Chapter 12 – There Was a Familiar Head on the Stair Step
Yu Zhi paused, deciding to play along with Lu Liming’s misinterpretation. Zhuang Ding’s injury was more pressing, and he could explain things later. Noticing Tang Yong observing them, he said to Lu Liming, “It’s fine. It’s not like it’s a shameful identity.”
Lu Liming latched onto the last part of that sentence—”not a shameful identity.” This means Brother Yu definitely has a real identity that is shameful! he thought. The police officer persona is just a cover!
The pieces clicked into place in Lu Liming’s mind: the master of disguise, the secluded government apartment, the sudden appearance of the pollution source… Brother Yu must have known about the pollution source all along! He moved into this building to deal with it! Why else would he have returned yesterday? And again today?
“Brother Yu, I understand,” Lu Liming declared, nodding vigorously.
Yu Zhi eyed him with suspicion. Does he really?
Lu Liming winked. “I really understand.” It’s all part of your plan!
“Got it, understood, Brother,” Yu Zhi conceded.
Lu Liming beamed.
Yu Zhi turned his attention to Zhuang Ding, who had removed his coat, revealing a deep gash on his right arm. It stretched from his elbow to his wrist, bleeding steadily. As Tang Yong reached for a bottle of iodine, Yu Zhi intervened. “I’ll do it,” he said, taking the medical kit.
“Thank you, Officer Yu,” Tang Yong said. “Sorry for the trouble.”
“No trouble at all,” Yu Zhi replied smoothly. “Serving the people.”
His concern wasn’t just the injury itself, but the risk of contamination. Azheng had mentioned contamination before, but only in the most basic sense. He’d never explained how it happened, as if it were common knowledge. A’Zheng hadn’t elaborated, and Yu Zhi hadn’t pressed, knowing it would only lead to another rambling lecture. A’Zheng’s terrible storytelling is to blame, he thought with a sigh.
He poured hydrogen peroxide onto Zhuang Ding’s wound. “Officer Yu,” Tang Yong interjected, “there isn’t much medicine, so please use it sparingly.”
“No need,” Yu Zhi said dismissively.
“Do you have other medicine?” Tang Yong asked quickly.
Before Yu Zhi could answer, Lu Liming, drawing on his extensive experience with fictional heroes, jumped in. “Don’t worry about the medicine,” he assured Tang Yong. “Maybe he’ll die soon anyway.”
Tang Yong stared at him, speechless. He took in Lu Liming’s dreadlocks, his expensive jewelry, and revised his earlier assessment. Definitely a spoiled rich kid. He forced a smile. “By the way,” he said, changing the subject, “that cockroach-man ran away. What if the madman with the bombs comes here? What should we do?”
“He can’t get in,” Yu Zhi said. “No one can enter or exit right now.”
“How do you know?” Tang Yong pressed.
“The system told me.”
“Why would the system tell you?”
Yu Zhi looked at him as if it were obvious. “Because I asked it.”
Tang Yong was incredulous. “Just asking… and it told you?”
Yu Zhi considered this for a moment. “That’s because I’m a good people’s police officer,” he declared matter-of-factly.
Tang Yong was silent. Is there really a police officer who praises himself like this? He still harbored doubts about the “impossible to enter or exit” claim. “I need to use the restroom,” he announced.
He entered the management office’s private restroom, closed the door, and lowered his voice. “System,” he asked tentatively, “is it really impossible to get in here?”
A line of text appeared on the system panel: [The current core pollution area has been sealed off by the pollution source. It is impossible to enter or exit before clearing or purifying the pollution source.]
Tang Yong breathed a sigh of relief. His doubts about Yu Zhi’s identity evaporated. “He’s telling the truth,” he muttered. “It seems this Yu Zhi really is a police officer.”
Meanwhile, the number of viewers in Tang Yong’s livestream increased, and the comments flooded in:
[User “Cilantro Latte” praises your intelligence.]
[User “Let Go of My Moth” admires your wit.]
[User “I Love Stories” looks forward to your future performance.]
[User “Strongest King” hopes you can kill them.]
*
Outside the apartment building, a tall, slender figure walked into the backyard. The next second, he found himself back on the street.
Fu Suxi paused, his eyelids lifting slightly. “System, come out,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.
A childlike voice echoed in the air. “Hello, the current core pollution area has been sealed off by the pollution source. It is impossible to enter or exit before clearing or purifying the pollution source. Please wait patiently.”
Fu Suxi lit a cigarette and leisurely strolled towards the front entrance of the apartment.
[User “Scarecrow’s C*ck” hopes you can blow up the apartment building and has rewarded you with 100 universal coins.]
[User “Lord of Fire” looks forward to your actions and has rewarded you with 50 universal coins.]
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” eagerly awaits your explosives and has rewarded you with 50 universal coins.]
[User “Gaze of the Dark Eye” questions why you haven’t blown up the apartment building and has rewarded you with 30 universal coins.]
Fu Suxi exhaled a smoke ring, a smirk playing on his lips. “Why blow it up,” he drawled, “if I haven’t received a side quest?” He scoffed, remembering the boy who he couldn’t access information from. “For that little shorty?”
[User “Sewing and Patching” believes he is not short and has rewarded you with 100 universal coins.]
[User “Sewing and Patching” is curious about your plan and has rewarded you with 400 universal coins.]
Fu Suxi’s smile widened. “The plan, huh?” he mused. “Wait until the people inside die.”
If the boy and his companions were killed by the pollution source, the side quest would naturally restart. And if they managed to kill the pollution source themselves… well, then he would kill them.
Inside the apartment management room, Lu Liming, overhearing Tang Yong’s mention of Fu Suxi, grew anxious.
“Brother Yu,” he whispered, leaning closer to Yu Zhi, “are you sure we don’t need to worry about that madman? What if he doesn’t need to come in to blow up the building?”
“No way,” Yu Zhi said reassuringly.
“Really?” Lu Liming pressed, his eyes wide with worry.
“Really,” Yu Zhi confirmed, continuing to clean Zhuang Ding’s wound. “He’s a madman, not an idiot.”
“But I’m an idiot,” Lu Liming protested. “I don’t understand.”
“He hasn’t received a side quest,” Yu Zhi explained patiently. “Blowing up the building offers him no benefits.”
Lu Liming pondered this. “But once we deal with the pollution source,” he countered, “won’t there be no quest for him either?”
Yu Zhi looked at him, surprised by the assumption that they could handle the pollution source so easily. “If we can even leave here,” he reminded Lu Liming, “he can kill us and loot our belongings. Plenty of benefits there.”
“I see,” Lu Liming murmured, falling into deep thought. Could this be part of Brother Yu’s plan? Luring Fu Suxi with the pollution source?
Zhuang Ding, listening to their conversation, couldn’t contain his curiosity. “Officer Yu,” he asked, “do you know that madman well?”
“Not really,” Yu Zhi replied, improvising smoothly. “But I’ve seen a lot of his type.”
Zhuang Ding was impressed. This is the most refreshingly straightforward police officer I’ve ever met.
Yu Zhi finished cleaning Zhuang Ding’s wound. It wasn’t deep, but the exposed flesh was concerning. So far, there were no signs of parasitic infection. He applied iodine and bandaged the wound, then observed Zhuang Ding closely. The young man looked pale, but otherwise normal.
“How do you feel?” Yu Zhi asked.
“My hand hurts, and I’m a bit dizzy from blood loss,” Zhuang Ding admitted, “but otherwise fine.”
“Okay,” Yu Zhi said. “Let us know immediately if you feel unwell.”
“I will,” Zhuang Ding replied, pushing up his glasses. “I’ll go wash my hands now.”
Just then, the restroom door opened with a click. Tang Yong emerged. “There’s no water,” he announced. “The pipes might be broken.”
The door remained open, and the sound of rattling pipes echoed from within.
“You didn’t turn off the faucet?” Yu Zhi asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I forgot,” Tang Yong admitted sheepishly.
“If there’s no water, I won’t wash my hands then,” Zhuang Ding said, settling back down.
“It’s fine,” Tang Yong said, joining them on the sofa. “Let’s wait and see if the water comes back.”
“Buzz buzz buzz-“
“Buzz buzz buzz buzz—”
The rattling of the pipes intensified. A sense of foreboding washed over Yu Zhi. There had been water that morning. And Xiao Ming had mentioned hearing the pipes vibrating last night…
A new sound emerged from the cacophony—a scraping, scratching noise, like nails on a chalkboard. It grew louder, punctuated by sharp bangs and a rustling, squirming sound that set Yu Zhi’s teeth on edge.
“Buzz buzz zzz-bang-boom—”
“Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle—”
Something was wriggling densely inside the pipes.
Yu Zhi’s expression changed, and he suddenly stood up: “Shut it off quickly!”
The others were momentarily stunned by his shout, turning their heads in unison to look at the restroom sink.
Lu Liming obediently stood up, asking in confusion, “What happened?”
Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself. Yu Zhi dashed toward the restroom, just as he reached the door, the faucet couldn’t hold up anymore, making two cracking sounds before falling into the basin.
Yu Zhi watched helplessly as countless small white cockroaches surged out of the black opening.
It was like a large dollop of cream being squeezed out of a pastry bag; the milky white cockroaches instantly filled the entire sink, piling up high.
In the blink of an eye, the cockroaches at the edge tumbled to the ground, spreading everywhere.
Yu Zhi’s hair stood on end, and he forcefully shut the restroom door, turning to run: “We can’t stay here; we need to change places.”
Just as he reached the management room door, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
On the stairs diagonally opposite, a familiar head was resting.
It was Gao Yangyao’s head, currently facing the management room.
With a “thud,” the head fell to the next step, revealing part of its neck.
The lower half of that neck was a yellow-brown translucent membrane, connecting to the body of a cockroach.
It was crawling on the stairs like an ordinary cockroach, slowly making its way down.
Suddenly, I am on Fu Suxi’s side, that building needs to die. As for Yu Zhi, good luck man, gg