Chapter 13 Sequelae
Chapter 13: Aftermath
Fifteen minutes later, Zhou Ming arrived at the Relevant Department on his electric bike.
The Relevant Department in this world isn't a department related to a specific area, as ordinary people might imagine; its name is simply "Relevant."
The birth of anomalies is closely tied to rumors. The abnormal transformation of ordinary objects often begins with the public's distorted perception of that object. In the process of an object's transformation, the flow of Curse Power has clear senders and receivers.
Blurring the cognitive characteristics of the receiver is the best way to avoid being transformed, which is also why the Hidden Ones wear masks when performing missions.
Appearance and name are the most prominent and easily recognized cognitive characteristics to be spread. Blurring or misleading these can greatly reduce the risk of transformation. Therefore, all official agencies related to anomalies are collectively referred to as the Relevant Department.
The two words "Relevant" encompass most organizations other than the Relevant Department itself.
This is like how in urban legends, if all protagonists and supporting characters were named Xiao Ming, it would greatly blur readers' imaginations and enhance their ability to imagine a concrete object.
It's a very powerful method of misdirection, greatly diverting Curse Power and preventing the entire organization from being transformed.
It must be said, the person who came up with this method was truly a genius.
Zhou Ming parked his electric bike at the entrance and looked up at the plaque above, which read "Public Security Affairs Office."
This department is also part of the Relevant Department. The people referred to as "Public Security" by residents outside the wall are these individuals. They are the backbone of handling anomalous incidents, and this is the kind of place Zhou Ming will work after graduation.
He parked his bike and walked through the main gate. The person guarding the entrance immediately came forward to stop him. After he stated his identity, he was led to the detention room.
This was the second time Zhou Ming had seen the imprisoned woman. In less than a day, her appearance was already different from what Zhou Ming remembered.
Her hair loss was more severe than before, with only a few sparse strands remaining. Her pale scalp was covered with scratch marks from fingernails, the whites of her eyes had turned completely blood-red, and both her upper and lower lips had obvious bite marks.
Zhou Ming heard that she hadn't slept since last night. In the middle of the night, she became agitated and irritable, causing a ruckus all night.
Just this morning, she suddenly tore off half the hand of the staff member who brought her food.
...
"I heard you bit someone."
Zhou Ming came to the detention room where the woman was held and looked at her, squatting in the corner.
When she saw Zhou Ming, she suddenly became agitated. She struggled to stand up by leaning on the wall, dragging the heavy iron chain, and hopped on one leg to the iron bars. She stared at Zhou Ming with blood-red eyes, as if her eye sockets were about to drip blood.
"I, I didn't mean to bite anyone! You... you have to let me go back!"
"Go back where?"
"To the cave! Back to that cave! I want to go back! I feel so uncomfortable!"
The woman's fingers gripping the iron bars turned slightly white as she painfully lowered her head, forcing out these words from deep in her throat.
The next second, she suddenly looked up again, slamming her entire face into the bars, as if trying to squeeze her head between the two iron rods.
"Let me go back!"
Her eyes were timid yet fierce, anxious yet calm, like a patient with schizophrenia.
The woman's clear yet frantic eyes reminded Zhou Ming of those monsters. He frowned, looking at her hands and legs. The wounds had been properly treated and stitched very meticulously.
But the stitches on her palm had come undone, seemingly from violent pulling.
If he wasn't mistaken, she must have bitten the stitches herself.
"You want to go back? You want to be eaten?" Zhou Ming questioned.
Hearing Zhou Ming's words, the woman paused, showing a moment of hesitation.
But after only a few seconds, her expression suddenly turned incredibly ferocious. She abruptly grabbed the two iron bars with both hands and began shaking them with all her might, wildly slamming her head against the iron bars.
"Let me go back! Let me go back! Ah, ah, ah!"
The iron bars rattled loudly. The excessive force caused her already clotted wounds to seep blood again, but she seemed oblivious, opening her mouth wide like a madwoman, shaking her head desperately and roaring at Zhou Ming, slamming her forehead against the iron bars.
The woman's forehead quickly broke open, but not much blood flowed. She yelled and screamed like a maniac, her hysterical roars interspersed with high-pitched shrieks, turning the detention room into a scene from a horror movie.
The surrounding Public Security personnel involuntarily stepped back a few paces, nervously staring at the woman before them.
Zhou Ming was also a bit at a loss, unsure what measures to take in this situation.
Then, a deep voice suddenly sounded from behind.
"Are you the student who discovered the anomaly in that air-raid shelter?"
A scruffy man walked in from outside the door. He gave Zhou Ming a casual glance, walked over, and patted his shoulder: "Well done. Your reaction was timely, and your judgment was accurate. My name is Moray, and I'm currently responsible for analyzing that air-raid shelter."
"Hello, Mr. Moray," Zhou Ming said politely.
"Hello. I heard you're a student from the First University of Anomaly Management? In that case, I'm your senior. Come over here, let's have a good talk," Moray said calmly amidst the woman's screams.
Zhou Ming glanced at the woman, then nodded slightly.
He wanted to ask how to deal with this woman; surely, she couldn't just keep hitting herself. But the other party seemed completely unconcerned about the raving woman.
Moray noticed a hint of conflict on Zhou Ming's face and explained, "There's nothing we can do. Anesthetics and sedatives don't work."
"That air-raid shelter has already been suppressed by the Hidden Ones. The area is now completely sealed off, and in a while, that air-raid shelter will be completely destroyed and filled in. At that point, this incident will be considered completely over.
We also collected the components of the poisonous gas in that air-raid shelter. Although the components are just ordinary stimulants, they ultimately make people look like that.
We can easily produce gas with the same component ratio as the poisonous gas, but the poisonous gas collected from that air-raid shelter is different, and this poisonous gas doesn't seem to lose its anomalous effect after leaving the air-raid shelter.
Currently, the Relevant Department is already researching ways to make it lose its anomalous effect.
As for the woman you rescued, someone will naturally perform routine correction on her. Although I feel there isn't much hope, they will try their best. Also, how is your physical condition? Did you stay up late yesterday?"
"I woke up once in the middle of the night, then went back to sleep. I think my sleep quality was fine. Why do you ask?"
Moray nodded, as if he could tell Zhou Ming was in good spirits.
"You look good, but your other two classmates aren't doing so well."
"What happened to them?" Zhou Ming's eyebrows shot up.
Unconsciously, Zhou Ming followed Moray to the office door. Pushing it open, Zhou Ming saw Huang Tao and Zhang Qian.
They were each sitting on a chair staring at their phones. When they saw Zhou Ming enter, they both showed excited expressions.
"Senior, you're here! Did you sleep last night?" Huang Tao asked with concern.
"You two... didn't sleep yesterday?"
Seeing Huang Tao and Zhang Qian's faces, Zhou Ming's heart sank, and he instantly understood what was going on.
The dark circles under their eyes were so thick they looked like ink, making one feel that they might not have just not slept, but perhaps hadn't even blinked.
"How could this happen?" Zhou Ming asked in surprise.
The three of them had stayed in the air-raid shelter for less than an hour in total. In such a short time, how could Huang Tao and Zhang Qian also show symptoms? Was the contamination of that ghostly place so strong?
"Although I can't sleep, I don't feel anything unusual with my body. It should be fine after a while," Zhang Qian said with an optimistic smile, but the dark circles under her eyes seemed to contradict her.
"Yeah, Senior, don't worry! I'm already feeling less excited. Maybe I'll go to sleep in a few more hours," Huang Tao reassured him.
If Zhou Ming hadn't led them, they might have stayed in that air-raid shelter for a much longer time. They couldn't even imagine what the consequences would have been then.
Now, although they showed some slight abnormalities, the problems weren't big and didn't amount to much. Moreover, he did feel a little tired.
Moray pulled open the desk drawer, took out a business card, and handed it to Zhou Ming: "That's the situation. You can go back to school if you have nothing else. As for these two classmates, they can go back after their mental state stabilizes. Also, if you feel any discomfort, you can call me anytime."
Zhou Ming took the business card and said, "Mr. Moray, you just said this matter was going to end, but I don't think it's that simple. Yesterday, I investigated Shahe Village and found that this incident was caused by someone spreading rumors."
"Spreading rumors about the government, right? I know, people outside the wall are all like that. You get used to it. Who expects people living in the slums not to resent the rich?" Moray said as a matter of course.
Zhou Ming shook his head: "It's not that simple. I think someone might have planned these rumors, and there were also Curse Practitioners of unknown origin who took the children from the village."
Moray's body stiffened, and he suddenly looked up at Zhou Ming, his expression very grave.
"They took the children?!"
Zhou Ming could hear the shock in the other party's voice just from the rise and fall of his tone.
"It was someone who looked like a monk who took them," Zhou Ming said.
"Alright... I understand. Thank you for the valuable information! I've noted everything you said, and I'll immediately upload it to the system network. As for what happens next, that can only be left to the Hidden Ones," Moray said in a deep voice.
After speaking, Moray paused, then added, "Oh, by the way, are you graduating soon?"
"Yes, I'm graduating soon," Zhou Ming nodded. He just needed to go back and submit his graduation thesis to graduate, and the original owner had already prepared the thesis for him.
"Actually, the Relevant Department has always been short-staffed. There are countless cold cases and unsolved mysteries, and every Hidden One has one or two major cases on hand. For cases like this one, with vague clues, even if uploaded, they'll likely gather dust in the task list, and over time, no one will investigate them further.
If you could take over, the situation would be much better, especially since you found the clues yourself," Moray said.
"So you want me to continue investigating?"
"Yes, if you're interested in continuing the investigation, that would be for the best."
"Okay, I'll continue the investigation after I graduate to see if I can find new clues," Zhou Ming said. He wanted to use the power of the organization to find out the truth about the monk. This unknown danger made him restless.
Although the original owner specifically told him to stay away from the monk, Zhou Ming believed that the best way to stay away from something was to know its exact movements.
The world is vast, and it's indeed difficult for two people to meet by chance, but the possibility still exists. However, if you know someone's exact whereabouts, then as long as you want to, you can avoid meeting him for your entire life.
Moray nodded: "Alright, give me a call after you pass the final assessment. I'll give you the case number for this incident then."
"Final assessment?"
"Didn't the school tell you? You have to pass a final assessment after graduation to become a Hidden One," Moray said.