Enforcer Manual
Chapter 713 - 711: Anxious Citizens_1

Chapter 713: Chapter 711: Anxious Citizens_1

The First Region is becoming more and more unsafe.

Song Lan gazed out the window at the darkening sky once again and felt a deep concern for the future of the city. Not long ago, he had heard about a major case in the Counter-Intelligence Department.

Members of the Terror Response Squad had gone mad, and before being shot dead, they killed several Counter-Intelligence Department agents.

"I remember you telling me before I came to The First Region that it was one of the cities with the best security under the United Government."

He said.

Now, he felt the security of these two cities might be even worse than in The Seventeenth Region; at least The Seventeenth Region had never had a civil war, nor had there been any tense standoffs between two municipal institutions as there were now.

And with their combined efforts, The Seventeenth Region was now experiencing steady and positive development.

"I also said that The Second Region was among the cities with the best security."

Lu Xiang didn’t deny it; she sat on the bed quite frankly, "Until you came along."

She now realized a common point in the deterioration of city security and finally understood why, before her graduation and reassignment to The Seventeenth Region, it had been rated as the city with the worst security within the United Government’s jurisdiction.

Because Song Lan lived there.

"That doesn’t sound right; you make it seem as if it was caused by me."

Song Lan had to emphasize that he hadn’t provoked anyone nor had he committed any illegal acts—at least not before Lu Xiang was transferred there. Back then he was just a dedicated logistics staff member, living his life day by day. If there was anyone to blame, it would be Mr. Chai Ke and the Foster Family who were in cahoots, even the former supervisor was their lackey.

"If everyone could learn from me, every city would have a better tomorrow."

Song Lan was convinced of this.

The sharp drop in crime rates would become an ironclad fact.

"That I believe, even Hog has started to learn from you."

The reason they were aware of the incident in the Counter-Intelligence Department was that Hog Foster had informed them as soon as it happened. Now, Hog was probably more worried than Song Lan; when he messaged them, he was already on his journey to find the evil Standin ability user.

"How is he now? It’s been over half an hour since his last message."

"He went to the Psychic research institute. He and Jiu are somewhat acquainted and wanted to see if those experts could provide some clues."

With Hog running around, he and Lu Xiang could actually relax and rest in the room provided by Galaxy Transport Company.

As it turned out, if Mr. Hog was willing to use the resources he had at his disposal for investigating the case, he had an even greater advantage than the Law Enforcers, something even the head of The First Region’s Law Enforcers Department couldn’t match when it came to consulting the Psychic research institute.

"Will he ever return to normal?"

Lu Xiang fell silent for a moment before asking an academically-loaded question.

She wondered if Mr. Hog, should he one day revert to his former self and look back on his actions in The First Region over the past few days, would consider this period an indelible dark history in his life.

Believing he was a Standin messenger.

And setting out on a journey with a psychological doctor to investigate the evil Standin messengers.

Even she, an outsider, felt embarrassed for Hog, but he seemed to be enjoying himself, continuing the investigation and promptly sharing any progress with them, even if Song Lan didn’t respond much to his messages.

In Hog’s own words, he wanted to keep the investigation going and had to make the Shadow that hung over The First Region disappear.

Even if he tragically perished in the process, Song Lan and Lu Xiang would carry on his will.

"I don’t know."

Song Lan shook his head, "But I hope he stays just like this."

That way, he might avoid the sorrow of parting ways with friends again. Among his acquaintances, Mr. Hog was already among those who had lived long, and every day he survived was a new record in his own quest for survival.

"Actually, he is somewhat similar to those influenced by the ’Dominate’ ability."

Under the influence of the ability, those people embarked on an extreme path, becoming as aggressive and belligerent as ’Dominate’ itself, even those with obedience rates exceeding 90 would raise their guns to shoot their superiors.

It’s less accurate to say that ’Dominate’ granted them a power to oppose the world, and more that it endowed these people with courage.

Triggering them to act upon the deepest thoughts hidden within their hearts on regular days.

"I think this might have to do with the personality of the interference-type psychic holders; your personality is generally quite placid."

Lu Xiang had always felt there was something subtle about Song Lan’s character.

He was the type who would not resort to physical confrontation if he could avoid it, but once he did, he never left any survivors.

No wonder before her arrival to The Seventeenth Region, she had never imagined that such a person existed under the United Government. Perhaps along with Chai Ke and Dorago Safron, many other friends of Song Lan had vanished, it’s just that no one knew where they went.

She had to remind Song Lan, "But if he continues to follow this clue, he will eventually investigate ’Dominate.’ Once they meet... Hog will die."

Lu Xiang didn’t know if Hog’s messages were a joke, but the person he was now investigating was indeed a ruthless killer. "What do you plan to do about it?"

"There’s no use in us investigating."

Song Lan shook his head helplessly, "It has always been avoiding me. Although I don’t know the reason, it seems to be able to sense my presence."

Otherwise, he would have put a full stop to this matter back during the Iris Consortium era.

Once could be a coincidence, but it seemed like "Dominate" managed to avoid him at critical moments every time, and it was also a remote manipulation type of ability, able to achieve its goals through those puppets it had "dominated" without needing to show itself in person.

In the previous encounters, the opponent had fully utilized this feature, never proactively appearing before him.

And even he couldn’t possibly kill someone whose identity was still unconfirmed.

Unless he imitated "Dominate," triggering a psychic storm to destroy The First Region entirely, but that clearly wasn’t something a concerned citizen should do.

He suspected it was related to the consciousness entity, or maybe, as δ had mentioned, they really could sense something from the Whispers.

"Dominate" was once the most zealous follower of the Whispers, even regarding them as a "father."

It faithfully followed the Whispers’ guidance, completing every task assigned to it by the Whispers, even if these tasks eventually turned it into a psychic bomb, resulting in a psychic storm that shocked the United Government; it never harbored any complaints in its heart.

"Old Lu, have you ever heard a saying?"

"Hmm?"

"Remote manipulation abilities counter time-stop."

Even the invincible Mr. Jotaro had suffered several major setbacks at the hands of remote manipulation Ability Users.

"No."

Lu Xiang shook his head very assuredly, "The United Government does not have a time-stop Ability User on record, nor does the Rebel Army."

..........

On the other side, Hog’s investigation continued.

The person he could think of who was most knowledgeable about Psychic Abilities was Jiu.

The latter had established a Psychic Abilities research institution and was also one of the earliest researchers of the United Government, but their relationship wasn’t particularly good, just maintaining acquaintance and the ability to converse; he had heard on many occasions that Jiu was quirky and difficult to get along with.

But to his surprise, when he stated his purpose, Jiu welcomed him very warmly.

Jiu even pulled up many secret files from the database.

"The ability you described sounds familiar..."

After a lengthy investigation and comparison, Jiu found a file named "Dominate" from the dense list of entries, "Yes, this must be the one."

For most of the United Government, the Dark Era was an age they did not wish to look back on, where members of the parliament, rescuers, or ordinary people lived in fear and insecurity; they would never know which building would explode next, or which block would witness mass riots, with themselves unlucky enough to become victims of these sudden events.

But Jiu always loved that era.

It was a time when research on Psychic Abilities flourished the most, with powerful Psychics emerging in abundance, and now, it seemed they could never return to that time again.

"The actions you described are somewhat similar to the effects of its ability in the early days."

According to statistics, all those who opened their hearts to "Dominate" ended up dead without exception, but before dying, they often fulfilled their deepest desires.

These desires, always hidden, were often bloody and brutal; under the guidance of "Dominate," those people seemed to abandon their human rationality and completely released their animalistic nature.

However, in the later stages, "Dominate" was no longer satisfied with just this; it preferred to crudely turn those people into psychic bombs, obliterating anyone who came close to them.

"Huh?"

As Jiu continued to read, he suddenly paused, "The file says it’s dead, having turned itself into a psychic bomb during a confrontation with the Six Stars rescuers and perished along with all those pursuing it. If only Miles were still here; he was the one who recorded these events at the time."

"Miles?"

"A great Psychic researcher and my best friend."

"Where is he now? I can send a private plane to bring him to The First Region."

"I’m afraid that’s not possible."

Jiu shook his head regretfully, "Miles has passed away. The Morning Star Academy just held a funeral for him recently... But I am quite certain a deceased person’s abilities cannot be inherited; we’ve been researching this for the past few years."

The Psychic Abilities research institution had always been dedicated to continuing this technical research, hoping that, should those powerful and important Psychics meet their untimely deaths, their abilities could still be passed on through technological means.

He always sighed at the thought of abilities that disappeared completely because the holder died.

"Perhaps they were inherited through other means."

As Jiu said this, it opened up a new line of thinking for Hog.

Suddenly, he had an astonishing idea, and everything fell into place.

"Maybe it didn’t completely die at that time but continued to exist as a malevolent spirit."

"Do you mean a Consciousness Entity? But that’s still at the theoretical stage."

"Not a Consciousness Entity."

Hog shook his head firmly, "It’s a Standin."