At this moment, the Longshi Supermarket Management Bureau was in complete chaos.
The place was bustling with people, and staff members were making and answering phone calls everywhere, working like dogs.
"Hey, are you guys in the tech department just sitting around doing nothing? How come you don't have a single clue?"
"My question now is, can you confirm that the text message was received in all parts of the country?"
"What? Receiving text messages has something to do with age? How the hell did you come to that conclusion?"
"Don't tell me you're guessing. I want the answer: who sent the text message, and how did they do it?"
"What? Even pagers that have been discontinued received text messages? My God! They were shut down a long time ago!"
"..."
Thirty minutes had passed since they received Mo Chen's text message, andthey still had no substantial clues.
Inside the meeting room, Director Zhang Hongguo frowned, chain-smoking one cigarette after another.
I'm so worried!
As the head of the China Supermarket Management Bureau, no one is under more pressure than him.
These past few days, due to the public's heightened awareness, he has been working constantly, always worried that something might go wrong or that he might encounter a situation he cannot handle.
Unfortunately, a situation arose that he was unable to handle.
A crystal "key"? A secret realm? A magical artifact? An awakening stone? What the hell is going on?
I'm completely baffled!!!
"How was it?" Zhang Hongguo stubbed out his cigarette and asked a bespectacled young man next to him.
"There are too few clues; we can't analyze any useful information." The young man shook his head.
The young man's name is Gao Yingjie. He is the newly appointed consultant of the Supermarket Management Bureau and is known for his exceptional intellect and calm personality.
"Sigh." Zhang Hongguo sighed and took out another cigarette to light it.
"Stop smoking, Director." Zhuang Lingmeng on the other side reached out and snatched the cigarette. The intense heat instantly turned the cigarette into ashes.
Zhang Hongguo: "..."
That's how you use superpowers.
Gao Yingjie, who was standing next to him, was used to this and said, "Director, the most important thing now is not to find out who sent the text message, but to find out if there really is a crystal key. That's the key."
"That's right. Sending so many text messages at the same time is definitely not something an ordinary person can do. No, even an ordinary person couldn't do it." Zhang Hongguo nodded, agreeing with Gao Yingjie.
"Director, how about we ask... Young Pioneers?" Zhuang Lingmeng said softly, sounding very unsure of herself.
The problem is... how do I contact him?
I wanted to contact him too, since I always felt he knew more, but he didn't leave any contact information and left in a very cool way, appearing and disappearing without a trace.
"Should we go back to the square and look again?"
"How are we supposed to find them? Are we supposed to hold up a sign with the 24-character mantra written on it?" Zhang Hongguo couldn't help but complain when he thought about how Mo Chen had found them last time.
I will never forget those 24-character mantra petals for the rest of my life.
"Director, this is one way." Gao Yingjie felt that although it was a bit absurd, it was the only option.
"Chief, Chief..." Just as they were discussing, a junior agent rushed in and said urgently, "Chief, we found it! One of our staff members at the Eagle City branch found a crystal 'key' on the road."
"Bang!" Zhang Hongguo slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Quickly, send a fighter jet to deliver that damn key to me!"
"Yes." The junior agent finished speaking, placed a tablet on the table, and left.
Zhang Hongguo picked up the tablet and looked at it. It showed two high-definition pictures, which were the front and back of the crystal key.
The front has two large, regular script characters that read "Key," while the back contains an explanation:
"All those who possess this key should gather at Longshi Square at 9:00 AM on September 9th. At that time, the passage to the secret realm will be opened. Those who are late will not be waited for."
After Zhang Hongguo finished reading it, he showed it to Gao Yingjie and Zhuang Lingmeng.
"I think we should try to collect the crystal keys as much as possible, at the same time appease the awakened ones, and notify various regions and cities to strengthen security patrols, etc. What do you think?" Zhang Hongguo looked at Gao Yingjie, mainly asking him.
"Yes, appeasement is necessary. If we go too far, it may cause resistance from the awakened ones, which would be very detrimental to our future management. Also, let's look for that 'Young Pioneer'?"
What kind of weird name is this?
"Chief, something terrible has happened! There's a thick fog over Xiangshan Mountain, and no one can get in!" It was the same junior agent from before, rushing in again, saying in a panic.
"What nonsense is this? Why can't I get in?"
"It's a small mountain peak next to Jade Emperor Peak, completely shrouded in thick fog. No matter what method we use, we just can't get in, as if something is blocking our way..."
"Let's go take a look." Zhang Hongguo had no choice but to lead everyone to Xiangshan. Now, any slightly abnormal matter would be pushed to him.
Alas, these are turbulent times!
...
As evening fell, in an alley in the cat market, a pretty girl dressed in revealing clothes and with her hair in a ponytail was humming a song and skipping along.
The girl looked young and very lively, and was clearly in a good mood.
"The sun is rising, yo-yo!"
"The world is so vast, isn't it?"
"The water meanders at the foot of the green hills."
"Twists and turns eighteen times"
"The waters of the Jingjiang River, how the fish sway!"
"Fat Dongdong oh my oh my"
"No chili peppers or spicy seasoning"
"Thump~" Suddenly, a loud noise rang out, and a man fell from the sky, landing right in front of the beautiful girl.
Seriously, a man fell from the sky.
The man was lying face down, motionless, and appeared to be unconscious. He looked young, and his clothes were torn in many places and covered in blood, clearly indicating that he had been injured in a fight.
Based on the typical pattern of such stories, this man should be being chased.
Being hunted down is either for revenge or to steal treasure; it's all the same old story.
The beautiful girl who was squatting on the ground observing the injured man was not afraid at all; instead, she calmly analyzed the situation.
She then reached out her wicked hand to the man, intending to "touch the corpse"—cough cough, although the man was probably not dead yet, that didn't stop her from touching the corpse.
In novels, aren't the main characters always given "treasures" by others?
The pretty girl thought to herself.
"Huh? There really is one?" The beautiful girl took out a crystal plaque from the other person's pocket, with the words "Key" written in large letters on it.
Her eyes widened in shock. Wasn't this the crystal key to the secret realm mentioned in the text message?
Wait, am I really the main character?
I'm going to get rich!
The girl was overjoyed, her delicate body trembling with excitement.
"Hey, young lady, put down that sign you're holding."
Just as the young girl was getting excited, three burly men suddenly appeared from around the corner ahead, each with a fierce look on their face, and two of them were holding a watermelon knife.
He was staring intently at the crystal key in the little girl's hand.