Chapter 041: Great Rewards Inspire Courage

The vehicle continued to move forward as Li Tianque struggled to hold his lunchbox steady amid the jostling. At that moment, he noticed that resting on Wu Miaoran’s lap was the same dirty doll he had seen last time, and on the front passenger seat lay a peculiarly shaped medicine case.

The filthy doll was fast asleep, its long, ragged hair hanging down to obscure its face, with only faint breathing audible from within. Curiosity piqued, Li Tianque wanted to touch the doll, but remembering the terrifying fangs it had bared when it bit through the protective mask last time, he abandoned the idea.

He gazed at the focused Wu Miaoran, eating as he spoke, “Bug Fairy, your driving’s impressive. Even my phone’s 360 app says your skills surpass 98% of female drivers nationwide.”

“Tch, that’s just sexist. What’s wrong with female drivers? People are biased because the media loves to highlight stories about women at the wheel for attention. There are plenty of seasoned women drivers out there,” Wu Miaoran retorted.

“You’ve got a point. Still, a talented and beautiful driver like you is a rare breed,” Li Tianque replied.

“All right, all right, just say what you mean,” Wu Miaoran said, feigning impatience, though a smile lingered at her lips. She heard thousands of flattery-laden compliments daily on livestreams and in her messages, yet she relished this feeling of being admired. It was the main reason she kept up her exhausting shop investigations.

Li Tianque didn’t beat around the bush. “Honestly, I get the feeling we’re not just filming a video this time, and it can’t be only about the prize money. There must be another reason for this shop visit, right?”

Wu Miaoran gripped the steering wheel with one hand, holding a cup of cola with a straw in the other, and gestured with her lips, “Bingo. You’re not as slow as you look. The real reason we’re going is, of course, the nuclear bugs.”

“Nuclear bugs? Those weird creatures again?” Li Tianque swallowed, feeling his hunch had been right.

“Exactly. According to our sources, that therapy shop might be hiding nuclear bugs. In cases like this, we call it an ‘insect-related incident.’ You could think of it as an urban legend or a supernatural event.”

“I see…” Li Tianque nodded, scooping up more rice. “But there are so many strange occurrences in the city every day. How do you find and sort through all these reports?”

“That’s mainly the job of Fishy over there,” Wu Miaoran explained. “He may not look like much, but he’s a whiz with computers. With big data these days, collecting intelligence is a lot easier. Of course, he can’t get everything by himself, so our boss helps out too—Fishy gathers info online, while the boss gets news through social channels.”

“Social channels? What does that mean?” Li Tianque asked, puzzled.

Wu Miaoran stroked the dirty doll with one hand. “The boss is listed as our company’s general manager, but that’s just a nominal title—there’s not even an official appointment. In truth, the legal representative is Deputy Manager Lin Yu. The boss doesn’t own shares; he’s the real power behind the scenes, but takes no profit from the company. You can probably guess why. His public identity is as director of the city’s Public Security Bureau Archives. That department seems to just handle file management, but in reality, it’s responsible for dealing with social stability issues and investigating unusual events that defy scientific explanation. These cases aren’t really government business, so they aren’t made public. There are only two nearly-retired old men in his office; the boss makes all the decisions and can pull first-hand intel citywide. He screens, selects valuable leads, and assigns us the tasks.”

“So, the boss must have a huge workload,” Li Tianque mumbled, still eating.

“Exactly. The boss filters out the useless or irrelevant tips. The ones we get to investigate are almost always connected to nuclear bugs—over ninety percent, at least. Even with all these sources, after sifting, actual cases are rare. We deal with one or two a month, sometimes none for several months.”

“Oh… So this case is about nuclear bugs too?” Li Tianque wiped his mouth, surprised at how quickly he’d finished his large breakfast, and even wanted more.

“Hey, Fishy, you explain the details,” Wu Miaoran said.

“It’s just Fishy, not Dumb Fish! Your whole family’s dumb!” Duan Xiaoyu shot Wu Miaoran a glare.

“Tsk, it’s just a nickname. Why so serious? You really are petty—no wonder you’re destined to be single forever,” Wu Miaoran said indifferently. Of all her colleagues, she most enjoyed teasing this tech nerd.

“Well if it’s just a nickname, I’ll call you Ugly next time! No, Super Flat! And I’ll expose your padded bra trick to the whole internet and make you a trending topic!” Duan Xiaoyu muttered.

“Oh? Dare you? Want another hospital stay?” Wu Miaoran threatened.

Duan Xiaoyu was about to retort when Li Tianque quickly interjected, “Enough, you two. Fishy, could you tell us about this mission?”

With a pout, Duan Xiaoyu slowly moved his mouse and finally spoke, “This mission has a 48-hour time limit. The team leader gets a bonus of thirty thousand yuan, the two team members get ten thousand each. Everyone involved will have their contract period reduced by thirty days.”

“That much bonus?” Li Tianque exclaimed.

“That’s the minimum. But, of course, the job’s risky. If anyone dies during a mission, the beneficiary you listed at hiring will receive three million as a death benefit.”

“So this mission is dangerous, then?” Li Tianque asked.

“It’s hard to say… It could be very dangerous, or just a false alarm. Maybe we’ll just chat and stroll around—anything’s possible.”

“So, where exactly is this therapy shop we’re headed to?” Li Tianque pressed.

Duan Xiaoyu tapped his mouse and said coolly, “It’s on Gashi Mountain. You must have seen the news recently—the mountain on the west side of the city that had a massive landslide.”

“Landslide?” Li Tianque was taken aback. “If there’s been a landslide, is the therapy shop really still open?”

Adjusting his glasses, eyes still on the computer screen, Duan Xiaoyu replied meaningfully, “It’s a long story. You’ll understand once we meet the person involved.”