A Second Home

[Pluto City, a port city on the edge of the country]

Inside the city's hub bus station,

A young man walked out of the station exit. Although it was not yet summer, the temperature here was unusually high, a full 10 degrees Celsius higher than in the capital.

The pedestrians coming and going have all changed into summer clothes, and there are many ferries departing from the station to the port, so it seems that the island resort service has reopened.

However, what would be a lot of heat for an ordinary person is nothing to a young man; even if the temperature were increased by several tens of degrees, it would still be a comfortable temperature for him.

He didn't leave immediately; he seemed to be waiting for someone.

A short while later, two Girl, who had also changed into summer clothes, followed them out of the station.

A girl wearing white sneakers, yellow shorts, and a white t-shirt with a pink bear design, with her hair tied in a ponytail.

One was a standard summer school uniform set: black round-toed leather shoes, white breathable socks, a gray pleated skirt, a white short-sleeved school uniform with a bow tie tied at the chest, and standard black bangs.

As the man and two women got into the taxi, the driver couldn't help but glance at them a couple of times, especially the Girl in the school uniform. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off her, and it even affected his driving.

"Hua... don't cause trouble here."

"I didn't do it willingly, is this alright?"

Hua Yuan covered her face with her hair, a sight that startled the driver so much that he almost stepped on the gas and flew off, his previous desire vanishing instantly.

He also sensed that something was wrong with the passenger, so he quickly touched the "Pseudo-Human detection" button inside the car.

This is a brand-new device recently developed by the Investigation Bureau, and it is currently being used in public places and vehicles nationwide.

Once activated, the device will send the passenger's scanned image to a database for comparison. If the suspicion level exceeds 30%, the local Investigation Bureau will receive a notification.

To everyone's surprise, the device inside the taxi transmitted the result in less than three seconds.

The system was deemed absolutely safe simply because Luo Di's face was scanned, eliminating the need to waste verification resources.

at the same time,

The City Investigation Bureau also knew that "Luo Di," the former investigator, had returned.

[Fifth Hospital]

As Luo Di stepped out of the taxi, he almost didn't recognize the place where he had spent several months, a place that was almost like a second home.

The Fifth Hospital is now incredibly large, and it also attracts many medical students from the capital, Luoyang University. It is five times its original size and is still expanding.

However, Luo Di had already confirmed one thing before he even stepped through the gate.

"The dean and the others aren't inside..."

As a great demon, Luo Di was even more sensitive to the aura of hell. Sniffing out the source of the hellish aura, he walked about 500 meters across the street from the hospital and locked onto a location.

Deep Blue Internet Cafe

"Hey handsome, wanna go online?"

"Looking for someone."

Luo Di's eyes were already fixed on one of the private rooms. Luckily, the guests in that room had just ordered three bottles of chilled soda, and the internet cafe manager was about to deliver them.

"Let me deliver it for you. I happen to know the people inside."

Luo Di's words were not a question but a command, carrying a gray undertone.

The internet cafe manager promptly handed over the soft drink basket and reminded her, "Thank you for your help~ But please be careful, the customers inside are a bit strange. Don't knock on the door, just bring it in directly, no need to say anything more."

Of course, if you're their friend, then it might be fine.

These words puzzled Luo Di. "They come here to use the internet all the time?"

"It started about a week ago. I would come here every day from 2 pm to 8 pm, and sometimes I would stay out even later."

"OK."

Luo Di strode to the door of the private room, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open to enter.

A wave of smoke hit him, filling the room with smoke. The sight gave Luo Di a slight bout of PTSD, making him think he had encountered the fog again.

But the next second, a familiar voice pulled him back to reality.

"The mid laner is missing and doesn't know to signal?"

"I didn't hit it? Do you want me to make you an appointment with an ophthalmologist so you can go get it checked out right now?"

"Stop making noise and come help me in the jungle."

A greasy keyboard, a flickering screen, three empty instant noodle boxes with the soup still inside, and an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts.

Three netizens of varying ages are playing a battle game in front of their computers.

Luo Di's arrival went completely unnoticed by them, and they could only pretend to be waiters, handing out chilled sodas one by one.

One of the fat guys suddenly sprouted two arms from between his eye sockets. One arm unscrewed the bottle cap, while the other picked up the soda and gulped it down. His sweaty body trembled as the iced drink went down his throat, and he felt incredibly refreshed.

Luo Di had originally planned to show off to the three of them the special Gate he had built using monster corpses, as well as the great demon state he had achieved.

Who knew it would turn out like this?

Of the three, only Hawke turned his head to glance at the screen when it went gray, then pinched Luo Di's arm and nodded in affirmation.

After the game finally ended, the three of them continued arguing for a while before finally turning around.

Drooping eyelids, acne-prone skin, oily hair and grime, and clothes stained with instant noodle stains.

Regardless of the true identities of the three individuals,

Even the head of the human side, whose identity as an attending physician is difficult to match.

David tried to stand up, but found his belly was too big and he got stuck, so he had to sit down to give his comments.

"Luo Di, you're back! Your ascension to demonhood is pretty good, the system integration is excellent! You probably haven't gone back to Hell for certification yet, right? Hurry up and go, it's not good to delay any longer."

Luo Di honestly replied, "Okay, I was planning to go to the Fifth Hospital to find you, but I didn't expect to find you here. By the way, what's going on here?"

David tried to pull in his stomach and lower his voice. "Your entertainment facilities here are very sophisticated. The world view corresponding to this game is really good. Most of the heroes would be very strong even in Hell."

We are using entertainment to acquire relevant skills and knowledge; it's a sophisticated growth process that you probably can't understand right now.

Luo Di could only awkwardly change the subject. "By the way, are the seniors allowed to move around freely now?"

David continued, "Currently, the area we can move around in is about five kilometers. We haven't expanded it recently because playing games is more important."

"Oh, is that so... I just heard from the network administrator that you guys will be logging off around 8 PM? How about we go back to the Fifth Hospital together then?"

David sprouted arms from between his eyes and crossed them to express his disapproval. "No way! We'll go straight there for some skewers and watch the game after we get off the plane. We'll probably be up until around midnight."

You can go to hell yourself! Verification is simple; we don't need to do it.

The young doctor wearing glasses standing nearby chimed in:

"David is right about that. All you need to do is let the Will of Hell sense your ascension to demonhood and complete the certification."

You don't need to go to the Chaos Nest to go through any demon-becoming rituals; it's just a formality and doesn't mean anything.

Since you've already integrated the growth of both systems, it doesn't matter which one you develop on. Currently, it seems you're gaining more and growing faster in the corner.

"What I mean is, I hope to ask the seniors for advice on the next step in ascending to demonhood, as well as the coordinated development of some related abilities."

"The Will of Hell will guide you; it's up to you. We're getting ready for the next round."

"Alright... then I'll go to the Fifth Hospital by myself."

Luo Di cast his last hopeful glance at Hawke, but Hawke had already clicked "Start Game," and was even the host.

However, Hawke's voice still came through:

"Luo Di, you've been using torture devices quite frequently lately, not bad~ Keep it up."

"Okay, okay."

After leaving the Internet Cafe, Luo Di looked at the blazing sun overhead and wondered if he had fallen asleep on the long-distance bus and was currently dreaming.

It wasn't until the two sisters bought iced milk tea from across the street and brought it to his lips that he finally understood.

"You've already reached an agreement? Isn't Mr. Hook going back with you?"

"They have things to do, I'll go back to hell alone."

"Okay, I just discussed it with Sister Hua. You can handle the hell matter yourself."

We're planning to book a beach vacation ticket; you'll probably be gone for several days or even two weeks, right? We'll go back to the corner together when you come back."

"It might not be long, why don't you guys explore the surrounding area?"

"Okay! Let's book a hotel, go see a movie, go shopping or something in the evening. You should go now. Maybe after you come out, the three of us will have time to go back to the island and reminisce."

"OK."

After making a phone call gesture, Wu Wen pulled Hua Yuan away.

The latter seemed to have been away for a long time and had been cooped up in the sorority for too long, so he had a lot of things he wanted to do and didn't pay any attention to Luo Di.

Huff... Luo Di let out a deep breath.

I don't know why,

The trip back to his Hometown was completely different from what he had imagined, and Luo Di felt somewhat lonely as he walked alone on the street.

However, when he reached the gate of the Fifth Hospital,

Three city investigators were already waiting there, one of whom was the bureau chief himself.

"Director? Why did you come in person?"

"Luo Di, you are, after all, a talented person who came from our area. Now you are a formal agent and one of the country's most valuable talents. It is only right that I come to see you."

By the way, are you free lately?

"Don't stand on ceremony with me, just say what's on your mind."

"A newly established hospital here recently encountered some problems, affecting several investigators. Based on our assessment, it is highly likely that it is a [monster incarnation]."

"A monster incarnation? Shouldn't this kind of thing be handled by investigators in the capital?"

"We have already submitted the application, but the General Administration is currently short-staffed. In addition, we have not had any investigators die here, we are just affected. They have not sent anyone over yet."

I personally feel the situation might be more complicated than I anticipated. I was originally planning to go to headquarters tomorrow to report on the situation, but since you happened to be here, I thought I'd ask you to take a look at this matter.

Luo Di had already glimpsed the documents in the other person's hand. Although this matter was not under his jurisdiction at the moment, he was still willing to take it on out of respect for the director.

"Let me see the document first, but it will take me a day or two. I have some personal business to attend to. Can you wait?"

"Two days is no problem."

"Okay, I'll contact you then."

Luo Di walked into the hospital with the file bag, taking out the documents along the way.

However, the information above left him somewhat puzzled.

"Um?

Several investigators experienced severe drowsiness after going to the hospital, and this narcolepsy is currently unrelieved and is even gradually worsening, with no brain problems being detected...