Chapter 389
Agreements and Habits
Chapter 389 Agreements and Habits
"Brother Guan, are you... in a bad mood today?"
The following morning, Silver Fox, as agreed, brought Chen Na out of the base and met Guan Tong in a park.
Chen Na was happy to see Guan Tong, but she quickly noticed that the latter was somewhat downcast.
"Is it because of me...?"
Chen Na asked in a low voice, thinking that Guan Tong was disappointed in her because of her argument with her mother.
Guan Tong shook her head: "Some bad things happened, but it has nothing to do with you, Xiao Na."
The silver fox standing nearby asked curiously, "Something that could upset you must be quite serious?"
"It is indeed very serious. But that's not what we're talking about today."
Guan Tong didn't want to burden the two of them with his troubles, so he squatted down to be at eye level with Chen Na: "Xiao Na, I heard from your mother that you want to come and help me?"
"Yes!" Chen Na nodded vigorously.
Silver Fox looked somewhat helpless upon seeing this; clearly, she had tried to persuade Chen Na, but she still hadn't changed her mind.
"Brother Guan, I can help you."
"Of course, you are very capable, but I don't agree with you following me now."
Guan Tong had thought for a long time about how to persuade Chen Na. He considered coming up with some arguments, but ultimately decided to just tell her directly.
Although Chen Na is young, she's not that young. If she were still in school, she would be a junior high student, already at an age where she could see through the hypocrisy of adults to some extent.
Even if Chen Na would be upset by a direct refusal, Guan Tong felt it was far better than making excuses to deceive her. He always believed that adults refusing children wouldn't cause much harm; it was deception and hypocritical excuses that truly hurt children and created distance between them.
Upon hearing this, Chen Na immediately pouted, looking distressed: "Why? Brother Guan, are you worried that I'll hold you back?"
"That's one of the reasons."
Chen Na, standing to the side, looked puzzled, clearly feeling that Guan Tong's directness was inappropriate.
"Xiao Na, what you need to do now is learn how to protect yourself, instead of following me around everywhere."
"I'm learning! There's training at the base every day!"
“She’s right,” Silver Fox added. “Even if her ability is support-type, she still trains in combat every day. This girl looks harmless, but with her current skills, she could easily take down several ordinary adults with her bare hands, relying solely on the physical enhancements brought by her mental power, without using any ability items.”
"That's far from enough." Guan Tong didn't take the opportunity to praise her, but instead made a request to Chen Na.
"Xiao Na, if you want to work with me, you must meet one condition."
“Hey, hey,” Silver Fox interjected, “No matter what your conditions are, even if she can meet them, it’s not certain whether the base will release her.”
“I know,” Guan Tong said.
Chen Na, however, paid no attention to what Silver Fox said and asked happily, "What are the conditions? Brother Guan, please tell me!"
"You know about 'psychic power flow,' right? This must be a required course for your base to train official ascendants."
"Yes, we practice this every day!"
"Once you're proficient at using it in combat, I'll consider having you join my team."
"Okay!" Chen Na readily agreed. "Brother Guan, you can't go back on your word!"
Seeing Guan Tong nod, Chen Na ran off excitedly to the side.
Silver Fox crossed his arms and smiled, "It's not easy to master the flow of mental energy for bodily circulation, let alone for complex battles. With Xiao Na's cognitive and learning abilities at her age, it would take her at least six months to a year to achieve that. I didn't expect you to be so resourceful."
"It's just to give her the ability to protect herself."
In Guan Tong's view, if one's own abilities and tools are not suitable for the combat category, then as compensation, one must master Shi Jingyi's combat methods.
"Speaking of which, with your protection, does she really need to fight on her own?"
"My protection?" Guan Tong gave a self-deprecating laugh. "My protection isn't that reliable. In the end, everyone still has to rely on themselves."
"...It seems something serious has happened, that even 'Shadow' would express such sentiments."
Silver Fox didn't ask any further questions and took out a few items from the storage box.
"This is a container that Dr. Zhang asked me to bring to you; it's for storing flowing mental energy."
Thanks.
……
Two days later.
Sakura, Antu City. A small farewell ceremony was held at the only remaining funeral home in the area.
Most of the attendees were sheriffs who knew Suzuki. Each of them was dressed in black and walked solemnly to the body in the coffin, placing down the white bouquets they had brought.
Everyone felt heavy-hearted because relationships between people are difficult to maintain in this era. Even a relationship like that of colleagues, which is insignificant in peacetime, has become quite precious in this era.
At that moment, a figure entering the room attracted everyone's attention, much to the surprise of the sheriffs.
That was Yoshino, the current director of the Sakuragi Police Station. He should have been working in Banzhen, but he actually came to attend Suzuki's farewell party.
A sheriff stepped forward and asked, "Chief of Police, what brings you here?"
"Why wouldn't I come? Suzuki is my subordinate."
After Yoshino finished speaking, he walked to the coffin and gazed at Suzuki's remains.
In the corner of the room, Guan Tong and Shang Yuanzi were both watching.
"The new rules are going to be released tomorrow, and Yoshino, who is now the director-general, still took the time to attend a farewell party for a former subordinate. It seems he is very sentimental," said Uehara Yuki.
"..."
Guan Tong remained silent.
He had been investigating Suzuki's case for the past few days, but had reached a dead end.
The short-haired woman who appeared on the surveillance footage and was identified as "Wei Huo" was also not identified by the countermeasures research office.
The investigation yielded nothing regarding appearance, name, or fingerprints left when signing.
Guan Tong didn't believe the Countermeasures Research Office would cover it up; the fact that they couldn't find it meant that this woman had never registered.
This is hard to imagine, because under the Blood Plague rule, after North Star entered a state of war, everyone living in the city had to register.
Even if this woman, like Guan Tong, chose to leave the city at that time, there is no reason why her fingerprints would not match—fingerprint records were kept during the peaceful era before the rules of the apocalypse began, when individuals processed their identity information.
Was this woman always an unregistered resident? Or was her information erased?
Either way, the investigation is in trouble, and it will be difficult to find the person in a short time... but Guan Tong will not give up.
"You two must be the ones who brought Suzuki's body back. Thank you so much."
After paying his respects to the body, Yoshino walked up to Guan Tong and the other person and said something.
“Suzuki endured too much, and choosing to leave in this way might have been a relief for her,” Yoshino sighed. “She was a good sheriff, not just because of her profiling skills, but because of her empathy for others.”
“Yes,” said Shangyuan Zi, “losing her is a loss for all of us.”
Yoshino glanced at her. Although Uehara was wearing a mask, she wasn't wearing sunglasses.
Yoshino recognized her vertical pupils at a glance, but said nothing.
"Then, please excuse me for taking my leave first."
Guan Tong watched Yoshino's departing figure and said, "Back then, when you escaped from the solitary confinement room, the entire Sakura Inori was searching for you... He recognized your identity."
“I know,” said Uehara Yuki. “I plan to stay in Sakura Inori for a while and do some research here.”
"You mean..."
“Suzuki helped us find Misawa Jun back then. Although a large-scale purge was carried out later, it is possible that some people loyal to the Misawa family survived. If revenge is to be sought, Suzuki will naturally be one of the targets. Moreover, if that short ponytail woman is Sakura Inori, it is reasonable that her fingerprints are not recorded in the Hokusei database.”
"……All right."
What Shangyuan Zi said seemed reasonable at first glance, but Guan Tong thought it was unlikely.
Sakura Kingdom suffered a severe blow after the last incident and is currently completely dependent on Hokusei, with almost no ability to generate its own resources. Under these circumstances, it is highly unlikely that someone could secretly enter Hokusei and find the rehabilitation center where Suzuki is located, unless there is internal assistance involved.
“Then we’ll split up. You stay in Yingqi, and I’ll stay in Beixing. We’ll investigate separately and share intelligence regularly. But the new rules will be released tomorrow, so we’ll have to prioritize them.”
“That’s what I wanted to say too.” Shangyuan Zi looked at Guan Tong. “Captain, I can tell this makes you very angry… Is this the first time you’ve faced someone you know leaving?”
"..."
"Probably," Guan Tong thought.
After entering the post-apocalyptic era, he witnessed many deaths, some of which he had personally caused. But few of the people he knew or was familiar with had died.
"Isn't it better to get used to it sooner?" Shang Yuanzi gazed into the distance. "It's a great fortune to be able to survive in this era. Our luck and that of the people around us won't last forever."
Habit……
Guan Tong thought to himself that he would never get used to this kind of thing.
(End of this chapter)