GPS is the abbreviation for the English term "Global Positioning System." As the name suggests, GPS is theoretically able to cover most of the Earth's surface and near-Earth space. At least, that's what the knowledge I found online tells me.

But now, my phone can't receive the GPS signal from Ma Zao.

How should I interpret this situation? Did Ma Zao travel to an area with poor signal? Or is there a problem with the device?

First, we can rule out the possibility of the bracelet's battery running out. The red GPS bracelet on Ma Zao's left wrist has a maximum standby time of three months, and when I gave it to her, the battery was fully charged. Secondly, it's also unlikely that the bracelet got damaged due to water while she was showering. When I purchased it, I specifically checked that the bracelet had a very high waterproof rating.

Perhaps she noticed the problem with the bracelet and immediately destroyed it... But is that really the case? Based on the gentle tone she used when speaking to me before we parted, it's hard to imagine that she has realized my true intentions.

All my preparations have failed, and I truly tasted the feeling of helplessness.

No, I can't give up yet!

I must struggle until the very last moment.

With this thought in mind, I once again entered the fire elemental form and condensed a large fireball, shooting it into the sky.

The fireball exploded in the sky, turning into thousands of "fireflies" that scattered like fireworks, shooting off in all directions.

Although Ma Zao disappeared from my sight, she may not have left Xianshui City. Next, I will conduct a carpet search of Xianshui City until I find her. It's a very foolish and inefficient method, but it's the only thing I can do right now.

In the fire elemental form, the more fire I gather to form my body, the stronger my physical performance becomes. Strength, speed, perception... even the processing speed of my consciousness can be considered an enhancement to my "physical performance."

Therefore, even with the thousands of images transmitted from the "fireflies," I am able to process them. Strictly speaking, this cannot be called "simultaneous and precise processing." Perhaps because my mental structure still leans toward being human, my consciousness still faces focus issues.

An ordinary person without superpowers might also understand my difficulty. Imagine someone holding three different colored pieces of paper, each with a line of text written on it, and displaying them to another person. The latter would definitely be able to quickly discern the colors of the three papers. However, if they were to try to figure out what each piece of paper says, they would have to go one by one.

I can only hastily process the images from different locations, sifting through them to see if there are any people who resemble Ma Zao in terms of clothing or height, and then focusing my attention on each of them one by one.

Furthermore, Xianshui City is still a city on a large scale. Although thousands of "fireflies" seem like a lot, conducting a carpet search of the entire city is incredibly challenging. What's even worse is that the city not only has outdoor areas but also a complex network of indoor spaces, making it even harder to search thoroughly.

By the time evening came, and the moon hung high in the sky, my mind was numb from searching. I still hadn't found any clues.

At the same time, I was still keeping an eye on the GPS signal, because Ma Zao might have just moved to an area with poor signal... but the GPS signal never appeared. It became clear that relying on this method was futile.

I had no choice but to exit the fire elemental form for now, allowing my stiffened consciousness some time to recover its flexibility.

Looking around, it was already late at night. The sound of cicadas filled the air, and the streets were lit up with the vibrant lights of nightlife. This ruined building felt like another world. For some reason, the wind here felt very cold, and I turned around and went downstairs.

As I passed through the hallway on the lower floor, I saw the room where I first met Ma Zao. The blood she left behind was still there, now a dark stain that was hard to recognize. Next to it was the lonely scaffolding, likely knocked over by her back then, causing a noise that drew me to her.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

On the way home, I walked through the crowd and bought two servings of spicy grilled pig's feet. Then, I entered the community and opened the door to my house.

The lights inside the house were off. Ma Zao had a bad habit: if I didn’t turn on the lights when I went out, she wouldn’t do it herself when night came. She would let the room remain pitch black.

The food in the fridge, I told her she could eat whatever she liked, but she wouldn’t take anything herself. Instead, she wanted me to take it out and give it to her. She wouldn’t accept food if I only bought one serving. Either I bought one for myself as well, or we would share it equally.

At first, she was also unwilling to turn on the TV herself. I had to tell her that she could learn about the current social system by watching the TV programs, and only then would she turn it on to watch. She didn’t watch entertainment shows, only political ones. She didn’t watch for long, though. Most of the time, she would read books and magazines from my house. Her expression was always serious.

It was only when she was eating that she would unconsciously show a childlike, innocent, and happy smile, treating the most ordinary food I made as a delicacy and eating it with great care. Every time I saw her eating so happily, it felt like those mealtime moments were sparkling, and I wished time could slow down.

Without saying a word, I pressed the lighting button at the entrance. Ma Zao usually stayed in the living room. When the dark living room was illuminated by white light, it was as if she would appear in the light. She would then jump off the sofa and quickly run over to me. I would hand her one of the servings of spicy grilled pig's feet, and she would grumble about me treating her like a child, but would obediently accept the pig’s feet.

But this scene did not unfold. The living room was empty; no one was sitting on the sofa, and silence filled the space.

I slowly walked into the living room, threw the plastic bag with the food onto the dining table, and then sat down on the sofa, just like how Ma Zao used to, zoning out. I wasn’t really recalling or thinking about anything in particular; I just wanted to empty my mind for a while.

However, not even a minute passed before I couldn’t sit still. I glanced toward the bedroom. Of course, Ma Zao wasn’t here; I was just checking. After looking, I wandered around the house, my mind drifting back to the moments of living together with her.

A moment later, I found myself in front of the fridge. On top of it was an old backpack, hidden near the wall. If I hadn’t known about it beforehand, I wouldn’t have noticed it was there. Inside the old backpack were a few things, including Ma Zao’s torn hospital gown and a real gun loaded with four bullets.

I returned to the sofa and opened the backpack. The hospital gown and gun were neatly placed inside. I took out the hospital gown and unfolded it.

Unlike the bloodstained appearance it had in the beginning, this hospital gown had been washed a little. It wasn’t me who washed it; it must have been Ma Zao when she took her first shower at my house, secretly washing it. But she clearly didn’t wash it thoroughly. I didn’t wash it again either; instead, I used my powers to dry and disinfect it before storing it away like this.

Would I ever meet her again?

What will my future be like? Will I return to the days when I can no longer encounter the strange things?

Is she doing alright out there? She doesn’t even understand mobile payments, doesn’t have any money, no phone or identification. What will she do when she gets hungry? Where will she spend the night?

With unresolved emotions, I put the hospital gown back into the old backpack.

At that moment, I noticed something was wrong.

The old backpack contained more than just the hospital gown and gun; there were other hidden items, one of which was Agent Kong’s charred fingertip. I had placed it in a glass jar and put it at the bottom of the main compartment of the backpack.

The glass jar was still lying in the backpack, but as its name implied, it was truly an empty jar now.

There was nothing inside!

I immediately took the empty jar out, thoroughly searched the old backpack, even turned it upside down and shook it, but still couldn’t find the charred fingertip.

Impossible. I clearly remember placing the charred fingertip in the jar, and the lid was sealed tightly, so it couldn’t have fallen out. Moreover, I hadn’t taken the charred fingertip out since then, nor had I taken the backpack down from the top of the fridge. The charred fingertip couldn’t have just disappeared on its own.

Unless someone took it!

Who?

In the past few days, the only person in this house, apart from me, was Ma Zao. Since I didn’t take it out, it could only have been Ma Zao who did.

It couldn’t have been a thief either. If that were the case, other valuables would have been missing, and I didn’t notice any such signs when I was moving around the house just now.

Taking a step back, let's assume that a thief entered the house, found the old backpack on top of my fridge, and discovered the gun inside. Yet, they only took the charred fingertip, which would be meaningless to an ordinary person... They even put the glass jar containing the fingertip back in place. Is that even possible?

If Ma Zao found this old backpack, I can only blame myself for not hiding it well enough. But the problem now is... why did she take the charred fingertip?

Did she recognize that the source of the fingertip was something extraordinary?

But why did she leave the gun behind? After all, not long ago, she wanted to take it back... Wait, she mentioned that even if she left, her influence on me would persist for several days... Was she trying to leave the weapon with me?

Could I use the charred fingertip as a clue to analyze her next movements?

I stared at the empty jar, thinking and analyzing repeatedly.

Perhaps I was fatigued from the earlier exhaustive search with the thousands of "fireflies," combined with my brain working at high speed. Not long after, I felt drowsy and unknowingly fell asleep.

Then, I had a dream.

A dream filled with gray mist...