Chapter 71: Codename

Qin Zhixia's voice was cutting and resolute, echoing through the endless hallway.

Her declaration of war completely enraged the sleeping grudges within the building.

Boom—!

The entire unfinished tower came to life.

The once mottled concrete walls instantly turned into writhing, warm flesh. Countless vessels and nerves grew wildly like vines, covering every inch of space. The ground beneath became muddy and viscous, a pool of blood mixed with broken bones and rotting flesh.

A fetid gale, laced with gut‑wrenching screams, poured in from all directions, trying to tear her eardrums apart.

On the walls, flesh surged, revealing twisted, anguished human faces—Feng Gou Qiang, Wu Cheng, and the ghosts who were pushed off the high building by the so‑called "Ghost Wall." They wailed silently, black blood tears spilling from their eyes.

In the next instant, countless pale, swollen ghost hands with blackened Nails sprouted from the walls, ceiling, floor, every corner—dense, covering everything, bearing a vengeful poison that sought to drag a life into hell, reaching for Qin Zhixia standing in the center of the blood pool!

This is the purest torrent of resentment.

It is an ultimate terror capable of completely crushing any steel‑strong will.

Qin Zhixia's body trembled violently, an old wound in her leg sending stabbing pain, while hunger and thirst burned her organs madly.

Yet her gaze was more tranquil than ever before.

She watched the oncoming ghost hands and slowly closed her eyes.

No dodging, no avoidance, no resistance.

She abandoned all futile struggles.

A cold, slick sensation pierced her body.

The ghost hands did not tear her flesh; they passed straight through her soul. Each hand carried bone‑chilling cold, a drowning‑like despair, and the suffocation of being buried alive.

Qin Zhixia did not regard them as enemies.

She simply stood quietly, accepting all this pain, this despair, this overwhelming hatred… in full.

Pain.

Pain that reaches the marrow.

Yet amid this ultimate agony, her spirit attained an unprecedented clarity and firmness.

The doubts that once unsettled her, the painful past, seemed so insignificant before this pure, vengeful resentment for her family.

Indeed.

This is Weird.

A monster born from humanity's most extreme emotions.

And she is about to become the one who hunts the monster.

If she cannot even bear the monster's wail, how can she hope to confront it?

In the endless darkness and pain, Qin Zhixia's mouth twitched, forming an extremely faint curve.

Inside the Main Control Room.

All the vital signs representing Qin Zhixia surged wildly on the screen, red alarm lights flickering silently, the atmosphere oppressively tense.

"Target heart rate exceeds 180! Brainwaves show severe abnormalities! Spiritual Pollution index has surpassed the critical value!"

L's voice remained steady, but his keystrokes were so fast they left afterimages.

Nie Yang set down his ever‑present Thermal Cup, his brows knit, the warm smile long gone.

He stared intently at the red dot on the screen, almost drowned by countless data points.

Is it over?

Just as he was about to order the deployment of the prepared safety airbags.

All the wildly jumping data suddenly stalled.

Then, like a receding tide, they quickly fell back.

Heart rate 80.

Blood pressure 120/80.

Brainwaves steady as a textbook example.

"Spiritual Pollution… vanished." L stopped typing, adjusted his glasses, his tone carrying a barely perceptible astonishment.

Nie Yang's pupils snapped shut.

He saw that the red dot representing Qin Zhixia still stood calmly in place on the screen.

Under the most violent resentment of the "Ghost Wall," it remained unmoving.

Twenty‑four hours.

The hour hand had just completed its final tick.

Rumble—

The entire "Sky City" began to quake violently.

A screeching metal‑cutting noise rang overhead, and a blinding white light, like a sword, tore through the endless darkness.

The unfinished tower was dismantled layer by layer under forced external physical intervention.

Without the concept of a "hallway," Rules could no longer be upheld.

The animated flesh wall reverted to cold concrete.

The blood pool of rotting flesh on the ground turned back into dry dust.

The countless ghost hands and wails vanished without a trace.

Clang!

The massive alloy gate opened again.

Blinding white light poured in, and the fully armed agents at the doorway saw the scene inside clearly.

A slender figure, leaning on a cane, stood quietly at the center of the ruins.

She was drenched in sweat, her face as pale as paper, and her lips chapped to the point of bleeding.

But her spine stood perfectly straight.

When she lifted her head and looked toward the doorway, the leading agent Captain even instinctively stepped back half a step.

What kind of eyes were those?

No more confusion, no more pain, no more struggle.

Only endless calm and resilience remain.

Like two steel blades forged thousands of times in the Abyss, sharp enough to pierce the human heart.

Qin Zhixia ignored everyone, leaning on her cane, step by step, using her own legs, she walked out of that hell.

Inside the Main Control Room, a dead silence.

Everyone stared at the lone, plum‑like figure on the screen, stunned beyond words.

"Snap. Snap. Snap."

A slow, clear round of applause broke the silence.

It was Wei Gong.

He rose slowly, looking at Qin Zhixia on the screen, and for the first time his eyes—usually as deep as an ancient well—showed unmasked admiration.

"What a pinnacle of 'will'."

Half an hour later.

In the Investigation Bureau's Medical Department, inside the highest‑level isolation ward.

Qin Zhixia lay on the hospital bed receiving IV fluids, feeling her body's fatigue and wounds being gradually dispelled.

The door was pushed open, and Wei Gong and Nie Yang entered.

"How do you feel?" Wei Gong's tone was much gentler than before.

"Report, Chief, I can undertake the mission at any time," Qin Zhixia forced herself to sit upright, her voice hoarse yet full of vigor.

Wei Gong smiled.

He walked to the bedside and handed Qin Zhixia a brand‑new electronic file.

"From today onward, you are a formal agent of the Federal Weird Investigation Bureau's field operations unit."

"This is your new identity."

Qin Zhixia took the tablet; the screen showed her photo, but the information below had been completely refreshed.

【Agent: Qin Zhixia】

【Codename: Mei】

Nie Yang smiled and added, "Plum blossom, steadfast and blooming against the cold. Wei Gong personally chose this codename for you."

"A few plum branches in the corner, blooming alone against the cold," Qin Zhixia whispered the verse, her heart a swirl of emotions.

She knew that from this moment, "Criminal Investigation Captain Qin Zhixia" was dead.

What survived was the Investigation Bureau agent, "Mei".

The next day.

Qin Zhixia donned a crisp Black Combat Suit; at her right knee, a lightweight Exoskeleton glimmered with a faint blue sheen, fitting her leg perfectly.

She tried walking a few steps; the old pain and inconvenience vanished, replaced by a solid sense brimming with strength.

During the past day, she toured all the Investigation Bureau's facilities, as well as the containment subject No. 001, the Cavity Person, and received the highest‑level treatment.

At that moment, L pushed a equipment crate to her, introducing it expressionlessly.

"Mei, this is your dedicated gear. The sidearm is the Tail-Head Snake special pistol, equipped with aiming assistance; its custom bullets can pierce steel plates."

"If you encounter a Symbiosis again, these bullets are far more effective than conventional ammunition."

Qin Zhixia lifted the heavy special pistol from the crate, feeling its weight in her hand.

This is the Investigation Bureau's power.

Contain the Weird, study the Weird, then... exploit the Weird.

At that moment, the Communicator in the office rang.

It was Wei Gong.

"Come to my office for a moment."

In Wei Gong's office.

Without any small talk, a red top‑secret File was pushed before Qin Zhixia.

"Your first mission."

Qin Zhixia opened the File; an encrypted report from the Dong Lin City branch flashed before her eyes.

"Codename 'Smiling Dummy'."

Wei Gong's tone left no room for doubt.

"This is the Investigation Bureau's latest discovery, a new type of Weird suspected of meme‑infection, spreading through online images with extremely rapid and potent contamination. It has already caused at least thirty people to disappear."

"Zhi‑Xia, you have mature experience dealing with the Weird; I order you, as Captain, to lead two newly appointed Investigation Bureau agents to Dong Lin City immediately, taking full charge of the case."

"Your mission is: determine the rules, assess the threat, and devise a containment plan before it causes wider panic!"

"Remember, you have authority to mobilize all local resources to execute the containment procedure!"

"Yes, Chief!" Qin Zhixia stood at attention, saluting, her gaze steadfast.

She turned to the last page of the file.

It was two incredibly clear photos captured from the internet.

In the first photo, a Plastic Dummy Model stood with its back to the camera on the street side.

The second, a front‑face shot, was overlaid with a Weird black mosaic.

【Rulebook:】

【Avoid directly looking at the frontal photo of a dummy】

【123】 【If you meet its gaze, you will be entangled by its curse】

If you meet its gaze, you will be entangled by its curse.