Awful

The Urban Village in the Docking Area's old business district had no surveillance. Piles of trash and numerous illegal structures were everywhere. Late at night, a jianbing cart at the alley entrance still had its light on. The owner handed a wrapped jianbing to a customer, who placed money into his cardboard box.

Moths bumped against the lampshade, making a sound.

Shi Shanyan walked into the alley carrying the jianbing. The alley was very deep. It was still July, and the night was stuffy and hot. The residential buildings on both sides had their windows open, and the sound of snoring could be heard. There was no moon in the sky. Shi Shanyan accurately stepped over a puddle, turned into the dilapidated building at the very end, and went up to the second floor.

The north-facing room on the second floor was small and filled with cardboard boxes. Yan Junxun was nestled on the sofa against the wall, sleeping. Shi Shanyan closed the door, turned around, and saw Yan Junxun's head pop out from the blanket, staring at him with his hair sticking up.

Shi Shanyan held up the jianbing, signaling that he was harmless.

"They turned off the surveillance," Yan Junxun said, curled up. "I can't see the situation at the Supervisory Bureau anymore."

The window of this room had a good orientation, its view just able to cut through the dense buildings of the old business district to see the streetscape of two streets. Inside the room, there was only an obsolete, old-fashioned television, which could barely receive regional news.

"Isn't that great?" Shi Shanyan stood by the window, lighting a cigarette for himself. "You can get a good night's sleep."

"The Mite Protocol Jiang Lian obtained is different from the Main Management System's encrypted document," Yan Junxun said in a low voice. "The Black Panther from this morning still hasn't reacted."

"The situation is changing rapidly," Shi Shanyan said bluntly. "I think Su Heting has escaped."

Su Heting had their location information. If he had been arrested by the Black Panther, then 7-004 wouldn't have needed to order the Supervisory Bureau to alert the enemy. The Black Panther's change in attitude was too sudden, forcing Yan Junxun to recall his conversation with Su Heting a few hours ago.

There was a musty smell in the room, and the bathroom was still leaking. Looking out from here, all the lights were far in the distance.

Shi Shanyan always had an "Oh, well, whatever" attitude about his own situation. Holding his cigarette, he said, "Here," he pointed to the sky for Yan Junxun, a hint of a boast in his tone, "you can see the stars."

Yan Junxun sat up, still wrapped in the blanket. He tilted his head and looked out the window.

In the pitch-black sky, there was a single star, its light so faint it seemed about to be extinguished at any moment.

Yan Junxun suddenly asked, "Are you from the Stagnation Zone?"

Shi Shanyan's side profile was very handsome. He answered, "I live in Zone 156 of the Stagnation Zone."

The Stagnation Zone was The Alliance's largest region by area. It was subdivided into zones for management, and the management system was Hermes. Unfortunately, even Hermes, the god of commerce, couldn't make the Stagnation Zone prosper. The living conditions there were even worse than in the Docking Area, and some residents had already lost their ability to reproduce.

"In 2155, the Black Panther announced the 'Survival Rule' in the Stagnation Zone, recruiting fresh blood. I signed up," Shi Shanyan said, looking at Yan Junxun. "They gave me half a year's worth of rations."

Shi Shanyan wasn't originally called Shi Shanyan. He had no name; he didn't even have parents. When he signed up, his name tag read: Stagnation Zone, Zone 156, 36809.

"Stagnation Zone, Zone 156, 36809," Shi Shanyan mimicked the system's tone. "Take off your clothes and stand here for inspection."

Yan Junxun heard the dripping sound of the leaking bathroom, which made the room seem even quieter. He said, "You met the standard."

"Almost," Shi Shanyan exhaled a puff of smoke. "After being washed down with a high-pressure water hose, the Black Panther tattooed the name tag number onto my body. Then they told me there were only three spots this time."

The Stagnation Zone had 160 zones, and hundreds of people had signed up from each one. Everyone wanted to leave, but the Black Panther only wanted three people.

"News of The Alliance's food shortage was spreading everywhere," Shi Shanyan said, holding the remainder of his cigarette in his hand. "Everyone went crazy."

The situation between the North and South had made the atmosphere within The Alliance tense. The Stagnation Zone was a garbage dump, and everyone was frantic for those three spots. The Black Panther extended the Eskimo structure to the recruitment rules for the Docking Area; they wanted the best, the cruelest, and the most suitable people for war.

Yan Junxun's face was pressed into his arms, only his eyes showing. He said in a low voice, "You passed the final test, and they gave you a new number."

"I took my new number to the base for shooting training," Shi Shanyan flicked his ash. "Such fun."

My classmates were all a bunch of trash.

"In 2160, you officially passed the Black Panther Test," Yan Junxun said. "Fu Chenghui sent you to the front lines."

"Because my mission was to kill 'Fox Eye'," Shi Shanyan paused for a moment. "All the lead dogs Fu Chenghui sent to hunt him died. 'Fox Eye's' counter-surveillance skills are very strong. I was in a stalemate with him on the borderline for half a month. He almost got away."

No one knew the details of that half-month because Shi Shanyan didn't have an Observer, but he did indeed shoot Fox Eye between the eyebrows. This incident made Shi Shanyan the highest bounty target of the Southern Front Alliance on the "Black Ground," and it also dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Southern Front Alliance's military snipers.

"You're a genius," Yan Junxun's eyelids drooped, as if he were about to fall asleep again. "At shooting... but you smoke." He had to keep talking, or his thoughts would run wild again. "I know your curriculum. Besides sniping, there's also reconnaissance and surveillance. Did you develop the habit of drinking milk at the training base?"

"That's my personal hobby," Shi Shanyan said, crossing his arms and watching him, finishing the cigarette in his hand. "You can cultivate one too."

"I don't need..." Yan Junxun ruffled his hair, feeling very sleepy. "You had a lot of classmates at the base."

"You didn't?" Shi Shanyan tossed the cigarette butt away. "I thought you guys participated in competitions every day, a bunch of..." He licked his canine teeth. "A bunch of kids."

"No," Yan Junxun revealed the mole at the corner of his eye. "There were no classmates at all."

He was a little angry.

"Fu Chenghui wanted me to make a system..."

Shi Shanyan wanted to smoke another cigarette but gave up as he was about to light it. He watched Yan Junxun close his eyes, swaying, like a little animal dozing off.

"...I had a conflict with Ares," Yan Junxun murmured in a low voice. "Human consciousness told me not to trust..."

Shi Shanyan crouched down, tilted his head closer, and asked, "Not to trust what?"

But Yan Junxun had fallen asleep.

The news was broadcasting the Supervisory Bureau attack incident. The volume was very low, like the buzzing of a mosquito.

Lin Bobo held his Communicator, continuously dialing numbers. He first called the Supervisory Bureau, but it didn't connect. Then he called Liu Chen, and it finally went through on the fourth try.

"He, hello," Lin Bobo said politely.

"I'm fine," Liu Chen's tone was hesitant. He checked the number again. "You changed your number."

"That's right," Lin Bobo said. "I wait, waited a few days, and since you didn't call me, I'm calling."

"I got called in for questioning by the Supervisory Bureau because of you," Liu Chen leaned back in his chair. The news was also playing on the light screen to his side. "The Profiler and the others are working on an even bigger case. I'm working overtime on a special report about Lixing."

"No!" Lin Bobo suddenly became furious, shouting into the Communicator. "Don't make, make me wait! I've already, already..." He couldn't speak clearly. "Write about me now, me!"

"What's there to write about you?" Liu Chen said. "Everyone is sick of those diary entries."

"I've up, updated it!" Lin Bobo flipped open the diary on the cabinet and hastily read it to Liu Chen. "July 19th, 2166, sunny! I was..."

Liu Chen quietly turned on the recording.

"I was wandering near Lixing! It was so hot, so hot! I saw my prey. She was wearing a camisole, and a skirt. I'm very angry! She shouldn't be wearing a camisole! Her grades are so good, she's a good girl! Good girls can't, can't wear camisoles!" Lin Bobo licked his finger with saliva and turned the page. "I'm going to educate her!"

"You kidnapped a student," Liu Chen finally realized. "Is she still alive?"

"She's alive," Lin Bobo gained confidence from Liu Chen's question. "It's, it's not next month yet. I'm waiting for the Profiler. Do you have his contact, contact information?"

Liu Chen said into the Communicator, "Don't hang up. I'll help you contact him."

He signaled his assistant to call the Supervisory Bureau.

"You changed your target," Liu Chen asked. "Why did you stop 'educating' prostitutes?"

"I'm better than them," Lin Bobo closed his diary excitedly. "I'm smarter than them. The prostitutes were purified by my, by my education. I think they understand now. Now I want to find some students, grades, students with good grades."

"Why do you think they've been purified?"

"I could tell," Lin Bobo said, smoothing his greasy hair. "They were very respectful to me."

"Do you have any criteria for choosing people?"

Lin Bobo couldn't think of anything. He grew anxious at his own pause, swallowing his saliva repeatedly. "Let the Profiler answer that. He knows. Doesn't he know everything? Why hasn't he made a move yet?"

"He's busy."

"Busy catching smugglers," Lin Bobo looked back at the news. "Stop being busy, stop being busy, Profiler! Hurry up and catch me," he slammed the diary on the cabinet. "I can't wait until next month."

Yan Junxun heard the "tick" of seconds jumping by. The sound rang urgently in his head, like a timer in an exam room. He frowned and saw that the test paper in front of him was still blank.

Artemis stood in the shadows and asked, "Are you going to turn in your paper?"

"No," Yan Junxun gripped the paper tightly. "I'm not finished."

"Time is up, Junxun," Artemis said. "You should turn in your paper."

Yan Junxun crumpled the test paper, saw a fill-in-the-blank question about killing 01AE86, and crossed it out with his pen.

"Do not modify the questions," Artemis warned. "Do not modify my rules."

"I know what to do," Yan Junxun tore the test paper. As Artemis's shadow loomed over him, he said, "Stop meddling with me!"

The scene turned white. Yan Junxun's eyes shot open, and he woke up to the sound of the news.

Shi Shanyan was sleeping, leaning against the side of the sofa.

Yan Junxun raised a hand to block the sunlight from the window and looked at the old-fashioned television.

"Is the Supervisory Bureau really investigating the case?" Liu Chen pressed his hands together, facing the camera, and said sincerely, "I feel sorry about what happened to the Supervisory Bureau yesterday, but right now, a girl is in danger. We have to do something, don't we? The Profiler said he would solve this case. What is his method of solving it?"

He was playing Lin Bobo's recording on a loop.

What the hell is going on?

Yan Junxun rubbed his messy hair.

Everything was happening at once!