Chapter 68
It was around five in the afternoon, the peak time for people to get off work.
The red brake lights formed a dazzling river of lights, and the sound of horns continued. Feng Jihan looked at the endless stream of cars, his hand on the steering wheel quirking the car logo on it. "I miscalculated. I shouldn't have come out at this time."
Yun Shiyue was also a little bored, so she checked the surveillance camera ahead and said, "There's a car accident up ahead. Three cars rear-ended each other. There's going to be a traffic jam."
Their car moved at a snail's pace following the flow of traffic. After finally bypassing the accident area, they were only one traffic light away from their destination when they saw a traffic jam ahead.
This time the traffic jam was even tighter, and they were stuck there for a full five minutes, unable to move.
Feng Jihan had to take out his phone to send a message to inform the new team members that they were stuck in traffic and might be late.
Before I finished editing a message, there was a knock on the driver's window.
Feng Jihan was stunned and subconsciously looked out the car window, and saw a thin young man with short hair bending over and looking quietly into the car.
The car windows were covered with a light black anti-peep film. Normally, one couldn't see who was sitting in the driver's seat unless looking through the front windshield. Feng Jihan was a little surprised. He lowered the window and looked at the young man for a few seconds. He felt that he looked strangely familiar, so he hesitantly called out, "Zhou Mian?"
"It's me." The young man nodded and coughed lightly. There was not much flesh on his cheeks, and the area under his eyes was dark and he looked a little tired. He didn't look very energetic, as if he hadn't woken up yet.
Feng Jihan was silent for a moment, then said, "Get in the car."
Although he didn't know how Zhou Mian, whom he had never met before, could accurately find them among so many cars, Feng Jihan didn't think much about it and quickly unlocked the car door for Zhou Mian. There was no other reason but that the child was too thin and looked like he would be blown down by the wind.
Yun Shiyue moved aside to make room for Zhou Mian. After Zhou Mian sat down, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "How did you find us?"
Zhou Mian turned the shoulder bag he was carrying around and held it in front of him, looking glum. "I saw you guys would be stuck here, so I came here at the right time."
Feng Jihan also turned around at this time and briefly introduced it to the bewildered Yun Shiyue: "Zhou Mian has a precognitive skill."
Yun Shiyue was completely shocked. Before she and Feng Jihan set off, she asked Feng Jihan what the newcomer's skills were. Feng Jihan just said it was a big surprise, but she didn't expect it to be such a big surprise!
"It's actually a person with precognitive abilities!" Yun Shiyue was astonished. "People with precognitive abilities are really rare nowadays. There aren't even three in the entire Heretic Bureau. Where did the Deputy Director find this treasure?"
Zhou Mian whispered, "My rank was forcibly raised. I was originally only D-rank, which was useless. Now I'm B-rank, so I was transferred to the General Administration."
In the rearview mirror, Feng Jihan's brows darkened slightly: "Have you been to the research institute?"
Zhou Mian said "hmm".
Currently, only the research institute has the technology to forcibly upgrade the level. There is no such thing as a good thing that can be obtained without hard work in the world. If Zhou Mian wants to upgrade his D-level ability to B-level, he will have to bear an unpredictable price.
Feng Jihan was about to ask something when he was suddenly honked a few times by the car behind him. He had to give up asking for the time being and continued driving forward.
Zhou Mian seemed very sleepy. He hugged his shoulder bag and closed his eyes slightly. "Let's turn left at this traffic light. Going straight will result in traffic jam for thirteen minutes. If you don't mind, I want to go to the food stalls on Binjiang Road to have some fried rice first. It's not crowded at this time, so there will be space."
Yun Shiyue asked quietly, "Does your ability to predict the future allow you to see whatever you want?"
"No, not that powerful yet," Zhou Mian smiled. "My ability is called [Fork in the Road]. I can see different directions of an event. For example, when the captain came to find me today, I could see that he would encounter a traffic jam on his way to me. If I didn't take the initiative to find him, he would have to be stuck in traffic for another half an hour before he could see me. If I went to find him, we could meet up in advance and leave the traffic jam earlier."
"Every fork in the road leads to a new future. I can't change the future, I can only find the best option at the current fork in the road." Zhou Mian paused and added, "I think the best option."
Feng Jihan asked with interest, "How far into the future can you predict?"
Zhou Mian answered honestly, "It's hard to say. It depends on whether his future is stable. The fewer the forks in the road, the farther I can see. The more forks in the road, the less I can see."
Although Zhou Mian had a gloomy and world-weary face and looked so weak he looked like he was about to faint at any moment, he was actually quite talkative. Seeing that his future teammates were interested in his skills, he explained a few more words: "I've seen too many people at the crossroads of life. Recently, I've discovered that there is actually a kind of metaphysics in this."
Feng Jihan was surprised: "What do you mean?"
"Something like fate?" Zhou Mian searched for a more appropriate word. "Some people's destiny is like it's predetermined by heaven. It can't be changed. No matter how many forks in the road they take, they will eventually return to their original path and head towards their predetermined end."
Feng Jihan felt uncomfortable listening to this: "It sounds like there's a sense of fate that can't be resisted."
"Yeah, fate is fate, and sometimes you can't escape it no matter what," Zhou Mian sighed. "I didn't originally want to be transferred to the General Administration, but no matter which fork in the road I chose, the final road would lead to today."
Feng Jihan couldn't think of how to comfort Zhou Mian for a long time.
Being able to see the future, yet unable to escape a predetermined fate, who can truly empathize with this feeling of powerlessness?
There was no traffic jam, so Feng Jihan parked the car outside the food stall Zhou Mian mentioned. Just as Zhou Mian said, there were just a few empty seats left.
After walking into the big red-roofed tent and sitting down, Feng Jihan ordered the cheapest fried rice when he saw Zhou Mian, and immediately hinted to him: "Order whatever you want, the bureau will reimburse you."
Zhou Mian suddenly understood, and readily crossed out the fried rice and ordered several of his favorite dishes.
Feng Jihan and Yun Shiyue also ordered some each. Zhou Mian looked at Feng Jihan hesitantly, wanting to say something. It was hard to imagine that Captain Feng, who had an extraordinary temperament, would actually eat at a food stall with him.
Isn't that a bit too down-to-earth?
Feng Jihan casually tied up her long silver hair under his gaze, as if she had guessed what Zhou Mian was thinking. She said with a smile, "When we were on missions before, we could only drink one nutritional supplement a day. It was already very good to have something to eat."
Yun Shiyue made a disgusted expression: "I hope you never know what nutritional supplements taste like. That stuff is really hard to drink."
Zhou Mian: "I also hope I can't drink it."
"But I still have a question." Zhou Mian looked at Feng Jihan, a rare look of confusion on his world-weary face: "Captain, why are you only wearing sunglasses? Aren't you afraid of being recognized?"
Obviously, Zhou Mian had also read the gossip about him and Cen Xun on the Internet.
Feng Jihan was embarrassed for a moment, then pushed his sunglasses up nonchalantly: "These are not ordinary sunglasses. They are props made by the research institute. They can blur my facial features. When I wear them, ordinary people will automatically ignore my appearance."
It turned out to be black technology. Zhou Mian understood. No wonder he didn’t see the future where the captain was surrounded by a swarm of fans who liked his looks.
At this time, the waiter began to serve the dishes, and the three of them opened their disposable bowls and chopsticks, preparing to eat their first meal since they met.
The food stall was doing a brisk business, with customers chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere. It was a good place to talk about things, so Feng Jihan opened up and spoke frankly: "Zhou Mian, when you were transferred to the General Administration, did anyone tell you about the situation there?"
Zhou Mian nodded. "I know a little bit. Right now, the bureau's primary enemy is the monster from Nightmare University. The bureau transferred me here mainly to use my foresight to fight against the monster with omniscience."
"Nightmare University doesn't just have Omniscience, there are other powerful monsters," Feng Jihan said calmly as he picked up a garlic oyster. "Also, our future enemies won't just be Nightmare University."
Zhou Mian's tone was equally calm: "Captain, I know what you want to say."
Zhou Mian opened his shoulder bag and pulled out a thick medical record. "This is my grandmother's medical record. She has advanced liver cancer and we haven't been able to find a liver donor. Even if we could find one, I can't afford the surgery."
"The director said that as long as I agreed to transfer here, he would help me arrange all the surgery for grandma."
Zhou Mian said calmly, "Even if I die, the bureau will assign someone to continue taking care of my grandmother, and they will also pay her a substantial pension."
"So, even if I might die, I accept it calmly, because this is the only path I can take right now. There are no forks in the road."
Having said that, Feng Jihan knew that there was no room for maneuver in this matter.
"Okay, I get it," Feng Jihan smiled and tried to speak in a relaxed tone, "Then the captain will have to help you achieve more meritorious service and try to get you the generous bonus from the bureau."
Zhou Mian's tense expression relaxed slightly, and he whispered, "Thank you, Captain."
Yun Shiyue livened up the atmosphere: "Okay, let's stop talking about this and eat."
Zhou Mian ate something, and his pale face finally looked much better. He also had the mind to ask other questions: "Captain, can you tell me about that omniscient monster?" After all, it was a future enemy, so he had to get to know him first.
"He..." When Tong Ming was mentioned, Feng Jihan's expression suddenly fell, and he gritted his teeth in disgust and said, "He's just a peeping Tom!"
Zhou Mian paused, "Peeping Tom?"
"Assuming their levels are similar and there are no other factors interfering, Omniscience can see everything that has ever happened." Feng Ji said coldly, "He's even more immoral and lacks self-esteem than Teacher Cen. Teacher Cen can only use puppet threads to peek into other people's memories, but this guy is different. Not only does he peek into other people's privacy, he also wants to reveal your underwear and post it in the newspaper, just to satisfy his own perverted taste."
Zhou Mian: ""
My three views slowly exploded.
Will he have to fight such an evil thing in the future? Suddenly he felt a little regretful.
Feng Jihan continued, "[Omniscient] doesn't have much combat power. He excels at intelligence warfare. After colluding with Cen Xun, he spends most of his time behind the scenes. If you fight him, be careful not to let him steal your secrets."
Hearing the name "Cen Xun" from Feng Jihan again, Zhou Mian finally couldn't help but ask Feng Jihan the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time: "Captain, is the information dug up online true? Were you really married to Teacher Cen?"
Feng Jihan was drinking a bottle of juice and nearly choked to death when he heard this: "Ahem, how come they can pull up anything online? Where on earth did they come to this conclusion?"
"Today's netizens are all very good at microscopes, and can pick out details frame by frame." Zhou Mian found a screenshot on his phone and enlarged it to show Feng Jihan.
It is a comparison picture of two hands, one is Feng Jihan's hand and the other is Cen Xun's hand.
The camera cleverly gave close-ups of their hands, which immediately made netizens discover their highlights.
Both of them had a circle of faint ring marks on their fingers.
In other words, both of them wore wedding rings, and they wore them for a long time, so long that the rings left marks on their fingers!
In other words, they were married for a long time!
Isn’t this another sweet treat?
Feng Jihan: ""
He was completely speechless.
This can be picked up!
Facing Zhou Mian's inquiring eyes, Feng Jihan thought that Zhou Mian would know sooner or later, so he had to tell the truth: "I was married and divorced."
Four words express so much bitterness.
Zhou Mian was silent for a moment, then said something honest: "Captain, it seems like you still have feelings for him."
Feng Jihan exploded: "How is this possible! He killed me twice, twice! I no longer have any feelings for him!"
Zhou Mian held the chopsticks and silently turned to Yun Shiyue who was watching the show: "Captain, do you always like to deceive yourself?"
Yun Shiyue laughed heartily. "He's always been like this. If you asked him if you could marry Teacher Cen instead since he's already divorced her, he'd definitely be even more upset."
Feng Jihan: ""
Feng Jihan took a deep breath and brought the conversation back to the point: "This is all just a marketing ploy by Nightmare University to attract attention. We are enemies now, and that won't change."
"Nightmare University has recently expanded its spooky territory, clearly in preparation for the second wave of public beta testers. The bureau has been urging citizens not to pre-order the game, but it's had little effect." Feng Jihan said gravely, "The number of people who have pre-ordered the game has now reached 30 million. Of these 30 million, 1 million will be selected for the second wave of public beta testers."
Yun Shiyue sighed and said, "One million players will enter tomorrow. I wonder how many will be left when they come out."
Zhou Mian was more open-minded: "Perhaps, this is the inescapable fate of mankind."
"No," Feng Jihan said seriously, "Whether it's survival or destruction, the fate of mankind can only be decided by mankind itself."
Zhou Mian raised his eyes and looked at Feng Jihan silently for a while, then suddenly said, "Captain, the road on the left might be more fortunate, and might even yield unexpected rewards."
Feng Jihan was stunned for a moment, but before he could ask, his phone suddenly vibrated.
The lock screen preview shows: Teguanbuyaoniao published a new update.
Feng Jihan was stunned for a moment before he realized whose account "Don't Keep Bad Birds" belonged to.
Cen Xun posted a status update?
Suddenly posting a status, what is this person trying to do?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
