DSMC Chapter 33.1

Yan Jiyun felt that the final mission could be understood in three ways.

First, the player’s final mission.

Second, Lin Xie’s final mission.

Third, Jiang Yan’s final mission.

One phrase with three layers of meaning.

The first batch of Red Field Poppy was in the little supervisor’s hands, and only he knew exactly where it was stored. Now there was another person involved — Zhao Renfu.

It seemed that Jiang Yan hadn’t gotten the first batch of Red Field Poppy from the deputy supervisor yesterday. Clearly, Zhao Renfu didn’t fully trust Jiang Yan either. After finishing tonight’s deal with his old friend, he would definitely take the money and leave directly.

Yan Jiyun had a rough grasp of what the final mission might be. Lin Xie’s final mission was the same as his own: to obtain Red Field Poppy and stop it from reaching the market. As for Jiang Yan’s final mission… maybe he had one, maybe not. Still, there was always the sense that Jiang Yan was different when it came to Lin Xie, and the reason behind that was still unclear.

Maybe he could sneak into Jiang Yan’s room again and see if anything had been overlooked?

The office wasn’t a private residence, so it wasn’t likely to hide anything of real value.

There were still six hours until 7 PM. Yan Jiyun felt he couldn’t just sit around and wait. Now that he had the Main Mission (5), even though the system’s instructions weren’t very clear, he could start with Jiang Yan.

When Jiang Yan came out of Zhao Renfu’s living room, Yan Jiyun once again tailed him.

Jiang Yan didn’t take the elevator but chose the stairs. At the landing, Yan Jiyun heard his footsteps slow. He thought Jiang Yan had simply let his guard down, but when he caught up, Jiang Yan was standing right there, looking down at him, thumb pressed against his chin in thought.

“Little Black Cat, you’ve been following me since just now. What are you trying to do?”

Yan Jiyun: “……” He never imagined his tracking skills would be this bad. In the past, he’d never been discovered when tailing someone, except by his own human.

It probably wasn’t that he was clumsy, but that Jiang Yan’s counter-surveillance awareness was too strong. He wouldn’t let himself be outdone by a cat.

Wait, could Jiang Yan also be an undercover officer?

That was something he’d never considered!

If Jiang Yan were undercover too, then he’d have a reason to shield Lin Xie and secretly protect him.

Was that the truth?

But the strange thing was, if being undercover was one of the last secrets, then why hadn’t the system prompted him about completing a mission? Could it be that neither of them were true undercover agents, just police informants?

The whole thing was confusing. Was the threshold for the final secret really that high?

Yan Jiyun circled around his feet, pretending to be hungry.

Well, in fact, he was hungry. He’d had breakfast in the morning and then rushed straight into missions. He hadn’t eaten lunch at all.

Jiang Yan frowned. “I don’t have time to get you fish.”

Yan Jiyun circled him again. He didn’t need fish specifically. Chicken breast would do, cat food would do.

Annoyed at the black fur sticking to his pants, Jiang Yan grumbled, “Stop rubbing against me. I’ll take you back to Lin Xie to eat cat food.”

Perfect. That gave him a chance to search Jiang Yan’s room for clues. Lin Xie had voluntarily handed over the badge his father left behind, so maybe Jiang Yan also had something besides his mother’s photograph. If he would voluntarily hand it over, that would be even better.

In this dungeon, the story revolved around Lin Xie, Jiang Yan, and Zhao Renfu. If he had just followed Lin Xie, it might not have triggered the final mission. But following Jiang Yan had triggered it, which meant Jiang Yan’s role was as important as Lin Xie’s. As for Zhao Renfu, there was no question that he was the dungeon’s main villain, his role was obvious. Jiang Yan, however, was unpredictable. If his presence was ignored, who knew whether the final mission could even be triggered?

How to complete the final mission had become Yan Jiyun’s pressing concern.

Jiang Yan said he wouldn’t bother with Yan Jiyun, but in the end, he still brought him along.

The place was close, and with Jiang Yan’s long legs, they were back upstairs in no time.

There wasn’t any cat food at Jiang Yan’s room. With practiced ease, he climbed from his balcony over to Lin Xie’s, as if he had done it many times before.

While Jiang Yan went next door to fetch food, Yan Jiyun quickly surveyed the room.

Last night, Jiang Yan was there, and during the day he accidentally smashed the photo of his deceased mother. Yan Jiyun had felt guilty and hadn’t dared to poke around. But now, since Jiang Yan had brought him in of his own accord, the nature of it was different. It wasn’t that he’d come snooping, the man himself had brought him in. If something got knocked over, well, a cat couldn’t be blamed.

He darted straight to the bedroom door. Nimbly leaping up, he clutched the handle with both paws, pushed it open, and slipped inside.

The room was unlike the temporary rest space at the office. Here, everything was relatively tidy, except for the quilt on the bed, tossed aside in a roll. Clearly, the owner hadn’t touched it since getting up. At the head of the bed was a T-shirt that smelled of detergent. It was messy but not disorderly. It’s just what a normal young man’s room would look like.

But he knew Jiang Yan wasn’t a careless man. At the office, his files, though few, were neatly arranged. The tossed quilt didn’t fit that habit. Maybe it was deliberate?

The cabinets were all closed, but beside the nightstand sat an old cardboard box. Yan Jiyun padded over, pawed it open, and found old things inside. It was not valuable, but likely full of memories.

He pushed aside a slingshot lying on top of a battered elementary school textbook. Written neatly on the cover were two characters: Lin Xie.

Was this Lin Xie’s elementary school textbook? Why would Jiang Yan keep it?

So, even though they seemed to clash on the surface, Jiang Yan had always remembered their childhood bond. Just for keeping Lin Xie’s textbook, Yan Jiyun was convinced he truly treated Lin Xie as a brother.

Jiang Yan quickly returned from next door, carrying cat food. His movements climbing over the balcony were even more skilled than Yan Jiyun’s.

Naturally, Yan Jiyun wasn’t afraid of being caught poking around. Hopefully, Jiang Yan would learn to get used to certain cat behaviors.

But when Jiang Yan came back, he immediately saw the box had been pried open.

He strode forward, picked up the black cat with no hint of remorse, and said, “I’m telling you, Blake, don’t think just because you’re Lin Xie’s cat that I won’t smack you.”

Then he roughly rubbed his furry head, nearly making him dizzy.

Yan Jiyun: ……

Damn it, don’t think just because you’re an important NPC that I won’t smack you!

Failing to uncover Jiang Yan’s second secret, he resigned himself to lunch, crunching cat food.

Jiang Yan was short on time. Once Yan Jiyun was done, he carried the cat bowl back next door. Quick and efficient, everything noted by Yan Jiyun.

If he weren’t a cat, he’d never have noticed how practiced Jiang Yan was at climbing Lin Xie’s balcony.

He was definitely hiding an important, unspeakable secret, something that might be even more crucial than whether or not they were undercover officers. Maybe something deeper.

But no matter how much Yan Jiyun wracked his brain, he couldn’t figure it out. Better to eat his fill and then continue the mission, because both Lin Xie and Jiang Yan would be making moves tonight.

Since the deputy supervisor tattled to Zhao Renfu, Lin Xie was probably once again under Zhao Renfu’s suspicion.

Jiang Yan ate casually, cooking himself instant noodles. Compared to his cat food, Yan Jiyun realized with dismay that even instant noodles cost more. Suddenly, Jiang Yan didn’t seem like such a bad guy.

The smell of noodles drifted over. Yan Jiyun hadn’t smelled that aroma in a very, very long time. He crept closer to Jiang Yan. Even if he couldn’t eat them, at least he could breathe in the scent.

Ah, being human was better… they could eat whatever they wanted.

Jiang Yan pushed his head away and deliberately slurped the noodles. “You want instant noodles too? Not giving you a single bite. If Lin Xie knew, he’d probably fight me for it. Still, it’s strange, I’ve never seen you around before. You’re so sleek and well-kept, you must’ve had an owner before, right? You’re pretty human-like.”

Yan Jiyun noticed Jiang Yan suddenly had a lot more to say. His human-like behavior was already obvious.

Jiang Yan added, “If only I were a cat too.”

Yan Jiyun waited for him to continue, but he stopped there.

Just then, footsteps approached, followed by urgent knocks on Jiang Yan’s door.

Jiang Yan opened it. Outside was the lackey Yan Jiyun had seen once before.

The lackey rushed over, grinning. “Boss, I’ve got good news for you.”

The gentleness that had just appeared on Jiang Yan’s face vanished. “What is it?”

The lackey: “The old man is sending people to look for the Second Young Master.”

Jiang Yan’s gaze sharpened. “How do you know?”

The lackey: “I was just checking Building A’s surveillance and saw Lao Fang leading people over. But the Second Young Master seems to be hiding.”

Jiang Yan: “Other than him, did Lao Fang go looking for anyone else?”

The lackey shook his head. “No, just him.”

What was Zhao Renfu up to? Did he really believe the deputy supervisor, trying once again to lock Lin Xie up?

Jiang Yan prepared to leave. Yan Jiyun pricked his ears, catching every word of their conversation.

Jiang Yan told the lackey, “Got it. Go mind your own business.”

He seemed unhurried, as if not worried at all.

The lackey, in fact, looked pleased to be reporting it. Everyone in the organization knew the Boss and Second Young Master didn’t get along. If the Second Young Master was gone, wouldn’t the old man only have the Boss left? Truly worth celebrating.

With his orders, the lackey left.

After closing the door, Jiang Yan didn’t even touch his noodles. He tossed the bowl into the sink.

“Little Black Cat, I hope Lin Xie didn’t raise you for nothing. I’ll disable all the surveillance lines soon, or they’ll track him down. After that, I’ll take you to find him, we’d better make sure he stays hidden.”

“Whether you understand me or not, the most important thing is: you have to find him, but don’t expose his hiding place.”

Lin Xie hiding on purpose was the right move. Zhao Renfu was bound to come after him next!

But where would he hide?

Jiang Yan turned to his room, pulled an inconspicuous bag from under the bed, and took out a computer.

It was clearly high-spec.

For once, urgency showed on Jiang Yan’s face. He didn’t even bother with a desk, he sat directly on the bed and powered it on.

After a flurry of operations, Yan Jiyun saw the surveillance dot-map of all three buildings, crammed full of red points.

Jiang Yan’s computer was linked to the monitoring room’s main system. On-screen, he saw the black-uniformed guards inside. He phoned the monitoring room to draw them away, then immediately pressed a key. All the surveillance feeds were swapped out for prerecorded footage.

Yan Jiyun hadn’t expected Jiang Yan to have such skills. No wonder his counter-surveillance instincts were so sharp, his reflexes nearly matching his own. He had clearly received harsh, professional training.

Once the feeds were altered, Jiang Yan hid the computer back under the bed, scooped up the watching Yan Jiyun, and headed out.

[Want to be Human] livestream channel:

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! I didn’t expect Jiang Yan to give me such a big surprise! He can actually tamper with surveillance footage! I never saw that coming!”

“+1. Thanks to Meowmeow, I get to see a different side of Jiang Yan. Will Lin Xie still die in this run? Maybe Jiang Yan is undercover too? He’s helping Lin Xie.”

“I don’t know, but I’m so nervous right now. I want to know where Lin Xie is hiding. In other players’ streams, by this point, Lin Xie had already been caught by Zhao Renfu, then during his escape Lao Fang pushed him down the stairs to his death. He’s my favorite beautiful, strong, and miserable character! Wuwuwu~ Though of course, I love the kitty too.”

“Ever since seeing their story from the kitty’s perspective, I really feel Jiang Yan treats Lin Xie well. I never noticed it before. I hope this time we see more of Jiang Yan’s other side. I also hope that Lin Xie will die one less time.” 

“Anyway, since the kitty helped him with the document transfer, he doesn’t have to worry about failing to catch Zhao Renfu anymore. He can focus on hiding and bide his time.”

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