Chapter 22: Synchronizing Progress

This kid really had a touch of Xia Mi’s own style.

Xia Mi praised him, “Not bad. Knowing to save electricity at such a young age.”

Xiao Pi replied, “Mom says the apartment’s electricity is billed at commercial rates, which is more expensive than residential. She complains every time she has to pay the bill.”

Xia Mi said, “Don’t worry, I’ll reimburse you for the electricity I use.”

This fell under temporary requisition; the department would definitely cover the expenses!

Xia Mi had made so many promises lately that she was no longer worried about her growing debts.

Xiao Pi remained persistent, “Your home is right next door. Why don’t you go back to your own place to play on the computer?”

Xia Mi would have to be an idiot to go back to 703!

The mother and son in 704 had nearly killed her, but 703 held three Zhuo-corrupted people, mosquitoes in the water meter box, and who knew how many other traps waiting for her.

If anyone was going, it would be “Xiao Mi” first!

Xia Mi had learned her lesson this time and would never act rashly again.

She could have overbearingly said, “I’m using it and there’s nothing you can do about it,” but such bandit-like behavior was unbecoming of an excellent public servant.

Even if the opponent was a Zhuo-corrupted person, Xia Mi would be cautious in word and deed, refusing to leave even the slightest stain on her career path.

She could beat the invisible Xiao Pi to a pulp, but she would never occupy a single kilowatt-hour of Xiao Pi’s electricity for free.

It was a matter of principle!

Xiao Pi held a grudge against Xia Mi and was intent on being difficult. “I don’t care. You have to pay first.”

There was no internet in Building 6, so there was no way to transfer money. Even Liu Yunxia’s promise to Sister Li for a Supreme Membership card was just a written IOU for ten thousand yuan.

But Xia Mi wasn’t going to be stumped by Xiao Pi.

She rummaged through her backpack, coat pockets, and pants pockets. To her surprise, she actually found two coins, one yuan and one fifty-cent piece, and a crumpled one-yuan bill in her pocket that had been through the washing machine.

Who said Xia Mi didn’t have cash!

Xia Mi slapped the two yuan and fifty cents onto the table and said grandly, “Two-fifty for one kilowatt-hour. You’re even making a profit of one yuan!”

Xiao Pi took the money, and the way he looked at Xia Mi softened considerably. He immediately said, “Sister, I can sell you ten kilowatt-hours.”

“I don’t need that much!” Xia Mi shooed Xiao Pi away.

She wasn’t about to spend that much money on overpriced electricity.

Having finally dealt with Xiao Pi, Xia Mi plugged in the power cord and opened Hani Apartments.

Considering she still needed to contact Liao Tianhua, she plugged her phone in to charge as well. After all, she had paid for the power.

An option popped up on the game interface: [Detected that the player has updated game progress on another device. Synchronize progress? Yes/No]

Another device? What other device?

Xia Mi froze for a moment before it hit her. Could the “another device” mentioned in the game be reality?

She hadn’t played the game for a long time, and a gap had indeed formed between real-time and game-time. To level out the game progress, she would normally need to play for a while.

But it could be synchronized? Was this game too intelligent?

Xia Mi clicked “Yes.”

Immediately, a wave of dizziness hit her. A portion of the energy within her body vanished into thin air, completely consuming the energy she had just “Silkwormed” from the auntie and Xiao Pi.

The game, however, began to rapidly synchronize progress, even taking the liberty of upgrading the graphics for Xia Mi.

This game consumes the energy in my body?! Xia Mi clutched her dizzy head and stared at the game interface.

This time, the monsters in the game were no longer pixelated mosaics. Instead, they were chibi-style sprites. The “Xiao Mi” on the screen had also changed from a normal girl into a girl with several tentacles writhing behind her back.

Xia Mi: “…”

“Xiao Mi” didn’t look like a leading cadre with a bright future at all.

The game seemed to sense Xia Mi’s predicament, and another window popped up: [Would you like to purchase a Humanoid Skin? Cost: 50 Zhuo Units. Yes/No]

What did it mean, “Humanoid Skin”? She was clearly a human, so why did she need to look like one? And what did “50 Zhuo Units” mean?

Xia Mi thought back carefully and realized she hadn’t opened the game since she learned “Silkworm.”

All these changes seemed to be brought about by “Silkworm.”

Zhuo Units likely referred to the Zhuo-corrupted parts she had absorbed, though she didn’t know how many parts equaled one unit.

The currency for buying skins in the game was Zhuo Units, not RMB. In other words, it couldn’t be reimbursed; Xia Mi had to foot the bill herself.

The thought of paying for it herself made Xia Mi’s heart ache.

But she had to buy the skin. Hani Apartments was currently her greatest reliance. Whatever the game wanted, as long as she had it, she would give it even if she had to sell everything she owned.

Xia Mi clicked “Yes.” Another wave of dizziness followed, and “Xiao Mi” turned back into a gentle, harmless little girl.

Based on the level of dizziness and her hunger, Xia Mi estimated that 1 Zhuo Unit was roughly equal to the energy contained in the Zhuo-corrupted parts dropped or cut from two ordinary Zhuo-corrupted people. Meanwhile, Zhuo-corrupted individuals like the Spider-man, Liu Yunxia’s husband, or Xiao Pi contained about 5 Zhuo Units of energy, the equivalent of ten ordinary ones.

The auntie in 704 was truly formidable. She alone possessed about 100 Zhuo Units of energy, far surpassing the others.

There were five or six hundred people in Building 6, which amounted to about 300 Zhuo Units. Adding the 100 Zhuo Units from the auntie in 704, Xia Mi had obtained a total of 400 Zhuo Units. She decided to call them 400 zhuo coins.

Synchronizing progress had used the auntie’s energy, which was 100 zhuo coins.

Buying the skin cost 50 zhuo coins.

With a total consumption of 150 zhuo coins, Xia Mi had about 250 zhuo coins left.

With that calculation, the data became clear.

In the game, “Xiao Mi” was inside 704. An exclamation mark appeared on the white paper in her item bar, indicating a new message notification.

The information on the white paper was incredibly important. It might even synchronize the intelligence gathered by the Second Team. Xia Mi clicked on the white paper without hesitation.

The paper had been updated with three pieces of information.

[First: Lost Boyfriend (his axe). New game “Finding the Lost Boyfriend” added. Can be started after completing “Hani Apartments.” Time limit: Three years. Countdown starts now.]

[Second: Brother unit “Second Team” requires support. New game “Underground Laboratory” added. Can be started after completing “Hani Apartments.” Time limit: 72 hours. Countdown starts now. “Underground Laboratory” is extremely dangerous; the player may choose to decline the mission.]

[Third: Data held by the Second Team has been captured. Do you wish to read it? Note: Once the data is read, you must accept the “Underground Laboratory” mission. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch.]

The sheer volume of information in these three messages was overwhelming.

What on earth was that first message about? She had lost an axe, but how did she lose a boyfriend too? Hadn’t she lost contact with that boyfriend right after his blind date? What did he have to do with being “lost”?

Xia Mi was already surrounded by enough mysteries: a hyper-realistic simulation game that could predict the future, “Rong,” and “Project Queen Bee.” Was her practically-broken-up-with boyfriend now considered a mystery as well?

Am I really carrying this many secrets? Is the name Xia Mi cursed? Maybe I should change it to something like Xia Ming, Xia Guang, or Xia Zheng[^1]. Something bright and upright, suitable for a leader, Xia Mi thought to herself.

Considering she was about to become a steadfast warrior of materialism², Xia Mi dismissed these superstitious thoughts.

Since the time limit for the “Find the Lost Boyfriend” mission was three years, Xia Mi tossed it aside and ignored it.

Given her current achievements and seniority, she likely wouldn’t even need a probation period once she entered the system. Her initial appointment would be at least at the deputy section chief level, which meant the rank of deputy captain. Following the standard three-year promotion cycle, she would probably be up for a full section chief position by then.

By that time, she would be on equal footing with Xiao Liao. Would she really go looking for her ex-boyfriend then?

That was absolutely impossible!

When the time came, she would definitely find a young, sensible, family-oriented man. She would focus on her career while her spouse took care of the home and fully supported her work.

Perhaps the game was suggesting she find a suitable, virtuous husband within three years. That was something she could actually put on her schedule.

Ignoring the first message, Xia Mi focused her attention on the second and third.

In essence, these two were one and the same.

As long as she could defeat the “Zhuo” in Building 6, she would definitely go to assist her brother unit. She couldn’t let the Second Team be sacrificed.

Without any psychological burden, Xia Mi opened the data from the third message.

The title of the document was “Observation Report on Y-054, 055, 056, 057, and Their Derivative Organisms.”

The observation period lasted two months, and the reporter’s name was Zhang Xun.

This was exactly the information Xia Mi needed most.

Excited, she began to read.

Translator’s Notes