I Am Your Natural Enemy

In that instant when the thought flashed through Ji Youli’s mind, he felt the strange information in his head disappear, both things simultaneously integrating into his body.

It was only then that he realized he wasn’t forced to choose between the two; he wasn’t compelled to make a choice at all. He could choose both or neither.

Now, having chosen both, he didn’t feel any particularly noticeable change for the moment.

He no longer cared about any of this, sitting on the ground, staring blankly at the distant flames and black smoke, feeling a mix of bewilderment and a sense of exhaustion after narrowly escaping disaster.

Beside him, a woman who sat downstairs all year analyzing information was bustling around, holding a cell phone and constantly counting heads to ensure everyone had made it out; while counting, she kept shouting for those from the third building to come to her.

The fire truck rushed in, beginning its firefighting procedures.

Ji Youli gazed at the flames, and in his daze, he seemed to see the constantly spewing flames morph into a swaying, distorted face. When hit by the water hose, the fiery face seemed to carry a hint of a pained expression.

Before he could see it clearly, he saw two firefighters holding hoses, switching the water flow mode and pushing through the curtain of water.

Soon, the fire was put out. The starting point was found. A family cooking had forgotten to turn off the stove and left the house. No casualties, except for Ji Youli’s drunk neighbor, who was taken to the hospital just to be safe.

No one asked Ji Youli how he managed to carry the girl down.

Up to now, Ji Youli remained invisible on the radar of the Scorching Sun Department.

Though the fire was extinguished, the aftermath was far from over; today they were advised not to return home as the greatest danger after the fire was the black smoke. Even with the fire out, the leftover particles in the air and inside rooms were harmful to people.

Following the arrangements, Ji Youli went to a hotel. Upon entering the room and touching the electronic lock at that moment, hearing the lock mechanism’s sound, his mind instantly mapped out its internal structure, like an enlarged 3D image, precisely depicting all the components and their coordinating interactions.

As the lock opened, the mental image expanded, sketching the door, its structure, and materials, among other things.

Once the image concluded, Ji Youli rubbed his head, with the first thought in his mind being, ”A door this trashy listed at 3000 on the invoice; if there’s not a kickback of at least 1500, that purchaser’s compassion is downright reckless.”

After this thought flickered through, he wearily entered the room, no longer having the energy to analyze, he fell asleep immediately.

Meanwhile, it had already flashed to the next morning; Feng Yao had yet to sleep. He was still exercising his skills, organizing various data and transforming all data into intuitive bar charts.

After raising the attention level, progress was swift, and already many individuals with relevant professional backgrounds, yet without crimes, were found to be influenced.

Via various channels, today there were two incidents across regions where homeowners called locksmiths over; the locksmith instantly opened locks, leading the homeowners to feel it was overpriced and try to haggle, ultimately escalating to police reports.

Another involved a video uploaded on a video site where in the footage, the locksmith merely inserted the tool into the lock and instantly opened it, even the locksmith was stunned.

Of course, the video didn’t escalate to the police. The person who made the video generously paid, seeing it merely as having material for the video.

Feng Yao investigated and found the clip wasn’t staged; it was real, with the locksmith legitimately registered.

It’s now virtually confirmed that all three locksmiths involved were affected; they themselves said they felt like their hands were guided by divine aid today.

Yet there are far more cases where determination isn’t possible; the primary target groups being burglars skilled at lock-picking and locksmith apprentices.

The crime resolution rate might not be high for petty theft, but breaking-and-entering requiring lock-picking had resolution rates reaching 100% in some areas.

The current problem lies with the locksmiths; each capable of performing, if not, they could be dealing with troublesome clients thinking spending less would be enough when they manage to unlock swiftly.

The default expectation was unlocking in ten seconds and providing an additional ten minutes of performance, shortened to five minutes for anxious clients.

The general populace could hardly comprehend that even high-security locks only extend the unlocking duration; the most basic locks could be unlocked in a second by adept technicians.

Some key makers could just insert a probe into the lock, listen to the tumbler, and produce a matching key with shear cuts in ten seconds.

But most times, technical skills, potential, and actual performance capability couldn’t be gauged in real work.

Everyone would perform for a few minutes, then suddenly, the lock opens, with clients only seeing the locksmith breathe a sigh of relief, seemingly afraid of embarrassment had the lock remained shut.

Feng Yao was somewhat vexed now; historically accumulated data did nothing for judgment.

Only when things happened, and proper interrogation ensues, could conclusions possibly be drawn from statements.

He previously thought online anecdotes were merely jokes; but upon actual data examination came realization, ”Wow, the extent of cautiousness among these individuals to circumvent trouble is tremendous!”