Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1237 The Pursuit of Number 3! (Part 1)

"The exact location of number 3 is still unclear."

Looking at the dark snowflakes constantly appearing on the back of his hand, the lighthouse pattern that could not be "displayed" normally, Wanwu Tianchan frowned and replied:
"The mark bestowed by [Father] is not the true form, but a manifestation copied from the original body. Its strength dropped sharply after leaving the old land, and it also needs to help us shield our power to pass through the Watchtower Palace. The current effect seems to be quite unstable..."

what? !

Upon hearing that their greatest...second greatest reliance on this trip had encountered a problem, the other three pillar gods, including the thrush, immediately changed their expressions.

The greatest purpose of the lighthouse mark bestowed by the Father is not to find the real Number 3, but to give an early warning when the God of Food discovers them!

If the tattoo loses its effect, let alone finding the real Number 3, it's hard to say whether we'll even get caught and eaten by the God of Food!

"Don't worry, the situation isn't that bad yet."

As longtime partners who had worked together for countless years, Wanwu Tianchan didn't need to wait for anyone else to speak to understand what they were worried about. While activating the Lighthouse Mark, he offered words of comfort:
“I didn’t say the mark was completely ineffective. Although the [Father]’s mark was slightly affected, its warning ability is still working perfectly. Just don’t be so unlucky as to bump into the God of Food.”

Whew...that startled us!
After hearing the explanation from the Celestial Cicada of All Things, the Crimson King breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned and asked:

"So when you said the markings weren't very stable, were you referring to the aspect of finding Number 3's whereabouts?"

"Ah."

The Heavenly Cicada nodded and said:
"The key difference lies in the Watchtower Palace. The materials related to time within that thing were brought from the Old Earth by humanity's ancestors, and it's very likely that they include materials collected from the Ring of Time. The insignia bestowed by the [Father] itself originated from the Ring of Time, so they influenced each other..."

"Don't explain to us, just keep these things to yourself!"

Seeing that the Heavenly Cicada had infiltrated the God of Food's headquarters and instead of getting down to business, it was actually having the mind to talk about the ins and outs, King Huang quickly interrupted its narration and asked with a tense expression:

"If the fingerprint can't mark number 3, what should we do next? Just give up?"

"It's not that bad, we still have a chance."

With eyes gleaming a deep blue light, it fixed itself on the lighthouse emblem, shifting the emblem's angle several times and turning off a small portion of its light-emitting pupil. The Myriad Things Celestial Cicada then answered confidently:
"Although I didn't manage to reach the summit of Mount Huan Shi, I've gained some experience over the years and can make some adjustments. The rune given by [Father] isn't invalid; it's just been affected by the Watchtower Palace. With a few adjustments, it'll still work... Done!"

As the Heavenly Cicada spoke, the lighthouse pattern on the back of his hand twisted slightly before stabilizing again. The lamp chamber at the top of the pattern stopped rotating and fixed itself in one direction, emitting a soft light that only the Four Pillar Gods could see.

"It's still a bit lacking... but it's usable."

Squinting at the point where the lighthouse beam landed, and noticing a subtle distortion in time, the All-Knowing Cicada frowned and said:

"I've adjusted the preset effectiveness of [Father]. Since the Watchtower Palace can conceal things from the time dimension, I might as well cancel the time dimension lock and focus on strengthening the part that searches for the traces of Number 3..."

"Alright, just tell us what we should do!"

"We don't understand these things, and we're not interested in listening. Just lead the way!" Tsk... Fine.

Seeing the two kings, Red and Yellow, urging him on, the Heavenly Cicada cursed them inwardly for being ungrateful. He then stopped explaining with some dissatisfaction and waved his hand, sweeping around.

As he moved, the once bustling street immediately became "empty." Buildings, roads, vehicles, pedestrians... When the invisible light of the lighthouse mark swept across, everything within a radius of about twenty meters disappeared from the Four Pillar Gods' sight along with the light.

Meanwhile, in the empty world illuminated by the lights, a series of footprints, roughly the size of an adult male's palm, were highlighted and stretched towards one end of the street.

"This is?"

"These are the traces left by No. 3. At some point in the past, present, or future, he passed through this street. Although the time is not very stable, the specific time difference should not exceed 24 hours."

Hmm... judging from the size of these footprints, the real number 3 is actually a child, around eight or nine years old, most likely a boy. Judging from this continuous and steady gait, he should have a rather stable personality..."

Like a pervert, lying on the ground, carefully observing the footprints, Wanwu Tianchan adjusted the markings on the back of his hand again, concentrating the scattered light and precisely locking it onto the shallow and small footprints, and then took the lead and started walking.

"Let's go! Let's follow his trail. If we're not too unlucky, we should be able to find number 3 in no time."

Is this even possible? No wonder Father gave him the tattoo!
Upon hearing the confident words of the Heavenly Cicada of All Things, the Red and Yellow Pillar Gods were overjoyed and immediately picked up the bound thrush and chased after it.

As the three pillar gods and an unlucky fellow continued their search, the tiny footprints on the street became increasingly solid, eventually even slowly "growing" upwards to outline the hazy silhouette of a pair of small boots.

"Looks like we're pretty lucky!"

After staring at the pair of little boots that seemed to be covered in mud, a clear smile appeared in the five eyes of the All Things Celestial Cicada.

"Since the traces are expanding instead of disappearing, it proves that we have found the right direction. When this afterimage in the time dimension is completely solidified and can reflect what he said and did in the past, and even the surrounding scene, we will not be far from the real Number 3."

After briefly explaining the tracking effect of the runes, the Three Pillar Gods, accompanied by the suddenly startled thrush, chased after the pair of small boots with unusually steady steps, each stride roughly the same length, and ran down the street as if no one else was around.

Soon, just as the Four Pillar Gods caught up to the street corner, the little boots had already extended upwards, initially forming a blurry outline of a child. The shape of the outline was indeed the same as the prediction of the Myriad Things Celestial Cicada, roughly the outline of an eight or nine-year-old human boy.

I want to file a complaint!

After the Four Pillars Gods followed the footprints into the reception hall on the first floor of the Road Administration Department, a somewhat immature voice pierced through time and rang in their ears.

'The roads in the capital are terribly paved! Drainage, sewage, cleaning, traffic management... all of these are substandard!'

A small, blurry figure tiptoed, gripping the real complaint counter, and earnestly questioned a non-existent receptionist:
"To avoid traffic disruptions, my sister-in-law specifically allocated funds last month to have the road administration department oversee the renovation of the city's drainage system. Why is there still so much flooding on the streets after a rain? Did you really use the funds effectively?"

(End of this chapter)