Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 156 - 148 Tracking Human Bureau 1

Chapter 156: 148 Tracking Human Bureau 1

Seeing Lu Youxun ask without knowing the real intention, Mazao’s eyes slightly changed as she quietly stepped closer to Zhu Shi.

The latter, however, remained composed and nodded frankly, responding, "It’s true."

"Is it..." Lu Youxun’s tone was complex.

Ying Lingyun was the Weirdo Maker of the Human Bureau—this truth was even too shameful to be considered a disgrace to the Zhu family, yet neither Zhu Shi nor Mr. Zhu seemed intent on defending Ying Lingyun.

Although Lu Youxun appeared as if he had only learned the real identity of the Weirdo Maker after seeing Zhu Shi’s report, he had also participated in recovering the remains of other cloned bodies of the Weirdo Maker. Those remains were indeed blasted and charred to perhaps indistinguishable, but if the chunks were put together, the original form might still be discerned.

Others might not engage in such a macabre task, but he harbored deep hatred for the Weirdo Maker, so it wasn’t clear if he really hadn’t done it. His intentional question to Zhu Shi was less of an inquiry and more of a probe.

I directly skipped all the circumlocutions and straightforwardly asked, "Are you planning revenge against Zhu Shi?"

"If I truly harbored such thoughts, why would I discuss this matter in front of you?" Lu Youxun shook his head, "I simply want to clarify my own thoughts. Honestly, the feelings are complex. Although it’s commonly said that a disaster does not affect family members, seeing the daughter of my enemy standing before me, it’s hard to regard her as irrelevant.

"Of course, I bear no hatred towards Zhu Shi herself. But it’s hard not to think, if I killed her and presented her head to Ying Lingyun, what expression would that arrogant man reveal?"

"You are quite honest! Unfortunately, my irresponsible father probably wouldn’t care much about me, and would likely make a casual remark before forgetting about me," said Zhu Shi. "So, what’s your conclusion?"

"A wrong has its perpetrator, a debt its debtor, I will not strike against you," Lu Youxun replied straightforwardly.

"That’s more than I could ask for."

I felt he was mostly telling the truth, yet I still wanted to delve deeper into his thoughts, testing the waters by asking, "But Ying Lingyun is already dead, you still speak of a wrong having a perpetrator, a debt a debtor, isn’t the timing a bit off? The target of this blood debt has disappeared, will you also let go of the vengeance in your heart?"

"Ying Lingyun is dead, yet the Human Bureau still exists. My next target for revenge is the Human Bureau," Lu Youxun said calmly, "Moreover... is Ying Lingyun really dead?"

"You suspect he is still alive?" I asked interestedly.

If he had a basis, I really wanted to hear it. Although I also believed Ying Lingyun wouldn’t simply die like that, this judgment was nothing more than a baseless guess, left with nothing solid. Because of the Divine Seal Fragment anything is possible, so could Ying Lingyun also still be alive? That reasoning seemed more like personal hope than deduction.

"It’s just a feeling," Lu Youxun murmured as if to himself, "Yes, just a feeling... How could that man die so easily?..."

A feeling? He wasn’t the sensitive demon hunter type known for intuition, and simply passing it off with "a feeling" was hardly convincing. Could it be that he had other information but chose not to share?

I temporarily set aside my suspicions, then turned to Mazao, who then ventured, "May I begin the investigation now?"

"Sure, please do," Lu Youxun gestured.

Mazao walked into the "clinic," and we followed.

The "clinic" was not large, empty inside, with no equipment or decorations visible, just partitions dividing the rooms. Besides the front lobby, there were only two or three equally bare small rooms. Mazao briefly walked around, visually scanning the area a few times before standing still in one room, closing her eyes as if entering meditation.

Soon, she opened her eyes and moved to another room.

"How is it, can you find something?" I asked.

"Yes, I can. There were indeed some pieces of equipment here, though their uses are not clear," she nodded.

"Didn’t the Weirdo Maker’s counter-divination measures cause you any trouble?" Lu Youxun asked curiously.

"There were some hindrances, but it’s not a problem," Mazao replied.

It was unclear if her "not a problem" meant that the counter-divination measures couldn’t overpower her blessing power, or that with the help of her Broom Star Physique, even if the counter-divination measures shredded the historical information she sought into tiny pieces, she could still piece it together by luck.

I was quite eager to see her performance. Not only in anticipation of her successfully uncovering clues that would help us continue our investigation of the Human Bureau but also in anticipation of her performance itself. Watching her use her blessing power skillfully made my heart race as if I were the one performing.

Lu Youxun watched Mazao’s actions and took out a small stack of palm-sized white papers from his pocket, handing them over, "Try using these."

Mazao’s hands remained by her sides; she did not rashly accept the other person’s item, instead, her eyes conveyed scrutiny.

"What is this?"

"This is a ’Mind-Written Photo,’" explained Lu Youxun. "Just hold the blank Mind-Written Photo in your hand and then focus on recalling the image in your mind, and it will appear on the photo. You can use it directly, and you don’t have to return any leftovers to me; consider them a gift from me."

"So the Mind-Written Photos you pulled out before weren’t written with your own power, but with the help of a tool?" Zhu Shi quipped, carefully examining the stack of blank photos.

Lu Youxun naturally replied, "I converted from Evil to Patrol less than a year ago, how could I possibly master every ability? I rely on tools for many things."

He indeed often produced various tools.

Mazao turned around and looked at me. Seeing that Zhu Shi didn’t comment on the stack of blank photos, I nodded at her, and then she accepted the tool.

She took out one of the Mind-Written Photos, closed her eyes in meditation, and soon, the previous room’s scene appeared on the photo.

Instead of being empty, the room in the photo was filled with heavily medical research-centric equipment and instruments.

Lu Youxun took the photo and observed it closely, immediately furrowing his brows reflexively.

"Do you see anything?" I asked.

"No, I just have some psychological shadows regarding this type of equipment and instruments," he sighed. "We’ll give it to professionals to examine later. Such sophisticated equipment and instruments couldn’t possibly all be produced and manufactured by the Human Bureau themselves. Luo Mountain should be able to trace the manufacturer through the clues in the photos."

He lowered his head to Mazao sincerely and said, "Thank you; just having these clues is already a significant gain. I believe the Weirdo Maker didn’t want us to trace this, hence the rush to retrieve the equipment here and set up anti-Divination measures afterward."

Seeing this, I felt proud of myself, and Zhu Shi’s tone also became cheerful, "It’s not over yet; perhaps we can investigate even more useful clues next. Right, Mazao?"

"Mhm." Mazao nodded, unperturbed by honor or disgrace.

"However, something seems strange..." Zhu Shi reflected.

"’Strange’ as in?" I thought she was referring to the problem with the photo.

"You see, wasn’t my father’s goal to resurrect the Great Demon Silver Moon? He even broke away from the Zhu family for this and likely joined the Human Bureau for the same reason," she said. "And yet, he’s now studying Weirdo Maker... It’s understandable from the Human Bureau’s standpoint, as their aim is to create Extraordinary Soldiers capable of competing with demon hunters, but that has nothing to do with my father’s original goal, right?"

It seemed she had included Ying Lingyun’s desire to resurrect the Great Demon Silver Moon in the report, and Lu Youxun showed no reaction and fell into thought.

Once a person joins an organization, many things are beyond their control; however, Ying Lingyun’s situation was somewhat different. He was one of the top decision-makers of the Human Bureau, presumably having more freedom of action compared to mid-level and lower-level staff. From his deeds, it was evident he was a person with a strong sense of self-centeredness; if the Human Bureau forced him to do something unrelated to his wishes, he would probably part ways with them just as he had broken away from the Zhu family.

Moreover, the fact that he was frequently active in the outside world, despite being supposed to "shine" at the decision-making level, also subtly indicated his enthusiasm for manufacturing Weirdo Maker.

Or could it be that his main body was genuinely immersed in the work of resurrecting Silver Moon, while the work of manufacturing Weirdo Maker was entirely delegated to "possibility avatars"?

I felt this reasoning wasn’t quite tight. "Possibility avatars" represent the manifestations of the main body’s possibilities, and the Weirdo Maker had summoned many avatars in front of me, their number not so rare compared to the nodes of the consciousness network. Additionally, he likely had numerous avatars elsewhere tasked with manufacturing Weirdo Maker. If he could summon so many "possibility avatars" in this direction, doesn’t it mean he originally had a significant likelihood of being a person dedicated to manufacturing Weirdo Maker?

"He can’t just be manufacturing Weirdo Maker. Perhaps this work is a focus for the Human Bureau, but Ying Lingyun’s emphasis lies elsewhere," Lu Youxun mused thoughtfully. "To resurrect his beloved, huh? It’s surprising that such a person could genuinely fall in love with someone..."

Zhu Shi exclaimed, "A woman like Silver Moon exists solely to disrupt men’s brains. Not just my father, even I, as a woman, get confused thinking about her."

"Indeed," Lu Youxun empathized.

"You actually agree? I thought you would criticize my father a bit," Zhu Shi said.

"Truth is irrefutable. Since ancient times, males have harbored an ultimate fantasy for the opposite sex..."

It seemed Lu Youxun was about to make another self-deprecating remark. Seeing this, Zhu Shi showed a respectful but distant expression.

Just then, Mazao let out a "huh" and turned her head toward the direction of the front hall.

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