Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 370 Meeting People

At 4:21 a.m., a suicide occurred in an apartment in the southern section of the shelter.

The deceased was a 34-year-old male. Neighbors heard the gunshot and immediately called the police. When the police arrived, they found the deceased on the bed in the bedroom. There were no signs of forced entry or any signs of a struggle in the bedroom. It seems that Mr. Doolittle had simply had enough of life in the shelter and decided to end his life on this day with the .45 caliber pistol left to him by his grandfather.

Such incidents are not uncommon in shelters. Living underground for a long time can easily cause people to suddenly lose the will to live at some point.

This matter was not widely publicized, and apart from the apartment neighbors, not many people knew about Du Li's affair.

When Zhuang Xiao arrived at the South District after hearing the news, the police had already completed their on-site investigation. She happened to witness a body covered with a white sheet being carried out of the apartment building.

She also learned some things about Duli from other neighbors in the apartment.

His parents passed away one after the other when he was in his twenties, and he has lived alone ever since. When he was short of money, he would do some temporary work. He lived a very frugal life. The young man was an honest man and never got into conflicts with anyone. His neighbors would always greet him with smiles.

According to the shelter's regulations, Duli's property and house will be confiscated, and in a year or two he will be completely forgotten.

Zhuang Xiao knew that Chen Qi would be furious when he learned of this news.

It's unclear whether it's because they lacked an operator who could directly contact Ethan, but it also makes Chen Qi appear to have made a wrong and incompetent decision.

Zhuang Xiao didn't linger in the South District for long. She returned to her department, and unsurprisingly, Chen Qi appeared in Merlin's office again. However, this time there were no roars or smashing sounds coming from inside. When they entered, the two people who didn't get along were sitting face to face, and at least on the surface, there was no sign of an argument.

"If you've come here to demand an explanation, the chip you implanted in him has malfunctioned."

Merlin remained calm and shrugged. "Du Li approached us last night, hoping we could convey his intention to withdraw."

He embellished the reasons for the meeting with some "artistic flair," and because of Mr. Duli's death, no one will be able to expose his lie.

Why didn't he come to me directly?

Chen Qi sounded extremely tired; he seemed to have no energy left to even throw things or curse.

This time, Merlin wasn't worried about Chen Qixing holding him accountable, because even if the committee investigated, the primary responsibility would lie with the chip implantation process, which had nothing to do with him and Zhuang Xiao. Then, the committee would discuss whether it was wise to let Du Li participate in this dream experiment.

Even setting aside the series of confidentiality clauses involving his grandfather, his mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was forcibly sent to a mental hospital for treatment with the intervention of the committee, while his father died in a traffic accident. Such "accidents" in the case of Du Li's family inevitably give people pause for thought.

From any perspective, even if the committee holds someone accountable afterward, Chen Qi will definitely be the one who suffers.

But Merlin didn't like office politics, and seeing Chen Qi's misfortune wouldn't help his investigation. All he knew was that a key position had been vacated after Du Li's suicide. This position required direct communication and coordination with Ethan, and he had heard that Chen Qi's cronies were hesitant to take the job—especially after news spread that Du Li had committed suicide at home after only one day on the job.

Some believe he was influenced by Ethan, which may be some kind of mental pollution. At this point, some hindsight staff pointed out that Doolittle's mental state was very bad after he cut out the dream.

Before the issue was fully investigated, the position became a hot potato, and the department was filled with anxiety. They were all worried that they would be cursed after meeting Ethan, causing them to suddenly decide to end their lives in their bedrooms after get off work.

“If you need, I can take over Duli’s work.”

Before Chen Qi could speak, Merlin spoke.

He knew that under normal circumstances, Chen Qi would never allow him to participate in the dream experiment, but this was a special time. The drastic change on the other side of the dream caught Chen Qi off guard, and the committee was unreachable at this time. The result of this experiment would directly affect Minister Chen Qi's position, and even the entire "reconstruction plan".

"If you find me shot myself in my bedroom tomorrow morning, it would just confirm the department's prediction, wouldn't it? But I consider myself to have a pretty good mental capacity, and I don't have any plans to commit suicide in the short term."

“After you finish work each day, you will have to stay behind alone to report directly to me. Also, you will have a new chip implanted in you.”

"clear."

……

"I know what you want to ask."

After Chen Qi left, Merlin said, "It was Chen Qi who dragged Du Li into this, not me."

"But you tampered with the chip."

Zhuang Xiao instinctively retorted to Merlin, but she quickly realized that such bickering was actually meaningless; it neither brought Du Li back to life nor helped them with their subsequent work.

They are not Ethan; they cannot, through their own will, steer the outcome in a positive direction. More often than not, they are trapped in the mire, struggling to survive even on their own.

No wonder those people always say things like "We are all living life to the fullest".

"Regarding the story Du Li told last night..."

After a moment, Merlin took the initiative to start the conversation, saying, "This at least answers a question that has been bothering me for a long time."

Ethan's construction of the "dream" was so realistic that it was as if he had actually lived there. That was something that could not be achieved by simply implanting an idea. The "ghost stories" about his grandfather's generation that Doolittle mentioned while drunk answered all of this.

“He knows everything.”

These were the last words his grandfather left for them. For beings at the level of the Old Gods, dissecting the human brain and exploring their memories and thoughts was not difficult. Merlin hadn't slept a wink after returning to his apartment yesterday. He took some hangover pills and tried to continue writing the ending of *The City of Truth*, following the story of Doolittle.

It is worth noting that, apart from the crew, most of the people on that starship were well-trained soldiers, and the scene did not sound like a friendly exchange.

The complete annihilation of the starships led to the destruction of the City of Truth.

In the end, this is the final ending of the story, but Merlin still cannot connect the two. The only possibility he can think of is that the being in the darkness that the crew witnessed, after knowing everything, arrived at the City of Truth and destroyed the surface of the city.

If this is true...

Are they really dealing with such a dangerous entity?

This is why Merlin was so eager to meet Ethan; he only trusted his own eyes and judgment, and only through face-to-face communication could he confirm Ethan's character.

Today, he prepared two injections.

One was for Zhuang Xiao, and the other was for himself.

..............................

fifth day.

This was Ethan's second day in his new position, and the department was already undergoing a major personnel change.

Mr. Mediterranean left his job, and his new boss looked to be about the same age, but perhaps because of his hairstyle, he looked much more energetic.

Ethan recalled how timid Mr. Mediterranean had been yesterday and felt that it would be difficult for him to stay in this position for long.

"Section Chief Lin, how is Section Chief Du?"

"I've developed some minor symptoms and have applied to go home to recuperate."

Getting along with the new section chief was much smoother; at least the new section chief, Lin, didn't seem like he was always about to hide under his desk.

The new section chief smiled slightly at him, "Just call me Lao Lin. Don't worry about Lao Du. He rarely gets a vacation, and he should be reuniting with his family by now. He's doing very well... Do you have any plans for lunch? Want to go to the cafeteria together? The roast meat there is pretty good."

Merlin secretly observed Ethan, whose assessment was almost identical to theirs.

At least on the surface, it doesn't look like the kind of terrifying being that would grin and slaughter an entire starship.

Are the ideas they implanted really powerful enough to change a person's personality?

Merlin didn't think so. In fact, when they observed Ethan, his personality was already set. His two years in Riverwood were enough to prove that he was a stable and kind young man.

Although they didn't know why Ethan suddenly appeared in the refugee group, there are always phenomena in this world that they can't explain, aren't there?

It's like the "goddess" also left the guild and became a little girl from the Northern Clan, starting her new life at the academy.

Experience life.

Perhaps this is just a pastime they use to pass the time in their endless lifespan.

"no problem."

Ethan agreed. It was necessary to build rapport on the first day of the new section chief's term. The good news was that Section Chief Lin seemed to be a very easy person to get along with.

The only problem is that this position is a bit too easy, and it seems that he and the newly arrived Section Chief Lin are the only two members in this department. Their current daily work has nothing to do with creating a tense and exciting other world, but is more like secretarial work of organizing data.

The Democratic Council sends the information they have to the department every day, and his job is simply to compile this information into documents, categorize it, and store it in folders.

If that's all there is to it, then we really don't need any more manpower.

Ethan and Section Chief Lin were walking towards the cafeteria. The newly arrived Section Chief Lin was a talkative person and seemed to have a lot of inside information. The two deliberately chose a spot near the corner of the wall to ensure that their conversation would not be disturbed.

"Old Sen, have you heard?"

The word "Old Sen" instantly shortened the distance between the two. Merlin lowered his voice and said, "The Democratic Council is preparing to launch a starship, and they've been recruiting people everywhere lately."

"Starship?"

"That's right, a starship."

Merlin said, "This will be an unprecedented friendly visit."

(End of this chapter)