I created the Anomaly Control Bureau

Chapter 1010, Section 1005: The Mentally Ill Man, Marne (Happy New Year)
When Marne awoke again, it was already the next morning. This time, when he opened his eyes, his consciousness was no longer confused or blurry, and the intense dizziness seemed to have subsided.

It's as if all the chaos of yesterday was just a terrible nightmare.

However, when he opened his eyes, all he saw was the ceiling of the psychiatric ward.

He struggled to his feet and began to look around at his surroundings.

He was in a terrible mental state yesterday and couldn't figure out what had happened, but now he was certain that it wasn't some kind of hallucination caused by mental power.

Even without considering that he actually used anti-mind abilities during the final battle, this still doesn't make sense.

Because if that power comes from the destined returner, then it's probably not his consciousness that's being changed, but the entire reality he exists in, which would also align with the prophecy of the destined returner.

According to what the Federation had told him, when the destined returners are resurrected, the prophecies he had made will directly become reality in some way, and probably not in the way they understand it.

In other words, he has the ability to directly rewrite the entire reality.

But it seems he didn't really succeed completely, because he still remembers the past, which is clearly not the case for a truly perfect resurrection of a returning person.

Ma En sat up, looked around the room, and then quickly noticed the photo frame on the bedside table.

He cautiously tried to touch the picture frame with his telekinesis, but as he expected, the frame did not change at all; all he experienced was intense dizziness.

This was clearly some kind of suppression and sealing of himself, which reminded him of how his mental power was directly melted when the golden light burst forth. This was likely the effect of the Returnee's power to distort reality.

Before falling into a coma, Ma En gathered his mental energy, then got out of bed and went over.

He picked up the photo that had caught his attention earlier. The background was a beach that he was somewhat familiar with, and standing on the left side of the picture was himself, looking no different from how he looked now.

What truly caught his attention was the beautiful figure beside him. Her healthy, wheat-colored skin was clearly not Chen Yun or You Yue, but the woman he had seen in his dreams.

And just like a scene from a dream, her face was also radiant with a dazzling halo.

Could this photograph be the source of that dream? Or is it that the destined returner captured their own memories?

Suppressing his doubts, Ma En immediately began to carefully examine the entire picture frame, and soon he indeed found something noteworthy on the back of the frame: a short sentence that was clearly engraved on it.

To my beloved.

However, upon seeing these words, Ma En immediately frowned. This was not the kind of word he would carve, and he didn't even think he would do something like carving words on the back of a picture frame.

This was likely created by the power of the destined returnees, but what was their purpose?

Even now, he still can't figure out his current situation. In fact, by recalling fragments of yesterday's memories, he can barely deduce his own situation in this distorted reality.

Clearly, he had become mentally ill again, and in the eyes of his attending physician Qin Lan, those real past events had become his delusions as a madman; he had never left the mental hospital.

All his experiences were his fantasies in the hospital ward; the distorted reality he experiences now is the truth.

In other words, to outsiders, he is completely a madman, since the world in his memory has been reshaped by the destined returner, and his power has been completely suppressed.

Furthermore, through Qin Lan's few words, it is clear that the Returnees and the Church also have a hidden control over this world. When Qin Lan mentioned the Returnees, she did not use the prefix "destined".

But more importantly, he wasn't erased from his memory, nor did he die. Clearly, the current situation isn't entirely under the Cherubim's control; at least, she shouldn't be able to kill herself, since the Cherubim are obviously in a hurry to implement this change.

Moreover, in that case, the divine eye would no longer guide him toward that future.

The current situation certainly offers hope.

Thinking this, he casually put the photo into his pocket and continued searching the house, hoping to find some clues that could guide him on what to do next.

And just as he bent down to open the bedside table...

Boom, boom, boom.

Unlike yesterday's hurried knocking, this time the knocking was not only very soft, but it also stirred up a strange, indescribable feeling in Marne's heart, as if...

"Ma En, are you there?" A woman's voice came from outside the door.

He walked over cautiously, then slowly opened the door.

Standing outside the door was a young girl wearing a white baseball cap. Warm sunlight streamed down the entire corridor, bees landed on the potted plants inside, and in the distance, a few pedestrians leisurely enjoyed the midday hour.

The girl had a friendly smile on her face:
"I heard from Dr. Qin that you've had another episode? Are you still like last time, thinking you're some kind of superhero, and imagining us fellow patients as people with all sorts of superpowers?"

Mar and Eng blinked:

"Ning Changkong?"

She raised her hand and tapped Mar and Eng on the shoulder:

"There's no problem. Don't you still remember my name? Qin Lan just likes to make a mountain out of a molehill. She even told me not to bother you, but there's no need for that at all."

"Let's go, today's mutual aid meeting is about to begin."

Marx and Engels sized up their old friend, whom they hadn't seen in a long time:
"Dr. Qin didn't lie to you. I do have a little problem with my mind. Actually, I only remember that we know each other. Are we very close friends?"

Hearing this, Ning Changkong looked at him with some surprise, but quickly said indifferently:

"Don't take such a small thing to heart. Everyone here has some kind of mental problem. It's already good enough that you haven't been possessed by a demon. To be honest, I don't even know if I'll recognize you tomorrow."

"Nobody cares about such trivial matters. It's much better to fantasize about having superpowers than to think you're the immortal king of some ancient empire. By the way, you should still remember Cao Yan, right?"

Marx and Engels said, half-jokingly:
"That name sounds familiar. She's also a member of the mutual aid group, right?"

Hearing this, Ning Changkong showed a completely relieved expression:

"I told you Dr. Qin was just worrying too much. You're perfectly fine mentally. Come on, a new member joined the mutual support group yesterday. If you don't go say hello, you'll miss the golden opportunity."

Then, completely ignoring Maren's feigned amnesia, she grabbed his hand and headed towards the direction of the mutual aid group in Maren's memory...

It was as if he had never left the mental hospital.

Happy New Year everyone! And by the way, I'm hoping for perfect attendance and lots of monthly votes next month!