Interlude: The Visitor, Baihuan City, the Farseers

The sudden heavy snow in Baihuan City did not stop until noon the next day.

The world was blanketed in white, with layers of snow piled across the ground and the bare branches of the artificial forest, making everything look especially pale.

Xia Lun sat at the table, eating sea cucumber while looking out the window. But as he ate, the faint roar of vehicle engines drifted in from outside.

The roar drew closer from afar, startling countless birds into flight.

"Was anyone scheduled to visit me today?" Xia Lun set down his spoon and asked, turning his head.

"No." The butler shook his head. "Several weeks ago, you declined all social invitations. You have no visitors scheduled for the next three months—I'll go confirm it now."

With that, the butler pushed open the door and left the reception room.

Xia Lun lightly tapped the tabletop with his knuckles and pondered for a while. A few seconds later, he shook his head and resumed eating his sea cucumber.

—When he had faced that roasted Monster at the end of the game, he had badly wanted sea cucumber. Now that he was back in reality, naturally he had to eat his fill.

Yet only a few minutes later, the butler returned.

Xia Lun turned to look again and found confusion on the other man's face as well.

"She is the only daughter of a director at Emerald Pharmaceuticals. Her identity has been verified; it is indeed her," the butler said. "She says she wishes to discuss acquiring some of the assets you have put up for sale. Would you like to see her?"

—To treat his lung disease, Xia Lun needed a sufficient amount of liquid capital, so he had publicly put most of his assets up for sale. However, some assets were difficult to sell, and he still had a number of them on hand.

"Have I ever had dealings with her father?" Xia Lun asked curiously.

"Two months ago, when your lung disease had just begun worsening, you hired them to develop medication specifically for it. That director was the project lead."

"So I do not know her at all." Xia Lun shook his head. He had intended to have the butler refuse her outright, but perhaps because he had just recovered from a terminal illness and was in such high spirits, he suddenly changed his mind. "Then let her in."

"Very well, I'll go refuse..." The butler stopped halfway through. "Ah?"

"Yes, I changed my mind. I want to meet her—also, have the chef make a few more servings of sea cucumber braised in cream and white wine."

Ten minutes later, a young woman wrapped in an oversized beige trench coat entered carrying a suitcase. Behind her was a tall, middle-aged man with a sharp gaze. The two entered the reception room one after the other.

Xia Lun sat behind the dining table. Without giving anything away, he glanced at the callus on the bodyguard's right thumb, then put on his usual warm smile.

"Hello, hello. Please, have a seat." He rose to greet them. "Would you like some tea, or something else?"

"Mr. Xia Lun?" The woman blinked and smiled as well. "I did not expect you to be so young—Director Bird of Emerald Pharmaceuticals is my father."

Xia Lun did not respond. Instead, he carefully examined this uninvited guest.

The woman had a high nose bridge and chestnut eyes set in shallow sockets. Her short, red-rose-colored hair fell around her ears, giving her an efficient appearance.

For some reason, Xia Lun found her vaguely familiar.

Perhaps because Xia Lun had remained silent, the woman's smile stiffened. She continued, "I... I came to, um, purchase some of your businesses..."

"Those are all things nobody wants to buy." Xia Lun gave her an interested glance before saying, "You may not understand Baihuan City's situation very well. The businesses here face rather high... security risks."

—Ever since Xia Lun had been reborn into this alternate world, which was both similar to and different from his previous life, he had lived in Baihuan City.

And based on his full twenty-six years of experience here, he could responsibly summarize Baihuan City's overall condition in a single sentence.

Baihuan City was known as Little Gotham!

Other than lacking bizarre supervillains and superheroes, Baihuan City's public safety situation was no different from Gotham's. Though its economy was excellent, major violent crimes that would have shocked the entire country in Xia Lun's previous life were commonplace here, with roughly a dozen occurring every week.

Murder, shootouts, and kidnappings were merely unremarkable daily occurrences; only purposeless serial killings, widespread poisonings, or bombing attacks could barely draw the public's attention.

Although the world Xia Lun now inhabited had a unified global government known as the Grand Alliance, it was obvious that the Grand Alliance had completely failed to govern Baihuan City. That colossal entity was powerless against this strange place.

Over the past twenty-six years, Xia Lun had personally witnessed countless people and forces attempt to seize complete control of the situation here. In the end, every one of them had failed, and the city remained as chaotic as ever.

But from another perspective, chaos was a ladder to advancement.

Thanks to the local chaos and the inexplicably, unbelievably strong local economy, Xia Lun had risen to wealth in Baihuan City within little more than a decade.

But that did not mean Xia Lun liked Baihuan City. Though he was a local and had benefited from the city's chaos, he still felt that there was something downright ominous about this place...

"No, no, I mean, um, cooperation." The woman nervously waved her hands. "Yes, cooperation."

Xia Lun frowned slightly.

Cooperation? A pharmaceutical company... Wait, was she here to buy missing persons? Was Emerald Pharmaceuticals really that outrageous?

"Oh, 'cooperation.' I see." Xia Lun's expression did not change as he weighed his words. "But if it is 'cooperation,' I am afraid you have come to the wrong person. I have no channels in that area, though if you insist, I can find some for you..."

"Ahem, Mr. Xia Lun." The middle-aged man cleared his throat twice. "We are not here to conduct illegal business."

"Then let us stop beating around the bush. Everyone's time is precious." Xia Lun smiled to hide his embarrassment and spread his hands. "You are not here to purchase assets either, are you? Say whatever you came to say."

"You are selling assets and have a large amount of liquid capital, so we were hoping..."

"To borrow money?" Xia Lun interrupted. "What do you intend to use as collateral?"

"At present, there is no... um... none."

"..." Xia Lun fell silent. After considering it for a moment, he asked, "Is what you are saying now your father's idea, or your own?"

"My father has been replaced. He has started doing things that make no sense at all. He has gone mad!" the woman suddenly said. "I need to borrow money to save him!"

"What? Replaced?" Xia Lun blinked in confusion and could not help tapping the table. "Forgive me for saying so, but I think you appear to be in worse mental condition right now."

"I am not crazy." The woman's tone grew increasingly urgent. She opened the suitcase and took out a stack of photographs. "These photographs were taken in my father's office."

As she spoke, she held up one of the photographs.

It was a color photograph showing a walnut desk. Beneath the desk were strange patterns drawn in scarlet lines. At first glance, they looked like interlocking triangles, perhaps the ritual markings of some ceremony.

Xia Lun froze. Then a hazy memory slowly welled up in his mind like mist rising from water—before he drowned, he had seen similar symbols on an abandoned building near the river!

In an instant, a jolt ran through his heart. His impatience and casual indifference vanished like thin mist scattered by a cold wind.

Perhaps the terminal illness he had developed after drowning had not been an accident at all!

"These patterns are everywhere, scattered throughout the places my father frequents. I swear, they must carry some hidden meaning. Maybe they are some occult ritual used to control my father's mind." The woman's eyes widened. "No one else can help me, Mr. Xia Lun. No one believes me. Please, you absolutely have to believe me."

Though stormy waves had already risen in his heart, Xia Lun kept his expression calm. He gave a derisive laugh. "That story is too absurd. Just now you said he was replaced, and now you are talking about mind control—taking a step back, even if we assume your story is true, what does that have to do with borrowing money?"

"Only by borrowing enough money can I save my father. They must have replaced him because he opposed their acquisition of Emerald Pharmaceuticals. If their acquisition fails, perhaps my father can return."

"Hmm..." Xia Lun sat back in his chair, tilted his head slightly backward, and fell into thought.

Because Baihuan City was filled with all sorts of postmodern artists—including performance artists—madmen, and cultists, meaningless graffiti of every kind was extremely common. Thus, when he had seen that interlocking-triangle ritual symbol near the river, he had not thought much of it.

But now, the exact same symbol had appeared elsewhere, thousands of miles from Baihuan City, and the other person who had encountered it was in trouble as well. A reasonable conclusion, then, was that the symbol was not merely meaningless graffiti.

Before entering the game, he would have assumed the symbol was some secret code used by an organization. After all, based on what he had known in the past, this world possessed no supernatural powers or phenomena.

But after playing the game Investigator, his views had changed profoundly—supernatural forces existed in this world.

Perhaps the red-haired woman's mad words were actually the truth—perhaps this strange design truly possessed bizarre occult effects.

If only he had some relevant information...

At that thought, he subconsciously tapped the table with his knuckles and considered the resources available to him.

Right, he could use the information panel. The upgraded panel seemed able to directly display item information. He thought.

With a thought, an illusory screen flowed down before his eyes like spilled mercury.

[Name: Xia Lun]

[Game rounds: 1]

[Specializations: Firearms Use Mastery 28%; Cold Weapon Use (Swords) Proficient 55%; Cold Weapon Use (Throwing) Proficient 3%; Comprehensive Navigation Beginner 99%; Symptom Reading Beginner 80%; Stealth Beginner 5%]

[Traits: Familiarity with Pain; Reflexive Evasion; Transcendent Regeneration (Enhanced); Nonhuman Toughness (Pending Recall); Treasure Hunter (1/3); Mass Murderer (10/100)]

[Skill: Heightened Focus (3/3)]

[Mental health: Calm (Specific values require a panel upgrade to display)]

[Physical health: Healthy (Specific information requires a panel upgrade to display)]

[Memory Points: 400]

[Attributes: (Specific information requires a panel upgrade to display)]

[Panel upgrade countdown: 6:31:12]

Xia Lun blinked, and the illusory panel dispersed into the air.

—Perhaps he could wait six and a half hours, then use the information panel to see exactly what that strange ritual symbol was.

"Mr. Xia Lun?" The red-haired woman timidly looked up and asked.

"Your words are simply too unbelievable. They sound like the ramblings of a madwoman." Xia Lun appeared sincere, but was deliberately suppressing her confidence. "I cannot invest that much money based on a... crazy guess. Besides, acquiring your father's shares in Emerald Pharmaceuticals is not as simple as you think. This is not something money alone can stop."

"I... I have another bargaining chip." The woman tucked her red hair behind her ear. "I obtained a newly developed potion. It can relieve your suffocation symptoms. This medicine definitely works, I guarantee it."

"Unfortunately, I no longer need it." Xia Lun rose to his feet and coldly cut her off. "I cannot lend you money."

The woman's expression froze. Her chestnut eyes revealed despair, like a fawn caught in a trap and bleeding out.

"I will not lend you money, but I can give you some. Of course, it will not be much." Xia Lun suddenly smiled. "Though your story is crazy, I am willing to believe you."

The woman froze. Then her eyes slowly widened, and a dazed look of overwhelming joy appeared on her face.

Putting herself in the other woman's shoes, if she had not personally witnessed the enormous changes in her father's behavior and noticed the terrifying process of him being replaced bit by bit, she probably would not have believed such absurd stories about "mind control" and "doubles" either, much less spent even a penny on them.

But Mr. Xia Lun had chosen to believe her! And with Xia Lun's endorsement, she could use his influence to raise even more funds. Perhaps her father truly could be saved!

Xia Lun picked up several photographs from the table and pretended to inspect them for a few moments.

"I have studied the occult a little myself. I can help you think it over." He spoke as if casually. "—Do you have any other business?"

"Mr. Xia Lun..." The woman spoke incoherently. "You... you truly are a good person. Please, you must accept these potions!"

As she spoke, she took no fewer than five milky-white potions from the suitcase.

Xia Lun blinked. He found the potions looked extremely familiar. After recalling for a moment, he realized they seemed to be the Underwater Breathing Potions he had bought before!

The woman placed the potions on the table with trembling hands, her voice still shaking. "Mr. Xia Lun, you are a good person, so I must be honest with you as well. These potions did not come from a laboratory, but from an underground auction... Drinking this medicine lets people swim underwater!"

"I do need these things." Xia Lun nodded. "Then I will gladly accept them."

The woman immediately revealed a sweet smile. "That is wonderful."

Two hours later, the woman and her bodyguard left Xia Lun's estate.

Xia Lun stood by the window, smiling as he watched their vehicle recede into the distance. When it passed through the gate and vanished into the artificial forest outside, the smile disappeared from his face.

"Do you think she is connected to the people who drew that symbol?" the transmigrator asked without turning around.

The butler's voice came from behind him. "Do you believe this is a scam? From my personal perspective, if it is a scam, it is rather too crude."

"Precisely because it is absurd, I believe it?"

"A philosophical statement, sir. But if her words are absurd to such an extent, I do not think we can rule out the possibility that they contain some truth. Your decision was extremely wise."

Xia Lun shook his head. "Has there been any new progress in the detectives' investigation?"

"Coincidentally, they have also focused on the symbol as a lead. After comparing it against numerous sources, they determined that neither this symbol nor any prototype of it exists in any past records or cultural compilations. It only appeared within the last five years." The butler took out a packet of photographs, which also showed the interlocking triangular symbols, resembling endlessly recursive Penrose stairs.

The butler spread the photographs across the table. "Besides that, they have identified an organization's name."

"What name?"

"The Farseers Club—the organization that drew this symbol is the Farseers Club."