Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 618 The "Prism" and "Lights" on the Subway

We were originally just heading straight back, but the location of the Xuwenli stop was excellent; it was right at a subway station entrance.

Since there was plenty of time before the rally, Li Busi wasn't in a hurry to get going. He simply waited at a nearly empty subway station for a train that would take him directly to the central area.

When the subway arrived at the station, Li Busi boarded the train and saw that there were hardly any people in the carriages in front or behind him.

It's a very remote route, so it's normal that there aren't many people. If it were very crowded, he wouldn't take it; otherwise, a lot of people would probably die from being squeezed onto the subway.

Li Busi found the least crowded carriage, put his hands in his pockets, and sat down with his legs crossed to avoid getting close to others.

However, sitting opposite him was a man who looked very young, but whose actual age, measured by vital signs, was similar to his own.

Li Busi is the same in this respect. Although he is over thirty, he still looks as young as someone in his twenties.

Hmm? Wait, this person...

Li Busi suddenly frowned slightly, becoming a little more alert.

"You seem a little slow on the uptake, huh? I thought you'd be able to tell as soon as you got in the car, Li Busi." The man in front of him was bent over, legs spread apart, hands on his knees, his tone somewhat smug.

“Lamplighter? The matter with Lumière is over. If we rush back now to clean up the mess, we won’t find anything new,” Li Busi said.

The man sighed with emotion: "Although I don't know what happened, the news of your defeat has indeed spread. After all, someone who hasn't used Prisms for a long time has been openly defeated in Dadu. You will definitely be held accountable and may even be stripped of your status."

"Oh, it doesn't matter." Although Li Busi was somewhat speechless as to why the news of his defeat had spread so quickly, he remained calm and unconcerned.

If you've already let go of things concerning your sister and mother, why would you care about this?

The only thing that makes him unhappy now is that annoying brat Fan Zhonghong.

"Speaking of which, there are rumors that we might end up fighting this time," the lamplighter in front of him said with a hint of amusement.

"Then let's wait until the time comes to fight. Why do you, a lamplighter, have to take the subway back to the central government?" Li Busi looked at the lamplighter with some curiosity.

Most of the lamplighters are either extremely serious or even more arrogant than Fan Zhonghong.

According to stereotypes, the person in front of me should be the arrogant type, quite confident in their identity and looking down on anything other than white; they are often pure white advocates.

But... a sense of bewilderment and a slight sense of dejection?
Because of his death aura, Li Busi was slightly more sensitive to negative emotions, and it was quite unexpected that he could sense this emotion in a lamplighter.

"You, a Prism user, still take the subway, don't you? And I heard you don't like crowded public places... although this subway isn't exactly crowded." The lamplighter chuckled.

Li Busi neither agreed nor disagreed, simply watching him silently.

"My name is Pharos, a lighthouse keeper." The man lowered his head, his smile fading, and introduced himself.

"Li Busi." Li Busi simply nodded, returning the courtesy despite the other party knowing his name.

Pharos said, "I was originally tasked with capturing someone... who could be considered a defector, a senior figure, right?"

"Is the other party the Pure White Lighthouse?"

“He worked at both the Lighthouse and the Society. He was a very accomplished scholar, and I admired him,” Pharos said.

"So, you let him go? Because of personal reasons?" This is quite strange; it's rather unbelievable that the lamplighter would show favoritism in such an important matter.

“No, I didn’t catch him. He was too clever. I didn’t even have time to react before I lost him.” Pharos shook his head. “Then, before that, he told me a story from his past, the truth behind his most glorious story.”

"...A breakdown of faith?" Li Busi grasped the key point.

Pharos nodded heavily.

"It's no big deal." Li Busi scoffed and shook his head.

Faros was not angered by Li Busi's attitude, but simply said, "Some of his remarks have made me have some doubts about Dadu... and even about the Lighthouse."

"If you say that to my ears, I'll tell the people at the Lighthouse that you're trying to sow discord when a fight breaks out."

"Go ahead and tell me, no one will believe you."

“That’s true.” Li Busi made a less-than-humorous joke.

But Pharos's problem now isn't these things; he's lost faith in himself.

“If I were to offer advice as a complete stranger, I should tell you to abandon your idol worship and not to listen to the one-sided story of your senior,” Li Busi said. But does he, a former Prism user, really need to advise a lamplighter? Brother, are you mistaken?

It's already quite unbelievable that the person with the front prism and the lamplighter could meet on the subway.

“Yes, my reason tells me so too.” Pharos’s eyes darted around. “But there are some things that you usually overlook, but you only suddenly realize them after someone points them out.” As a lighthouse roamer, a lamplighter who frequently travels around receiving and assigning tasks, and being such an old lamplighter, he has seen far too much.

Whether it was self-deception or the truth of what Niu Qianliu said, the answer in his heart had already begun to surface from the moment his hesitation appeared.

However, I am still restrained by my experiences over the past thirty years.

“That would be a real tragedy,” Li Busi sighed. “Although I don’t feel that way, I have just experienced something similar. You’ve held onto something for almost your whole life, and suddenly a few people come along and casually trample it into nothing, making you doubt yourself.”

That's terrible.

"Same to me. I'm like this, so it's not surprising that you lamplighters are so simple-minded because you grew up in a relatively austere environment."

It seems there's a reason why this pair of brilliant strategists could meet each other on the subway.

Pharos pursed his lips, straightened up, and leaned back in his hard chair. "Undeniable. So what are you planning to do now? It doesn't seem like you're responding to Prism's call. Although it's a special time right now, if you can make amends in the chaos that follows, this defeat probably won't have much of an impact."

"To keep my awkward mood comfortable, I need to go back and repay my mother's favor," Li Busi said calmly.

"Hahahaha! What is this?" Pharos couldn't help but laugh.

Comfortable yet awkward, what kind of mentality is this?
"Go ahead and laugh. In your current state, be careful not to get killed in the chaos without even realizing it..." Li Busi said, thinking of Li Miaosheng and Fan Zhonghong, and most importantly, the mysterious illusion in their network of relationships.

The more he thought about that hallucination, the more uneasy he felt.

That's a bit too much. He himself found even his three inexplicable imaginary followers somewhat troublesome, yet the other party, with only a half-baked body, managed to defeat him with the help of Fan Zhonghong without much effort. Li Busi knew that what he had witnessed was merely the tip of the iceberg.

What is certain is that although they intervened in the Lumière incident because of Li Miaosheng and Fan Zhonghong's affairs, their attitude during the incident shows that this was only the beginning.

The Lumière Institute was just an appetizer; they'll probably have to attend the subsequent central gathering as well.

If that mysterious hallucination were to encounter the lamplighters and the Prism troops...

Tsk tsk.

After a long silence, Pharos suddenly said, "If I asked my other colleagues if they had similar thoughts to mine... how many responses would I get?"

“I think you want to die,” Li Busi said without hesitation.

How is this any different from spreading traitorous ideas? The Undying Beacon is coming back to give you a good lesson, brother.

However, whether there will be any response to this matter is hard to say.

As mentioned before, the people who light the lamps are very simple.

Especially those lamplighters who are "straightforward" in Li Busi's mind, they have such an appearance because they have a very high filter for Dadu and believe that they are upholding Dadu and acting on the side of absolute justice.

Moreover, many lighthouse keepers yearn for the capital, but almost never return to it in their entire lives, remaining steadfast in their posts in the dark suburbs until their deaths.

These lamplighters mostly hold only the most basic beliefs. If these beliefs are strongly challenged, these people... may not necessarily remain steadfast.

To be honest, Li Busi only had this idea for a moment, but he found that its feasibility was becoming increasingly high...

He glanced discreetly at the lamplighter brother opposite him.

Pharos gave an awkward smile, and Li Busi returned a polite smile.

The topic was not pursued further, but perhaps a subtle consensus had been reached, and both sides had roughly the same answer in their minds.

"More important than that, we shouldn't just focus on the internal workings of this central meeting," Li Busi added. "Since last year's earthquake, Dadu has been completely monitored by the Black World."

He recalled the system owner, possessed by an unknown entity, who had fought against mysterious illusions and Luo Ye at the ruins of the Lumière Research Institute.

Although there is no conclusive evidence that the system owner is behind the scheme in the dark world, everyone has pretty much guessed it.

However, although the mysterious being that descended was quickly defeated by the mysterious illusion and Luo Ye, Li Busi felt immense pressure just from seeing it from afar.

The special fantasy item used by Li Meng is also suspected to be related, and according to records, that fantasy item arrived in Dadu even earlier.

Most of them leaked so much without even realizing it; it's terrifying to think about.

Those beings, who most likely come from the depths of the dark world, have probably made countless arrangements in Dadu.

This central rally could very well lead to internal unrest if things don't go as planned...

They certainly wouldn't just look at it.

(End of this chapter)