Jumping off the Building

"The Eternal Holy Book belongs to the Eternal Church."

Just after Li Yunyao left, a gentle voice suddenly rang out in the conference room.

Xu Ye whipped his head around and discovered that someone else now occupied the seat where Li Yunyao had been sitting.

It was the captain, Meng Chengfei.

Bandages still wrapped his head and arm, but he wore an immaculate suit and had shaved his beard clean. He began pouring himself some tea.

"Captain, when did you get here?" Xu Ye jumped in fright.

Meng Chengfei, sporting a thick head of hair, smiled gently. "I've been here all along."

"But..." Xu Ye was astonished.

Meng Chengfei explained calmly, "When developed to its limit, my Sequence 9 ability, Demon Eye, can create dreams within reality and forcibly pull people into them. That's why you didn't notice."

"So I'm asleep right now?" Xu Ye found this amazing.

"You're not asleep. This was that little girl Li Yunyao's dream. I merely brought you into it. Of course, the dream has already ended now."

A trace of affection flickered in Meng Chengfei's eyes. "That girl hasn't had a proper night's sleep in far too long. All she does is numb herself with work. Sometimes I use Demon Eye to make her think she's still awake when she's actually sleeping. Otherwise, her body wouldn't hold up."

"So when she wakes up tomorrow, she'll have to write another report in reality?" Xu Ye felt rather sorry for her and gave his immediate superior a strange look.

Meng Chengfei: "..."

Young man, you're focusing on the wrong thing.

Meng Chengfei sipped his tea and pretended not to have heard:

"Didn't you mention the Eternal Holy Book just now? It's the Eternal Church's membership roster."

"The church was founded ten years ago. They claimed this world was beyond saving and that people needed to worship their god, Darkfall. Only by destroying this world completely could there be new hope. Only through the descent of an outside god could humanity find salvation."

"At first, no one paid them much attention."

"But later, we discovered that the Eternal Church had Awakened among its ranks-and quite a few of them. Stranger still, the sequences they awakened shared certain similarities, possessing attributes such as corruption, darkness, and decay."

"Ten years ago, one of the Eternal Church's Sequence 7 bishops became polluted and turned into a terrifying Pollution Source. In the end, it took the Dawn Blade's chief captain to suppress him."

"That incident also wiped out every Awakened in our Ninth Team."

"He Li should have told you what happened to me."

"As for that girl's parents, they were both Awakened in the Ninth Team back then, so..."

Meng Chengfei's smile faded, his expression turning solemn and serious. "She's talented, and her spiritual sensitivity is high. With her qualifications, she'd have every right to apply for an Awakening Potion, but I stopped her."

"She's too stubborn and doesn't know how to vent her emotions. Ever since finishing school, she's numbed herself with work every day. Awakened develop a negative personality, and given her condition, that really wouldn't be good. I'm worried a second personality would affect her too deeply."

"Boohoo, what a poor little girl. Xu Ye, you have to help her." Alice listened to the story while wiping away tears.

Hey, hey, you're laying it on a bit thick.

Still, this helped Xu Ye understand Li Yunyao's earlier behavior.

"As for the Eternal Holy Book, it's a roster of the Eternal Church's followers and bishops. I never expected them to start stirring up trouble again after ten years."

Xu Ye thought it over and finally told the captain about Li Kang faking his death.

Meng Chengfei pondered for a moment, then the corners of his mouth lifted.

"Xu Ye, you've made a major contribution this time. Since you managed to discover that Li Kang is a member of the Eternal Church, we can keep following that lead."

"If he dares to fake his death, we have plenty of ways to make it real."

Beneath Meng Chengfei's calm words, Xu Ye could sense a murderous intent etched into his very bones.

Looks like that business with the Eternal Church really left its mark on the captain.

Yet the captain didn't seem at all surprised that Xu Ye possessed a special ability, nor did he seem inclined to investigate it.

"In a few days, I'll apply to the higher-ups for an E-Rank Taboo Object for you. Your contribution deserves it."

"Very few newcomers encounter so many pollution incidents within their first few days. I honestly don't know whether you're a lucky charm or a jinx..." Meng Chengfei teased.

Xu Ye was left speechless.

"Haha, just kidding. He Li should have mentioned that you'll be attending the Training Camp in a month. This is a rare opportunity. They'll probably announce new findings, and you'll be among the first to benefit."

Meng Chengfei lowered his voice.

"Doctor Chen has resurfaced. He was the one who shared this news, too. No one else knows yet."

Xu Ye shuddered.

Memories of the laboratory still echoed in his mind. That horrifying sense of being there in person felt as though it had been branded into his bones.

If I can find Doctor Chen, I can find a way to travel back.

Xu Ye was certain of it.

Meng Chengfei narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Pollution incidents have only existed in this world for a hundred years. Formal research into Aberrants has only been underway for fifty or sixty. And the emergence of Awakened came from interpreting the Heavenly Dao. That history is even shorter-just thirty years."

"How insignificant humanity is. And the path of the Awakened is a road to the heavens with no end in sight."

"Always be careful. Always stay alert. No one knows what the truth is."

He stood, holding his teacup, and solemnly patted Xu Ye on the shoulder.

Xu Ye steeled himself. "Like your wig, Captain?"

"Pfft!"

Meng Chengfei sprayed a mouthful of tea onto the door.

Xu Ye laughed happily. That's what you get for teasing me earlier.

Meng Chengfei growled, "Your bonus is getting cut in half."

Xu Ye could no longer laugh.

The next day, the sun shone brightly.

Night Spirit City No. 1 High School.

Qin Yingying wore a simple school uniform. She stood 170 centimeters tall, with long, slender legs. Though she wore glasses, they couldn't conceal the youthful innocence of her face.

Munching on a fried dough stick and rubbing her reddened eyes with her free hand, she arrived in the classroom early.

As class president, Qin Yingying had to lead by example.

After setting down her bag, Qin Yingying took out the attendance register. Seeing nothing but crosses beside Xu Ye's name, she gritted her teeth and viciously bit into her fried dough stick, chewing with a ferocious expression.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, she was surprised to discover that someone else was already in the classroom.

"Sun Tao?"

"Turned over a new leaf? Why are you here studying so early?"

Utterly surprised, Qin Yingying walked over to him.

"Sun Tao, are you doing math problems?"

Sun Tao was clutching his hair. At the sound of Class President Qin's voice, he raised his haggard face. His bloodshot eyes gave Qin Yingying a fright.

"I've been at it all night, and I still can't solve this problem."

"Huh? Isn't this one really easy?" Qin Yingying didn't pay much attention to what he had said and gave it a casual glance.

Sun Tao froze.

He ripped out his own hair, tearing away his scalp along with it. Blood dripped down, pattering against the floor.

Yet he seemed to feel nothing at all as he threw back his head and howled.

"No!"

"I can't solve this problem! I can't!!"

Then, before Qin Yingying's stunned eyes, he rushed to the window and jumped without the slightest hesitation.

"Aaaah!!!"