Chapter 118: Chapter 87: Jin Xueli: Hiding in Plain Sight Again and Again
According to the officer’s confession, Ashley Page had just been promoted to Chief of the Central Police Station a little over a month ago.
"I heard she has some powerful connections and has solved a lot of trouble for some important people." The officer, just as Mercury had said, was exceptionally cooperative, even volunteering information Chaisi hadn’t asked for. "While it’s not like we’re anyone’s private army, as police, sometimes we inevitably have to do the higher-ups’ dirty work. That’s probably how she got promoted..."
"That’s enough."
The moment he spoke those two words, the officer immediately fell silent.
Chaisi took a deep breath, turned his head, and said to Mercury, "Have your people use this description to find her among those invaded by the residents."
A flicker of understanding crossed Mercury’s eyes, and she smiled. "So that’s how it is. Of course... you know me."
It seemed they both understood what the other had left unsaid; the only one still in the dark was Jin Xueli herself.
"How much time do we have left?" Chaisi asked.
Mercury glanced at the time on her phone screen and said, "Only thirteen minutes until the communication link closes."
Chaisi nodded. "That’s enough time."
This time, Jin Xueli understood. The "Nest Communication Network" was indeed on a time limit, and they didn’t have much of it left.
’This also means that if I just carefully cooperate for another thirteen minutes, I’ll have a chance to escape when the "Nest Communication Network" is deactivated...’
’Once I’m out, this whole day can be overturned and reset.’
’After the reset... Chaisi will never have known me.’
’Still, having a person like him owe me a favor is definitely a good thing. Rewriting today would inevitably leave me with a faint sense of regret—but what has to be done, has to be done.’
’I absolutely cannot let my fingerprints get into the police database.’
"I’ll help you look,"
Jin Xueli seized the opportunity to follow Chaisi’s footsteps up to the second floor, asking, "How did you realize something was wrong with the chief’s photo?"
On the second floor, several Mercenaries were searching, moving in and out of the rooms along the hallway. A woman with black hair even greeted the two of them. Every door was wide open, and a few had even been removed from their hinges—the work of a professional, by the looks of it.
"Process of elimination,"
Chaisi swept his flashlight beam across a narrow interrogation room. Seeing it was empty, he strode to the next one.
"The chief is still in this building, but ’he’ isn’t one of the un-invaded, and there’s no hiding place for ’him’ in the building. The only ones left that we haven’t examined closely are the group invaded by the residents."
He must have found a clue, which put him in a better mood and gave him more patience to explain. "If the chief were one of the invaded, Mercury would have been notified by the residents immediately. So, the ’invaded people’ weren’t my first priority, but it was still very possible the chief was hiding among them."
"Then why didn’t you suspect there was a problem with Mercury?"
Chaisi let out a silent laugh.
His flashlight beam fell on the face of an officer standing dazedly in a room, then moved away. The person’s face was disfigured beyond recognition, but it was still clear he was a man, not Chief Ashley.
"Because Mercury would never help a cop," he said in a low voice. "Once she knew the target was the Central Police Station, she would have come even if I didn’t pay her."
In the shadow of that one sentence, you could faintly sense an overwhelming hatred.
"Was it Fley’s appearance that tipped you off?" Jin Xueli guessed. "You realized it was possible the chief was indeed invaded, but the residents couldn’t control ’him’ at all, which is why Mercury didn’t know?"
"Correct," Chaisi said curtly. "But that fat guy didn’t look like someone who could resist the residents’ control."
She was starting to understand.
’Although it’s not right to judge a book by its cover, the previous chief looked puffy, hollow, and feeble. He really didn’t seem like the kind of iron wall the residents would smash themselves against.’
’That would naturally make one suspect a trap was hidden somewhere in the process.’
’Ashley is really quick-witted. The moment she saw things going south, she must have immediately swapped back the photo she’d just changed. The Central Police Station has a tradition of hanging portraits, and faced with such a large one, Chaisi’s people would naturally assume the chief was the fat man in the picture. They’d have no reason to overcomplicate things by verifying it.’
’Plus, the name "Ashley" is unisex, so she didn’t even have to change her nameplate. Her "hiding in plain sight" tactic was nothing short of brilliant, buying her a good twenty to thirty minutes.’
’Unfortunately, Ashley’s luck ran out. After holding on for so long, the truth was exposed when she was only a dozen or so minutes away from being free of the "Nest Communication Network".’
Thinking of this, Jin Xueli pretended to be casual and asked the question she really wanted to ask: "What will happen here after the time limit is up?"
Chaisi turned his head, glancing at her over his shoulder.
In the one or two seconds between her question and his answer, the time stretched out long enough to make her heart race. Chaisi had probably already realized she was probing for a chance to escape.
"You’ll see when the time comes."
Since he wouldn’t say, Jin Xueli didn’t press the matter further.
’Whatever happens here when the "Nest Communication Network" deactivates, one thing is certain: I have to find an excuse to get away from Chaisi before that moment comes.’
’Only then will I have a chance to escape.’
She just hadn’t expected that, five or six minutes later, an excuse would present itself.
Mercury had brought ten Mercenaries this time. Including Chaisi and Jin Xueli, that made a total of thirteen people searching a five-story building for an invaded chief, but no matter how they looked, they just couldn’t find her.
Every single person invaded by the residents was dragged into the light of a flashlight, clearly illuminating one nightmarish face after another, but not one of them matched Chief Ashley’s description.
Even the ever-composed Chaisi seemed to be growing faintly, irrepressibly anxious.
"Let’s split up and search more carefully," Jin Xueli suggested. "There isn’t much time left, after all. If I find her, I’ll lock her up and then come get you."
He just grunted in response.
The shadows of the police station seemed to have seeped into Chaisi’s eyes, and just standing beside him was enough to make one’s back tense up.
’Whether or not they find Ashley makes no difference to me, but after searching with Chaisi for so long, I can’t help but get invested. He did save me from the residents twice, after all, and I don’t want to see him fail.’
’Besides, isn’t it frustrating to have a puzzle right in front of you with no way to find the answer?’
’It can’t be that the officer, who was so afraid of dying, suddenly decided to lie about this, can it?’
Jin Xueli walked alone down the gloomy fifth-floor hallway, her ears pricked, not daring to miss the slightest sound.
When footsteps echoed from up ahead in the corridor, she immediately shone her flashlight straight at the source—it was one of the Mercenaries, one she had already seen on the third floor.
"Are there any invaded up ahead?" Jin Xueli asked.
The woman had short, ear-length hair with side-swept bangs, long, narrow eyes, and a capable look about her. "There are three, but none of them are the target."
"How strange," Jin Xueli sighed. "This chief is really something else. It’s a finite space, where could she have hidden? Could this old mental hospital building have some kind of secret passage or hidden room?"
The Mercenary smiled at her words and said, "She was only appointed a month ago. Even if there were, she probably wouldn’t know about them."
"That’s true." Jin Xueli nodded. "I’ll go take another look up ahead."
"I’m heading downstairs, then."
’I’ll run through the situation one last time,’ Jin Xueli decided. ’If I still can’t find the chief, I’ll have to give up—I need to find an exit and hide before time runs out anyway.’
’At the very beginning, Mercury and her Mercenaries gathered everyone who hadn’t been invaded. No one in that group matched Ashley’s physical description.’
’The Mercenaries were thorough, practically tearing up the floorboards. If Ashley wasn’t invaded, she would have either been found by now or blended in with the Mercenaries—but that second one is impossible.’
’Mercury said she personally led the team to round up the un-invaded people one by one. How could she not notice a stranger in her own squad?’
’After everyone was rounded up, the only ones left in the building were the eleven Mercenaries (including Mercury), Chaisi, me, and the people who’d lost their autonomy after being invaded and were now just wandering the halls.’
’It was very possible that we’d missed her among the invaded. But now that every single one of them has been checked and she’s still not found... did the chief just evaporate?’
’How can a living person just vanish into thin air?’
Jin Xueli let out a long breath, having to remind herself that finding Ashley or not had no effect on her. The feeling of an unresolved mystery was annoying, but she couldn’t waste any more time searching. She had to go downstairs.
She turned around and strode back the way she came—after the power outage, the stairs were the only way to get between floors. The Mercenary from before was heading in the same direction.
Staring at the other woman’s back, Jin Xueli suddenly froze.
’That police chief, Ashley... she seems to be very good at designing ways to hide in plain sight. But who’s to say she can only use that trick once?’
She must have heard Jin Xueli’s heavy footsteps catching up to her, because the Mercenary turned her head and asked, "What’s wrong?"
The side of her face she revealed was clean and normal, with none of the telltale eye mutations that marked a resident invasion.
"You..." Jin Xueli stared at her intently and said in a low voice, "You shouldn’t know that the chief was only appointed a month ago, should you?"
’When that officer gave us the information, we were on the first floor. There was no one else around. It seems even the Mercenaries don’t like getting too close to Mercury and Chaisi unless they have to.’
The Mercenary looked at her and didn’t answer for a moment.
"Thinking about it now... there seems to be only one way Chief Ashley could have consistently evaded the search." Jin Xueli took a deep breath and said, "Tuck your bangs behind your ear. Let me see your other eye."
