Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 718 An Illusion That Shouldn't Exist

Shang Xia and Zheng Fan were walking on the streets of Jiyun City.

The once bustling Jiyun city area now appears desolate in many places. Zheng Fan has too many unpleasant memories of this place, so he is not very interested, but Shang Xia still has a simple curiosity about places he has not visited much.

"What kind of requests are there today?" Zheng Fan asked casually.

"There was a violent incident during a protest in Jiyun City. Yilin said that normally it should be handled by the police, but supernatural factors occurred during the process. So it was handed over to the Disposal Bureau, which then issued a commission on its behalf." Shang Xia took out his phone and answered while looking at the content on it.

Zheng, hands in his pockets, asked: "What kind of protest group is this, and what are their demands?"

This is actually quite important, since many of the protest groups in the white city area are hoping to restore the capital city before the central rally, and continue to distinguish between gray and white.

But anyone with a basic understanding of the current political situation knows that such a thing is doomed to fail.

The concept of a gray-white division was originally proposed by Eliado Dict and has been maintained and promoted by various major interest groups to this day. The current Pure White Society and the Lighthouse have completely changed their policies, and the interest groups have been almost entirely purged. Those who remained to cooperate were not retained, but their assets were all confiscated, with at most a few jobs left for them.

The current protests in the White City are either groups of clueless young people who know nothing, or groups that have gained considerable support and have become large-scale.

However, so far no opinion leaders or similar figures have emerged.

There have been quite a few protests and disturbances in the past few months, but looking at the whole city, it's still just a matter of getting confused.

The conflict between the gray and white districts persists, but the idea of ​​rezoning can't even maintain a base of support among the people. Many residents of the white districts may no longer be so committed to the zoning. Smart people believe in the white prohibition, but if the white prohibition is gone, then whether or not the so-called zoning is divided is irrelevant. In the current situation, the development prospects of the gray districts are much better than most of the white districts.

While the mainstream opinion in the gray neighborhood is definitely in favor of eliminating the partitions, in recent online debates, there have also been quite a few people who are more interested in restoring the partitions.

Without the white barrier as protection, it's hard to say who will be on top and who will be off if the gray and white areas are re-planned in the future.

Too many residents of white-clad urban areas are too naive, after all, they have been too well protected by the white government.

"It's a marching group hoping to reinstate the White District's restrictions against the unified defense organization. According to them, they are still supporters of Eliadodic and believe that the Grey District is the best buffer zone, but not suitable for further development..."

Shang Xia read the information that Lin Yilin had researched and summarized in advance, which she had entrusted to her.

"What exactly were the violent incidents?" Zheng Fan continued to ask.

"The police station in Jiyun District deployed personnel to control the procession at 10:34 a.m. on August 19. According to the Jiyun District Police Station, the demonstrators were so emotional that they lost their minds and the procession got out of control. The police arrested some troublemakers and instigators in a timely manner."

Shang Xia continued reading and then pursed his lips as he read on: "During the process, direct violent clashes occurred. Some protesters attacked the police with fantasy objects. The person involved was shot dead on the spot, and two police officers also died in the line of duty."

She looked at Zheng Fan: "The commission is to trace the origin of the fantasy object and investigate the relationship behind the deceased."

“An open-ended commission,” Zheng Fan understood. No wonder Lin Yilin said it was easy and then handed it over to Shang Xia.

This type of commission doesn't have any strict requirements regarding what exactly you need to find out. Simply put, it's about "assisting in the investigation and providing clues to the authorities," and you'll be paid based on how much assistance you provide.

It's a good commission for testing capabilities.

As they talked, they approached a street that had regained its bustling atmosphere. The marching crowd was even larger than before.

The killing of two police officers gave them confidence in their strength, and the death of a "compatriot" gave them a more ample excuse, making them indignant and aggressive.

The police officers who set up obstacles at the intersection to block the road were clearly quite nervous.

"Hello, it's still quite chaotic over there. If you want to go through, I suggest you take a detour." A police officer in charge of blocking the road saw Shang Xia approaching and quickly stepped forward to stop him.

Shang Xia showed his identification, and the police officer breathed a slight sigh of relief. After making contact via walkie-talkie, a person in a police station uniform came forward and took Shang Xia away. Avoiding the protesting crowd, they went to the back of a command vehicle parked on the side of the road.

"I didn't expect this request to be seen by Zero One Agency. This is a huge help." The member of the processing bureau breathed a sigh of relief after avoiding the crowd.

"I'm still an intern, but I'll do my best," Shang Xia said politely.

The officer waved his hand: "It's alright. We've been so busy with all sorts of things lately, it's good enough that someone can lend a hand. We haven't even had time to send the bodies back for autopsies, so they're temporarily stored here. Feel free to take a look." He pointed to another car next to him.

Shang Xia boarded the bus and saw three corpses neatly arranged.

It seems some method was used to preserve the bodies for an extended period even at room temperature. Next to each body was a note detailing some clues obtained from a preliminary examination.

The protesters' bodies were killed by several clean gunshot wounds. One policeman's neck was snapped by a powerful force, and the other suffered a severe blow to the chest, causing his entire chest cavity to collapse.

The dead protester caused the latter two horrific deaths with his bare hands before being shot.

The object of his imagination, a ring, was also stored aside.

Shang Xia picked up the ring, looked at it, and then put it on her hand, clenching her fist.

"The illusion factor is very thin and weak, basically only usable once or twice, and it can't even enhance me. The workmanship is also simple, but it is indeed man-made, not accidentally generated by hallucination." Shang Xia pondered for a moment, then took off the ring and turned to Zheng Fan, saying, "Let's start with the deceased's interpersonal relationships."

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "I hope his family members are not in the march."

The two walked out of the body storage area, greeted the staff of the disposal department, and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, causing Shang Xia and Zheng Fan to instinctively turn their heads.

Zheng Fan's eyes narrowed.

In the strong wind, several sharp, dark brown feathers flashed by, seemingly flying in straight trajectories, yet appearing and disappearing intermittently, as if they would sometimes vanish and sometimes reappear.
These feathers were aimed directly at the densely packed parade area not far away.

Shang Xia rushed out immediately, leaping up and soaring over the crowd like lightning, his axe swinging fiercely. Just above the crowd, a deafening metallic clang exploded, followed by blinding, massive sparks, sending the crowd tumbling and into further chaos.

A figure descended from the sky, stomping a panicked passerby to the ground, the heavy heel crushing the passerby's skull with a sudden, powerful blow.

Zheng Fan frowned, sensing the information he was reading, his mind filled with questions.

Amidst the panicked fleeing crowd, a sliver of reason remained, preventing them from approaching Shang Xia and that figure, thus giving them space.

The newcomer was a slender and petite young girl, not very old. She wore a dark brown dress with white spots, and long sleeves that extended to reveal two long, elegant feathers.

The girl's face, marked with black lines, was full of unruliness.

"Who are you?" Shang Xia also sensed something unusual emanating from the other person. "An illusion?"

From a sensory perspective, it is undoubtedly a hallucination, and a personified hallucination at that, even to the point of being synchronized.

This is too strange. Where did this anthropomorphic hallucination that reaches the synchronization level come from? And how can an anthropomorphic hallucination, which subtly replaces the original owner, actually reach the synchronization level?

"Huh? Doesn't this place have any legends about me?" The girl raised her head and gave Shang Xia a disdainful look that seemed to say, "You're ignorant."

"Using the code name you gave me, I should be called 'Mahjong Princess'."

(End of this chapter)