The whole nation: You're put to survive on a desolate planet, you'll be running an alien b

"You did it, didn't you?"

On the other end of the phone, Qin Yue's voice was hoarse, revealing a weariness that had exhausted all her strength.

Li Haotian shifted his gaze from the silly "water monkey emojis" photoshopped by netizens on his phone and leaned lazily against the car window.

He looked out the window at the rapidly receding night view and answered in a sleepy tone.

"Officer Qin, what are you saying?"

"I'm just a law-abiding citizen who's keen on reporting wrongdoing."

"Isn't the rest the job of you professionals?"

There was another silence on the other end of the phone; Li Haotian could even hear her taking a deep breath and then exhaling.

"Li Haotian." Qin Yue said, enunciating each word clearly and in a very low voice, "I don't care who you are or what your purpose is."

"You are pushing things into an abyss that no one can control."

"Really?" Li Haotian yawned.

"I think it's more like they unclogged the toilet."

"When the water flows smoothly, everyone can use the toilet properly, right?"

"you!"

"I'm not going to talk about it anymore. The ride-hailing driver was driving a bit fast, and I get carsick."

"I still have to deal with the fish I caught last night when I get home, so I'm hanging up now."

After Li Haotian finished speaking, he didn't give the other party a chance to speak again and directly cut off the call.

He tossed his phone aside, closed his eyes, and hummed that familiar old song.

"Good luck to you..."

……

"Beep...beep...beep..."

Dragon Shield Bureau, East China City Branch, Temporary Command Center.

Qin Yue gripped the phone tightly, the veins on the back of her hand bulging.

The entire command center was brightly lit, and dozens of uniformed staff members were busy at their respective posts. The sound of keyboards clicking and telephones ringing incessantly created a noisy symphony.

"Captain Qin?"

Beside me, a young technician wearing black-rimmed glasses and with messy hair like a bird's nest carefully handed over two newly printed reports.

"The final water quality test report for the entire city, and... the preliminary analysis from the online public opinion monitoring team regarding that 'water monkey' video."

Qin Yue took a deep breath, released the phone that was almost crushed, and took the two still-warm reports.

She first opened the water quality test report.

The dense data and graphs above pointed to a conclusion that even she found absurd.

"All indicators...recovered from 'highly toxic' to 'good' within three hours?" she murmured to herself, looking at the final conclusion on the report.

This unscientific.

This isn't even magic.

It's as if someone pressed the delete button and instantly wiped out all the pollutants in the water.

She put down the first report and picked up the second one.

There was only one image on it, taken from a blurry video, enlarged and completely pixelated, accompanied by a few lines of cold text.

"Target Analysis: Unknown living organism."

"Estimated body length: between 1.2 meters and 1.5 meters."

"Movement pattern: Unanalyzable; its instantaneous movement speed exceeds the limits of existing physics models."

"Species identification: failed. No matching organisms found in the database."

The technician adjusted his glasses and added, "Team Leader Qin, we used the highest-level supercomputer for dynamic capture and simulation analysis."

"The conclusion is... the way this thing moves completely violates fluid dynamics."

"It's in the water, as if... as if the water itself doesn't exist."

Qin Yue stared at the blurry picture, feeling her temples throbbing again.

Just then, a white lab coat-wearing, seemingly a research-oriented administrative staff member approached, his face showing an excitement of exploring the unknown.

"Captain Qin, I have a bold guess!"

Qin Yue raised her head and looked at him expressionlessly.

"explain."

"Look," the researcher said, pointing to the two reports and analyzing them with great enthusiasm, "one is an extraordinary act of malicious poisoning, and the other is a mysterious biological purification."

"Is it possible that this is some kind of... 'fighting poison with poison' phenomenon?"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he had discovered a new continent.

"Just like in the novels and movies we read!"

"An evil supernatural being corrupted the city. Then, a kind supernatural being, hidden among us, stepped forward to protect everyone and defeated the villain!"

"Look at this video! It ate the pollutants and ran away, keeping its merits hidden! What kind of spirit is this? This is the spirit of internationalism!"

In the command center, several young team members who heard this couldn't help but cast curious glances.

This argument seems... to make some sense?

This sounds much more reliable than "water self-purification".

Qin Yue listened quietly, her expression unchanged.

She slowly raised her hand only after the researcher finished speaking.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, loud bang.

Qin Yue slammed her hand hard on the table, making the water glass next to her jump.

The entire command center fell silent instantly, and everyone looked at her in horror.

"A kind-hearted supernatural being?" Qin Yue gritted her teeth, enunciating each word clearly, her voice sounding as if it had been pulled from an ice cellar.

"Hidden merit and fame?"

Her gaze swept over the terrified researcher, then over the silent team members around her.

"Was the gate to Royal One kicked open by a benevolent supernatural being?"

"Did a benevolent supernatural being cause the containers at the East City Wharf to explode on their own?"

"Now, even a 'f***ing fairy godmother' has crawled out of the sewers to help us clean up?!"

She became increasingly angry as she spoke, her chest heaving violently.

"Physics no longer exists! Biology is no longer scientific!"

"Tell me, if something happens again, will I not have to be at the scene?"

"Should we just set up an altar in the command center, burn three incense sticks, and pray to that 'kind, supernatural being' to solve the case?!"

She practically screamed it out.

The entire command center was so quiet you could hear someone breathing.

Everyone was stunned by Qin Yue's unprecedented rage.

Uncontrollably, that figure reappeared in Qin Yue's mind once again.

The figure wearing a reflective vest and a straw hat, sitting on the dock, playing cards and fishing at the same time.

The silhouette of someone riding a shared bicycle slowly away amidst the explosions and flames.

The man who had just lazily told her on the phone that he "only unclogged the toilet."

Li Haotian.

All the unscientific, all the irrational, all the absurd, ultimately point to this name.

The researcher turned pale from the scolding, shrank back, and didn't dare to say a word.

Qin Yue closed her eyes, pressed her temples hard, and forced herself to calm down.

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes again, her gaze now cold and sharp.

She pointed to the paused video on the screen.

"Analyze this video frame by frame!"

"Also, find the streamer who first posted the video immediately; I need to know his exact coordinates at the time!"

"in addition……"

She paused for a moment, as if making a difficult decision.

"Bring me that blue plastic stool that we recovered from the evidence warehouse in the Chengdong Wharf case."

"Notify the technical department that I need to perform the highest-level handwriting analysis and ink composition analysis on the line of text above!"

"I need results within an hour!"

After issuing a series of orders, Qin Yue waved her hand, signaling everyone to get to work.

She stood alone in front of the huge electronic screen, watching the blurry video titled "Sewer Water Monkey" playing on a loop.

In the video, the long, black, strip-shaped creature flashes by.

It was so fast that its shape was impossible to discern.

Qin Yue stared intently at the shadow.

She slowly raised her hand and traced the outline of the creature on the cold screen with her fingers.

A thought, without warning yet with perfect clarity, emerged from the depths of her mind.

This thing...

Why does it look a bit like a fish?