Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 332 It's getting cold.
Night has fallen in Harbin.

The night is still bustling, the weather is cool, and the evening breeze is pleasant. Barbecue stalls, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs are all singing and dancing, creating a vibrant twilight atmosphere.

Nightlife is life, and the night economy is economy.

At the entrance of a shopping mall, waiters are greeting and seeing off customers.

"Hey, Mr. Liu! Please come upstairs quickly, a private room has been reserved for you."

"Tongtong? She's here! She'll definitely be waiting for you!"

At this moment, the manager came down from upstairs:
"Chaozi, a photo has been sent down from upstairs. Keep an eye out at the door and see if this kid walks by."

The two photos were printed in color on a piece of paper. Although they were not very clear, they were still recognizable.

"A child is missing? The boss's relative's child?"

I instinctively took it to heart.

"I don't know, just keep an eye out. The police are looking for us too, but there's a reward if we find us."

On the other side, in Nangang District, at Jufu Restaurant.

The boss, wearing reading glasses, came to the front desk: "I remember you said a little beggar came during the day, didn't you?"

"Yes, they gave me two yuan and sent me away."

"Is this the one you want?"

The cashier glanced at him and immediately said, "It's this kid! I didn't look closely because of the injury on his hand, but it turns out he's missing his fingers?!"

The shopkeeper was taken aback and immediately asked, "What time is it?"

"Around three o'clock, I think?"

"I'll check the security camera footage in front of the door and send it to Mr. Wu to see if it can help."

At a supermarket, a police officer held up his license.

The boss started off with zero frames: "These cigarettes of mine are all genuine!"

With a swift kick, something underneath was sent flying under the cabinet.

The police officer paused for a moment, then said speechlessly, "Hello, there is a child who appears to be lost. He may have passed through this area. We would like to check the surveillance footage."

"Oh, you see, a lost child is a big deal!"

Have you seen any disabled children begging these past few days?

The small bars behind Harbin Engineering University, the barbecue restaurants on Central Avenue, and even some idlers wandering the streets with nothing to do.

Together with the police, the area began to pay attention to whether there were any disabled children begging in the vicinity.

Many scattered messages reached Wu Yue, but he himself never actually made a move.

Right at the intersection where the truck ran over and killed someone.

Wu Yue sat outside the shop of a familiar owner, where seven or eight small tables were set up.

The "hunter" sipped his tea while observing his surroundings.

Generally speaking, members of the Beggars' Guild are very vigilant. When traveling with multiple disabled children, they are unlikely to choose to stay overnight in the city. They usually come to beg during the day and return to the suburbs or nearby villages at night.

At the very least, a separate courtyard would be needed to avoid being seen by others.

Especially those who come from out of town and have no local influence.

Therefore, it is highly likely that they will pick you up and drop you off for get off work.

In their eyes, the one who died today is like a "hawk" that has been released but has gone missing; it's very likely that it will come back as planned to pick someone up.

The deceased's phone was also crushed. A police officer he knew took it back to repair it, but the chances of recovery are slim, as the gang behind it has yet to be uncovered.

Of course, the police can access street surveillance footage, but it takes time and manpower.

The reality is that this is not a major case, and the "suspected missing child" is not a criminal caught in the act. A city-wide manhunt is impossible. The police force deployed so far is only the police station in this area. Two technical staff are working overtime to check the surveillance footage on the screen, and three or five other police officers are conducting door-to-door inquiries.

This is already the result of Wu Yue "saying a few words".

In comparison, Wu Yue could mobilize other forces several times or even dozens of times greater than this. Although they were a mixed bag and unprofessional, their coverage area was indeed much larger.

As Wu Yue was pondering this matter, a minivan appeared at the corner.

But this is the second time it has appeared.
The license plate is fake. The rear window is completely covered up.

The driver pulled over to the side of the road and made a phone call, but it seemed no one answered or the phone was off. Frustrated, he cursed and started driving again.

Then it went around in circles a third and fourth time.

After the final attempt, it seemed to give up completely and headed west.

Wu Yue pondered for a while, then looked towards the roadside and gave a signal. A van that already had a parking ticket on it immediately turned on its headlights.

The people in the car are their own employees; they're experts at tracking.

Without further hesitation, Wu Yue called over the shop owner: "Check, please."

The shop owner came running over excitedly: "Brother Yue, don't buy any more, it's on me."

Wu Yue shook his head, not having time to argue, and put a stack of money on the table, probably a thousand or two.

"So many people have been sitting here for so long, it's delaying your business."

Then she got up and straightened her clothes.

As he stood up, everyone at the seven or eight tables outside the restaurant stood up as well.

Wu Yue strode forward, taking the lead.

A large group of people followed behind.

All evils will flee, and petty villains will meet their end.

------

Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhai Da was also wandering the streets.

He was literally "fully equipped" today, wearing a magic vest, carrying a spellbook, and holding a pure gold secret wand, as he walked along the street.

Every two steps, he would lightly tap the ground, spreading out invisible ripples.

The actual range was about 400 meters. He searched slowly, and after controlling the view to confirm all the "children", he had basically walked 400 meters.

I can't go any faster, or my brain won't be able to keep up.

I'm so annoyed. When will I be able to have a "God's thinking speed" that matches my God's perspective?

Before dark, Zhai Da went home and studied for a while. Exam week was fast approaching, and he was actually quite busy, but he was still unsure of himself. He told Lu Wei something and then went out to try his luck by sweeping the streets.

Although the police were called and Wu Yue has always been reliable, it's better to have one more person than one less.

Zhai Da still had the [Guardian Cloak], which he hadn't yet acquired full ownership of, in his pocket, thinking that it might be of some use if he met the boy, such as gaining his trust.

Based on normal reasoning, there are two possibilities for the boy: either he was too brainwashed and still ran back or took the initiative to contact the Beggars' Sect.

Secondly, I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to escape and gain complete freedom.

Unfortunately, for a child of this age, freedom does not mean safety, and we did not receive any feedback from him asking any adults for help.

Wu Yue said that this group may have instilled the idea that children should not ask for help in order to brainwash them. For example, they may have pretended to be normal people and said they would help rescue them, or even appeared in fake police uniforms to lure the children to ask for help. If the children really did this, they would only be beaten and tortured more.

From then on, these children dared not ask anyone for help, dared not tell anyone about their experiences, and even when they encountered a stranger who showed concern, their first instinct was to run away.

That must have been a very dark and desperate feeling.

Zhai Da had been sweeping the streets from about 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and was almost out of the main urban area. The direction he was heading was pointed out by passersby near the accident site, but he didn't really have any clue.

Just as Zhai Da was considering whether to go back or meet up with Wu Yue, two stylishly dressed young women passed by and talked to each other:
"It scared me to death. When it raised its hand, I thought it was E.T. "

What is ET?

"An alien! Also has four fingers."

Zhai Da's heart skipped a beat, and he took a step to the side, startling the two women.

But upon closer inspection, he seemed rather handsome and dressed quite well, so I figured he probably wasn't a bad person.

How could a rich and handsome guy be a bad person? At most, he'd just deceive people's feelings, right?
It's not like we can't discuss it!

Ten minutes later, Zhai Da refused the two girls' request to "add friends" on the grounds that "his English is not good and he does not know what QQ means," and went to a restaurant called "Anhui Beef Noodles".

Along with "Henan Braised Beef Noodles" and "Qingdao Beef Noodles", it is known as one of the three major regional mismatched delicacies in China. The two girls said that it was here that they met the child with only four fingers.

When Zhai Da asked, the boss didn't hide anything: "He's already gone, what happened?"

"The abducted child is being searched for." "Trafficking?!"

The shopkeeper muttered to himself, "He seems quite wealthy! His pockets are full of hundred-yuan bills. Did he kidnap a rich family? Maybe it's a good thing. If I had kidnapped him when I was a kid, I might have avoided decades of hardship."

Zhai Da: "This joke isn't funny."

Not getting a response, the boss felt a little embarrassed and stopped talking.

Zhai Da calmly asked, "Which way did he go? What did he buy?"

"Anyway, I turned right after leaving the door. I just left and bought three servings of noodles to go."

No longer hesitating, Zhai Da stepped out of the shop, his pure gold cane clinking slightly in his sleeve. A moment later, his eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace.

As expected, a child's running strength couldn't be very high, and Zhai Da quickly found the little boy by a roadside in the suburbs.

Carrying three servings of noodles alone, I walked with some difficulty along a remote road in the suburbs.

"Where are you going?"

The boy turned his head alertly, saw Zhai Da and was stunned. He immediately put his hands behind his back and remained silent.

However, he was lucky enough to find it, so Zhai Da was no longer in a hurry.

"Are you going back to those beggars? Don't you know that's not safe?"

The little boy still didn't reply.

Zhai Da noticed that his face had been washed clean, but his body was dirty and not noticeable in the dark. In addition, he didn't have a cloak or any other conspicuous marker, which explained why Wu Yue hadn't been able to find him despite notifying so many people.

Even when people see him on the street, they often mistake him for a primary school student who is late getting out of school.

Explaining brainwashing to a child is obviously too difficult. Zhai Da took out a tattered cloak wrapped in a plastic bag from his pocket, squatted down and said, "This should be yours. Here you go."

The boy visibly cheered: "The cape! My Monkey King cape!"

Zhai Da didn't know what the dirty cloak had to do with the Monkey King, but it did play a significant role in winning the boy's favor and making communication much smoother.

The little boy quickly put on the tattered cloak, looking at himself excitedly from left to right, but he still hesitated a bit when he looked at Zhai Da: "Are you here to ask for money?"

It seemed that as soon as Zhai Da nodded, he was about to run away. He had already recognized Zhai Da, but he would not return the 500 yuan.

"I'm here to help you, why don't you call the police?"

"Calling the police will get you beaten up."

"Tried?"

The little boy nodded with difficulty.

"They might not be real police officers."

The little boy pondered for a moment, but it was clear that his little brain was just like Little Black's.

Yes, but not enough.

Well, excluding language, he might not actually be as intelligent as Little Black. A crow is equivalent to a seven-year-old human, while this child is only six.
Zhai Da, as if he had a treasure chest, pulled out a candy from his pocket: "Let's chat. I brought you this cloak from all this way, so I can't be a bad person, right?"

The little boy nodded.

"I'm so much taller than you, I must be smarter than you, right? Tell me about yourself?"

During the wary but relatively smooth conversation, Zhai Da learned that the boy's name was Pengpeng, that he was an abandoned child whose parents had given him food.

So this name was probably given to him by someone from the Beggars' Sect, and shouldn't be taken seriously.

Pengpeng bought three servings of noodles to give to a child named "Xiaotong," who had gone three days without food because of his recent poor begging results.

Of course, although he had been brainwashed with a lot of things, he still had a sense of whether those people treated him well or not, and planned to secretly deliver the food and run away with the remaining 484 yuan.

"Then why did you buy three?"

"I'm afraid I'll get hungry halfway through the escape."

Very well, you could say that's quite naive.
Zhai Da said, "The police and good people you've met before are all fake, but I'm going to take you to the real police. They'll find a way to locate your parents."

Upon hearing the word "police," the boy became even more frightened and took a step back, saying, "I'm not going."

Zhai Da silently activated the [Pure Gold Secret Staff] to increase persuasiveness: "Listen to me."

To his surprise, this blue equipment, which had been invincible until now, suddenly stopped working.

"I dont go."

The boy simply repeated that sentence before taking off running.

Zhai Da opened his mouth, glanced at the cane in his sleeve. This was the first time he had failed to "convince" anyone, which showed just how badly the Beggars' Sect had been corrupted.

But if he could escape, he might as well find a truck to use as a speed bump. With a burst of speed, he caught up with Pengpeng and grabbed his hand.

Pengpeng began to struggle, the soup from the noodles in his hands spilling everywhere, including onto Zhai Da.

Gan.

Zhai Da had no choice but to subdue Pengpeng completely. Pengpeng was still not behaving himself and started making strange noises, even trying to bite him.

These children are pitiful, but they are definitely not well-behaved; they have long been turned into strange and eccentric individuals by their environment.

Zhai Da could only use his tattered cloak to wrap Pengpeng's hands together and then tie him to the iron railing next to him.

He sneered, "This is a terrible road in the suburbs. You can scream your lungs out and no one will come to save you! Wait! I'm not a bad person!"

Wiping the noodle soup off his face, Zhai Da thought to himself, "This is absolutely amazing."
The noodle soup tasted pretty good.
Just as Zhai Da was speechless, a motorcycle covered in flags stopped by the roadside. The rider, without even lowering the kickstand, crashed into the motorcycle and charged over, shouting, "Yangyang! Yangyang, is that you?! What are you doing! Let him go!"

Seeing the child and the adult fighting from afar, he was already eager to help. How could he not be moved when he saw the cloak?
Zhai Da, feeling the hot noodle soup on his face and still feeling irritated, turned his head and saw the car. He roughly understood what was going on, glared at it, slammed his pure gold cane heavily on the ground, and said in a stern, authoritative voice:

"calm!"

The man simply shouted, "Calm down, you son of a bitch!" and charged forward, raising his fist, completely unfazed.

Zhai Da subconsciously glanced at the cane in his hand:
Is my phone broken?

Three minutes later, the middle-aged man was also subdued, his face pressed against the floor tiles, his hands pinned behind his back.

"Are you calm now?"

"It's cold! Don't hurt him, I have money, I have money!"

"Everyone has one!"

Zhai Da sighed and let go of his hand.

The man rushed to Pengpeng's side immediately, tears streaming down his face in an instant.

"Yangyang, Yangyang! Daddy found you! Daddy finally found you!"

The past three years have filled him with mixed emotions, and every word he uttered trembled.

The "Yangyang" in front of him only said one sentence: "I am not Yangyang!"

"Daddy won't mistake you! You are Yangyang, you have a scar on your forehead! You are Yangyang!"

Pengpeng doesn't easily trust any adults, so he turned his back to show his right hand, which only has four fingers.

"Does Yangyang have this?!"

The man stared at the gruesome wound, utterly stunned and speechless.

Zhai Da, standing behind him, cleaned up as much of the noodle soup as possible, and sighed inwardly.

Turning to look at the motorcycle by the roadside, I roughly understood why the cane was ineffective against this man.

Although the equipment only gains special abilities after it is acquired by him, it also reflects the original owner's inner thoughts to some extent.

On the dirty motorcycle, two rows of small flags were stuck, and there was also a large flag fluttering in the wind that read: "A reward of 100,000 yuan will be given to find the missing son."

A zigzag line appeared in Zhai Da's line of sight, pointing to the large red flag.

"Congratulations, host. We have discovered a white-grade equipment: [Guardian Flag]: Three years of traveling tens of thousands of miles, the car broke down many times and I fell ill many times, but the flag has never fallen."

Ownership: Not owned, not activated.

"Equipment effect 1: Holding and displaying this flag increases one's conviction and presence by 50%."

"Equipment Effect 2: The holder greatly reduces the likelihood of accidents (excluding intentional, disease, reckless, disaster, etc.)."

"Note 1: Everyone advised him to give up searching for a needle in a haystack, but he would never listen."

"Note 2: A strong sense of conviction can make you more self-assured, but it can also make you an outcast or even a paranoid person in the eyes of others."

(End of this chapter)