Chapter 89: The Secret of the Number List (2)

 

“Quickly, come in!”

Qu Kangping waved his hand, leading two subordinates straight into the archive room.

Squeak–

Squeak–

An irritating chewing sound echoed in the room.

Qu Kangping took out his gun and rushed into the depths of the archive room.

Squeak, squeak, squeak…

In the corner, a weird creature was feasting on documents.

It was about the size of a hunting dog, with a worm-like body covered in chitinous shell.
Its two large eyes resembled thick-lensed glasses, and its mouth was enormous, occupying two-thirds of its head.

The Bookworm turned its head and emitted a cry similar to a baby's wailing.

“Waa—“

Qu Kangping raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

A silver bullet whizzed through, piercing the Bookworm's head.

The Bookworm let out a mournful howl and flew backward.

“Sprinkle salt on it!”

“Yes!”

The two subordinates took out silver salt shakers from their pockets and sprinkled salt frost on the Bookworm.

The Bookworm cried out in pain.

Qu Kangping and his team remained calm, while the police outside couldn't help trembling, and some even collapsed, kneeling and crying in fear.

“Ah Jian, go and comfort the police outside.”

“Yes.”

Ah Jian nodded, put away the salt shaker, and walked out of the archive room.

Dealing with weird creatures was not as simple as having the right equipment.
It required strong mental strength; otherwise, one might end up like the police outside, scared to death or driven mad before killing the monster.

The strength of this Bookworm wasn't particularly formidable, so it only scared certain mentally weak individuals.

One of the subordinates squatted beside the Bookworm's corpse, doing the finishing work.
“Tsk tsk, based on the appearance, this is at least a ten-year-old Bookworm.
If it keeps gnawing on books, it will eventually start attacking people.”

Qu Kangping pried open the Bookworm's mouth and found a half-eaten document still stuck in its throat.

“Hmm…
this book looks familiar.”

“Team leader, it's 'Divine Sayings.'” The subordinate came over and said, “Don't you remember? We once dismantled a fanatic organization, and 'Divine Sayings' is their holy scripture.
The book is filled with meaningless gibberish, which they started hearing after going insane.”

“Do you remember the last thing Gu Yi said?”

“What?”

“The reality and the weird world have a mapping relationship, and the Host of his dungeon exists within the territory of Dragon Country.”

“So…”

“If you were the Host, what would you do to prevent Gu Yi from completing the dungeon?”

“Team leader, are you suggesting that the Bookworm came for 'Divine Sayings'? Or there might be important clues here? The Host wanted to destroy all the files to slow down our investigation progress!”

Qu Kangping didn't speak and walked straight to the chief's office.

Hu Chang was looking sadly at his broken office door, attempting to fix it.
Unexpectedly, Qu Kangping came back once again and pushed the door open.

“Oh my god!”

Hu Chang covered his chest and looked at Qu Kangping, and the office door was completely destroyed.

“Why are you standing there? Hurry up and do your job!”

“Wasn't I working all the time?”

Qu Kangping spoke rapidly, “Quickly find me a complete copy of 'Divine Sayings.'”

“What is 'Divine Sayings'?”

“You're the police chief, and you don't even know about it.”

Qu Kangping sat on Hu Chang's desk, picked up the phone, and called Hu Chang's superiors.

Hu Chang looked anxious, standing behind Qu Kangping, feeling at a loss.

“I don't care what method you use, but one hour from now, I must see a complete copy of 'Divine Sayings' on my desk! If you can't find it, I'll smash your skull!”

Slam!

Qu Kangping hung up the phone and glanced at Hu Chang, “Get me a cup of coffee, strong, no sugar.”

“Uh…
understood.”

One hour later.

A complete copy of “Divine Sayings” was placed in front of Qu Kangping.
It was rescued from the Bookworm's mouth by a special agent from a neighboring city.
Although the cover was tattered, the text inside was still clear and legible.

Qu Kangping held “Divine Sayings” along with the number list left by Gu Yi and called in all the code-breaking experts in the city.

“I'll give you guys half an hour.”

“Half an hour is not enough…”

“You—get out!” Qu Kangping pointed to the expert who dared to argue back, then turned to the rest of the experts.
“If you succeed, you'll gain supreme glory and be able to join our strategy team.
If you fail, the consequences are on you.”

Qu Kangping was known for his domineering attitude, and the code expert didn't dare to disobey.
With a puzzled look, the expert left the office in a daze.

Outside the office, Ah Jian stood, grinning at the code expert.
“You know, we encountered a weird incident in the northeast of Dragon Country.
We need your sharp brain to investigate this strange event.”

“Me? Hey, hey, I don't want to deal with weird events.
I'm not good at it…”

“Since you can't crack the code, we've found a relatively easy one for you.
Let's go.”

“I was wrong, can I stay here to decipher the code?”

The remaining experts in the office trembled with both hands.

If they succeed, they would gain supreme glory and live a carefree life for the rest of their days.

But if they failed, they would be sent to carry out dangerous missions.

Half an hour—even the most experienced code experts couldn't crack the code in such a short time.
Qu Kangping was clearly making an impossible request.

“It's been two minutes!” Qu Kangping said coldly, “The country supports you, not for you to waste resources.
Gu Yi is still representing our country in the weird world, facing danger and challenges.
You're fortunate enough to be able to decode in an air-conditioned office.
Don't bargain with me.
We're on the battlefield now, not playing house!”

The code experts were all writing frantically on their desks.

Clatter!

Twenty minutes later, a young expert dropped the pen in his hand.

Qu Kangping, holding a cigarette, looked curiously at the young man.

“Captain Qu, I figured it out!” The young man raised the paper in his hand, “This is indeed a code.
He used two classical encryption algorithms simultaneously.
The decryption process is not difficult, we just need to…”

“Just tell me the result.”

“Dragon Country, southeast, coastal province, Bay City, Huang Jia Town.
However…
this place doesn't seem to be a mountainous area; it's a coastal town?”

“Don't worry about that.” Qu Kangping stubbed out the cigarette, patted Hu Chang's shoulder hard, “Immediately head to investigate this place.
I'll lead the team personally.”

…

In Weird World.

Gu Yi wandered around the city in ragged clothes.
With his keen intuition, he discovered several hidden sentries.

Now, he was still heavily injured and had no chance to resist the enemies.

Gu Yi went to a nearby pharmacy and bought some painkillers.
It was like drinking poison to quench his thirst, but he had no other choice.
Going to the hospital for treatment would be walking into a trap.

“Cough, cough—”

Gu Yi covered his mouth and coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

“Son, son!”

Gu Yi's ears twitched, and he leaned against the wall to look behind him.
His parents were driving their car beside him.

—Why would these two come here?

Gu Yi's heart sank, and he desperately waved his arms.

“Dedu…
Deduction…”

Gu Yi couldn't finish his words; his vision went dark, and he collapsed on the ground.