Infinite Nightmares

Zhang Wenda brought a cup of water from the nearby water cooler for Ahava, and the cone-headed Mayan took a packet of Banlangen granules and poured them in.

When Zhang Wenda saw the Mayan’s complexion gradually improve as he drank the concoction, he let out a small sigh of relief. He didn’t care how the sickness disappeared; as long as it was gone, that was all that mattered.

"You should be able to talk now, right? I have some questions for you."

After taking a drink to catch his breath, Ahava said gratefully to Zhang Wenda, "Yes, you may ask. Ask me anything. Thank you so much for saving me. From now on, you are my dearest friend."

"I don’t even know what I did. I was just sick, and then all of a sudden this old man shows up and tries to kill me."

His accent was still that familiar, stilted Mandarin.

Zhang Wenda didn’t say anything. Instead, he simply unzipped his jacket and showed the man the Sacrificial Knife embedded in his chest. "If I remember correctly, this thing is yours, right?"

"Yeah, that’s the Sacrificial Knife of Kopan! How did it end up on you? I traded it to a man for ten drops of Oil Bab," Ahava replied in surprise. The man he was talking about was clearly Saber.

"How I got the knife doesn’t matter. The point is, it’s stuck in me now. What I want to know is, is there any way to get it out?" Zhang Wenda finally got to the most critical question.

"A way to get it out... well..." Ahava’s face clouded with worry, and he seemed hesitant to speak.

Seeing his hesitation, Zhang Wenda grew anxious. "Just tell me! What is it? No matter how difficult, I need to know, don’t I? This thing could kill me at any second."

"Of course I want to help you! It’s not that I won’t tell you, it’s that I don’t know myself!" Ahava said with an innocent expression.

"Wait, are you kidding me? You don’t know? And you dared to sell it without knowing?"

Seeing Zhang Wenda’s anger, Ahava quickly waved his hands. "Don’t worry, don’t worry! I might not know, but the Priests certainly do! I have to go back anyway, so why don’t you let them take a look for you?"

"You helped me, so I’ll definitely help you. It’s a traditional virtue among us Mayans. If you just come with me to see them, I swear I’ll help you escape Kopan’s grasp."

"Go with you to America?"

Ahava tried to assuage Zhang Wenda’s worries. "Don’t worry. We can fly. It’s fast—we can get there in a day."

Zhang Wenda fell into thought at his words. He never imagined he’d have to leave the country to fix this. He’d figured that finding this Mayan would be enough to get a solution.

Zhang Wenda hesitated. ’Things are already this strange at home,’ he thought. ’Who knows how much weirder it’ll be overseas.’

But after thinking it over, he realized he didn’t really have a choice.

If he couldn’t get this Kopan problem sorted out, he wouldn’t be able to do anything at all. Forget going abroad; he’d be willing to walk through hell and high water if he had to.

"Alright, then. Get your stuff. Once you’re ready, we’ll meet at the airport and head out."

After getting Ahava’s phone number, Zhang Wenda also had to prepare for the trip. And before a trip, the most important preparation was having the right people.

"Maomao, can you come with me this time?"

Zhang Wenda looked down at the chinchilla before him. ’Even though I know she’ll probably help, we aren’t that close. It’s only polite to ask.’

As the chinchilla lightly tapped the Tri-Core on her wrist, she quickly changed back into the form of a small girl in a tinfoil hat.

She then floated into the air, looking down on Zhang Wenda. "Call me ’Auntie.’"

"Fine, Auntie. I’ll call you Auntie, okay?"

Zhang Wenda stared at Hu Maomao, who didn’t even come up to his waist. ’I can’t figure out how old she is,’ he thought, ’or why she has such a twisted sense of humor.’

"Since you called me ’Auntie,’ as your elder, I’ll help you with the paperwork at the Bureau. We’ll still need to tell Uncle Tan if you’re really going abroad."

With that, Hu Maomao turned and left. "Also, use this time to get Song Jianguo’s onboarding paperwork done. You can recruit her as your temporary worker, to avoid any accidents along the way."

"What? I can hire temporary workers?!" Zhang Wenda glanced at a guilty-looking Song Jianguo and immediately pointed a finger at her. "You knew about this all along, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell me? Afraid I’d take a cut of your salary? Huh?"

"What are you talking about? I didn’t! I just found out myself."

"Gimme a break. After this long, I know you so well that when you stick your butt out, I know what kind of crap you’re about to pull."

Zhang Wenda grabbed Song Jianguo’s hand and started to pull her along. "Come on, let’s go do the paperwork!"

"Whoa, slow down! You haven’t paid him yet! Have you forgotten about him?" shouted Song Jianguo, pointing at Jia Junpeng off to the side.

Zhang Wenda let her go and walked over to him, only to find Jia Junpeng completely starstruck, gawking at his surroundings.

His eyes shone as he gazed at the sprawling lobby of Bureau 507, where people were working and walking about on every side. He looked like he was on a pilgrimage.

"I almost forgot about you. Thanks for bringing me here. I promised you a 10,000-yuan reward. Bank transfer or cash?"

But at that moment, Jia Junpeng couldn’t be bothered with the money. His voice was filled with excitement as he said, "This is the Third Line! The real Third Line! You actually got to join the Third Line! You’re so lucky!"

His reaction startled Zhang Wenda. "Huh? Is joining the Third Line such a big deal? I’m not really feeling it."

Hearing this, Jia Junpeng’s eyes practically glowed green with envy. "Of course! This is the Third Line! A top-tier state-owned enterprise! The state tobacco monopoly is jack-shit compared to this! Just think about it! Do you have any idea how many people would kill to get in?"

"Whatever you do, don’t say what you just said to anyone outside. If other people heard you, they’d spit on you so much you’d drown!"

Zhang Wenda had only just arrived and didn’t know much about this place. From what the man was saying, it seemed that, at least within Thought Wave Two, joining Bureau 507 was an extremely fortunate and even highly respectable thing.

Jia Junpeng carefully rolled up the sleeve of Zhang Wenda’s rabbit-themed top. When he saw the three lines on an arm riddled with holes, he instantly became deferential.

He looked like an obsessive stalker-fan who’d just run into their idol at a urinal—wanting to reach out and touch, but not daring to.

"Alright, that’s enough." Zhang Wenda pulled his sleeve back down. "Take out your phone. I’ll transfer you the money."

"C-can I not take the money? Can I be your informant? That would practically make me part of the Third Line too!" Jia Junpeng was visibly thrilled as he said this.

"An informant? What do you think this is, a cop movie? Besides, it’s not like I need—" Zhang Wenda paused mid-sentence and began to seriously size up the guy in front of him.

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