Nightmare Despair

Chapter 74 You've Become a Nightmare?!
"Target: Zhang Xiaodong, male, a first-year high school student at Xishan No. 2 Middle School. He will return home for summer vacation on July 15th."

"On the night of their return home, at 6:50 PM, the target used their mobile phone and personal computer to search for the following keywords: 'Having the same nightmare for three consecutive days' and 'What to do if I dream of fighting zombies in an ancient palace?'"

"Based on comprehensive assessment, this is the twelfth nightmare patient in Xishan City on July 12th. Type: Past Nightmare. Order: Dreamless Team, proceed immediately to verify."

"If the assessment result is a low-level nightmare, guide them and recruit them as nightmare walkers as appropriate. If it is a high-risk nightmare... ensure their 'natural death'."

The modified black SUV, like a predator on the prairie, silently drove into the shadows of the old neighborhood.

Ding San pushed open the car door, and the other three filed out.

They had just reached the entrance of the apartment building when they bumped right into Li Xiangqian and his nephew Li Jiahao.

"Third Sister?" Li Xiangqian rushed over as if he had seen a savior, reaching out his hand urgently. "I was just about to call the bureau, how did you get here?"

Ding San ignored his outstretched hand, his gaze passing over his shoulder and landing on the yellow warning line.

Her hands remained in her trench coat pockets the entire time.

Li Xiangqian's hand froze awkwardly in mid-air for two seconds before he could only sheepishly withdraw it.

Li Jiahao subconsciously took a half step back, his gaze fixed on the tips of his shoes, as if they contained some universal truth.

Ever since his uncle gave him a severe scolding, he knew that he shouldn't mess with this woman.

Ding San frowned and asked, "Something happened?"

Li Xiangqian sighed, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "This is the third case today. All the victims fell from the second to the fourth floor, but the way they died... to put it bluntly, they were smashed more than if they had fallen from an airplane."

Inside the cordon, a forensic doctor was squatting on the ground, carefully scraping a person from the ground with a thin-bladed scraper.

Huang Zhang only glanced at it from afar before his stomach churned.

He recognized the boy surrounded by several policewomen... it was the target of the mission, Zhang Xiaodong.

Huang Zhang's face turned pale, and he took several steps back in discomfort.

Ye Zi opened her mouth, but in the end she didn't complain. She just helplessly took out a piece of chocolate that had become a little soft from her body heat from her pocket and handed it to him.

"Go over and have a look."

Ding San's breathing deepened, and he nodded his chin toward the warning line, signaling his team to follow.

When some police officers who didn't recognize them tried to stop them, Li Xiangqian glared at them and kept them at bay.

"The deceased was named Zhang Qiang, the manager of the courier station in this neighborhood. He raised his son alone, and with great difficulty, he managed to send the child to high school... Who could have imagined..."

Li Xiangqian shook his head, looking at the dejected boy not far away, his eyes full of sympathy.

He lost his father when he was only in his first year of high school... This child will have a difficult future.

He was thinking that he would have to help Zhang Xiaodong contact a charitable foundation or something later, since he had heard that the kid's grades were quite good...

Li Xiangqian's thoughts drifted for only two or three seconds.

Dealing with the present was what he needed to do, so he leaned close to Ding San and whispered, "Third Sister, do you think this matter... could it be the mirage incident you mentioned? After all, it's really unbelievable, like it triggered some kind of murder rule."

After a long silence, Ding San nodded slightly and said, "It should be."

Even if an officially trained Nightmare Walker unfortunately dies in the line of duty and becomes a mirage, the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs can quickly analyze the rules of killing based on their pre-death records and take targeted action.

But wild Nightmare Walkers... their rules can only be guessed.

Ding San's left hand unconsciously rubbed in his pocket, and the half-finger glove he was wearing was now slightly warm.

"The rule for killing is... to turn your back?"

"Looking into the distance?"

"smokes?"

"Or... looking down?"

The moment the last word flashed through her mind, the temperature of the gloves suddenly soared.

Ding San raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly.

She had her answer.

This is thanks to her nightmare item [d107].

[Item No.: d107, Former Name: Sixth Sense Glove]

【Effect 1: Nightmare Creatures (Can directly interact with other Nightmare Creatures)】

[Effect 2: Calibrates the Sixth Sense (The glove will generate a burning sensation when the wearer's guesses are very close to the truth). Note: The effect is extremely unstable and limited to specific uses.]

……

With someone dying in the family, Zhang Xiaodong, as the only relative, naturally had to go to the police station to give a statement.

Ding San and his team's objective was Zhang Xiaodong, so they went along as well. Li Xiangqian specially arranged a small meeting room for them.

The four members of the Dreamless Squad sat down around a long table, each with a different expression.

"Number 12 has been infected with Nightmare for at least three days. His father had an accident on the first day he returned home... So, is it the mirage spreading Nightmare, or do Nightmare-infected individuals act like a magnet, attracting the mirage?"

Huang Zhang appeared very anxious, his hands shuffling a deck of cards as quickly as if he were shuffling mahjong tiles, the cards making a soft rustling sound as they rubbed together.

Ye Zi stared at her laptop, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Her fingers danced wildly across the keyboard, making a rapid clattering sound, as she engaged in a fierce battle with someone across the screen.

After a series of smooth maneuvers that successfully suppressed the opponent, Ye Zi finally had a moment to spare and said to Huang Zhang without looking up, "Uncle, just take a look at those research reports from the bureau, don't take them too seriously... Anyway, I've never seen a report that completely matches reality."

"Opinions are not the same as the truth. Those papers are just the researchers' own opinions. Who can really say what a nightmare is..."

"For so many years, the Dream Breaking Bureau of the previous dynasty struggled for two centuries and still couldn't figure it out. The current method of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs might be a little better... who knows?"

Ye Zi didn't continue.

She bent down to pick up the fallen lollipop from the ground, spitting out the dust before putting it back in her mouth and continuing to furiously type on the keyboard.

The frantic clicking sound continued for a full two minutes in the enclosed conference room.

Park Hyo-yoon was driven crazy by the noise and finally couldn't help but say, "Ye Zi, can't we play later?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Zi slammed his fist on his keyboard, making a dull thud.

Park Hyo-yoon was startled and quickly waved her hand, "Uh... Sister Ye Zi, don't be angry, I was just joking."

Ye Zi shook her head, her face darkened, and she gritted her teeth.

"This has nothing to do with you... Damn it, my computer got hacked!"

"Damn, there are more experts?"

Ding San, Huang Zhang, and Park Hyo-yoon all turned their gazes toward her.

"?"*3
……

"Damn! You've caught a nightmare?!"

The vibration of his phone woke Zhou Kai from his light sleep.

Early in the morning, Lin Sheng sent a message using the designated special software to avoid him having to encrypt and erase the messages on both sides.

Zhou Kai stared at the message, the cold light of the screen reflecting on his calm face. He paused for a moment, then tapped his fingertips on the screen: "Yes, bad luck."

Lin Sheng's message came back quickly:
"That's true... there's nothing we can do about it, you can only blame your bad luck."

“I don’t know how much you know about nightmares right now… Besides the publicly available information from the Dreamless Squad and the Wang family of Xishan, I’ve compiled a more in-depth report.”

"Remember the method I taught you before? Even though you're not being monitored now, it's best to still use the one I taught you. I keep updating the jump sites in real time. This time, I've built a botnet of over 5000 IoT devices from the university next door, hehe..."

Zhou Kai: "I remember. Thank you so much this time, you were a great help."

Lin Sheng: "Don't be so polite with me... Just let me know if you need any help."

“I have connections in Lyle. If you need human enhancement modifications, I can help you make the connections.”

"Becoming an enhanced human should allow you to survive longer in nightmares... If you don't have enough money, I'll lend it to you."

"Anyway, good luck to you."

Zhou Kai felt a warm glow in his heart. He wouldn't touch the cyborgs, but he would remember this kindness.

"Okay. I know what I'm doing. This is between you and me."

If Lin Sheng encounters trouble in the future, Zhou Kai will definitely not stand idly by.

Lin Sheng seemed to be experiencing complex emotions. After struggling for a while, he finally sent only one message: "Definitely! No matter what happens, if you need help, just contact me anytime!"

……

Lin Sheng's intelligence arrived faster than expected.

Zhou Kai skillfully operated the system and opened the one labeled "Wang Family of Xishan" among the three encrypted files.

The entire Wang family, from its history of origin to its current family structure, the distribution of its main members, and even some of its shady businesses, are all clearly listed without omission.

Lin Sheng even highlighted the people who attacked him in red.

Wang Jinquan's uncle, Wang Yuanzheng... and a transnational assassin organization called "Hotel".

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(End of this chapter)