Chapter 114: Interlude

The air in the conference room was so cold it could be twisted into ice shards.

L sat down again, re‑buttoning the two undone buttons on the shirt with both hands, the knuckles turning slightly white from the effort.

Her gaze toward Liu Can grew more guarded and wary, and she could no longer utter a second questioning sentence.

Nie Yang's smile had vanished completely; he looked at the impeccably dressed, elegantly poised man opposite him, and for the first time his eyes lacked that feigned mildness.

After a few seconds of silence, the cold expression on Nie Yang's face suddenly melted, returning to the familiar, gentle and even slightly simple‑minded smile of an old cadre.

"Mr. Liu Can, your ability truly is astonishing."

He proactively extended his hand, breaking the stalemate.

"Welcome to the Action Team."

That sentence both acknowledged the opponent's almost uncanny power and deftly shifted their relationship from the recent unpleasant show of force back onto the track of "colleagues".

He voluntarily swallowed all discomfort and displeasure.

Liu Can's eyebrows lifted imperceptibly, his arrogance on his face softened a bit, and he also extended his hand to shake Nie Yang's.

That matter can be considered settled.

"Then let's not delay; let's begin the mission briefing."

Nie Yang released his hand, did not sit down, but turned to walk toward the main screen of the conference room.

He took a deep breath, and the moment he spoke, the entire room's atmosphere was instantly seized by him.

It was a gentle yet undeniable sense of pressure, like mercury seeping into the ground, permeating everywhere.

"Codename: Midnight Nightmare."

Nie Yang's voice was calm and steady as he pointed to the blood‑red map of the Federation on the screen.

"A-level Strange Tale, currently the highest threat level of strange tales we know. Its Murder Rule, you two should have a rough understanding of it by now."

"It uses 'cognition' as a medium; no physical contact is required. As long as you encounter, hear, or learn of the 'contamination source' through any channel, you will be marked by it."

"Once marked, it will manifest in your dreams as the deepest fear in your heart and kill you."

"Death in the dream will be synchronized with death in reality."

Liu Can kept both hands in the pockets of his suit trousers, listening quietly, his facial expression turning serious for the first time.

He is an expert at manipulating human hearts, but he knows clearly that what he manipulates is the 'human heart', and that thing manipulates 'life itself'.

"What is its selection mechanism?" Liu Can asked. "Those who are marked shouldn't all die. Otherwise the current death count would already be terrifyingly high."

L, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

Her gaze had returned to absolute calm and reason, as if the lost, disoriented person moments ago were not her at all.

"Two conditions."

She spoke, her voice as flat as an AI voice:

"First, the skeletal line is not closed, physiologically a 'minor'."

"Second, bearing guilt."

"The contamination source is a news event."

"We have already activated the highest network lockdown permission, fully suppressing the event's spread online."

"But the leakage of information is irreversible."

She pushed her glasses back and added in a warning tone:

"Regarding that news event, you must absolutely not learn about it, nor spread it."

"Any curiosity could make you the next marked target."

Nie Yang nodded, turned, and stared at Liu Can with burning eyes.

"Our plan is to locate him before the next victim is marked and killed in their dream."

"And Mr. Liu Can," Nie Yang's voice lowered slightly, "your mission is to act the moment the victim begins to have a nightmare..."

"Forcefully intervene in his dream."

"We don't know what we will encounter."

"But you have only one objective."

"Figure out the nature of that 'thing' in the dream, delay time by any means possible, and attempt... whether any form of interference can be made on it."

"Each additional second of delay gives us a bit more understanding of it, increasing the chance of finding a containment method by a bit."

The entire plan is filled with the unknown and madness.

Liu Can's face, for the first time, displayed an extremely serious expression.

But that seriousness was quickly replaced by an even stronger curiosity and excitement.

"An interesting challenge."

His eyes behind the lenses flickered with eager anticipation.

"At that time, I will need the victim's most detailed real‑time vital sign data, precise down to each heartbeat and respiration rate change."

"Also, I need a complete psychological profile report on the victim."

"That's no problem."

L answered immediately, her fingers already leaving after‑images on the keyboard.

"Very good."

Nie Yang clapped his hands, and the gentle smile returned to his face.

"Then, the operation begins."

Not long after.

The three strode out of the conference room with thunderous speed, the solemn atmosphere seemingly solidified into substance.

At the corner of the Corridor.

"Really? You really can do 'Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers'?"

Mo Shu's clear, lively voice came over, full of smiles.

She was walking side by side with Jiang Yuan, her face showing the relaxation and joy of just finishing a vacation.

Jiang Yuan felt a bit embarrassed by her praise, scratched his head, a faint blush rising on his face: "I... I'm not very skilled yet; I can just scatter all the cards at once."

"That's already impressive!"

Mo Shu smiled, her eyes bending like crescents, like a little deer.

Nie Yang, L, and Liu Can just happened to walk out from the corner, meeting them head-on.

Hello, Captain Nie! Hello, L!

Mo Shu immediately stood at attention, gave an energetic salute, and Jiang Yuan also returned the greeting.

Nie Yang smiled and nodded, returning the greeting.

Meanwhile, Liu Can's gaze was drawn to Mo Shu, sweeping over her lively, pretty face.

At the instant their eyes met.

Liu Can's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a pinprick!

In his field of vision, the whole world seemed to instantly lose all color and substance!

The chattering, sweet-smiling girl before him, that lovely face, vanished in an instant......

In its place was a terrifying humanoid outline barely formed from countless violently flickering TV noise and crazy distorted garble!

That outline had no features, no substance, only a chaotic, mosaic-like mass surging and deforming wildly, exuding an inhuman, weird aura that made the soul tremble!

It was...... like a monster wearing human skin!

Mm!

Liu Can jumped in fright, violently shook his head, closed his eyes, then snapped them open quickly!

The world before him returned to normal.

Mo Shu was still Mo Shu, looking at the suddenly pallid Liu Can with a puzzled expression, her big eyes full of innocence.

"Sir, are you... you alright?"

Hallucination?

Liu Can furrowed his brows, took a deep look at Mo Shu, but found nothing abnormal anymore.

He shook his head, forcibly suppressing that sudden fear.

I'm fine.

He replied politely, then stopped looking at her and walked past her.

Perhaps, in this organization that deals with weird beings, the environment itself might cause some spiritual pollution.

Liu Can quickly tossed this little incident behind him.

Little did he know, after Liu Can, Nie Yang, and L walked away...

Mo Shu, who had been walking side by side with Jiang Yuan, suddenly turned her head, giving him a weird look, staring blankly at Liu Can's back.

Until the other party disappeared at the end of the corridor.