44: Chapter 44 The Confusing Maze 44: Chapter 44 The Confusing Maze Zhang Xiaoman was quite thrilled upon learning that spiritual power could also increase one’s energy limit.
Even though the cape was a bit ugly, smelled quite strong, and was particularly prickly against his neck.
But who could blame him when it could increase his energy limit?
For him at this moment, an energy limit equaled invincible skills, which equaled survival—how could he not be happy?
After repeating the process of taking off the cape and putting it back on several times, Zhang Xiaoman gradually began to understand some of the System’s patterns.
If he had a specific attribute, then it would be visible on his personal panel.
However, as soon as he took off the cape, the additional spiritual power and energy values that had appeared would also vanish.
“It seems I don’t have an energy limit inherently.
When I absorbed the Parasitic Spirit, it caused the energy in my body to be in a state of overflow, and the excess energy would also dissipate over time.
No wonder I was so energetic all night; it was an overload.”
To Zhang Xiaoman’s regret, he currently had only 14 points of energy, which was not enough to use Mountain River Suppression.
He took off the cape and put it far away.
Even though its attributes were great, the strong scent of alcohol was still a bit much to bear.
Turning on his computer, Zhang Xiaoman decided to take this moment to browse some local paranormal forums, looking for any strange or enigmatic incidents nearby.
He planned to take the initiative to try upgrading by fighting monsters.
After logging into the forum he used to frequent, Zhang Xiaoman began to sift through those posts that might be real strange events.
In the process, he noticed that the forum seemed to have become livelier than before.
Many of the new posts would have several newly registered accounts joining the discussion, and the forum seemed to have become more active overnight.
Zhang Xiaoman kept busy.
He first took notes on several posts that seemed valuable, then he sent messages offering paid help to many of the users who had asked for assistance, and finally, he changed his nickname to “Master Pei” and added some advertising phrases for exorcism services in his personal note.
With all his bustling about, noon arrived before he knew it.
Because of the energy overflow, Zhang Xiaoman didn’t feel tired at all.
On the contrary, he was still full of vigor, feeling as if he had drunk fifty cans of Red Bull.
Looking at the addresses he had organized, Zhang Xiaoman’s face showed an eager expression.
“An abandoned chemical school, No Light Alley that can’t turn on lights at night, a mysterious graveyard beside the Han Tomb, the junkyard in Zhao Village…”
“These seem pretty reliable.
I can check them out one by one over the next couple of days.”
Zhang Xiaoman tentatively set his plan, then browsed the forum again to see if there were any new posts.
After clicking refresh, Zhang Xiaoman suddenly saw a very familiar title.
“Help, my house is surrounded by stray cats every night.”
This post has been bumped up again?” Zhang Xiaoman wondered curiously.
He clicked to read, seeing that the post was from a few days ago.
The recent comments were either inquiries or jests from the community, and there was no further reply from the original poster.
Zhang Xiaoman had a rather clear memory of this post because the pictures inside made him feel that the original poster wasn’t just seeking attention but actually encountering the situation described.
But back then, he was focused solely on survival and had no intention of poking his nose into other people’s business.
However, now that Zhang Xiaoman’s mentality had undergone a complete shift, and he had gained some new abilities, he sent a private message to the original poster, adopting the mindset of never letting a potential mistake slip by.
Returning to the pictures in the post, Zhang Xiaoman gazed at the glowing eyes of the stray cats and couldn’t help but wonder:
“What are these cats talking about?”
“Could they be trying to warn us that there’s danger in that house?”
In an office of the Qionghua City Government, a young policeman in his twenties was holding a coffee cup in one hand and sliding the mouse with the other, staring unblinkingly at the images on the computer screen.
“Wu Wei, can you stop daydreaming, it’s absurd, I’d believe if you said they were attracted by the pollen from No.
2, but claiming they’re warning us of danger, do you really think they’re dolphins?
And since when does a warning consist of silently watching your front door in the dead of night?”
At the other end of the office, a female police officer with her hair in a single ponytail spoke without lifting her head.
The policeman called Wu Wei couldn’t take it anymore, he turned around and looked at the female officer:
“Hey, Tang Mei, can you stop arguing with me?
There are only four of us in the team, if not talking about solidarity with comrades, you’re always stirring up internal strife.
Do you believe I’ll report you to Captain Hu and make you lose this month’s bonus?”
The female officer put down the pen in her hand and looked up at him with a glare:
“Go ahead, when you report to Captain Hu, don’t forget to tell him you stuffed a bag of grasshoppers into my drawer last time, let’s see who gets fined!”
“It was just a joke, do you have to be…”
Wu Wei was speaking when suddenly the office door was flung open by a middle-aged policeman with a square face, who walked in looking travel-worn.
“Enough, I’ve heard your petty squabbles at least five times, you might as well use that energy to finish organizing recent materials for me earlier.”
As the middle-aged policeman spoke, he had already arrived at a desk, lifting a document bag in his hand, he continued toward the other two:
“I just went to the Three Institutes, the test report for No.
2 has come out, come and take a look.”
The man and woman quickly gathered, their gazes all fixated on the document bag on the desk.
Captain Hu wasted no time, reaching into the bag and pulling out a stack of paper documents, with several strange photos on a few of them.
“According to the research results, No.
2 is a plant-based life form with some gene segments similar to feline animals, highly developed reflexes, and most crucially, it has a metabolic system that is completely beyond our understanding.
Professor Han said that this structure is something we have never encountered in history, not anywhere on Earth.”
He paused here and looked at the two, asking, “Do you remember No.
1 from the Fat Lake Villa District incident before?”
Tang Mei immediately answered, “Of course, although I wasn’t in the team at that time, I’ve seen the files later.
They say it could exhale mist and transform into human faces, but it seemed to have no other threats, we took it down with a single shot.”
Captain Hu nodded and said, “Professor Han told me today that according to in-depth analysis, research, and calculations, No.
2 could exist on some peculiar biological chain…”
Wu Wei’s eyes brightened at this, “Captain Hu, so this means they really could be from outer space?
Does this count as contact with aliens for us?”
Captain Hu waved it off and said:
“Don’t worry about it, leave those things to the Three Institutes.
Our task is to understand them as much as possible and then come up with rapid and workable contingency plans.”
Wu Wei shrank back a bit and muttered softly, “Determining if it’s an alien is part of understanding it…”
Captain Hu rolled his eyes: “Have you finished organizing the stuff I asked you for last time?”
Wu Wei hurried back to his seat and retrieved a stack of files, saying:
“It’s been done for a while, I also did some exchange and updating of information with the Criminal Investigation Department.”
Captain Hu took them and looked through, his eyes scanning over some key information, he murmured softly, “Chen Lu, male, twenty-nine years old, unemployed, has a cross-dressing fetish?
His parents died in a plane crash three years ago, now living alone in Dian Garden Villa District.
Found dead at home on the afternoon of July 13th, the murderer was No.
After quickly going through the content, Wu Wei couldn’t help but ask, “Captain Hu, I heard the leadership is planning to expand our team?
Does that mean we’ll have to start calling you Minister Hu soon?”
Captain Hu glared, “News travels fast with you!
We just need to do our own jobs well.”
He paused then continued, “No.
2 has been contained, everyone should take this opportunity to get some good rest these next few days.
I have a feeling that we’re going to get much busier soon…”