Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 174: Girl Lu Chan 1661

Chapter 174: Girl Lu Chan 1661

At the Luoshan Office, I left a "Firefly," and I wanted to try to see if I could make out the situation over there.

However, the result was... I couldn’t see.

It’s not that I couldn’t see anything at all, just that it was so blurred that I couldn’t distinguish any useful information. If watching the Human Bureau’s secret base through the illusory vision synchronized with Lu Youxun was like seeing underwater, then trying to look at the Luoshan Office from here was like stirring a bunch of mud into the water, where you could only see fleeting glimmers of light. I could also faintly hear some chaotic sounds, similar to how one would hear muffled noises from the land while underwater, all confused and indistinct.

I had actually had similar experiences before, like when Agent Kong had transferred me to the Shadow World. Connecting to the "Firefly" in the real world from the Shadow World only allowed me to perceive very vague things.

So, is the secret base where I am now established in the Shadow World? I can be certain it’s not. While both places only allow for the perception of fleeting glimmers, the connection experience in the Shadow World feels more like closing your eyes and pressing your eyeballs through your eyelids, eliciting strange sensations of light.

All I could say was that both were in places with extremely poor signal quality.

If the signal was bad in the Shadow World because it is an other dimension, then how should I explain the poor signal here? Is it because this place is "a different period in time," or is there a Barrier here that impedes internal and external signal exchange?

Then, I sensed my own way out, to see if I could transport myself out of this eerie and terrifying place through the connection with the "Firefly."

Since it was a place of strangeness, it most likely wouldn’t let me leave easily. Just like in a horror movie featuring a haunted mansion or cave, the majority of terrifying events require the context of not being able to escape easily to be feasible. If you could just leave as you pleased, then there would be no thrill at all. I had braced myself for the likelihood that Flame Transmission would be blocked.

Although I thought so, it turned out I could transport.

I clearly sensed that I could leave this place at any time.

The elaborate mental preparation I had done was mostly wasted. The fact that my superpower was usable was one thing, but not even cutting off my escape route properly added to the factors that lessened my sense of danger. It made me recall how in the past my powers were too strong to encounter anything strange, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was actually my superpower that was preventing me from immersing myself in adventure.

However, I couldn’t possibly leave this place so soon. Regardless of how it looked, it was after all called a secret base of the Human Bureau, and it was necessary for me to continue exploring further. Moreover, if I turned around and left in haste, I might never be able to enter this place again.

I continued to observe my surroundings with my Perception, and before long, I caught a strange figure nearby.

This figure was also dressed in a white restraint suit, firmly tied to a cross, but seemed out of place among the other prisoners. Excluding me, the rest were at least all adults, yet the owner of this figure was a young girl in the prime of her youth.

Judging from her appearance, she was only two or three years older than I was, probably of high school age, with delicate beauty, long black hair, and skin fair and fragile, like that of a well-educated girl from a scholarly family.

The only downside was that she looked lifeless now, staring ahead with unfocused eyes, exuding an air of weariness and hopelessness.

The strange man who had previously accused the Human Bureau of capturing ordinary children should have also seen that girl but did not steer the conversation toward her, seeming not to consider her appearance here as anything unusual. Does that mean the girl was not an ordinary person but a demon hunter?

Zhu Shi had also started working in the demon hunter’s trade from high school, or even junior high; perhaps it was not so rare for teenagers to engage in that in Luo Mountain.

Suddenly, several figures appeared in front of us, and the "prison guards" around us all stopped in unison, and the crosses binding us also came to a halt one after the other.

At the same time, I felt a slight vibration in my consciousness.

No, it wasn’t my consciousness that vibrated, but something within my consciousness—the Divine Seal Fragment. Other Divine Seal Fragments had appeared nearby!

Were they on the figures that had just appeared in front of us? I concentrated my attention to observe these people.

Among those several figures, there were actually two people I knew well.

One of them, with white hair and dressed in tight grey clothes and trousers, was tall and muscular. It was Chen Long.

The other person wore a Silver Mask, dressed in a white suit with a white lab coat stained with mottled blood.

Was this the Weirdo Maker? No, was it Ying Lingyun?

Had Ying Lingyun really not died?

No, this place might be two years in the past; it was normal for Ying Lingyun to be alive at that time.

And beside these two, there were three unfamiliar figures. They were corpulent, dressed in green surgical gowns, heads covered with green surgical caps and blue masks, with only their eyes visible, bloodshot and surrounded by skin that appeared bruised and necrotic.

"They must be the subjects for this batch of experiments," said a tired voice that might have belonged to Ying Lingyun.

One of the "prison guards" said respectfully, "Yes, Doctor."

"Ying Lingyun" hummed lightly and dismissively said, "Hard work."

Then, he silently scrutinized us.

I felt that this "Ying Lingyun" was a bit odd.

Although I had never truly met Ying Lingyun before, based on the performance of the Weirdo Maker and Mr. Zhu’s description, Ying Lingyun himself should be a man who likes to put on airs, speaks arrogantly, behaves in an unrestrained manner, and possesses a histrionic personality.

In contrast, the "Ying Lingyun" before us seemed like an actor who, after playing the role of a domineering CEO, switched back into his casual clothes and headed home, exhausted, to drink beer. His voice lacked any domineering tone, and his posture was lax and sloppy. Looking back at how he walked earlier, it seemed to lack the imposing stride of the Weirdo Maker, and instead reminded me of the nerdy types frequently encountered on a university campus, who aren’t good at sports. Upon a closer look, he even had a bit of a hunched back and uneven shoulders.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on me.

"Where did this kid come from?" he asked.

Who are you calling a kid... I suppressed the urge to retort.

The "prison guard" replied respectfully, "He’s a witness. Since he happened to be at the scene of Lu Chan’s capture, we grabbed him as well."

"Ying Lingyun"—because he didn’t seem much like Ying Lingyun, it was better to refer to him as "Dr. Silver Mask." Dr. Silver Mask turned to look at Chen Long and asked, "What’s this about?"

After pondering for a moment, Chen Long said, "... It seems so?"

"So you’re saying that this is just an unrelated kid?" Discontent appeared in Dr. Silver Mask’s voice.

"You’re not suggesting we let him go, are you?"

Just then, one of the three people dressed in surgical attire stepped forward and said in a sinister tone to Dr. Silver Mask, "Since he’s already stepped into our territory, we can’t let him leave. Don’t even think about just erasing his memory and releasing him. If he falls into Luo Mountain’s hands, our secret base could be exposed."

"Of course I wouldn’t say that." Dr. Silver Mask remained unaggressive in his attitude.

The man warned, "You’d better not do anything unnecessary."

"—Mind your tone." Chen Long said threateningly, "The doctor is the highest authority here, and part of my job is to uphold his dignity. Even if you are a senior researcher, I wouldn’t mind making an example of you."

The senior researcher’s face twitched with indignation as he backed down. It seemed like he wanted to throw out some harsh words, but he stopped himself under Chen Long’s sharp gaze.

I observed Dr. Silver Mask, and based on my feeling, the Divine Seal Fragment I had sensed before should be on him.

Despite the stark contrast in character, if he wasn’t Ying Lingyun, it would be hard to explain why the Divine Seal Fragment was with him. Or could it be that the Human Bureau had other Divine Seal Fragments and allocated them to the highest authorities of their subordinates’ bases? But wasn’t Ying Lingyun also the highest authority at the secret base that detained Lu Youxun two years ago?

The only possibility I could think of was that Dr. Silver Mask was one of Ying Lingyun’s "possibility avatars," differing in character because this was the "softer Ying Lingyun." But according to Lu Youxun’s past attitude and reactions, the Ying Lingyun who had interacted with him as the base administrator didn’t seem to be such a soft character, did he?

Moreover, even if it was just a fragment, the divine seal should carry a unique attribute that pervades the river of time. How then could this "fragment that seemingly appeared two years ago and belonged to Ying Lingyun" be explained?

"Chen Long, why did you betray us!" The stranger who had spoken to me earlier suddenly cried out, "What exactly did the Human Bureau promise to give you? Not only us, you even betray Lu Chan, even your own close friend... Are you still human!"

"Hmph..."

Chen Long let it in one ear and out the other, seemingly regarding the other’s words as pure noise.

The stranger grew even more incensed, cursing, "You treacherous bastard with no conscience! Look at me... look at me! And Lu Chan, why aren’t you saying anything? Speak up! Ask Chen Long what kind of crap he has in his head!"

As he spoke, he struggled against the cross, turning his head forcibly to look at someone not far away.

Lu Youxun is here? How did I not notice him just now? I couldn’t help but follow his gaze, but all I saw at the end of it was the girl with the student vibe I saw earlier.

But Chen Long didn’t ignore him any longer and also followed his gaze to the girl.

"Lu Chan..." he murmured the name.

Ah?