enjoyebooks Chapter 25 The Ghosts of History
Chapter 25 The Ghosts of History
In front of the white tombstone, Lin Chen closed his eyes, listening to the call from afar:
"The ghosts of history...the ghosts of history..."
He recognized the voice: it was Qingtian's voice, the one he had called Lin Chen in real life.
What does that mean?
Lin Chen looked at the stream of light spreading from around the tombstone, focused his consciousness, and let his thoughts flow with the light.
The white city began to move rapidly, the scenes constantly changing, eventually focusing on a pitch-black room.
"...Do your job well, Qingtian. If you want to keep climbing the ladder, listening to your mother and being a good boy won't work..."
"I want to climb higher..." Qingtian looked at the figure meekly, "My beloved 'eldest brother,' I'm so eager to improve. Can I come again tomorrow? I will continue to satisfy you."
"No, I won't stay in the rainy city for long. Go back to your work."
The shadowy figure known as "Eldest Brother" looked down at the docile, kitten-like Qingtian and nodded slightly.
"Remember, as always, beware of the ghosts of history."
"Does he really exist?" Qingtian couldn't help but ask. "You always tell me to be careful of him, but how many years has it been since we last saw him?"
Seeing Qingtian's puzzled look, the shadowy figure chuckled softly:
"He can be anyone, and he can be anywhere," the shadow whispered. "He hides in the shadows of history, observing everything. You can't sense his approach until he's already standing in front of you... or behind you..."
"Keep your feet on the ground, Qingtian. You're a promising talent, and I don't want to lose such an interesting little kitten like you."
"..."
The scene gradually faded away, and in a flash, Lin Chen returned to the center of the white square.
He lowered his head again, looking at the tombstone bearing Qingtian's name, his mind filled with thoughts.
The guy talking to Qingtian was clearly much higher level than him...
Look at how well-behaved Qingtian is, are they colleagues?
His name is "Eldest Brother," is that a title? Or... is it just a nickname that Qingtian uses for him?
Lin Chen recalled his elder brother's words: "Hidden in the shadows of history, observing everything..."
Isn't this the power that "Mirage City" brings to itself?
Within the timeframe he had experienced, Lin Chen was almost omniscient, able to see every single detail clearly.
And when he kills a demigod and devours the "Azure Matter" within him, he can even glimpse part of that demigod's past!
Experience...history...
Ghosts of history... City of mirages...
Even the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations was unaware of the existence of the "Mirage City"...
At this moment, Lin Chen realized that he had really encountered something extraordinary.
Does the ghost of history refer to him? Or to that oil painting? That painting, "City of Mirages"?
That oil painting hangs in the lobby of the Bureau of Anomalies, and countless people pass by it every day. Why don't they awaken to the "Mirage City"?
Did the "Mirage City" choose Lin Chen, or did Lin Chen choose the "Mirage City"?
Chaotic thoughts collided in his mind, and Lin Chen shook his head, trying to clear his mind as much as possible.
Without wanting to expose the "Mirage City" as a trump card, seeking intelligence from outsiders is nothing short of a pipe dream.
No...no...there is a way.
Lin Chen recalled what Li Zhanyi had said when he first went to the Bureau of Anomalies Investigation:
"This was a gift from the mayor to our unit, it's called... 'Mirage City'?"
mayor...
The oil painting was a gift from the mayor to the investigation bureau.
If that's the case, then the mayor probably knows something. It's unlikely that he just randomly picked a painting and gave it to the investigation bureau, only to find that there was a huge secret hidden in it that the entire investigation bureau didn't know.
Lin Chen silently kept this matter in his heart.
He lowered his head, looked at the tombstone, and felt a faint warmth surging from his temples.
Lin Chen understood the significance of this tombstone: from now on, whenever he wanted to borrow the power of Qingtian, he could directly resonate with this tombstone through the "Mirage City".
After he killed Optimus Prime and devoured his Azure Matter, Optimus Prime as a whole became part of the history he knew.
In other words, a projection tool that is readily available.
If the "Mirage City" has such a mechanism, it means that every time Lin Chen kills a demigod, he can gain their power by consuming the azure matter.
It's no wonder they fear the "ghost of history."
Lin Chen cleared his mind and looked at the flowing light around the tombstone.
He wanted to see if Qingtian had left any meaningful memories.
"..."
As my thoughts sank into the flowing light, the scene began to change rapidly, and the blurred white gradually blurred my vision.
However, most of the memories that followed were meaningless fragments, and many of them were quite offensive, so Lin Chen would just glance at them and cut them off.
He had been cutting for over ten minutes, and was about to give up when he suddenly saw a scene of Qingtian wearing normal clothes:
"...The bridge incident left too many loose ends. That family could have been saved, but you insisted on throwing her parents off the bridge. Qingtian, do you have anything to say?"
"I have nothing to say," Qingtian said nonchalantly. "Let the media department do the work."
"Ha, you make it sound so easy."
The old man in the shadows coughed twice and clapped his hands.
"If you continue to have a negative impact, our main pick for the season will be 'Captain England'."
"No!" Qingtian roared, "He's not as good as me!"
"You've left us with no other choice."
The old man in the shadows chuckled softly.
"After all, he's more obedient than you."
......
The West Wing District branch building of the foundation.
Inside the conference hall, Ms. J sat at the long table like a wronged ghost, her gaze filled with equal hatred for everyone in front of her.
"We are now holding a vote to implement Public Opinion Control Plan No. 172. Those who agree, please raise your hands."
Everyone present raised their hand, except for Ms. J.
"Very good," the man at the head of the table slowly lowered his hand, "Then, proceed according to the following public opinion control plan:
"Optimus Prime suffered psychological trauma because he failed to save the girl's parents during the Iron Horn Bridge incident. Under this stimulation, he made a mistake during a high-risk subspace ruin suppression operation and was severely injured by an anomalous entity, and his body also underwent a certain degree of mutation."
"Even so, he insisted on attending the commendation ceremony, wanting to bring positive energy to the residents of Yudu. However, he was stimulated by the thunder at the scene, and the side effect of abnormal physical damage caused him to become deformed."
"After the mutation, Optimus Prime used its last vestiges of consciousness to fly to a deserted beach to avoid harming innocent people further. Meanwhile, the Foundation responded swiftly to the incident..."
"Optimus Prime's former friend, the gamma-level demigod 'Captain England,' arrived at the scene in the shortest possible time. Optimus Prime begged him to end his suffering, but Captain England, in order to maintain the peace of Rain City, ended the life of his former colleague."
After the man at the head of the table finished speaking, the conference room door was pushed open.
A burly man in a blue, white, and red uniform walked in, a square shield strapped to his arm, and a confident smile on the lower half of his face, which was not covered by a mask.
Captain England smiled at Ms. J, then walked to the front of the conference room and opened his arms.
"All right, lads!" he shouted, "Make British style great again!"
In an instant, the entire conference room was filled with thunderous applause: they had finally ended their agonizing overtime work and arrived at the final solution.
Of the entire room, only Ms. J did not applaud.
......