Agent Kong first showed a puzzled expression, then scrutinized my face.
"Why are you interested in this matter?"
Since probing for information related to Maza might arouse suspicion, I had prepared an excuse in advance: "I'm interested in all kinds of strange and unusual things, and this matter might also be related to the Fallen Demon Hunter incident."
"Hmm, is that so..." Agent Kong thought for a moment before answering. "Actually, this isn't confidential information. The reason Zhu Shi didn't tell you was probably because, from the perspective of the people at Luoshan, this matter isn't particularly respectable."
"You mean... Luoshan did something evil?" I asked tentatively.
"I don't know whether that's the case. I'm not one of the people in charge, and I don't have all the information. Let me answer your earlier question first. As for who that girl is..." he said, "as far as I know, she's the only known patient in the world to have awakened from Soul Deprivation Syndrome."
"...Soul Deprivation Syndrome?" I repeated the unfamiliar name.
Going by the name alone, it should be a disease in which one "loses one's soul."
Forgive my limited knowledge, but I had never heard of such an illness—unless it was another name for a vegetative state.
"It's understandable that you haven't heard of it. In mainstream society, this mysterious disease is regarded only as a vegetative state of unknown cause. Only our world calls it 'Soul Deprivation Syndrome.'" Agent Kong's voice grew low. "It began spreading throughout the world four years ago. By now, it has spread to many people. The source is unknown, the method of transmission is unknown, and the cure is unknown... Luoshan doesn't even know how many experts it has mobilized. After spending four years, all it has managed to determine are two things:
"First, it's a disease spread by some unknown paranormal phenomenon. Second, although the patients' bodies continue functioning normally, their souls have all vanished."
"Their souls vanished..." I immediately came up with a few ideas.
I had previously asked Maza whether she had traveled here physically or as a soul, but her attitude had been extremely vague. Still, it was clear that she couldn't confirm whether the body she was using now was her original body. Assuming she really was a traveler from the Doomsday era, the possibility that she had crossed over as a soul was quite high.
By an incredible coincidence, the body Maza was using now had originally been a completely empty shell in this era—almost as if it had been placed there specifically for a soul traveler to enter. Some of the transmigration novels I had read even specifically described the original owner's soul dispersing after drowning or falling ill with a fever, after which the transmigrating protagonist just happened to arrive and take over the body.
But fiction was fiction. I still had to focus on the realities of the situation.
For example, where had the original soul in that empty body gone? And was it somehow connected to Maza's soul transmigration?
The first thought that occurred to me was—could the original soul have traveled to the Doomsday era, somehow lost all its memories, mistakenly believed itself to be a resident of the apocalypse, and then somehow traveled back to the present?
No, there was a serious flaw in that assumption. Maza should have had a body to contain her soul in the Doomsday era as well. How could an extremely similar body have appeared in a different era?
Considering that Maza's original body was very likely extremely similar to her current one, another hypothesis seemed more plausible: she was Maza from another world, while the doomsday event was a disaster that would occur in another world's future.
In other words, the so-called parallel-world theory.
But... the parallel-world theory was still only a hypothesis in the scientific community. Would it be too ridiculous to base my reasoning on it?
To be honest, my mind was filled with "transmigration" and "the apocalypse." Since I was analyzing things using words I had previously encountered only in novels and comics, it was difficult not to sound ridiculous.
"I understand, more or less." I decided to shift the focus of my thoughts back to reality. "In other words, this girl is the only known case of someone awakening. If her body were studied, there might be a chance of saving the many other Soul Deprivation Syndrome patients. Is that right?"
"Yes." Agent Kong nodded slightly and continued. "However, immediately after awakening, she vanished from the hospital. It wasn't an ordinary escape. She simply disappeared into thin air, as if she had been eaten by the air itself."
"Spatial transference?" I immediately recalled the "blessing power" Maza had mentioned possessing.
"Luoshan thought so too. But the problem is that before contracting Soul Deprivation Syndrome, this girl named Maza was nothing more than an ordinary girl. And while she was in a vegetative state, there was no way she could have had any opportunity to come into contact with supernatural powers." Agent Kong spoke slowly. "Yet this very person suddenly gained the means of spatial transference after awakening. Even more baffling was her behavior. She was no pushover.
"When she appeared again, she had already infiltrated the local Public Security Department and stolen firearms and ammunition from it... This was also something the original her absolutely should not have done, and absolutely could not have done."
The original owner of the body had actually been named Maza too. The credibility of the parallel-world hypothesis seemed to have increased. But this could also serve as evidence that Maza was lying, and that the apocalypse and transmigration had never existed in the first place.
When Agent Kong continued, I considered a possibility from the perspective of an outsider: "Are you saying that she didn't really awaken from Soul Deprivation Syndrome... but that the empty body was taken over by an evil spirit from somewhere unknown?"
That explanation seemed to make sense.
Why did Luoshan pursue Maza as if she were a criminal? Because they weren't pursuing "the only known case of a patient awakening," but an evil ghost that had occupied a girl's body.
I didn't even have enough evidence to completely rule out that possibility myself.
But compared with "a traveler from the apocalypse," the possibility of "an evil spirit possessing her" was inevitably disappointing. Besides, if Luoshan stood on the side of justice, why did Zhu Shi and Agent Kong feel that Luoshan's actions were not respectable?
"I had that suspicion too, but the people above don't think so." Agent Kong shook his head. "They genuinely launched a large-scale search on the premise that she was an awakened Soul Deprivation Syndrome patient. They were even so desperate that they acted first and reported later—first labeling the target a Serial Killer, then asking the public security system to confirm the accusation. The other side simply refused to cooperate... If she were merely a lowly evil spirit, the people above absolutely wouldn't have used such methods."
"Could it be that they aren't certain either?" Instead, I, an outsider, deliberately interpreted things from a relatively charitable perspective. "That girl could be either an awakened patient or someone possessed by an evil spirit, so they prepared for the worst.
"For example, because the girl had previously infiltrated the Public Security Department and stolen firearms and ammunition, they couldn't very well use the pretext of searching for an abducted or missing girl. And since there happened to be a Serial Killer of unknown identity in our city recently, they simply used that pretext instead."
"With the methods of high-ranking Demon Hunters, detecting whether an evil spirit had infiltrated the ward would be extremely easy. They must have been certain. Although they couldn't understand how that girl had gained her powers or why her personality had changed so drastically, they didn't regard her as a different person." He said, "Besides, considering that she possesses unknown spatial-transference abilities, the people above have decided to extend the search nationwide.
"Needless to say, they'll use even more search methods, and they won't abandon the aggressive accusations they used before. Such an enormous effort, such unscrupulous methods... Zhuang Cheng, do you understand what this means?"
A nationwide search? By any means necessary?
I was relieved that Maza wasn't merely an evil spirit possessing a body, but my heart trembled at Agent Kong's account, and I fell into thought.
Given the potential value Maza might possess in Luoshan's eyes, a nationwide search was reasonable. And infiltrating the Public Security Department to steal firearms and ammunition had unquestionably been Maza's fault. From the perspective of secular law, calling it a major crime would not be an exaggeration. But Luoshan did not belong to the public security system, and its actions did not resemble the official stance a fair and impartial government organization should display. Aside from the operation being on an official scale, everything about it from beginning to end reeked of taking an improper path.
The whole thing was shrouded in mystery!
I felt my blood begin to race as I slowly voiced my interpretation of Agent Kong's words: "As long as they can get their hands on that girl, her basic rights don't matter... Is that it?"
Wait, wasn't he talking about me?
Agent Kong nodded.
"That's all I know about the inside story concerning that girl. I shouldn't have told you so much, but you seem to have a habit of getting to the bottom of strange tales. Rather than let you ask around recklessly elsewhere, I thought I'd explain it clearly myself." He said, "Of course, I hope you won't misunderstand Luoshan. Luoshan has more than one faction, and the people handling this matter belong to only one of them—a faction with rather extreme ideas."
That last part sounded like he was insulting me too... I changed the subject. "Are you also part of that faction?"
The word "faction" gave me a bad feeling.
"I'm just a nobody at the grassroots level. How could I dare call myself part of any faction? I'm merely helpless, being kicked around like a ball." He gave a self-mocking chuckle, then added, "By the way, Zhu Shi has absolutely nothing to do with the faction involved in this matter."
"Thanks for the warning." As I spoke, I looked ahead. "Speaking of which... where are we going?"
"Didn't I say earlier that I needed to handle the Probe's regular duties?" He stopped in front of me. "Investigating Ghost Stories—that's what you're most familiar with too. If you're interested, you can come and take a look with me. Who knows? In some areas, even I, the professional, might not measure up to you."
By then, we had arrived at an abandoned construction site near Xianshui University.
Ahead lay a bleak, desolate open space. A bare, unfinished building stood in its midst. I had no idea what it had originally been built for, or why it had been abandoned. From a distance, it looked like a crude gray gravestone jutting abruptly out of the city. Even the wind seemed to grow three degrees colder when it passed through this place.
This was where I had first encountered Maza.
Before you continue