novelraw Chapter 166 Justice
Chapter 166 Justice
“As for Fang Yang, there definitely won’t be any problem.”
The middle-aged man was equally full of confidence in this professional killer.
He walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window and stood side by side with the old man in Tang robes. “But for carrying out the divine punishment, I suggest changing the location. Don’t do it at Donghai University.”
“Ever since Old Tian shot Yan Chonghan, armed police have been stationed at Donghai University. That could create trouble for our operation.”
“More importantly, with so many outside forces investigating us right now, the killing of Jiang Ran should be done as discreetly as possible. Ideally, no one should even notice it has anything to do with us.”
“So—have the girl lure Jiang Ran away from Donghai University, maybe even out of Donghai City entirely, and then kill him without a sound. What do you think?”
The old man in Tang robes nodded. “You handle that. My only concern is that Jiang Ran already seems suspicious of the girl. If she suddenly suggests leaving Donghai City now—will he agree?”
“Don’t worry.”
The middle-aged man smiled. “That girl is very smart. And when it comes to the Mutual Aid Society of Regrets, and to you, Father, she has absolute loyalty and trust.”
“She believes every word you say, and she’ll follow every command you give step by step.”“A while ago, she contacted Doctor Garner, saying she was increasingly unable to control her thoughts and actions, becoming less and less like herself. Personally, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. The deeper she sinks into the role, the better it fits our plan, and the easier it will be to hook Jiang Ran.”
Mm.
Recalling what the girl had originally been like, the old man in Tang robes closed his eyes.
“We told her that the target of this divine punishment was a sinner who had disrupted history and spacetime.”
“She’s a girl with an exceptionally strong sense of [justice], and she loathes all [criminals]. Although using that sense of justice sometimes leaves me ashamed, for a brighter future for humanity, these lies and sacrifices are necessary.”
“Exactly.” The middle-aged man strongly agreed. “That girl really does have a powerful sense of justice. She’s fundamentally different from the other believers.”
“There’s no denying that we use believers to do certain things that can’t be brought into the light. But we keep our promises. We do what we say. For every believer who completes their mission, we immediately resolve their regret. We have never gone back on our word.”
“But on the other hand, they do it willingly. Faced with a chance to make up for their regrets, they’re willing to pay any price and abandon any principle. So for anyone involved, it’s a fair trade.”
“But this girl—if we hadn’t deceived her into believing Jiang Ran was a criminal disrupting spacetime, she probably wouldn’t have cooperated with us merely for the sake of resolving her regret.”
“Even though that regret is something she would gladly give her life for and sacrifice everything for, she’s only willing to sacrifice her own life, not hurt others. Unless, like now, we make use of her sense of justice and blind her eyes.”
At this point, he sighed.
“At my age, sweet-talking and deceiving a young girl like this really does make me ashamed.”
“But as you said, for our great vision, for the better regulation of this world, [we must win this game].”
The old man in Tang robes turned around.
“Then it’s decided.”
He strode toward the door. “Have the girl bring Jiang Ran somewhere remote and hidden. Then let Fang Yang kill him.”
“As for the rest, I’ll have Lilith clean it up. The mysterious machine in the Film Camera Club activity room can also be recovered after Jiang Ran dies.”
“If we can still squeeze the very last bit of value out of Jiang Ran and obtain more intelligence and secrets, that would naturally be best.”
“If there’s no such opportunity, then so be it. Eliminate this unstable factor and preserve our current situation. Preserve our advantage.”
“This farce—ends here.”
The next day, inside the mini darkroom of the Donghai University Film Camera Club activity room.
The space was tiny, so cramped that even one person turning around was difficult.
And yet right now, two people were squeezed inside, bodies pressed together.
It couldn’t be helped. The Film Camera Club activity room was already the smallest room in the building, and under those conditions, carving out an extra darkroom for developing photos naturally meant they couldn’t ask for too much.
Inside the mini darkroom, there was almost no light at all.
Only a single eerie red tube lamp cast an extremely dim crimson glow.
Jiang Ran felt like he was about to go blind, like a rabbit blindfolded and tossed into a muddy pond.
“Ow.”
In front of him, Chi Xiaoguo let out a startled cry. “Senior, don’t keep pushing forward—I can’t let my hands shake right now.”
“Ah, sorry, sorry.”
Jiang Ran tried to step back, only to discover there was shelving behind him.
There was nowhere to retreat.
“I really didn’t expect developing photos to be such a technical job. It’s way harder than washing dishes.”
“There actually is integrated equipment for it.”
As Chi Xiaoguo worked with the developer solution, she explained to Jiang Ran, “But that kind of equipment has basically been phased out by the times too. If you want the most perfect photos possible, there absolutely can’t be any light at all, or it’ll inevitably affect the silver halide development to some extent.”
“But right now our conditions don’t allow for that. If I can’t see anything at all, then obviously I can’t work. So the compromise is red lighting, because silver halide has very low sensitivity to red light and won’t decompose easily.”
“Of course, the weaker the light, the better. And whenever possible, you should avoid light entirely, like using a blackout bag to work by touch.”
Jiang Ran nodded.
Chi Xiaoguo had already explained this before.
The primary light-sensitive material on the film strip was silver halide.
When using a film camera, the instant the shutter was pressed, outside light struck the film, and under that light the silver halide formed a latent image.
These latent images were invisible to the naked eye.
Only after chemical processing could they be developed and fixed into visible images.
After that came the next step: enlarging the complete image from the film onto photographic paper.
Then, after another sequence of operations, the finished photo would finally be produced.
The entire process was not only complicated, but also extremely strict in terms of temperature, timing, and chemical concentration.
No wonder this craft had been mercilessly eliminated by advanced digital cameras and printing technology.
At first, Jiang Ran had been very curious about the photo development process, which was why he had followed Chi Xiaoguo into the darkroom.
But now it was cramped and sweltering in here.
He regretted it.
Unfortunately, once the developing process had begun, he couldn’t open the door and leave, because that would let bright outside light in.
So—with no other choice, he could only endure it here until the whole process was finished.
After a long while.
Finally.
Chi Xiaoguo completed the full process and gave the signal that the door could now be opened.
“Holy crap, holy crap, it’s way too hot in there!”
Jiang Ran shoved the darkroom door open impatiently, wiped the sweat off his face, and walked out, tossing his jacket onto the sofa.
“I’m never going in there again!”
“Hey, there’s no helping it.”
Chi Xiaoguo followed right behind him and took off her jacket too. “Our conditions here are rough, so of course it’s tiny and hot inside.”
“But the first time is always like this. The experience isn’t great, but you’ll get used to it eventually.”
Click.
The activity room door was pushed open.
Fang Ze stood frozen, staring wide-eyed at the steaming pair in front of him, the jackets they had taken off, and—his thoughts inevitably drifting to the wildly suggestive things he had just heard Chi Xiaoguo say.
Click.
Without a word, as if rewinding a tape, he quietly closed the door again.
“Hey, hey, hey, why are you closing the door?!”
Jiang Ran hurriedly stopped him. “At least come in!”
Good grief, if Fang Ze actually ran off like this, there really would be no explaining it.
“I’m going to the restroom.”
Pure-hearted as always, Chi Xiaoguo remained innocently oblivious to any deeper implications.
Humming to herself, she walked right past Fang Ze, greeted him casually, and went off to the bathroom.
Inside the activity room, only Jiang Ran and Fang Ze remained, standing on opposite sides of the coffee table, staring at each other in silence.
“You’re pretty impressive.”
Fang Ze sighed from the heart.
“No, don’t go imagining things.”
Jiang Ran felt like he’d swallowed bitter medicine and couldn’t explain himself. “I’m baffled too. Why does it always happen that you all walk in at the exact worst moment?”
“Well, that’s definitely not our problem.”
Fang Ze said bluntly, “Maybe you should reflect on yourself. Don’t let things get out of hand.”
“What do you mean, out of hand?” Jiang Ran asked, confused.
Fang Ze sighed and spread his hands. “One minute you’re flirting and bickering with Cheng Mengxue, the next you’re tangled up with Xiaoguo. What exactly are you doing?”
“I’ve read a lot of Dragon Country youth novels. The male leads in those books are basically exactly like you—classic scumbag traits, left arm around one girl, right arm around another.”
“Are those even serious novels?” Jiang Ran shot back.
“According to those novels, guys like that are all hypocrites—holding onto what’s in their bowl while still reaching for the pot, surrounded by endless confidantes while colorful flags flutter outside too—”
At this point, Fang Ze narrowed his eyes in judgment and stared at Jiang Ran.
“You don’t happen to also have a girlfriend off campus… do you?”
“Hah!”
Jiang Ran burst out laughing. “Brother, how highly do you think of me? Do I really have that much charm?”
Please.
As for the flirting and bickering with Cheng Mengxue—
If it were the Cheng Mengxue from Worldline 0, when the two of them had been that close, he couldn’t completely deny it.
But the Cheng Mengxue in front of him now was not only真假难辨—impossible to tell real from fake—but also made Jiang Ran suspect that Fang Ze might actually be here to kill him.
Was he insane?
Flirting with a “killer” of unknown identity?
Right.
A killer.
Jiang Ran glanced toward the shelf in the corner of the activity room.
Inside the cardboard box behind it was the critically important Positron Cannon.
Now that Cheng Mengxue was suspected of having ties to the Mutual Aid Society of Regrets, possibly a “killer” sent by them—
The best way to verify it would be to visit the future prison in 2045 and have a proper talk with the killer Fang Yang, to see whether he could get any useful intelligence.
Unfortunately—
He turned his head again and looked at the dozens of Caimao cat plushies spread all around the room, every pair of eyes bright and alert.
These adorable Caimao cats now looked like hyper-tense secret agents, each one watching his every move, waiting for him to slip up.
Ever since the night Cheng Mengxue had caught him red-handed, Jiang Ran had not dared use the Positron Cannon even once.
And ever since that night, Cheng Mengxue had also been deliberately, casually bringing up topics like [time travel] and [changing history].
So at this critical moment, Jiang Ran believed he absolutely could not take the risk.
If the other side had truly come for the Positron Cannon—
Then using it rashly now, in front of the Caimao Cat Legion, would be no different from ruining everything at the last step and walking straight into the tiger’s jaws.
That afternoon, Jiang Ran arrived at Miao Miao Milk Tea and met with Granny Xu.
Without realizing it, the second-floor corner booth of this milk tea shop had already become their secret rendezvous point.
After the waiter brought over the milk tea and left, Jiang Ran told Granny Xu everything that had happened yesterday at Dazhi River Park.
“Mm…”
After listening, Granny Xu fell into thought.
“That reaction is completely understandable. And it was also genuine. What happened when you two were six or seven has always been Xiaoxue’s psychological trauma. She couldn’t get over it for a very, very long time as a child.”
“I remember that after that, Xiaoxue dragged you into swimming lessons. She practiced extremely seriously, and later even won awards in competitions. On the other hand, your attitude toward practice always made her very dissatisfied.”
“Oh right, speaking of that—did you observe Xiaoxue’s swimming level yesterday? If you suspect Xiaoxue is someone else in disguise, then there should be some difference in skill, right?”
Jiang Ran pursed his lips, recalling the torpedo-like figure cutting through the waves yesterday.
“Her swimming level was extremely high. Exactly the same as the Xiaoxue in my memory.”
He answered honestly, “I entered the water before her and had already swum pretty far. But after she jumped in, she caught up to me almost immediately. That kind of skill can’t really be faked.”
“And just like you said, Xiaoxue’s crazed reaction also didn’t look like an act. Especially that slap at the end—her whole body was trembling. It’s hard for me to imagine that acting alone could reproduce emotions and physical reactions that realistically.”
Granny Xu’s head was starting to ache.
“Then—what do you think now?”
Real and fake all tangled together.
Even Granny Xu truly couldn’t tell anymore.
“Since the day we parted, you’ve been investigating for a long time too. Have you reached a conclusion yet?”
Jiang Ran nodded.
“I’m now 99.99% certain that this Xiaoxue is definitely fake.”
“Then what are you hesitating for? Why not call the police?”
Granny Xu couldn’t understand.
“A 99.99% probability. Isn’t that already high enough?”
Jiang Ran let out a soft sigh.
“Isn’t there still… that 0.01%…”
“What kind of 0.01%?” Granny Xu pressed.
“I don’t know.”
Jiang Ran shook his head. “Maybe that final 0.01% is just a baseless sliver of hope deep in my own heart.”
“But I’ve already figured out how to carry out the final verification.”
As he spoke, he rummaged through his backpack, took out a glass bottle sealed with a cork, and set it on the table.
Granny Xu looked at the bottle.
It was the same thing she had seen over the summer.
The time capsule she and Cheng Mengxue had buried together as children, each containing a letter written to their twenty-years-later selves.
Her own glass bottle and letter were hidden safely at home.
As for Cheng Mengxue’s letter, she had already read it.
“I remember we already talked about this before.”
Granny Xu said, “You did ask Xiaoxue whether she remembered what was written in the letter, and she did say she didn’t. But considering a girl’s shyness and reserve, lying about it and refusing to admit it is perfectly understandable.”
“Exactly.”
Jiang Ran nodded. “But the premise for Xiaoxue lying and refusing to admit it back then was that she didn’t know I had already dug this bottle up.”
He looked straight into Granny Xu’s eyes.
“[If I put the glass bottle directly in front of her and tell her I’ve already read the contents of the letter inside, do you think she’d still have any reason to stay shy and reserved?]”
Granny Xu thought for a moment.
“She’d probably still be shy, but when it comes to the actual content of the letter, there’d naturally be no need to hide it or lie.”
“Because after all, you’ve already read it. So either she remembers it or she doesn’t. There’d be no point in stubbornly pretending otherwise.”
“If I confront her directly with this bottle and Xiaoxue still says she can’t remember the contents of the letter—not even a single sentence—then that obviously proves the issue.”
“At that point, the 99.99% probability becomes 100%, and the Donghai City Public Security Bureau can begin acting immediately. Then we won’t need to worry about alerting the enemy anymore. We have to dig out whoever is behind this!”
The moment he thought of someone impersonating Cheng Mengxue, impersonating the childhood friend closest to him, Jiang Ran couldn’t swallow that anger.
“The Donghai City Public Security Bureau and I have already locked onto the target. Unfortunately, there’s still no evidence, so we can’t make a move yet.”
“But if we can confirm that this Xiaoxue is fake—100% fake—then she can be arrested directly, and we can follow the trail to capture the mastermind behind everything.”
“No matter what their purpose is in doing this, desecrating the dead and toying with right and wrong—”
Jiang Ran clenched his fist.
“I will absolutely never forgive them!”