Chapter 104: Hallucination

"Not from Earth?"

At this moment, Lin Qing's mind surfaced many doubts that had once flashed by and vanished, and now he suddenly understood them.

Yet, on the surface, he remained calm, pretending to know nothing.

"Once you reach headquarters, don't casually scan others with your mental force," Lin Qing rubbed Zhao Jiayi's head, "not everyone who can sense mental force is a mental force awakener."

Zhao Jiayi mumbled something under her breath, then said, "Fine, I promise you."

Lin Qing grunted.

"Master, you know she's a mental force awakener?" Chen Guang's voice echoed in his mind, "She trusts you this much? Even this she dares tell you?"

Lin Qing led Zhao Jiayi into the elevator, said nothing, only pulled out his phone, opened the notes app, and typed: Is this strange?

Chen Guang could only communicate with him through the Star-Transmission Tower inside his body, but couldn't perceive his thoughts—he couldn't engage in mental communication.

"Of course it's strange."

Chen Guang said, "Father once said that Zhixing Group once signed an agreement with Earth: all mental force awakeners below the Primitive Level shall be cultivated by Zhixing Group and are considered Zhixing Group's talent."

Lin Qing typed: No refusal allowed?

"Compulsory order, no refusal," Chen Guang said.

No wonder mental force awakeners are so rare… Lin Qing finally understood.

"So, Earth people who want their own mental force awakener have only two methods."

Chen Guang said, "Either hide after awakening mental force until you transform into a Primitive Being, or wait until you transform into a Primitive Being, then attempt to awaken mental force."

Lin Qing pondered, then typed: Can you tell what dialect she just spoke? "Don't know," Chen Guang confirmed, "but it's definitely not any known Earth language or dialect, nor Zhixing's language—she's likely an illegal immigrant from another extraterrestrial civilization. If Zhixing Group discovers her, she'll be captured."

Illegal immigrant? Lin Qing froze, typing a question mark.

"I don't know the details, but Earth does harbor illegal immigrants from other civilizations—only Zhixing people are legal and compliant."

Chen Guang said, "The World Government established a patrol system to search for all anomalies, precisely to find these extraterrestrial immigrants. If you report this extraterrestrial civilization's mental force awakener to Zhixing Group, you'll receive a huge reward."

This girl's nerve is too big… Lin Qing couldn't help glancing at Zhao Jiayi.

"What's wrong?"

Zhao Jiayi instinctively touched her cheek—she'd washed her face before leaving.

"Nothing," Lin Qing felt a quiet helplessness.

Zhao Jiayi had helped him too much—he naturally couldn't report her, and if not for helping him, he never would have discovered she was a mental force awakener.

…

The headquarters' patrol officers were lodged at the Hongxing Hotel arranged by the municipal bureau.

Lin Qing brought Zhao Jiayi all the way to the hotel's top floor; the largest suite was Tang Wanqiu's residence.

After opening the door, he found Tang Wanqiu's three senior patrol leaders also present, each sitting quietly in the suite's living room.

"You're here," Gong Ming stroked his beard and greeted, "Patrol Chief Tang is waiting inside—go in."

Ouyang Ze, who rarely hid his double-door refrigerator, couldn't help reminding, "The Patrol Chief is still recovering—try to speak less when you go in."

"The Patrol Chief was injured?" Lin Qing was startled.

"The man who stole the biological weapon yesterday was truly powerful," Gong Ming sighed, "Patrol Chief Tang was caught off guard and suffered heavy damage."

Lin Qing said nothing more, immediately knocked on the inner door, heard "Enter," then pushed it open.

Tang Wanqiu was reclining against the headboard, her face pale, her right arm wrapped in thick plaster casts, appearing quite weak.

"Patrol Chief Tang," Lin Qing sat beside the bed, unable to hide his shock: "What happened?"

"Ambushed," Tang Wanqiu sighed, "Professor Suoge and another from the Primitive Research Institute attacked simultaneously—they took the biological weapon, but I also severely wounded Professor Suoge."

"The Primitive Research Institute is truly insane," Lin Qing frowned.

Last night, some members of the Primitive Research Institute entered the underground research facility, but there must have been external accomplices—otherwise, they'd have been trapped like fish in a barrel.

"Because they're backed by the Illuminati."

Tang Wanqiu shook her head slightly, "Professor Suoge and the other man are both ranked in the double digits in the Primitive Research Institute—they're truly powerful."

"Double-digit ranking?" Lin Qing suddenly understood.

Even someone like Chu Tianyao—or a Patrol Leader level—might not receive a ranking.

Only those approaching Senior Patrol Leader level in strength or potential could possibly receive a ranking, and even then, it's a four-digit number.

How powerful a double-digit ranking is, you can imagine.

"Lin Qing, her injury is fake."

Chen Guang's voice suddenly echoed in Lin Qing's mind: "She's completely unharmed, her aura remains at peak—she's only pretending, most likely fishing."

Fake? Lin Qing was startled.

"We're returning to headquarters tomorrow."

Tang Wanqiu sighed, "Too bad—we still haven't found Xu Qiu."

"Not looking anymore?" Lin Qing asked involuntarily.

"We've searched every corner of Lin'an City," Tang Wanqiu said helplessly, "but the other end of the underground research facility does have a tunnel leading outside the city—she was probably transported out long ago; continuing the search here is meaningless."

Lin Qing paused, then said, "Patrol Chief Tang, have you identified the number-one leader of the Yuanhong Society?"

"No leads whatsoever," Tang Wanqiu shook her head slightly.

"I have a suspicion," Lin Qing said, "I suspect the number-one leader is…"

He had just said "I suspect" when he saw Tang Wanqiu suddenly frown and raise a finger to her lips.

He naturally changed his words: "…one of the members who broke into the underground research facility—likely already discovered the facility and has been lying low in Lin'an City, which explains how fast they acted."

Tang Wanqiu then spoke: "Indeed, that's also my thought."

As she spoke, a faint glow shimmered at her fingertip, swiftly writing three glowing, lingering characters in the air.

【Don't get involved】

Is she trying to prevent eavesdropping? Lin Qing glanced at Tang Wanqiu's phone beside him, then said, "By the way, I'm heading to the Patrol Headquarters at the end of the month. Should the Special Merit award and promotion to Senior Patrol Captain be handled here in Lin'an City, or discussed again at the Patrol Headquarters?"

"Wait until you reach the Patrol Headquarters to discuss it."

Tang Wanqiu said, "This is an operational mission issued by the Patrol Headquarters. The Special Merit award shouldn't be given by the Lin'an City Bureau, and as for the promotion to Senior Patrol Captain, that can only happen at the Headquarters."

"Alright." Lin Qing sighed and said, "I originally planned to go to the Headquarters with Xu Qiu, but now I'll have to go alone."

Tang Wanqiu smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. The Chief Captain of your Lin'an City will also accompany you to the Patrol Headquarters."

"What?" Lin Qing was slightly stunned. "Yuan Anping?"

"Yes." Tang Wanqiu said, "He has awakened his genes. According to the rules, once a patrol officer from any region awakens their genes, they qualify to go to the Headquarters for a period of training."

"Awakened his genes?" Lin Qing couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Last night, while leading a search team, he discovered members of the Primordial Research Institute hiding in Lin'an City. Surrounded by several criminals of comparable strength, he had no choice but to forcibly attempt an awakening to survive." Tang Wanqiu sighed.

Lin Qing's heart stirred.

Last night, the Primordial Research Institute had even ambushed a Patrol Envoy over that underground research institute; killing another Patrol Captain was naturally no big deal. However... "His luck was very good. With an awakening success rate of only a little over ten percent, he succeeded."

Tang Wanqiu sighed, "Although he is a very weak gene awoken, if he makes tremendous progress in combat techniques, it can make up for it slightly."

Lin Qing hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

"At the end of the month, the Headquarters will send someone to pick you up." Tang Wanqiu said, "At that time, you just need to come to the Headquarters with him."

Lin Qing nodded slightly.

After leaving the Patrol Envoy's hotel, Lin Qing took Zhao Jiayi with him to the City Bureau.

As the Patrol Captain of Lin'an City, he naturally had a private office at the City Patrol Bureau.

"I'm going to make a call."

Lin Qing told Zhao Jiayi, then went to the nearby conference room.

After closing the door, Lin Qing glanced around the conference room he rarely visited and asked, "Is there surveillance here?"

"No." Chen Guang said.

Only then did Lin Qing feel relieved and asked, "You just said the Patrol Envoy's severe injury was fake?"

"Yes." Chen Guang said, "At that time, your closest distance to her was exactly thirty centimeters. I could sense her condition through the Star Transmission Tower; she had no injuries at all."

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and said, "I'll tell you some unknown information—Chief Captain Yuan Anping might be the Number One person in charge of the Crimson Ibis Society. His true strength is very powerful; even a puppet formed solely by his gene ability rivals a Senior Patrol Captain..."

"Secondly, when he ambushed me that day, he had no intent to kill at all; it was just a show."

Speaking of this, Lin Qing asked, "Based on the existing information now, what conclusions can you deduce?"

Chen Guang fell silent for a short while, then said, "The most likely possibility... Yuan Anping is a spy sent by the Patrol to the Illuminati, but the Illuminati also let him act as a spy within the Patrol."

"I suspected as much." Lin Qing nodded slightly.

"I checked the operational records of the Lin'an City Patrol. A few days ago, when you and another Patrol Captain were conducting a search, you were ambushed by the Number One person in charge of the Crimson Ibis Society."

Chen Guang said, "Deducing backwards from the subsequent development of events, this should be Yuan Anping discovering that the Illuminati was about to activate the underground research institute. So, he first made Xu Qiu go missing, then ambushed you, deliberately escalating the situation to force the Patrol Headquarters to increase the intensity of the search and prevent the Illuminati from succeeding."

"Oh?" Lin Qing thought carefully and found that this indeed made sense.

"Of course, these deductions are based on the unknown information you provided."

Chen Guang said, "He must have truly had no intent to kill you and only put on a show; otherwise, other possibilities are also very high."

"Just deduce based on that." Lin Qing said.

Changes in the Order Level do not lie.

"Now, he has deliberately broken through, awakening his genes to become a very ordinary gene awoken."

Chen Guang said, "This should be the Illuminati's idea. The biggest secret of Lin'an City is this underground research institute. Now that the underground research institute has been activated, Lin'an City has lost its value. The Illuminati probably feels it's a waste of talent to let him stay in Lin'an City, so they are letting him use this opportunity to become a gene awoken and go to the Headquarters as a spy."

Lin Qing pondered thoughtfully.

"Last night was indeed the most reasonable timing."

Chen Guang said, "Members of the Primordial Research Institute were indeed hiding in Lin'an City; it's normal for him to encounter a few while leading a search team. Only such a life-or-death crisis could make him attempt a gene awakening. Otherwise, with a probability of only a little over ten percent, attempting an awakening during peaceful times would be too unreasonable."

Lin Qing pondered for a long while and said, "What about Xu Qiu?"

"She is most likely still alive; otherwise, there would be no need for her to go missing."

Chen Guang said, "Xu Qiu is probably a bargaining chip used by the Illuminati to threaten Patrol Envoy Tang. Perhaps the threat has already been made; otherwise, they wouldn't have so smoothly seized that biological weapon last night."

She paused, then said, "If my deduction is correct, Xu Qiu will be found very soon, seemingly by coincidence."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly. "The situation is indeed complex."

"Master, I suggest you best not get involved."

Chen Guang said, "The underground research institute is such an important matter that Yuan Anping hasn't revealed the bottom line yet; there must be a larger scheme. That's why Patrol Envoy Tang reminded you not to get involved. She must have also received hints from her superiors and is cooperating with Yuan Anping to act out this play."

Lin Qing hummed in agreement.

"The Primordial Research Institute of the Illuminati now must have obtained part of Father's inheritance."

Chen Guang said, "It's a pity that Master's current strength is still too weak. Otherwise, with my help, we could try to seize a portion of it."

"Let's talk about it when my strength is sufficient in the future." Lin Qing said, "Anyway, my action principle is to prioritize stability. Without sufficient certainty, I will absolutely not enter the fray. If one path is blocked, I'll switch to another."

"Yes." Chen Guang replied.

The next day, the Patrol Envoy's team left Lin'an City.

From this day on, Lin'an City seemed to have completely stabilized. Underground forces disbanded one after another, and the Crimson Ibis Society vanished completely, never to be re-established.

Lin Qing was busy every day cultivating to repay debts, while also pondering the Star Refining Art.

By the end of the month, the 'Instant Light' debt could be fully repaid, and then he could advance the Star Refining Art.

Every day, during his free time, he also cultivated the combat techniques of the Divine Transformation series. With the 'Mental Meditation Class' attended once a day, the progress speed of the Divine Transformation series was quite fast.

Half a month later.

The inspection team of Kuaiji City in this province, during a search, inadvertently discovered a hidden underground space, where they found Xu Qiu intact and undamaged.

Xu Qiu was thus seemingly saved by coincidence.

Days passed one by one.

In the blink of an eye, it was June 26.

Tomorrow is the day to depart for the Inspection Headquarters.

At dawn.

After Lin Qing got up, he went to the Mind Meditation Class as usual.

Today might be the last time he came to this Mind Meditation Class; he probably wouldn't have time in the future.

As the light tapping sounds containing a strange rhythm gradually faded, the group of students finally opened their eyes.

Lin Qing opened his eyes, looked at the middle-aged man ahead, and fell into thought.

"Master, it's the last day; why don't you ask clearly?" After the class ended, Chen Guang couldn't help but remind him.

Lin Qing fell silent for a moment, then walked forward, quickly approaching the middle-aged man, and said, "Teacher, today is my last time here; may I ask you a question?"

The middle-aged man smiled gently and said, "Come with me."

Lin Qing, however, shook his head slightly and asked, "Is it necessary?"

"Oh?" The middle-aged man looked at him with a smile.

Lin Qing sighed, his gaze sweeping over the students around him wearing wooden masks, and said softly, "Anyway, they are just my illusions; do I still need to avoid them?"

(End of this chapter)