I created the Anomaly Control Bureau

Chapter 1019, Section 1014: The Voice of the Returnee (4k views, please vote!)

As his heavy head rested on his shoulder, a strange peace arose in Ma En's heart, as if the world outside the room had disappeared, and only the books in front of him and the woman behind him were real.

until……

A blinding white light suddenly pierced his eyes, ripping up the cozy room like a hurricane, piecing together the reality around him with cold, fragmented images, and Chen Yun's face gradually became clear in the process.

"It's alright, relax," Chen Yun said softly. "The situation is better than I expected."

With her help, Ma En gradually regained his balance.

The scene before him was still the same corridor, and the surrounding light told him that not much time had really passed since he fell into the illusion, which was completely different from the last time.

At this moment, Ma En also noticed that there was a fading holy light beside Chen Yun, which seemed to be the release of some kind of divine magic.

Seeing that Maren's breathing was relatively steady, Chen Yun then began to explain:

“I suspect your hallucinations are caused by the devil, so I wanted to see for myself what the scolding was all about, but I didn’t find any trace of the devil just now, which means that the devil in you should have been expelled.”

Marx and Engels asked in confusion:
"Then what's going on?"

Chen Yun explained gently:
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a side effect of demonic possession, that is, a real mental illness, and your condition is quite serious. Even healing magic can't solve your physical problems; it can only temporarily drive those hallucinations away from your body."

"But you don't need to worry. Every devout believer can receive help and guidance from those who have returned. Even those who have made mistakes can always find the right path as long as they sincerely repent."

"The devil's temptations cannot harm true believers. Therefore, in order to prepare for your healing, you need to participate in various activities, such as public worship every Saturday and the Voice of the Returnees every Sunday and Wednesday."

"If you don't mind, you can also try signing up for the Voice of the Returnees. If these things are too much of a burden for you, you can also go to a pastor for confession and prayer more often. Anyway, there are many pastors in the sanatorium."

Marx and Engels asked in confusion:
"The Voice of the Returnees?"

Seeing his surprised expression, Chen Yun was also slightly surprised, just like when they heard Ma En's doubts about prayer in the activity room, but her expression was much gentler.

Chen Yun didn't ask any further questions, but instead went on to say:
"It's almost time, come with me..."

As she spoke, she led Ma En into the hospital with remarkable ease, her steps firm as if she knew the place intimately and showed no hesitation about the direction they were heading.

Soon, she led Ma En to a corner of the cafeteria.

Compared to other parts of the hospital, there were many more patients here, and there were also two pastors standing like guards. They and many patients looked at Chen Yun with surprise.

She led Marne to sit down in a corner of the restaurant:

"It's about to begin."

Although many people looked at her with positive emotions—surprise, admiration, and respect—they did not approach Chen Yun's vicinity, and even formed a vacuum around her.

Ma En followed her gaze and looked over.

It was a hanging screen that actually played TV dramas. The dramas on the screen didn't look any different from those in the previous world, except that they seemed to have some subtle religious elements.

"What would you like to eat?" Chen Yun asked warmly.

Maren rubbed his belly:
"Bread and soy milk will do."

She nodded to the distance without saying a word, but a priest who looked like a guard walked directly to the dining hall window.

“I haven’t felt this relaxed in a long time,” Chen Yun said with a nostalgic look in his eyes. “This always reminds me of the good old days, as if those days haven’t completely passed away.”

But it's gone.

Ma En could sense that she was indeed reminiscing about something at that moment, but the question was what she truly missed: was it the false memories created by heaven, or some fragments that remained deep within her memory?

Or perhaps something even more distant?

Soon the pastor brought two plates. On Ma En's plate were several plump steamed buns and a cup of fragrant hot soy milk, while on Chen Yun's plate was a bowl of wontons.

Ma En picked up the bun and took a bite; the tender, savory meat juices instantly filled his mouth.

What is the voice of the returning one?

Upon hearing this, Chen Yun gave him a somewhat serious look:

"There are some things I can't tell you; you have to experience them for yourself. I'm not qualified to answer them for Him."

Seeing this, Marx and Engels did not press further, but instead said:
"Were we very close before? I think your taking care of me like this isn't entirely out of work requirements, but rather there are some personal factors involved, right?"

Chen Yun smiled, then a look of reminiscence crossed his face:
"Of course, back in the day your wife and I were practically sisters. Whenever I had free time, I would always visit your home, and we talked about almost everything..."

She paused here, seemingly realizing something was amiss, but seeing the curious look on Ma En's face, she continued:
"You might wonder why I couldn't stop the devil from harming her. I must apologize to you for that. In fact, I haven't been able to catch or be harmed by the devil that tormented her until today. It must be an extremely powerful and evil devil. Unless it reveals some weakness, it would be very difficult to find its trace directly."

Marne asked with some surprise:
"How could such a terrifying demon exist in the world? Can't even the returnees stop it?"

Upon hearing Marx and Engels's questioning, she quickly retorted:

"The devil is a product of the human heart. Even the returned ones cannot bear all our sins. Moreover, this devil is indeed not a simple thing. He is not much worse than that fallen angel."

A hint of guilt appeared on her face as she spoke:

"So I know it's definitely not aimed at you. You may have forgotten, but I have to let you know this. It's very likely that it's using you to get revenge on me."

"So if you want to hate something, you can hate me for attracting it, and frankly, I'm the one who has failed to catch this devil so far. It's my fault."

Marx and Engels neither agreed nor disagreed with this:

"I don't feel anything now that you're saying this, and have you really seen this devil?"

He still felt that the real reason Chen Yun couldn't find the devil was that Heaven didn't know who the murderer was either. If the apocalypse was the thing that killed his "deceased wife," then it must be beyond Heaven's understanding and jurisdiction.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yun shook his head:
“I haven’t seen it, but I know what the devil can do. However, you have asked a very important question, because no one has ever seen the devil that caused such a disaster. So, the academic community has a lot of speculation about your situation. If you encounter any guys who try to cause you trouble, please ignore them and don’t pay attention to what they say.”

Marx and Engels asked, puzzled:
"What guess?" She picked up a wonton with her chopsticks:

"The most vicious speculation is that there is no devil at all, and that the tragedy was entirely the product of human madness and evil thoughts, but these are all irreverent rumors."

"After all, all evil thoughts are the product of the devil's instigation. For every sin, there is always the shadow of the devil's interference behind it. Although we cannot catch it now, it is only a matter of time."

Hearing this, Marx and Engels felt that the concept of the devil was not so reliable:
"So they suspect I killed my wife?"

Chen Yun did not answer directly:

"This kind of voice is actually not very common, but there is a more common speculation that the devil has not left. Some scholars believe that the devil is still hiding in your body, and your madness has created a maze for it to hide in."

"They did not believe that this demon could hide its tracks after escaping. They felt that only humanity itself could conceal such great evil, and thus they had some disrespectful thoughts about the sacred word."

"They wanted to eliminate this devil directly to avoid causing even greater losses."

The meaning of this statement is quite clear: they want to kill the host of the devil themselves, so that at least the devil can no longer hide inside their bodies.

Chen Yun continued:

"But this is obviously a very wrong idea. This kind of thinking is a product of the devil's temptation. But I must warn you that my idea is not the mainstream view in academia and the church now."

"Over the years, the church has become increasingly successful and has rarely paid the price for making wrong choices. As a result, they have become increasingly lazy and always want to take shortcuts they shouldn't take."

"And that's why even such foolish ideas have a place to exist."

Marx and Engels nodded slightly.

That's understandable.

Seeing his attitude, Chen Yun also put down his chopsticks and revealed a serious expression:
“I’m not joking. To be honest, this idea is stupid, but there are stupid people in the church, and they are very proactive because they are often satisfied with their devotion to God rather than walking the right path He has shown them. For them, eradicating such demons is a big deal.”

"By the way, you might not understand what I meant by the analogy I just mentioned. I just mentioned that they think this demon is likely a great evil comparable to a fallen angel, and that is definitely not a small matter."

"Because even for the Returned Ones, the Fallen Angels are still a huge problem, and this unknown demon is also the mortal enemy of the entire Church and Heaven. If it can be eliminated, the Church will not hesitate to pay the price."

“I would not hesitate to sacrifice myself to destroy this evil if I had the chance. This evil is a threat to everyone, and I fully agree that the church should pay a heavy price for it.”

"My disagreement with most people is simply about what constitutes the price we have to pay."

Looking at her serious expression, Ma En could sense that Chen Yun was very serious at the moment, and her warning might have some effect, but what he felt more was her deep-rooted sense of good and evil.

Despite becoming a little more arrogant and undergoing other subtle changes, she is still herself.

“I will be careful.” Marne nodded. “That’s why you always come to take care of me?”

Seeing that he understood the situation, Chen Yun picked up his chopsticks again:

"Yes, if other church members want to take you away, you can go directly to the hospital nurses and doctors. Not all of them can be commanded. You can also go to Dr. Qin."

“She’s an old friend of mine, and she promised to take care of you.”

Marx and Engels nodded:

"Okay, I'll contact her immediately if there are any problems."

That being said, if he can regain his power before such a thing happens, it might be a special opportunity for him.

Chen Yun looked up at the television:
"It's almost time..."

As she spoke, Ma En also noticed that the cafeteria was getting more and more crowded, and many patients and nurses were not eating but were still standing.

Moreover, everyone deliberately lowered their voices when they talked, and the entire cafeteria was quite quiet, but the corridor outside was even quieter, as Ma En could hardly hear any pedestrians walking around.

It was as if everyone around us had squeezed into this space.

The screen that was originally playing a TV series has now turned into a white background that emits a faint golden light, and Ma En can even feel that some of the golden light from the screen has leaked into reality.

The clock hands came to a steady stop at exactly eight o'clock.

Swish.

The somewhat retro-styled words "Voice of the Returnees" appeared on the screen. As the special effects changed, these words slipped off the side of the screen, revealing a scene that looked like an interview room.

Two beautiful sofas and a small round table in the middle, religious symbols hanging on the wall, and a huge wooden cabinet filled with various scriptures, are the only basic and simple furniture that make up the room's decor.

But what's really important isn't these decorations, but the man sitting on the sofa to the left. He's a thin man with obvious dark circles under his eyes, looks to be in his twenties, and is fairly handsome, but he clearly looks a bit overworked.

Moreover, there was a huge hole in the center of his chest, and you could even see the cross-section of his flesh and blood. But what really bothered Maren was that slightly subtle sense of familiarity.

He quickly remembered who this man resembled.

Raphael.

Aside from the age discrepancy and his poor mental state, he actually looked quite similar to Raphael. Maen also remembered that the Cherubim's final target was Raphael.

"Ahem." The man who looked like Lafayette coughed. "Hello everyone."

As he spoke, a young and beautiful woman walked in from the right side of the screen. She looked to be about the same age as Rafael, but this seemed a bit strange to Marne.

Because the person who walked in was Ivanie, who was much older than Raphael.

Moreover, she didn't look tired like Rafael did at all; on the contrary, she was quite energetic, as if she had slept very well the night before.

"Your Excellency, the Returnee," she said warmly, looking at the screen, "do you have anything to say to everyone today?"

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　　(End of this chapter)