Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 483 - 453 Tracing History

Chapter 483: 453 Tracing History

Back to the point, my visit to Salt Water City Park wasn’t to play pranks on Zhu Shi with Mazao, but to handle some serious matters.

The reason I didn’t investigate the Human Bureau’s headquarters ruins with Mazao a month ago was to use that place as a "bait." I wanted to see if the unknown Blessed Monk would become anxious and cover up any important clues before Mazao could uncover them.

During this time, the unknown Blessed Monk showed no signs of appearing, and there are many possibilities. Perhaps he lacks foresight and didn’t anticipate being tracked down; maybe there’s nothing important there worth hiding; or he might have already dealt with it swiftly before we realized the significance of the Human Bureau’s headquarters ruins...

Additionally, he might have used undetectable stealth abilities to clean up any remaining traces during this period. Even Ying Lingyun, before transferring the Human Bureau headquarters to the isolated reality space, might have already tied up all loose ends. Most possibilities point to an unfortunate fact: even if we conduct an investigation at the Human Bureau headquarters ruins, we might not find anything useful.

In any case, that’s no excuse for neglecting the site. Since the unknown Blessed Monk hasn’t shown up for so long, I’ve lost patience with wasting time on this "bait," so I decided to take Mazao there first and examine every potentially worthwhile area.

After explaining my intentions, I took Mazao’s hand and stepped forward.

With just one step, the surrounding scenery changed dramatically, similar to a scene in a sci-fi film when entering a time-travel portal where the surroundings suddenly become a dazzling, fantastical passage.

This "passage" appeared for just an instant, and we found ourselves from a secluded corner of the park to a desolate island.

The Human Bureau headquarters ruins stood at the center of the island, resembling a large pharmaceutical industrial complex. We quickly entered it. The place was deserted, already searched by the forces within Luo Mountain, and left uncleaned for a long time, exuding an eerie, ghost-house-like atmosphere.

Countless horrifying experiments once took place here, leaving some rooms with uncleaned bloodstains. When Ying Lingyun ordered the transfer of the headquarters to an independent reality space, some researchers simply treated the ruins like a dumping ground, disposing of dying low-value test subjects and their removed organs and limbs.

Some rooms were filled with a stench, with flies buzzing around and maggots crawling on the floor, and even a few scavenging animals lingering.

Speaking of brutal and bloody scenes, I’ve seen many at secret Human Bureau sites before, but such a rotten and nauseating scene was a first, making me feel queasy. It wasn’t a psychological issue, but a physiological rejection, much like people who challenge themselves with surströmming often involuntarily vomit after opening the can. If I hadn’t been able to adjust my flame-simulated body, I might have failed to suppress certain physiological reactions.

Mazao, on the other hand, had a nonchalant expression, only slightly wrinkling her nose, as she continued holding my hand, calmly observing the surroundings.

No wonder she’s a seasoned survivor of the Doomsday Era; certain aspects of her mental strength even make me admire her. Her soft yet steady hand gave me a faint sense of security.

Mazao slowly closed her eyes, seemingly sensing the history of the place.

I waited for a while before asking, "How is it, Mazao, can you trace back the historical information here?"

"..."

Mazao opened her eyes, taking a breath as if surfacing from underwater, and said, "Indeed, the historical information here has been meticulously processed, and a very mysterious force has obscured my perception...

"Is this the Power of Divine Seal Fragments? Its strength has reached a level similar to the Power of Great Impermanence, yet in nature, it’s even more mysterious than the Power of Great Impermanence..."

I asked, "So... you can’t trace it back?"

"I need to look further," Mazao said. "Handling the historical information of an entire region is complex, unlike processing a single individual’s history. Even Impermanence might miss certain corners. It’s like sweeping dust off the floor; it looks clean, but some dust might escape detection.

"Moreover, the person wielding the Power of Divine Seal Fragments to obscure historical information shouldn’t be Impermanence. This person is meticulous in many ways yet strangely inattentive in others."

"It should be Ying Lingyun," I said. "He’s neither Impermanence nor a demon hunter, so such minor issues are quite normal for him."

After Mazao nodded, she said, "Because he’s not specifically targeting my historical investigation skills but rather for general divination skills, my ability should penetrate the parts he’s unable to guard against."

Then, we visited other parts of the Human Bureau headquarters ruins. Mazao repeatedly sensed the history of the land and space, gathering several fragmented pieces of information, but the combined insights were largely useless.

Most of it consisted of researchers’ experimental processes and daily minutiae, with a few secretive organizational communications, yet nothing significant regarding the unknown Blessed Monk or even about Taoyuan Village.

For such top-secret information, only a few people, including Ying Lingyun, were likely privy, especially anything regarding the unknown Blessed Monk, which might only have been known by Ying Lingyun himself.

Along the way, we also visited Ying Lingyun’s office and lab at the Human Bureau headquarters ruins, as well as the large metal room he used to attempt to revive Yinyue. Yet, we failed to uncover any valuable results. There’s a saying that even if what’s being transported is just excrement, if it’s moved with an armored car and many guards, it might still attract the greed of gangs. When I wanted to hide the Divine Seal Fragment, I considered whether to just randomly hide it in a forest. Truly important treasures might not be hidden in seemingly important places.

At one point, Mazao suddenly paused, her eyes brightened, looked into the distance, and said, "——It’s over there."

I realized she might be about to uncover some extraordinary information and hurried with her to the location.

It was a laboratory situated at the edge of the Human Bureau headquarters ruins, unremarkable in both location and interior setup, yet Mazao seemed certain of its significance.

"This is it... Ying Lingyun seemed to have secretly conversed with an unknown individual here, deliberately setting up barriers against external probing and divination backtracking. It wasn’t his real body, but a ’possibility clone’ especially summoned for communicating with this unknown person," Mazao said.

"Can you trace back the information here?" I asked.

"Yes," Mazao said. "Although he thoroughly implemented anti-probing measures at this location, through the external changes and remaining internal information, we can reverse-engineer what transpired here.

"But the specifics might not be very reliable... Just like when a person tries recalling long-past events, they might unintentionally fabricate parts they can’t remember clearly, this approach shares the same problem.

"Moreover, since Ying Lingyun is adept at using the Power of Divine Seal Fragments, we must also be prepared for a counterattack in history."

The Power of Divine Seal Fragments has the attribute of spanning past and future, so when we peek into this history, Ying Lingyun might use it to pinpoint and counterattack our future selves, which is quite understandable.

If future enemies use divination or Mazao-like abilities to spy on present me, I can also sense such gazes and strike against those future enemies.

Although Mazao plans to retroactively investigate the history through the reconstructed fragments, even if it contains fabricated elements, it may still trigger the Impermanence residing in history. Because even peeking through a blurry lens, or one twisted like a mirror, doesn’t change the fact that it’s an act of peeking. Perhaps not entirely related, Mazao once inadvertently provoked and summoned an incarnation of Ming Zhuo while investigating the history of the Divine Spear’s head.

As Ying Lingyun is far from Impermanence, we should treat him as Impermanence in certain respects.

"Since that’s the case, let’s face this historical information together. It would make it easier for me to help when danger arises," I said.

"Yeah."

Mazao nodded slightly, then summoned the Fake Water Moon.

The real Fake Water Moon is still in my possession; this is a phantasmal projection of the Fake Water Moon conjured with the Power of Return. She can summon weapons and magical items she’s personally used. According to Zhu Shi, Mazao can even summon the phantasmal Yama Sword now.