Transparent Man

After an unknown stretch of silence, Shang Liang finally spoke. "It's actually not hard to piece together what happened. That Anti-Meme attacked the execution squad and protected Xia Shou.

"The Tamer should have killed Xia Shou, but he didn't. That might have been its interference too.

"And since this Anti-Meme's Anomaly Level is higher than Yun Xi's, it's very likely the one that dealt with the Blood Demon."

The colonel added, "That would also explain why 678 gave up midway. That was probably another result of the Anti-Meme creature's interference. As for why 678 couldn't offer any explanation, that would be due to the nature of Anti-Meme abilities."

Lin Yanxue nodded slightly. "Dr. Modis thinks so too. That's our provisional conclusion for now. This unidentified being has been provisionally named [Transparent Man], designation 23-857.

"For some reason, it killed the Blood Demon, and for some reason, it protected Level 1 employee Xia Shou from 678 and the execution squad. That's everything we currently know."

"So calling us here was part of your observational research too, wasn't it?" the colonel asked calmly.

"Dr. Modis wants to observe whether indirect speculation like this will also become axiomatized over time. You two are the highest-ranking Cleaners who can operate freely, making you ideal test subjects." Lin Yanxue admitted that his guess was correct.

"Hahaha! So we're guinea pigs now." Shang Liang pressed a hand to his forehead and chuckled.

"Of course, testing isn't the only reason we're telling you this.

"Although the Anomaly of the Blood Demon House has dissipated, we can't say the Blood Demon incident is over. Some very unusual incidents have come up recently, involving a peculiar form of insomnia whose prevalence among ordinary people has suddenly surged over the past few months.

"At first, the Intelligence Department didn't think it had anything to do with the Blood Demon House. But just now, after the investigation team entered the house and collected photographs of the anomalous spaces inside, we discovered that the scenes these insomnia patients dreamed of after falling asleep were remarkably similar to the scenes inside that house.

"So this anomalous incident hasn't actually been fully resolved.

"Based on our current intelligence, Transparent Man possesses overwhelming strength compared to the Blood Demon, and it seems to have a particular desire to protect Xia Shou. After discussing it with the Scepter Council, the deputy director decided to assign Xia Shou this follow-up mission.

"After all, we've now confirmed that the Anomalous Entity's Anti-Meme power only works on humans. As an Anomalous Entity, 678 should be able to communicate with Transparent Man," Lin Yanxue explained.

Shang Liang stretched and rose from his seat. "Dr. Modis must have thought of this too, right? If Transparent Man favors that Level 1 employee so much, wouldn't Director Shangguan, who sent him out, know more about it?"

Shangguan Yan tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. "Only a little more."

"Then we should let Miss Shangguan handle this first after all. I'm really not interested. I just remembered the supermarket's having a sale today, so I'd better run."

With that, Shang Liang waved and vanished into thin air right there in the conference room.

Beside him, the colonel tugged at his uniform and stood, leaning on the Iron Lion Cane. "If there's nothing else, I should leave too. In my opinion, this matter doesn't require our intervention yet."

"That's right, for now. Take care." Lin Yanxue nodded politely in farewell.

The colonel returned her nod with equal courtesy and walked toward the conference room door.

At the door, he suddenly stopped and added, "By the way, Edward's Life Lamp is still lit, yet we haven't been able to find him. Doesn't that strike you as suspicious?"

Lin Yanxue said admiringly, "You're very thorough. Dr. Modis thought of that too, but there's a logical flaw in that hypothesis. If Edward is that Anti-Meme creature, why did he wait until today to kill the Blood Demon?"

"Perhaps he had a reason? Heh, heh." The colonel gave a few raspy chuckles, then turned and left the room.

The conference room door closed again. Lin Yanxue let out a long breath and looked at Shangguan Yan beside her.

"Director Shangguan, could you take me back to my office? Sorry for the trouble."

"My pleasure." Shangguan Yan picked up the tray steadily and headed outside.

Soon, everyone had left, and the conference room was empty again.

Beside the deserted conference table, Su Weiyu, who had listened to the entire discussion, finally stood and turned to leave.

"How did it go?" Xia Shou asked Su Weiyu as she walked in.

"Here's what they think..."

Su Weiyu spent ten minutes briefly recounting the entire meeting.

After hearing her account, Xia Shou knew that the Containment Bureau's higher-ups had completely misjudged the truth behind the incident.

They had credited Su Weiyu with killing the Blood Demon, never considering that he might have the ability to do it. That was good news for Xia Shou. At least he wouldn't attract excessive attention from now on.

Still, Xia Shou understood why they had gotten it wrong. One was an unobservable antimemetic creature, while the other was a Level 1 employee standing right before their eyes who looked utterly ordinary in every way. Presented with those two, anyone would assume the former had killed the Blood Demon.

"But it's pretty strange that they haven't found Edward," Xia Shou said thoughtfully.

Edward's Life Lamp was still lit, which meant he was alive, but he wasn't in the Blood Demon House. Where had he gone?

Could there actually be another way out of the Blood Demon House? Had Edward escaped long ago, but simply never returned to the Containment Bureau?

Strange... far too strange...

Just then, the detention room door opened again. The middle-aged man who had escorted him earlier stood outside and said, "Xia Shou, you can go back to your dorm now. Thanks for your hard work."

Xia Shou stood and left the detention room. The museum grounds were silent. Only Containment Bureau employees working overtime wandered through the corridors, their faces looking as though they might drop dead at any moment. It was four in the morning, and a pale light had already appeared on the horizon.

"I can't take it anymore. I need to get back and sleep." Xia Shou yawned as drowsiness washed over him.

Su Weiyu patted Xia Shou on the shoulder. "Sweet dreams. I need to go back and sort out a few things too. See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you later." Xia Shou waved goodbye to Su Weiyu and returned to his dorm alone.

He struggled to take off his shoes and climb into bed. Before his head even touched the pillow, he was asleep.

The instant he closed his eyes, Xia Shou's mind became perfectly clear. Just like last time, his overwhelming drowsiness vanished in an instant, as though he had just woken from a full, deeply restful sleep.

Had he entered that strange dream again?

Xia Shou opened his eyes.

But this time, his surroundings

were no longer a dark, fathomless deep sea, but a stretch of azure shallows. Schools of fish with black-and-white stripes swam around red coral reefs. In the distance, translucent jellyfish gave off a faint pink glow, while cleaner shrimp crawled through cracks in the rocks. Dim daylight rippled through the seawater.

There was still a measuring rod beside Xia Shou, but the marking on it read only thirty meters!