Chapter 350: Chapter 232: Multiple Cases
Two in the morning.
The streets were deserted, completely empty.
Drunks clutched their bottles, staggering down the street.
Junkies huddled in alleys, half-asleep, mumbling incoherently as their minds drifted far away.
The homeless, living at the bottom of society, began to rummage through the trash cans one by one. Among them, trash cans near the wealthy districts were called Advanced Treasure Chests. If you were lucky, you could find unfinished steaks, bread, or chicken from the rich, or other expired food. Besides that, you could also find discarded old clothes and daily necessities.
Homeless people would even fight until they were bloodied and bruised over the "mining rights" to a single trash can.
’It’s two in the morning and the monster still hasn’t shown up. Is Old Jack even reliable?’ Zhou Chen glanced at Old Jack, who was fast asleep and snoring on a piece of cardboard beside him, and sighed helplessly.
Just then, a deafening explosion roared in the distance. The ground trembled. Old Jack cried out, jolted awake by the blast with a look of utter confusion on his face.
Zhou Chen shot to his feet and pulled Old Jack up from the ground. "Come on, let’s go check it out."
"Ah... Oh, oh..." Old Jack mumbled, agreeing subconsciously. He scrambled up from the ground and ran out after Zhou Chen.
Thick smoke billowed into the air.
The ground had collapsed, leaving a massive crater. The Honey Fruit Bar, the source of the explosion, was now visibly shorter. It was obvious that tons of rebar and concrete fragments had all crashed down, completely filling the underground bar, even with many customers still inside.
The shockwave from the explosion had shattered the glass of all nearby buildings. The scene was chaotic, like the ruins of a battlefield.
Zhou Chen and Old Jack were close by and quickly reached the scene. A crowd of onlookers had already gathered, but thanks to Old Jack’s sour stench, the two managed to squeeze their way to the front.
Staring at the billowing smoke, Zhou Chen’s pupils suddenly contracted.
From within the ruins of the Honey Fruit Bar, wisps of black mist drifted out from the cracks. In his vision, the black mist was overlaid with a golden glow, marking it as a conspicuous clue.
That was... a trace left by the monster!
This explosion was related to that monster!
"Did... did you see it?" Old Jack grabbed Zhou Chen’s clothes, pointing at the ruins with a terrified expression. "B-Black..."
Zhou Chen’s heart skipped a beat. Before Old Jack could finish, he quickly pulled him out of the crowd and into a secluded alley, asking with suspicion, "You saw it?"
Old Jack nodded in fear. "There’s black mist! That’s the black mist the monster gives off! I’ve seen it before! That monster is causing another disaster! The Illuminati are making their move again!"
’Strange. How can an ordinary person like Old Jack see the black mist?’ Zhou Chen’s brow furrowed, and he voiced his question, "How did you see that black mist?"
"My brain isn’t being interfered with by the Brain Control Device, that’s why I can see the truth of the World. But those other humans have been completely brainwashed by the Brain Control Device. They live in a web of lies and Illusions woven by the Illuminati." Old Jack peeked his head out of the alley, cautiously eyeing the crowd of onlookers.
This... Zhou Chen was suddenly at a loss for words. He fell into deep thought, his mind racing.
He had read the Investigator’s handbook. One of the rules was: During an investigation, no matter how absurd the information or clues, as long as they defy common sense, you must try to follow up on them. You might have an unexpected breakthrough in the end.
’Old Jack might be mentally ill, but he can see the traces left by the monster... So, is it possible that the Brain Control Device, the brainwashing, the Tinfoil Hat, the Illuminati... all these things that sound like conspiracy theories... are actually real?’
"Joey saw the monster before too, and he wasn’t wearing a Tinfoil Hat," Zhou Chen said.
"Children’s minds are pure. They aren’t affected by the Brain Control Device, so they can see the real World... But if the Illuminati succeeds, the children will eventually be brainwashed and controlled too! Then all of humanity will live under the Illuminati’s manipulation!"
Old Jack clenched his fists. "We have to defeat the Illuminati and save them!"
"Well said. So what should we do?" Zhou Chen asked. He felt that Old Jack must know some things that others didn’t, and those things were very likely clues.
"G-Go protect the children! The monster will target them," Old Jack said, a hint of anxiety in his voice. For someone who was mentally ill, rapid mood swings were par for the course.
"Why would the monster target them? And why would the Illuminati send a monster to cause disasters?" Zhou Chen pressed.
Old Jack thought for a dazed moment, then replied, "The monster has to kill anyone who’s seen it to ensure it can grow up safely. And it’s very afraid of children. The Illuminati are performing some kind of summoning ritual, and the monster is a minion they sent out. Only the ritual can summon the Big-chested Lizardman, Concrete-Mixed-with-Spaghetti No. 42, the Blue Duct-Pipe Organ, the Wild Trigonometric Function, the Purple Yogurt Shooter, the Great Tit and the Kitten, and the most evil and dangerous of all—the Sunshine Rainbow Little Pony."
’Can’t get distracted by these flashy names. Focus on the essence, the essence...’
Zhou Chen took a deep breath and began to analyze the essence of what Old Jack had said.
First, the monster kills those who see it. This part was simple. It was to ensure it could grow unimpeded and that the summoning ritual could proceed smoothly. As long as no one found out, the plan wouldn’t be obstructed.
Second, the monster is afraid of children... ’Why would it be afraid of children? Can children hurt it? Is that why it has to go after them—to eliminate potential threats? Like killing Allen...’
