(For the Empire, asking for votes at the beginning of the month... I sat in a car for ten hours today, currently stretching and invigorating, so the update is late...)
There is an old Chinese saying that trouble cos from the mouth, which applies just as well to a mirror. The Magic Mirror, due to its chattiness, finally tasted the consequences: Qianqian suddenly beca interested in this talking mirror and started trying to train the thing.
"Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror, tell , what’s the shape of the deepest trench in the world?" said Qianqian.
The Magic Mirror let out a long sigh, "I beg you, ask Baidu yourself..."
"I feel like that mirror will be driven insane by Sister Qianqian sooner or later."
Having glanced at Qianqian happily conversing with the wall mirror nearby, Lilina pointed out sharply.
I was trying to calm down the rcury Lamp, who was ddling with my hair, "No more fussing, we’re talking serious business here—Lilina, continue, you were saying there have really been a lot of supernatural events occurring nearby recently?"
Lilina nodded, "Ah, quite a few. Including the story I just told, there have been at least a dozen similar incidents. The matter with the Collector is true... but I don’t know the specifics, it was sothing Lin Xue ntioned when she ca by. They wanted to write it into the Bible, but now it seems to have no impact at all."
"For the sake of Dingdang, please write sothing normal in the Bible," I quickly waved my hands, and then frowned, "Supernatural events, hauntings, hiss... this planet shouldn’t be up to that, right? Dingdang, co out for a second."
The little thing imdiately crawled out of the pocket on my chest, looking up at curiously.
"There shouldn’t be many mystic elents on Earth, should there? What’s the likelihood of supernatural events happening?"
"This planet," Dingdang counted on its fingers, "does have very few mystic elents indeed, but there are also weak attribute supernatural phenona like ghosts. However, the frequency should definitely not be this high. Dingdang checked the footnotes for this place, the whole planet shouldn’t have more than twenty supernatural occurrences in a year."
"In a few days, in one city, there have been more than ten haunting episodes," Big Sister, who was busy helping Anwina tidy up the house, happened to pass by and said with a smile, "It’s indeed a bit abnormal. What, Ah Jun, do you rarely have the motivation to ddle?"
"No, just a bit curious," I waved my hand, "There’s already enough big trouble, let the Superpower Team worry about these little things."
Although that’s what I said, it’s not likely that I have no curiosity at all. Despite having seen countless fierce worlds, and even having stayed in places filled with zombies and valleys of ghosts, the supernatural phenona on Earth have a different kind of allure. If I had to compare, it’s like you’re used to seeing shrewd girls like Lin Xue and Lilina show off their smarts every day, naturally, it doesn’t impress you much. But then one day, Dingdang and Chiruno suddenly collaborate and publish an article—it would be shockingly impressive.
I didn’t know if it was the effect of my event-attracting halo suddenly kicking in, or if so trouble aggregation was idle for a while and gearing up to burst forth, but that very night, Lin Xue ca, and one could tell at a glance that she was bringing trouble.
Every night at the regular al-scrounging ti, Miss charged into my house, blazingly fast. Without saying two words, she picked up the yogurt on the table, gulped down half of it, and then plopped herself carelessly onto the largest sofa in the living room.
"Phew... This is really killing , I never thought that just a few months of not managing things would pile up so much stuff. I’ve got to find so ti to tell the Old Master that I’m quitting."
Lin Xue mumbled away to herself as she picked up a small pastry from the table and stuffed it into her mouth, mumbling that she hadn’t even had lunch and had rushed over to scrounge a al as soon as she was done with work.
I didn’t know whether this Miss, who had completely made herself at ho here, had any moral limits left at all, but her behavior had clearly agitated rcury Lamp. She had just opened a bottle of yogurt and hadn’t had a chance to drink it when soone snatched it away, causing the Chairman, who I had trained to be a yogurt fiend, to blow her top, "Hey! You rude, stupid woman! That bottle of yogurt is mine!"
Lin Xue looked at the half bottle of yogurt in her hand, gave a sheepish smile, and then downed it without changing her expression.
Warning, rcury Lamp has gone berserk, damage increase by two hundred percent—rcury Lamp was carried away by Big Sister.
As the loud protests of a certain Doll faded into the distance, I had a mont to address the Miss before , who never forgot to co to freeload a al even in the midst of all her business: "What’s up? What’s been keeping you so busy?"
The Miss licked her fingers: "The Superpower Team has run into so trouble; everything needs investigating, and it’s all landed on my head. I’ve been at it for days, and I’m ready to throw in the towel."
Watching Lin Xue wolf down snacks, it was clear she had been too busy even to eat lunch. I had originally wanted to joke about her freeloading behavior, but now I suddenly felt a surge of pity. Despite always seeming immoral and limitless, deep down this Miss was a very responsible person; once it was sothing she was supposed to do, she turned into a workaholic.
"What’s so important that you’re wearing yourself out over it?" I wiped so yogurt from Girl Lin’s mouth with my hand, "With so many intelligence officers under you, you’re still this stressed?"
"So things even Imperial Soldiers can’t help with. I don’t believe Sun Monkey can solve a linear equation in two unknowns, and this ti the situation’s a bit complicated... Yeah, I admit, I’ve been a bit of a workaholic..."
Lin Xue touched her cheek sowhat sheepishly, then leaned back on the sofa: "But after investigating for so many days, I’m getting a sense of things—after all, I’ve had the experience of being the type of character who’s been through saving the world, these high-end tasks."
I casually asked Lin Xue what she had been so busy with recently, and her answer was unsurprisingly just what I expected.
It was the so-called concentration of supernatural events that Lilina had ntioned.
"There were two or three related reports about a month ago, but it was during the Carnival, so I didn’t pay attention and just left it at that. Suddenly, these past few days it exploded like a geyser... Supernatural events, haunted houses, all sorts of things have been said, but officially they should be categorized as third-class supernatural phenona," Lin Xue toyed with her data terminal, "which are by definition anomalies that defy existing human technology, do not conform to normal physical laws, and are projections of human subconscious fears. They have erupted in our city and a few nearby cities. I’ve made so personal notes on the data terminal; take a look."
The Miss projected so holographic images into the air, and Sandora, along with Qianqian who had just been drawn over, imdiately crowded in with curiosity.
They were all blurry images, but clearly not because of the device. We saw ghost-like semi-material substances, oddly shaped charred objects, bizarre symbols, and large patches of blood.
"Looks pretty much like it was directly snapped from a supernatural movie, right?" Lin Xue sighed, "Recently, I’ve been dealing with these things every day. Ding Ling was originally helping out in a team, but she got scared of ghosts. She cried the first ti she went on-site, and now it’s all on ."
After that, the Miss ntioned so other related issues, and I roughly understood the ins and outs of these matters.
In short, K city and several surrounding cities were all plagued by a surge of ghost phenona.
Peaceful Earth suddenly experienced unusual events, prompting to recall several similar incidents from the past, like the activities of the Olympus Organization’s superpower users and the ti when Avalon’s predecessor made contact with Earth through a World Fragnt from the afterlife, especially the latter, which accompanied a multitude of supernatural events and ca close to annihilating the world. However, according to Lin Xue’s words, this event was not quite the sa as those two.
"First off, the impact of this event isn’t as broad as the previous two. Secondly, when the supernatural phenona erupted, they all shared a common tendency: ghost stories," Lin Xue said, her expression troubled, "the kind of ghost stories familiar to humans, like ghosts, midnight chis, bloody footprints, and even magic mirrors..."
"Did soone call ?!" The magic mirror on the living room wall imdiately shouted out, "Let the learned Magic Mirror solve your mysteries!"
"Shut it, or I’ll cover you with black paint!" I yelled, and the magic mirror instantly wilted: "You can’t do that... I’m sowhat of a cultural heritage, aren’t I..."
I gestured for Lin Xue to continue, and she pursed her lips: "Anyway, it’s these incidents. Clearly, they must share a common cause. At least that’s what my intuition tells . Maybe I’m using my abilities incorrectly, as my observations of the cause are sowhat hazy—but I can determine that it’s a person. As for their identity, I can’t pinpoint it precisely."
"I see," I scratched my chin, pondering for a mont, "Earth shouldn’t be having this many incidents like these. Dingdang also confird it just now—it’s a bit abnormal. I’ll go back and see if we have Sherlock Hols among the Heroic Spirits; he might be able to help..."
Qianqian imdiately interrupted when I was halfway through, her youthful energy flaring as she shook my arm vigorously, "Ah Jun, Ah Jun, I have an idea!"
I looked at her with eyes wide in astonishnt.
Oblivious to our stares, Qianqian cheerfully counted her fingers as she described her grand plan: "Ah Jun, since we aren’t busy now, and there’s no war... Paranormal incidents, urban legends, campus mysteries, don’t you think it’s all quite fun? What if we have the Boundless Love organization reboot and help those people affected by supernatural phenona while Lin Xue deals with the paranormal incidents?"
So you just want to have fun, right?
Knowing that once Qianqian got an idea in her head, no one could stop her, I could only resign myself to a heavy sigh, tacitly agreeing to her impulsive actions. I just hoped that Boundless Love’s return to the scene wouldn’t stir things up too much—it was not easy to find a world that hadn’t been plagued by misfortunes.
"Just Qianqian’s matter?" Lin Xue glanced at with a mischievous smile, "Aren’t you going to participate? My intuition tells that these incidents... may be related to the Xyrin Apostles again."
I froze for a mont, finally noticing the seriousness in Lin Xue’s eyes, and grew solemn, "What’s the situation?"
"It’s hard to say the specifics. When using Predictions, I saw sothing. The catalyst for these ghost phenona is indeed a human, but behind this human hides a faint trace of the Empire. A very light connection that I was only certain of on my third glimpse into the future. My gut tells that if we latch onto this slim link, we might uncover sothing extraordinary."
Sandora and I exchanged glances, nodding in unspoken agreent: Put it on the agenda.
We had to take Lin Xue’s words seriously. When she issued a warning in earnest, it implied the matter had repercussions for the future that required careful attention. Yet, this ti, she couldn’t determine if the shadows lurking behind those seemingly trivial ghost phenona were good or bad for us, which was unprecedented.
Ignoring what the future holds, Qianqian’s goal was reached anyway. "Boundless Love," the omnipotent organization that once called the wind and rallied the rain, causing a trendous stir within the dark forces on Earth, made a coback. As soon as the news was released, it kicked off a massive uproar, from the stray cat and dog shelters in K City to the European Church and the Arican Superpower Alliance. Everyone, from leaders of world-influencing superpower organizations to elderly ladies who once had help crossing streets, began to pay intense attention to this sensational news—What the hell were those stuffed-shirt Imperial Soldiers thinking to have taken on so many damned ridiculous tasks?!
The re-ergence of "Boundless Love" was first publicized by the Superpower Team that Lin Xue belonged to. Subsequently, individuals and groups who had heard of the organization began, with a try-and-see attitude, to search for those once silent contacts in the odd corners of various dia. They indeed discovered this mysterious organization. Initially, so people thought it was a superpower user playing a joke, but after they found the deeply hidden official website of Boundless Love changed its logo four tis, background music five tis, font three tis, style eight tis, and its range of services twenty-seven tis within two days, everyone realized... there was no more need to worry about lost cats and dogs, nor about world peace; though the Mars exploration project... well, that one was still a concern of its own.
As the influential (though Lilina seriously doubted and reserved all rights to scorn that notion) forces of the Dark World trembled in speculation about which superpower organization "Boundless Love" planned to target this ti, they couldn’t possibly imagine what the leaders of this organization were actually up to.
In an alley sowhere on the old streets of K City, stood a dilapidated three-story building. In fact, the entire street block, almost forgotten by the city, comprised of mottled walls, broken windows, unidentifiable iron gates, and completely dark buildings, all appeared to tell passersby that it was uninhabited. Yet, no one knew this was the headquarters of the mysterious "Boundless Love."
Qianqian picked the location, and she also ca up with the na for the headquarters—even though there was no second headquarters, that girl still felt this na was a bit more imposing.
"And besides, shouldn’t mysterious organizations be hidden in ancient mansions that appear dilapidated on the outside but are full of secrets inside?"
So said Qianqian.
In any case, the new office of Boundless Love ended up in such a ridiculous place. What was even more absurd was the car parked below it, perfectly blending into the surroundings with a 200% integration rate—a wrecked car resembling remains of an accident—a car you couldn’t believe actually had four wheels. The seven-hundred-billion was finally suitable for its very own quirky nest.
Of course, the exterior’s dilapidation didn’t an the inside was a gloomy abandoned house too. We gutted the inside of this three-story building and built a comfortable high-tech office environnt, including a silvery reception hall and several utterly pointless offices, along with an ultra-fast elevator using anti-gravity and inertial dampening technologies. This elevator could even bring you into space without you feeling a thing. Regrettably, the only downside was that the internal construction of headquarters had just one floor...
Today is the second day of the opening, and Qianqian’s enthusiasm hasn’t faded. She was bustling about, personally on duty in the big office, ready to receive "seekers" introduced by Lin Xue or guided by the foreign affairs personnel of the Empire. anwhile, I was playing checkers with an archly immoral fellow next to the office desk on a small table—an armpit witch dressed in red and white, with large detached sleeves, a big butterfly bow at the back of her hair, a listless and bored expression, this person playing checkers with herself was called Boli Lingng.
Don’t be surprised why this girl has co to join the buzz. When she heard about rampant evil spirits outside, Yukari Yakumo appeared and sold out her dear friend. And I certainly agreed: How could an exorcism occur without a witch present? Besides, Ling ng was one of them, several Maoshan Daoists and big monks were hanging out in the resting room too; they were professionals called over from the Macro World...
"Hey boss, I’m so sleepy," Ling ng laid her head in her hands, her head bobbing up and down with the big butterfly bow fluttering behind, "It’s just so asly evil spirits. Any one of you could easily eliminate thousands with a flick of your finger. Why do you need to co out, and without even a bonus?"
Tch, since Qianqian is playing her ga, do you think you can stay out of it? Let tell you, when that energetic girl dragged you here, we had the heart to bring the whole Shadow City to join in the mourning.
Just as Ling ng and I took turns in our ga regretting moves and making snide remarks, suddenly the voice of Lilina, who was acting as the front desk officer, rang out excitedly, "Boss! Sister Qianqian! Soone is coming!"
I neatly finished regretting the last move and threw Ling ng into the rest room. Monts later, the office door opened, and a distressed-looking man of advancing years was escorted in by two Imperial Soldiers disguised as company staff.
Just a very ordinary man wearing fairly neat but unpretentious clothes, his face marred by dark circles from lack of rest, likely a courtesy of being haunted for several days. Taking into account the man’s condition, I ca to a few conclusions: salaryman, car owner, unmarried. Because I saw the form he filled out.
"You all must help ! I... I’ve been cursed by ’The Ring!’"
The man looked at us, and after a long mont, suddenly cried out with a choking voice.
(To be continued. If you like this work, welco to vote for it at Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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