Chapter 617: Chapter 385: Evolution Ritual
Xie Mingke sighed. She had a job at the university, and after that, she had to work for the Foreign Affairs Team. And during her only free time on the weekend, she still had to work for this baffling man.
The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. She glanced at the pet market spreadsheet on her screen and accepted the voice call.
"Hello? Still awake?" Han Ning’s voice came from the other end of the line.
"Yeah, I’m busy. Is there something you need, Mr. Han Ning?" Xie Mingke tried her best to keep her voice even.
"A small ruin has appeared deep in the mountains on the outskirts of Tonghe County. Do you know anything about it?"
"A small ruin?"
Xie Mingke knew that when Han Ning said "you," he was referring to the Foreign Affairs Team, not just her.
She frowned slightly and replied, "I haven’t heard anything. Has there been some kind of anomaly there?"
"It seems your Foreign Affairs Team’s network isn’t that great. This small ruin appeared at least five days ago, and a group of people has already died there."
Han Ning told Xie Mingke about his encounter with Li Changxi earlier that evening.
He didn’t think Li Changxi was lying. His Spiritual Power far surpassed the other man’s, allowing him to clearly perceive the changes in his heartbeat, pulse, and eyes. It was easy for him to judge whether someone was lying.
"Maybe the ruin’s anomalous Energy fluctuations weren’t distinct enough to be picked up by the detectors in the city center."
"Or the Energy fluctuations were intentionally hidden."
"In any case, I haven’t received any intel on it."
"Mr. Han Ning, what are you getting at?"
Han Ning replied, "Don’t worry. The ruin is too dangerous; I won’t ask you to go."
"If I decide to enter the ruin, I’ll send you a message right before I go in. If I don’t return after a certain period, don’t hesitate. Report the information about the ruin directly to your superior."
"Okay, I understand."
After a moment of silence, Xie Mingke, who was typing intently, noticed Han Ning still hadn’t hung up. She asked tentatively, "Mr. Han Ning?"
"Oh, I might need you to do me a favor."
"...Please, go ahead."
"I’ll have to trouble you to try and gather some Night Grass, Roar Flowers, and Dark Spring for me within a day..."
Han Ning repeated the list of materials needed for Egg Pancake’s and Little Fatty Silkworm’s evolution.
None of these materials involved Extraordinary Traits. He had no idea if they were expensive, but he figured he would tell Xie Mingke, Zhang Nengfa, and that psycho Li Changxi to collect them all at the same time.
He could just sell off any extra materials.
"..."
"Gathering all the materials you mentioned in a single day will be difficult."
"Do your best. Get as many as you can find."
Han Ning just wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible and find his remaining Soul Beasts.
As for rewarding Xie Mingke, that could wait. He didn’t have the means to do so properly right now.
"Alright... I’ve compiled the list of pet market locations you asked for earlier. Should I send it over now?"
Xie Mingke clicked her mouse and pressed save.
"Great, thanks for your trouble. [smile]"
...
The next day, Han Ning took the list Xie Mingke had sent and first went to three small pet markets that weren’t marked on any navigation apps.
These kinds of markets were usually like rural fairs, located on the outskirts of the city. It was normal for them not to be marked on navigation apps.
The morning markets were only open in the morning. At his speed, he could only hit three locations in one morning.
The results were disappointing; he didn’t feel any familiar fluctuations from any of the three locations.
In the afternoon, he went to the police station near the scene of Li Lu’s death again and was questioned by officials.
Even now, Han Ning was still curious about what exactly Xiaolian had given to Xu Ping that night a few days ago.
However, several members of the Foreign Affairs Team had recently been posted on guard duty near Li Lu’s home, making it inconvenient for him to get close.
The first time he ran into Xie Mingke, she had been temporarily called over by her superior to monitor the situation nearby.
As it turned out, by a strange coincidence, she ran into him while he was killing a stray cat.
Nothing was going right. In the evening, just after Han Ning got home, his phone rang again.
He woke the screen and looked.
Wassup-nut: "What have you been up to the past two days? Why are you ignoring me? Is work busy?"
Han Ning had been busy searching for Yin Yi and the others these past few days. He had no time to carry on an online romance with some random college girl.
He casually scrolled up through the chat history and was surprised to find that the girl had sent him at least a hundred messages over the past three days.
From what she ate each day, to what songs she listened to, to what she did—she had meticulously recorded every little detail in text and sent it to him.
Honestly, seeing all these messages, so typical of a young college girl, even the usually impassive Han Ning felt he might have been a bit too cold.
So, he replied, "Yes, very busy. Busy with a case, with work."
Almost instantly.
Wassup-nut: "I feel like you’ve changed."
less spicy, no sugar: "?"
Wassup-nut: "A gut feeling. I feel like you’re a different person. You’re not the balding programmer uncle you used to be. [cat secretly watching]"
A woman’s sixth sense really is something. And it was true, he was a different person.
If he hadn’t known from his predecessor’s memories that he was talking to a college student, he might have thought he’d run into some kind of precognitive Extraordinary Being.
Han Ning replied vaguely, "Maybe."
Wassup-nut: "..."
Even though she didn’t reply further, Han Ning could sense the girl’s sadness from that single line of ellipses.
He wasn’t his predecessor, after all, and he had no interest in an online romance. He felt it wasn’t right to keep stringing her along.
So, he replied bluntly, "We should keep contact to a minimum from now on. Just assume the owner of this account has changed."
Wassup-nut: "..."
After that, she fell into a long silence.