Puzzle Madness

Chapter 196 The First Dream War (Part Two)
Perhaps it was because the Magic Swan incident had gone too far, or perhaps it was because of the recent troubles—DouDou's monthly exam results plummeted, almost straight down to rock bottom.

In stark contrast, Ai Xi ranked first in her class and third in her grade.

How could this be?! She didn't study at all.

Although Mong Cai No. 5 Middle School is a six-year integrated secondary school with no worries about college entrance exams, Dou Dou still has high expectations for her grades, and Ai Xi is indeed smarter than her.

Ai Xi's current busy "work" makes Dou Dou feel that she is worrying a bit unnecessarily: however, it is true that she is becoming more and more lazy.

In their shared dream, he discussed his strange dream with Ai Xi—Dou Dou thought it might be a precognitive dream. The crowd flying upwards actually hinted at some kind of conspiracy: perhaps it represented someone who wanted to launch him into space.

Ai Xi slapped his arm hard a few times, spitting "pui pui pui" for a long time; she also insisted that Dou Dou spit a few times before she was satisfied.

That being said, DouDou thought the plan was quite feasible, especially considering the existence of the [water ghost] method. If DouDou were her enemy, she would definitely give it a try; who knows, it might solve the problem once and for all?

As for that strange New Year's Day celebration flyer, DouDou tucked it into the title page of her math book. The Children's Palace was also going to hold a model airplane competition during the New Year's holiday—
DouDou originally wanted to participate in the competition with AiXi, hoping to at least win a prize or a ranking. But judging from the current situation, he'll probably have to go alone.
-
Time just rolled by so slowly.

That very night, DouDou encountered another strange incident.

He was doing his homework at the time, and the more he wrote, the more bored he became; he glanced at the pager on his schoolbag, and the indicator light was still on.

Although it only went off once, and it seemed to be the work of the human cataloging center, DouDou never forgot to change its batteries in time.

After all, Aish has been running around everywhere lately and might send out a distress signal at any time: after the tropical storm, Aish changed its original coding system and added complex encryption; however, the actual effect is still unknown.

Seeing everyone so busy and enthusiastic, DouDou was tempted to restart her monster-hunting plan.
However, he bought the October issue of "Super Psychological Exploration," and there were no mysterious new or strange creatures in it; it was all familiar faces. But this time, he didn't appear in the magazine again to perform some kind of "Indestructible Body," which made DouDou quite satisfied.

So DouDou began to get trapped in the prison he had created: he wanted to prepare for the midterm exams and the model airplane competition at the Children's Palace, but he just couldn't muster the energy; yet when he wanted to go out and wander around, or spend some intimate time with MD, he always felt guilty for wasting time.

I really don't understand where this dilemma comes from.

While doing her homework, DouDou's mind wandered, and her eyes began to drift to the [Yacht Boy 400] on the bedside table: in her spare time, DouDou had even secretly taken it apart to take a look. The parts inside were dirty and dusty, but there was nothing unusual.

Why this thing appears in one's brain is currently unknown.

But this radio also has some mysterious advantages. For example, it doesn't need batteries and often starts playing on its own.

Sometimes before going to sleep, DouDou can hear a "rustling" sound coming from the headboard; it sounds like interference from a frequency that hasn't been properly identified.
However, recently some scattered fragments have begun to appear; and they are becoming increasingly clear.

As for the round hole that appeared on the back of his head after watching that DVD, "The Secrets of Mankind," it has now completely closed up. DouDou broke off all the teeth at the edge of the hole, and they grew back to their original shape the next day, feeling perfectly normal to the touch.

DouDou knew that the "mouth" was still there, hidden under the occipital bone and dura mater; as long as he watched that video again, it could be reopened.

"Hey, how long until the midterms? Oh, about a week and a half."

DouDou finally finished his homework half-heartedly, then pretended to look at his textbook for a while. Only when he was about to fall asleep did he finally overcome his hesitation and consider whether to turn on the TV, play some MD, or watch some DVDs.
"The gun-gun-gun-gun-gun-gun device is theoretically feasible." A loud, screeching sound suddenly came from the [Yacht Boy 400] on the bedside table; it was interspersed with a few stuttering words, the content of which could barely be made out.

"Hey! This time, the radio's symptoms are a bit different."

DouDou lightly jumped up, sat on the bed, lay down, grabbed the [Yacht Boy 400] in his hand, and started pressing the tuning button—he couldn't wait for something to make him run away from his desk.

Da da da da da.
He pressed the buttons countless times, but the voice on the radio remained fragmented. However, this rusty radio didn't even have batteries installed, so its operating principle at this point couldn't be explained by common sense.

DouDou grabbed it, shook it a couple of times, and then held it to her ear. From it came layers of human voices, like a cassette tape had jammed:

"A 'gun-gun-gun-gun' type of device. It's a type of 'starter-starter' device."

The voice was strange. It was hard to tell if it was male or female; it sounded more like a synthesized voice from a telephone answering machine, with only a few vague emotional fluctuations.
"Have you all heard of the atomic bomb? It explodes!"

"A long, long, long pain... a short, painful, painful, painful... an opportunity, why not—perhaps—a solution that can be achieved once and for all."

"My proposal could potentially halt the suffering and pain of all humankind."

swish swish swish
The voices coming from [Yacht Boy 400] have stopped again, leaving only interference.

"Ah, the atomic bomb?"

He scratched his head – he didn't understand the other random things, only this word.

"What, are you switching to a sci-fi radio drama?"

As a loyal player of Fallout, DouDou is no stranger to this concept; he also knows that dropping dozens of dirty bombs in the past could have ended the world war, which is common sense.

Aside from works of art, we rarely hear about atomic bombs in everyday life; the same goes for hydrogen bombs, three-phase bombs, and cobalt bombs. These are just weapons that exist only in rumors and imaginations, and have never actually been produced.

He grabbed the [Yacht Boy 400] to his ear and patted it a few times.

No more human voices could be heard, and even the rustling noises gradually diminished until silence returned.

"Strange thing."

DouDou pouted and muttered a complaint. Despite saying that, DouDou still felt that what they had just discussed was worth studying—
After all, this [Yacht Boy 400] was taken from his own head; who knows what secrets it might contain, or the work of human cataloging.

He jumped out of bed and grabbed a pen and paper from the table:
"They mentioned [proposals] or something, was it during a meeting? Or a speech?"

(End of this chapter)