Time Traveler Help Hotline

They missed them again.

At the other end of the portal, where the coordinates of the person seeking help should have been, Ji Mo and Chen Zhuzhu were greeted only by a desolate slum.

The setting sun, burning like flames, illuminated this land that had been completely scorched.

The air was thick with the stench of garbage that had accumulated over six months, mixed perfectly with the smoke of gunpowder, making it unbearably pungent. Collapsed shacks were everywhere, embers were still smoldering, and as far as the eye could see, there was hardly a single intact building.

The emaciated poor huddled among the ruins, some seeking warmth by clinging to the still-burning eaves; others trying to salvage something from the rubble. When Ji Mo and Chen Zhuzhu appeared, all eyes turned to them.

Those eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and numbness. They stared at Ji Mo's neat clothes, regarding him as a noble lord who had come to inspect the area, and all lowered their heads in fear.

Here, the poor are "dirty." From their bodies to their eyes, everything about them is filthy. Even just glancing at the clothes of noblemen and ladies could bring a beating.

Chen Zhuzhu, who was on fieldwork with the excuse that her [Observer] ability might be able to discover additional clues, was also observing. For the first time, she used her ability to fully discern the information around her, and every item she could see was labeled with words like "broken" or "tattered".

Compared to things that are labeled as trash but are treasured and kept carefully, Chen Zhuzhu finds it harder to accept swill being labeled as "food".

She couldn't find any information about the people seeking help, but instead was forced to receive a large amount of physiological data from the poor, who were generally malnourished and almost everyone was suffering from the negative effects of disease.

"There is no information about the person seeking help." Chen Zhuzhu shook her head, covering her mouth with one hand. For the first time, she felt that information also had a smell.

"The person who asked for help has gone missing again." Ji Mo frowned and looked around at the chaos, not particularly bothered by the harsh environment: "This is the second time."

No matter who it is, they can only be rescued once. This is the rule that Jiu Chonglou set for the program.

Once the person seeking help gives up on the rescue, even if they call the hotline again, they will only hear a message that the number is not in service.

However, this rule has a loophole: the so-called "rescue opportunity" refers to a complete call for help and the process of waiting for rescuers to arrive.

This person seeking help was using a bug; every time, they managed to escape before the authorities arrived.

This right remains valid as long as the other party's death is not confirmed and the person has not been seen.

Following Xia Yu's use of the helpline as a challenge, could this be considered a series of false police reports? Ji Mo was unwilling to draw a conclusion easily. Both calls seemed like accidental dialings in the chaos, and didn't sound like deliberate deception.

"Perhaps I should look at it from a different angle. There were two people in the call, and their relationship wasn't as friendly as I imagined. The person seeking help didn't want to tell the other party about the program, but still wanted to be found?"

Compared to the last time, at least this time there were witnesses with whom we could communicate.

Ji Mo's gaze swept across the ruins and finally landed on the boy hiding behind a half-sloped shed.

The child was about seven or eight years old, with deep-set eyes that made his eyes appear exceptionally large. He was one of the few people around who still had light in their eyes. When Ji Mo stared at him, he didn't immediately look away; instead, he looked back. After confirming that Ji Mo didn't intend to punish him, he stepped forward, knelt down, touched his forehead to the ground, and respectfully called out, "Master."

"Get up." Ji Mo disliked people kneeling before him for no reason. He was neither a god nor had he done anyone a favor, and he always felt that being knelt to too much would shorten his lifespan. "What happened here? Who came here?"

The boy stood up, but his eyes involuntarily drifted to where Ji Mo might keep his coins at his waist. He hesitated, then said, "This..."

Ji Mo took out a few packets of dried meat snacks and two small pieces of biscuits, which he had originally bought for Jiu Chonglou, from his spatial ring and tossed them to the other person: "I dare to give you money, do you have the guts to take it back?"

The boy was startled, only then noticing the people around him in similar situations, staring at him with sinister eyes. When those people looked at Ji Mo, their eyes turned to regret, regretting that they hadn't been the first to step forward and kowtow, letting this boy get away with it.

It's impossible to become a phoenix by answering a question. Realizing this, the boy quickly tore open a cookie and wolfed it down, his cheeks bulging, then threw the remaining wrapper on the ground.

Only what you eat is truly yours.

But Ji Mo saw him secretly hide the dried meat in his underwear, taking advantage of the difference in visibility.

The gazes fixed on the boy lessened considerably.

"You're just being clever." Ji Mo didn't comment on whether what he did was right or wrong, and his tone wasn't as polite as usual. "You'd better give me some useful information."

"Two people came a couple of days ago, dressed as neatly as you... uh, I mean, impeccably." The boy tried hard to find words to describe aristocratic manners, but could only manage a few dry words.

"I don't like nonsense. Male or female? Tall or short?"

"A man and a woman, about the same height, roughly... this tall." The boy stood on tiptoe, gesturing as he tried to indicate their height. "The man seemed to be the leader. They've been wandering around here for two days, looking for someone, asking around. But they're not as kind as you; if they don't get anything out of them, they'll resort to violence."

The boy flattered him and continued, "As the fight went on... we found the person. And then the angels came to catch them."

He swallowed hard, as if recalling a horrific scene: "Then fire fell from the sky, burning down many houses and killing many people. The man who was found fought with the angel, a fierce battle, bleeding profusely but still able to stand, growing increasingly frenzied. The two who were fighting first, seeing the situation was turning against them, quickly ran away. The man fighting the angel, realizing he was outmatched, also ran away..."

"Wait, what's an angel?"

"Angels... they're angels. That's what everyone calls them." The boy clearly couldn't explain any further.

Ji Mo frowned; the situation was more complicated than he had anticipated.

It seems that the danger this person seeking help is self-inflicted?

As he analyzed the credibility of the boy's words, Chen Zhuzhu, who was standing to the side, finally couldn't suppress her pity. She had no food in her spatial ring, so she secretly took out a few copper coins from her golden snake wallet and tried to give them to the poor old woman who was watching her from the nearest window.

However, her actions were too conspicuous to the poor. The next second, the crowd that was still watching suddenly became agitated, and countless withered hands reached out to Chen Zhuzhu.

"My lord, please have mercy!"

"Give me some money!"

"Please, my child hasn't eaten a single bite today!"

Surrounded by layers of people, Chen Zhuzhu's face drained of color, and she finally realized that she had underestimated the suffering here.

"Nonsense!" Ji Mo noticed the chaos over there. The powerful aura was suddenly released, and the poor realized that they had overstepped their bounds. They surged up like a tide, and then quickly slid down like a tide.

After bringing Chen Zhuzhu out of the poor people's hands, Ji Mo turned back to look at where the boy was.

Empty.