PSW - Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Yu Yinan went to sleep.
Zheng Yi personally tucked her in before quietly exiting the room and closing the door.
[Zheng Yi, are you okay? You've been using your ability frequently. You need to rest, too.]
"Me? I'm~ do~ing~ just~ fine~" Zheng Yi didn't communicate telepathically, but spoke softly. The slight mental sting in her mind brought her a peculiar sensation. She casually waved her hand in the air, and a stream of water coiled around her finger. The elusive sting deep in her mind grew even more distinct.
It had been a long time since she'd felt this kind of pain. How long? She couldn't remember.
Casually draping a coat over her shoulders, Zheng Yi mentally instructed Zero One to find a pen and paper. She put on a pair of disposable gloves, sat down at the table, and after a moment of thought, began to write.
Zheng Yi recalled the print style from a newspaper and wrote carefully, stroke by stroke. She didn't write much. When she was done, she stuffed the remaining paper and pen into her backpack, threw on her coat, grabbed the key, and pushed the door open to leave.
[…Should you really be doing this? Yu Yinan's condition has only just stabilized.] Zero One chose its words carefully, trying to dissuade her. It had wanted to say that neither of them was in a good state, but then it remembered the last time it had merely asked Zheng Yi about being "special," and she had turned the question back on it. So, it held its tongue.
"My dear Zero One, I'm just giving her a chance to make a choice," Zheng Yi said cheerfully, leaving with the note tucked between her fingers.
[I can't help you locate anyone.]
"That's not difficult." Zheng Yi chuckled softly and went directly to the female staff member in charge of rentals to ask about a person named "Yu Yaozu" and his apartment number.
"Because… my jiejie's surname is Yu, and she mentioned her family's names. I wanted to go take a look, just in case they're her family." Zheng Yi acted completely harmless and well-behaved. She explained earnestly, and after getting the apartment number, she pressed her palms together and pleaded in a soft voice, "Please don't tell my jiejie about this~ It's not confirmed yet, and if it turns out to be a false alarm, she'll be very upset. I'm begging you~"
Finally, she offered a few pieces of candy as "hush money," and the staff member's heart practically melted. After Zheng Yi left, the woman couldn't help but sigh, "I wish I had such an adorable little sister."
The "adorable little sister" easily obtained Yu Yaozu's address. She didn't go knock on the door directly. After confirming the room number, she conjured a water person, controlled the mass of water to pick up the note and place it at the doorstep, and then had the water person knock on the door.
The moment the door opened, the water person dissipated.
Zheng Yi waited until the person who opened the door noticed the note on the ground and picked it up before she turned to leave. As she went downstairs, she could even hear Yu Yaozu shouting, "Mom!"
Your daughter, Yu Yinan, is a fire-ability user and is inside the shelter.
Standard print-style handwriting, leaving no chance to identify the person by their writing.
Tossing the disposable gloves into a trash can, Zheng Yi slowly walked back home. The stinging in her mind was as dense as needle pricks. She half-closed her eyes and leaned against the wall in the hallway for a moment before stepping inside. She concealed all traces of her outing, returned the coat to its original place, then turned and went into the bedroom, lying down next to Yu Yinan.
Her mental strength still needed to be improved.
After a simple two-hour nap, Yu Yinan felt much better. As soon as she sat up, she saw Zheng Yi curled up in a small ball at the very edge of the bed.
She froze for a moment, then immediately softened her movements. She pulled the blanket up, raised her hand to touch Zheng Yi, intending to use her ability to warm her up before leaving. But just as she lifted her hand, Zheng Yi woke up, yawned, and looked at her.
"Jiejie, are you feeling better?"
"Mhm," Yu Yinan replied as she watched Zheng Yi sit up. She picked up her down jacket and put it on, then turned to look at Zheng Yi. She walked over, straightened her messy hair, then took Zheng Yi's hand in hers, transferring her warmth. "Do you want to sleep a little longer?"
"No, it's fine. I want to go check out the mission center," Zheng Yi said, getting up as well. While straightening her clothes and hair, she asked curiously, "Jiejie, are you going to pick a codename for yourself?"
"I haven't decided yet." Yu Yinan shook her head. She could guess what Zheng Yi wanted to be called, but as for herself… there didn't seem to be anything suitable.
"There's no rush. Jiejie can take her time thinking about it. It's fine not to have a codename, too." Zheng Yi took out a clean towel, went into the bathroom, and wet it with a stream of water before wiping her face. She rinsed the towel and handed it to Yu Yinan. "Should we go now?"
"Mhm." Yu Yinan also quickly wiped her face, wrung out the towel, and hung it up. Then she followed Zheng Yi out the door.
The Mission Center.
This was probably the place most frequented by ability users in the shelter.
Just inside the entrance of the mission center, a large blackboard was covered with squad recruitment notices. White sheets of paper listed the names of ability user squads and their current member counts. Some included a general description of their abilities, while others didn't. The recruitment criteria were also varied: some just required any ability user, some specified age and gender, and others were as specific as needing a healing-type ability user.
Zheng Yi only gave these a cursory glance; she had no intention of joining any team. Further inside were the bounty mission postings, all on paper and tacked to a wooden board. To accept a mission, you just had to tear off the sheet and take it to the front desk to register. These missions were updated in real-time—manually, of course.
"Hello, I'd like to register a codename, is that possible?" Zheng Yi went to the front desk and asked politely. "We just arrived at the shelter today, so our ID cards haven't been made yet."
"No ID card? That's fine. Could you please write down your name? I'll look up your information." The staff member quickly produced a pen and paper for Zheng Yi, asking her to write down her name and desired codename. He then used her name to match the existing identities in the database and quickly found the file for Zheng Yi, the water-ability user.
She already has five contribution points just after arriving?
"Excuse me, are you sure your codename is… Saint?" The staff member looked seriously and repeatedly at the codename Zheng Yi had written on the paper. "Once it's submitted, you can't just change it whenever you want. It'll be a lot of trouble."
"I'm sure. It's Saint." Zheng Yi nodded earnestly. "I'd also like a nameplate with my codename, is that possible?"
"Of course, but it will take some time to make… It should be delivered to you tomorrow along with your ID card." The staff member quickly went through the procedures, submitting Zheng Yi's codename information and the nameplate request. After finishing, he turned his gaze to Yu Yinan. "So, do you need to register a codename as well?"
"No, thank you. I don't have any plans for one at the moment." Yu Yinan politely declined. She glanced at Zheng Yi before continuing, "Can she and I form a squad? What's required?"
"Yes, could you please write down your name as well? I'll look up your information." The staff member handed the pen and paper to Yu Yinan and continued to explain, "There's no fee for forming a squad. Are you two sure you want to form a two-person squad? If so, you just need to come up with a squad name. We'll register it for you here, and we'll link your ID card information. When you complete missions together, the rewards will be deposited equally into your accounts. Of course, the squad leader can also modify the distribution ratio. Any changes to the ratio must be approved by all members to take effect."
Yu Yinan wrote down her name. "Squad name… what do you want to call it?"
"I don't know." Her codename was already Saint; the squad name didn't matter. Maybe in the future, when only one of them was left, the squad would automatically disband anyway. "Doesn't Jiejie have any ideas?"
"Then, let's keep it simple." Yu Yinan thought for a moment and wrote down "Two-Person."
Two-Person Squad.
Zheng Yi raised an eyebrow slightly. She hadn't expected this side of Yu Yinan. She thought that with Yu Yinan's personality, she would have seriously come up with a more formal, proper, or academic-sounding name.
"An interesting name. Let's go with that." Zheng Yi accepted it readily.
The staff member seemed a bit exasperated, but he still dutifully confirmed it one more time before submitting the information. "Alright, the Two-Person Squad has been created."
"The mission area is back there. If you see any mission you like, you can bring it to me to accept it, and I'll sync the mission information for you."
Zheng Yi wasn't in a hurry to take on any field missions. They could rest in the shelter for a couple of days. Besides, she had plenty of supplies stockpiled, so food and drink weren't a concern. She wasn't short on contribution points for now, and she could continue supplying water tomorrow. She led Yu Yinan toward the exit, thinking about the flimsy little sedan in the underground garage… Maybe she could buy a reinforced, modified vehicle here? But considering the shelter's current level of development and resources, even if they had one, the contribution point cost would surely be extremely high.
Before they had even left the mission center, Zheng Yi saw Yu Yaozu and his parents striding menacingly toward them.
That was fast. They've already come looking. Just as Zheng Yi was thinking this and about to adjust her expression and emotions, Yu Yaozu's group hurried past them and rushed to the front desk. In that instant, Zheng Yi's face fell.
"Hello, could you please help me look up this ability user? This… Yu Qi? Nan? How do you pronounce this second character again? Anyway, it's these three characters." Yu Yaozu took the pen and paper and wrote down the name from the note.
"She really did change her name. It's all that homeroom teacher's fault back then, otherwise how could we not have found her." Yu Yaozu's mother couldn't help but mutter, "We raised her for nothing. She gets a little education and runs off. Now it's the apocalypse, and even with an ability, she doesn't think about us. We're in the same shelter, but she doesn't even try to find out where we are or ask how we're doing. What an ungrateful brat."
The staff member's expression turned strange. He glanced at Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan, who weren't far away. "Sir, that character is pronounced 'Yi.' Our regulations state that we cannot disclose information about other ability users. Please understand."
Yu Yinan squeezed Zheng Yi's hand tightly. She looked down at Zheng Yi, only to meet a pair of black eyes that seemed slightly bewildered. Her gaze froze. Finally, she slowly turned her head back to watch the family of three arguing unhappily with the staff member. They were loud, boisterous, and completely unconcerned with their image, saying things like, "That's my daughter, my own flesh and blood! What's this talk about privacy in a family?"
It was so laughable.
So ridiculous.
Yu Yinan just stood there by the entrance, watching the family of three demand information about "Yu Yinan" from the staff member. Eventually, they said things like, "You don't have to tell us any private information, just give me her photo." When the staff member told them they didn't have photos of the ability users, they refused to believe him. As a fallback, they started asking if she had joined a squad and where in the shelter she lived.
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