Puzzle Madness

Chapter 139 A Web Within a Web (Part 1)

The thunder finally subsided, but the rain showed no signs of letting up. With the occasional flashes of lightning outside the ventilator gone, Richard could only rely on the light from car headlights filtering through the cracks in the iron gate to continue writing.

Meanwhile, he became increasingly excited as he spoke—as if he had completely immersed himself in this public role; his hand was still writing furiously, the characters clearly legible:

"Given various considerations, the most important one is that I have had prior contact with you and we have a certain level of acquaintance; therefore, the company hopes to convey some goodwill to you through me, so as to avoid any misunderstandings about our company's image."

"Asia-Europe Post cares about everyone: you see, its purpose is to connect and deliver, right? This is also our company philosophy, where there is no hostility; everything is about love and peace."

“The conflict that happened at Shouzhu 151 was a complete misunderstanding, and I hope you will not pursue it any further. If our board of directors were here, they would most likely host a banquet to apologize to you, but now I have to do it on your behalf.”

[According to information passed to me by mathematicians, the intelligence network of the network propulsion molecules in Mong Cai City has also been completely paralyzed, and most communications have been cut off: the cause of this, too, is unknown.]
[Therefore, it can be inferred that there is likely a fourth force operating in Mong Cai (I believe the Human Cataloging Center doesn't have that much power; their intelligence system is also likely malfunctioning).]
Surprisingly, DouDou didn't interrupt even once. He tucked the newly received Magic Swan II under his arm and kept rubbing his chin with his hand—
While listening to Richard's polite words, he also had to concentrate on reading the handwriting in his workbook; perhaps because of the hole in the back of his head that allowed for better heat dissipation, or perhaps because of the coolness brought by the typhoon, his head did not itch from thinking.

He never expected that Mong Cai would suddenly become like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; a chaotic mess of people, all playing "The Bourne Identity" in this small city, and still not understanding what they were fighting.
Instead, they paralyzed and halted the intelligence system first, making it as ridiculous as a variety show.

However, DouDou was not satisfied with Richard's sharing.

Although Richard Leechk spoke and wrote extensively about it, he omitted the most important point: the reason.

Why? So why fight each other? There has to be a reason for fighting.

[Um, there was something similar in the book I was reading this afternoon—oh! It said something like: "[Why bother?]"]

[Haha! I know why: "All the world's hustle and bustle is for profit." Ah, my brain is definitely more active when I'm in the library.]

DouDou mentally tossed his books at himself, feeling smug.

They certainly wouldn't fight for the sake of fighting. But what exactly is this "benefit" to these people?
Richard finally put down his pen and cleared his throat:

"so--"

DouDou raised her hand, stopping Richard from speaking; then she nodded her head, signaling him to stop for a moment.
He also needs time to think and digest the information—DouDou is unwilling to ask directly without having a general idea of ​​his own; otherwise, Richard might lead him astray.

Hey! Are they all trying to steal me away? They all want to be my buddies and pull me onto their side so they can make me do child labor!

This possibility immediately came to mind: at the end of summer vacation, DouDou had discussed this possibility with AiXi.

Considering that I am considered healthy, well-nourished, and have a wide range of interests among superpowered individuals, this guess seems to align with my intuition.

but--
DouDou, however, felt that this wasn't the main reason, or at least not the primary reason, for everyone to start fighting.

Because there is a very obvious flaw in it:

He hadn't hidden his whereabouts and had been attending classes and leaving school obediently for several days; yet no one came to his door or tried to get close to him—oh! Apart from that foreign woman with dyed white hair in the afternoon; just by looking at her, it was impossible to tell which side she was on.

If this is the reason for the "friction" among the three parties, then as long as DouDou is won over and they reach some kind of consensus, it will naturally end.

But these organizations clearly had no such intention; they were only concerned with their own conflicts and firefights.
Like in a soap opera, when characters are pursuing a girl or boy, they don't start by stabbing their rival with a kitchen knife before even meeting their crush. Naturally, they launch a direct and aggressive attack on their target.
Even if you absolutely have to fight, you have to do it in front of your sweetheart!

Although Richard is still speaking in a conciliatory tone and has prepared gifts for DouDou:
If it weren't for that white-haired Sidney telling DouDou to come to the observatory that afternoon, he probably wouldn't have run into him at all; Richard knew where DouDou lived.

As for this magical second-generation Swan—
DouDou held it in front of her face, looking at the outer packaging, which was covered in raindrops and only half-applied with transparent tape; it was clearly just hastily packaged.

[This guy! He probably keeps it in his car all the time, only pulling it out as an emergency if I beat him up! It's the same logic as that "pacification program" thing earlier—using the handheld console as a talisman against me, treating me like a wolf or a tiger.]

Richard's face was taut, his cheekbones were prominent: judging from the bulge at his jaw, he was probably clenching his teeth tightly.

In the soft, dim light of the planetarium at this time, every movement of the facial muscles would create changes in the shadows on the face:

[That old Li is really cunning! He might be up to something, plotting something sinister. I need to ask him more questions later, what exactly is going on with that double agent thing?]

DouDou's gaze swept over Richard: he remained outwardly calm and composed, but his shoes unconsciously shifted on the slippery floor. DouDou's gaze clearly made him uncomfortable.

[Tsk, I can't figure out if he's lying to me after saying and writing so much. Oh well, I won't hit a smiling face—I'll keep thinking about it.]

We can't just slap Richard suddenly and hurt him.

These past few days, I've felt like I've been playing Ace Combat with radar lock-on turned off and the user interface messed up; I'm practically blind, not even knowing how many other planes are around.

Richard, ironically, once again became his biggest and most reliable source of intelligence. The thought of how bustling Mong Cai City was, yet not knowing where to go to see Dou Dou, made him incredibly itchy.

DouDou raised her hand and wiped her face: "Actually, I've been sleeping pretty well lately. I didn't yawn even after we chatted for a while."

Thoughts flew by, and he immediately came up with another conjecture—there was a strange thing he had encountered several times in the past two days, but Richard hadn't mentioned it at all.

What a person doesn't say often reveals the key information more than what they say.

DouDou pushed off the floor with the balls of his feet. It was still slippery and damp with rainwater, but without the stickiness of blood—he realized that he hadn't stepped on that red water for more than half a month.

He suddenly spoke again:

"Old Li, have you been having dreams lately?"

DouDou stared at Richard's fogged-up glasses—trying to capture every subtle change in the other person.

After all that talk, why didn't you mention the [dream] at all? This evening, I even saw elderly people holding hands in the pavilion at the provincial library.
Not to mention the taro society at school, and Ruan Jingbo's experience in the psychiatric ward of Mong Cai People's Hospital.

This matter may have already covered most of the city: even if the Asia-Europe Post's intelligence system in Mong Cai is now completely deaf and blind, it is impossible for them to discover everything without knowing anything about it.

(End of this chapter)