July 11, 11:30 AM, Li Jing, Gu Yima Residential Area.
The rain subsided gradually, and white mist climbed up the room’s floor-to-ceiling window like a gecko.
Ji Minghuan lay on the soft bed with his arm as a pillow, turning his head to gaze outside the window in a daze.
He stared at the cityscape shrouded in rain for a while, with no expression on his face.
With the sound of patter, bean-sized raindrops slid down the window, spinning toward the billboard on the street.
A blood-stained trench coat and mask were casually tossed beside the bed.
He sorted this morning’s intel while using a restraint belt to put his uniform back into the cardboard box at the bottom of the wardrobe, sealing the box’s opening with tape.
"The headmaster said: Those who took my substance and Kong Youling had a hexagram pattern on their uniforms."
"And coincidentally, this pattern is identical to the one left behind whenever the frenzied exorcist ’Traffic Lights’ committed a crime: Every time he finished killing, he would write a line of Latin next to the pattern, meaning ’Salvation Society’."
Ji Minghuan closed his eyes, switching his consciousness to "Xia Pingzhou" in a hotel in Tokyo.
He called up the task panel for a glance.
[Main Quest 3: Find "your former teammate," the frenzied exorcist—"Traffic Lights" clues.]
Smoothly switching back to Gu Wenyu’s perspective, he opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling.
He thought: "What’s important is that Mentor revealed to me: He does not belong to the Mutants Association, nor the Exorcist Association, nor is he one of the Anecdote Envoy, so... there’s a high probability they belong to this organization called ’Salvation Society.’"
"Once confirmed, the next step is to find ’Traffic Lights,’ and I can use the Restraint Truth to extract from him what kind of organization the ’Salvation Society’ is fundamentally, their purpose, and perhaps Traffic Lights knows where the Salvation Society’s base is located."
Ji Minghuan stretched out his right hand, lowering his gaze, silently watching the restraint belt wrapped around his fingertips.
"Currently... Salvation Society probably has insiders planted within the Mutants Association, otherwise, how do you explain their quickly received intel."
"Helping Gu Qiye enter Rainbow Wings, infiltrating the upper echelons of United Nations Organization, he should be able to find traces of the ’Salvation Society’ for me..."
"Once the location of the experimental site is traced, everything will be easier: Accumulate power, prepare to move, relying on me alone might not be feasible, I need to find a way to use the Mutants Association, White Crow Travel Brigade, Exorcist Association, and even the criminal forces on Dad’s side, so figuring out how to guide them is also challenging."
Ji Minghuan pondered while sliding the system panel, suddenly thinking: "Oh right... what’s the use of that Event Card obtained this morning?"
He selected the "Event Card Book," and the first card in the slot was that "Caged Bird."
[Event Card Name: Caged Bird]
[Effect: When you are attacked by any "control-type" ability, you can lose this card to break free from the effects of the ability.]
[Value: Selling the card can earn "1 Skill Point."]
"Could sell it to gain Skill Points, never mind... let’s keep it for now, it might have unexpected benefits later."
Listening to the faint sound of rain, Ji Minghuan suddenly felt tired.
He yawned, systematically closing all the miscellaneous panels.
Shutting his eyelids, his mind instantly conjured three infinitely overlapping perspectives. Every body was asleep in the dark, and thus each body’s senses were activated:
It’s raining in Tokyo, raining in Li Jing, but in the confinement room, it’s silent like the bottom of the sea thousands of miles away.
A month’s life in confinement made Ji Minghuan profoundly understand one thing: Humanity needs a bit of noise to sleep peacefully.
Before Ji Minghuan awakened his superpower, sleeping in the confinement room was a difficult task.
A series of sleep-aid techniques learned in the Welfare Institute, like counting sheep, breathing regulation method, mental arithmetic of pi... he tried them all, leaving no stone unturned.
But now, there’s no need for them, the gentle sound of rainfall is the best tool for sleep aid.
His thoughts sank in the darkness, as if falling into the deepest cradle of consciousness. Soon, cold and hard words pulled him from his slumber.
"Restrained Superpower User, No. 1002—’Ji Minghuan,’ Mentor’s visit, prepare for interrogation promptly."
Ji Minghuan abruptly opened his eyes, met with a silver-white ceiling, a cold monitor staring directly at his face, silently provoking him like a ruthless judge.
He turned his head from the pillow, seeing the heavy metal door open, as Mentor stepped in.
"What’s the matter, Mentor... I just barely slept, yet you rush in to compromise my sleep quality, truly impressive of you."
Ji Minghuan grouchily complained, even too lazy to get up from the bed, simply placing his arm behind his head, closing his eyes, lying still like a mummy.
"Your headmaster is dead." Mentor sat down, opening with direct words.
Ji Minghuan noticeably froze for a moment, then opened his eyes in surprise, slowly turning his head.
"The old headmaster... is dead?" he asked incredulously, his voice slightly hoarse.
Mentor nodded: "It happened this morning, according to the ’Blue Arc’ specialist from Li Jing’s Mutants Association, your headmaster was found to have hanged himself in his office at 8:30 this morning, and what he did has been exposed to the public... the rumor is he held a parentless girl captive in the basement for several years, committing numerous atrocious acts upon her, now the whole of Li Jing is discussing this matter."
"Hanged himself?" Ji Minghuan muttered blankly, then asked: "What is the name of the girl he kept locked up?"
"How did they discover... she was confined in the basement?"
"At that time, Blue Arc received an anonymous call which was made by the headmaster himself. When Blue Arc arrived at the office, they found the headmaster had already hanged himself. Before committing suicide, the headmaster wrote an unissued confession email on the computer, informing Blue Arc of the girl’s location."
Upon hearing this, Ji Minghuan paused for a while, then couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
He thought: "Good brother, you sure can concoct stories, rounding everything off so perfectly for me."
A few hours earlier, Ji Minghuan indeed had requested Gu Qiye to help him stage a murder scene, nothing surprising there, as he thought Gu Qiye and he were of the same kind, both believing the headmaster deserved death.
But what astonished Ji Minghuan was: Gu Qiye, a righteous character, could do such a thing with a clear conscience, so thoroughly.
In the public eye, Mutant "Blue Arc" is akin to a celebrity, no one would suspect fake involvement in such matters, nor would the Mutants Association thoroughly investigate.
Additionally, given the timing, the public was mainly absorbed in shock and fury over this matter, no one would dwell on precisely how the headmaster died, what they cared about was solely the outcome "the headmaster is dead."
Whether it’s suicide or homicide doesn’t essentially differ for them.
And what’s even more unexpected... the actual murderer who killed the headmaster was none other than a recently emerged superpower user—"Black Cocoon."
If Mentor were to know about this, he’d instantly deduce a factual connection between "Black Cocoon" and Ji Minghuan, then mobilize Salvation Society personnel to capture Black Cocoon for dissection in the experimental lab.