Police Chief's Office.
Luo Feichuan pointed at the person in the photo and, while listening to the sounds outside, continued to speak to Shen Ye:
"According to the experts in the appraisal department, they believe this person seems to be trying to activate something."
"Shen Ye, did you carry something that day that you don't normally bring with you?"
Activate something...
A thought struck Shen Ye's mind.
The King of the Fallen Wicked Ghouls' Cursed Sculpture!
It's said that this sculpture cost millions of lives, and if it was indeed that slim tall man who activated the sculpture, then Luo Feichuan had found the murderer!
Shen Ye looked at the unfamiliar face in the photo, straining to search his memory, but ultimately found nothing.
The Cursed Sculpture had turned to ashes.
The clue was broken.
Unless Police Chief Luo could find that person.
Before that, he must not divulge anything about the statue, otherwise, he would just be asking for trouble.
——Millions had died due to the statue's curse in the long river of history.
Why didn't you die?
What makes you different?
"Report, Chief, I didn't bring anything unusual with me, just as I always do,"
Shen Ye responded.
"You didn't feel suffocated, lose control, or pass out or anything?"
"No."
"Strange..."
Luo Feichuan mused, seemingly deep in thought.
Shen Ye felt somewhat tense.
An inexplicable tension.
Ever since he entered this office, he felt slightly off.
——As if there was something wrong inside him.
Strange.
Too strange.
It felt like something was hidden around him, and all he needed to do was call out——
Some unprecedented event would happen.
Across the desk, Luo Feichuan's countenance began to change.
Suddenly, Shen Ye spoke up, "I remember now!"
The moment the words fell, he saw Luo Feichuan's arm, which he'd just lifted, lowered again.
"What do you remember?" asked Luo Feichuan.
——What was he about to do when he raised his hand just now?
Why did it look like he was about to take action?
Suppressing his unease, Shen Ye calmly said:
"I did bring a bouquet of flowers I planned to give to a friend, also my backpack seemed to be open—"
"I remember closing my backpack after school."
Luo Feichuan listened quietly, his brows furrowed.
All these were normal occurrences, but—
"Did you check your backpack?" he asked.
Shen Ye's heart sank.
For some reason, he felt Luo Feichuan might know something.
——That meant he had even more reason not to bring it up himself.
"No, I really should take a look at my backpack," Shen Ye sighed.
Luo Feichuan looked down, appearing contemplative.
Shen Ye's anxiety grew.
The last time he had met the police chief, he had not been in this state of mind.
Was he hiding something?
Or did he suspect me of doing something wrong?
No, I must be careful.
Shen Ye promptly placed his Attribute Points on Agility.
In case something was amiss, he needed to be ready to run immediately.
Although he wasn't certain he could escape.
No.
The other party was a bona fide police chief, with attributes that absolutely crushed his own.
Definitely no escape.
To save his life... He couldn't worry about too much...
Shen Ye gently raised one foot.
It was so he could instantly create a door on the ground.
If there were any problems, he could stomp his foot, kick the door open, and dive in.
Perhaps that way he could escape?
Ding-a-ling——
The office phone suddenly rang.
The sound broke the nearly stagnant atmosphere, startling the people on both sides of the desk.
"Chief, it's your phone. Should I step out for a moment?" Shen Ye asked.
"No need—hello?"
Luo Feichuan picked up the phone, his eyes still fixed on Shen Ye.
Shen Ye had no choice but to sit there.
"Luo Feichuan, you're about to die," a deep voice sounded from the phone.
Luo Feichuan's eyebrows raised.
Shen Ye was also surprised.
What was this situation?
"Who might you be?" Luo Feichuan said.
"You should know who I am," the voice on the other end said.
Luo Feichuan remained silent for a few seconds, then spoke, "If it's something important, let's talk later. I promise to deal with it. I'm busy right now."
"Deal with it? You're about to die, that's the 'deal with it' I want," the voice continued.
Luo Feichuan straightened his back, pressing a button on the desk.
The door to the room opened silently, and several police officers entered with serious expressions, immediately opening their laptops and rapidly typing out commands.
A satellite map quickly appeared on the laptop screens.
A red arrow appeared on the map, swiftly cutting through the layered skyscrapers, the winding roads, and the innumerable crowds. It darted through various rapidly changing scenes in a frantic leap.
——It seemed to be tracing the origin of the call.
The officers waited with bated breath.
Shen Ye glanced at them and then at Luo Feichuan.
Police Chief Luo tapped his finger lightly on the desk, seemingly impatient.
At that moment, the voice from the phone resounded again, leisurely and smug:
"Your public record is just a skin you wear. In fact—"
On the computer screen, all the scenes disappeared, leaving only one.
In this last scene, the red arrow pointed to a man wearing a garishly colored pajama set.
——Not the thin, tall man with light brown aviator glasses.
Shen Ye couldn't help but sigh.
Police Chief Luo was meant to help me find the murderer, but now it seems he's found himself in his own troubles.
Moreover, Police Chief Luo seemed quite odd.
This office gave off a very strange feeling as well.
Shen Ye felt as if he were shrouded in a fog, knowing nothing and potentially in danger at any moment.
On the screen, the man in pajamas leaned against a streetlight, smoking a cigarette while on the phone.
```
Behind him was a row of shops selling various goods, and across the street he was facing was a building that looked familiar.
Suddenly, Shen Ye's eyes widened.
The police station!
—At this moment, this man was standing right across the street from the police station!
How dare he come to the police station's doorstep to provoke a police chief!
An invisible fluctuation was born from the void, quickly sweeping over the bodies of several people like a gust of wind, and ultimately locking onto Luo Feichuan's body.
What is this?
Could this be the Technique that Manager Qian spoke of?
As Shen Ye puzzled over this, he saw Luo Feichuan slam his hand on the table and roar:
"Damn it!"
Luo Feichuan leapt from his chair, like a giant eagle spreading its wings, instantly covering dozens of meters and crashing through the glass with a "whoosh" as he rushed out.
Only then did the voice on the telephone finish speaking:
"You slaughtered many members of our church, now I shall have my revenge on their behalf."
Pop.
A gunshot rang out outside.
The policemen in the room charged out after him.
Shen Ye slowly stood up and listened attentively.
There was something off about that gunshot.
The gunshot was very clear, carrying far and wide, even stirring a slow and lingering echo.
There was actually an echo.
In this city like a forest of steel, a gunshot could produce such an echo?
The lights in the room suddenly turned a blood red.
The shrill sound of the electronic alarm rose up, echoing throughout the entire police station.
A female voice came through the loudspeaker:
"Alert!"
"Attacker detected."
"The attacker has invaded the police station, non-combat personnel please find a safe place to hide."
Shen Ye slowly walked to the window and looked out.
Outside was the sea.
The bustling and lively city had vanished, replaced by an expansive and boundless ocean.
The sea was black, like the abyss, its depths utterly obscured.
At this moment, a cold rain was falling on the sea, mixing with the violent wind, and slamming against Shen Ye's face.
It was the ocean!
Shen Ye looked towards the distant horizon and many news reports from his memory surfaced.
—In this world, some things or people would suddenly disappear.
Six months ago.
There was an anomaly on an island nation in the Western Ocean, the whole island vanished, and to this day has not returned.
That was an extreme example.
There were other cases, such as a car driving through fog, the car coming back intact, but the people missing.
—Such reports were common in the news.
Shen Ye looked out at the sea, bewildered.
For ordinary people, the best channel to obtain information was the news.
But.
By just watching the news, one could never grasp the true nature of the world.
Shen Ye stood in front of the shattered window, his gaze sweeping downward.
This place was an island.
Besides the police station, on the other side, seven or eight crooked steles stood before graves, forming a minuscule graveyard.
The island was only so big, just large enough for a police station and a graveyard.
Outside was the endless, vast black sea.
The piercing alarm abruptly stopped.
Luo Feichuan stood on the beach, putting his pistol back in its holster and casually pulling out a black dagger.
In front of him, the man dressed in colorful pajamas also slowly drew a long staff.
The two faced each other.
The next instant.
Several policemen burst through the doors, shouting towards Luo Feichuan:
"Boss—"
Before they could finish, Luo Feichuan and the man in pajamas, along with the island and the vast ocean, all disappeared into nothingness.
The city reappeared before everyone's eyes.
—It was back!
Apart from Luo Feichuan, everyone, including the police station, had returned to the Main World!
Inside the police station.
The piercing sound of alarms erupted everywhere.
People were in a chaos.
Upstairs, in the police chief's office.
Shen Ye retracted his gaze and fell into contemplation.
He had thought the police station was the safest place, yet here was a madman going head-to-head with the police chief.
The church...
But it was unclear which church it was.
Suddenly.
That odd feeling arose once more in Shen Ye's heart.
The whole police station was without power.
The emergency lighting was too weak, and the room was still dim.
He stood in front of the window, looking more and more puzzled.
There was one thing—
A vague matter tugged at his mind, something he couldn't recall no matter how hard he tried.
This feeling was extremely uncomfortable.
—What exactly was it?
Shen Ye was somewhat vexed and couldn't help muttering to himself:
"What's wrong with me? Could there be a ghost in this office?"
No sooner had he spoken than rows of glowing text coalesced on his retina.
"Your Necromantic Talent Ability: Whispers of the Dark has been activated."
"Upon your query, using the corpses here as a conduit, that spirit must return to its body to answer your questions."
"If he does not provide an answer, he can never rest in peace."
Using corpses as a conduit...
Suddenly, Shen Ye realized something, his face showing disbelief.
Here.
Police Chief Luo's office.
—There's a corpse?
Suddenly, a voice sounded:
"Thank you, Shen Ye."
"Who?" Shen Ye spun around sharply, gazing into the dark room.
"I never thought I could return to my body again, using this yet unrotted husk to come and answer your question."
That voice sounded so familiar—
Goosebumps rose all over Shen Ye's body, and a cold sensation ran down his spine and straight to his forehead.
"Police Chief Luo, is that you?"
Shen Ye asked tentatively.
His eyes gently rested on the large cabinet in the corner.
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