Chapter 24: The Death Record Notebook

So shallow?

Xia Shou felt a jolt of surprise. He did not know how he had surfaced, but the scenery of the shallow sea was clearly much better than the deep, and if every dream were of such waters, he would be quite happy to sleep a little longer.

After the brief surprise, Xia Shou discovered to his horror that he could not breathe. As he inhaled, mouthfuls of bitter, salty seawater flooded into his mouth. The intense discomfort made him instinctively struggle, and then a graceful figure suddenly swam out from behind a coral reef and approached him.

Immediately after, two soft, warm lips pressed against his. The air of life was transferred from the other being into Xia Shou’s lungs. Like some kind of ritual, he suddenly became able to breathe freely in the ocean.

Xia Shou calmed down from his shock and saw the creature before him clearly. She had a slender, beautiful human upper body and a long, exquisite fish tail, exactly like the mermaids described in fairy tales. The mermaid girl flicked her tail, drifting quietly through the water, her red hair fanning out behind her like silk.

Xia Shou saw her staring at him with anger, her eyes filled with suspicion. For some reason, she gave him a very familiar feeling, like a long-forgotten, once-intimate friend. Xia Shou stared at that face, searching his memory for a similar figure.

Just as he was pondering, tiny wounds suddenly bloomed all over the mermaid’s body. Then, massive clouds of blood mist dispersed into the seawater. The blood fog spread like a smoke screen, growing thicker and thicker, with no sign of stopping...

Xia Shou snapped his eyes open. Above him was the ceiling of the dormitory. He instinctively looked at the scale on his left eye; the number was still over a thousand meters.

"What a strange dream."

He tried to recall the scenes from the dream. The beautiful, shallow sea scenery could be recalled as clearly as a photograph, but the mermaid’s appearance had become extremely blurred, as if she were the only part that was truly a dream.

Xia Shou picked up his employee phone. It was already noon; he had slept through the entire morning. The phone was piled with text messages, and opening them revealed that they were all work arrangements from Shangguan Yan.

Right... he had almost forgotten the price of going on that mission: a month of overtime. He was now a salaryman.

Xia Shou lifted his bed sheet and pulled out the Death Record notebook hidden underneath. He flipped it open, but the writing on the pages remained blurry, which meant he still could not turn the page. It stood to reason; he had only transmigrated about twenty-four hours ago. Not much time had passed, though he had experienced quite a lot.

While Xia Shou was dazed, a stack of folded clothes floated toward him, supported by a pair of transparent hands. He was stunned for a moment before realizing it was Alice.

"Alice, are you awake?"

No response. It seemed she wasn't awake; she was simply fulfilling her duties as a maid.

Xia Shou sighed and obediently got up to dress. With Alice’s help, he put on his jacket. Then, a basin of warm water was brought out from the bathroom. The transparent hands wrung out a hot towel and gently wiped his face, while a comb groomed the hair he had messed up while sleeping.

Xia Shou didn’t know what he was doing; he only felt slight forces being applied to his limbs, guiding his hands and feet to move. One moment he was raising an arm, the next a leg. Then, his socks and trousers were put on automatically, and the process was smoother and more comfortable than if he had done it himself—there was no resistance at all.

Five minutes later, he was "dressed" in his uniform and standing at the dormitory door.

"Er... thank you, Alice."

Xia Shou didn't know how to describe this feeling. Although he felt that letting the maid wait on him like this made him seem useless, the feeling of having his daily affairs perfectly arranged without doing a thing wasn't half bad.

"In any case, I have to get to work."

Although his current sinking speed was still within a safe range, there was no telling when it might accelerate, so he had to start scouting for the next anomaly suitable for him to consume.

Xia Shou left the dormitory, crossed the museum grounds, wove through the staff and ordinary tourists, and finally entered the administrative office area, arriving at the Section 2 office he had visited last night.

There were six workstations in the Investigation Section 2 office, but not a single person was there. He frowned and picked up his phone to reread Shangguan Yan’s text: [The office might be empty today. I’ve cleared out a seat for you right next to mine. All your work content is on the computer.]

Xia Shou pushed open the partition further inside and entered the department head’s private office. Sure enough, he saw a desk in the corner. He remembered that when he came yesterday, there had been a potted plant in that spot.

"Are they assigning me secretarial work?"

Other than secretarial work, Xia Shou couldn't think of any reason to place his workstation inside the leader’s office.

"Forget it, work is work. Let me see the upcoming schedule first."

Xia Shou turned on the computer. On the desktop were two programs: "Work Schedule" and "Containment Object Inquiry." He hovered the mouse between the two for a moment before clicking on the latter.

Before starting his formal work, he wanted to investigate information regarding the Death Record. So far, he had followed the guidance and arrangements of this notebook, yet he knew nothing about it. Since the notebook’s previous owner knew Shangguan Yan, he must have had dealings with the Control Bureau. Perhaps the Bureau’s containment archives held information about this book.

Xia Shou’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, but he suddenly stopped. If he searched directly, it might leave a browsing trail on the Bureau’s network. Although it was natural for an employee to look up hearsay about anomalous containment objects, it would be best to browse without leaving a trace if possible.

*Click!*

As he pondered, the office door opened a crack, and a familiar voice came from the threshold.

"Xia Shou?"

Su Weiyu poked her head in. Seeing Xia Shou, she let out a long sigh of relief.

"Finally found you! I didn't see you in your dormitory, so I figured you must have come to work, and sure enough, I found you. You haven't had lunch yet, have you? Look what I brought you! Ta-da! Lunch from a five-star hotel!"

Su Weiyu shook the takeout in her hand and proudly placed the meal box on the desk and opened it. An enticing aroma wafted out.

"Australian purebred Wagyu beef, Boston lobster... I thought you might not like Western food, so I grabbed a sushi platter on the way. It’s just enough for the two of us!"

Su Weiyu pulled up a chair, sat down next to Xia Shou’s desk, and set out the utensils. Looking at the appetizing food, Xia Shou exclaimed, "This must be expensive, right?"

"Didn't check the price; I just grabbed it. If there’s anything you want to eat, just tell me and I’ll get it for you, or I can cook it myself. Don't look at me like that, my cooking is top-tier!" Su Weiyu gave a thumbs-up, her face full of confidence.

"That’s so nice, being able to eat whatever you want." Xia Shou envied Su Weiyu’s ability.

Given his circumstances in his past life, let alone lobster and Wagyu, even going to a hotpot restaurant would have required careful consideration. Yet, Su Weiyu treated these premium meals as daily fare. Compared to that, her ability was incredibly convenient; not only could she be completely unbound by social rules, but she could also enjoy top-tier modern services anytime, anywhere. Just thinking about it felt amazing.

Su Weiyu sat to one side, holding a knife and fork, not busy eating but secretly observing Xia Shou’s expression. Seeing that he was satisfied with the lunch, she sighed in relief, confirming that the strategy she had devised last night had not failed.

"By the way, why did you join the Control Bureau?" Su Weiyu picked up a piece of lobster and put it on Xia Shou’s plate, asking as if in passing.

"Hmm... how should I put it? To survive, I suppose." Xia Shou picked up the lobster and sighed helplessly. "The situation is complicated. Simply put, I have to keep hunting anomalies to stay alive."

"I see... then you really have to stay at the Control Bureau." A flash of regret crossed Su Weiyu’s eyes.

If Xia Shou only lacked money, he wouldn't need to work at the Control Bureau. She could just go to any bank vault, grab a few gold bars, and live comfortably for a long time. She had actually already prepared an itinerary for global travel; if Xia Shou didn't have to stay at the Bureau, he could have gone around the world with her.

Xia Shou picked up his chopsticks, ready to eat, when he suddenly thought of something and looked at Su Weiyu with surprise. "Weiyu."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Su Weiyu choked and coughed several times, looking up, staring at Xia Shou in astonishment. She hadn't expected him to call her by such an intimate name.

However, she soon calmed her heart, hid her excitement, accepted the term, and asked back quite naturally, "What is it?"

"Let me ask you: if you search for information online, will your browsing history be detected by others?" Xia Shou inquired.