Dow and Carbon-Based Monkey Breeding Guidelines

Chapter 997 Snail Horn (Part )

Their journey to Snail City was uneventful. Ordinary, not dull or boring. Although Li Li didn't necessarily trust him (of course, they would never be able to reconcile before he was willing to tell Zhou Yu's whereabouts), at least on the surface everything was normal.

She showed Luo Binhan the results of her work during his disappearance: the map of Wojiao City has been divided into nearly a thousand small areas, which are graded and colored according to priority. More than 70% of the plots are gray, concentrated in the city center, new city area and suburban villa area, which means that she has basically ruled out the suspicion of these places. This is not difficult for her, because people who often move around in these places cannot escape surveillance and online transactions, and their public identity information must be clear enough. Even if Feng Chuxing has changed his appearance and made it difficult for any government department to recognize his new identity, it is difficult to completely avoid Li Li's suspicion, because she will not only look at the ID card, but also uncover the target's entire network of relationships in the blink of an eye. From when a person started making friends online to whether his family members on his profile have mentioned him, any details will become a flaw in her eyes. So they not only have a priority map accurate to the floor, but also a list of suspects with thousands of people.

As Luo Binhan drove along, he glanced at the list from time to time. The names on it were also sorted by priority, with age, gender and other information noted next to them. He almost wanted to laugh, because among these people there were not only men and women, but also nicknames that were obviously not their real names, and even a 76-year-old man and a 6-year-old child.

"Are you serious, Li Li?" he couldn't help asking, "Six years old? Do you think he took some kind of rejuvenation drug? And she's still a little girl?"

"This six-year-old child was declared missing by her parents three years ago. Based on the results of facial and birthmark comparison, she is now living under another name as the daughter of a couple who own workshops."

"It sounds like this is just a common case of human trafficking or abandonment."

"It could also be that someone has just borrowed a photo from a missing children's information platform. It's a great way to address the issue of missing identity data."

"Is this your point of view?" Luo Binhan asked earnestly, "The most romantic thing Feng Chuxing can think of is to turn into a six-year-old girl in front of her dying enemy?"

"I have no preconceived preferences for Feng Chuxing or 0206, sir."

"I bet you it wasn't this kid."

"A little extra info for you: This child's intelligence level is far beyond her peers. She is taking self-taught astronomy courses online."

"So what? She may just be an ordinary child prodigy." Luo Binhan said, "Zhou Yu also skipped a grade and took undergraduate medical courses in advance. And I guess your prototype is not an easy person to deal with. To be honest, I'm used to seeing you living gods."

"We still need to observe her further until we can cross her off the list."

She was indeed constantly crossing out names. Even when they were talking, the order of the list would change from time to time. It seemed that Li Li had ruled out a suspect based on some new evidence, or at least lowered his priority, so she immediately updated the list, grayed out the person's name, added a horizontal line, and threw it to the end of the list. This way of marking did not seem like these people had escaped the investigation team's net, but rather like some assassin organization was calling out names.

Luo Binhan dragged the list to the end and glanced at the number of gray names. There were about fifty people excluded now. "Why don't you just delete these people?"

"Because their problems have not been solved. I only proved that they are not Feng Chuxing. I can tell you now that at least two of them are fugitives, and one is an elderly woman with Alzheimer's and has been abandoned. As for the child you just asked about, she may not be Feng Chuxing, but she may be the victim of another case."

"Are you still going to solve these?"

"Yes. Now that we have done it, sir, and have seen through everyone's secrets, we should do it to the end."

"But what are you going to do? Call the police for the kid?"

"I will make a decision after comprehensively evaluating her specific situation and her own wishes. However, if it is confirmed that her intelligence is indeed higher than that of an average person, I will add her to the talent reserve program. This will ensure that she will have enough food and clothing to continue her studies even if she leaves her adoptive parents."

"Do you have such long-term plans?"

"Sir, history does not stop at the moment when Feng Chuxing is captured. Since we are doing all this to prevent things from getting worse, we must continue to face new tasks."

Luo Binhan smiled: "You still have to face new work."

Li Li did not refute. She finally stopped denying the fact that they were destined to drift apart after Zhou Yu's death, while Luo Binhan was driving, thinking about the people on the list. They were scattered in the city of nearly one million people ahead, some had no relatives or friends, some were nameless, and everyone had a secret that could not be told, a mysterious or tragic past, and therefore attracted the attention of the aliens, who wanted to find the most dangerous one among them.

Wouldn't this be the most absurd and bizarre story? Wouldn't it be worth observing each of them most carefully and then recording them in the most fair and solemn manner? Unfortunately, even if this story exists, it only belongs to Li Li and can only be completed by Li Li. Because his own story is almost coming to an end. He has experienced the essence of a mortal life - it may not be complete, but the incompleteness itself is also part of this experience - there are no deeper secrets in his life to be discovered, and no more important questions to be answered.

"Li Li." he said.

"gentlemen?"

"I suddenly remembered a fairy tale," he recalled. "It goes something like this: In the past, all animals only lived for thirty years. But dogs, donkeys, and monkeys felt that life was too hard, and asked God to shorten their lifespans. Only humans felt that they had not lived long enough, so God gave all the extra lifespans of other animals to humans. As a result, humans lived happily before the age of thirty, then lived like donkeys and dogs, and finally lived like naked monkeys."

"I assume you mean 'The Lifespan', a folk tale collected in Grimm's Fairy Tales."

"Which fairy tale is your favorite?" he asked suddenly.

"I can't say it's always been my favorite, but since you asked, the first thing that comes to my mind right now is The Traveling Companion by Hans Christian Andersen."

Robin Han was not impressed by the title. "What is it about?"

"A story about a dead man repaying a favor. There was a pious, kind but poor young man who wandered with his meager property after his father died. On the way, he stayed overnight in a church and saw two villains throwing out a dead man who owed them a debt. He felt very sorry for the dead man, so he gave all his inheritance so that the dead man could be buried. The next morning when he set out again, he suddenly heard someone behind him calling him and asking him to travel with him to the vast world outside. The young man found that this travel companion was very smart and knew almost everything. They soon became friends-"

"Ah," Robinham said, "I remember. I've read this story. Then they ran to a strange country and saw that the king had a beautiful daughter who was particularly cruel. She would kill all the suitors who failed the test and hang their bodies in her garden as decorations. As a result, the poor boy was obsessed with sex and began to be asked to do all kinds of outrageous things. Every time, it was the traveling companion who helped him pass the test, and in the end he helped him kill the magician behind the princess. He married the princess and lived a good life. He asked the omnipotent traveling companion to live with him, and then the other party told him that he was the dead man who owed the debt, and then disappeared forever - what a convenient guy! This is actually a very religious story. I don't understand why you like it."

"If you take away all the religious and moral elements, sir, it is a fascinating story of resurrection. Don't you think it is interesting that a poor man who was deeply in debt in his life became omniscient after his death?"

"I thought it was about the eternal souls of devout believers or something like that," said Robinson. "God turned this dead man into a grateful angel, blah blah blah. But I understand what you said. This guy who became a god after his death is quite similar to you. He is simply a walking cheat code for passing the level. It's a pity that I have never helped you in any way, and I am obviously not a kind-hearted poor boy." "Maybe you can do me a favor in the future."

"You want me to stop doing bad things? That's not really a favor to you, Li Li. If a robber decides to quit, you can't say he's doing good, can you?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then I really can't think of it." Luo Binhan said. In fact, he vaguely thought of several possibilities, about Li Li's family and friends, and some operations that required the appearance of living people. He would like to return the favor, but unfortunately there is no such opportunity. Li Li did not express her request. Maybe she herself did not have an answer. This was just the kind of "You still owe me a favor so don't die" plot. She just started to report the latest search progress again. The list kept jumping up and down, and a few small areas on the priority map turned gray from time to time.

Luo Binhan didn't care much about these ever-changing charts. Although in theory the sooner the better, he just felt that Feng Chuxing would not be so easily caught by Li Li, at least not before he arrived in Snail City. This was not because he claimed to be more capable than Li Li, but a conclusion drawn from pure experience - or perhaps a fantasy born in his paranoia and delirium: Li Li would not have good luck in this matter. What if this fantasy was eventually proven wrong? Then he would just regard it as fate, and the will of the unknown would not allow him to take one more step. He could accept this result, and now he could accept either result.

He half-jokingly pointed out to Li Li that she was actually completely different from the dead travel companion in the fairy tale. She was not resurrected from the dead, but more like a substitute, strictly speaking, she should be considered a fake. Li Li also said that there was no hard evidence in the story of "Travel Companion" to explain the true identity of this mysterious person, and everything was just his own words.

"Don't you think there's a high possibility of demon possession?" Li Li asked. "Christian faith has never guaranteed that the soul will become omniscient after death, or even come back to intervene in the fate of the living. The various behaviors of this travel companion after his death are very suspicious. Moreover, it's hard for you to believe that the decision to hand over the entire country to a pious and kind person who has no knowledge and talent to govern in the name of repaying a favor is purely well-intentioned."

"Don't forget that he was also blinded by lust for beautiful women," Robinson said. "He basically got married with the help of love potions and his buddies' cheating - but I still think you're over-interpreting it. This is a story written by a believer to encourage his children to have a devout belief in God, Li Li. If you believe in God, you can marry a beautiful princess who has no brothers. Even if it was an imposter, the person who did it must be an angel."

"I don't object to your opinion of the author, but the text is open to interpretation, sir. I just think my version is more interesting."

"You are one of those hateful adults who love to write dark fairy tales. Remember the picture book you gave me on the Silence? In addition to the pictures, there were also some words written on it. The wording and sentence structure are especially like those written by the wicked adults who use vicious metaphors in fairy tales. I now suspect that it was written by you."

"not me."

"Ha, by the way, you won't write a dream ending, you will only write that everyone went bankrupt because their king was a kind idiot who lost the devil's help." Luo Binhan asked casually, "Speaking of bankrupt kind idiots, how is the guy in the store? Did he know about Zhou Yu's situation?"

Li Li's voice paused for a moment. "I'm afraid it's bad news, sir."

"He already knew? He was shocked? He was depressed?"

"He's missing."

"He ran away by himself? Then he knew."

"I don't think he left on his own initiative." Li Li's tone was as calm as when he talked about fairy tales just now. "My spies around Guns N' Roses didn't find any signs of anyone coming in or out. According to the members in the store, he 'suddenly disappeared from behind the counter.'"

"When did this happen?"

"Yesterday evening. To use your words, I think it was 'the moment when the sun set'."

Luo Binhan didn't ask her why she didn't say it until now, but just nodded indifferently. "This time we have lost another person."

"I never planned to ask Mr. Cai Ji to participate in the operation against Feng Chuxing. For the safety of both parties, it is better for them not to meet."

"Maybe Zhou Yu thinks so too." Luo Binhan shrugged and said, "Anyway, that kid is a monster, and a little stupid. Zhou Yu doesn't plan to leave him alone with us. Hey, Zhou Yu may be worried that I will kill that kid."

"Perhaps Mr. Zhou Yu's survival is the premise for him to stay here," Li Li added gently, "If you imagine Mr. Zhou Yu as a door rather than a planner, many things will make more sense. All the abilities he has demonstrated are to transfer the phenomena of the dreamland to our world. Then when he is no longer here, these phenomena will probably disappear."

"No wonder that guy helped me kill Zhou Wenxing," Luo Binhan murmured, "He must have known Zhou Yu's plan, and then found out about mine. He should have chosen only one of them, but he ended up hiding it from both sides."

"If you consider it from his perspective, you will find it difficult to blame him. Based on the current known situation, I am sure that he is the safety insurance that Mr. Zhou Yu prepared in advance for the dream period. Of course, he will follow any instructions from Mr. Zhou Yu under normal circumstances. However, I must point out that Mr. Cai Ji may not be smart in your eyes, and he is by no means an action machine without emotion or blind loyalty. I guess that through the various experiences in the dream, he has foreseen the risks that Mr. Zhou Yu will face, and naturally linked this risk to Zhou Wenxing. Therefore, he naturally thinks that if Zhou Wenxing can be killed without involving Mr. Zhou Yu, the risk will be greatly eliminated. This is a naive idea, but I hope you can understand that whether it is out of concern for the savior or his own attachment to earthly life, trying to use you to eliminate Zhou Wenxing is a very tempting option. Of course, he hardly considered your safety in this option, but he may have known that Mr. Zhou Yu proposed to the Lord of Dreams..."

"Whether he knows it or not," Luo Binhan interrupted her, "I don't intend to blame him, Li Li. I wanted to kill Zhou Wenxing myself, whether he participated or not. Moreover, in my opinion, he has received enough retribution. His benefactor is finished. He himself has to go away. And do you remember what his reaction was when he saw the things in the trap box that day? At that time, he must have thought: I actually dragged an unrelated unfortunate person into this for my own selfish reasons. I am just as bad as this beast who paid for his life."

He laughed unabashedly again. "Do you think he's in that city now? Maybe he'll have the final say there in the future?"

Li Li did not respond, nor did he try to analyze with him whether Zhou Yu was still stuck in the middle of the cliff. Perhaps she finally decided that the wounds that had not yet healed would only get worse, and only time was the most effective way to heal them.

The scenery on both sides of the highway slowly changed. There were fewer and fewer fields planted with autumn tomatoes and eggplants, and asters, morning glories, veronica and water hyacinths were scattered in the wild fields and deep forests. Most of the wild flowers had lost their color due to the drought, and their petals were curled up and drooping. Groups of bees and butterflies kept falling among the flowers. Falling and falling. In the end, they seemed to have no choice but to leave in disappointment. The pine forest was green as if it was soaked in oil, but it was also dull and lifeless under the scorching sun, and the needles were scattered. Except for the burning wheel of fire in the sky that was still spinning slowly, printing radiating black lines in his eyes, everything in the world was looking down and falling down. Everything was down.

He himself would soon have to go down, because at this moment his car was going up. This was a long uphill slope, and the people who designed the road could not avoid it, they could only try to make it smoother and gentler, so as not to make the passengers walk painfully. When he reaches the top of the slope, he will see the exit of the road located below his field of vision, at the end of the equally long downhill road. There is the end of the journey. He daydreamed again while climbing. This time he was not fantasizing about his own life, but thinking about Feng Chuxing. He only knew the name Feng Chuxing yesterday, but somehow he could pronounce it very smoothly, much smoother than "Xiao Chu", probably because it is a serious name. People with such a name are like real people, and they will use conspiracies and tricks, and plan wonderful murders and revenge, instead of being bullied by a group of hooligans and crying home to be beaten by their parents.

The strange thing is that he couldn't connect the two names. In his mind, the Xiaochu mentioned by Cai Ji had a face similar to Luo Jiaotian, but he was thinner and more helpless, without the seemingly introverted and noble spirit that looked down on bad people (this guy is always learning Zhou Yu's shortcomings. Really, he might be thrown into an ice hole by troublesome patients in the future). As for Feng Chuxing? Feng Chuxing's face was like a ball of white paste with rough facial features, so hazy and so pale. The two eyes cut out by the knife were sometimes cold and ruthless, and sometimes burned with hatred and anger. He couldn't even give this person a concrete face in his imagination unless he saw him with his own eyes.

Can he catch the other person? Or will he be killed by the other person? This person may be dangerous. Of course, this person is dangerous. But this question is not so important to him. Feng Chuxing wants to avenge 0206? Not important. Feng Chuxing wants to push the theory of death order to the end? Not important either. What is really important in this world? He thought with a blank smile, their planet is just a speck of dust in the universe, and the universe itself may also be just a speck of dust. They, the group of people living on the dust, tried every means to prove that they are important, but what would happen even if they really blew up this speck of dust? All the things they are proud of, the things they fight for, all the things they praise or gnashed their teeth for... ah, of course, they are everything to the life living on the dust. A war takes place in space or on the tentacles of a snail. It is equally cruel to the participants. But these have nothing to do with the person who jumps from the tip of the tentacles. He has made his choice.

The car went downhill and passed the last checkpoint. Luo Binhan woke up from his brief dream and picked up his phone to say hello to Li Li. "Where should I start?" he asked. But what he heard in his ears and in his heart was another question: where should I end?

(End of this chapter)