Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 716 "The Final Case"

Toast has been very unhappy lately.

The central assembly was such a grand occasion, yet it was taken there, but it could only watch! It could do nothing! It participated in nothing!
After the incident ended, the anti-leader brought back a new member of the agency.

I thought she was the first younger sister, but it turns out she's the new sister-in-law!?
Lin Yilin still doesn't live at the firm and goes home to rest at night. She has given Shang Xia her room in the firm's lounge, and Shang Xia is now living at the firm.

This has severely squeezed the niche of the perfect toast!

Toast didn't understand.

What's so good about this silly white-haired guy? He always comes out on the bottom in games. Unless it's a game where luck plays a big part, Shang Xia, who's even slightly smart, would get completely crushed by Toast.

I don't know how to assemble models yet!

They won't use their bodies to wipe the floor; they need extra tools!

Even less should one shout to the sky from the rooftop every morning, like a perfect loaf of toast to bless the new day!
"Awooo—uh..."

The perfect toast, which was blessing the new day, was shot down from downstairs by Lin Yilin, who was coming to work, with a cat gun.

Lin Yilin stroked the cat gun expressionlessly. The cat gun lazily yawned, already used to it. She opened the door and walked into the agency, where she saw that Shang Xia had already helped with all the preparations for the opening.

"Good morning, Yilin~." Shang Xia turned around and smiled when she heard the door open.

Good morning. Where is Mr. Illusion?

“Fan Ge went to rehearse with Doris last night, but I guess he probably went to see Rabbi afterwards, and then he’ll definitely find time to see Jiang Si. It’s dawn now and he’s still not back, so he must have been having a bit too much fun with Jiang Si. But Jiang Si should be getting sleepy around this time, so she could be back at any moment,” Shang Xia said after thinking for a moment.

Lin Yilin's expression remained unchanged: "Thanks."

"fine."

"You guys are making me sweat a bit." Zheng Zheng appeared behind Lin Yilin, sweating non-existently.

"Good morning, Mr. Illusion." Lin Yilin sat down in her usual seat and greeted him with a smile.

Zheng Fan returned the greeting, "Okay, what's the work for today?"

"A few simple requests should be resolved by the morning. How about we go check out the newly built park in the closed community this afternoon? We can have a picnic," Lin Yilin suggested, opening her computer.

"Wow, the construction has progressed really fast these past few months," Zheng said, adding with a sigh.

Although many problems remain unresolved, under the overall coordination of the new central government, efficiency in most aspects has improved significantly.

Some small and medium-sized neighborhoods took advantage of this opportunity to develop, as many people moved out of the "white city" areas. This would have been unthinkable in the past, with some people not wanting to stay in the "white city" areas but instead moving to the "gray city" areas.

However, this is indeed the current situation. Many people in the White District remain dissatisfied with the changes in the capital, and protests frequently occur, though they are rarely large-scale and quite loose. At the same time, because the White District's restrictions have failed, many people in the White District have become unrestrained, leading to a surge in crime rates.

In contrast to the somewhat chaotic White District, the Gray District, after the Central Rally incident, actually showed a stronger sense of cohesion. As for any changes or unrest... hasn't this always been how they've always been?

Not to mention that now the Lamplighters are personally guarding their homes. Even though they just experienced the Lamplighters' bombing, the people of the Gray Street are not so stubborn or fragile. Anyway, it's better than almost dying that day.

As a result, the situation on both sides has shown a tendency to reverse somewhat.

Gray indicates a stable and positive trend, while white indicates instability and a decline.

However, according to the recent meetings held by the central government, large and small, there have been proposals to re-plan urban neighborhoods, aiming to break down the barriers between gray and white.

But this is certainly not a simple matter; it requires long-term execution and effort, and gradual, subtle influence.

As they were talking, Toast came running down from the rooftop in a huff, but before he could even howl, Zheng Fan grabbed him, hugged him, and ruffled his hair: "Toast, wanna go on a picnic this afternoon?"

"Awoo!" Go!

The perfect toast naturally requires a perfectly balanced mindset and emotions, something that mortals can never truly understand.

Lulu Shoes and the Blanket Spirit naturally go together. Since it's summer, Lulu Shoes is currently a sandal version, a limited-edition swimsuit skin. The Blanket Spirit has also grown to the point where it can change itself to a certain extent.

It's no longer a pitiful seasonal quilt; it can be transformed into an air-conditioning quilt!
Unfortunately, after the quilt spirit broke through its defenses, it secretly went back to see its former master, scaring the former master half to death. This caused the former master's mother to contact Lin Yilin again.

This left the quilt spirit feeling quite disappointed for a while.

However, Zheng Fan thought it was because it hadn't removed the hyper-realistic human face pattern from its body, but the former owner probably couldn't handle two shocks in such a short time, so he decided to let it go for now.

"If the morning's work is easy, can I give it a try?" Shang Xia asked cautiously.

Shang Xia was indeed not a very intelligent type. At least compared to the environment in Dadu where Zheng Fan was surrounded by geniuses and people with superhuman strength, she seemed very ordinary.

He was even more ordinary than Mo Mang, a seasoned socialite.

After several months, her skills in the firm had only improved with practice, offering no real surprises. In fact, her somewhat dim-witted personality meant she sometimes couldn't handle things properly, ultimately relying on the numerical advantages she inherited from Zheng Fan to save the day. This could potentially lead to an even bigger farce.

Therefore, Lin Yilin was quite cautious when assigning her tasks alone, always requiring Zheng Fan and the three little ones to accompany her. She had only recently become a little more proficient.

Hearing Shang Xia volunteer so readily, Lin Yilin flipped through the few commissions she had received that day. Actually, she hadn't received many commissions in the past few months, and none of them were particularly difficult.

Although the disappearance of the white barrier seemed like a good opportunity for invasion, the lantern bearers retreated to the capital on a large scale. With just one lantern bearer standing there, the weak illusions would not only be scared to tears, but would be scared to death.

Many supernatural events may have been remnants of the past that surfaced during turbulent times, rather than taking advantage of periods of vulnerability in the capital.

"Okay." Lin Yilin nodded after looking at it.

Upon receiving approval, Shang Xia openly displayed a happy smile.

She is so cute.

Zheng Fan thought to himself, then looked at Lin Yilin.

Lin Yilin called Shang Xia to her desk and began to give her instructions on the important points of these commissions.

She's also very cute.

Zheng Fan nodded secretly, and after Lin Yilin finished explaining, he said, "Then I'll accompany Xia Xia as before?"

“No, this time I want to try it myself as much as possible,” Shang Xia said to Zheng Fan.

It gives the feeling of a younger sister telling her older brother that she has grown up and should do housework independently.

“That’s right. This is indeed a good opportunity to test Shangxia’s growth over the past few months.” Lin Yilin nodded in agreement.

"Alright, have fun." Since both of them had said so, Zheng Fan didn't insist.

"I'm serious about my work!" Shang Xia puffed out her cheeks.

"Okay, have fun." Zheng Fan waved his hand.

Shang Xia made a face at Zheng Fan, greeted the three little ones, and then walked out with light steps.

As the office door closed, Lin Yilin continued typing on her computer, but said aloud, "Mr. Illusion, there are fewer and fewer cases directly related to hallucinations."

She pointed out this suspicious point.

Even with a lamplighter guarding it, normally weak illusions would be filtered out, but powerful illusions would never retreat.

As a result, over the past few months, the number of cases where people directly encountered hallucinations during their commissions has decreased, and Lin Yilin has been able to handle most of them easily on her own.

The number of memorable things can be counted on one hand. This is not a normal sign.

Zheng Fan said, "It's been four months. The Black World hasn't taken advantage of the capital's weakness to launch a full-scale attack. Instead, they've remained inactive. Niu Qianliu's initial defensive structure is almost finished. With so many Lantern Bearers, unless the Black World can produce another 'pulse' that can absorb the White, they'll probably have little chance."

Lin Yilin shook her head and said, "In fact, I think the underworld is not afraid of these things, or rather, there are other things to be wary of."

"are you talking about me?"

"Mr. Illusion's current stance is clear: since your interest in Dadu has not diminished, you will not easily give up on Dadu. After everything that has happened, those advocates probably understand this very well. As long as they dare to invade, no matter how clever their schemes or how overwhelming their power, they will only meet one outcome when they encounter Mr. Illusion."

Lin Yilin pondered, "Not to mention, there's also Sister Ye, who was specifically targeted before. The Black Spokespersons are trying their best to avoid any direct confrontation with Sister Ye. I believe that even the Black Spokespersons can master Sister Ye's illusion magic, even if Sister Ye herself hasn't tried it, but I have no doubt about that. Of course, Sister Ye herself probably doesn't doubt it either."

"So their silence during this period is most likely because they're holding back something big," Zheng Fan said.

It's not about giving up.

Just as the White World had the potential to maintain good relations with Zheng Fan but instinctively chose to target the manufacturer Xia, the Black World would never place its hopes on Zheng Fan's pity. Even worse than the White World, the White World had enough value for Zheng Fan to keep it, but the Black World would inevitably be recycled no matter what.

They will not give up on existence, and if they did, the illusion of instinctively yearning for reality should have invaded the capital according to normal laws, instead of becoming less and less as it is now.

"Mr. Illusion, is it possible to kill them all at once?" This was the most effective and permanent solution Lin Yilin could think of.

Zheng Fan looked at Lin Yilin for a moment and said, "Yes, but that's actually the same for Dadu. If I fight the representatives in a full-scale battle, I will gradually revert to my original form. Once I kill them all... 'I' will be awake around that time."

Lin Yilin's expression did not change, but Zheng Fan could sense that her breathing stopped for a moment.

"Let's think about it some more. Right now, besides preparing for all possibilities, there's no other way to break through," Zheng Fan said, closing his eyes and turning his head.

Lin Yilin could only nod slightly, her lips pursed.

Suddenly, an email popped up on her computer requesting an appointment.

The brief email subject line immediately caught her eye.

【Games start. 】

Sender: Zero.

(End of this chapter)