Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 727 The Gang's Business Is Not Good Today

"It seems I don't need to repeat the information about you in the parallel world to you." Lin Yilin's voice came from the phone.

Lu Chongming squatted in front of a pile of insect shell fragments. A cordon had been set up around him, and people from the Disposal Bureau were cleaning up the mess.

He said, "He didn't die. He must have escaped using some kind of trick, like the cicada shedding its shell. I've sent people to track him down, but I think he's probably used to this kind of thing by now and won't give us a chance to catch him again."

"Do you think the other you is still a threat?" Lin Yilin asked.

"Perhaps... it's not a big threat. He left behind most of his body, so he'll be in a severely weakened state for a while and won't recover so easily," Lu Chongming said, picking up a fragment of the insect armor.

"That's good. We'll also keep an eye on your family, Xixi Keke," Lin Yilin said.

If the other party goes crazy, they might cause trouble for Lu Chongming's parents for various reasons.

"Okay, thank you." Lu Chongming said thank you, having long since lost count of how many times he had thanked the people around him.

There was a moment of silence on both ends of the phone, and then Lin Yilin said, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"The three counterparts that have appeared so far, from the Mahjong Princess to Miss Doris to myself, all seem to be related to Mr. Illusion. However, the relationship between the Mahjong Princess and me is not as deep as that between Miss Doris, but the causal relationship between them should be correct," Lu Chongming said after thinking for a moment.

"Are you trying to say this is aimed at Mr. Illusion?"

"That's obviously the case."

“It’s precisely because it’s so obvious that I have these doubts,” Lin Yilin said. “Although we can be Mr. Illusion’s biggest weakness, he also places the most emphasis on protecting us. Even though the current counterparts are all very strong, they are still far from enough for Mr. Illusion.”

Not to mention compared to Mr. Illusion, they now have far too many cards to play in the network of relationships surrounding Zheng Fan.

The doll Doris had already destroyed most of the main body of her own side in the records, but she didn't cause much of a stir here before being defeated by Doris and Carrot from this world.

Both Black-Veined Sparrow Princess and Insect Armor Lu Chongming caused chaos in their respective capitals. As a result, the former was weakened by Shang Xia and then tricked and ganged up on by the Sparrow Princess of this world, and the latter lost his composure and failed to gain the upper hand in a one-on-one fight against Lu Chongming.

Based on their discussion, the most noteworthy possible counterpart is Luo Ye from the parallel world.

Apart from that, everything else seems to be within the scope of what can be easily handled.

"If the purpose is to eliminate us in order to strike at Mr. Illusion, then these counterparts are precisely the ones that are restrained by their own counterparts in this world. Is this an unsolvable mechanism or a deliberate flaw?" Lin Yilin pondered and raised the question.

Lu Chongming nodded: "That's true."

"Don't overthink it, just stay alert. That's all for now." Lin Yilin finished speaking and prepared to hang up the phone.

"By the way, Miss Lin Yilin."

"Ok?"

"Would we have become like that if it weren't for Mr. Illusion?"

"...That's just a bad possibility."

“I think so too, but even if my other self has fallen to such a low point and resorted to any means necessary, I still can’t save my mother. Some things, within the bounds of convention, cannot be easily broken. Even if you overturn the table, you still end up with nothing,” Lu Chongming said.

Lin Yilin was silent for a moment, then said, "That's why I love him."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yilin walked through the crowd.

Suddenly, he turned to look at his reflection in the glass window by the roadside.

After observing for a moment, Lin Yilin continued forward.

……

Xixi Keke's gang has been having a rather bad time lately.

Recently, the Bureau of Investigation and the agency have strengthened their cooperation, offering excellent benefits that have severely squeezed the gangs' ecosystem. Moreover, the Bureau of Investigation and the agency, when they join forces, mostly just come to beat up these gangs.

They had the excellent Line 0 subway system before, which gave them an opportunity, but after the Central Rally incident, Line 0 was also lost.

They didn't care much about what exactly happened that day, but now the underground gangs had gradually become so poor that they had nothing left.

Furthermore, as the central interest groups were purged, many of the hidden backers behind the gangs also fell, making life increasingly difficult.

Currently, in Xixi Keke's underground gangs, the small gangs have disbanded on the spot, the medium-sized gangs are gradually transforming into law enforcement agencies, and the large gangs are trying to retire from the criminal world and go into business.

Of course, crime, big and small, will not stop. Within the capital, there are ultimately no taboos. After the White District lost its restrictions, many underground gangs have moved into the former White District to start new businesses, still unwilling to compromise easily. A newly opened underground casino in the White District easily fooled many of the idiots from the original White District.

The white-market districts are now much more profitable than the gray-market districts where all the tricks have been played.

"How's it going today?" In a private room inside the casino, a group of people concealed their identities, some wearing masks, others covering themselves up completely as if afraid others wouldn't know they had something going on.

"It's not like it's a normal sale. How much can you make by selling those cheap fantasy items individually? Even if you fool those young people, you can't squeeze much profit out of them," someone said irritably.

"There's no other way; we have to deal with the payments. These recent protests are somewhat of a window of opportunity. Subsidizing them isn't a bad thing for us. If we can muddy the waters as much as possible, that would be great."

"It's not that simple. The current protests won't cause much of a stir. The Bureau of Justice acted too quickly. The central government has now been integrated and is a truly monolithic entity, just like the ideal capital city of many years ago. We've all been swept out; it's a miracle we're still alive."

"A masked man in a suit said angrily. It's not hard to tell from his words that he is a member of an interest group that fled from the central government."

"Most of them can't accommodate us, so we'll have to find another way," the dealer said.

"Even if we want to find his way... what's the Black Cult up to lately?" someone asked, their voice tinged with dissatisfaction.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the few men in black robes standing there.

"Yes, we agreed to be a stable source of goods. It's one thing if you can't provide high-quality fantasy items, but now you can't even provide those cheap and low-quality fantasy items. What's going on with you?" This also reminded the other partners, who all raised questions.

The representatives of the criminal cult looked at each other, seemingly embarrassed, but they couldn't even give a reason.

Actually, there's no need to give a reason.

In the past, when the cult was doing these underground businesses, they were always arrogant, extravagant, and had clear objectives. Now they've fallen to the point of being short of supplies and humble. Even a fool can see that the cult isn't doing very well internally.

Now they have to question them, even though they wouldn't have bothered to look at them before. It's a great humiliation.

"My lord, a plan is underway." Finally, the black-robed man sitting at the table spoke.

"Oh? What plan?"

"To fight back? Or to flee?"

"No matter what, could you please take one of us?"

The people around immediately perked up their ears. Although the criminal cults were in decline, those who knew a little about what was behind them were still very willing to listen attentively when they heard that the criminal cults had plans.

Their perspective is fundamentally different from ours. Their previous dissatisfaction was just a minor issue; we should still try to curry favor with them.

"I cannot disclose the details, but you can indeed help with one thing. If successful, it will help you ascend to the Kingdom of God and escape this sea of ​​suffering."

“…Tell me about it.”

“Kill Lin Yilin.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a commotion erupted outside the door, followed by rapid, rhythmic knocking. Everyone present paled; this was a coded signal from within the casino—something was amiss!

"This name isn't hard to find out. You can make your own plans and contact me again after it's done." The man in black robes left these words quickly and ran off faster than anyone else.

The others also quickly got up and left through the secret passage.

The secret passage wasn't very big to begin with, and with so many people, they had to queue up.

The sounds of chaos and smashing outside rapidly approached from afar, sounding like a death knell to everyone present.

Suddenly, a loud bang shattered the door of the private room, and a group of people were already desperately squeezing into the dark passage. Some couldn't get in and could only stand there anxiously.

"Is anyone inside?" a gentle-sounding female voice asked.

Everyone held their breath, as if they were playing some kind of supernatural game, and the person outside was a female ghost knocking on the door.

boom!boom!
But the one outside is no ordinary female ghost.

The axe smashed through the special alloy door twice, and Shang Xia's cute face appeared in the gap. She tried to squeeze her face in and could see the situation inside the house.

Is everyone here?

This is The Shining.

(End of this chapter)