Chapter 15: Setting Off For Running!
The two members of the investigation team were now trying to find the mouse used for monitoring and recording in the Sacrifice Hall. Once found, they could reconstruct the crime scene through the Rat Head and obtain firsthand visual information.
By then, even if Yuan Zhu was hiding something, it would be completely exposed.
And these small teams engaging in Underground Society sacrifices also liked to film the sacrifice process for later appreciation. Or sell it as a successful case tutorial at a high price to other similar organizations. Accumulating enough similar folk spellcasting materials could even spawn a new evil cultivator sect.
The daily recreational hobbies of Du Ling Star’s people were quite rich and stimulating.
Realizing this, Yuan Zhu’s heart skipped a beat. He said to his little waste: “For something this important, you didn’t think of it before?”
The Game Sprite argued confidently: “I just dug these out from the memory fragments. I’ve been born less than half a day and haven’t participated in any sacrifice. How would I know locals are this crazy, committing crimes while taking selfies and leaving evidence? But don’t panic. I scanned the hall earlier, and there was indeed a mouse on the roof. I was puzzled at the time, thinking it was a tribute knocked flying into the air.”
During the sacrifice ritual, there were indeed tributes in mouse form, but they were completely different from the ‘mouse monitor’ blessed with Rat King’s divine power. They only overlapped in the mouse medium, with no essential connection.
In the System Sprite’s eyes, the mouse hanging from the roof was a tribute knocked flying in the chaos.
Hearing this, Yuan Zhu’s heart sank: “Oh no, we’re done for. There’s a monitor! Won’t my Boss transformation be exposed? I’m going to have to take the blame for you and get convicted.”
“Don’t panic, I have good news. When you activated the Boss template, I used Shadow Manipulation to scan the entire Sacrifice Hall, including that mouse, and they were all occupied by polluting energy erosion. Even if it really had monitoring functions, it would be distorted and overwritten by the power of pollution. Using the electronic components you’re familiar with as an analogy, it’s like suffering an EMP attack and getting burned out.”
“Found something!” Just as the Game Sprite was playing armchair strategist, the youth shouted in surprise.
He leaped toward the edge wall, accelerated into a jump, ran twice up the wall for momentum, then kicked off hard, leaping high and yanking a large mouse with sleek fur from the roof edge.
At the same time, the middle-aged man didn’t hold high hopes. Instead, he picked up the camera and snapped furiously at every corner, saying dejectedly: “Don’t celebrate too soon.”
“Huh?”
Before he finished speaking, the youth who had already picked up the mouse for inspection frowned slightly. Then, he closed his eyes, pointed his index finger at the mouse’s head, and quietly felt it.
Soon, he opened his eyes in disappointment: “It’s already polluted. The mouse’s brain is burned out; can’t read any useful information.”
With that, the youth tossed the useless mouse onto the bloodstained floor, too lazy to look again. (Mouse: Hmph! Such a heartless man.)
“That’s normal. Evil spirits descending will inevitably radiate to these mysticism creations. This kind of ‘surveillance mouse’ isn’t high-end goods anyway. And biological corpses easily adsorb filthy energy, causing mutation. I’ve heard of a very niche ‘electronics school’ that produced more stable monitoring equipment with strong anti-interference and anti-pollution properties.”
The youth nodded, indicating he’d heard of it: “I know that, but it requires electrical energy, installation is very troublesome, and with the numerous lightning magic branches, the cost is too high and usage scenarios extremely limited, so it can’t be popularized. It’s luxury goods only customized by nobles. But because it uses lightning magic energy, it repels all evils, indeed with extremely strong pollution resistance and stability.”
Hearing the two discuss electrical energy and the very niche electronics school monitors, Yuan Zhu felt a familiar pang in his heart again.
Ah, it’s overflowing. More cheese is overflowing!
He recalled a chapter in his junior high textbook specifically introducing Du Ling Star’s current knowledge. But strictly speaking, electrical energy in Du Ling’s academic name was Lightning Magic. A dual-natured product that was both physics and highly metaphysical.
In Earth’s technological history, the emergence of internal combustion engines and electricity represented the more advanced Second Industrial Revolution.
While for Du Ling, humans first mastered rapidly declining magic elements from magical aliens, breaking away from traditional agrarian civilization; then inherited alien steam technology called Steam Totem from humans of the steam universe, sprinting into the steam industrial era.
Ultimately, the locals successfully bypassed the correct path Earth explored, forging a new road called Elemental Steam. Then, this new road turned around and crushed the budding Electricity Revolution.
In the current world, there was still an electricity industry and gasoline-burning cars. But traditional internal combustion engines (Earth version) clearly couldn’t compete with supernatural system-reinforced elemental steam cars and were eliminated.
As for electronic equipment? It was squeezed into a niche, cold track amid fierce internal competition, gradually degenerating into a Taoist characteristic Industrial Lightning Magic industry.
Yuan Zhu recalled the textbook naming positive and negative charges as yin lightning and yang lightning with Taoist worldview characteristics. Then the electromagnetic induction part was fairly normal, and humans smoothly invented direct current and alternating current.
At this point, the Lightning Magic discipline aligned with Earth’s electrical knowledge. Building on this, people invented a series of basic electrical equipment, promoted across multiple countries, with the ‘electricity revolution’ seemingly promising.
The ordinary current at this stage was called ‘universal electrical energy,’ indistinguishable from Earth’s electrical energy.
But soon, Du Ling scholars researching electrical energy accidentally discovered that universal electrical energy was merely the most basic, primitive, and lowest form of ‘electricity/lightning.’ Under Taoist worldview, people could further process ordinary ‘electricity,’ whether by adding new elements (five elements power), importing talisman formulas (lightning magic talismans), or other means, evolving and transforming ‘universal electrical energy.’
For example, upgrading ordinary current into ‘Five Lightning Orthodox Method, Five Lightning Evil Method,’ Divine Sky Lightning Magic… and so on. Not only did the names differ; the properties of these lightnings also changed.
After this phenomenon was published, famous universities and Taoist palaces worldwide delved deeply into Lightning Magic. In just a few years, dozens of different lightning magic schools extended from traditional electricity.
Each brand-new ‘lightning’ had unique attributes and effects, extremely specific, with high permissions and levels. But they were also incompatible with each other. Moreover, these alienated high-end lightnings could easily devour universal electrical energy and assimilate it.
Thus, the emerging electricity industry died overnight. Pure universal electrical energy splintered into countless special lightning magic branches. Ordinary electrical systems could be easily invaded and assimilated by high-end lightning magic.
And among high-end lightning magics, they conflicted with each other and were mutually incompatible, depriving the electricity industry of a unified foundation and making it hard to promote.
Therefore, this world naturally missed the electricity era, with no birth of telephones, mobile phones, computers… Only one enclosed clique after another of Taoist Industrial Lightning Magic Systems, able to lay exclusive ‘lightning magic power grids’ only within their factions (schools).
Lightning magic equipment under System A, once switched to System B’s lightning magic energy, would instantly burn out the motor. You want to use Jade Purity Divine Lightning to drive my Purple Sky soy milk machine? Dream on! My Purple Sky soy milk machine would rather die than submit—explode for me! (Equipment self-destructs)
……
About half an hour later, as dusk fell, the two investigators thoroughly searched the manor. First photographing for evidence, then sorting the polluted tributes in the Sacrifice Hall one by one, wrapping them in special oil paper, labeling numbers, and placing them sequentially into briefcases, then into the old car’s trunk.
Finally, the middle-aged man packed the White Feather Wish Association list (parchment) that Yuan Zhu had found, along with other information collected from the study and bedroom, temporarily concluding this round of investigation.
After confirming everything, the middle-aged man came before Yuan Zhu: “The investigation phase is now over. You need to come with us to the Security Bureau for the next round of testing. Don’t worry, it’s just to check if you’ve been eroded and polluted in mind by evil spirit power. Then see if your body hides any dirty things. Based on my experience, you’ll pass smoothly.”
“Hmph!” Hearing this, the youth snorted coldly, dissatisfied with the senior’s attitude, retorting: “Captain, you know this is a major case involving forty lives. You’re just going to brush it off like this?”
The fatty put away his notebook and spread his hands helplessly: “Then what? Illegal sacrifice killed people with no rights anyway, and you’ve tested him with the detector—his deviation is very low. Per enforcement regulations, he’s a victim and harmless. Yuan bro, rest assured; pass the follow-up tests, and you’ll regain freedom.”
At this point, the Game Sprite commented in his mind: “This youth is obviously a newbie, a hot-headed justice-seeker. His hostility toward you is undisguised; he even thinks you’re lying and not an innocent sacrifice—he’s out to get you! The other is a seasoned slickster who doesn’t want trouble, seemingly procedural but actually suspicious of you without showing it, instead placating everywhere. In my view, he wants to get you into the police station or similar; if there’s a hidden issue, detonate it later.”
The middle-aged fatty stroked his goatee, asking Yuan Zhu: “How do you plan to go? Drive your company’s car and follow me? Or ride with us directly to the Security Bureau.”
Yuan Zhu carefully recalled but couldn’t dig up local steam car driving methods, so he shook his head: “I’ll ride with you then. Do I need handcuffs?”
“No need to be nervous. You’re so cooperative—just sit in the back seat. Rest easy; about an hour and a half to arrival. As for your company’s car, I’ll contact your boss.”
Yuan Zhu asked curiously: “Are you very familiar with Fire Fang?”
“We’ve had good cooperation experiences. Crime scenes we investigate also need professionals to clean up.”
Yuan Zhu: “Oh… got it!” Tomorrow, other colleagues would come clean his crime scene, right? If released early, he might even be arranged to clean it up himself?
At 5:40 PM, Yuan Zhu boarded the police car to the Security Bureau, quietly watching the misty forest shadows and dim light outside the window.
Serene, dim, damp, secluded… The road was empty of pedestrians or cars, giving an unsettling illusion of driving alone into Silent Hill.
From deep in the mountain forest, an occasional chilling beast howl echoed, adding a touch of eeriness to Running.
According to memory, wandering suburban woods at this hour was very prone to accidents! This was Demon Hour—could he have just left a Demon’s Den only to enter an evil lair?
Fortunately, this junk car clattered noisily all the way, repelling approaching dangers. Gradually, Yuan Zhu closed his eyes and fell asleep amid the vehicle’s swaying.
Vote, vote. Recommend, collect.
