Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 701 Rain Catches Up with Time and Space
They thought things would continue as usual, but after just two carriages, Zheng Fan and his companions ran into an acquaintance again.

This time, unlike Shang Xia, whom I had only met or heard of before, this person was a true acquaintance.

"Chief Shiraishi? What are you doing here?" Lin Yilin looked at Shiraishi in surprise.

Bai Shi was observing the carriage when he saw someone approaching and recognized Lin Yilin. He wasn't particularly surprised, but he was also somewhat bewildered by Lin Yilin's question: "I don't know either. I was leading a team to support another location when a flash of white light appeared and I was here. Is this Eliadodec's design?"

“Eladodi’s normal screening process almost never includes members of the Processing Bureau. In his view, the Processing Bureau’s choice today has already disqualified him from providing protection. However, he could proactively bring the target here,” Lin Yilin said after thinking for a moment.

Lin Yilin also noticed that the other party had taken Jian Banxian away on their own initiative.

Eliado Dike's decision to take Jian Banxian away can be explained from various angles, but why did he take Baishi away? Could it be that the petty and vindictive Lighthouse Lord has been holding a grudge against the slap Baishi gave him decades ago, and wants to retaliate even now before leaving?
Or perhaps it's for some other reason.

Lin Yilin thought of Niu Qianliu, who disappeared on Metro Line 0, and whose whereabouts were also closely related to this metro line.

A subway train capable of transcending time and space to some extent would be far too convenient for these troublemakers.

"Although I don't know why I'm here, if it's about dealing with Eliadode, you can count me in." Shiraishi didn't hesitate or dwell on it, and offered his opinion.

“I don’t recommend Chief Shibashi get involved,” Shang Xia unexpectedly stepped forward and said.

Shiraishi looked at Shang Xia, who was wearing the uniform of the Bureau of Handling, with surprise, but he had never seen this person before in his memory.

"Sir, your physical condition is not very good. This kind of aftereffect has lasted for many years, hasn't it? If you still want to utilize that peculiar factor array within you, there is a more than 90% chance that you will die after this." Shang Xia directly pointed out Bai Shi's current physical condition.

Lin Yilin and Zheng Fan exchanged a glance, but neither of them spoke.

Bai Shi smiled and said, "Young lady, you have a good eye. You can tell my current situation and even my secrets in just one glance."

Shang Xia, however, was stunned and had no intention of joking or making small talk: "Miss Lin Yilin, Mr. Zheng Fan, and I can handle this situation. Please rest here; things will be over soon."

But Shiraishi shook his head: "I can't stand in the back at a time like this."

Shang Xia was puzzled and was about to say something when Zheng Fan pulled her back: "A baby who is only a few months old shouldn't talk nonsense here."

Shangxia: ? ?

After a moment of stunned silence, she finally realized what she meant, and her pretty face puffed out slightly: "I'm not young!"

However, the voice was very soft and did not elicit any response.

Bai Shi looked at Zheng Fan, scrutinized him carefully, and then chuckled, "It's our first meeting, but I feel like we're old friends meeting again."

Zheng tilted his head: "I see you quite often, though. You've chased after me quite a few times."

For example, when he was wearing Jiang Si's body.

"I see, then it's not like we're strangers after all." Without dwelling on it, Shiraishi casually defused the topic with a laugh.

Without saying anything more, the four continued forward.

However, they didn't encounter any new teammates this time. They continued forward, but even though Lin Yilin's ritual indicated that they were near the front of the train and that at least half an hour had passed, they still couldn't see the final train.

"It's like playing the completely boring Subway Line 8," Zheng complained. "Even if you just gave us some monsters to fight and made us pass the levels, I would consider it an effort on your part."

"Be vigilant, this could very well be a tactic to lull us into a false sense of security." Shiraishi remained meticulous, displaying the qualities of a bureau chief.

Lin Yilin then checked the ritual in her hands again and contacted Fan Zhonghong on the other side: "We are indeed moving forward, but judging from the current progress, this subway train may not be able to move forward to the front of the train simply by walking."

"Then how should we go? Turn around? Or should I try blowing up the subway?" Zheng Fan casually offered his suggestion, pulling a fingertip nuclear bomb from his crotch—he had plenty of these. Bai Shi, seeing this, quickly grabbed Zheng Fan's hand: "Calm down, there must be a more suitable way to break through."

"I think if we bomb it, maybe we can actually get it back." Shang Xia raised her hand and cast her vote for Zheng Fan.

"Don't do things like this!" Shiraishi's forehead was covered in cold sweat. These were a bunch of "problem children"!

He could only turn his attention to Lin Yilin, hoping she could quickly come up with a method that would be effective and wouldn't require the indiscriminate use of weapons of mass destruction.

“Actually, I think nuclear weapons are a good method. No matter how sophisticated the mechanism seems, it is difficult to stop the crystallization of violence. I think this subway train is probably similar.” As a result, Lin Yilin agreed with Zheng Fan’s idea from a rational point of view.

Just as Bai Shi was feeling that joining this team might be dangerous, Lin Yilin turned her head and said, "However, similarly, violently dismantling it could also break the entire subway train's illusionary realm. If this kind of illusionary realm, which is traveling through time and space, is destroyed midway, it generally won't simply send us back to where we were."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Fan regretfully put away the nuclear bomb: "Then it seems we'll have to wait until later."

"Didn't you get enough of blasting things in Dadu after all that time?" Shang Xia asked.

"The chance to drop a nuclear bomb without any burden may only come a few times in a lifetime. How can I not be completely satisfied?" Zheng Fan said with a smirk.

This guy is a complete terrorist, and even a high degree of personification cannot change that. Shiraishi came to this conclusion in a very short time.

Just then, they heard a series of faint crackling sounds.

"What was that sound?" Zheng asked instinctively.

“It seems so…” Shiraishi turned to look at the subway window.

"Rain?" Shang Xia answered.

Lin Yilin approached the car window and suddenly saw a flash of blue light in the darkness. The next moment, it was as if a large basin of water had been poured onto the car window, and dense, bean-sized raindrops fell one after another onto the subway, forming a water curtain that flowed horizontally backward.

"It's raining heavily!" Zheng Fan whistled as he watched the scene.

"Why is it raining in the time-space track that the Zero subway travels through?!" Shiraishi asked in surprise.

"Because the rain is catching up," Shang Xia said with a somewhat solemn expression.

The blue rain caught up with the train that travels through time and space.

Lin Yilin blinked and immediately noticed that the water curtain, which had been flowing horizontally, had suddenly started to flow diagonally.

"The car slowed down."

"Even Line 0 subway understands the importance of slowing down in the rain."

Lin Yilin immediately picked up her phone and contacted Fan Zhonghong.

Fan Zhonghong: [Why have you slowed down? The current situation shows you're still quite a distance from the finish line...]

Lin Yilin: [Please check the condition of Metro Line 0 for me, as soon as possible.]

Fan Zhonghong had no objections and immediately began to work on it. After a short while, his expression changed drastically as he stood in the monitoring station, and he hurriedly sent a message to Lin Yilin.

[A gigantic object silently coiled around Metro Line Zero as the train traveled along! ...It was Waterworld!]

(End of this chapter)