Madness ecstasy

Doudou picked at the sticker on the bus window, clicking his tongue:

"Oh, you think too much!"

"If you ask me, you did the right thing. I've never seen a wrongly accused person be vindicated right from the start of a story. I feel like if you were arrested at that time, you would have been shot in the head before you even got into the police car."

"Have you never seen this before? As soon as you get in the car, they put a gun in your hand and blow your head off with another one; they say you're assaulting a police officer."

He tore off the sticker that someone had stuck on it and threw it into the trash can:

"Well, mainly from movies and TV shows. But art comes from life. Oh! I think I mentioned this once before."

The mathematician scratched the bus's metal floor, which was covered with gum and spit, with the toe of his shoe:

"Real life is not a work of art. Ultimately, I shouldn't have applied to Nanyang Technological University."

He suddenly stuck his head out the window: Even at midnight, the wind was still hot. Most of the buildings on both sides of the street were dark, and the bus was driving alone on the road - no headlights could be seen in front or behind.

"No one should be following us, right? What do you think? Do I need to keep my eyes on the back?"

Doudou opened his mouth wide, clapped his hands, and made strange noises:

"Ah wow wow wow wow wow -- how boring would it be without someone chasing you? I was thinking about trying one of those road chases. Stop looking, Doc, or your crappy glasses are going to fly off."

The mathematician finally pulled his head back and rubbed his shirt with his hands. He shook his collar and looked inside with a frown:

"My chest is really itchy. It's been itching for a long time. Why do I feel like I have eczema?"

Doudou watched the mathematician tug at his shirt:

"The weather in the autonomous prefecture is like this. Many of my classmates have had eczema. And people who are under too much stress can also get eczema - or is it urticaria? Anyway, it's something similar. Don't ask me, I haven't had it."

"It's normal. You've been wrongly accused and hunted. Normally, you'd have a fortuitous encounter, awaken special abilities, or at least have a girl suddenly appear and insist on marrying you. Having eczema isn't so bad, it's more or less a consolation prize."

Mathematicians were clearly not impressed by this itchy "consolation prize":

"I wonder where those agents who rushed in from the front came from."

Before leaving, Doudou dragged the bodies to the corridor outside to make it easier for the detectives who arrived later to clean them up:

"Oh! Speaking of which!"

"You're in big trouble, Doc. This is the first time I've heard the term 'corporate law enforcement': I've only seen Detroit outsource law enforcement to private companies in RoboCop. Jiaozhi Autonomous Prefecture doesn't do that."

"Doctor, I misunderstood you earlier. For a moment, I thought you were delusional or had a split personality, and you killed someone without even realizing it."

"Look now, there are actually people chasing you. And they're not just hooligans or thugs. They're all dressed like professionals."

The mathematician lowered his head, but the cardboard box creaked:

"By the way, are we still going to that radio station you mentioned?"

The mathematician felt himself immersed in this chaos and had begun to feel numb. He wanted to stay away from Doudou, the farther the better. But if he left this guy, he had no idea what to do next.

Doudou turned his head, his eyes seeming to be looking at a silly kid with a runny nose:

"Of course not!"

"Originally, we were going to play the announcement, which was... oh, to lure the snake out of its hole."

"Those dead guys up front were talking about corporate law enforcement, and they even threw a tear gas canister. It seems you're right about that. All those big companies are out to get you, and maybe even alive."

"But I killed them all at once. Even if we went to the radio station and screamed about it, the big companies wouldn't just send people to hunt us down. They're not stupid. Now that they know someone as powerful as me is protecting you, they won't send anyone else to die."

"So if you're not prepared, they probably won't come looking for trouble again—but I don't think there's enough time to prepare tonight; so using the radio won't work now."

"It's troublesome, really troublesome: if it's just me, I don't know where to go or who to kill."

"So—we're going straight to the police station now."

Hearing these two words, the mathematician raised his head suddenly:

"Ah? Go to the police? Turn ourselves in? And let the police protect us?"

Hearing this, Doudou was so shocked that his mouth opened wide and his eyes widened:

"What a psycho! How could it be possible—Oh, here it comes."

To the right of the bus, which was gradually coming to a stop, were the only two buildings on the street still shining brightly: the Mong Cai Municipal Hospital, diagonally across from the Mong Cai Municipal Police Station. Ambulances also honked by, sending patients to the emergency department.

The bus arrived at the station: from the rearview mirror, you can see the driver's suspicious eyes, looking at the two people whispering to each other.

What else does the mathematician want to say?

Doudou's hand wasn't big, but it gripped the mathematician's forearm with the squeeze of a hydraulic clamp, pulling him out of the car. For a short distance, the mathematician felt like both of his feet were off the ground, and he could only use his other hand and his armpit to hold the cardboard box tight.

Chapter 39 Audition

Doudou carried the mathematician from the bus stop to the police station.

"You can't just go to the police station and kill people!"

When the two men finally stopped, the mathematician still managed to muster a little blood from his limp limbs and spoke softly.

From their position, they could hear the commotion in the Mong Cai City Police Station, with indistinguishable shouts and curses coming from time to time, as well as the corresponding scolding - it seemed that quite a few drunks had already checked into the police station tonight.

It was precisely because of this that no law enforcement officers noticed the two of them at all.

Doudou half-turned his head and glanced at the mathematician doubtfully:

"What do you mean by killing people indiscriminately? What are you thinking?"

"Who do you think I am? A Doom Slayer in hell, killing anyone who moves? I just want to know who's chasing you. Come over and ask."

The mathematician seemed to have regained some strength. He adjusted his glasses, his gaze slightly shifting from Doudou's.

"So, do you want to ask directly? Civilians can't just pull files from the police station and check things. I don't understand why we have to go to the police station now."

"And—and—we are the suspects. If we go in, we'll be exposed."

"Oh! Aren't you a PhD? I thought since you're a mathematician, at least your mind is more active. Why are you always so dazed? You look like your brain isn't working properly today."

Doudou spread out his hands and pressed his fingers one by one onto his palms:

"We just killed those four people. The officers must have been investigating the crime scene—your home—while examining the scene, performing preliminary autopsies on those people, and checking their identities."

"And you have all these guns and money in your house! Not just yours, but also those guys who stormed in. So no matter what identity you used to rent the house, it would definitely be exposed; everyone would know there's something fishy about you, and there's no reason to start a weird fight."

"The Jiaozhi Autonomous Prefecture can't use that kind of assault rifle, okay? Even if you pretend to be some super gangster or the underground emperor of Mong Cai City, it's useless!"

"Right! You vomited so much—at least twice. Haven't you heard about this thing called [DNA testing] that's all the rage lately? I'm afraid you'll be found out right away that you're the [Iron Ruler Murderer]. Sorry, you're the fake [Iron Ruler Murderer] who was wrongly accused."

"But what difference does it make whether it's true or not? I'm the only one who knows your innocence! And speaking of those corpses just now—"

"They're wearing body armor and carrying some really cool fully automatic rifles. They're also wearing night vision helmets, infrared helmets, and all that other shit. These aren't things you can buy from mail-order magazines or TV shopping!"

"They're so well-equipped, and they're still yelling all sorts of nonsense, 'Hey, corporate law enforcement! I'll kill you if you don't surrender!' They've got to be a big company, maybe a giant multinational. They'll probably send someone to examine the body, then take it into custody, relocate it, or try to silence it."

"Even if we're not curious about how these employees died, we can't just leave these guns and equipment in Mong Cai and donate them to the police. What if someday a mischievous person follows this clue and finds out which company the equipment belongs to? Don't you agree? It makes sense!"

"Then if I catch the people sent by the company, wouldn't that let me find out who's after you? Then I can follow the clues. There's bound to be someone who knows the details and is willing to tell, right? Even if no one wants to tell, you can just kill them all and you won't be in trouble."

"Of course, they might have to wait a few days before sending someone to handle it, to avoid causing too much trouble. In that case, we could sit in on the autopsy! Or we could go dig around in the evidence room and ask a couple of the data guys and girls about the identities of the bodies. That would give us a rough idea of ​​what happened."

Doudou raised his elbow and nudged the mathematician, who was speechless and dazed.

"Well, what I said makes sense, doesn't it?"

The mathematician looked up and down, mumbling—he only caught the single key word he could still follow:

"Can I attend the autopsy?"

He wanted to say something like "It wasn't us who killed four people, it was you who killed four people." But the mathematician knew very well in his heart that he was now completely tied to Doudou - but he was afraid that even if he died, Doudou would not even get a scratch.

If Doudou hadn't been there, the mathematician would have probably been taken away by this heavily armed guy of unknown origin.

And—DouDou was right. Although the boy before him was a fellow who could tear a person to pieces with his bare hands, he was indeed capable of using his brain and even loved to use his brain.

It is difficult to see this characteristic from that beautiful and delicate face that does not show any human emotions.

What's going on? Why does it feel like he has more social experience than me? Is it because I don't watch movies on tape?

Doudou dragged the mathematician along, walked straight past the police station, and continued forward:

"Can't you just hide in the ceiling and listen in? Come on, I'll take you there. I was here two years ago, and I wonder if that ventilation duct is still there."

The mathematician was somewhat numb from what he said, and followed Doudou blankly:

"Doudou—you, aren't you still in middle school? Where did you learn these ideas?"

Doudou suddenly turned around, frowning; it was the first time he looked so serious since this journey:

"'Sloppy Modern Detective 2: The Vault Heist'. Haven't you played it? It's a lot of fun! The guide I copied from a magazine kept getting stuck, and I figured out a route to the end bit by bit on my own. Hey, gotta admit, I do have a pretty good brain. Why would I get stuck on something like math homework?"

"It seems that mathematics has a great impact on the overall development of young people like me. Oh! Well, that's not true. I just can't learn it well. What will I do if I have to study other subjects like physics and chemistry in the future? It's over. When God closes a window for you, he will also close the door by the way--"

Doudou was walking backwards, muttering to himself, leading the mathematician, who was already speechless, into the gap next to the police station.

Next to the Mong Cai City Police Station is a small shopping mall. The first half of the sign is no longer clear, and only the suffix "Trade City" can be seen. The brick surface of the exterior wall is red with gray, and ivy is all over it. At night, it gives a fluffy and hazy illusion.

Doudou reached into the mathematician's armpit with his left hand and grabbed it; the five fingers of his right hand, the toes of his left and right feet silently sank into the wall, and the mud and plaster powder peeled off and fell to the ground.

He was like a spider gripping its prey, or King Kong the gorilla clutching a beautiful woman: after a few leaps, he had climbed to the upper floors of the Trade City in the blink of an eye.

cluster!

Doudou carried the mathematician like a briefcase, bounced from a height, and landed on the top floor of the police station:

He dug and dug at the rooftop floor, and finally lifted a heavy rectangular cement slab and placed it aside, then pulled the mathematician with him into the exposed gap underneath.

-

This doesn't look like a ventilation duct, but more like a cave dotted with spider webs: cold white light shines in through the horizontal window strips, like clusters of temperatureless flames, illuminating the dust scattered in the air.

Even at this late hour, most of the offices in the police station were still brightly lit. Perhaps it was because of the horrific events that had occurred in Tianhu Community tonight—the weapons, the shootout, the multiple murders—but it seemed as if this small town's law enforcement was entering a new realm it had never encountered before.

Doudou crawled in front, and the mathematician moved behind; it was said to be "crawling" - but Doudou was more like a gecko or spider magnified countless times, moving silently between the walls of the duct; it even bounced back and forth between the four walls of the ventilation duct from time to time, but the mathematician could not feel the vibration of a heavy object colliding.

He almost thought that Doudou was just a strange monster that he had imagined under extreme pressure - the kind of monster that only he could see.

Crawling through such a fragile pipe was an unprecedented experience. The walls might collapse at any moment, and the mathematician would be inexplicably arrested for something like trespassing in a police station, becoming a fugitive: this uncontrollable thought tormented him, buzzing in his mind.

Doudou, who was jumping in front, suddenly pinched his throat to a shrill tone and sighed in a strange tone:

"There's not much dust in this ventilation duct. Did the cleaning lady come in and clean this part too? Oh, no, actually, only the bottom part isn't dusty. Did someone crawl over here first?"

Chapter 40 Pipeline

Doudou's voice, which was deliberately made shrill, echoed in the narrow pipe and gradually became a rustling sound like the movement of a mouse.

"You...you're speaking with your throat pinched, and your voice is very low."

The mathematician covered his mouth with his palm and gasped.

"Huh? I saw that's how they talk during covert operations in movies. Is there something wrong with my learning?"

Doudou turned his head and rolled his eyes in confusion; then he turned his head again and flew back and forth in the pipe.

-

Hiss--Boom. Hiss--Boom. Hiss--

The mathematician stretched out his arms again, pushing the cardboard box in front of his face a short distance forward; then he grabbed his sides and dragged his body forward. Doudou wanted him to leave the cardboard box, which had been twisted into an irregular polygon, outside - but the mathematician once again insisted on his own will and refused to obey no matter what.

Of course, Doudou wouldn't really beat him to death: Doudou thought he was still very understanding, and such a small matter wouldn't require chopping someone's head off.

“Eh—eh?”

Doudou in front suddenly let out a strange and puzzled cry, which could be heard far away.

The mathematician struck a cat-like yoga pose in the narrow tube, straining his back and tilting his head back to look ahead over the cardboard box.

Doudou's ten fingers gripped the two sides of the hard board tightly like paper balls, his torso and lower body suspended in the air, motionless. He was squinting, looking down at the dark window pane below him from above.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Do you want to run now?"

After crawling in the pipe for so long, the mathematician had long been accustomed to Doudou's strange movements; but it was the first time that Doudou made such a surprising sound, which made the mathematician not care about the tone of his words.

"Shh!"

Doudou raised one hand, put his index finger in front of his mouth, and spit out a vicious breath; then he pointed downwards:

At the edge of the vent, a narrow electronic device rested on a base. It resembled a microphone, except the protrusion wasn't an oval sponge, but a mirrored, one-eyed object. A blue light flickered in the corners, making it stand out prominently within the duct.

Camera!