Chapter 231: Believe Me or Not

Lu Xin spoke these words very calmly, even appearing somewhat gentle.

After uttering this sentence, he leaned back quietly against the seatback, his gaze tranquil as he looked ahead at the crowd.

The crowd contained many monsters, with bizarre faces one after another.

Some looked at the chaotic crowd before them, revealing happy smiles; some, following those being seized, shouted with schadenfreude; others wore expressions of vigilance, sneakily hiding in shadowy corners; still others seemed to have already identified the source of this threat, craning their necks to cast sinister glances toward Lu Xin’s location.

But at this moment, Lu Xin couldn’t be bothered with them.

This feeling was complex – devoid of joy or anger, even devoid of fluctuation.

He simply watched the bizarre spectacle before him as if he was already detached from the situation.

……

Chen Jing looked at Lu Xin’s somewhat desolate face, an extremely complex feeling arising within her.

Initially, when she came over to raise this issue with Lu Xin, she had been somewhat worried.

She worried that this attitude of distrust might have a detrimental emotional impact on Lu Xin.

But upon seeing Lu Xin’s reaction, she suddenly realized she had been mistaken.

Lu Xin truly didn’t care whether she or anyone else believed him.

……

This discovery caused her eyes to narrow. She abruptly turned and strode forward.

The sharp high heels under her feet produced a crisp yet fierce clicking sound.

She headed straight toward a young man, not far away on the sidewalk, who was capturing the arrest scene with a Digital Camera. As he filmed, he kept exclaiming things like, “Holy Fk!”, “What’s gone wrong this time?”, “This is intense!”, “The Administrative Hall is stirring trouble again!”.

From any angle, he appeared perfectly normal.

Chen Jing, using her Mental Power, also couldn’t sense any trace of anomalous fluctuation from him.

Yet Lu Xin had clearly pointed out that he was a problem.

This was the crux of the matter.

Therefore, Chen Jing walked toward this young man expressionlessly. At first, the young man didn’t notice her approach; he was even somewhat excitedly pointing his camera at Chen Jing walking towards him. Staring at her astonishing figure, his mouth unconsciously gaped open:

“Wow, this woman…”

But before he could finish his words, he suddenly saw a fist appear directly in the camera’s frame, rapidly enlarging.

Bang!

The camera was smashed to pieces by Chen Jing; the young man was also knocked out by her punch.

With blood spilling from his nose, the young man struggled to get up, but Chen Jing had already grabbed his collar and yanked him upright.

The pupils in her eyes had turned blood-red:

“Although I just hit you, you should be able to tell my voice is quite gentle…”

“…Yes, pay no attention to those minor details. What I’m using right now is a gentle tone!”

“I’m gentle to you because I like you…”

“You’ve only got this one chance in your entire life to be liked by me. So, shouldn’t you be utterly honest with me?”

“……”

The expression on the young man’s face transformed from terror to a lecherous gaze, and then into one of utter devotion, eager to bare his very heart.

He nodded vigorously: “I swear, I’d deceive my own parents out of pocket money before I’d deceive you.”

“Good…”

Chen Jing said softly, “I hear people in the city these days like playing a wishing thing…”

“How come I don’t know…”

A look of bewilderment crossed the young man’s face as he mumbled.

Chen Jing’s brow furrowed slightly; slowly, gently, she urged: “Think harder. Delve deeper into your Memory…”

“You need to use these hidden secrets to win my favor now…”

“……”

The young man’s brow knitted tightly together. After a long moment, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he cried out: “I don’t know about any wishing, but I know there’s a Curse game. If you dislike anyone, just Curse them, and something bad will definitely happen to them.”

“Haha, it’s true!”

“I cursed the Old Granny next door once because she kept complaining my movie sound system was too loud…”

“I don’t know if it was real or a coincidence, but she broke her leg within a week…”

“……”

Chen Jing’s pupils contracted sharply; the two Crimson Moons seemed to condense into a single crimson dot.

“As of now, no abnormalities have been genuinely detected on any of the individuals apprehended, despite all available testing methods.”

“Even during surprise interrogations and in the documentation provided by the Special Clean-up Department, it was solely indicated that they are connected to a previously investigated case codenamed ‘124—Mysterious Wish Incident.’ It was confirmed that several individuals did indeed come in contact with such a phenomenon.”

“However, compared to the evidence they produced, the actions they intend to take and the people they aim to arrest far exceed their authority.”

“To some extent, everything they are doing right now is based on the conjecture of one Ability User.”

“That Ability User has a highly classified file, but I had already taken notice of him before his file classification was raised.”

“He hails from Satellite City No. 2 and is suspected to have Multiple Personality Disorder, even including a degree of delusion.”

“There is no relevant experimental data to truly substantiate his claim of being able to see Psychic Entities.”

“Therefore, I believe we cannot trust the information provided by such a person…”

“Even if we did, it would be difficult to persuade the gentlemen in Qinggang City!”

“…”

In the temporary office, Minister Shen finished listening to his secretary’s report.

Then he suddenly turned to his secretary: “You said we can’t trust the words of a ‘Maniac’?”

The secretary froze slightly, nodding: “Yes, the implications are too significant, so…”

“Do you think the crux is whether we believe him or not?”

Minister Shen’s voice suddenly turned stern as he said coldly, “The point is, Qinggang is facing a large-scale Special Contamination Incident!”

“Someone has already spotted the signs of this contamination incident, and you’re still hesitating about whether we should react?”

“If there’s a chance a hand grenade is a dud, would you dare pull the pin and sleep holding it?”

“…”

The secretary was momentarily dumbfounded, not knowing how to respond.

Just then, a man in a black suit pushed the door open, nodding and smiling. Both Minister Shen and others in the office knew he was Mr. Su’s personal aide. His presence meant Mr. Su himself had arrived.

“Mr. Su conveys his trust in Minister Shen’s judgment and authorizes you to handle the matter with full power.”

“…”

Minister Shen nodded, turned around, and began issuing orders: “Deploy everyone from Base No. 3 to cooperate with the Special Clean-up Department in the arrests.”

“Temporarily designate an area in the abandoned industrial zone of East City to detain and quarantine the apprehended individuals.”

“Issue an internal Level One Alert across the entire city; seal off the Main City.”

“All Ability Users from the City Defense Department and Special Dispatch Teams are to mobilize; divide and secure sectors to prevent mutation.”

“Finally, activate the emergency protocol for the High Wall’s overclocked plasma cannon. Realign its barrel to aim at…”

“…The Main City!”

“…”

His subordinates beside him were stunned for a long moment before hurriedly saluting and responding loudly: “Yes, sir!”

Even Mr. Su’s secretary was taken aback, saying, “I must report this back to Mr. Su.”

“This last order… it’s far too alarming…”

“…”

“Attention Information Analysis Team: I have conducted special interrogations on suspected Mutants. Findings are as follows:

One: All suspected Mutants likely participated in some kind of ritual resembling wish-making or Curse enactment.

Two: This mysterious ritual circulates within the Main City intranet, schools, enterprises, etc., via diverse transmission methods.

Three: Suspected carriers show no obvious traits but must be isolated immediately and cut off from all external communication.”

“…”

Nightfall was approaching near.

This time of year, bordering on winter, darkness always seemed to claim the sky particularly early.

Lu Xin sat quietly in the passenger seat, not watching the flurry of panic around him.

No ripple stirred in his Emotion. He merely sat there, looking upon the city. His initial impression of this place was one of outstanding orderliness, nearly perfectly matching his Fantasy of the Pre-Civilization Era. Yet now, Monsters were taking over this city.

Presently, all he could do was watch them claim it. Lu Xin harbored no slightest Desire to forcibly alter anyone else’s thoughts.

His Desires—or demands—were consistently slight.

Just as at this moment, he did not Demand that others place their complete faith in him on such a vital matter.

Just then, a small hand reached forward from the back seat.

She clasped his palm.

Lu Xin turned his head to see an exquisitely beautiful face. Doll gazed at him with wide, vacant eyes.

Abruptly, he understood: she was saying, “I believe you.”

The faintest trace of a smile touched the corner of his lips. While he hadn’t felt any particular sense of loss or oppressive atmosphere…

Having someone like her express belief… it wasn’t unpleasant.

Simultaneously, the sharp staccato of high heels striking the ground rang out. Chen Jing arrived outside the car window.

“Lone Soldier. An urgent mission for you.”

Facing Chen Jing’s serious expression, Lu Xin started slightly, quickly opened the car door, and stood before his superior.

“Locate and apprehend every last one of those Mutants immediately. Leave none behind.”

Chen Jing’s orders were crisp, unambiguous, leaving no room for doubt.

Lu Xin paused, processing, before responding hurriedly, “Understood.”

Somehow, despite acknowledging no trace of unusual Emotion within himself, he felt the urge to smile.

Perhaps it was because he didn’t truly mind whether they trusted him or not.

But when they did… his mood did become somewhat lighter, didn’t it?

…

“Team Leader Chen, if we continue the arrests, our personnel…”

The Armed Soldier beside the following vehicle heard Chen Jing’s command and felt a chill, yet he still voiced the question.

Chen Jing turned to look at him. Before she could speak, the whirring sound of rotors suddenly filled the air overhead. Three, perhaps four Helicopters rose from behind the tall buildings. Further away, every traffic light simultaneously switched to red.

One by one, Military Vehicles surged down the emergency lanes, looking like dark ant-like masses rapidly converging.

Chen Jing’s Walkie-Talkie crackled with a buzzing sound, then delivered a succinct report:

“The internal Level One Emergency Response Protocol has been activated. Reinforcements from the City Defense Department have arrived.”