Chapter 25: SAN Value at 3

Vanessa arrived quickly.

But when she stood atop the height, like Roger, and saw the bloated corpse, she fared worse than the man.

She vomited up the coffee she'd drunk that morning.

"Puke!"

Roger patted her back and handed her a tissue.

"Thanks, puke!"

When Vanessa had calmed down and wiped the coffee from her lips, she turned to face Roger.

"Sorry, I didn't expect…"

"It's fine." Roger shrugged: "I nearly threw up too."

"But I know it'll haunt my nightmares tonight—damn it." Vanessa stomped her foot, then clenched her teeth and raised her camera toward the river.

Roger still admired the female journalist's relentless determination.

While Vanessa battled her physical reaction, he glanced at the newly appeared information interface.

【【The Floating Shadow】information investigation completed】

【You witnessed a terrifying scene: SAN Value -5, Spirit Vision +1】

【Reward received: Physical Function +1, Ancient God's Bronze Coin *1, $50】

This information investigation completed swiftly, but Roger felt like a car out of control, hurtling toward an abyss.

【Spirit Vision: 14】

【SAN Value: 3/23 (Daily recovery: 2 points)】

【Status: Edge of the Rift (You are on dangerous ground; occasional auditory hallucinations or illusions, but Physical Function +10%)】

【Physical Function: 7.6 (Status +10%)】

The gap between Spirit Vision and SAN Value widened further; although this granted Roger a 10% boost to Physical Function, if it kept dropping like this, when SAN hit zero, he'd be finished.

So he decided to pause information investigations until his SAN returned to a safe range.

"When will the police arrive?" Roger asked after the female journalist finished taking photos.

Vanessa touched her chest and replied: "Within ten minutes."

"Then I should go." Roger turned to leave.

"Wait." Vanessa stared at the man, her face full of curiosity: "Where did you get this information? I mean, this place is deserted—how did you know about the body?"

Roger spread his hands: "You forgot I'm a homeless man? I have my own sources."

"Alright." Vanessa looked disappointed and waved him off: "Go ahead."

Roger warned her: "Be careful—I don't want to find you drowned by the river tomorrow, another bloated corpse."

Vanessa flinched at his words and hurried away from the height.

After the man left, the female journalist sat on the steps for a while, until police figures approached from afar.

"Ms. Vanessa, correct?" A burly white police officer stepped forward.

"Yes, it's me again, Big Guy Officer."

The white officer was surprised: "You filed a report just two nights ago—and now you've found another body?"

Vanessa smirked: "You forgot I'm a journalist? I have my own sources."

"Alright, Ms. Vanessa, where's the body?" the white officer asked.

"Climb up high and look down—you'll see it easily."

"Understood." The white officer nodded, then paused before climbing: "I'm Jie La De. Next time, just call me by name."

"Sure, Jie La De, Big Guy Officer." Vanessa forced a joke.

Soon, she heard vomiting and curses from above.

"See? Even police are the same." Vanessa comforted herself.

Not long after, Jie La De descended, frowning: "I've called the coroner—we'll haul the body to the station. You'll come with us for a statement."

"No problem, I know the procedure."

Since gaining Roger as a source, Vanessa had visited the police station more often in this period than in her entire life combined.

She couldn't fathom where that man got so many clues.

After silently speculating for a while, Vanessa left with the police.

Meanwhile, Roger was still pondering the meaning of this information.

If it were just a corpse, there'd be no need to issue an information alert.

And the wording in the alert was peculiar—it didn't say "investigation completed," but "find it quickly."

Then what after finding it? Did something far more important lie behind it?

It wasn't unreasonable for Roger to overthink—his SAN Value had plummeted drastically, nearing rock bottom, leaving his mental state in shambles, with countless chaotic thoughts rising and collapsing in his mind every moment.

When Roger rode his bicycle back to the garage, he felt mentally agitated.

So he simply started exercising to combat the turmoil in his thoughts.

"One, two, three… forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven… seventy!"

He did seventy push-ups in one go, finally letting his brain grow numb with exhaustion.

Then Roger picked up the dumbbells he'd bought and began anaerobic training.

Only after over an hour, panting and drenched in sweat, did he finally stop.

【Physical Function +0.15】

Roger sat on a chair, planning to borrow Fiona's bathroom that night for a shower.

Yet perhaps due to the exercise clearing his mind, his thoughts grew purer and more focused in the time that followed.

He suddenly thought of a question.

"Where did that corpse drift in from?"

Roger muttered to himself, then answered his own question: "It couldn't be the industrial zone—that's where they discharge wastewater. And it certainly isn't the southern end downstream, so it must be the northern end—but what's at the northern end of the Du Wa Mi Shi He?"

Thinking of this, he picked up his phone to check.

He found that the upper reaches of the Du Wa Mi Shi He were a cluster of corporate sites—pharmaceutical companies, insurance firms, government agencies, and even two universities nearby.

"Could it be an abandoned cadaver? Or a homeless man who drowned accidentally?"

Without evidence, these speculations were like floating duckweed with no roots.

Roger thought for a moment and sent a text to Vanessa.

"If you don't mind, could you ask for the autopsy results of the corpse?"

"Ding." His phone rang—it was Vanessa's reply.

"I'm curious about the cause of death too. I'll tell you once I find out."

Roger was about to put down his phone when he noticed an unanswered call.

It was from Zoe—right when he had just discovered the corpse, but the call had been hung up immediately after it came through.

Roger called Zoe back.

The busty girl answered quickly.

"Hello, Zoe?" Roger heard a noisy background.

"Hey, Roger!" came the girl's cheerful voice.

"Did you just call me?"

"Yeah, here's the thing—we're throwing a birthday party for the elderly today, and there's a ton of desserts. I think we'll have a lot left over, maybe I can bring some back, but I can't eat it all myself—want some?"

Roger thought of desserts and immediately recalled the sugar that could kill an insulin-dependent person, but honestly, he really needed sweets to soothe the shock he'd just suffered from seeing the bloated corpse.

So he nodded and said: "Perfect, I really need some desserts."

"Then wait for me after work—we'll meet at our usual spot on Third Avenue."

"No problem."