Chapter 60: Oblivion

Xia Mi didn’t dare start the game again.

The game had swallowed her Zhuo Coins. She had absorbed so many in the Pharmaceutical Factory, yet her balance had been negative after leaving. It took absorbing 700 Zhuo Coins in the bar just to barely bring the game’s balance back to zero. She only had two chances to reach an ending, and she had already wasted one. She had to be cautious, extremely cautious, from here on out.

Xia Mi sat in her chair, contemplating that terrifying scene from the game.

This was the squishiest boss she had ever encountered. Simply because she disliked his appearance, he had self-destructed. His mental fortitude was pathetic!

Couldn’t he have been a little stronger?

Xia Mi cursed the boss in her heart for being so useless. After venting her emotions for a while, she continued to ponder the key to this playthrough.

The key wasn’t whether the boss’s heart would break; the key was his ability to self-destruct. The explosion was massive, powerful enough to affect the entire Nest. Only she and Liao Tianhua could survive it.

Therefore, the priority wasn’t protecting the boss’s fragile ego, but preventing the self-destruction or minimizing the damage it caused.

In the game’s prompts, there had been no mention of property damage to the Disposal Bureau.

This building was expensive to construct and filled with high-tech equipment. Any single piece of machinery could cost millions, far more than she could ever afford to repay. If the boss’s self-destruction had leveled the building, the game’s ending would have definitely mentioned it.

Thus, the boss’s explosion likely hadn’t damaged the physical structure in reality; it had only killed the people within the Domain.

“I wonder if the main building has any defensive capabilities against the boss’s self-destruction. If it does, and I find everyone ahead of time and have them hide in a blast-proof room, wouldn’t the problem be solved?” Xia Mi thought.

It was a method worth trying.

Xia Mi opened the door to the Confidential Archives Room and asked Jiao Xingjian in the outer office, “Old Jiao, which room in our bureau is the most blast-proof?”

Jiao Xingjian replied, “All the underground parking spaces in our city meet civil defense standards¹. In the event of an air raid, the underground parking of every residential complex, mall, government office, and corporate facility becomes an air-raid shelter.

“The Confidential Archives Room we’re in is also rated for nuclear blasts. However, it’s not the room I’m in, but the inner archive room where you are.”

“Oh.” Xia Mi pulled her head back inside and continued thinking.

When “Xiao Mi” went upstairs to the Director’s office to find the Fake Old Jiao, the real Old Jiao was…

Wait, where was the real Old Jiao at that time?

She hadn’t paid attention to that at all.

Old Jiao wasn’t a useful game character; he was just an item… Wait, this “item” seemed to follow her automatically in the game. If “Xiao Mi” didn’t specifically place the Keycard somewhere, the Keycard would stay with her.

In other words, when “Xiao Mi” confronted the Fake Old Jiao, the Keycard had followed her upstairs. He had been in the nearest office, taking the full force of the boss’s self-destruction alongside “Xiao Mi,” dying instantly.

Xia Mi recalled the office locations of Mi Xiangyan, Qiu Hailan, and Liao Tianhua.

Old Jiao’s office was on the 17th floor. That floor contained a large conference room, a small conference room, two Deputy Director offices, and Old Jiao’s personal office. There were no other rooms.

Mi Xiangyan was part of the technical department. Her office was adjacent to the server room and various equipment rooms, requiring an entire floor. Consequently, she occupied the 16th floor all by herself, directly below Old Jiao’s office.

Qiu Hailan and Liao Tianhua were frontline personnel who needed to be out in the field frequently. To ensure efficiency, the frontline offices were concentrated on the second and third floors. Their offices, along with Xia Mi’s, were on the third floor.

Thinking about the building’s layout, Xia Mi suddenly realized that her companions’ deaths might have been because they were too close to the Fake Old Jiao.

If she could call her companions out in advance and have everyone hide in the basement, they might be able to avoid the damage from the explosion.

Xia Mi wanted to play the game again to verify this hypothesis, but she only had one chance left. If the hypothesis was wrong, both chances would truly be wasted.

While she was thinking, Xia Mi’s phone rang again.

She picked it up and saw it was the Fake Old Jiao.

The moment Xia Mi saw the number, the Fake Old Jiao’s face from the game flashed in her mind. Her hand jerked, and the phone nearly slipped from her grasp.

Fortunately, Xia Mi remembered the price of her tri-fold phone. Using her superhuman reflexes, she caught it just before it hit the floor, averting a tragedy.

Xia Mi stared at the caller ID for a moment before finally answering with the grim determination of a soldier heading into battle.

“Hello… Xia Mi…” A deep, lingering voice drifted from the receiver.

Xia Mi suppressed her disgust and said, “What is it?”

“I’ve been calling for you for so long, why haven’t you come yet? I miss you.” The Fake Old Jiao had arrived.

Xia Mi felt as if she had just swallowed a cockroach.

She couldn’t stand it. There was no way to speak normally to a voice like that.

She walked out silently, grabbed the real Old Jiao who was standing guard outside, and dragged him into the Confidential Archives Room. She stowed the elderly, frail Deputy Director Jiao in the room with the best blast-proofing first.

The priority now was to save whoever she could. In case her scolding triggered the Fake Old Jiao to self-destruct, she could at least try to preserve Old Jiao’s life.

Jiao Xingjian was dragged into the Confidential Archives Room by Xia Mi without explanation. Before he could speak, Xia Mi slammed the door shut, locking him inside.

Having completed the task swiftly, Xia Mi spoke into the phone. “If you keep talking like that, I’m reporting you for harassing a subordinate.”

The other side immediately went silent.

An idea struck Xia Mi. Since the Fake Old Jiao cared so much about her opinion, why couldn’t she use her words to “de-grease²” him?

So she said, “Deputy Director Jiao, what’s wrong with you today? Usually, you’re elegant, steady, and sophisticated. Your voice is powerful and inspiring. Why do you sound like you have a lightbulb stuck in your throat today? This isn’t like you!”

The other side gave a light cough. “My throat isn’t feeling very well today.”

His voice had finally returned to normal.

Xia Mi thought about the game’s title, “The Cuckoo Occupying the Magpie’s Nest,” and guessed that the Fake Old Jiao likely wanted to usurp Old Jiao’s identity and didn’t want to be easily exposed.

So, she pressed on, saying to the Fake Old Jiao, “Deputy Director Jiao, are you wearing your standard service uniform³ today, or is it your duty uniform or training fatigues?”

“Why are you asking what I’m wearing? Are you concerned about that?” The voice on the other end sounded quite excited.

Xia Mi replied expressionlessly, “No. It’s my turn for duty today, and I’m responsible for checking the staff’s attire. According to regulations, office staff must wear the standard service uniform, with epaulets, police rank, and badge numbers strictly displayed, and ties must be worn.

“Frontline personnel may wear duty uniforms during non-formal meeting hours for ease of deployment. As for training fatigues, those are for use during training sessions.

“Deputy Director Jiao, you are on duty today, so you can wear either the duty uniform or the service uniform. Which one are you wearing?”

Fake Old Jiao: “…”

A rustling sound came through the phone; he was likely changing clothes.

After a while, the Fake Old Jiao finally said, “I couldn’t find the service uniform, so I’m wearing the duty uniform.”

Duty uniforms were loose and easy to move in, and the dark fabric was durable and stain-resistant. Xia Mi usually preferred wearing them herself.

Thinking of Old Jiao in his duty uniform, Xia Mi felt a slight sense of relief.

However, remembering the Fake Old Jiao’s long false eyelashes and deep, multicolored eye sockets from the game, Xia Mi quickly added, “Also, regardless of the uniform, your appearance must be neat. Heavy makeup is forbidden, and any bizarre hairstyles are strictly prohibited.”

The sound of running water soon came from the other end. He was clearly washing off the makeup.

Once the Fake Old Jiao finished all this, he said to Xia Mi, “Come to my office. Why can’t I find you?”

He couldn’t find her? That meant that after they entered the Confidential Archives Room, the Fake Old Jiao could no longer track her movements.

Xia Mi covered the mouthpiece and kicked the door of the Confidential Archives Room. Jiao Xingjian opened the door and whispered, “What is it?”

Xia Mi asked, “Besides you, does anyone else know that my Second-Class Merit was cancelled?”

“The members of the Department Party Committee,” Jiao Xingjian said. “The committee meeting just ended, and the documents haven’t been issued yet. No one else knows.”

“Do Liao Tianhua, Qiu Hailan, or Mi Xiangyan know?” Xia Mi asked.

“Only you know,” Jiao Xingjian said.

Having received a definitive answer, Xia Mi felt at ease.

She spoke into the phone, “I’m angry because I heard about the Second-Class Merit. I’m upset, and I don’t want to go talk to the leadership.”

Jiao Xingjian, standing nearby: “…”

He felt like Xia Mi was scolding him to his face.

The Fake Old Jiao said in surprise, “Why are you angry? I called you to the office specifically to give you the Second-Class Merit medal and certificate!”

Xia Mi said, “Stop lying to me. I heard from someone on the Party Committee long ago that you gave the Second-Class Merit to someone else!”

“Is that so?” the Fake Old Jiao asked.

Xia Mi started talking nonsense. “Of course it is. I know you gave the Second-Class Merit to… Liao Tianhua. I’m furious. Where is Liao Tianhua? I saved his life, and now he’s stealing my credit. I’m going to find him and settle the score!”

She was talking complete rubbish, purely to scout out the whereabouts of Mi, Qiu, and Liao.

Among them, Liao Tianhua had healing abilities and was the combat asset Xia Mi needed most, so she looked for him first.

Upon hearing Liao Tianhua’s name, the Fake Old Jiao actually said, “Don’t go looking for him. He…”

“I don’t care, I’m going to find him,” Xia Mi interrupted the Fake Old Jiao and cut the call.

She said seriously to the real Old Jiao, “The Fake Old Jiao won’t let me see Captain Liao. I suspect something has happened to him and the others. I’m going to find Captain Liao. You… for safety’s sake, stay in the Confidential Archives Room. No one can open this door except you, anyway.”

Jiao Xingjian thought for a moment and said, “That works. I don’t want to get in your way. I borrowed a colleague’s phone—that’s the number I used to call you just now. If anything happens, call me. Also, if that doesn’t go through, this is the landline for the Confidential Archives Room. You can call this number.”

“Remember to call me if you show any signs of Zhuo-fication,” Xia Mi instructed.

After settling the old man, Xia Mi left the Confidential Archives Room and took the stairs to the third floor.

She wanted to see exactly why the Fake Old Jiao didn’t want her to see Liao Tianhua.

Xia Mi arrived at Liao Tianhua’s office. Without knocking, she pushed the door open and saw Liao Tianhua transcribing study notes.

According to regulations, they had to study every week. Most people just mindlessly copied books, but Liao Tianhua was the most diligent. Every time, he would find relevant lecture videos online and transcribe them while listening.

Seeing someone enter so rudely, Liao Tianhua looked up and stared at Xia Mi with an utterly strange look in his eyes.

“And you are…?” Liao Tianhua looked Xia Mi’s duty uniform up and down, his face full of confusion. “Were you transferred here from another unit?”

Xia Mi’s heart skipped a beat.

She could sense that the Liao Tianhua in front of her was the real person, not a fake created by the power of Zhuo.

But Liao Tianhua didn’t remember her.

Translator’s Notes