Superman Termination Manual

Chapter 250: Chapter 168 Family Meeting Second Loop (Part 2)

Ten minutes ago, Old Jingmai District, Bai Ke’s home.

Ke Xiaomo inserted the key into the keyhole, pushed the door open, took off his shoes, entered the living room, and sat on the sofa. He turned to Ke Yinzhi beside him and said, “I just went to meet Dice Monster.”

“And then?” Ke Yinzhi asked.

“It told me that the player spreading parasites within the city is a girl in a wheelchair and showed me her photo,” he said.

As he spoke, Ke Xiaomo opened the QQ email he had just downloaded on his phone and logged into his long-unused QQ account, only to see an email lying in the inbox.

He clicked on the email. The subject of the email read “To My Dearest Ninja Sir,” and the email contained no text, just an attached image.

The image depicted a girl in a wheelchair, raising her cane forward while black bugs rushed along the cane as if they were about to burst out of the screen.

“Wow, you’re just assuming this photo is real?”

As he spoke, Ke Yinzhi glanced at the photo in the email and then said, “From my perspective, this photo is strange, the environment, the facial features, whether it’s one part or another, all seem to be deliberately refined with lines, indicating that the original image must have been very blurry. Even the environmental part seems to have traces of artificial filling, as if, in the original photo, a part of the image was missing, blank, reminding me of something…”

“What thing?” Ke Xiaomo asked.

“Not a monitor. Logically, images taken by monitors wouldn’t have so many missing and blank areas.”

“Then what is it?”

“A brain imaging helmet,” Ke Yinzhi answered.

“Brain imaging helmet?”

“Exactly, images generated by brain imaging helmets indeed have many incomplete parts, and the image quality isn’t that clear,” Ke Yinzhi said. “If the person who altered this photo was trying to disguise this matter, that would explain why the photo looks so discordant.”

Ke Xiaomo frowned: “Does that mean the Dice Monster has a brain imaging helmet?”

“Not necessarily, this is just my speculation.”

As he spoke, Ke Yinzhi yawned and changed the TV channel with the remote control, then continued.

“Moreover, the existence of players has gradually become public. The Superhero Association, the Magical Girl Alliance, and the Management Bureau worldwide are already beginning to use the brain imaging helmets to check if players have infiltrated their staff. To investigate the distribution of the brain imaging helmets isn’t that easy, it’s very energy-consuming.”

“Why not just narrow the scope and start with Huanjing?”

“The brain imaging helmets will not be introduced to the organizations here in Huanjing for another two days. Guess who currently controls the brain imaging helmets in Huanjing?”

“Who?”

“Xizi Yue, Qing Ya. Do you think either of them seems like someone the Dice Monster could fool?” Ke Yinzhi said. “Although Xizi Yue is irresponsible, she is not stupid, actually quite astute; and Qing Ya, even less needs to be said.”

Ke Xiaomo fell silent for a while, then voiced his speculation.

“Could it be that Xizi Yue played around with other magic girls and then Dice Monster got the helmet from those magic girls, especially considering the recent incident with Xiao Ni? She brought the brain imaging helmet given by the Magic Girl Feng back home, which really scared us then.”

“Speaking of this, I previously warned Xizi Yue explicitly on behalf of the Management Bureau not to hand over the brain imaging helmets to any subordinate unless absolutely necessary.”

Ke Yinzhi slightly paused as he spoke, his tone seemed uncertain, “Uh… even for Xizi Yue, she probably wouldn’t completely ignore my words.”

After speaking, he shrugged his shoulders and made an excuse for himself: “However… as the brain imaging helmets become more common, she might have gotten carried away. I’ll try to ask her in a few days to see if I can find any leads.”

At this, Ke Xiaomo suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

“Right, Dice Monster also told me earlier that he knows Magical Girl Ash…and Magical Girl Ash is close with Xizi Yue. Could it be Ash who gave the helmet to Dice Monster?”

“It’s possible, I’ll look into it when I have some time in a few days,” Ke Yinzhi said.

“With your memory, you’ll probably have forgotten in two days.”

As he spoke, Ke Xiaomo sighed and changed the subject: “Let’s not talk about that for now, let’s discuss what Dice Monster did today. Why do you think he kidnapped Che Zhengchen and then released him?”

“Who knows…”

As he spoke, Ke Yinzhi suddenly raised his eyebrows, his tone shifting: “Oh, I think I understand. The photo you saw must have been extracted from Che Zhengchen’s memory.”

“…Huh?”

“Those parasites only target ordinary people, and Che Zhengchen is an ordinary person. He most likely had a parasite implanted into his body by that player not long ago and then forgot about it.”

“Forgot?”

“The data from the Management Bureau says that people infested with parasites automatically forget the infestation,” Ke Yinzhi explained as he picked up the Coke on the table, propped up his chin, took a sip through the straw, and continued.

“Although Che Zhengchen himself forgot, that memory might still be recoverable, so to extract the appearance of that player from Che Zhengchen’s mind, Dice Monster abducted him from the Superhero Tower this afternoon and fitted a brain imaging helmet over his head somewhere.”

Ke Xiaomo fell silent for a while and then said, “I see…”

“So it seems that the Dice Monster isn’t as omniscient as you thought. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have needed to resort to such methods to find the culprit spreading the parasite.”

Ke Yinzhi curled his lips, speaking slowly.

He paused, “The key point is, if that wheelchair-bound woman is indeed a player as it claims, that would seem to suggest that the Dice Monster is likely not a player.”

Ke Xiaomo nodded and said, “Indeed. If the girl spreading the parasite really is a player, then it suggests that the Dice Monster probably has no relationship with the players.”

Ke Yinzhi shrugged, “Exactly. If it were a player, there would be no reason for it to act this way: to take such a big risk just to betray its own kind, that doesn’t fit with the typical behavior of this group.”

He thought for a moment, then added a few more words.

“Besides, as a player, it should have had more methods to single her out, like the ‘Friends System’ I mentioned earlier… I remember there is such a feature on the players’ panel. In any case, it didn’t need to go to such lengths, unless…”

“Unless what?” Ke Xiaomo asked.

“Unless there was infighting among the players.”

“Infighting?”

“Who knows. At this point, we’re still not familiar enough with this group, but given their situation, if they don’t extinguish the superhumans within a year, they’ll die. Theoretically, the chances of infighting should be low,” Ke Yinzhi pondered aloud as he spoke.

Hearing this, Ke Xiaomo relaxed a bit.

He said, “So can we rest easy now, thinking the Dice Monster might just be a mad dog and not a player?”

“It’s still uncertain,” Ke Yinzhi said indifferently. “Either way, since you chose to cooperate with it, remember to be cautious and not fall into its trap.”

“Are you talking to me?”

“And that too,” Ke Yinzhi smiled mockingly, “With our Sect Master’s ability, you shouldn’t be led astray by such a thing.”

Ke Xiaomo stared at the television screen, and the two of them quietly watched TV for a while.

Suddenly, he said, “By the way, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

“What?”

At that moment, Ke Xiaomo fell silent for a while, hesitating whether or not to discuss the matter concerning Mingye with Ke Yinzhi, but then he recalled that just two days ago, Ke Yinzhi had told him he wanted to enjoy a peaceful vacation and experience a normal life, which is why he had entrusted the parasite issue to him.

With just Qiuwu and Yongzhu already causing him enough worry, adding Mingye into the mix, even someone with a big heart like Ke Yinzhi would probably be choked up enough to lose his appetite…

Thinking this, Ke Xiaomo sighed softly and lightly shook his head.

“It’s nothing,” he said.

Just as Ke Yinzhi was about to press further, the doorbell rang, interrupting his thoughts. He opened the door to find Bai Qiuwu returning home. She had just changed into sandals at the entrance and immediately asked, “Has Mingye come back yet?”

Ke Yinzhi answered, “Not yet.”

Ke Xiaomo, pretending to be clueless, asked, “What were you out doing just now?”

“I went to a classmate’s to pick up some math materials,” Bai Qiuwu said, lifting the workbook in her hand, “Call me when Mingye returns, I need to speak with him.”

“Okay,” said Ke Yinzhi.

As Bai Qiuwu went upstairs, Ke Xiaomo carefully started, “Qiuwu, I just dealt with a witch causing trouble in the Linjiang Business District with her.”

Hearing this, Ke Yinzhi tilted his head and looked at him curiously, asking, “Oh… did she recognize you?”

Ke Xiaomo shook his head, “You said that the Eyes of Golden Flame cannot see through physical masks, only illusions, so she didn’t recognize me.”

“That’s good then.”

“I’m going out to buy some drinks and also look for Mingye. He’s been out for so long today, I don’t know where he’s wandered off to,” Ke Xiaomo said as he stood up from the sofa and walked out of the room. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

He casually closed the electronic door behind him, turned his head, and saw that the elevator indicator was lit, someone slowly ascending towards the 12th floor.

Ke Xiaomo breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back against the wall, and hugged his shoulders, pondering how exactly to bring up the issue with Mingye.

After a while, the elevator doors slowly opened.

Ke Mingye, his hand over his chest, walked out of the elevator, looked up from his phone, and glanced at him evasively: “Uh… big brother, what are you doing here?”

“I have something to talk about with you, but not here. Let’s go downstairs and buy some drinks while we’re at it,” Ke Xiaomo said as he walked towards him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, giving him no chance to resist.

Ke Mingye hesitated for a moment, then said, “Alright, let’s go.”

COMMENT

0 comment

Vote

3 left

SEND GIFT