NOVEL NEXT Ch. 12
Chapter 12
I walked into the restroom to wash my hands.
Xiao 6 waved its code call stick and shrieked, “Boo-hoo-hoo, Host, you were so handsome just now!”
My eyes were dazzled by a kaleidoscope of glowing special effects, making me feel dizzy.
“...Turn off your special effects.”
“Oh, okay.” Xiao 6 turned off the special effects and continued grumbling, “That Qiao Jing, that dog thing, he’s so young but has such beautiful delusions, actually wanting to eat you, truly perverted! Disgusting! I’m going to drown him in my spit, Ptui!”
After washing my hands, I dried them with a hand dryer and asked, “It wasn’t written in his character settings, was it?”
“Mm-hmm, it should be an attribute randomly generated during the system’s operation of the simulated world. Bai Guzi didn’t give him such a setting,” Xiao 6 replied.
After drying my hands, I pulled out my phone to check the document sent by the intelligence department. After decryption, I saw the content.
A total of 87 people had gone missing after leaving the Marine amusement park.
It wasn't surprising that the intelligence department hadn’t provided this information in the mission data, because these disappearances, on the surface, had no connection to the Marine amusement park. The only commonality among the missing people was that they had all visited the Marine amusement park before disappearing, but they had all left under surveillance cameras.
The Marine amusement park had three gates: the main gate, the side gate, and the back gate.
The main gate was where tourists queued to enter the park, located in the land area of the park. The side gate was also on land, but it was for staff only, and often used by professional personnel for maintenance of amusement facilities, as well as for transporting goods by truck. In short, tourists could not pass through it.
The back gate, on the other hand, was located at sea, serving as the gate for the park’s marine area—more precisely, a pier. Tourists could take a ferry from there to leave the park.
The ferry had a cooperative relationship with the park and hotels, transporting tourists to the pier near the hotel clusters, where most out-of-town tourists stayed.
All of these missing people had left from the pier at the back gate.
However, surveillance equipment captured footage of them leaving the park and boarding the ferry, and some were even filmed returning to their hotels, hence their disappearances were deemed unrelated to the park.
The first disappearance occurred five years ago. At that time, after the park expanded its sea area and added a pier, about ten people went missing annually. Two years ago, the number of disappearances suddenly surged, reaching over twenty people per year.
Xiao 6, seeing the information with me, exclaimed, “So many people went missing!”
I continued to browse. The following sections contained information on the missing individuals, and the first few files turned out to be unregistered Underground special ability users. Because they were unregistered, officials didn't know they were special ability users and treated them as ordinary missing person cases. Otherwise, the disappearance of a special ability user would have necessitated transferring the case to the SAIDB.
I counted. Over five years, more than a dozen special ability users had gone missing. This started five years ago, with one or two disappearing annually, and the number increased two years ago.
Given the current not-so-large number of special ability users, this disappearance figure was already quite alarming.
The period after the expansion five years ago and two years ago were two very sensitive time points.
I remembered that previous mission data mentioned that five years ago, Qiao Zhanpeng expanded the park to increase the sea area, and Qiao Jing also awakened his special ability.
Two years ago, Qiao Zhanpeng proposed cutting ties with illegal business. I had confirmed with Xiao 6 that Qiao Zhanpeng received the Special ability energy crystal at that time. Later, I deduced from Xiao 6’s reaction that the Special ability energy crystal ended up in Qiao Jing’s hands.
Everything eventually pointed to Qiao Jing. It was hard not to feel that these disappearances were related to Qiao Jing, and that Qiao Jing also ate people.
However, there was a difference between special ability users devouring each other and special ability users eating ordinary people.
Eating special ability users, like eating mutated creatures, significantly increased special ability value, but eating ordinary people resulted in a negligible increase in special ability value, requiring massive consumption.
Because the Special ability molecules in ordinary people’s bodies were only stored in minute quantities due to breathing air now containing Special ability molecules, with a maximum of only 9 special ability value. Even a Level 1 special ability user, with the lowest special ability value, started at at least 10 special ability value. Level 3 special ability users started at 1000 special ability value, not to mention high-level special ability users, who were in the tens of thousands.
Qiao Jing possessed a Special ability energy crystal, which could catalyze and accelerate biological mutation. He could completely create low-level mutated creatures to eat, especially since his family had previously raised marine mutated creatures for the Dark Organization.
Eating mutated creatures he created himself with the Special ability energy crystal would undoubtedly be much easier than buying and selling mutated creatures at an underground exchange.
However, Qiao Jing ignored mutated creatures and hunted special ability users, for which there could be a reason. But after obtaining the Special ability energy crystal, he intensified his habit of eating so many ordinary people… aside from the answer being a perverse obsession, I couldn't think of anything else.
Thinking of the Special ability energy crystal, I recalled my encounter with Qiao Jing just now.
In fact, I had deliberately allowed Qiao Jing to approach me, but I didn't detect any scent of the Special ability energy crystal on him; it must have been stored somewhere else.
I needed to find the location of the Special ability energy crystal to ensure that the male lead would find it.
After finishing the data, I put away my phone and said, “Xiao 6, let’s read the manga.”
I wanted to see if the manga could provide any clues about the Special ability energy crystal, and also check where the male lead was—if the update included the male lead’s storyline in the park, then after I returned to resolve things with Qiao Zhanpeng, I could go to the park and coincidentally meet the male lead.
“Okay!” Xiao 6 brought up the Green River manga website for me and opened the latest chapter of Special Ability × Food Chain.
I wanted to see what kind of analyses the readers would have, so I opened the manga's bullet comment section in advance.
The cover of the latest chapter showed the protagonist trio in their Halloween Month event costumes.
The cover image was a phone’s selfie interface. Xia Xiaoxi, wearing a yellow Taoist robe, held the phone. Next to her was Zhou Chenhao, dressed as a Jiangshi and holding an official’s hat. Both looked at the camera with playful expressions, secretly taking a photo of Ling Feng, who stood behind them dressed as Black Wuchang, looking down at the chain in his hand.
Bullet comments popped up one by one.
【The friendship of this trio is too shippable; I love this picture, making it my wallpaper!】
【Hehe, Ling Feng is like a tsundere cat; he says he’s bored, but he still put on the Black Wuchang costume.】
【Dying of laughter, Haozi and Xiaoxi are two jokers.】
The manga had been updated once on the night I had a fever.
The content of the previous update was still the daily life of the protagonist group.
Zhou Chenhao and Xia Xiaoxi were both from D City and invited Ling Feng to visit D City during his long holiday. On October 1st, they played in D City for a day. The manga only showed a few panels indicating they went to many places. Finally, Xia Xiaoxi said, “The Marine amusement park has a Halloween Month event, let’s dress up and go in!” Ling Feng said, “Boring.”
The manga update continued from the previous content.
Zhou Chenhao and Xia Xiaoxi exchanged a secret glance, then tacitly grabbed Ling Feng’s arms, one on each side, and lifted him up.
Special ability users, when upgrading, strengthened their physical fitness, and strength was one of those aspects. They lifted Ling Feng effortlessly and rushed straight to the Four-pit store.
Ling Feng was full of question marks.
【Hahaha, so funny, grabbing the cat and running!】
【Ling Feng: Are you being polite?】
On the next manga page, in the previous panel, Ling Feng still looked speechless, but in the next panel, he had already changed into the Black Wuchang costume, standing dumbfounded, as if questioning life.
Zhou Chenhao, dressed as a Jiangshi, handed Ling Feng a chain, gestured to him, and said, “Soul-Snatching Chain!”
Ling Feng: Staring blankly with the chain.jpg
Xia Xiaoxi was still in the fitting room changing clothes. Zhou Chenhao, holding an official's hat, and Ling Feng were sitting on the resting chairs outside, waiting. He nudged Ling Feng with his elbow and asked, “Do you know what she chose?”
“No idea,” Ling Feng said.
Zhou Chenhao stood up and stretched a bit, then put on the official’s hat.
While putting on the official’s hat, he saw something fall from someone’s arms in the distance.
This panel of the manga didn't show a full face. The angle was a bit of an overhead shot, only showing white bangs obscuring the face, holding a pile of clothes, and bending slightly. The accompanying text read: "Slowly."
Zhou Chenhao, being helpful, ran over to assist. His physical fitness was already good, and it had been strengthened by his special ability upgrade, so he ran very fast.
In the next manga panel, on the right, a pale hand picked up a wide-brimmed hat and tucked it into its arms. On the left, fair fingers, much healthier in skin tone than the other hand, picked up the remaining fur collar and badge.
Zhou Chenhao handed the items over, saying, “Here.”
The manga turned the page here.
On the next page, there was a half-body illustration of the person opposite Zhou Chenhao.
The snow-white haired boy held thick clothing, his features exquisite and beautiful, pale and sickly. His red eyes were like red plum blossoms blooming on snow-covered branches, and his thick white eyelashes resembled a fleck of snow fallen upon a plum blossom. His hair, white as snow, cascaded softly along the side of his neck.
The bullet comments exploded on this page as well.
【Wow! My new hubby is finally back, so gorgeous!】
【I’ll just say: Hi, wife!】
【I quickly flipped to the appendix of this chapter and already saw my wife’s name, Bai Xuechao, so beautiful! (Obsessed.jpg)】
【Axue~ Axue Axue Axue Axue Axue~】
【WOC, the sister above sounds like Yuno; it scared me into a shiver.】
【Boo-hoo-hoo, screaming internally, who understands this!】
Seeing these bullet comments, I quickly flipped backward.
The following pages depicted events I had already experienced, so I didn't read them carefully.
When the plot progressed to Xia Xiaoxi playing at magic battles with Zhou Chenhao using a peach wood sword, the number of bullet comments surged again.
【Our daughter is very serious about being funny (dog head)】
【Dare to say our daughter is funny, beware, she might take you away in her wrath! (dog head)】
【It’s truly blissful to have someone to fool around with!】
【Seriously, these two are practically social terrorists; look at Ling Feng, he wishes he could burrow into the ground.】
【Ling Feng: Socially dead, do not cue me.】
【He took two steps back seriously~ did he~ small actions can still cause so~ much~ damage~ (singing aloud)】
【You guys should see my wife’s expression; he was utterly dumbfounded, as if saying, I’ve met two crazy people. I’m laughing myself to death. (Pounding the ground)】
【What kind of strange impression did the male and female leads leave on my new wife during their first meeting?! My wife fled in dismay!】
Xia Xiaoxi saw my back, her expression froze, and a flashback appeared—
She was wearing a high school uniform, her hands and feet tied, lying on a cement floor.
She slowly opened her emerald green eyes, her expression somewhat hazy.
The manga gave a close-up shot of Xia Xiaoxi’s eyes, indicating that the following was the scene she saw.
Then came three consecutive blurry panels.
In the first panel, the large iron gate of a warehouse opened. Outside, it was a vast expanse of white, with two black silhouettes, one tall and one short.
The second panel was a half-body shot of the taller person. I could recognize them wearing a short down jacket, accompanied by Xia Xiaoxi’s inner voice: “Brother…”
The third panel showed the shorter person. The shot only provided his left half, seemingly wearing a thick, long down jacket with a scarf wrapped around his neck, and a wisp of his snow-white long hair was blown by the wind.
After this was an even blurrier panel, where nothing could be discerned, with blurred black edges at the top and bottom, indicating that Xia Xiaoxi had closed her eyes.
I gazed at the blurry figure in the second panel for a long time, clenching my fingers.