49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 307: Chapter 285: Bait Plan and Profile Image

’If I can find a local machine, I might be able to find the information.’

"I need to know who my parents are," Shangyuan Zi said to Guan Tong, her vertical pupils betraying a hint of obsession. "We’ll go with your plan. Use me as bait to lure out the Divine Son."

"Alright." Guan Tong had already been thinking along the same lines. "I know a place that would make a perfect battlefield for us."

...

Public Security Headquarters, Room 109.

The members of the special task force hadn’t been home for a day and a night, all of them worn to a frazzle by the case at the administrative building.

Several different groups had come to give them a dressing-down in the past day, from high-ranking officials at the bureau to government ministers.

"I heard the Director say that Lord Divine Son himself might come to our task force. You think that’s true?"

"Probably not..."

"I think we should just focus on the case. We need to find this guy as soon as possible."

"Has everyone checked the surveillance footage? Still no sign of him?"

"Nothing. It’s weird. He wasn’t captured at any of the building’s entrances or exits. It’s like he just materialized inside. Could he have used a fixed-point Teleportation Item?"

"Then how did he get out? And he took someone with him. That would require a group teleportation, right? Those kinds of items take some time to activate, but the guards rushed to the solitary confinement room immediately and didn’t see a thing."

The task force was completely stumped. In the end, they could only look toward the investigator on loan sitting in the corner.

The woman named Suzuki, from the Antu Public Security Bureau, had a desk piled high with hundreds of drawings, each one a portrait of a man.

Some of the portraits were overly realistic, others were blurry, and some were just a jumbled mess, making it impossible to tell if they depicted a person or a monster.

This disappointed everyone who had initially placed high hopes in her ability. They were beginning to think her "Profile" ability wasn’t as amazing as they had imagined.

But with no progress from the surveillance footage or background checks, the case seemed to have hit a dead end.

The task force leader walked over and asked, "Suzuki, you’ve been drawing all day. Any progress?"

Suzuki held her pencil, her brow tightly furrowed.

The task force leader had to call her name several times before she snapped out of it.

"Ah... Leader."

"Suzuki, have you managed to get a Profile of the target’s appearance?"

As he spoke, the leader casually picked up a drawing. His expression turned strange when he saw what was on it.

The drawing depicted tentacle-like shapes spreading out from a pitch-black mass.

It looked less like a criminal profile and more like an illustration for a horror novel.

"Ahem. Suzuki, is this what your Profile produced?"

Suzuki took the drawing back. "This is indeed one of the images I ’saw’ after using my Profile ability."

Just then, a young officer leaned in. Seeing the drawing, he snickered. "So our target is actually a tentacle monster?"

"Shut up," the leader snapped. He then turned to the woman. "Suzuki, you’re probably just exhausted. Why don’t you take a few hours off to rest."

"Alright. Thank you, Leader."

Suzuki stood up and went to the window in the hallway, taking several deep breaths.

She wasn’t stupid; she knew what the looks from the other task force members meant. That mocking gaze was clearly filled with contempt and ridicule.

She didn’t let it show, but she was seething with resentment inside.

But still...

’Is there really something wrong with my ability?’ Suzuki muttered to herself. ’Otherwise, why do I keep getting such bizarre images from my Profile... ’

The surveillance footage clearly showed a normal young man. Yet her Profile visions were filled with all sorts of bizarre things.

’What is going on...?’

As she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard approaching footsteps.

She turned her head and saw several people walking toward her. The man in the lead wore the traditional sleeved robes of Sakura Prayer and had an exquisitely made-up face. It was the most revered person in the entire country: the Divine Son.

She’d heard the others on the task force say the Divine Son might visit, but she never expected to actually see him in the flesh. She froze on the spot.

She only snapped out of her daze when the Divine Son and his retinue were nearly upon her. She hastily bowed. "Lord Divine Son, greetings..."

The Divine Son glanced at her and smiled. "You must be Suzuki, the one assigned to the task force. You’ve been working hard."

’Lord Divine Son actually knows who I am?!’

Suzuki was ecstatic. By the time she looked up again, she only caught a glimpse of the Divine Son’s exquisite profile as he disappeared into Room 109.

Suzuki’s heart pounded in her chest, filled with excitement.

She never imagined the Divine Son would know of a minor figure like herself, let alone smile at her. She felt incredibly honored.

A sentence that Yoshino had said to her before she left Antu suddenly surfaced in her mind.

"To be worthy of our superiors’ trust, we must be prepared to do what’s necessary."

’That’s right! Lord Divine Son came in person. He must want to supervise and ensure the case is solved quickly.’

’To be of use, I... ’

"Deep breath... Inhale..."

Suzuki turned and gulped down the fresh air from the open window, a single thought consuming her mind: absorb the Alien Spores faster.

She had been resistant to using the spores’ power before. But now, for the sake of Lord Divine Son’s kind smile, she was determined to use her ability to successfully create a Profile of the target!

It was as if the invisible spores sensed her determination. Soon, she felt her body begin to change.

She felt light and clear-headed. All the pressure and fatigue she had been feeling vanished completely.

’So this is what the spores feel like... It’s amazing...’

After her initial surprise, Suzuki immediately decided to strike while the iron was hot. Drawing on the hundreds of previous attempts, she activated her ability once more.

As if by divine intervention, an image rapidly took shape in her mind. She was certain it was an accurate one.

The moment the image solidified, she instantly understood why her hundreds of previous drawings had been so wildly different from one another.

"I see!"

Her eyes lit up, and she immediately ran back toward the office.

Inside the room, the arrival of the Divine Son had made every member of the task force stand ramrod straight, their faces full of reverence.

"This is a complex case, and I know you’ve all been working very hard," the Divine Son said. "You will be compensated, of course, but the most important thing is to find the target and protect our nation’s security."

"Lord Divine Son, please rest assured!" the task force leader said solemnly. "My team and I will give it our all to identify the target and solve this case!"

The Divine Son nodded. He was about to say more when Suzuki, rushing in, cut him off.

"Suzuki! Can’t you see Lord Divine Son is here?!" the leader shouted, seeing her burst in.

But Suzuki seemed not to hear him. She rushed to her desk, snatched a blank sheet of paper, and began drawing furiously with her pencil.

"Suzuki, you—"

"Wait." The Divine Son raised a hand, stopping the leader. "Don’t disturb her. It looks like she’s onto something."

"Yes..."

A short while later, Suzuki finished her drawing. She flipped the sheet of paper around for everyone to see.

"This is the target’s image from my Profile! I’m confident this is what he looks like—or at least, one of his forms!"

Everyone looked over at her words, their expressions turning to surprise.

The drawing showed a person completely enveloped in pitch-blackness. Around him and at his feet, dark shadows spread out in all directions.

Seeing this, the leader felt that presenting such a bizarre image of the target in front of the Divine Son was utterly embarrassing.

"Suzuki, you’re exhausted. The target couldn’t possibly be—"

Before he could finish, the Divine Son stepped forward and took the drawing from Suzuki’s hand.

"You’ve drawn this very well." He looked at the picture, his gaze gradually sharpening.

"Lord Divine Son?"

The leader and the other task force members were baffled as to why the Divine Son would validate Suzuki’s drawing. Whatever was on that paper, it didn’t look like a normal human; it looked more like some kind of monster.

"Have you all forgotten someone?" The Divine Son held up the drawing. "Is it so strange that a North Star Person who can manipulate shadows would look like this?"

"Ah! You mean...!"

Realization dawned on everyone, and they all spoke a single name in unison.

"Shadow!"

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