Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Even Olbert, who had grown used to Bai Fuling’s occasional off-the-wall comments, hadn’t expected him to say something like that.

He paused, then sighed softly. “Dear Buling Buling, that’s not funny.”

Bai Fuling blinked and tilted his head. “Dear Ol, I’m not joking.”

The air got awkwardly quiet for a few seconds.

As the saying goes, awkward silence is the worst!

After a moment, worried the NPC was glitching, Bai Fuling said it again: “That’s it. I like him.”

In theory, mentioning another character in front of an NPC could trigger more dialogue or interactions. Bai Fuling figured he’d give it a shot.

Hearing Bai Fuling’s repetition, the mixed-heritage pixel character’s head popped out a giant period. He opened his mouth, asking, genuinely confused: “…Why?”

“Huh? Why what? Aren’t you smart enough to figure it out?” Bai Fuling threw the question back at him.

Olbert, of course, hadn’t grasped why the player would suddenly confess. At that, he raised an eyebrow and slowly ventured, “Because… you like his face?”

“Oh, no. If I had to pick—” Bai Fuling briefly recalled, “I think you’re the hottest.”

After all, Olbert was a fox! Foxes being the best-looking just makes sense, no issue there.

And most importantly, in front of an NPC, you always hype up the NPC—that’s how you grind that favorability.

Honestly, to Bai Fuling, all characters in the daily pixel art style were cute little figures, pretty much looking the same. Only the portraits, character galleries, and CG art showed what they really looked like.

But this wasn’t a dating game (even if it had favorability elements), so Bai Fuling didn’t really care about looks.

Compared to appearance, Bai Fuling cared more about hard stats—they directly affected how fun the game was. After all, the most important thing in a game is whether you’re having fun!

Hearing Bai Fuling’s snappy “you’re the hottest,” Olbert’s expression paused, and a tangled black thread popped up over his head, showing he was confused.

After two seconds, he pulled himself together and flashed a sly fox grin. “Oh wow, I didn’t know I had such a good rep with you? What an honor—so if it’s not the face, is it his family background?”

Olbert nodded. “His family’s got a lot of pull, after all. Zhong Xiaye’s mother is the current chairwoman of the Red Maple Group.”

The NPC nailed it. The player was initially drawn to Zhong Xiaye’s rich, rainbow-colored glow, but that wasn’t the only reason, nor the real reason Bai Fuling wanted to share in this interaction with Olbert.

“Hmm.” Bai Fuling tilted his head. “No, you’re missing the big picture.”

“Really? Then I give up. I can’t think of anything else. After all, as far as I know, this is your first meeting.” Olbert figured Bai Fuling had no other reason—unless he had a mild NTR thing? But is that even NTR?

Olbert shrugged, smiling, his eyes darting around slyly. “So, tell me. Why?”

“It’s simple.” Bai Fuling wagged a finger, his tone light and crisp. “Because in math, a triangle is the most stable shape!”

Olbert: ?

A question mark slowly grew above Olbert’s head.

“He likes you, you like me, I like him—boom, triangle.” Bai Fuling made his character raise a hand, seriously tracing a triangle in the air. “A solid closed loop and sustainable development. Perfect, right?”

Look, the player saw NPCs interacting but no quests popped up, so he took matters into his own hands and made a storyline!

Once this gets logged in the system, Bai Fuling thought, they’d probably interact more. That way, the player could get to know the NPCs better and unlock new character galleries.

That was his whole plan! Bai Fuling had noticed the game’s AI could learn and record stuff, where the story and quests changed based on what the player said.

At this point, if he wanted to be extra, Bai Fuling could cross his arms and mutter, “Now things are getting interesting.”

Olbert: “…”

Olbert: “…”

Olbert: “…………”

A row of dots popped up over the mixed-heritage guy’s head. Before the first row faded, a second, longer one showed up, pushing the first up, followed by a third.

Bai Fuling was glued to the screen. His eyes went wide as he watched the pyramid of triangular dots above the NPC’s head, then quickly took a screenshot.

Making a cheesy, sustainable quest and messing with the NPC unlocked a hidden mood effect—score!

This was the first time the player had seen such a dense, mathematically elegant arrangement of dots, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the game code’s ingenuity.

Bai Fuling stared at it with fascination, once again impressed by the game’s intelligence.

But he didn’t watch for long before another figure in the background caught his eye.

“Huh?” Bai Fuling rotated the view and spotted a pixel character in a police uniform descending the stairs.

A cop? Why would a cop suddenly appear in a hospital??

The player didn’t think the game would have an NPC wearing the wrong clothes or showing up at the wrong workplace… unless it was a bug, bringing an NPC from a different scene.

But such bugs were rare, since NPCs fixed in one spot were usually stable.

More likely, this was a quest prompt!

With that, Bai Fuling had no time to keep admiring the mathematical beauty of the triangular dots. While Olbert was still mentally processing, he made his character trot over.

Beside the cop, he saw another familiar NPC: Pang Chengyu.

Pang Chengyu had dark circles under his eyes, a haggard look, and red-rimmed eyes. His voice was strained as he gritted out, “…The Tianxin Hospital incident back then should also be investigated! Those people deceived the researchers… they deceived my mom. That so-called ‘cat’ must mean something else!”

He seemed emotionally charged, his whole being glowing red—the kind of red from rage.

“You’re right, the ‘cat’ is suspicious.” Bai Fuling, overhearing, stepped forward and naturally picked up the thread.

Facing the cop, he typed in the dialogue box, “I was just about to report it—the Crescent Scythe Murder Case, connected to the Liao family and the experiment!”

Bai Fuling had long wanted to go to the police station to submit clues and wrap up the final quest. He just hadn’t gotten around to it.

Now, running into a cop at the hospital, with Pang Chengyu setting up such a perfect opening, the player wasn’t about to miss this chance to save time and effort.

“The truth is always one,” Bai Fuling said, making his character strike a dramatic pose. “The all-powerful Farmer Detective Fresh Cabbage is here!”

Whether this pose added any detective buff or not, it successfully drew the attention of both the cop and Pang Chengyu.

Bai Fuling selected all relevant items from his clue inventory, faced the cop, and began submitting them while recounting the truth he’d pieced together.

He’d already recorded this part of the story during his rooftop confrontation with the white-haired youth, so he just copied and pasted from his notes, making minor edits.

The cop NPC on the screen had an exclamation mark pop up above his head, and his dialogue-portrait face furrowed its brows.

Where did this little brat come from? And where did he dig up all this stuff?! Was any of it credible?!

The police officer instinctively wanted to raise doubts or ask further questions, but as his gaze fell on the angel halo [Angel Halo] atop the other’s head, his thoughts unconsciously began to drift.

The golden, radiant angel halo, in a few dazed moments, seemed to ripple with black waves, their shapes like the suckers of tentacles, spreading outward in concentric rings.

Ripples. Spinning. Twisting.

…What was I about to say? The officer murmured to himself.

His consciousness gradually drifted, then slowly gathered again.

Oh, right, I’m listening to a case report. After a very short moment, the officer pulled his attention back.

A natural, unquestioning realization surfaced in his mind: this person before him was a trustworthy detective, and his clues were all reliable.

The officer’s brows were still furrowed, but the reason had shifted. He was frowning because of what he’d just heard.

—The “Crescent Scythe Murder Case” and the Liao family, illegal underground experiments!

“Alright, thanks for the tips.” The officer’s face was stern as he took all the items Bai Fuling offered. “We’ll get you the final results ASAP.”

He left in a hurry.

Bai Fuling watched the officer walk away, nodding approvingly: Great, finally finished the quest and triggered the NPC code!

After handing over all the evidence, Bai Fuling watched the NPC head back to the station as programmed, then shifted his focus back to the golden-haired pixel character. There were still old tasks to finish up here!

Unlike the officer, who was just a tool NPC that took the clues and left, Pang Chengyu was still rooted to the spot, dumbfounded, looking like a normal person shocked by huge news.

Pang Chengyu listened to Bai Fuling’s whole rundown and watched him pull out evidence one after another from who-knows-where. His mouth fell open slightly: “How… how did you collect all this info? Why?”

He knew Bai Fuling had nothing to do with any of this. And gathering all this info must’ve come at a huge cost—

Looking at it that way, maybe that’s why the transfer student got caught and locked up in the psych ward’s top floor.

The transfer student must’ve stepped on those guys’ toes by gathering evidence, so they did this to him!

“Why?—Didn’t I promise to find the truth for your mom?” Bai Fuling tilted his head slightly, using the expression wheel to put on a smile. “I promised.”

He hadn’t forgotten about the “Where’s Mom” quest the player had taken on.

Sure, the reveal wasn’t just for that, but in front of this NPC, he only brought up what was relevant.

“…” Pang Chengyu’s whole body jolted at that. He never thought that pouring his heart out back then would actually lead to something.

The transfer student had really dug up all this info for him behind the scenes—just for a promise…

Pang Chengyu was overwhelmed with mixed feelings as he looked at Bai Fuling.

The black-haired youth in front of him had bright, clear eyes, like he was always so genuine, straightforward, and fearless.

Pang Chengyu’s words got stuck in his throat, unable to say anything.

Bai Fuling was the one who asked first: “So, what are you doing here?”

“I—I’m here with my mom for a checkup. So I skipped school today.” Pang Chengyu looked down, then back up. “What about you? You here because… you’re not feeling well? You were discharged way too early!”

Pang Chengyu’s tone grew tense by the end. He had just realized that Bai Fuling had only stayed in the hospital room for one day!

“I’m fine, I just went back to school. I haven’t checked in for days; if this keeps up, I’ll be kicked off the honor roll.” Bai Fuling said.

Pang Chengyu: …Sure enough, Pelland Academy is still a rotten school with rigid rules!

Look at what it’s driving students to—exaggerating a bit, even crawling out of a near-death state to go to school!

Pang Chengyu felt a surge of frustration, inwardly determined to cooperate with the transfer student to overthrow those outdated, rigid systems… Starting with crazy farming! He’d go back and continue tending to the transfer student’s vegetable plot.

Better yet, he’d tear up all the planned green belts at school and plant corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and Chinese cabbage!

Then, Pang Chengyu heard the transfer student’s next words: “Did you get the school notice? About the class transfer.”

Back during the psychiatric hospital incident, the player had dragged Pang Chengyu along to act bravely. Bai Fuling thought. They should both get bonus points for that.

“I got it. Next month, I’m transferring to Class B.” Pang Chengyu’s expression was still listless, with a dejected emoji above his head. But he forced a smile. “You’ll definitely move up too, more than me—are you going to Class A? The perks there are great.”

Bai Fuling didn’t share his own joy. He watched Pang Chengyu and tapped the NPC on the screen.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Fuling asked. “You look off.”

The pixel character on the screen seemed to have lost a shade of color!

Pang Chengyu let out a heavy sigh, wiped his face, and after a moment of silence, spoke slowly in a low voice: “…That day, during the psychiatric hospital fire, a lot of patients were screaming. My, my mom was triggered, and her condition got much worse.”

His eyes reddened again. Even though he had rarely seen his mother over the years, the deep-seated emotions were still hard to erase.

Bai Fuling glanced at the “Where’s Mom” quest log, then said: “The experiment wasn’t your mom’s fault at all. Those people deliberately hid the truth and deceived the researchers—they’re the real culprits! Once the police investigation results are out, tell her that.”

“…” Pang Chengyu looked at Bai Fuling.

The transfer student’s clear logical breakdown from earlier still echoed in his mind. He had obviously realized that the Crescent Scythe Murder Case was tied to his mother’s incident from years ago.

Pang Chengyu clenched his fists, his voice hoarse: “My mom—she’s always felt she did something wrong that hurt others. Those Liao family people—why won’t the real perpetrators apologize!?”

The real perpetrators…

At that mention, Bai Fuling’s thoughts paused.

He knew that behind the Liao family, there was a mysterious organization. And the group that the white-haired youth belonged to was the real culprit. They were the ones who had orchestrated everything.

So, in reality, this case was only superficially resolved; nothing was truly over yet. But Bai Fuling didn’t say these things to Pang Chengyu.

Pang Chengyu probably didn’t know about the white-haired youth either, so saying more would be pointless. This part of the plot was better left to Olbert and Luo Qingyue’s storyline.

“When the police investigation is released, I want their apology. They have to apologize to my mom!” Pang Chengyu sniffled, gritting his teeth.

Then, he paused slightly and suddenly asked: “Have you seen Liao Zhiqiu? Is he at school?”

Bai Fuling shook his head: “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him. Are you looking for him?”

“Yeah, I want to find him. No other reason. I know in my heart that Liao Zhiqiu probably doesn’t know most of the facts, or rather, he doesn’t have a normal brain for understanding them.” Pang Chengyu muttered. “I think he’s pretty sick too, probably driven crazy by his family’s persecution. He’s not normal.”

He still remembered the dialogue and interactions between Liao Zhiqiu and the transfer student during the psychiatric hospital incident. Back then, Liao Zhiqiu had betrayed his family and chosen to help them.

And Pang Chengyu also knew that Liao Zhiqiu had set fire to the foundation of the Liao family’s underground lab. So Liao Zhiqiu wasn’t the same as those perpetrators; in a way, he was also a victim.

“I’m not going to take it out on him.” Pang Chengyu said. “But I need to find him, to ask him where the others are.”

“After we rescued him that day, where did he go?” Bai Fuling asked, recalling the earlier plot. He remembered Liao Zhiqiu had been unconscious at the time.

“At that time—” Pang Chengyu froze, a hesitant look crossing his face. “It was too chaotic. My dad, the old man, kept pulling me away, and with my mom’s condition, and the noise all around… I don’t really remember.”

The scene back then was way too chaotic, and Pang Chengyu only made sure Liao Zhiqiu got down safely.

But with the crowd so dense, he lost track of where Liao Zhiqiu went after that… Where did that guy go? An unconscious person shouldn't have been able to just wander off or leave on their own.

"I remember he was placed in a safe spot." Pang Chengyu tapped his head with one hand. "He was unconscious, so the ambulance should have taken him for a checkup here."

Pang Chengyu said, looking lost, "But he's not at the hospital. Doesn't look like he's at school, either. Where did that guy go?"

Good question, Bai Fuling thought to himself.

Liao Zhiqiu might have randomly respawned in an alley outside the campus, like before. That's where NPCs usually show up.

Or maybe a new storyline got triggered.

The Liao family probably figured out the truth was out and they'd been abandoned. Sooner or later, the people involved would face legal consequences—especially Liao Zhiqiu's grandpa. That would put Liao Zhiqiu in an awkward spot.

Would the Liao family take him away early to keep him out of trouble?

Or was it someone else… The organization behind the White-haired Youth, who took Liao Zhiqiu as a threat to make the Liao family take the fall without ratting out their backers.

Bai Fuling thought it over, opening the character archive to see if there were any clues.

When the player clicked on the character file and flipped to Liao Zhiqiu's page, prompts flashed on the screen.

"Cat's Secret: Completion 99.9%"

"Obtained [Feed Bag (Small)] ×1"

Bai Fuling looked closer and saw the icons on Liao Zhiqiu's page had been wiped, replaced by blanks and question marks.

A lock appeared on the page, with a line of text beneath it: "Temporarily locked. Unlock upon reunion."

What did that mean? Was Liao Zhiqiu really gone, and the player couldn't get to him for now? Bai Fuling raised an eyebrow. Why else would the character page be locked?

But even knowing that, the player didn't have any clearer leads right now.

Bai Fuling glanced at the Feed Bag (Small) prompt on the screen and decided to just feed it without overthinking it.

As for the rest, he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. The player would always find clues and solutions!

Bai Fuling opened the small garden and pulled up the food backpack.

The feed bag in the backpack slot had a solid-color cat head on the package. True to its "Small" label, this bag was way smaller than the one Luo Qingyue had.

Bai Fuling dragged it over to the fish tank and dumped it all in.

Little Pitch Black in the tank had already gotten up from the bottom when the player opened the small garden, shaking itself off and puffing up from a flat shape with a "poof."

Little Pitch Black seemed to be in a great mood, swaying like it was greeting the player. After the feed was tossed in, it floated up with the water.

It—or rather, He—spread out a bunch of tentacles, stuffing each little feed pellet into his body, eating with obvious relish.

This bag was smaller than Luo Qingyue's, and Little Pitch Black ate fast. In the blink of an eye, the tank was clean.

Little Pitch Black in the tank trembled, then trembled again. Two little triangles had somehow sprouted on its head. He reached out a thin tentacle, scratched his head, poked the little triangles, and flinched like he was startled.

After a few seconds, he reached out again, poking at the two little triangles on his head like he was curious.

The player stared for a few seconds, hesitated: Uh… were those cat ears?

A cotton ball with cat ears—Little Pitch Black had turned into a fluffy, magical cat thing!

Once he got used to the little triangles on his head, Little Pitch Black lay down after eating. A stream of bubbles rose from the tank, and a faint purring sound could be heard.

It seemed to be coming from Little Pitch Black.

Bai Fuling thought he'd misheard at first, but after looking closer and turning up the volume, he confirmed where it was coming from.

…Was it really Little Pitch Black's sound?

"—Bulingbuling, who is this?" A voice came from the background. Bai Fuling closed the dialog box and saw Olbert standing beside him again on the screen.

Olbert had once again wrapped an arm around the player's waist, smiling at Pang Chengyu across from Bai Fuling.

Bai Fuling was initially puzzled about why this guy was putting on an act again, but then he noticed an unmistakable splash of color at the edge of the screen.

It was Zhong Xiaye following along again!

Bai Fuling perked up, and then he heard a strange purring sound faintly in the background.

Hadn't the small garden been closed? How could he still hear the sound of Little Pitch Black the cat blob?

Bai Fuling thought it was a background issue, so he opened the small garden, closed it, opened it again, and closed it again.

But the purring sound persisted.

Bai Fuling: ?

Bai Fuling: …No, seriously, why is the cat still making noise!!