Artifact Report

Chapter 185 Mai Minghe: The Reasons Behind the Rules
Mai Minghe felt as if he was walking in the deep sea.

The flashlight pushed through the deep darkness, and despite the pressure of millions of sea water, it barely opened up a piece of light and air that she depended on for survival.

This was the powerful flashlight the sea reeds had brought into their nest. Six bulbs were arrayed under a plastic sheet, and when they were lit, they blinded the eyes. But when he turned it toward the nest, toward the darkness ahead, Mai Minghe could almost hear the nest's sneer.

The two of them could only follow it closely. If they took even a step wrong, they might fall into the endless darkness and never be able to climb out.

"How far is it?" Sea Reed asked with difficulty.

He dragged his injured foot for nearly ten minutes, and was half dead; although Mai Minghe found him a thick branch as a crutch, it was better than nothing.

"I remember it was around here,"

Mai Minghe had a hard time walking either. The wound on her foot blistered and bled when pressure was applied. She swung her flashlight around, and out of the darkness, a bus stop with a glass awning emerged.

The bus stop was standing on the side of the road. The road was empty and there was no bus she was driving.

"I parked my car near the bus stop... but I didn't notice which bus stop it was, so it might not be this one."

Mai Minghe raised his flashlight and shone it across the street—the only car nearby was a yellow taxi, sitting gray across the street, with a phone number printed on the side. If he dialed that number, would he really get a ride?
Unfortunately, there is no answer to this in the nest information in my mind.

"It took us no more than fifteen minutes to walk from the bus to the apartment building," Hai Luwei said, trying to sort out the situation. "Given this distance, there shouldn't be multiple bus stops."

Mai Minghe looked at the bus stop carefully, and the more she looked, the less sure she was about whether this was where she parked her car. When the flashlight accidentally swept across a sign, she suddenly took a breath.

"What's wrong?" Sea Reed shuddered with fright.

"I see," Mai Minghe pointed the flashlight at the sign and said, "Look, it clearly says 'No Parking at the Bus Stop'! Our car must have been towed away."

Sea Reed stared at the sign for a few seconds, then looked at her.

"First of all, that's not 'our' car. You half-picked it, half-stolen it... Secondly, are there traffic rules in the lair? Who enforces them?"

Mai Minghe searched her memory for a while - since she transformed into a resident, she has now become a "nest encyclopedia" that is no longer updated; along the way, Hai Luwei asked her a lot of questions.

"Yes," she sighed deeply, "there really is a traffic police resident... In the entire nest, there is only one resident who serves as a traffic police officer."

"Really? What does it look like? I can be on guard next time I see it."

"I dare not think about it," Mai Minghe said a little embarrassedly. "Whenever I think of its existence, I feel like the blood is blocked in my body and my limbs are numb. If I continue to think about its appearance, I'm really afraid I'll faint."

"I've also met residents who had similar reactions. Why is this so?" Hai Luwei simply sat down on a chair at the bus stop and asked.

“Do you know QR codes?”

Hai Luwei was genuinely surprised. "You also know about QR codes?"

Mai Minghe shook his head and laughed: "Well, how would I know that?"

"……what?"

"I asked you if you knew because I wanted to hear your explanation."

Mai Minghe tapped his temple and said, "The nest information does have instructions for this effect... but the instructions use the term 'QR code,' which I don't understand at all. Isn't it strange? The information exists in my head, but I don't understand it at all."

"As for the specific principle... it's probably that the positions of black and white pixels on the matrix are used to represent the binary information of '1' and '0', and then combined to form meaning." Mai Minghe was even more confused - but anyway, it seemed to mean "graphics carry information."

"Some residents, including some of the nest's landscape, have patterns on their faces that resemble QR codes, arranged in a specific pattern. With a single glance, the human eye can automatically decipher the message they're conveying. For example, the message on the face of the 'traffic policeman' will instruct the body to gradually paralyze its limbs."

"Alas, you won't know who you've met until you're paralyzed."

After Hai Luwei sat down, he seemed even more exhausted than before. He folded his arms, looking dejected and dejected, reminiscent of a worn-out mattress thrown on the roadside.

"Since the car is gone, what should we do? Let's look for it next time we come in?" He obviously wanted to go home.

Mai Minghe had caused him a lot of trouble and didn't want him to drag on with his foot injury; but the words "nine months" were like a time bomb hanging on her nerve endings, always making her feel heavy-hearted.

Join the "Nest Domination Game" and use its clues to find the "time" artifact... This is the closest and only clue at the moment.

His eyes and the flashlight moved around together. Mai Minghe looked at the taxi opposite and suddenly had an idea.

"Just sit here for a while and don't move. Shouldn't that car have a radio? Maybe just the radio will do. After all, you said that the car I just took wasn't mine, right? Why should I have to use it? I'll go see if I can open the door."

Hai Luwei stretched his neck and asked, "Are you sure the car is empty?"

"It looks like it. Don't worry, if it's not empty, I'll turn back immediately."

Leaving the flashlight to Hai Luwei, she took the latter's mobile phone for lighting.

Smart phone - Don't be fooled by the fact that the smart phone looks like a brick, it lights up at a touch and is very sensitive to finger touch; on the screen is a photo of Hai Luwei holding a big white dog. The two look very different, but their grinning temperament is exactly the same.

"When we go back, please teach me how to use this," Mai Minghe said before leaving.

"Okay, then go and come back quickly."

Across a dim road, Hai Luwei sat behind a ball of light and watched her go around to the driver's side of the yellow taxi.

Just now, Mai Minghe had confirmed along the way that the car was empty - or rather, there were no residents.

As long as the car door is pried open or the window is smashed, the radio in the car can be turned on... When she was still half-human and half-resident, she wanted to respond and participate, but there was no sound from the radio in the car at that time. I hope she can find the radio station smoothly this time.

Mai Minghe stood by the road, holding up his cell phone and bending over towards the car.

The driver turned toward her.

Before Mai Minghe's mind shattered and he collapsed, the last thought that crossed his mind was, fortunately, she came with Hai Luwei's phone.

The photo of Hai Luwei holding the big white dog was faintly reflected on the car window glass, just covering part of the driver's face.

Fortunately... the "QR code" was not read in full.

　I'm too sleepy today, so I'll keep it short. Wait, why do I feel like I've said this at least sixty times?

　　My mother and I are very good at praising each other in business. Today I praised her, saying that except for not having a romantic relationship, my mother has the tenacity and spirit of Liu Xiaoqing. My mother said that Liu Xiaoqing is not as good as me because I have a daughter like you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)