Puzzle Madness

Chapter 186 Levitation Technique (Part 4)
DouDou gently drew a straight line with the tip of her pen, connecting the two points; she gestured with both hands up and down, trying to outline a bar chart-like shape.

He dumped all the terminology and jargon he had learned from role-playing games into a list:

"After all, we haven't properly tested or experimented with it before, and we don't understand the specific data, such as the percentage increase or distance decay. But based on my own experience, it's stronger the closer it is to me, and I don't know the maximum effective distance yet. I guess it needs to be within the same city at least?"

"Thinking about it this way—my [magnifying glass] effect is actually spherical, not flat, so people in the vertical direction will also be amplified by me; so maybe it can also affect people underground. I wonder if it can penetrate the soil? I'll have to test it when I have the chance. Not bad, I've figured out something new again."

Ai Xi traced the rough pattern Dou Dou had drawn with her hand, squinting as she thought:
“Then your speculation is correct and makes sense logically; no wonder no one is crying out in pain now, they've probably already flown past. They should be planning to come from Van Don Airport, it's about seventy kilometers from Quang Ninh to Mong Cai.”

After DouDou finished reading, she straightened the textbook again, completely covering her face.

"Yes, it seems to be a little over seventy kilometers? Hmm. If we know the distance, we might be able to calculate the exact coverage area of ​​the [magnifying glass]."

"The plane was at an altitude of about 10 to 15 kilometers, right? As soon as this [neck man] comes down from the national highway on the outskirts of the city, he will be back in my amplification range."

"A wave of widespread neck pain is definitely coming, and everyone will be yelling in pain."

He completely forgot that he had seriously considered last month whether to stop using the naming convention of "characteristics" followed by "person." He couldn't recall the code name Richard had mentioned, but "[Neck Man]" sounded quite natural.
"However, it also depends on where I was at that time. The Fifth Middle School is not far from the city center. No matter which direction you enter Mong Cai from, as long as you walk a little further into the city, you should be able to magnify it."

"If I and [the Neck Man] are at opposite ends of the city, far apart—"

"It's probably not that serious anymore. At least it won't be like before, where everyone was on the verge of death. Actually, it's quite easy to determine the approximate location; just check if the people around you have neck pain."

DouDou spoke faster and faster, but still kept his voice low; he leaned close to AiXi's face so she could hear him. The two of them furtively hunched their shoulders, practically hiding their heads in the drawer.

"Then, within the general area, we can further subdivide it. Because even without my enhancement, this [neck person] can still cause cervical spondylosis, just not as severe; further screening and localization are still possible."

"For example, just like a game radar, the closer you get, the more severe your cervical spondylosis will be."

"If we consider this, the people from Asia-Europe Post might monitor my location so that the [Neck Man] can keep a safe distance from me and not activate it? Or maybe we should just stay in the suburbs and not come into Mong Cai for the time being."

"Even if they didn't know this before—now that everyone in the school is in so much pain, they must understand this information."

Ai Xi turned her neck from side to side and punched her shoulder with her fist:

"In any case, this cervical spondylosis affliction is really intense and has a wide coverage. Even though it's still so far away from you, and the amplification should be very limited, it's already so effective."

"If it were to enter the school, the necks of everyone in the school might be broken on the spot; it could be used as a weapon."

"Moreover, it's difficult to counter. The location is hard to pinpoint. If we consider it as a fan-shaped or circular area of ​​about ten kilometers, it would basically cover half of Mong Cai. We can't just consider the straight-line distance. Unless there's an organized search, it's impossible to find it in a short time if just a few people search on their own."

“We are particularly bad at location and search, and we have very little intelligence gathering capability; we can only do analysis. This is too troublesome.”

She paused slightly, her brows furrowing even more deeply:

"But what are they doing in Mong Cai? Since they're from Asia-Europe Post, they need to be able to gain something from this trip; otherwise, their presence wouldn't be worthwhile. That's why the management of Asia-Europe Post would make such a decision." "At least that's how they've always operated, although they've been a bit quieter lately."

Beep-beep, beep-beep.

The faint wail of an ambulance could be heard from the edge of the playground, and there was a commotion of voices at the school gate. It seemed that the recent labor pains had indeed injured some unfortunate soul.

"Oh—speaking of which, I really don't understand Asia-Europe Post's motives; it's just weird."

DouDou shrugged and casually handed the shiny flyer to AiXi:

"But look. It suddenly popped out from under my test paper; I think it's related to that neck pain I just had. There's something written on the back too."

Ai Xi raised one hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight streaming through the window; with the other hand, she rummaged through her exercise paper.

"I don't have one here. It seems like none of the other students have one either. I'm just giving this to you separately. Did the teacher slip it in?"

She looked up and glanced at her math teacher, who was panting heavily, having just caught his breath:

".Probably not."

Then, squinting, he quickly skimmed through the flyer's contents, not bothering to read the back:
"It's really strange—I still don't quite understand it. The strangest thing is that they sent that [neck man] you mentioned: didn't you just say that the Eurasian Post Office treats him like a money-printing machine or a cash cow?"

Before we knew it, we were back to the same topic—DouDou picked up the conversation:

"I think so too. It doesn't seem like they've ever said he has any direct combat abilities. Shouldn't we be protecting these non-combat personnel who can make money?"

"Why bother sending it to Mong Cai? It's definitely not because they want to sell cervical spine therapy devices."

Ai Xi put her hand in her pocket, then quickly took it out again. She was probably subconsciously looking for her lighter.
"Indeed. Mong Cai is quite dangerous right now, especially for people like them; in a sense, it's a war zone. Could it be bait?"

"For example, the original idea was to [cause you a neck pain so you'd come to us, but instead, we set a trap]—"

She shook her head, immediately contradicting herself as soon as she uttered the words:
"No, no. That's unlikely. The risk doesn't seem to outweigh the reward; there are better ways. Anyone who's even slightly familiar with these things can tell you have a strong sense of curiosity."

"There's no need to invest so much to lure people in; the key is to ensure your own safety."

"What do you mean? Were they thrown at us like a bomb? That would be harmful to others and not beneficial to themselves, which seems unlikely. What's their motive?"

"They wouldn't be planning to kill everyone in Mong Cai in such a secretive and difficult-to-trace way, would they?"

(End of this chapter)