Chapter 1851

NO. 466: It's time to enjoy others' busyness again.

Ten minutes ago.

When the meticulous, lengthy scan of every inch of space and every member's position within the alien space demarcated by the barrier finally ended.

Many people let out a long sigh of relief.

It wasn't that there truly were many insiders; rather, the atmosphere of 'always being ready to confront disguised criminals' was mentally exhausting, and though the tension had just been a false alarm, leaving everyone feeling empty, uneasy, and displeased, the initial reaction was still to relax.

But among them were also extreme athletes who didn't mind staying tense a while longer, such as Aomo Lindun himself, who would furrow his brows when the scan ended with no findings.

Of course, Ejin Jiedun's face gave nothing away.

At most you'd hear the classic 'didididi' of Jiedun's movements becoming slightly quicker, like a more urgent alarm.

Meanwhile, Shixing Ling, seated in its hand, still maintained the puppet's expressionless standby state.

After all, it's a puppet, not an avatar, so there's no design for unconscious synchronization of the main body's state. Any visual manifestation Shixing Ling can show can only be a 'performance' deliberately displayed or accidentally triggered by Aomo, aside from being expressionless. Although being expressionless can sometimes be seen as a deliberate performance, it is also indeed the original puppet state that Aomo created, and the police are unaware of this.

"Um..." Although officers capable of participating in such operations, even newcomers with little experience, should be promising talents under the spotlight, evidently even such talent cannot escape the oppression brought by the massive entity—even half its body tens of meters tall—and the human who had previously transformed into that terrifying beast.

Even though that sense of oppression actually stems from his own understanding and imagination.

"Shi, Shixing Ling sir, Aomo Lindun sir, the chief has sent me to inform you both."

Thought‑transmitted words should be coherent and complete, unaffected by real‑life stuttering, but his mental state at the moment is clearly unique.

"We will withdraw in batches five minutes from now; if you have any findings or opinions, you can come directly to report them."

Having said that, he didn't wait for a reply, but took off with a slightly awkward flight, as if he had already forgotten his earlier intention to ask for an autograph and bring back two copies.

But more important than that personal thought was: "Ah, right," he realized, having forgotten to mention something due to his nerves, so he reluctantly flew back, saying, "And, there's also the corpse of the variegated dragon."

"We also need to tow it away for inspection and testing; if you're interested, you can come along."

Although these are the chief's exact words, and when he first received the order he was eager to try some antics to leave a deep impression, he now simply lacks the mood and state to mimic the other's tone.

I don't know why, but even though I usually like monstrous forms, have visited many monster parks, played numerous realistic immersion monster games, and as an officer of Heaven's Gate City often have chances to interact with monsters as allies or foes, ……

The earlier Jiduola, as well as this very person's photos and pictures, and even Evil Ash Jiedun that had appeared on his desktop before, easily left a mark of ferocious fear in his mind.

Every second he stayed here made his whole body tremble, and his thoughts became tangled.

I must endure… cannot lose composure……

Don't move… he won't actually strike… it's all fake……

What kind of fear aura is this… it's not written in the data……

Other monsters haven't had this either, right?

Could it be that I was attacked by criminals before?

Could I have misjudged other issues as being Lindun's fault?

This is… huh?

Gone?

He lifted his head in doubt, gazing upward—he had only dared to raise his eyes a little before, not daring to take in Ejin Jiedun's face fully—he stared at that majestic, utterly inhuman countenance for two seconds, then suddenly turned his gaze to the expressionless Shixing Ling beside him.

Full of doubt.

Just moments ago, the restless urge, like a nameless fire with no source, the painful tug of being oppressed yet unable to resist, vanished in the blink of an eye.

Such a strong, huge contrast, yet with no warning, left him unsure what to say or how to say it; he remained silent for a few seconds until Shixing Ling beside him spoke up:

"Hey, your wrist."

Strictly speaking, it was a reminder, reminding him that the object on his wrist that resembled a tactical wristwatch was continuously glowing.

It might also emit sound, but in this space environment it cannot be manifested at all.

"Ah, oh, thank you thank you thank you." As his voice grew softer, he pressed the button on the wristwatch while flying away quickly, seemingly using the temporary transmission method constructed from the wristwatch to respond to the urging.

He failed to notice the giant beast and person behind him watching him fly away; when they turned back, they began to size each other up.

Although he had already experienced looking at his own field of view several times, he still couldn't see anything particularly special.

Not being able to see it doesn't mean it isn't there; the reaction of that officer just now is clear evidence.

After he consciously condensed half of Leiblon's soul and, to the greatest extent, focused on balancing the information fragments of the Star-Eater and Kidora, the other party showed a clear improvement in condition.

I don't know whether it's because his perception is overly keen or because he has some unique bloodline that can sense this kind of profoundly mysterious thing.

Although it also made Aomo suspect whether he had some problem, such as being possessed by the high priest, which greatly enhanced his perception, to the extent that he had already quietly sent a message to the sheriff asking him to pay attention and check.

But the investigation by the Xiangyu siblings has already yielded results.

At the moment when the time matched the death of Cai Long, the image reconstructed from the residual data also resembled the appearance of the high priest together with part of the priests' outlines; unless that person also, like himself, engaged in some multi-threaded operations, splitting something and burying a trap here, otherwise it's really not worth special attention.

Hmm, could it be like that?

Not entirely sure, anyway he decided to send another message over there; Aomo thought so and did just that.

Anyway, the troublesome checking and observing aren't my problem. If there's no issue, that's fine; I'll just consider it giving the other party a break. But if it's real, then the other party ought to thank me for this preemptive move.

So at present he should refocus his attention on what has already happened—he concentrated on the trace analysis completed by the Xiangyu siblings with the assistance of Bar Beast. X; after confirming that what he had thought was an extremely low-probability direction had become reality, he would have to face the question he would ask Ailisuzhi in three minutes.

What makes the Seven Great Demon Kings willing to go to the trouble of receiving the defeated remnants?

Indeed, according to the thinking of a normal person, or rather a sufficiently rational person: when preparing a large-scale operation that has already been noticed and is being hindered, help should ideally be as many as possible.

Those with combat strength contribute strength, those with technique contribute technique, those with connections contribute connections.

Although the high-level members of the Beast Sect have their thoughts and minds somewhat tainted by the distortion brought about by beastification, their combat strength, thoughts, and technical level still retain quite a bit, making them quality personnel.

Moreover, the other party has just suffered a heavy blow, their lives hanging by a thread; this is precisely the situation where it is natural to extend a hand and take them down.

But the Seven Great Demon Kings are not normal people.

Nor are they rational people.

The seven sins they represent are also seven character flaws that can cause them to lose reason, and more broadly distort their thinking direction to foster their extreme mindset.

So, is it that? The one he had previously suspected existed, the mastermind behind the Seven Great Demon Kings.

Or perhaps it's an even crazier possibility—

——Among the few remaining of the Seven Great Demon Lords, there exists a Digimon that, like Barbaric Beast. X, has broken free from the framework limited by the Digital Core and the Crown of Great Sins, and obtained the 'Free' Digimon?

Whether behind the scenes or on stage, it does not hinder his confirming the existence and style of that chess player; afterwards it should be a formal long-distance confrontation, but if that crazy possibility becomes true, then his primary suspect becomes obvious.

Light Beast (Fallen Type)

Did it choose a condensed separation exceptionally similar to Barbaric Beast, or a split?

Barbaric Beast. X is vague about this, and Aomo is likewise not entirely clear.

But this does not hinder him from regarding that party as the most suspicious existence; after all, among the Seven Great Demon Lords, only those three are the smartest.

Barbaric, Lilisi, Light Beast

Others can't be said to lack brains; at least they're too lazy to use them.

Moreover, Lilisi Beast needs no further words; Barbaric Beast's old treachery is beyond doubt, and even the reconstructed image shows it receiving sect refugees.

This is too natural.

So natural that it instead made Aomo increase the suspicion weight towards the Light Beast (Fallen Type)'s choice by twenty percent.

The new logical chain has already been laid out, and the new investigative route is already clear.

He can naturally say this is good news.

Having prepared, he spent the next few days wrangling with the police over bonuses and training horse girls, and … awaiting the harvest of the action-ready Digital World investigation teams.

(End of chapter)