Chapter 394 - 336: Nuwa and Chu Bamboo... and the ’Acquaintance’ Who Destroyed the Drone Carrier

Chu Bamboo now realized what had happened.

To be fair, it was a bit unexpected. But upon reflection, Chu Bamboo had to admit it actually made sense.

’That’s right. A Transcendent can’t reveal themselves in public! They can’t use their human form to display Extraordinary Power and cause destruction... But a Transcendent *can* sneak in and destroy it from the inside, where no one can see!’

’Still, I never ran into this kind of situation back in the Imperial Capital... so I didn’t think of it.’

Chu Bamboo’s brow furrowed. This was trouble. But after a moment’s thought, he quickly came up with a solution. ’Maybe I can have Hu Kaikang or Huo Qiming stay behind to guard the inside of the drone carrier? Would that solve the problem?’

’The question now is, who would it be... Wait!’

Chu Bamboo glanced at his phone, his expression turning peculiar as an idea struck him. He dropped back to the ground. "Lao Hu, Old Huo, time is tight! Don’t distract me..."

Hu Kaikang: "..."

"?" Huo Qiming’s eye twitched. He hadn’t said a word!

"Sister Sun." Chu Bamboo stared at Sun Min, his voice earnest. "Take me to the Underground Temple!"

"...N-No, I’m sorry! I..." Sun Min felt it was harder to speak than ever before. However, she had only gotten halfway through her sentence when Chu Bamboo, a look of ’I knew it’ on his face, turned, went to the maglev car, and picked up the Little Mushroom Head.

"Well, Sister Sun... what if this were an order from the Great Goddess Nuwa?"

In that instant, Sun Min fell silent. An expression of intense disbelief and uncertainty slowly spread across her face.

...

「A few moments later.」

"...So, it’s the same, isn’t it?" Chu Bamboo was speechless. Just like before, the way into the Underground Temple was through a bathroom. The only difference from Jinghai City was that this time, it was the men’s room!

Sun Min remained silent, her mind a whirlwind of anxiety. Part of her felt she had made the wrong decision, while another part felt she must be right. She tried to console herself—after all, it was Xiaochu’s request. But at the same time... she was also dimly aware that the three people before her were connected to the fall of Jinghai City...

’Perhaps Huo Zhenfu wasn’t defeated, but defected... But I can’t... Oh, could it be because of the Great Goddess Nuwa’s command? But... why!’

The more Sun Min thought, the more confused she became. ’Have I... Have I betrayed Daqian? This...’

She suddenly gave a bitter smile. "Xiaochu... I have to ask you for one thing!"

"...? Go on."

"Later, if the army closes in... I’m begging you, please kill me before they arrive!" Sun Min’s voice trembled. "It’s best if you kill me in front of the enemy... Right, and be on guard... I might try to ambush you! If you counterattack, don’t hold back... and don’t ask why!"

Chu Bamboo: "..."

Giving Sun Min a deep look, Chu Bamboo nodded. He understood what she meant... If Sun Min died, her family could still receive a martyr’s pension. But if she were branded a traitor...

Her family would likely be implicated and punished.

"...Thank you!" Sun Min sighed softly, her face drawn. "You’ve really gotten me into a mess..."

It wasn’t that she didn’t have curses on the tip of her tongue; how could she not feel resentful in this situation? It was just... Sun Min felt that cursing at him now would be pointless.

’Look on the bright side,’ she thought. ’At least I’ll be dying with Xiaochu, right?’

But she still felt so unwilling... She was still so young... Besides, how could Xiaochu not have known this would happen? He knew, and he still dragged her into it... ’That brat, has he been using me from the very beginning? Does he have no feelings for me at all?’

Completely unaware that the core of Chu Bamboo’s operational logic was the "reset," the more Sun Min thought, the more despondent she became, her heart filling with bitterness...

...

It was the same familiar Ecological Garden.

Except for the different plants, everything else was identical.

"Nuwa No. 17!" Chu Bamboo patted the Little Mushroom Head’s head. "We’re inside the base now... Can you connect to the Nuwa Mainframe here?"

"Unable to connect. The base is currently rejecting all external signal access," the Little Mushroom Head replied in a calm voice.

"I see." Chu Bamboo wasn’t surprised. But as he thought about it, he realized that this refusal to connect with any external information was rather similar to the situation at C Company’s headquarters...

Thoughts churned in Chu Bamboo’s mind. ’Is it because I’ve run into this same problem before?’ Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes and looked at Sun Min. "Your Great Goddess Nuwa here... what’s her designation?"

"...Nuwa..."

"Nuwa No. 3," Huo Qiming said abruptly. The only reason he didn’t know the entrance was because he’d never been to Zone Four; his last visit had been to Zone One of Celestial Capital. But that didn’t mean he was ignorant of the Divine Language for Nuwa in each city.

"I am here!" Nuwa’s voice spoke out suddenly. After a brief pause, its light abruptly turned red. "Visitor information detected! Identity confirmed... Warning: Subject is wanted..."

"Nuwa No. 3! Record my identification! Name: Chu Bamboo, ID number..." Chu Bamboo spoke fluently, feeling a strange sense of nostalgia. It had been a while since he’d verified his identity with Nuwa.

He then shot a peculiar glance at Huo Qiming, who stood there expressionlessly but with his fists silently clenched. ’It seems the Imperial Capital has already reacted... No, since each region’s Nuwa Mainframe is relatively independent, the only possibility is that Nuwa No. 3 was also updated with this information.’

’In other words, the Imperial Capital has already sent the news to Celestial Capital? How did they receive it... a mole? Er, okay, it’s not like Huo Qiming’s journey here was exactly covert...’

Chu Bamboo silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. After all, he had used Huo Qiming’s name to make the Police Chief Bureaus in various districts switch sides...

’But...’

Chu Bamboo glanced at Nuwa in surprise. ’She’s ranked third... The first is without a doubt the Imperial Capital, so who could be second?’

At the same time, Nuwa No. 3 had finished recording and verifying. "A new ID has been issued... Welcome, Authority!"

The crimson light turned back into a welcoming blue.

"...He really... did it!" Huo Qiming watched the scene quietly, a myriad of complex emotions swirling within him.

Sun Min stared blankly, wanting to speak several times but not daring to. In her eyes, the Chu Bamboo who had just completed the verification... was now separated from her by a thick barrier. ’No wonder Xiaochu just used me before. These major figures are all so cold and ruthless,’ she thought. Even though she’d seen the Little Mushroom Head earlier, she had been wondering if it was just an elaborate doll...

But now, communicating directly with the Great Goddess in the Underground Temple... this was the most conclusive proof!

He was no longer that... brilliant little detective who helped her crack so many cases... For a moment, Sun Min was overcome with sadness.

Chu Bamboo fell into deep thought. What should he do next? Since the drone carrier had already fallen, should he just kill himself?

’No... Before that!’

A flash of inspiration hit Chu Bamboo. He pulled out his phone and said, enunciating each word, "Nuwa No. 3, trace the person who called my phone earlier... and mark their position on a map!"

How could he have forgotten... If Nuwa could mark the location of a drone, there was no reason it couldn’t mark a phone...

For Nuwa, the two were essentially the same!

A brief silence.

The light screen flickered to life.

Chu Bamboo watched with a blank expression as a point of light rapidly approached his position... It was roughly three kilometers away.

"What a coincidence..." ’Alright, maybe it’s not a coincidence. It could be because Huo Qiming triggered an alarm earlier and got locked onto... That’s why the killer, after taking out the drone carrier, is now rushing here without stopping...’

"Are there any other phones on that person?" Chu Bamboo asked again. After all, the person who had called him earlier was using Zhao Xu’s phone... Carrying it still meant the person thought they might be able to use it again in the future as a way to conceal their identity. Too bad they’d been too clever for their own good!

"Commencing scan... Detected!"

"Tell me the information for this phone... the phone number!" Chu Bamboo’s expression remained unchanged.

But when he heard the final answer, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. "If I remember correctly..."

That phone number, it shouldn’t belong to...

"It’s actually..." Chu Bamboo pressed his lips together, a shadow clouding his eyes. ’Interesting... I never thought she would be... No, I knew she was a genius. She even got into college early and passed the civil service exam while still in school... I just never thought she was a Transcendent.’

’Wait, becoming a Transcendent greatly improves one’s memory... Thinking about it from that angle, it’s understandable...’

’She hid it so well... Not only did she fool me, but even...’

’No, this whole situation—sending *her* to kill me, to destroy the drone carrier... it’s hard not to think that some high-ranking official in Daqian who knows the inside story did this on purpose...’

’They’re just trying to disgust me, aren’t they?!’

"Fine... Just fine!" Chu Bamboo took two deep breaths, trying his best to suppress his anger, but ultimately failed. A cold smirk played on his lips.

"...You know her?" Huo Qiming realized something.

"Let’s go outside!" Chu Bamboo didn’t answer directly. "That person is almost at the door... Oh, right..."

Chu Bamboo said, "Nuwa No. 17... Nuwa No. 3!"

After a slight pause, Chu Bamboo continued, "Bring out your Little Mushroom Head! The same model of sub-terminal connector I have in my hand... Bring one out! Man, it still feels a little weird to call it that."

The Little Mushroom Head in Chu Bamboo’s arms suddenly spoke up: "Authority, with your current level of access, you are qualified to make the following decision—"

"After you summon another sub-terminal, you may connect this sub-terminal to that one! By doing so, you can clone all the information about you stored within me—including but not limited to, past usage data, user habits, and query history—and merge it with the other!"