Artifact Report

Chapter 338 Mai Minghe: Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pontoon...

In early December, the chill in Blackmore City gradually intensified, casting shadows like moles in the corners of the streets and alleys.

The daylight was dim, the streetlights were shrouded in fog, and the night deepened into darkness.

The cold wind blowing from the dark sea stung my skin, causing a painful, prickly, and itchy sensation, as if something from a nest had touched my face.

The temperature dropped too quickly and too abruptly. Mai Minghe tightened his coat, regretting that he had forgotten to wear a scarf when he went out.

It's okay not to wear a scarf, it's okay to be a little dizzy from being tossed around by the waves, but how to deal with this situation is the most troublesome thing.

"Who is this guy?"

Although Amy had her hands tightly tucked into her shirt sleeves and her lips were turning slightly blue from the cold, her toughness remained undiminished: "She looks so frail, is she reliable?"

"I'm sitting right here,"

Wearing a thick down jacket, scarf, and woolen hat, Hai Luwei, warm and rosy-cheeked, said, "I am right across from you, I can hear you."

Why were these two people sitting on the boat with her?

Oh, it all started because Amy wanted to repay a debt of gratitude.

Moreover, she wouldn't allow Mak Ming-ho to refuse; he absolutely had to report it.

It seems that it was Sukiyaki who gave her her phone number—the Kai family had kept everyone's numbers at the time in order to contact the Hunters for interviews.

After the three of them escaped from the stairwell of the nest, Maming went to the Kai family as soon as she returned to Blackmore City to act as a "guide" for Chess and led him out of the Black Abyss with Kaironan; so the last time she saw Amy was before the group parted ways and prepared to open the passage on their own.

When he suddenly received a call from an unknown number, Mak Ming-ho was overjoyed.

While still lying in her apartment bed, her days were blurred and indistinct, immersed in the sound of television; only the occasional phone call from her caregiver could pierce through the grayness of time, like a hand reaching out to her from the world.

Even a wrong number, she could savor for a while. There was still a line connecting her to a young stranger in this vast world, someone she didn't know what he was doing.

Even now, having regained her youth, the joy she felt upon hearing the caller ID remained unchanged; before Hai Luwei on the other end could finish saying, "Is this a spam call?", she had already answered the phone—"Hello? Good morning, who are you looking for?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Isn't this your own phone?" a somewhat familiar young female voice said. "If I call you... who else can I call?"

“Amy,” Mak Ming-ho recognized her immediately, “You’re back safe and sound? Everything’s alright?”

Aimeili remained silent for a few more seconds.

Even over the phone, Mai Minghe could sense that she was picking up one answer, then throwing it away, then picking up another, as if she were caught in a silent confusion and helplessness, unsure how to respond to even the most ordinary greeting.

"I-I'm fine."

She finally spoke, her answer hardly befitting the tense period of thought she had just uttered. "Well... this time, I did indeed receive your help."

Seaweed sat across the table, peering intently at the information.

"It's alright—"

“It’s very important,” Amy interrupted her. “I’m not that weak. I never need anyone to pull me out of danger. But I’ve received your kindness, so I have to accept it. What do you need?”

Mai Minghe stammered, "What...what do you need?"

"Money? Illusion? Do you need help next time you go into the lair?" Amy said, then seemed to grit her teeth as she continued, "If we go into the lair, I will never hold you back or ask you to pull me along again. I can prove my worth to you."

But Mak Ming Ho doesn't need anyone to prove her worth—people shouldn't be judged by value.

She didn't know how to say it for a moment and stammered, especially since Amy seemed to be firing off one question after another; seeing that Mak Ming-ho was hesitant and reluctant, she finally lost her patience and asked, "What are you going to do today?"

"I want to go to sea," Mai Minghe said honestly, under her pressure.

What are we going to do at sea?

At this moment, Hai Luwei had already peeked over the center of the table and seemed to have vaguely heard the conversation—to be honest, the old cell phone had a lot of sound leakage—and immediately started waving his hands, as if telling Mai Minghe to stop talking.

Unfortunately, Mak Ming Ho's answer consisted of only two words. By the time he raised his hand, the answer had already slipped out: "Save someone."

"Again—you specialize in this?" Amy asked with genuine doubt. "In the nest?"

“No, it’s in Blackmore City.” Mai Minghe glanced at Hai Luwei, whose face was full of busy expressions, and said into the phone, “Wait a minute.”

She covered the phone to her chest and asked, "What are you doing?"

“Is that a hunter?” Sea Reed replied immediately. “A hunter who keeps trying to get close to you is suspicious. You don’t understand, people these days are all unpredictable… And didn’t you just say that this matter is related to the Domination Game? You can’t tell anyone else.”

He suddenly stopped and stared at Mak Ming-ho for a few seconds.

He paced silently on the table for a while before finally asking, "Um...did you put your phone on silent?"

Mai Minghe looked back at him. "What is silence?"

Sure enough, Amy heard it all, not missing a single word. Because, following the old-fashioned telephone convention, Mak Ming-ho pressed the screen; the part with the microphone hidden inside, just like a solved case, was now exposed to the world.

"When are you going to sea? What are you going to do? What is the Domination Game?" Amy seemed to be holding back a sigh as she looked at Maming River. "It doesn't matter if you don't tell me, I'll go help."

Her tone was so firm that it seemed she would seek revenge if she wasn't allowed to repay the favor.

"How can we let a strange hunter go with us?"

After Mai Minghe finally agreed and hung up the phone, Hai Luwei shook her head several times, looking worried: "If this is exposed, will you be able to come back?"

He looked at the pinky ring he had put back on.

Like the lipstick, it was left inside the black cube after everyone was disassembled once. Mai Minghe asked Chaisi to search carefully and found it—the reason they met for breakfast together early this morning was to return the pinky ring to him.

“Fine, since you helped me find it,” Sea Reed sighed, “I’ll go out to sea with you. One more person means one more helper.”

The crux of the matter, which Mai Minghe only realized belatedly after returning home, was that she originally didn't need anyone's help.

But both kids wanted to help, isn't that a great thing?

None of them were there because they pitied her because she couldn't move, or because they were afraid she would fall or choke. They liked Mak Ming Ho, and she could feel it.

She wanted to find the warmest, brightest part of her soul and put it in the hands of those two children.

Of course, that was how I felt when I went home at noon.

Now, Mak Ming-ho's hands are so cold they look like curled-up chicken claws, and he can't carry anything—and most importantly, the two of them met, exchanged a few words, but no trust was established, and their relationship became even more strained.

“We’re already at sea,” Amy said, shrugging her hands and stamping her boots on the floor of the boat. “So, what are we doing now? Who are we rescuing? What’s going on?”

Hai Luwei turned his head—his forehead was almost sweating from the heat—and whispered, “Tell her the very basics, and don’t say anything more.”

Amy rolled her eyes upwards.

“I received a message saying that someone is in the center of Blackmore’s Bay and needs my help—” Maming River started, then couldn’t help but ask Sea Reed, “How much are you wearing?”

“I put on a heating pad,” Seaweed smiled at her. “Do you want it? I’ll peel it off for you.”

“You’re weak,” Amy said.

Before things could get any worse, Mak Ming-ho quickly chimed in.

"The information I received is very reliable. Although I don't know exactly when the person fell into the sea, but..."

"Wait, save someone who fell into the water?" Amy was taken aback. "How do you know he's still alive? Even if he is, what if he's been swept away by the waves? Isn't that like looking for a needle in a haystack?"

Just as Mai Minghe was about to speak, he couldn't help but glance at the sea reeds.

“You can’t say,” Sea Reed said sternly.

"...What does this have to do with any domination game?" Amy wasn't stupid.

Mai Minghe nodded.

What she received yesterday was not the "Illusion Report" informing her of the next artifact—from the previous artifact report, she knew that she needed to complete three action points to obtain an "Illusion Report" that would reveal the whereabouts of the "Time" artifact.

Selling the lipstick to the mayor was her first step, and she accomplished that.

What was sent to her phone yesterday was the content of the second action point.

Loving Mak Ming Ho, your gentleness and love have earned the admiration of the nest.

The second action point is completely in line with your usual way of doing things, and it will definitely make you feel happy and you will definitely be able to do it with ease.

You will receive a notification for the next action point within thirty days of completing the second action point.

Action Points 2/3:

Recently, a person accidentally fell into the water in the central bay of Blackmore City and has not yet been recovered. His life is in imminent danger and he urgently needs someone to lend a helping hand.

The nest can assure you that this person is still alive, still in the central bay, desperately awaiting rescue.

Please hire a boat and go to Blackmore City Center Bay to retrieve him!
There's no time to lose, as lives are at stake. However, it's also important not to rush into things unprepared. If you have a boat, blankets, a first-aid kit, clothing, and interesting conversation starters, and you're sailing at night, your chances of a successful rescue will be much higher.

Keep going! Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda.

Rescue target: Evan Weston, 29 years old, 1.8 meters tall.

He appeared to have been attacked and tortured by thugs before falling into the water. He had injuries, including a dislocated and fractured shoulder, and was only wearing a pair of trousers. Apart from that, everything that could prove his identity had been taken away by the thugs.

Please pull him out of the sea and help him get his life back on track!

(End of this chapter)