[Alright, time is running short. I hope you find this person soon. Finally, I want to say that a paradise is beautiful, but if the person who possesses it has malicious intentions, paradise will only become a new hell. Only in the right hands can it achieve its greatest value, turning this world into a paradise everywhere.]
[That’s all for today’s video. Goodbye.]
The Sky Screen darkened, and like last time, many small screens appeared before people.
Some clicked like, while others, dissatisfied with the video’s brevity and vagueness, clicked dislike.
Those who were well-informed already knew that clicking dislike meant they wouldn’t be able to see the Sky Screen again, so they hurriedly clicked like and sent flowers.
In a certain meeting room, the Sky Screen Research Group immediately projected both videos, enlarging the key frames.
“The focus is this statue. In this acid-resistant city, statues have appeared in four locations: on top of what appears to be a water tower, at the entrance to a pasture, in the center of a park, and at what seems to be the administrative building’s main entrance.”
One person pointed at four enlarged images on the screen. The statue portions had been especially magnified and processed, making the images very clear.
It was evident that the four statues had different body shapes.
One person said, “The heights and builds are different. The one on the water tower is the shortest and fattest, while the one at the administrative building entrance is very tall and cool-looking. Could each statue represent a different person?”
Another person objected, “Look carefully, they all have the same pose. If they were different people, they shouldn’t have identical poses. Instead, they should display different postures and appearances to distinguish them.”
“So this is the same person at different periods, just getting thinner and taller?”
“Can we decipher the text beneath the statues?”
“No, it’s too blurry. We can only vaguely make out a name with three Chinese characters. The first two characters are relatively simple, while the third has more strokes.”
“There are countless names nationwide that meet these criteria.”
The meeting room door suddenly opened, and several leaders walked in.
Everyone stood up.
“Sit down.” The leader at the front looked at the screen and asked, “What if we narrow the range to A City?”
The person chairing the meeting nodded. “We’re already matching with A City’s household registration database. All names meeting the preliminary conditions will be similarly processed for comparison.”
The leader asked, “What kind of person do you think we’re looking for?”
One person replied, “On the surface, it should be someone quite capable, but I noticed that when Weizi mentioned this person, her tone was more dismissive than at other times, showing a negative and indifferent attitude. Clearly, Weizi doesn’t think highly of this person.
“Moreover, when referring to this person, she used several phrases: ‘not very honorable means,’ ‘likes to stare at attractive people of the opposite sex,’ ‘success comes from the opposite sex,’ ‘malicious intentions.’ She consistently called this acid-resistant city a paradise, but finally said it was ‘a new hell.’
“From these points, I believe, at least in Weizi’s eyes, this is not a good person, and might even be an evil person who would turn paradise into ‘a new hell.'”
The leader nodded and looked at the others. “Do you all agree?”
Others hesitated. “Our information is too limited. If analyzed from Weizi’s perspective, it does seem so. But we still don’t know who Weizi is or where she comes from, so we can’t make a very objective judgment.”
One person suggested, “I propose we start by looking at men surrounded by many women.”
“Someone who could complete the primitive accumulation for a city in one month – perhaps we should look at wealthy men.”
Everyone expressed their views, except for one person who kept studying the video, watching it repeatedly from beginning to end without saying a word.
The leader noticed him. “Peng Lan, what do you think?”
This person called Peng Lan looked up. He had a handsome face, with black-framed glasses concealing his exceptionally beautiful eyes.
He said, “I suggest investigating the buildings within the frame at the beginning of the first Sky Screen video.”
Everyone was stunned. The leader said, “Play it and let’s see.”
The first video appeared on the screen.
At that time, no one had anticipated the sudden appearance of the sky phenomenon, and no one had recorded the first few seconds of the video. The most complete video available started directly with a shot zooming out from a close-up.
“Where in A City is this?”
“It’s a commercial area near Qihe Square in the city center. On the left is an entire street of newly opened shops, and on the right are office buildings.”
The leader asked Peng Lan, “Are you saying we should investigate all these places?”
Peng Lan nodded. “Check the people who frequently appear in this area, the resident population, and also who was in these places three days ago when the Sky Screen appeared.”
The leader’s eyes flashed with interest. “Reason?”
Peng Lan was concise. “This is where the camera was closest and the pixels clearest.”
Everyone pondered. They had already noticed a problem: in the video, only when A City’s landscapes appeared was the image clear.
Whenever content outside A City appeared, the image immediately became blurry.
They thought this was because the Sky Screen appeared in A City.
But looking from this angle, wasn’t the clearest part of the image the most special?
They didn’t know at this point that A City was special because the protagonist of this novel world, Shi Feizhai, was in A City, and the starting point of the Sky Screen video was indeed the restaurant where Shi Feizhai was at that time.
Even Wei Yuexin herself didn’t know this.
When making the video, she just felt that this zooming-out shot was very suitable as the opening for her video.
Yet, unknowingly, the most crucial clue had already been laid before them.
The leader ordered, “Investigate.”
Events from three days ago weren’t difficult to investigate, and the city’s surveillance hadn’t been completely destroyed by acid rain yet, so checking the surveillance footage would clarify everything.
Soon, the list of residents, workers, and people who appeared in that area at noon three days ago was produced.
Among them, the name Shi Feizhai caught people’s attention.
This name, when blurred, could almost perfectly match the name on the statue.
The Sky Screen Research Group immediately became excited.
They promptly went to find this Shi Feizhai.
Then they discovered he was in a detention center.
The reason? Using drugs to attempt inappropriate behavior toward women, resulting in accidentally harming a female security officer!
This somewhat matched the aspect about the opposite sex!
Thus, Shi Feizhai, who had been muttering complaints about his Pickup system in the detention center, was brought in for questioning.
Shi Feizhai was terrified. “System, it’s all your fault! If not for you, how would I have been arrested? What should I do now? How should I answer their questions?”
The system replied, “Host only needs to insist that you don’t know anything. You don’t have any drugs on you. If it weren’t for the tense situation now, with no one paying attention to you, you would have been released long ago.”
Shi Feizhai was reassured, but upon seeing the stern-faced security officer, his legs trembled and he felt short of breath.
“Name.”
“Shi Feizhai.”
“Age.”
“30.”
“Three days ago, on September 21st at 8 PM, in the city park, did you attempt to use illegal substances on a female?”
Shi Feizhai cried out in panic. “No! I don’t know anything! I had nothing on me, you can check!”
The security officer frowned and shouted, “Please answer yes or no.”
Shi Feizhai quickly answered no, but his eyes darted left and right, and his fingers fidgeted, obviously hiding something.
In another interview room, Jiang Ying was also being questioned.
Learning that this matter was very important, even relating to whether they could find the mysterious person behind the paradise, she overcame her embarrassment and clearly described her experience that day.
Peng Lan listened quietly, then asked sharply, “You felt like you fell in love with him in that moment, is that right?”
Jiang Ying was startled, looked at him, momentarily struck by his exceptional appearance, and after thinking for a moment said, “If you put it that way, yes, that’s correct, but the feeling disappeared after a day.”
Peng Lan: “May I ask what your criteria for choosing a partner are?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, would you normally be attracted to someone like Shi Feizhai, to the point of love at first sight?”
Jiang Ying’s face immediately flushed red, and she quickly said, “Of course not! Setting aside his appearance, I first saw him sleazily approaching a girl. Under such circumstances, how could there be love at first sight!”
Peng Lan nodded. “I apologize for the intrusion. The information you’ve provided is very helpful to us. Next, there are some matters where we hope you can cooperate.”
Jiang Ying straightened up. “Alright, what do you need me to do?”
A moment later, Jiang Ying walked out of the interview room, distracted. Peng Lan remained seated, and another file was brought to him.
“This is Zhao Pingping’s statement, with everything Shi Feizhai said to her. And this one contains Shi Feizhai’s information.
“For the first half of the year, he was unemployed, staying at home playing games. About a week ago, he suddenly began frequently approaching women, failing each time. After that, he gave all his savings to a matchmaker, demanding an introduction to a ‘beautiful, refined, high-quality woman.’ The matchmaker thought his expectations were unrealistic but wanted the money, so introduced him to Zhao Pingping.”
After reviewing all the materials, Peng Lan frowned, a cold light flashing across his glasses. “An unambitious, stingy, unemployed homebody suddenly uses all his savings for matchmaking, confidently speaks of his future success, and mysteriously gains the ability to make a well-trained female security officer fall in love with him at first sight.”
He tapped the file. “I think we’ve found the person we’re looking for.”
Only this person was too unexpected.
Could such a person really build the paradise shown in the video?
Ah, the video said his success came entirely from the opposite sex. Could this so-called reliance on the opposite sex mean making women fall in love with him?
No wonder Weizi was so contemptuous of him.
Peng Lan: “Are you certain Shi Feizhai doesn’t know the content of the second Sky Screen video?”
“Where he was detained, he couldn’t see or hear the outside world. We also probed during questioning, and he truly doesn’t know.”
“Good, then proceed according to plan. Note, protect our female colleagues.”
Thus, after a series of physical examinations confirming he hadn’t been exposed to drugs or similar substances, Shi Feizhai was finally released.
Gaining his freedom, Shi Feizhai almost shed tears.
“System, what should we do next?”
The Pickup system: “Of course, find women to complete tasks and earn materials.”
Just as the system finished speaking, a beautiful woman suddenly appeared.
Jiang Ying, wearing a lovely dress, light makeup, and carrying an exquisite small bag, looked at Shi Feizhai embarrassedly.
“Um, I’m sorry for misunderstanding you and causing you to be detained for several days. Let me treat you to a meal.”
Shi Feizhai stared blankly at the beauty before him, almost drooling. “System! System! No need to look further, isn’t this a ready-made opportunity?!”