Zhu Yan walked through the train, where the lights had come back on, talking on the phone as he went. His conspicuous manner drew the attention of quite a few passengers.
He held his head high and his chest out, trying to look relaxed and confident as he walked straight through the whole of car 5 and stopped at the next connection.
Two police officers were standing by the door, their attention caught by Zhu Yan's behavior.
That feeling of tension, inside and out, returned.
Zhu Yan forced himself to relax. If he really were an officer, he ought to be confident in that identity.
He took care of that, then continued forward.
Frowning, he pretended to swipe a couple of times at his phone's dark screen and walked naturally to the door.
"Director Liu suddenly wants to come over."
Zhu Yan copied the Pseudo-human's portrayal of an officer, perfectly mimicking that air of world-weary seriousness.
His brow was furrowed deeply enough to crush a fly as he swept a stern gaze over the two officers at the door.
"Be on your best behavior. Once Director Liu Mingli comes in, you'll need to check his credentials as usual."
Actually, he probably could have left by using his talent, [Complaining], outright.
But [Complaining] also meant exposing himself completely.
The two officers were standing outside the door, where everyone could see them.
As soon as anything unusual happened to them, their colleagues nearby would surely notice, and everyone would come swarming out to capture Zhu Yan.
Afterward, Zhu Yan would have far less time to deal with any possible mishaps!
So Zhu Yan chose to escape by acting his way out, the gentlest approach.
If two well-trained officers let a superior leave, even anyone who saw it would simply assume there was a reason.
The two officers froze for a moment, looking surprised.
They also knew that Director Liu Mingli considered this matter important.
But why was he suddenly coming over?
"Sir, when did this happen? Did he just call you?"
One of them asked.
"Mm." Zhu Yan's face clouded over again.
He couldn't explain the specific reason, so he simply pulled his work ID from his pocket and showed it to the two officers on guard.
"This is an exception. I'll go up and meet him first. Remember, the suspect is very cunning."
"I've already spoken to Little Guan. He's in charge of notifying everyone else."
What that meant was: stay out of it.
On second thought, Zhu Yan worried that he hadn't made himself clear enough, so he spelled it out again.
"You two stay here and stand guard. Don't get distracted."
The two officers exchanged a glance.
Faced with a genuine superior—one who had precisely named "Liu Mingli" and shown them his work ID—they couldn't muster the slightest suspicion!
"Apart from this once, that includes Guan En and Director Liu when he arrives."
Zhu Yan continued his instructions, not daring to let his guard down.
As for Guan En, they should stop him if they could.
"Once someone's on the train, you can't let them off again. Even if you do, check their work ID carefully. Understood?"
The two officers' expressions turned grave. They looked at each other, showing no suspicion of Zhu Yan whatsoever, only concern over the director's arrival.
"Yes, sir."
Zhu Yan nodded, stepped forward, and set foot on the solid ground of the platform.
For an instant, Zhu Yan's heart skipped a beat.
He suppressed the urge to break into a sprint and walked steadily and quickly up the exit stairs.
The stairs led underground.
Only after making sure the others couldn't see him did Zhu Yan take a deep breath and sprint toward the exit!
The station was empty, with not a single person in sight, which was highly abnormal.
The advertising boards on either side were lit, though some were damaged, their lights buzzing and flickering.
Zhu Yan guessed that this place, like the hallway and fruit shop in his last instance, wasn't the real "reality."
He wanted to reach the exit as quickly as possible, but the passage was much longer than he'd imagined—as if someone had deliberately stretched it out!
Zhu Yan cursed the damn mission for screwing him over.
Fortunately, the passage wasn't some endlessly looping maze or the backrooms, and there were no strange signs around.
It had simply been lengthened—
It would take Zhu Yan longer to reach the exit!
He gritted his teeth and kept up his pace.
He didn't dare stop. He knew he absolutely couldn't stop.
At this point, he could only hope Guan En would be held up a little longer!
At that very moment.
Guan En was in a heated argument with the real Zhang Li, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
He had arrived at car 15 three minutes earlier.
At a glance, he saw an attendant standing at the car 15 exit, just as expected. From her posture and expression to her clothes, she looked exactly like Zhang Li!
Excited, Guan En immediately stepped forward and grabbed her.
"Zhu Yan!"
The sudden move startled Zhang Li.
She whipped around and instinctively tried to pull free.
Her action made Guan En think she was trying to escape, so he immediately used his ability, [Precise Suppression].
Unable to move, Zhang Li could only glare at him.
"Officer, what are you doing?!"
Guan En smiled.
"Zhu Yan, you're quite the actor. You even came all the way to car 15. Most people really wouldn't have found you."
The attendant in car 7 was also a player, which was indeed a huge coincidence in this instance.
If the real "Zhang Li" hadn't been feeling unwell and struck up a conversation with him earlier, he really wouldn't have headed straight for car 15.
Instead, he would have followed standard procedure and used his authority to check the surveillance footage!
Zhang Li was dumbfounded.
She opened her mouth, taking two or three seconds to process what he'd said.
"Officer, what are you talking about? Who's Zhu Yan? What's going on?"
There was another officer in the car, and he immediately came over to help when he heard them.
"Zhu Yan? Little Guan, you found the suspect?"
Guan En looked at the immobilized Zhang Li.
"This should be the one. It's a long story..."
Zhang Li, on the other hand, understood.
What criminal suspect? What crime had she committed?
She wasn't some Zhu Yan. She was Zhang Li!
Zhang Li panicked, terrified that she'd be falsely accused.
"Officer, you've got the wrong person. I'm Zhang Li! I'm not the person you're talking about. I don't even know him!"
Guan En looked her up and down and concluded that Zhu Yan was acting.
He had to admit, the performance was uncannily convincing.
She was practically identical to the real one!
He promptly handcuffed Zhang Li and signaled his colleague to come with him as he prepared to take her to the surveillance room.
"This is most likely Zhu Yan."
"But with two Zhang Lis on one train, we still can't be careless."
"Come on, let's go up front." Guan En looked at his colleague and watched his expression change from disbelief to shock.
"...Holy shit. Little Guan, someone really has an ability like that?"
The people from Anwu City had read the case files, but they hadn't seen an actual case.
His colleague's reaction was within the normal range. Guan En smiled and nodded.
"Either way, one of the two has to be real. This isn't the first time Zhu Yan has pulled a trick like this."
"No matter what, he's already given himself away."
Guan En paused and patiently explained to his colleague.
"Our people are guarding this place. He can't possibly escape the train."
"Next, the most straightforward way is to check the surveillance footage and verify it. We need to establish—"
Guan En was interrupted by an agitated female voice.
"Officer, I really am Zhang Li!" Zhang Li shouted.
After listening for so long, she had come to an incredible guess.
Everything the young officer was saying seemed to suggest that someone who looked a lot like her had slipped onto the train and disguised himself as her.
But she really was Zhang Li. She had been diligently doing her job all along and hadn't committed any crime!
Panicking, Zhang Li blurted out all her information at once.
"Officer, my household registration is in Heng'an District, Anwu City, and I have my ID in my pocket!"
"I've been on the high-speed train for the past four days, on this same route the whole time. I've stayed on duty almost the entire time, and I've been sleeping in nearby dormitories with the rest of the crew."
"I haven't committed any crime, and I don't know anything about the suspect you're talking about!"
"Officer, if you don't believe me, you can check my ID!"