Chapter 441: Rainforest and Positioning |
April 7, Sakura Prayer.
A dozen or so young people carried their luggage into the depths of the rainforest together.
Back in peaceful times, when this land still belonged to the Andai State, many people would hike deep into this rainforest every year to feel the breath of nature.
Now these dozen or so Sakura Prayer youths had agreed online, after the new rules were announced, to leave the city together, venture into the rainforest, and return to a primitive lifestyle to avoid microplastic contamination.
“Everyone, keep it up. If we push forward a bit more and find a suitable spot to set camp, we can settle down!”
A short young man wearing a pure cotton shirt pumped his fist to encourage the others.
His name was Takahashi. In peaceful times he had worked as an environmental investigator and had rich outdoor experience, so the group unanimously chose him as the team leader.
“Takahashi, whew… do we still have to go further…”
A woman in the group wiped sweat from her brow and asked, panting.
“Well, I think we should walk a bit more to be safe.” Takahashi replied with an apologetic smile. Despite being chosen as leader, he didn’t put on airs and kept a humble tone.
“This forest is so dense, microplastics won’t spread here, right?”
“Come on, Takahashi’s an expert. Let’s listen to him.”
“Exactly, stop complaining.”
The group chose to trust Takahashi’s professional judgment and continued deeper into the forest.
They set out at noon and didn’t stop until evening, when they finally paused and found a spacious area to start setting up camp for sleeping.
In the past, for a wild camping trip, a simple tent or sleeping bag would do. But now, since the rules came into effect, those items were unusable—mass-produced tents and sleeping bags without exception contained large amounts of plastic.
“There used to be some pure cotton canvas or linen eco-tents, but the drawbacks were either heavy and unsuitable for carrying, or they were prone to mildew. And many eco-tents were handmade and expensive, always niche.”
Takahashi explained as he used branches and leaves cut from trees to construct a temporary shelter.
“Eh—if not for these new rules, I would never have realized how pervasive plastic is in human society!”
“Yeah, it’s reached a point where you can’t live without it.”
“Well, now we’ve left. Forced, but still.”
“This is great! I’ve hated city life for a long time!”
They chatted as they worked, following Takahashi’s guidance.
A couple of hours later, they completed a large tent tied with leather ropes, built with an all-natural wooden frame and covered with branches and leaves.
Crude as it was, it would at least keep them dry and provide somewhere to sleep, which was enough.
“Ah… that was hard work.”
“My legs are dead, and we cut wood so long—I'm exhausted!”
They flopped down in a ragged heap. At that moment a sharp “click” sounded. Everyone turned to see a middle-aged man lighting a cigarette.
Takahashi immediately shouted, “Hey, what are you doing!”
The man froze. “I’m tired and wanted a smoke, what’s wrong with that?”
A girl frowned and scolded, “This is a forest. How can you smoke here? What if it starts a fire?”
The man sneered, “This is a rainforest, kid. It's not that easy to start a fire. Besides, I’m just lighting one cigarette. I’m not an idiot who would set a blaze.”
“You…”
“This isn’t about fire!” Takahashi pointed at the man, “It’s about plastic!”
Plastic?!
Hearing that, everyone moved away from the man and looked at the silvery lighter in his hand.
The man glanced down at the lighter in his right hand and suddenly flared up, “Do you think I’m stupid? This is a high-end all-metal lighter!”
Takahashi urged, “I’m talking about the cigarette itself. Don’t you know many cigarette filters contain plastic? Dispose of them!”
“What? There’s plastic in the filter? No way…” The man looked at the filter, already wet from his saliva. His hand shook and the cigarette dropped to the ground. “I forgot to check. If there’s really plastic…”
Someone asked, “Takahashi, what should we do now? Burn them?”
Before Takahashi could answer, another jeered, “Idiot move. If you burn them the microplastics will spread even more!”
“Ah…”
“Bury them!” Takahashi instructed the blundering man, “Go dig a deep hole away from camp and bury all the cigarettes you brought. Burying in soil should reduce microplastic spread.”
“Y-yes… I understand…”
Realizing he’d caused trouble, the man didn’t argue and hurried off with a small iron shovel to pick up the dropped cigarette and run out of camp.
Once he left, the others vented.
“What a person… We all agreed online not to bring any plastic.”
“Right? He looked a little dumb, but I didn’t expect he’d be that dumb!”
“He almost killed us…”
“Alright everyone.” As team leader, Takahashi smoothed things over, “He was careless and probably thought those old-fashioned cigarettes were only tobacco and paper.”
“Takahashi, don’t defend that old man!”
“Good thing you noticed quickly, otherwise who knows what would have happened.”
“Yeah, I read online about a girl in Beixing who died suddenly from microplastic poisoning because she used a facial cleanser. So scary.”
They surrounded Takahashi, gawking at him with a bit of admiration. In this environment, a leader who knew the outdoors and had keen observation skills could bring a lot of security to the team.
After a while, the man returned with his shovel. Facing the group’s stares, he awkwardly said, “I buried the cigarettes. I dug a very deep hole and piled on a lot of soil. It’s absolutely fine.”
“Burying them’s fine.” Takahashi said, “Everyone’s tired from the day. Let’s eat something and get some rest.”
“Okay, we’ll follow Takahashi!”
They took out some small metal cans—rations they’d brought from the city. With Sakura Prayer’s population now so diminished, per-capita resources were relatively abundant; after the rules were announced, each person had received over ten small metal cans.
But unlike Beixing, where one can per day might be issued, Sakura Prayer’s ten-plus cans were a one-time distribution. Once eaten, they wouldn’t be replenished. That meant they had to be disciplined, or they’d squander their rations in the first days and face hunger for the remainder of the rules period.
After eating, they lay down to rest. Because of the cigarette incident, everyone kept their distance from the man, who sensed he was unwelcome and lay alone in the corner.
Though Takahashi felt sympathy at the isolation, he couldn’t change the others’ opinions. After arranging a night watch rotation, he rested.
Sleeping in this rainforest at night felt overwhelmingly humid.
Even without rain, moisture clung everywhere. Everyone felt sticky and uncomfortable on their skin.
Add to that the chorus of insect chirps and other rustling unknown sounds, and it was hard not to feel tense.
Fortunately, collective presence greatly increases a sense of safety. So even if the outside noises sounded frightening, knowing ten-plus companions lay nearby brought some comfort.
Takahashi slept in a haze for an unknown length of time until someone shook him hard awake.
“Takahashi, wake up!”
“Ugh… What’s up?”
“Look at that man!”
Takahashi jolted fully awake. The two on watch were shouting in panic, and several people screamed when they saw the state of the man sleeping in the corner.
A large swelling had bloomed on the side of his face, waxy and jaundiced—clearly not right.
“Oh my god! What’s wrong with him!”
“Is this microplastic poisoning?!”
“Does anyone know treatment?”
While the group panicked, Takahashi rushed to the man, shook him hard and shouted, “Hey, can you hear me?”
When he touched him he discovered the man’s body was rigid. Feeling for breath at the nostrils, he found none—he was completely dead.
Takahashi stood stunned, taking a long moment to recover, then turned to the terrified group, “He—he’s dead…”
…
Late at night, second floor of the Wordless Book shelter.
Guan Tong sat at his computer, looking at the private message thread between him and Adam.
Earlier, after he had forwarded Moon Key’s prophecy, Adam replied, “Thanks for your concern. If I die, I will have died for a worthy cause.”
That reply made it clear Adam intended to do something dangerous, and it also indirectly confirmed Moon Key’s vision of his death was not baseless.
Guan Tong then messaged Adam asking where he was and whether he needed help.
But Adam never replied again, which left Guan Tong a bit troubled.
He and Adam weren’t especially close; whatever dangerous action Adam chose to take didn’t obligate Guan Tong to help. He had no duty to intervene.
But he had an agreement with Moon Key.
Moon Key had used prophecy to help him find a surviving assassin working for Commander’s circle, Wei Huo, which led to uncovering Han Qiu—the dangerous figure who had long lurked in the shadows.
This matter was important to Guan Tong. Without knowing Han Qiu’s existence, the constant targeting of him would have seemed minor, and he would have remained unable to find the true culprit who killed Suzuki.
Besides, Han Qiu acted ruthlessly. When he couldn’t find a breakthrough through Guan Tong himself, he would target those close to him—something Guan Tong could never tolerate.
So as repayment to Moon Key, Guan Tong intended to do his utmost to fulfill their agreement and alter her prophecy about Adam’s death.
Now Adam wasn’t replying…
Guan Tong thought for a moment and decided, “Looks like I have to start from the device address again.”
He had done this before: reverse-locating a user’s device address through their Ascendant Home account.
Previously he used the method to find the bomber Wu Wang, who had framed him, and eventually wiped out Wu Wang’s violent gang.
Now he would use the same technique to locate Adam.
He accessed the site backend and pulled all data linked to Adam’s account.
In the address field there was a set of recent coordinates.
Guan Tong entered those coordinates into the world map system and immediately pinpointed a location.
“This is…”
He zoomed in and found the coordinates were actually over a stretch of ocean!
This jolted him back to Moon Key’s earlier prophecy: the image of Adam’s corpse floating in the sea.
“What would Adam be doing out at sea?”
Guan Tong couldn’t make sense of it. Those coordinates were Adam’s last known position. Refreshing the backend showed no update, meaning Adam either hadn’t logged in again or had discarded his network device.
Staring at the coordinate point, Guan Tong considered whether he should go. No matter what, he couldn’t break his promise to Moon Key.
“Troupe Leader.”
Uenoshi’s voice came from the doorway.
“Come in, Uenoshi.”
She entered and said, “I plan to go to Bandzhen.”
“To Bandzhen? Isn’t Suzuki’s case already resolved?”
“Precisely because there’s a result, I want to keep working to find the killer, to find Han Qiu. Black Star’s situation gave me inspiration. I plan to build a local Sakura Prayer intelligence network in Bandzhen.”
“You… build an intelligence network…”
Guan Tong found it hard to believe Uenoshi could propose this.
“Why not?” Uenoshi countered. “It sounds odd, but when I was in the Chosen Team I had some juniors. Some of them still serve in Sakura Prayer’s Peace Office. I think I can get them to listen to me.”
Guan Tong considered and said, “I understand. Black Star has an underground intelligence network in Xisiya, so you want to replicate something here in Sakura Prayer. But given Sakura Prayer’s current scale—after the homeland sank we only have Bandzhen and Antu, totaling a few million people—is this really necessary?”
“I think it’s necessary.” Uenoshi’s gaze was earnest, as if she’d decided she must do it.
Guan Tong inexplicably felt that since Black Star and White Star began calling her Deputy Troupe Leader, she’d changed—becoming more proactive. Perhaps being a deputy made her feel she must shoulder responsibility and do things for the troupe’s development.
“Fine, then go.” Guan Tong said. “Within the troupe, this time the rules affect you the least, so I trust you most.”
Uenoshi’s body was covered in scales and sealed against toxins, so microplastics couldn’t penetrate her. By contrast, Guan Tong himself could be seriously threatened by the new rules—he might even suffer internal damage if he was careless.
With Guan Tong’s approval, Uenoshi relaxed and nodded. She glanced at the map coordinates on Guan Tong’s screen and asked, “Are you going out?”
“Yes, probably.”
“This coordinate looks far.” Uenoshi frowned. “The rules are a serious threat to you, Troupe Leader. It would be safer to stay in the shelter until they end.”
Guan Tong smiled helplessly, “If I could, of course I wouldn’t want to go on a risky outing. But I promised Moon Key. As repayment for her helping me find Wei Huo, I have to try to help Adam… You can’t break a promise.”
“…”
Uenoshi stared at the screen and then at Guan Tong. “If the location is in the ocean, then I’ll go with you. My deep-sea serpent bloodline will perform best in that environment.”
Guan Tong brightened, “That’s true. Alright, we’ll do this together, then you can head to Bandzhen afterward.”