Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 489 Third Contact

Shang Xia spent some time in Xixi Keke but didn't gain anything.

After receiving a call from Jiangwen Subdistrict, he took a chartered plane back to Jiangwen Subdistrict.

The location is Dadu Bay Port in Haijiu District.

Shang Xia met the head of the investigation team here, Professor Liu Qingcong, one of the few people she had a good impression of. Next to her, running around with the investigation team members in front of her, was her student Chen Yashu.

Normally, Chen Yashu should have stayed by Liu Qingcong's side to help her process the data, but this student was too unconventional and not a typical academic; her mind was completely off the research. If it weren't for her truly outstanding abilities, she would have been fired long ago.

After all, she was the one who saved her back then, and Liu Qingcong's basic professional ethics as a teacher prevented her from giving up on such a talented person.

Let's just let her have her way with this little trick of hers.

In any case, she was able to complete most of the tasks assigned to her very well, except for writing articles.

"Professor Liu." Shang Xia quietly approached Liu Qingcong, startling her slightly, but Liu Qingcong's usually calm face only opened her mouth briefly before returning to normal.

She looked at Shang Xia: "You're back. I received the message that I would pick you up by private jet, but you didn't need to come over so quickly."

Shang Xia simply shook his head silently, then looked at the chaotic port in front of him.

"The earthquake had barely subsided when the white world suffered such severe damage again," she said.

Dadu Bay Port is the largest port in Dadu, holding a very important strategic and economic position. After this destruction, the port terminal in Haijiu District can only be rebuilt.

The wharves in Haijiu District are mainly responsible for transporting military equipment. Fortunately, the wharves in the adjacent Jiangwen Street area maintain normal navigation, otherwise the impact would be even greater.

However, the losses in military equipment have a greater impact on the related military industrial groups behind the capital.

This wave of losses enraged them, and if the current situation were not so special, they might have directly attacked Jiangwen Street.

For now, we'll only be making some small, clandestine moves; our focus is still on cutting losses.

As mentioned shortly after the earthquake, the White World cannot utilize supernatural powers, making rapid reconstruction through special means impossible.

When the protective shield shielding the white world is breached, its fragility surpasses the imagination of most people.

The reason the investigation team gathered here during this New Year holiday is because the follow-up investigation into the two unexplained hallucinations that occurred at the dock at the end of February has revealed traces of the "tree branch" that they had been searching for.

One of them is almost certainly the hallucination of Wang Shizhong, the number one criminal who has already been executed, codenamed "Mothman".

The power of the military could infiltrate the white world and exert its effects, thus allowing for a rapid deduction of the battle situation at the time.

Mothman attempts to lure a formidable opponent into the White World, where both are restricted by the White World, and then uses his vast experience—in other words, luck—to defeat his opponent.

However, the result was that the terrifying opponent was not afraid of the suppression of the White World at all and forcibly killed the Mothman in Haijiu District.

The illusion capable of such a thing—undoubtedly, the mysterious illusion currently being investigated, codenamed "Tree Branch"—is the only one capable of it.

This matter quickly attracted attention, and the investigation team, which had originally thought they could take a short break during the New Year, got up and worked overtime.

"You went to Nolan Street and then to Xixi Keke Street. How did it feel? Were the pop culture on Nolan Street and the agency culture on Xixi Keke Street interesting?" Liu Qingcong asked Shang Xia, looking at the two overlapping Buddha statues in the distance.

Shang Xia thought for a moment: "The movies and music on Nolan Street are great... The people of Xixi Keke are very enthusiastic, but it's a bit chaotic, yet not as chaotic as Jiangwen Street. To be precise, it's chaotic yet orderly... Is that how you describe it?"

"That's probably the first impression most people get when they go there," Liu Qingcong said casually.

Shang Xia was somewhat disappointed: "I didn't go there to have fun, I didn't find anything."

Liu Qingcong glanced at her, hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "I don't know exactly how you were born, but since the central government doesn't have any strict instructions, don't push yourself too hard. Are you going to just go out there like a stray cat if no one says anything?"

"Is it not good?"

"Learn from my junior classmate Zhang Xue, but don't overdo it. If only she could share more of her relaxed attitude with those strict people." Liu Qingcong shook her head helplessly.

Shang Xia's mind flashed back to the auntie who had yelled "Unlucky to the power of infinity!" Ah, relaxation...

"Never mind, I happen to have a field investigation that's quite far away. Since you're so free, why don't you go and go through the motions for us?" Liu Qingcong sighed imperceptibly. What on earth are those bigwigs in the central government thinking? They call it a secret weapon, but they end up sending this "pure" girl.

Even if I'm not young and still single, there's no need to make her skip so many steps and become a mother right away, right?

Under Shang Xia's curious gaze, Liu Qingcong swiped a message on her tablet and showed it to her.

"The Red Thread Killer?"

After seeing Shang Xia off, student Chen Yashu returned with her equipment and said, "Professor, isn't it a bit too much to ask her to search for a highly skilled and stealthy serial killer on the other side of Jiangwen Street all by herself?"

"Find her something to do and let her wander around. Anyway, even if we mobilize a large force, we might not be able to find that murderer. She's been missing for several months, and then she reappeared during the chaos a few days ago. Besides, isn't Shang Xia a master of stealth?"

Liu Qingcong looked down at the report in her hand: "Pull your attention back a bit, there's too much noise here, go back and re-record it."

"Ahhh~".

……

Despite it being the New Year, the bartender's bar was still bustling with activity.

In the gray neighborhoods of the capital, countless people have nowhere to go for the New Year, and many of the regulars at this bar are among them. Even if they despise this holiday that has nothing to do with them, the festive atmosphere still draws many people here, as a way of finding warmth and companionship.

Jiang Si is a bit too sensitive to being in the light, so she was taking the zombie girl for a walk in a quiet place.

"Looks like you've really not been mistreated, you're eating really well." Jiang Si watched the zombie girl's energetic and bouncy figure, and played a tossing and catching game with her using a large bone of some unknown material.

"Roar!" The zombie girl leaped into the air, plucked the bone off with her mouth, handed it to Jiang Si, and triumphantly raised her eyebrows.

She's become much more capable too.

Jiang Si affectionately patted her head.

How wonderful it would be if I and my family could live such a simple and ordinary life...

"Red Thread Killer, Violent World Jiang Hui Four Women, Jiang Si... it's you, isn't it?" At this moment, a voice rang in her ears, and Jiang Si turned her head and flung out a red thread.

The voice was so close; how could someone have gotten so close to her so silently?!

But the red thread failed to connect them. A white strand of hair floated before Jiang Si's eyes, and then a face came close to hers: "I have something to ask you."

The opponent did not attack, so Jiang Si hugged the zombie girl and created some distance.

The girl in white stood casually in place, radiating no danger, yet making Jiang Si feel as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

"Who are you, from the Disposal Bureau?" Jiang Si asked, looking at her somewhat unusual Disposal Bureau uniform.

Shang Xia introduced himself in the same way every time: "Just call me Shang Xia. Don't be nervous. Catching murderers is not within my job scope. I'm just here to ask you something."

Jiang thought he should just run away, but judging from the way the other party approached him just now, their strength was likely above his own.

She believes that we should be more cautious.

"what's up?"

Do you know... 'twig'?

"What is that?" Jiang Si stomped on a tree branch lying on the ground next to her and snapped it in two.

"According to the clues, you appeared at Dadu Bay Port in Haijiu District on February 29th. What did you see then, or were you one of the participants in that battle?"

(End of this chapter)