59: Chapter 59 I Have Special Finding Skills

The next afternoon, 3:30 PM.

Jinghai City Subway Terminus, Administrative Office Area.

Manager Zhang of the Subway Operations Department was looking at the two people sitting on the sofa, his forehead covered in sweat.

One was young, pale-faced, wearing a gray hoodie, looking like a college student who had just skipped class.

The other was sturdy, in a black suit and sunglasses, sitting bolt upright like a recently retired bodyguard.

Most importantly, that bodyguard was holding a black identification booklet.

Although Manager Zhang had never seen that kind of ID before, the gold-stamped national emblem and the three words "Huake Institute" on it made his legs tremble.

"Um... Comrade," Manager Zhang rubbed his hands together and asked cautiously, "Is there some kind of... radiation leak in our subway? Or some geological hazard?"

People from the Huake Institute were here; this was no small matter!

Jiang Feng sat on the sofa, playing with an object he had taken out of the system space.

It was a thin silver chain with a sharply faceted white crystal hanging at the end.

The crystal wasn't transparent; it was even a bit cloudy, but under the light, a hint of eerie purple light would occasionally flash through it.

"Manager Zhang, don't be nervous."

Jiang Feng wrapped the crystal pendulum around his fingertips. "It's nothing major. We're just working on a... sociology project regarding 'Urban Magnetic Fields and the Probability of Item Loss'."

"Huh?" Manager Zhang's mouth hung open. "So... Sociology?"

"Yes," Old Chen added from the side with a stern face. "This is a national-level key project. We're researching why umbrellas always disappear in the subway."

Manager Zhang felt like his brain wasn't quite keeping up.

The disappearance of umbrellas needs a national-level research project?

Isn't that just because everyone forgets them?

But seeing Old Chen's murderous expression, he didn't dare to argue.

"Then... what do you two need us to cooperate with?"

"Clear a space for us." Jiang Feng pointed outside. "Right in the Lost and Found hall. I need to... collect data there."

Ten minutes later.

In a corner of the Lost and Found Center hall.

Jiang Feng had moved an office desk over and covered it with a piece of black velvet cloth he'd gotten from somewhere.

There was no fortune-telling cylinder or compass on the table, only that crystal pendulum suspended in mid-air.

Beside it stood that familiar small whiteboard, the handwriting on it still bold and flamboyant:

[Lost Item Consultation]

[No living persons, only inanimate objects]

[No matter what you've lost, the answer is here]

[This consultation is for academic research; no cash accepted]

Manager Zhang stood at a distance, watching the scene, feeling that something about the vibe was off.

Is this really scientific research?

Why does it look more and more like a fortune teller under a bridge?

It was currently the eve of the evening rush hour, and people were coming and going at the Lost and Found.

The place was piled with all sorts of bizarre things: mountains of umbrellas, various water bottles, a single shoe, and even a pair of crutches and a pressure cooker.

Most people who came here were filled with anger and urgency.

"Hey! What's wrong with you people! I clearly remember losing it on Line 3!"

A man wearing a plaid shirt and thick glasses was roaring at the staff member behind the counter.

He was drenched in sweat, his greasy hair plastered to his forehead, and the zipper on his backpack was open.

"Sir, we really haven't received it," the staff member explained helplessly. "All the found electronic products are right here, and the mobile hard drive you mentioned isn't among them."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The man stamped his feet in desperation, his voice sounding like he was on the verge of tears. "In there... my life is in there!"

"Sir, please calm down..."

"How can I calm down! Inside are all the private keys for the Bitcoin I've mined over the past few years! It's worth tens of millions! Tens of millions!!"

As soon as these words came out, the entire hall went silent for a second.

Tens of millions?

Everyone's gaze focused on this ordinary-looking Programmer.

The staff member was also stunned. Something worth tens of millions—if that was lost, it really was a life-and-death matter.

"Call the police," someone suggested.

"I did! The police said it's virtual property, and there happened to be a surveillance blind spot where it wasn't filmed, so it's hard to open a case!" The Programmer clutched his hair, sliding down the counter onto the floor. "It's over... it's all over..."

Just then, a cool voice drifted out from the corner.

"The one in the plaid shirt."

Jiang Feng sat behind the black velvet cloth, holding the silver chain in his hand, the crystal pendant swaying slightly in the air.

"Why not come over and give it a try?"

The Programmer looked up abruptly, his eyes bloodshot.

He saw the strange stall and the sign that said "Lost Item Consultation."

Normally, as a code monkey who worshipped science, he would definitely have cursed "lunatic."

But now, he was a drowning man.

Even if it was just a straw, he had to grab onto it tightly.

The Programmer scrambled over to Jiang Feng's desk, his hands gripping the edge.

"You... you can find it?"

Jiang Feng didn't answer. He simply lifted the pendulum, suspending it over a Jinghai City subway route map on the desk.

"What does your hard drive look like?"

"Black! Seagate! 2T! It's a bit old, with a chip of paint missing on the corner!" The Programmer spoke rapidly, like a machine gun.

"Good."

Jiang Feng closed his eyes.

It wasn't for show; he was activating the temporary skill given by the system—[Pendulum Divination].

The moment he closed his eyes, his vision changed.

The noisy hall disappeared.

In the darkness, there were only countless glowing lines intertwining.

That was the flow of Qi.

He could feel an anxious gray current of Qi on the Programmer, extending along the desk to the crystal pendulum.

That was the broken "Karmic Line" between the owner and the item.

Jiang Feng's hand was steady, not moving an inch.

But the crystal pendulum, as if it had a life of its own, began to move.

At first, it was a slight tremor.

Then it began to draw circles.

Larger and larger, faster and faster.

Buzz—

In that instant, in Jiang Feng's system vision, he saw a flash of dazzling golden light.

That wasn't the light of the hard drive itself, but the Wealth Qi emitted by the "tens of millions of wealth" represented by that hard drive.

However, this Wealth Qi was moving.

And it was moving very fast.

Jiang Feng snapped his eyes open.

The tip of the pendulum was now like a needle, pointing fixedly toward a direction on the map.

Furthermore, it was slowly moving along a certain trajectory.

"Found it."

Jiang Feng looked at the still-spinning pendulum, his expression becoming playful.

"The item isn't lost."

"It is currently... heading all the way north."