I discovered a world bug.

Chapter 35 Meeting Gift

An hour later, Lin Shu left the interrogation room.

The cooperative relationship with Qin Lang and his group had been formally established, but what truly convinced him was not the power they held, but his last words.

"What we want is different."

If someone else had said those words, Lin Shu would have been suspicious and would have thought they were hypocritical, frivolous, and pretentious.

But when Qin Lang said those words, his expression was quite solemn, and his eyes revealed a firm confidence.

The "we" he refers to is not a vague concept.

Rather, it is a concrete, rigorous definition that includes himself.

What do they really want?

Qin Lang didn't give an answer, but he could vaguely guess what it was...

Pushing open the door, he saw that the staff members who were "similar in temperament" to Qin Lang had already finished their work and were waiting in the office.

Pointing to Lin Shu behind him, Qin Lang began to introduce her:

"Lin Shu, the successor of the Meishan School, has real skills."

"He will cooperate and assist us with our work afterward. As for whether he will officially join us, that's up to his personal choice."

"Um... Lu Ran, could you drive him home?"

"It's late now. Once you've finished what you need to do, go back and rest. We'll meet at Lin Shu's house tomorrow morning to check on the clues there."

"By the way, who among you should follow up on Chen Zhu? The organization spent a long time evaluating her before they found her. It would be best if we could bring her in."

"I'll go."

A man sitting at the table raised his hand. Qin Lang hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said:

"Never mind, don't scare them."

"Lu Ran, you should go. After you take Lin Shu home, come back and pick up Chen Zhu."

"it is good."

The girl named Lu Ran stood up, and Lin Shu only then noticed her sitting in the far corner.

Wearing thick-rimmed black glasses, with the most ordinary short hair that reaches her ears, her face is not particularly refined, but she possesses a unique charm.

The temperament of intellectuals?

The word suddenly popped into Lin Shu's mind.

Although this term is not commonly used nowadays, it is, to be fair, quite fitting to describe this girl named Lu Ran.

Or, to use a more popular term now, her appearance is probably the kind of...

A face that would make intellectually savvy people ecstatic.

"Let's go."

While Lin Shu was still in a daze, Lu Ran had already walked over decisively.

She grabbed the car keys from the table and drove Lin Shu out.

In the police station's yard, there was a Toyota Land Cruiser that had clearly been heavily modified. Both exhaust pipes had been raised to the roof. It was unclear what kind of working conditions this vehicle was used for.

Lu Ran wasn't very tall, and it seemed like she even had some difficulty getting into the car, but once she sat in the driver's seat, her movements were practiced and composed.

"Get in the car."

Lin Shu opened the passenger door and got into the car. His gaze swept across the back seat and he saw various pieces of equipment piled up there.

The equipment contained familiar "props" such as incense paper, cinnabar, ox horns, copper coins, and wooden swords. Next to these props were several pieces of "equipment" that looked incredibly out of place.

The bulletproof vest and stab-proof vest that were taken off.

Two racing drones and a handheld infrared night vision device scattered outside.

And, a genuine .191 assault rifle...

"...You just leave your guns there?"

Lin Shu asked tentatively, and Lu Ran raised an eyebrow.

"What, are you going to report us?"

"...No, not at all."

Lin Shu chuckled to himself—he suddenly found this group of people quite interesting.

Just like when he first saw Xu Changshun's documents, he could sense from Lu Ran's tone that these people were also living, breathing human beings...

"So what exactly do you guys do?"

Lin Shu asked:

"The Bureau of Public Opinion Research? The Religious Affairs Commission? Or something else?"

"no."

Lu Ran tilted her head slightly and asked curiously:

"Didn't Qin Lang tell you? Didn't you two talk inside?"

"He didn't explain it clearly."

Lu Ran nodded in realization and replied:

"It seems like I didn't explain it clearly... For now, let's call our group 'Field Research Group 1'. To be precise, we are not a team with religious affiliations."

"At this stage, our work is indeed highly related to folk customs and religion, but this is due to objective circumstances, not a deliberate choice."

"For a long time, a large number of rituals have been based on religious traditions, which has led to the concentration of effective rituals near the main lines of religion and folklore."

"If we want to study rituals, we must start from this aspect."

"But that doesn't mean our mission is limited to folklore and religion."

"Like me."

She tilted her head.

"My major has absolutely nothing to do with religion. I have a background in quantum physics and specialize in the quantum correction of holographic entanglement entropy."

"...I don't understand. Could you explain it in simpler terms?"

Lin Shu frowned in pain.

"Simply put, it is about trying to propose a more precise mathematical description of the emergence of spacetime geometry through subregion-subalgebra duality."

"How about that? Easy enough?"

Lu Ran blinked, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"...Never mind, you'd better not say anything."

Lin Shu sighed and looked out of the car.

Rows of streetlights flashed by.

The city is asleep, but on the other side of the darkness, something even darker is at work...

Lu Ran glanced at him, her tone softening slightly.

"Relax."

"What we're doing isn't as complicated as you think—once you've started to get involved with rituals, you'll probably find that the so-called rituals aren't actually that complicated."

"And essentially, we all want to do the same thing."

"You want to explore more about rituals, you want to uncover the truth of this world, and so do we."

"Does thinking about it this way make it much easier to accept?"

"really......"

Lin Shu nodded slowly, then said:

"But I really didn't expect this matter to be so complicated and dangerous."

"Any investigation that touches on the underlying truth is dangerous."

Lu Ran's words revealed a calmness of "absolute rationality".

She paused slightly, then continued:

"In any case, the danger you face now is foreseeable."

"Someone wants to get rid of you—that's clear, right?"

"right."

Lin Shu answered in a deep voice.

"Yes, so what we need to do is very simple."

"Find the people who want to kill you, and figure out exactly why they want to kill you."