another layer of insurance...
With that in mind, I opened the door and went inside.
As always, Mazao is very sensitive to changes in the outside world. As soon as I opened the door, she reacted immediately and turned her head this way.
Then she jumped off the sofa and ran over to me.
I handed her the plastic bag containing two portions of spicy roasted pig's trotters.
"You bought food again? I'm not a child. Don't keep feeding me. It makes it seem like I'm greedy," she said speechlessly.
No, you're actually just a child.
"Aren't you going to eat it? It's delicious, it'll get cold if you leave it any longer," I said.
Although she had said those things earlier, she still cherished the food. Hearing this, she reached out to take out one of the roasted pig's trotters. But then she suddenly hesitated.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"……nothing."
She took one of the roasted pig's trotters and glanced at me again. After I took a bite of my own trotter, she started eating as well, then returned to the sofa, lost in thought.
I think I know what's on her mind. Lately, I've been trying my best to keep her here, but she's leaving tomorrow.
If it were when they had just met, she would definitely have stated her plans directly. It's just that she seems to have very low defenses against "goodwill from others"... No, that shouldn't be the case. Perhaps she is indeed not good at dealing with goodwill, but she becomes extra vigilant before confirming whether the goodwill is genuine or not.
It's just that she might have higher expectations of people living in peaceful societies, which is why she somewhat agrees with me. Right now, she's probably thinking about how to say goodbye to me without hurting my feelings.
Faced with her like this, my choice was to walk to the table, pick up the scissors, open the package I had just taken from the delivery locker, and take out a finely crafted red bracelet.
This is a GPS wristband I bought online.
With my back to Ma Zao, I paired the red GPS bracelet with my phone, then turned around.
Mazao was drawn to the commotion and looked over curiously.
I said in a serious tone, "Good morning, I have a gift for you."
(End of this chapter)
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