Chapter 228 Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Two: Scheme (Three)
When the news of success came in, the oppressive and anxious atmosphere in the entire conference room vanished instantly.
Even the experienced bureaucrats couldn’t help but whisper to each other, and the whole room was filled with a buzzing sound of conversation.
The head of the working leadership team relaxed for a moment, then immediately straightened up, stood up and said, “Please urge the local authorities to implement ‘two light and one broad’ and not to scare the young people too much.”
“We already have a contingency plan; we have confidence in the public security of Tianfu City regarding this matter.”
“I’m very glad to work with you all. Comrades, our task has been successfully completed to a degree. There are still a few steps to reach a satisfactory conclusion, but everything is developing positively now.”
Even though the head of the working leadership team hadn’t slept for two days and his mind was foggy, the thought of capturing Wan Ziqi excited him again.
“Report, here are the cases received so far. After filtering by the police comrades, they believe all are related to Wan Ziqi’s abilities.”
The head of the working leadership team took a stack of plain white photocopy paper and began to flip through it.
Someone had summarized the information for him.
Currently, it appears that the medium for Wan Ziqi’s extraordinary abilities is suspected to be the Internet, with a great possibility of obtaining information from others, causing them to leak urine, silencing them, and from the duration and frequency of initiation, his ability is over a notch higher than “the donkey of the production team,” which overturns the conclusions drawn from old intelligence.
He paused on the two words “silencing.”
Although Wan Ziqi’s extraordinary ability has low lethality to individuals, it poses a significant threat to organizations. Imagine if high-ranking officials in the country, company executives… everyone who makes decisions must communicate through stone placement.
How terrifying would the future be?
The head of the working leadership team exhaled deeply. The first thing that came to his mind was not that Wan Ziqi could serve as a good weapon to deter the state, but rather that a major factor destabilizing society had been diminished.
Based on the communication experience with “the donkey of the production team,” securing Wan Ziqi’s active cooperation should not be a difficult task.
Thinking of this, the head of the working leadership team couldn’t help but recall a Hollywood blockbuster he saw over a decade ago. He couldn’t understand why the American government in the film seemed so quick to resort to guns, cannons, and airplanes against extraordinary individuals?
Deploying the military into the city, preparing for battle and even opening fire had far greater consequences than allowing extraordinary individuals to roam freely. Everyone bore no grievance; why resort to violence upon meeting? Can’t they sit down and discuss things properly?
A certain group member stood up and smiled, saying, “If we promote these two extraordinary individuals as typical examples, there will definitely be more extraordinary individuals in society who will actively contribute to the Party and the state and serve the people.”
Upon hearing this, the head of the working leadership team, who had previously looked grim, suddenly flushed with excitement. He said:
“Let’s go watch the real-time video. If Wan Ziqi wants to communicate with us, we must engage personally to demonstrate the sincerity of the Party and the state.”
…
…
The turmoil in the capital and Tianfu City did not affect the magical city over 1951 kilometers away.
A police officer on the night shift at a precinct in the magical city was part of a new generation that viewed feudal superstition with disdain.
Earlier, he had deliberately violated one of the police’s taboos.
Before his night shift began, he asked a colleague, “Are you busy today?”
His colleague’s pleasant demeanor immediately froze, frowning, and said, “You will be plenty busy tonight.”
But the facts proved that feudal superstition was weak.
Having been on the night shift until now, nothing had happened.
Just as the young officer was about to yawn, the 110 alarm center transferred a call, reporting that a woman was calling regarding extraordinary abilities-related crimes.
A few days ago, a directive had been issued requiring all departments to pay attention to strange extraordinary ability-related crimes, summarizing several characteristics, such as peculiarity and internet dissemination. All potential extraordinary ability-related crimes required police investigation.
It was just another call-out.
The young officer reassured himself as he and his partner got into an electric police car, driving directly to the caller’s home.
As soon as the door opened, a face with red and swollen eyes appeared behind it.
It was Fang Shiyun.
“Officer, you finally came,” she said, her voice choked with tears. “My ex-boyfriend used extraordinary abilities to harm me, forced me out of my home, almost made me freeze outside, and stole six million from me. When I reported it, I nearly got sent to a mental institution.”
The young officer was momentarily stunned. Upon seeing the camera behind Fang Shiyun, he immediately understood the situation. With a serious expression, he asked:
“Ma’am, if you have any difficulties, please tell us, and we, the people’s police, will definitely help you.”
Fang Shiyun repeatedly thanked him, and of course, the camera was still on. She invited the two officers inside, accusing her ex-boyfriend of having violent tendencies, domestic violence against her, and after their breakup, using extraordinary abilities to manipulate and torment her, resulting in a total of over six hundred thousand being swindled by him and a con artist.
At this point, Fang Shiyun burst into tears: “He faked his death, deceived me into thinking he was a ghost. I never expected him to be so malicious. He had once said he would always be good to me.”
At this moment, Meng He was staying up late “surfing the internet.”
She wanted to see the myriad of life at the historical turning point.
All answers and questions related to “Huahua Qiu” on Zhihu had vanished without a trace, and the same was true for posts on Tieba.
An invisible force easily erased all information related to “Huahua Qiu.”
Meng He speculated that the state had long been monitoring “Huahua Qiu”—or rather, Wan Ziqi—and was deliberately avoiding alarming the snake, which was why they hadn’t cleaned up everything online immediately.
Taking action now indicated one thing: Wan Ziqi had likely been captured.
What nonsense! Extraordinary individuals are no different from ordinary people before the might of the state.
Meng He felt a bit relieved. She opened Bilibili and searched for “Apologizing to the Demon King.”
The “mysterious force” had erased much, but not entirely.
The previous meme video was still available, ranking first in views and popularity. Upon clicking in, as the video played, several lines of neatly arranged bullet-screen comments jumped out.
“Salute to the brave ones!”
In the flowing comments, words like “hero,” “dragon-slaying youth,” and “brave ones” floated uniformly.
After a little understanding, Meng He realized that Bilibili users were commending the UP owner for launching a fearless attack against a brazen, ugly, and narrow-minded extraordinary individual.
The UP owner personally commented:
“Thank you all for your support. I am currently unharmed and have not been cursed. I originally just wanted to make a fun video, but I didn’t expect the other party to be a real extraordinary being. But I absolutely will not delete the video; I will not bow down to evil forces!”
The top-liked comment in the comment section read:
“UP owner, be careful! That person is an extraordinary being, just like the drug dealer from before. Many people on Zhihu have already apologized.”
Another top comment said:
“UP owner, don’t worry! We support you; don’t bow to him! People who support give a thumbs up!”
Below, someone replied: “Those little bourgeois on Bihu crack me up, just a few minutes and they’re all saluting like French soldiers.”
The third top comment stated:
“Onlookers are so close; his mouth is wide open, but he can’t say a word… I heard a grad student was cursed after criticizing that ‘Huahua Qiu’ online, and due to a chronic illness, he fainted and collapsed because he couldn’t speak, missing the best opportunity for rescue.”
Another reply said, “That’s too despicable; isn’t that considered murder?!”
A second reply said, “If he isn’t sentenced to death, that’s unacceptable!”
Meng He looked at the fervent crowd denouncing Wan Ziqi, and it felt much like a crusade against a demon king.
She liked a few comments telling people to be cautious, exited the video, and returned to the search page.
The search page had a few pitifully viewed videos, and Meng He clicked to glance at them, all of which were genuine apology videos.
One had a relatively high view count; it claimed to apologize but was actually mocking.
Meng He blinked her dry eyes, ready to brush her teeth, wash up, and go to sleep.
The commotion Wan Ziqi stirred up online was about as big as it would get. He was too arrogant; a tall tree attracts the wind. In another week, the internet will “forget” Wan Ziqi.
Before she completely left her computer.
Meng He felt a bit reluctant; she subconsciously logged onto Weibo to see if there were any new updates.
There was a trending topic.
“Accusation against ex-boyfriend Wan Ziqi’s despicable behavior.”
Meng He clicked in and saw that a little essay from two days ago had gone viral. The gist was that Wan Ziqi’s ex-girlfriend accused him of being a scumbag, wasting her youth, being a mama’s boy, and an abuser.
The blogger couldn’t help but break up with Wan Ziqi.
Yet he used extraordinary abilities to manipulate and take over her home, joined forces with con artists to swindle over six hundred thousand from her, and intended to send her to a mental institution for life.
The essay was thousands of words long, well-written, and it resonated deeply with Meng He as a woman, making her feel angry.
“He kept harassing me; I couldn’t sleep at midnight. I just saw him revealing himself on ‘Manhu’, only to find out he’s an extraordinary being. Sisters, I reported it overnight. Last time I reported it, I almost got sent to a mental institution.”
Meng He huffed, “The police are really irresponsible.”
After typing for an hour to encourage the blogger along with many sisters and sharing widely to help her, Meng He could no longer hold on—she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and went to sleep.
Almost at the same time.
At the Zhihu headquarters in the capital.
The police who were stationed at the headquarters, after receiving the news of the “successful capture,” had already left, chatting and laughing.
The mute little housekeeper stayed behind at the company. After finishing the takeout supper, he prepared to stay at the company since his home was far away.
“Do you want to be no longer silenced?”
A mysterious voice echoed in his ear, “If you want that, then turn on your computer and unban my Huahua Qiu; otherwise, you’ll be silenced forever.”
The little housekeeper opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.
He fell silent for a moment, genuinely fed up with the life of being mute. Without a means of communication, what could a university student like him do besides working at a construction site?
The little housekeeper unbanned Huahua Qiu on Zhihu.
On the eve of victory, no one noticed this small anomaly.
At the same time, no one noticed anything wrong with Li and the group of police officers.
The real Li was unable to contain his anger, forcefully kicking open the anti-theft door of a rental apartment. Outside the door was not the staircase but another identical rental apartment, laid out exactly the same.
They opened the window, only to find that outside was yet another rental apartment, also identical. They seemed to be trapped in a maze made up entirely of rental apartments.
