Artifact Report

Chapter 95 Jin Xueli: An offer I can't refuse
The brunette pushed her bangs aside, and in less than a second, she let her hair down again.

Jin Xueli was stunned.

"Okay?" she said. "I just happened to see the news and found out the new director has been in office for less than a month."

The entire building was filled with darkness like thick fog. Only the flashlights in the hands of the two people broke through some of the darkness in the corridor on the fifth floor, revealing a few hollow patches of white light.

The light and vision were dim, and the vision was by no means clear. The time the other party spent in pushing aside her hair was very short; but Jin Xueli still saw that under the woman's bangs was a normal human eye.

...Is she overthinking it?
Indeed, the replacement of the director of the Central Police Station is not a secret, and it would not be surprising if others learned about it from other channels.

"Ah, I thought I found out the truth."

Jin Xueli exhaled, smiled bitterly, and said, "I'm really a little unwilling... As long as she didn't leave early, or there's a secret passage in the building, then Ashley's only way to evade the raid is obviously that one. How could I be wrong?"

The brunette nodded, as if to simply acknowledge that she had heard him.

"Keep looking," she said. "It's the only way."

Jin Xueli took a step or two forward and came in front of the black-haired woman.

"Let me tell you my guess. You can listen to it and see what's wrong with it."

The black-haired woman pondered and did not comment.

"I think Chase's speculation is correct. After Director Ashley changed the photo, she was invaded by the residents and her eyes mutated... But unlike the others, she retained her sanity."

As Jin Xueli spoke, she observed the black-haired woman's expression; in the dim light, she simply pursed her lips, and it was hard to tell what she meant.

"And the 'mutation' of her eyes shouldn't be too severe. It's definitely not like what I saw with Frye, with countless tiny eyeballs crammed together and drooping from their sockets. I'm guessing at least one of Chief Ashley's eyes is normal."

The black-haired woman lowered her head slightly, as if listening attentively and thinking seriously.

"Only if she was invaded and mutated could she have survived until now without being discovered."

the black-haired woman asked.

Jin Xueli gently wiped the tip of her nose. "Because... when the police arrested Chase, they also happened to arrest a woman, me. It's because of me that Chief Ashley was able to hide until now."

"What's wrong with you?" The black-haired woman seemed willing to continue the conversation and was in no hurry to leave.

"Ashley's hiding process can be divided into three stages, using more than one method."

Jin Xueli whispered, "During the first phase, I wasn't out of the cell. At that time, the entire building was sealed off, and no one was allowed in or out. Mercury brought all the mercenaries and captured everyone in the building who hadn't been invaded and put them in the cell. At that time, Ashley covered his normal eye, revealing his mutant eye, so Mercury let him go."

The black-haired woman nodded in agreement.

"The second stage was when I escaped from the cell. Chai Si and Shui Yin personally brought me out of the cell, making quite a commotion. The mercenaries in the building must have heard about it. It turned out that besides Chai Si, a woman had also been rescued. But they were all searching for the director at the time. Even if they heard about me from Shui Yin, his companions, or the intercom, they had never seen me."

"Ah," the black-haired woman murmured, as if realizing something. "You think Ashley seized the opportunity..."

"Yes. Even now, she still presents herself as someone who's been mutated by the invasion, but she certainly won't sit in a corner and leave everything to fate... If it were me, I'd adopt the same strategy, constantly wandering around the building, ensuring my own safety while gathering information."

Jin Xueli explained, "When Ashley learned of my existence, everyone still thought the director was a middle-aged fat man. No one paid much attention to Ashley, a woman who had been invaded. So no matter how hard Chase and the mercenaries searched the building, they couldn't find the fat director."

"I see," the brunette said, her tone sounding as if she was impressed.

"When Chase realized that the director was not the man in the photo, it was the third and most dangerous stage for Ashley - he not only discovered that the director was a woman, but also realized that Ashley still retained her mind after being invaded.

"I think Ashley cut her long hair off around this time and maybe changed her clothes."

Jin Xueli paused here. She gave the black-haired woman a chance to speak, but she didn't. So she continued, "In the third phase, Ashley only needs to avoid Mercury. That way, the mercenaries will mistake her for 'Jin Xueli,' and Chai Si and I will mistake her for mercenaries."

Of course, this state is like walking on a tightrope, where you have to keep your eyes open and maintain your balance precariously.

However, the strange state created by the "Nest Communication Network" cannot be maintained indefinitely; even people who know nothing about false images can come to the same conclusion based on their feelings alone - as long as Ashley can hold on until Mercury, Chase and his group have to leave, he will win.

"Without leaving the building and without any secret passage inside, this is the only way Ashley could have hidden until now without being discovered. What do you think?" "That sounds reasonable. Did you find her?" asked the black-haired woman.

Jin Xueli stared at the black-haired woman. Now that they were closer, she could see her features more clearly. She had a long, thin face, a dark complexion, one narrow eye, and a serious, capable demeanor.

"Will you let me have a closer look at the other eye?" she whispered. "Or will you come with me to find the mercury?"

The brunette slowly raised her hand and brushed her bangs aside again.

"Here, take another look." Her tone was very soft, as if she had already made up her mind. "I also know that this eye can't withstand close scrutiny."

Jin Xueli's whole body tensed up.

Ashley was right. If no one looked closely, no one would have noticed the abnormality in this eye because the mutation was too slight.

People have a layer of eyelids that usually retract, so they can achieve the function of "closing eyes and blinking".

But this eye was like an eye-shaped hole cut in the skin; there was no eyelid, no eyelashes, and an eyeball was stuffed directly into the hole - a white eyeball.

"Your black eyeball... is gone? Only the white is left?" She had been on guard against Ashley's sudden attack, so when she saw the abnormality of the eye, she immediately took a step back and asked, "Did you draw that 'eyeball' with black ink?"

Ashley let down her bangs and said, "Yeah, my hands were shaking when I was drawing, and the ink wasn't easy to dye on the eyeballs. Not only are the eyeballs the wrong size, they're not round enough, and the edges are crooked."

At first glance, it was not as scary as Fry's eyes; but when Jin Xueli was "looked" at by that eye, she felt another kind of indescribable discomfort - she remembered that this was called the uncanny valley effect.

"Can I ever recover?" Ashley suddenly asked. "I'm not just talking about this eye. I heard you talk about the 'resident invasion'... It's like a thick black tornado is constantly blowing through my mind. I have to grit my teeth and hold it in to prevent it from swallowing my sanity."

“…I don’t know either.” Jin Xueli was telling the truth.

Having cracked Ashley's plan and confirmed the answer to the mystery in person, I felt quite relieved. Next, should I go downstairs and call for help?
She might not be able to subdue Ashley on her own, but on the other hand, Ashley couldn't subdue her either.

Actually, if I yell now, the mercenaries on the fourth floor should be able to hear me...

"I know that you and Chase just happened to meet, and it has nothing to do with him." As if guessing what she was thinking, Ashley suddenly whispered, "So I have a suggestion, I want you to listen to it."

Jin Xueli raised her head towards her.

"I can erase any records you leave behind afterward. Submitting fingerprints for comparison allows you to revoke the comparison request."

She said slowly and earnestly, "You can see that from today on, the Kai family and the police system are at war. Why do you have to get involved and choose sides? It won't do you any good. This is not your battle. Just pretend you didn't find me, and you can pretend you never showed up today."

...Ashley's analysis was correct, but unfortunately she didn't know that there was a "candle tear" in the world.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I just want to leave," Jin Xueli said. "If I don't hand you over, I'm afraid my departure won't be smooth."

Whatever Ashley promised her was not tempting enough for her - even without Ashley, she could achieve the same effect with "candle tears".

Ashley frowned slightly, as if she hadn't expected that she could reject such a tempting proposal outright without even considering it in the future.

But she didn't insist; after thinking about it, she immediately came up with a new suggestion.

"Then let me change the conditions."

Ashley whispered, "Your fingerprint has been submitted to the database for comparison with all the remaining fingerprints of the incriminating person. I don't need to cancel it... I'll wait for the results of the comparison."

At that moment, Jin Xueli thought the director was threatening her; but the next second, she realized that Ashley was not that stupid.

"I promise that no matter which case your fingerprints match, I can completely delete that case and your fingerprints from the police database."

As if she was afraid Jin Xueli wouldn't understand, she emphasized it again: "In other words, no matter what you did in the past, with my help, it will completely disappear without a trace, as if you never did it. How about it? Are you willing?"

　Great, tomorrow is Saturday, and I can rest for another day and do nothing! Although I don't need to update, I still plan to put together a thank you chapter tomorrow, otherwise I will be too sorry for everyone's support during this period...

　　The thank-you chapter must be free, the thank-you chapter must be free, the thank-you chapter must be free, okay, I remember it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)