According to the mission briefing, the Information Building stood fifty stories tall, with an average floor height of five meters. Searching the entire structure as a single unit would be too inefficient, so the team decided to split up.
Xun Yin chimed in: 【You, Lian Muyun, and Tang Qiuqiu in one group; let the male and female leads form the other. Any objections?】
"Can I borrow your male lead for a bit?" Xin Ye asked.
【What are you planning?】
Xin Ye recalled the location of the flower pot containing the sparrow’s corpse. "A speedrun."
Satellite data indicated that the Sparrow Vine had grown from a single point inside the building before crawling outward. Their mission was to find the soil where the vine originated and eliminate the mutant at its source.
Had he not seen it with his own eyes in his past life, Xin Ye would have found it hard to believe that such a colossal, sky-reaching plant had sprouted from a tiny flower pot.
In its later stages of growth, the Sparrow Vine’s nutrient intake had nothing to do with the meager soil in that pot. However, the catalyst for the mutation—the core source of the foreign genetic material—remained the sparrow carcass within it.
As long as that flower pot was destroyed, the Sparrow Vine would completely wither within two weeks. After that, the team’s only task would be to safely evacuate while the vines went into a death frenzy.
Leng Xianye’s "Black Box" ability, which was considered somewhat useless in the early stages of his development, was perfectly suited for disposing of the pot.
Xun Yin made a quick decision: 【Sure. This guy’s market price is five hundred yuan an hour. Dispatch him however you like.】
Thinking of Leng Xianye’s future net worth, Xin Ye felt this was a bargain. "Once he becomes the Savior, five hundred yuan might not even buy a minute of his time."
Jokes aside, Xin Ye had no way of actually paying Xun Yin.
The final groups were settled: Xin Ye and Leng Xianye in one pair, with Xing Yue, Lian Muyun, and Tang Qiuqiu in the other. Since Xin Ye also had his Mirror Image, the distribution of manpower and combat strength was fairly balanced.
The trio would investigate from the ground floor up, while Xin Ye and Leng Xianye would head straight to the top and work their way down. This way, the two groups would gradually move toward each other until they met, staying in touch via communicators.
The elevators had long since broken down, but the stairs in the emergency exit were relatively free of vines.
The Mirror Image led the way, reporting "clear" to the two behind him as they passed each floor. Meanwhile, Leng Xianye analyzed the situation incessantly.
"An information building wouldn't typically have areas with large amounts of soil. I suspect there might be an underground space," Leng Xianye said, his expression stoic even as his imagination took flight. "An underground research facility or a lab, perhaps?"
Xin Ye hummed in agreement. "Then Lian Muyun and the others have a tough task ahead of them."
Leng Xianye took this seriously. "Then we should finish our search quickly and go down to help them."
*What a naive little Savior,* Xin Ye thought. If only he had a biscuit stick right now; he could hold it in his mouth like a cigarette and take a few contemplative puffs.
Xun Yin, who had been idle for a while, crunched on a pack of crackers by his desk. 【Small mobs ahead. Player, prepare for combat.】
"Got it." Xin Ye sharpened his focus.
When they reached the thirty-second floor, the Mirror Image signaled for them to stop. "Something’s ahead."
"Can you see what it is?" Xin Ye’s hand moved to the grip of the pistol at his waist.
"...Purple sparrows with no life signs?"
Two gunshots rang out. The Mirror Image had fired immediately, knocking down the lead sparrows.
Without needing a word, Xin Ye and Leng Xianye sprang into action.
The feathers of the purple sparrows were soaking wet. Even as their wings flapped erratically in a twisted manner, they couldn't maintain stable flight. This made aiming difficult, so Xin Ye simply drew the dagger strapped to his leg and began a real-life game of Fruit Ninja.
Xun Yin, always adept at writing action scenes, let his mind wander as he typed: 【Hmm... Grape Sparrows. Why wouldn't that count as a type of fruit?】
Xin Ye cut through the sparrows swarming him with swift, decisive strokes. Looking at his slightly corroded dagger, he felt a pang of regret. "This feels more like cutting bombs than fruit."
Beside him, Leng Xianye had been foolishly firing his gun for a while. Seeing Xin Ye switch to a dagger, he followed suit. It was as if he had discovered a new world; the more he killed, the brighter his eyes shone.
After the battle ended and he wiped his blade, Leng Xianye walked over to Xin Ye with the air of a humble student seeking guidance. "How did you react so quickly to switch to the dagger?" His movements had been crisp and practiced, like a veteran with the blade.
Xin Ye thought to himself: *I can't exactly tell him this is combat intuition forged from countless missions, can I?*
He tried to toss the question to Xun Yin, but the author threw up his hands: 【You figure it out. I have writer's block.】
Xin Ye adopted the same tone he used to trick Tang Qiuqiu into the team. "It’s just the three 'mores': more sparring, more grinding small mobs, and more reading other people's mission reports. The instructors said this is what top students must do."
Speaking of which, his report on the Wounded Fish-Insect was overdue. He’d have to write it as soon as he got back from this job. What a life of toil.
"So that's it... I haven't been working hard enough." The Savior, whose character profile included the "hardworking" trait, looked momentarily dazed before his gaze hardened with resolve. "Thank you for telling me this."
Xin Ye patted his shoulder, ignoring the sound of someone stifling a laugh in his head. "Keep it up."
Leng Xianye knelt down to observe the purple sparrows. "Can your Mirror Image confirm these things have no life signs? Then what’s moving them?"
"They truly have no life signs," the Mirror Image stated, standing guard nearby. "I am a sentient ability evolved from a lifeless reflection; my perception of such things is never wrong."
Knowing the answer, Xin Ye handed Leng Xianye a dagger. "Cut one open and see. My blade is already dirty anyway."
Leng Xianye was, after all, a young master from a family of high-ranking officials at Headquarters. He was willing to endure hardship, but dissecting a mutant was a first. He hesitated as he looked at the small avian corpse.
Then, he saw Xin Ye’s calm, steady gaze fixed on him.
A sudden, inexplicable surge of competitiveness rose in his chest. Leng Xianye steadied his trembling hand and made the first cut.
When he opened the sparrow and saw the internal organs, he froze. "This is..."
Xin Ye took a shallow breath. "Parts of the vine have grown into the sparrow's body. It’s not the sparrow that’s conscious; it’s the vine manipulating the corpse."
Inside the sparrow’s body, clinging to the small organs that had shriveled from lack of life, were countless fine threads. Some of these threads had bored into the wings and legs, using them like puppet strings to move the body.
The air was thick with the cloying sweetness of grapes mixed with the metallic stench of dead sparrow blood, a combination that made one’s stomach churn.
Xin Ye had seen far worse; a minor mutation like this couldn't faze him. He had the Mirror Image pull a bottle of alcohol spray from a mirror shard to clean his hands, then spoke to Leng Xianye, who was still crouching on the floor. "Let’s go. Should we keep heading up, or find where these purple sparrows are coming from first?"
Leng Xianye looked up at Xin Ye, puzzled. "You don't find this disgusting? You're not afraid?"
Looking at Leng Xianye like this, Xin Ye felt a strange sense of irony.
The first time he had performed this mission, he had been paired with Lian Muyun. They had encountered the purple sparrows and spent ages dry-heaving while clutching the stair railing, severely delaying their progress. After returning, Leng Xianye had pulled him aside for a long lecture on professionalism.
Remembering he was still connected to another person in his head, Xin Ye couldn't help but complain: "If this scene were played out in my past life... can I call it a past life? If people saw Leng Xianye kneeling beside a D-rank like me, they’d think it was a fantasy film."
【Go ahead and flex,】 Xun Yin’s tone sounded like a billionaire making a promise to his heir. 【You’re the protagonist now. I’ve got your back.】
Thus, Xin Ye put on a very solemn expression. "You’d better adapt quickly... The world is becoming increasingly hostile to human survival. We don't have much time left."
Leng Xianye stood up resolutely and nodded.
"Let's keep going up. Finding the source of the vine is the priority."
Over the remaining dozen floors, the fruit and foliage became denser. Xin Ye and Leng Xianye encountered purple sparrows several more times, but they were easily dealt with. Curiously, the frequency decreased the higher they went, as if... the vine had given up resisting.
In his previous life, Xin Ye had investigated the lower floors with Lian Muyun and hadn't known the situation up here. Back then, he had been so focused on progress that he hadn't bothered to look for reasons. Upon reaching the fiftieth floor, he and Leng Xianye began a rapid search.
According to the signs on the wall by the stairwell, the entire fiftieth floor was the office of the Information Building’s General Manager. Since he remembered the flower pot being on the forty-sixth floor, his search here was somewhat perfunctory.
Leng Xianye, however, was exceptionally thorough, refusing to overlook a single detail.
He found a document in the middle drawer of the desk and, sensing something suspicious, wanted Xin Ye to look at it. On his way over, he nearly tripped over a green vine on the floor.
Xin Ye turned just in time to see Leng Xianye steadying himself against a bookshelf. He wondered why he had never noticed Leng Xianye was a bit of a klutz before.
*How strange. Did the butterfly effect of my return make him stupider?*
"Look at this," Leng Xianye said, quickly trying to divert Xin Ye’s attention. "This agreement was signed three years after the Awakening began—two years before the apocalypse officially started. It’s for a new project to build a laboratory within this building."
Xin Ye took a closer look when he heard the word "laboratory." "You actually guessed right. There’s a lab here? We can ask Lian Muyun what they found, but does an information building really need a lab?"
Their business was all communication-related commerce; there was no need for such a facility.
"Could it be a front? Maybe they were using the lab for something else?" Leng Xianye made another bold guess.
This time, Xin Ye agreed it was possible. "Perhaps, but it’ll be hard to verify now. Take a photo, then let’s keep looking for clues."
The multi-functional watches worn by ability users had a built-in camera. Both of them snapped a picture of the agreement.
Finding no other useful information on this floor, Xin Ye and Leng Xianye began working their way down. After searching for a while, Xin Ye noticed Xun Yin hadn't spoken in a long time and asked, "I remember correctly, right? The flower pot is on the forty-sixth floor?"
【Yeah, that’s where you found it last time,】 Xun Yin replied. After a long silence, he suddenly asked, 【How does it feel to redo this mission? You’ve found some new things, haven't you?】
"It’s alright," Xin Ye said, tossing a few work logs aside. "For the sake of completing the mission, the process isn't that important. Having the answer is enough."
Xun Yin sighed: 【Is that so? That’s how you think?】
*If I’m going to make him a good protagonist, I still need to correct his mindset,* Xun Yin thought.
Xin Ye probably didn't realize that an author rarely writes information that is completely useless.
***
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Promoted to Protagonist: Persecuted by the Meta-Narrative | Chapter 3 | The Root of the Vine | Novela.app | Novela.app
