Entering the Finale 2

Haku and Zhu Shi looked at the newcomer at the same time.

The person who walked through the door was wearing a gray uniform. I had seen this uniform last night; it was the same one worn by the Luoshan personnel who recovered the Fallen Demon Hunter's corpse.

I was even more impressed by this person's face. It was Agent Kong, who had once knocked on my door and later inadvertently hindered my exploration of the cave.

"Hmm?" Agent Kong's face immediately showed embarrassment upon seeing me. "You're Zhuang Cheng..."

"Good morning, 'Officer'."

Seeing his face again, I felt quite emotional.

Although I possessed the superpower of Flame Manipulation, I had grown up in a law-abiding society, deeply influenced by various propaganda and slogans. Unconsciously, I held a sense of reverence for official forces. The thought of being rejected by society would instinctively make me feel uneasy.

Initially, I truly believed Agent Kong was a real police officer. I had broken out in a cold sweat, worrying about harboring a "Serial Killer" and illegally possessing firearms and ammunition. Now, however, he was the one feeling guilty for impersonating a police officer. The roles had completely reversed.

"Don't mock me. You must have heard from Zhu Shi already, that was a Luoshan mission."

Hearing this, Agent Kong's embarrassment deepened. He quickly waved his hands and changed the subject, "I've already heard. You were the one who defeated the Fallen Demon Hunter, right? I'm the agent responsible for patrolling this area, and I must thank you for your act of eliminating evil. By the way, are you planning to join Luoshan? I suggest you..."

Seeing him mention my joining Luoshan, Zhu Shi frowned and immediately interrupted, "Agent Kong, how is the progress on 'that matter' I asked you to investigate?"

Zhu Shi's attitude made it clear that she really didn't want me to join Luoshan. Was it because of the chaos within Luoshan she mentioned last time and the potential future conflicts, or were there other reasons?

I didn't rush to ask or continue mocking Agent Kong. Instead, I followed Zhu Shi's lead, "What 'that matter' refers to?"

"It's about the possible grudge between you and the Fallen Demon Hunter," Agent Kong replied. "All information related to the Fallen Demon Hunter incident was compiled by me, the 'probe' responsible for this area, and then handed over to Zhu Shi. If Zhu Shi discovered any new suspicious points during the investigation, she would entrust me to continue the investigation.

"And in her report, she mentioned that the Fallen Demon Hunter seemed to harbor intense hatred towards you, with the clue being 'two years ago'."

I added, "That's right. However, he probably didn't have his current strength back then, nor had he transformed into a non-human form. Otherwise, I wouldn't have failed to recognize him."

"Unfortunately, after the Fallen Demon Hunter died, he didn't revert to his original human form but retained his monstrous appearance. We couldn't identify his original social status, let alone investigate what kind of grudge you had with him two years ago," Agent Kong said with a regretful shake of his head, then continued, "However, another result was investigated..."

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"It's the cause of death," Zhu Shi interjected. "The Fallen Demon Hunter's cause of death was neither your flames nor my sword energy, but acute organ failure."

I searched my layman's medical knowledge: "You mean... he died of shock?"

"Something like that, but not burn shock as you might think, but a failure of unknown cause," Zhu Shi explained. "For a powerful individual like the Fallen Demon Hunter, after acute organ failure, he might have even self-destructed due to loss of control over his power. But it seems he had expended too much energy before his death, so he died without a sound."

Perhaps it was because I was chasing and burning him right before his death, and he was constantly regenerating his body tissues at high speed, losing a lot of energy in the process. After listening to Zhu Shi, I came up with a rational explanation in my mind.

However, her calling that Fallen Demon Hunter a "powerful individual" made it hard for me to agree. Or was it my standard for judging strength that was off?

"Although we can't rule out the possibility that his acute organ failure was due to excessive power consumption, we must remain vigilant. When dealing with incidents involving the supernatural, any unusual trace must be taken seriously and suspected," Zhu Shi said earnestly. "Especially you, Zhuang Cheng... if that Fallen Demon Hunter were to return, you might become his target."

"I'll be careful."

However, more than myself, I was concerned about how I would protect Maza if she were caught in the crossfire.

While I was thinking about this, Zhu Shi turned around and continued to observe the ritual array in the room. She then walked over and squatted down to examine the black plush carpet.

A moment later, she let out a thoughtful and puzzled sound, "...It really is strange..."

"Is there anything unusual?" I shifted my attention to her.

"Zhuang Cheng, you said last night that the alphabetic symbols on this carpet completed the missing parts of the ritual array..." she said hesitantly. "From my perspective, what you said makes sense. The ritual array can indeed be completed in this way, but... even if it's completed, it's still a severely flawed array. The probability of it successfully activating is astronomically low."

"So, it's basically impossible to activate?"

She stated firmly, "If such an array could be activated, it would only be a miracle."

"A miracle..." I thought of Maza again.

Could this also be Maza's blessing? Was it precisely to drag me into the cave's supernatural incident that the cave, with an almost zero probability of appearing, materialized through a miraculous "misfortune"?

But wasn't it too much "giving up on thinking" to attribute all misfortunes to Maza's jinx constitution? Was I planning to blame all my future misfortunes on Maza as well?

Could there be other clues I hadn't noticed... Slowly, the existence of the black jade stone surfaced in my mind.

But as a clue, the black jade stone was still too vague...

"However, this much can be confirmed. Perhaps opening the cave was indeed the Fallen Demon Hunter's objective in setting up this ritual array, but the cave ultimately appearing was not his intended outcome, because he simply didn't have the capability. Perhaps he himself was the one most eager to know why the cave appeared," Zhu Shi said, straightening up by pushing off her knees. "We can erase this array now."

"Do you want to try opening the cave yourself using the method I provided? Perhaps there will be other discoveries," I still regretted the cave in the Fifteenth Floor room being eliminated.

"No, erasing it without triggering any supernatural phenomena is the safest method."

Zhu Shi once again displayed an extremely conservative attitude and then turned to deal with the ritual array.

However, although she said she would erase it, she didn't directly use a tool like a mop to wipe it away. Instead, she took out white chalk and began drawing new mystical symbols from the outer ring of the array.

Seeing my confusion, Agent Kong explained beside me.

Because it was a bit complicated, I simplified it based on my understanding. Simply put, the ritual array might still retain some residual power. When destroying the array, the Demon Hunter's power could suppress it, but it could still cause damage to the surroundings. What Zhu Shi was setting up now was a new array designed to absorb any potential power and safely dissipate it into the environment.

Although this process was also something you wouldn't see in normal society, it felt a bit tedious to me. I felt a bit regretful if I were to leave now, so I started asking Agent Kong about Luoshan.

Agent Kong understood my intention implicitly. After a few words, he immediately grasped my intent, "So, you want to join Luoshan?"

I hid my anticipation and asked with feigned calmness, "Yes. For supernatural organizations like yours, what are the requirements for joining? For example, do you think I'm suitable?"

Actually, I wanted to be more direct from the start, but the only Luoshan personnel I could currently interact with were Zhu Shi and Agent Kong. On this level, although they weren't interviewers, they felt like it to me. While I could relax around Zhu Shi, I felt like an applicant facing Agent Kong. I hoped to control my restless emotions to avoid letting the "interviewer" notice my eager true feelings.

Agent Kong nodded slightly and pondered, "Well, from my perspective, you..."

Suddenly, he stopped speaking. Zhu Shi, who was drawing mystical symbols on the floor, had already glared at him.

"Alright, alright, I won't say another word, I won't say another word..."

Agent Kong quickly made a gesture of surrender. Zhu Shi's expression softened slightly, and she continued her work. While she was focused on drawing mysterious symbols, Agent Kong gave me another look.

Nodding in understanding, I used going to the restroom as an excuse to leave the room on the Fifteenth Floor and went straight downstairs.

After a while, Agent Kong also found an excuse to slip away and met me downstairs.

"I told Zhu Shi that I needed to handle the 'probe's' actual job. It wasn't entirely an excuse. Let's talk as we walk." He walked ahead, leading me out of the residential complex, his voice tinged with emotion. "You asked earlier if you could join Luoshan, right? My answer is very clear. If even I, someone without any magical power, can join, then you certainly can."

"That's great! But if that's the case, why is Zhu Shi so resistant to me joining Luoshan?" I asked, confused. "Is it because Luoshan is going through a turbulent period?"

"Did Zhu Shi tell you about those things? Only a part of it, right? Luoshan is indeed going through a turbulent period, but that's a problem for the big figures to worry about. We small fries just need to worry about our own livelihoods," he said. "The reason Zhu Shi is resisting you joining Luoshan is likely because you're a flame ability user."