Chapter Fifty-Five: Seeking Information

The fat man sped along the road, ignoring every red light as if the other cars couldn’t even see their Santana barreling past. Zhou Yi had no time for amazement; he gripped the handle tightly, or he might have been thrown sideways into Sophia. With a sudden brake, the car veered down an entrance ramp, plunging into dim light that barely illuminated their way. Only the swinging beams from the headlights revealed anything at all.

It was indeed an underground garage, but something felt off—Zhou Yi couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Part of the space was open, but the rest was filled with rows of rooms. Underground rooms—were they storage spaces, or something else… Zhou Yi paused, glancing at Sophia, whose face was puzzled. There was something in that look, some unspoken meaning.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” the fat man asked, stopping the car right in front of two rows of doors and jumping out first.

“I think this place is suitable enough, even if the conditions aren’t great. We’ll have to make do,” he said. Sophia got out as well, while the fat man hauled Meng Xiaojiao out from under his arm as if she were a sack.

They approached the doors. With a careless release, he dropped Meng Xiaojiao onto the ground and began testing the doors one by one. At the third, there was a click—the lock turned, and the door opened.

A wide grin split the fat man’s face as he looked back at Sophia and Zhou Yi. “This one’s unlocked. Let’s hurry inside!”

Sophia raised no objections; time was running out. As they entered, they saw rows of neat metal lockers lining the wall. Zhou Yi felt a chill creep up his spine.

Sophia froze. The room was colder inside than out, and anyone could guess what kind of place this was from the neat, compartmentalized metal lockers.

“A morgue?” she said.

The fat man sighed, spreading his hands helplessly. “There’s no alternative. The basement is well isolated, and this is the only place that came to mind. This hospital was originally a military facility, and these underground structures date from that time. They should meet Miss Sophia’s requirements.”

Sophia raised a hand to silence him, her face expressionless. “Enough. Put her on the table.”

The fat man quickly wiped the smile from his face, grabbed Meng Xiaojiao, and tossed her onto the table without any gentleness—after all, she’d nearly gotten him killed a moment ago. With a thud, she landed on the surface.

Sophia’s fingers searched behind Meng Xiaojiao’s ear, and after a quick probe, she produced a button-like device in her palm. She exhaled in relief and crushed it.

“She’s a Hunter, though her rank is unclear for now. I’ll send her back to base for interrogation. As for Cheng Zhi, it seems there’s another Hunter near him. But this world is peculiar. Every time they come, they can only stay for two or three hours. So, keep a close eye on Cheng Zhi’s associates. His caution and ability to hide early on suggest that, with every cycle, he’s found a way to evade us. I still don’t know how he does it, but to draw two Hunters here—this is no ordinary affair.”

Zhou Yi paused, looking at Sophia. He didn’t know if she was monitoring them in real time—if everything they experienced and said was being heard. This worried him most, especially since he didn’t want her to know about the stone.

“Earlier, when Meng Xiaojiao interrogated the fat man, she asked if he had accomplices, whether he’d come to capture Awakened or to search for spirit stones. He claimed he was after Cheng Zhi, and Meng Xiaojiao didn’t seem to care. Then he said a previous team had been wiped out and that he’d come alone to investigate. Only then did Meng Xiaojiao seem to believe him. But we still don’t understand much—how does Cheng Zhi retain his memory? What exactly is a spirit stone? And how can we get your help?”

Sophia lifted her gaze to Zhou Yi—his questions were direct. The fat man swallowed nervously, ready to smooth things over if needed; after all, they couldn’t afford to offend her—she was the vice-lord, second only to Valdne.

“I already said, this world is special. The main reason is that the base detected fluctuating energy waves here, suggesting the presence of spirit stones. If Cheng Zhi retains his memories, it means he found one. Spirit stones are condensed sources of energy—they could be meteorites from space or highly radioactive stones from mineral veins. Many things have energy fluctuations, but meteorites rich in energy are rarest. These stones increase a Chosen One’s energy reserves and help them advance. Some people even trade spirit stones in Time City, though quality varies. As for this world’s spirit stone, I think Cheng Zhi has already absorbed its energy—I can sense nothing now.”

She paused and tapped her wrist console. A glass-like dome materialized, encasing Meng Xiaojiao. With a flash of dazzling light, both she and the dome vanished.

Sophia heaved a sigh of relief, putting away her console. Zhou Yi watched closely; her device was far more advanced than his, with a much more complex interface.

From her explanation, Zhou Yi realized that the stone egg he’d picked up was a spirit stone. Because he had touched it, its energy signature was gone, making it undetectable to the others. But he must never let Sophia know about this. If they were monitoring in real time, they’d have seen everything. But so far, Sophia hadn’t concealed anything, which suggested the base could not track their every move as it happened.

Zhou Yi relaxed a little. The fat man, meanwhile, absentmindedly fiddled with two furry pom-poms on the table—the decorations from Meng Xiaojiao’s clothes, which had been severed by that dome’s appearance.

Sophia followed Zhou Yi’s gaze to the fat man, then continued, “Whenever a spirit stone appears, it disrupts communication with the mission world. That’s why Hunters can only enter for two or three hours at a time, and why we can’t monitor you continuously. But now, I’ll stay until the mission ends. Where is Cheng Zhi now?”

The fat man brought up a map on his phone and showed it to Sophia. “We tracked him all the way—he went to the geology department at Shanda University, stayed all afternoon, then drove around the city before ending up in this neighborhood. I hired six people to keep watch in shifts.”

Zhou Yi glanced at the table, then at Sophia. He felt no pity for Meng Xiaojiao—after all, she’d almost killed the fat man moments before.

“Is Meng Xiaojiao eliminated for good?” he asked.

Sophia shook her head, a trace of amusement curving her lips as she looked at Zhou Yi. There was something different in her gaze each time she looked at him—he couldn’t quite define it. He didn’t flatter himself that it was affection; it felt more like curiosity, attention, even surprise.

Could it be because Chosen Ones had never appeared in Base 72 before? Zhou Yi dismissed that notion. Chosen Ones were rare, but not so scarce as to cause a stir. If they were, Base 72 wouldn’t have been assigned any at all. Low-level Chosen Ones and slaves were expendable—one or two lost per mission wasn’t considered significant. Even someone as powerful as Valdne was only one among at least seventy-two such bases, meaning many others were likely just as strong. Hunters wouldn’t find it hard to take them down.

As for spirit stones, clearly they didn’t exist in every world. But once one appeared, neither Chosen Ones nor Hunters could act with impunity here—not even the base itself.

Zhou Yi slipped a hand into his pocket. It seemed he would have to uncover the secret of the spirit stone’s existence on his own.