Goodnight

Shi Shanyan's head didn't move, only his gaze shifted downward, looking at Yan Junxun's silhouette curled up on the sofa. The story of 36809 from Division 156 of the Stagnation Zone was as common as flies in a junkyard. Shi Shanyan had no desire to tell it, but he didn't say 'no' to Yan Junxun either.

While waiting, Yan Junxun's arm went numb from being pressed on, and his thoughts began to race uncontrollably. He had seen photos of the Stagnation Zone, where trash accumulated into seas, and rotten rats were everywhere on the ground.

Shi Shanyan finally spoke: "36809's life was very boring. One day, he finally got fed up and wanted to find something else to do. The Black Panther was recruiting new members in the Stagnation Zone, so he signed up and discovered he was exceptionally talented. He thus went to the base, began training in marksmanship, and after graduating, dedicated himself to the great cause of the Defense Alliance, living a happy life of debauchery ever after."

Yan Junxun's blanket rustled. He turned his head and said to Shi Shanyan, "You've gone off-topic. That's 01AE86's story."

Shi Shanyan's expression didn't change. "Go to sleep."

Yan Junxun looked at him and asked, "Will you tell me about 36809?"

Shi Shanyan said, "If you're curious about the local customs of the Stagnation Zone, I can recommend some Alliance documentaries to you."

Yan Junxun turned over again, looked at him, and said nothing more.

Shi Shanyan felt a pang in his heart. Yan Junxun's soft tentacles had already reached in, creating unexpected ripples in his barren world. Intuition told Shi Shanyan that his current situation was very dangerous, yet his consciousness was saying it was okay.

"...36809," Shi Shanyan propped his elbows on his knees and leaned forward slightly, a posture that brought him closer to Yan Junxun. "36809 was born in a junkyard, very far from your glass room."

Shi Shanyan looked at Yan Junxun's fair face, a kind of greed overflowing. Yet, strangely, a domineering and malicious person like him could be reflected in Yan Junxun's crystal-clear eyes.

"36809 was responsible for cleaning the parking lot of Division 156. His daily job was to pick up rats. Picking up a hundred could be exchanged for a meal," Shi Shanyan said in a normal tone. "Life was not bad."

Yan Junxun brushed aside his messy hair and asked, "Did you have to pick them up alive?"

"As long as they weren't too disgustingly rotten, they'd take them all," Shi Shanyan's gaze never left Yan Junxun. "But that job later fell through."

The piled-up trash wasn't processed scientifically. The rats soaking in it gnawed everywhere and gradually mutated. In 2150, a plague broke out in the Stagnation Zone. Human corpses replaced rats, soaking in the sea of garbage, and in that same year, the Light Rail District began to popularize the use of Light-Transporter Vehicles.

"36809 started hanging out on the streets," Shi Shanyan thought of the filthy streets of the Stagnation Zone, and his tone gradually became cheerful. "He made quite a few friends."

These "friends" often broke the laws of The Alliance. The regional Supervisory Bureau's system couldn't track them deep into the mountains of trash. Firefights often broke out in the border areas near the Southern Front Alliance, and smuggling was their earliest means of survival. They lived freely in the Stagnation Zone, feared more by the local residents than the members of the Supervisory Bureau. Their level of flaunting their power rivaled that of the drug lords from the neighboring Southern Front Alliance.

Shi Shanyan got along very happily with these "friends," though they didn't think so. When the Black Panther came to recruit new members, everyone signed up.

"36809 had a long farewell with them. You can fill in the psychological journey yourself," Shi Shanyan suggested. "Try to make it a bit more tragic, it'll fit the context of the story."

In the final test, only Shi Shanyan survived to the end. He collected their name tags like he used to collect rats, turning them into his score. The remnants of these people banded together, forming the organization that now exists in the Stagnation Zone. After Shi Shanyan joined the Black Panther, he often saw them on mission lists. When he had nothing better to do, he would go and "greet" them.

In 2162, Shi Shanyan was expelled from the unit. Thirty percent of the posts on Black Ground calling for Shi Shanyan's death came from the Stagnation Zone Organization. Their hatred for Shi Shanyan was not without reason.

"...After all these things, 36809 finally grew up. He came to a new world," Shi Shanyan saw Yan Junxun close his eyes and heard his steady breathing. "In this new world, there was a glass room, and someone actually lived inside... What comes after is 01AE86's story."

Yan Junxun's fingers unconsciously touched the blanket, brushing against the back of Shi Shanyan's hand. He felt Shi Shanyan's temperature. It wasn't as terrifying as the previous times. It was like a soft bed woven from feathers, catching his thoughts and bringing him back here from those scenes.

"...Goodnight." Yan Junxun's consciousness drifted, and he fell into a deep sleep.

The thick night enveloped what little emotion Shi Shanyan had left. He heard thunder in the darkness. But when his gaze followed the sound, he discovered the thunder was coming from inside his own chest.

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Goodnight."

......

Lin Bobo was completely unaware of the fan after the scream. He couldn't understand the importance of that electric fan at all. It was something his mom had bought, and it had been sitting there for many years, whirring every summer.

At this moment, he was giddy with excitement over his own actions.

Lin Bobo paced back and forth in front of the mirror in the living room. He was wearing his grandfather's old suit, fantasizing about an interview under the watchful eyes of the public.

"What do you think of your actions?"

Liu Chen would definitely ask him this question with a feigned air of sincerity. He had already written down the answer in his notebook.

"Very, very good," Lin Bobo postured, lifting his chin slightly at the mirror, trying his best to look confident. "I am very successful. These news reports," he slowed down, enunciating clearly, "are causing a sensation throughout The Alliance because of me. I will be remembered by history. The name Lin Bobo will surely be left in the annals of crime. Those, those criminologists, they will line up to study me."

After answering, Lin Bobo frowned. He realized his hunchback couldn't be fixed. When he forced himself to stand straight, his stomach would stick out. This discouraged him, yet he couldn't solve it.

Lin Bobo, you're pathetic with your slouched shoulders and hunched back, just like your old man. You really are your father's son!

His mother contemptuously poked Lin Bobo's forehead. His young body swayed, and a red mark quickly appeared on his forehead. His lips moved, but he didn't dare to speak.

"I need, need to find a posture coach," Lin Bobo said loudly. "To correct my bearing."

He thought of his first prey, Wu Qionghua. That woman also slouched with a hunched back. When she coughed, her stooped body looked like a shrimp, indescribably wretched in his eyes. But he felt Wu Qionghua was the most like his mom. His mom had been just like Wu Qionghua after she got sick.

Lin Bobo thought, all women are the same when they get old and lose their looks—that's what Bai Jingqing had said. Bai Jingqing had been stroking his forehead then, blowing on it gently, and giggling as she said it. Her fragrance made Lin Bobo lose his bearings. He followed Bai Jingqing around in a daze, so captivated by her that he couldn't tell north from south.

He loved Bai Jingqing very much, so much that he wanted to marry her. He believed he could build a perfect family with Bai Jingqing, and maybe they would even have children.

Thinking of this, Lin Bobo felt upset again. His chest was tight and uncomfortable, and he no longer wanted to continue the fantasy. He took off his grandfather's suit and folded it back into the wardrobe.

His mom washed all of his grandfather's clothes, including his underwear. Sometimes, his mom would also sleep in his grandfather's bedroom.

It's to make it easier to take care of him.

His mom would say it over and over in the living room, with her legs crossed, lighting a cheap cigarette, without even glancing at Lin Bobo.

So he doesn't choke to death on phlegm in the middle of the night. It'd be better if he did choke to death, that old coot.

His mom would stroke her hair, revealing a bloodless, ashen face. When she wasn't cursing people, she would often sit there smoking by herself, gazing at the bedroom window, listening to the sounds from outside. But she rarely went out, as if she had grown accustomed to such a slovenly life.

Lin Bobo's world was constructed by his mom, a schizophrenic world of black and white.

Getting reincarnated right is a real skill in this world.

His mom would always say this faintly after finishing a cigarette.

You were born worthless, insisting on crawling into my belly. It's my fate to curse you, you understand? My own fate is rotten, so you're rotten to the core too. You'll never be one of the elites in this life, you'll just be someone else's prey, destined to be ruined one way or another.

She would look at Lin Bobo, her large, bewitching eyes hollow, like a dried-up old well, containing something that made Lin Bobo's heart pound with fear.

Don't be fooled by a bitch like your dad was. I hate bitches the most. They're even more worthless than you.

Lin Bobo wiped his sweat with his T-shirt, muttering "even more worthless than me," and returned to the living room to turn on the TV. He sat up perfectly straight, as if his mom was still watching him, even tuning to the children's channel.

"I need to find a posture coach," Lin Bobo clutched his T-shirt. "Find a posture coach."

Yi Ting's head was groggy, but she had been paying close attention to Lin Bobo's voice. When she heard him repeating "posture coach," she couldn't help but grit her teeth as an idea formed in her mind.

......

"Yi Ting's mother is a ballet teacher," Yan Junxun said, standing under the bicycle shed of the old residential community while sizing up the building. "She's single, runs classes in the new commercial district, and is already planning to buy a house there. The Supervisory Bureau won't tell her about the progress of the case, so she's been waiting at the entrance of the Supervisory Bureau."

Shi Shanyan looked up at the building and said, "Does Yi Ting also go to school by herself?"

"She has her mom to pick her up"—Yan Junxun always referred to mothers as "mom"—"but on the night she disappeared, we were at Lixing. The region had a power outage, and her mom was stuck on the road for several hours. By the time she got to the school, Yi Ting was already gone."

The Docking Area was very hot today. The sun was beating down on the ground, and few people were out at this hour. The residential community was quiet, with only the sound of whirring fans. All these communities had fans; it would be difficult to find the killer's residence based on this alone.

Shi Shanyan raised a hand to block the sun and looked around.

But the killer doesn't dare to touch girls near his own residence; he always lies in wait elsewhere. This timid mentality largely exposes his range. He doesn't live near any of the victims. He lives in a location where he can come into contact with them naturally.

It's like a circle, and he sees himself as the center.