Chapter 86: Notebook

Chapter 86: The Notebook

Zhu Ning left, fastening her black helmet and mounting her vehicle to depart, leaving Pei Shu only with her retreating figure.

Pei Shu had seen Zhu Ning's back twice now; in the ant nest, she had also shaken him off this way.

Leaning against the damaged car body, Pei Shu kept his eyes on the direction Zhu Ning had gone, a cigarette dangling from his lips, but he didn't light it.

Not until Zhu Ning's figure disappeared, and the ash formed a long line, falling to the ground like a broken incense stick, did Pei Shu squint his eyes, extinguish the cigarette, and refrain from lighting another one.

He said he would kill Zhu Ning, a threat from a powerful tycoon to an ordinary person, warning them not to provoke something they couldn't handle, or they might end up dead.

So be obedient, best to hide your little schemes, tuck away your sharp fangs.

Such intimidation usually worked because it was effective; Pei Shu would eventually kill these people, as he said he would.

But he remembered how Zhu Ning responded to him.

Zhu Ning looked at him calmly and said, "Then you'd better act quickly, I'm growing, Mr. Pei."

She wasn't afraid of the Lu family, nor would she hide her sharp edges. She could face Pei Shu and speak of her ambitions with ease.

Even if one day they really came to that point, Zhu Ning wouldn't back down, but Pei Shu needed to act quickly, or once Zhu Ning grew to a certain level, he would find it hard to make a move.

Pei Shu's words were a threat and intimidation, but Zhu Ning retaliated.

He seemed to understand why such a person would provoke Yongsheng Pharmaceutical and why so many eyes watched her, investigating, hostile, or puzzled.

She was like an anomaly in this world. Pei Shu laughed; Zhu Ning was so full of herself.

...

When Zhu Ning returned home, dawn had broken.

The Noble Queen was the safest place Zhu Ning had found; here, she could ensure that Yongsheng Pharmaceutical wouldn't monitor her.

If going to Liu Niannian's house made those gazes automatically avoid her, entering the Noble Queen felt more like isolation, a barrier against outside prying eyes, forming its own world.

The back door was open, coinciding with the off-duty time for the Noble Queen's workers, who clocked out like office drones through the back entrance.

After parking, Zhu Ning paused oddly, feeling her biological clock was off; she was almost blending into the night life of the Noble Queen.

A man with clear features saw Zhu Ning and nudged his companion, whispering, "Hey, is she the one who keeps Boss Song?"

"Seems so," the other replied, looking at Zhu Ning with admiration.

Respect, respect for a senior.

Zhu Ning: "..."

So, in the employees' eyes, Zhu Ning was keeping Song Zhizhang? Sounds pretty cool?

Returning to the Noble Queen gave Zhu Ning a sense of coming home. The neon lights were off, and someone was cleaning inside. They all greeted her when they saw her.

It made her feel like the real boss here.

Zhu Ning walked to the basement, where the holographic male strippers continued their tireless dance, just reaching the part where they undid their pants.

The first time she saw him, she felt a bit uncomfortable, but now it felt strangely familiar.

She thought if she stayed here for two more years, her entire aesthetic would be warped.

It was six in the morning. Zhu Ning pushed open a door at the end of the corridor and heard sounds from the bathroom as soon as she got home. A toothbrush floated in mid-air.

Lin Xiaofeng had woken up and was brushing her teeth.

For a moment, Zhu Ning felt as if she had traveled to another world. In reality, she had only been gone for one night. The previous day, she had been here, brushing teeth with Lin Xiaofeng, and now it seemed so distant.

Lin Xiaofeng put down her toothbrush when she saw Zhu Ning, then realized Zhu Ning wouldn't see her after putting it down, so she grabbed a red hat and put it on.

The red hat floated to Zhu Ning's side. Zhu Ning asked, "Why are you up so early?"

Lin Xiaofeng's response was muffled, "My family doesn't let me sleep in."

Zhu Ning, raised under Mrs. Zhu Yao's laissez-faire education, found such rules inhumane.

"From now on, sleep as much as you want," Zhu Ning said.

Lin Xiaofeng nodded and asked, "Are you hurt?"

Zhu Ning still had a strong healing patch on her forehead. After peeling it off, the wound had healed without a trace, indeed a testament to the Lu family's black technology, solving healing and scarring in one go.

Zhu Ning: "No, I'm fine."

Lin Xiaofeng hummed, not knowing what had happened to Zhu Ning or where she had gone. From Lin Xiaofeng's perspective, Zhu Ning was there before she went to bed last night and was still there when she woke up.

But she sensed Zhu Ning's fatigue and asked, "Do you need to rest?"

Zhu Ning had cleaned herself thoroughly after leaving Liu Niannian's house, with no bloodstains and a change into clean clothes. But Lin Xiaofeng was sensitive and could feel Zhu Ning's emotions.

Zhu Ning: "I'll do that later. Where's Song Zhizhang?"

As soon as she spoke, Song Zhizhang pushed a trolley in, wearing the familiar purple sweater.

This time, he had prepared a large breakfast for Lin Xiaofeng, along with some nutritional supplements.

The first thing Song Zhizhang said upon seeing Zhu Ning was, "You smell like smoke."

Zhu Ning: "…"

Why did she feel like a cheating scumbag who had just been caught by his wife?

Song Zhizhang didn’t ask where Zhu Ning had gone or what she had done; he simply asked, "Have breakfast?"

This time, Zhu Ning really felt at home, and Song Zhizhang was like a walking, talking comfort blanket.

The three of them sat at the dining table. Previously, it was Song Zhizhang watching Zhu Ning eat, but now he also sat down to join her, moving very naturally, as if they were family.

Zhu Ning noticed that Song Zhizhang had prepared nutritional supplements and asked, "For Xiaofeng?"

Song Zhizhang nodded, "While you were away, I tested her. Regular food is inefficient for nutrient absorption, while nutritional supplements provide a more comprehensive balance. However, I haven’t cut off her normal diet; maintaining the act of chewing helps with her psychological state."

In this world, most people who can afford regular grains and food choose to eat normally rather than rely on nutritional supplements.

Eating real food keeps one closer to natural human habits, which helps maintain mental health.

People who rely heavily on nutritional supplements for long periods often suffer from psychological stress, eventually leading to mental breakdowns and pollution. Song Zhizhang had even considered this.

Song Zhizhang: "I’ll adjust the formula in a few days."

Lin Xiaofeng isn’t an ordinary human; her nutritional needs differ from those of a normal person.

Zhu Ning: "…"

She felt even more guilty now, knowing that Song Zhizhang had figured out Lin Xiaofeng’s dietary habits so thoroughly while she was away.

Zhu Ning ate her breakfast without tasting it, mechanically chewing her food. Having returned to a completely safe nest, the tension in her body relaxed, making her less inclined to talk to anyone.

Song Zhizhang glanced at her, "Those who frequently enter polluted zones need to adjust their internal clocks. It’s easy to lose track of time."

Because the time flow in polluted zones differs, and each zone has its own unique time flow, you might only be inside for an hour, but it feels like several days.

This intensity gradually interferes with one’s cognitive abilities, which is why many demon hunters and cleaners have short lifespans.

Moreover, prolonged missions can cause subtle changes in the body that go unnoticed. There was once a highly efficient demon hunter who made a lot of money and planned to live comfortably in his later years.

One day, he suddenly went mad at home and ended up killing his family.

Investigations revealed no exposure to pollutants or mental contamination; he had simply been worn down by the repetitive nature of his job, leading him to madness.

The Cleaning Center mandates at least seven days of mandatory leave after a mission, considering these factors.

Song Zhizhang: "How long is your leave this time?"

Zhu Ning: "Eleven days."

The Mechanical Oceanarium was a major mission with significant losses, so Zhu Ning’s leave was longer.

Song Zhizhang: "You have nine more days to rest."

Zhu Ning had only used two days; she could take her time.

Zhu Ning responded with an "Oh," and after finishing her breakfast, Song Zhizhang insisted she go to bed, saying, "Don’t pollute my shop."

If Zhu Ning’s mental state was poor, she might get infected, causing trouble for the entire shop.

Zhu Ning didn’t argue, lying down to sleep immediately after breakfast. Her current mental state wasn’t suitable for anything else; only sleep would do.

Otherwise, she might die of sudden death before the enemy even got to her.

Once she entered sleep mode, she was like a koala, impossible to wake up. Song Zhizhang had prepared mental healing agents and nutritional supplements for her to take during her sleep.

She woke up once around eleven at night.

It was quiet outside; Song Zhizhang must have taken Lin Xiaofeng to bed. Zhu Ning realized how disconnected she had become from normal life.

She felt like Zhu Yao, who always missed her child’s growth because of her busy schedule. Zhu Yao was always so busy that she often came back to find Zhu Ning already asleep, and there were times when they barely saw each other for weeks.

Zhu Ning lay back down and slept a bit more, but by three in the morning, she couldn’t sleep anymore. Her mind felt clearer.

Late nights were when the Noble Queen Shop operated, and Song Zhizhang went upstairs to manage the store. The room had excellent soundproofing, so Zhu Ning couldn’t hear the noise from upstairs.

She stared at the ceiling for a while, her brain slowly starting to work as she reviewed the entire mission.

This mission had taught her a lot. She had her first contact with Genesis Tech, and mentioning it to Liu Niannian should help locate Bao Ruiming.

Her first encounter with someone who had been beyond the wall, Pei Shu, filled in some gaps in her knowledge.

Her first encounter with a high-level mutant provided more insight into pollutants.

Her first knowledge of the Cleaning Center’s mysterious department, the Abnormal Investigation Team, though she hadn’t interacted with them, her instincts told her it was best not to.

But her greatest gain was Gao Zijian’s father’s notebook.

"The notebook has been successfully released," the system prompt sounded.

Zhu Ning found herself holding a notebook. During the encounter with the mutant, she hadn’t had time to look at it and had stored it in a blank card.

Zhu Ning turned on the bedside lamp, leaned against the headboard, and studied the notebook under the warm orange light.

The notebook had a black leather cover, very old, with curled edges and peeling leather, leaving black residue on her hands.

A yellowed label was stuck on the cover, the writing faded but still readable as a name.

Gao Yingcheng.

Was this Gao Zijian’s father’s name? Zhu Ning noted it down, planning to look for information on this researcher when investigating Yongsheng Pharmaceutical.

Here lies the truth, the information Prometheus wanted to convey, even if it meant alerting the Anomaly Incident Team, he had to make sure Zhu Ning knew.

Zhu Ning took a deep breath, opened the notebook, and then paused.

After all, this was a researcher's notebook. She expected to see some research data, or professional knowledge incomprehensible to laymen, or even more headache-inducing encrypted text.

She had braced herself for the information to be complex and difficult to understand, possibly requiring some means to decipher.

But she never imagined the content would be so straightforward, so simple that even a three-year-old could understand it.

The contents of the notebook were sketches.

The first page was a drawing of a brain, one Zhu Ning was very familiar with because she had just undergone this examination and had studied it meticulously with Dr. Fu. However, the brain scans taken by the Clean Center Medical Department showed everything to be normal, just an ordinary brain.

But what she held in her hands now was a brain sketched with a black pencil.

Zhu Ning furrowed her brow. The structure of the brain is complex, and she rarely saw anyone draw it. Professional drawings of the brain are highly accurate, but the grooves and folds of this brain looked somewhat terrifying.

Because at the center of the brain, there was a cubic shadow.

The second page, a brain.

The third page, a brain.

The fourth page, a brain...

As she flipped through, the cubic shadow grew larger, from the size of a sesame seed to the size of a thumbnail.

One cubic centimeter, two cubic centimeters, three cubic centimeters... until finally, the black cubic shadow consumed the entire brain, black lines dominating the whole page.

The entire notebook was filled with these.

The repetitive black brains now seemed like a mental contamination, and every time Zhu Ning closed her eyes, she saw the black cubic shadow, as if not only the notebook but also Zhu Ning herself was being swallowed.

She could imagine Gao Yingcheng, sitting at that old desk in the dark, oppressive ant nest, his back to his son, not turning around no matter how many times Gao Zijian called out to him, frantically sketching in the notebook.

His pen depicted only one thing: the brain. His strokes grew deeper, his hand heavier, each pass of the tip like a scalpel slicing through the paper.

He forcefully outlined the central cubic shadow, darkening it, thickening it, until he punctured the paper.

The pages seemed to retain Gao Yingcheng's presence, mad, desperate, ultimately driving himself to a dead end.

This... is what's inside my head?

This is the true face of the system?

Zhu Ning had undergone examinations before and was mentally prepared, but now it felt like she had suffered a mental contamination. Despite drinking the Lu family's highly effective mental healing potion, the wounds in her brain began to throb faintly.

She sensed an unusual sensation in her brain, not painful, but heavy and swollen.

It seemed... something was growing.

Whether influenced by the notebook or the aftermath of mental contamination, she had the illusion that something inside her head was growing.

It was expanding its territory wildly, slowly extending tendrils, the shadow area growing larger and larger.

That thing would eventually consume her brain, just as described in the notebook.

With a tearing sound—

The pencil pierced through the paper, and that thing would pierce through her skull.

Zhu Ning felt a chill run down her spine; she had never been so terrified, a fear that permeated her from the inside out. With trembling hands, she turned to the last page of the notebook.

This time, there was no brain. The last page was very dirty, with the marks from the previous page imprinted on the back, like a knife had gone wild, leaving terrifying scars.

The last page contained only one sentence, one Zhu Ning was very familiar with:

The end is near, you and I are mere ants.