Gao Wu: After transforming into a soft girl, I became a calamity?

"what?"

He Yi and Shen Ming were both taken aback.

"My father... used to work in the base construction bureau..."

Jiang Mian explained softly:

"Six years ago, during a mission, he encountered a rare mist tide..."

He Yi has worked in this base city for nearly twenty years and knows it very well.

Upon hearing this, he immediately understood which accident it was.

Six years ago, the city made its first attempt to establish a special passage to Base City 143, but an accident occurred, and the Mist Creatures rioted.

The strongest of them... is a fifth-tier Calamity.

At that time, the highest-ranking member of the escorting Awakened squad was only at the fourth rank, but he was still one of the top experts in Base City 144.

When they suddenly encountered the calamity head-on, they were no match for it, which led to... no one surviving.

Seeing that the two were silent, Jiang Mian spoke to himself:

"My mother... was a nurse at West City Hospital. Two years ago, an unprecedented epidemic broke out in the city, and she..."

Jiang Mian didn't say anything more, but the result was obvious.

Jiang Mian's memories of her parents in this world tell her that this is the truth.

In my past life, my parents died for a similar reason, and I never expected that I would still be unable to escape this fate in this world.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but reveal a bit of genuine emotion.

She stopped crying and just sat there silently, looking very lonely.

He Yi felt as if something was blocking his throat. He didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only silently take out Jiang Mian's information from the file bag.

The "Relatives" field is blank.

He searched for a while longer before finding Jiang Mian's parents' files, confirming that what she said was true.

"Feel sorry."

He Yi didn't expect things to turn out this way. No wonder Jiang Mian seemed so well-behaved, but she was so persistent about awakening. She must be very insecure, right?

"I'm so damn stupid..."

He couldn't help but want to slap himself, his heart heavy with guilt.

At this moment, even though Jiang Mian didn't say anything, the two of them had already filled in the blanks in their minds, filling in the gaps in their understanding of Jiang Mian's motives.

She quickly recovered from her emotions. Although it was regrettable, life had to go on.

"Sir..."

Jiang Mian's voice was weak, and she looked very tired.

It was already quite late when she left home. She had planned to quickly buy the medicine and head back, but the black market was raided by the cops.

Jiang Mian originally wanted to take advantage of the chaos to leave, but she was surrounded and had no choice but to pretend to be an innocent girl and be brought in.

"I want to go home..." she whispered.

"Yes, of course."

Upon hearing this, He Yi quickly got up. He checked the time; it was already 2:30 a.m.

"It's late, we'll take you home."

"what?"

Jiang Mian instinctively refused, seemingly out of embarrassment.

"No need to trouble yourself, sir. I... I don't live that far away..."

"No trouble at all. It's what we should do."

Shen Ming chimed in, "Besides, it's not safe for a girl like you to go home alone so late at night."

He Yi nodded, looked down at Jiang Mian, and a sense of guilt began to resurface in his heart.

His parents died in the line of duty, he lives alone, and has just suffered the blow of a failed attempt to awaken his consciousness...

This child has had it so tough.

"Let's go."

He Yi opened the door to the interrogation room and led her out.

"The West End isn't so peaceful at night. We'll take you there so you can rest assured."

Although the police department's deterrent power is decent from the perspective of the city as a whole, the complex structure of the western district means there are always areas that it cannot manage.

"...Thank you, officers."

Jiang Mian nodded shyly, but felt a sense of relief.

She knew that the two of them completely trusted her.

However, I need to be more careful next time, otherwise... if I get caught again, I won't be able to defend myself.

Jiang Mian got into the car with the two of them and sat alone in the back seat, looking at the city scenery rushing by outside.

Because the police station is located on the main road, there are still basic streetlights, but the light becomes noticeably dimmer as you enter the vicinity of Jiang Mian's house.

Because energy is limited, it is used where it is most needed. In remote areas like this, there is naturally no lighting.

Using the light shining from afar, Shen Ming could roughly make out the outline of the dilapidated building, which was even worse than he had imagined.

"You...have you been living here all this time?"

Shen Ming turned his head to look at the girl in the back seat and couldn't help but ask.

"no."

Jiang Mian shook her head, glanced at the approaching apartment building, and, seemingly sensing Shen Ming's confusion, replied:

"After they left, of the compensation those people gave me... only a small amount actually reached my hands."

"I had to sell the house because I still owed money, so I moved here. It's far away, but the rent is cheap."

She seemed somewhat hesitant to speak, but still explained in a low voice:

"I don't work very often, and I also have to pay tuition fees. This is the only way I can afford to buy the awakening potion."

Jiang Mian's voice was calm, without any attempt to elicit sympathy, but even so, it had a tremendous impact on the two of them.

Even with subsidies, the awakening potion costs 150,000, while the black market inhibitor, even the degraded version, costs as much as 20,000, and one dose only lasts for half a month.

Besides... Jiang Mian still has many expenses after his parents passed away, so he had no choice but to give up the house.

He Yi drove silently, his gaze sweeping over the residential area.

This is a well-known "old, dilapidated, and small" area in the western district, with outdated infrastructure and a huge floating population. A beautiful young woman lives alone here...

"We're here, this is it."

Jiang Mian spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

Once the car came to a complete stop, she opened the door and got out.

Thank you.

Just as she was about to leave, He Yi called her back.

"etc."

He handed over a business card through the car window, which contained his personal information.

"Take this. In the future... if you encounter any difficulties, or if someone causes you trouble, you can contact me."

Jiang Mian paused for a moment, then took the business card.

"Thank you, Captain He."

She thanked him and put the card in her pocket.

"Go back quickly, and remember to lock the doors and windows."

Jiang Mian nodded, turned and walked into the apartment building entrance, disappearing into the shadows.

He Yi sighed. Although his intuition told him that something seemed wrong, he couldn't possibly be a mutated patient, could he?

He had seen many patients with this condition; from the moment they became aware of their condition, their mental state was already abnormal, and they were basically unable to control their manic behavior.

If they are given inhibitors, their emotional expression will be suppressed to some extent.

Jiang Mian's performance was completely unrelated.

Moreover... her parents sacrificed themselves for the city's development, and he, dressed in this security uniform, was unwilling to assume the worst about such a child.

Perhaps he's overthinking it.

I'll visit her occasionally when I have time.

"Which team?"

Seeing that He Yi hadn't started the car for a long time, Shen Ming asked in confusion.

"Go back and organize tonight's statements. We still need to interrogate those involved in the case."

Among those arrested this time were buyers, as well as sellers and manufacturers.

People like Jiang Mian are like sheep mixed in with wolves, making them particularly conspicuous.

"clear."