Chapter 134: A Chance Encounter at the Station

Lin Yun's conversation with Emerald did not last long.

After Lin Yun helped select a location for a private research institute, the comical fairy doll strode out of Lin Yun's office with an air of arrogance and left the Anomaly Strategy Bureau as if no one else were present.

According to Emerald, this fairy doll is not merely a mimicry of a fairy's form but also possesses cognitive interference abilities identical to those of a fairy, and far stronger than those of ordinary fairies. Ordinary fairies can only affect ordinary people with weak magic, rendering themselves invisible to them; yet Emerald's doll can block the observation of all targets except magical girls and fairies.

After seeing off this uninvited dignitary of the research institute, Lin Yun processed some documents and received some employees in his office. Afterwards, the end of his first day on the job finally arrived.

Even after becoming the Director of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau, Lin Yun still had no habit of driving to work; today, he once again took the light rail tram by himself. The Logistics Department had intended to assign him a dedicated car and driver, but he refused.

He did not feel that he was any kind of leader at present, nor did he wish for the treatment around him to make him think so.

Compared to his former workplace, the Anomaly Strategy Bureau building was located closer to the tram station, making walking more convenient. Under the cover of night, Lin Yun walked for about ten minutes and arrived at the nearest tram station.

After passing through security and swiping his card to enter the station, Lin Yun waited on the platform for the train's arrival. He aimlessly scanned the surroundings when he suddenly spotted a somewhat familiar figure:

It was Tian Sheng.

At this moment, Tian Sheng was wearing wireless earphones, holding a phone with his head bowed, his gaze fixed on the screen. He did not know whether he was watching a video or playing a game, but he was clearly deeply engrossed.

Lin Yun had no desire to approach and strike up a conversation; however, since the other man was his employee, he glanced at him a couple more times from the side. Yet, not looking would have been better; the moment he truly saw the content on the other man's phone screen, he almost instinctively held his breath.

—He saw himself.

Not himself as Lin Yun, but himself as Senior Cuique.

Two weeks ago, on the night of the Full Moon Festival, when Mo Si released a massive swarm of Remnant Beasts to attack the entire city of Fang Ting, Senior Cuique, in order to save the city from disaster, unfolded One's own Mirage Realm and, at the cost of her magical armor, annihilated all the Remnant Beasts.

At that time, the silver-blue threads spanning the entire sky above the city center were seen by all the citizens.

This was not the first time Senior Cuique had unfolded a large-scale Mirage Realm in Fang Ting; in fact, she had done something similar during the Great Beast Catastrophe nineteen years ago. At that time, the still-young Senior Cuique was not very averse to media interviews, so she openly admitted her actions to the other squad members without any concealment. Reading books la

An unintentional act from the early years had instead created the current bitter fruit; when Senior Cuique unfolded One's own Mirage Realm again on the night of the Full Moon Festival, those signature blue threads immediately led people to guess the owner's identity.

As a magical girl who had been highly active in Fang Ting in the past, the name "Cornflower" was not unfamiliar to people. Coupled with some busybodies quickly digging up old footage, "Magical Girl Cornflower Returns" instantly became a hot topic among Fang Ting's netizens.

Now, what was playing on Tian Sheng's phone was a recording of Senior Cuique accepting an interview in the early days.

After seeing such content, Lin Yun was momentarily speechless. After standing silently in place for a while, he moved his feet again and quietly stepped aside.

However, just as he intended to ignore Tian Sheng and find another place to wait for the vehicle, the tracks nearby suddenly lit up with headlights.

The tram had arrived.

Tian Sheng, who had been focused on the video content, suddenly raised his head, glanced toward the direction of the tram, and then saw Lin Yun standing not far away.

Then, he crossed through the crowd and walked toward Lin Yun.

"Director!" he shouted.

This immediately ruined Lin Yun's plan to pretend he hadn't seen him; he could only look toward Tian Sheng with some helplessness and nod expressionlessly.

The two walked into the tram together with the flow of people. As soon as Lin Yun found a quiet corner to stand in, Tian Sheng followed right behind, saying with utmost respect:

"Hello, Director." "After work hours, unnecessary formalities are not required."

Lin Yun took out his phone and pretended to be busy flipping through it: "Is there something you need?"

"Ah, no, I was just surprised to see Director you also taking the tram." Tian Sheng removed the wireless earphones from his ear: "After all, even our Department Head takes a dedicated car; is there some situation with you?"

"I have no habit of being waited on; assigning someone specifically to pick me up and drop me off would make me feel uncomfortable."

Lin Yun looked at his phone screen without shifting his gaze: "Don't use your Department Head as an example either; what they do is normal, and I have no objections."

"Not liking to be waited on... I see. It feels like Director you are completely different from the leaders in my impression."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"No, how would I dare."

Tian Sheng awkwardly scratched his arm: "And, Director, regarding the matter we discussed at noon today, I thought about it again after returning, and I somehow remembered a few fragmented details."

"Noon today? The matter of the Fuli Academy?" Lin Yun finally raised his head and looked at Tian Sheng.

"Yes, the matter of the Fuli Academy."

Speaking of this matter, the somewhat awkward smile on Tian Sheng's face subsided considerably, and he said seriously: "I seem to remember that I encountered a Remnant Beast at that time."

"A Remnant Beast? Are you sure?"

Lin Yun put away his phone: "According to the testimonies of relevant personnel and event records, only one Remnant Beast appeared at the Fuli Academy at that time, and it was quickly defeated by a magical girl; almost no one had a direct encounter with a Remnant Beast."

"Yes, I know, but in my memory, I seem to have seen the Remnant Beast's face; I think I saw it from a very close distance."

Tian Sheng pondered how to organize his words: "And, besides the Remnant Beast, I think I saw a magical girl."

"Why do you think so?" Lin Yun asked calmly.

"I asked someone this afternoon; in Remnant Beast attack incidents, there are two types of people who undergo psychological suggestion and memory manipulation afterwards to make them forget certain facts."

Tian Sheng explained seriously: "One type is people who suffered great psychological trauma from the Remnant Beast's attack; the other type is people who saw the true identity of a magical girl."

"Do you think you underwent psychological suggestion because you saw a magical girl?"

"Yes... because I remembered the color of the magic."

"The color of the magic?"

"Although I can't recall exactly who it was, I have not forgotten the color of the magic."

Holding onto the hand strap on the tram with one hand, Tian Sheng touched his heart area with the other:

"At that time, the magic I saw at the Fuli Academy should have been green."

"I am not certain about this, but I can think of no other reason. If I am correct, the reason I had such strange dreams and the reason I inexplicably became stronger might be related to that green magic."

There will be another 2k chapter later.

(End of this chapter)