Chapter 22 | Embers of the Past

Haicheng Nightmare Disaster Emergency Response Bureau, Special Response Team office area, joint operations conference room of the Special Response Squads.

Since most of the awakened elites in the Bureau belonged to the Special Response Team, whether it was hunting down Nightmare creatures, searching for Disciples of Eternal Night, or handling follow-up situations in reality related to Nightmare Disasters, it all fell within the scope of the Special Response Squads' work.

Following the Qingniao Street tragedy, the senior management of the Bureau had issued a key directive to capture Xia Jie as quickly as possible. They could not allow this ticking time bomb to slip into Haicheng's underground. The Bureau could not afford another tragedy.

This could be considered the greatest loss of non-combat personnel in recent years, and it was not even due to a Nightmare Disaster, but rather a man-made disaster.

Xia Jie's actions had thoroughly enraged the Special Response Squads; everyone was holding in a breath of fury.

This joint operation was meant to combine all their strength to drag this rotten rat, Xia Jie, out of the gutter.

Squad 172 had been the reserve force during the Qingniao Street Nightmare Disaster, successfully completed their mission during the subsequent second Nightmare Disaster, and had even confronted “Xia Jie” face-to-face in a dream. Therefore, they were leading this joint operation.

On the stage, the captain of Special Response Squad 172, Pineapple Head, Zheng Xian, was introducing the situation regarding “Xia Jie” during the second Nightmare Disaster, estimating Xia Jie's true combat strength based on the leftover information from the Qingniao Street crime scene.

“...Without external help, especially without the assistance of the Disciples of Eternal Night, Xia Jie's individual front-line combat capability is limited. We have far too many ways to restrict a melee-fighting thug.

“But the difficulty this time lies in the fact that the fleeing Xia Jie is not just a pure thug. Like a Dream Thief, he can change his appearance at any time. This is also the core ability that allowed him to plot and kill so many personnel.

“We were caught off guard on Qingniao Street and had no chance to track him. If we want to lock onto him now, we must find him first.

“Let's brainstorm. Everyone, please speak up if you have any good ideas...”

While the stage was filled with a constant stream of explanation, those below were engaged in lively discussion.

A rookie member from another squad, slightly puzzled by the captain of Squad 172's words, leaned over to ask Zhou Li, who was sitting next to him:

“Brother Li, I don't quite understand. What do you mean by ‘like a Dream Thief’? Xia Jie can change his appearance—doesn't that just make him a Dream Thief?”

Zhou Li, who was deep in thought, answered seriously upon hearing the question:

“Xia Jie's case is rather complex. Out of the four paths—Weaving, Peering, Stealing, and Controlling—he actually counts as a Dream Weaver. He personally wove an offensive personality and a defensive personality.

“This situation is rare, but it's not unheard of.

“Father Xia can manifest bone blades, clearly making him a Dream Weaver. Mrs. Xia can alter her appearance, making her a veritable Dream Thief.

“These two are clearly categorized, but because they are both Xia Jie's personalities, the two characteristics have merged into one within Xia Jie.

“But in the end, he's still a Dream Weaver.”

Other squad members nearby crowded around, starting a mini-meeting under the guise of the larger assembly.

Someone else asked:

“You guys fought him in the dream. Any experience or things to watch out for? Tell us about it!”

Zhou Li pointed at the captain on the stage and gave a bitter smile.

“The Xia Jie in the dream was merely Yu Jin's imagination. It's not entirely the same as the real one and is only for reference. It must not be taken as actual experience.

“Besides, it'll all be explained in a bit. Isn't listening to our captain the same thing?”

“How could that be the same? Who actually listens to the boss during a meeting?”

“...”

Left with no choice, Zhou Li shared his experience in the dream with everyone.

But as he mentioned how Mrs. Xia could ignore most head attacks due to the presence of her tentacles, he suddenly froze and stopped speaking.

The image of red-haired Yu Jin being shot and falling to the ground kept flashing in his mind, and his eyes suddenly widened.

Of course!

The red-haired Yu Jin could be considered a "replica" of Xia Jie, possessing both Father Xia and Mrs. Xia's abilities at the same time. How could a single bullet through the forehead possibly kill him?

Granted, if he didn't use his abilities, he could indeed commit suicide.

The question was, who knew if Yu Jin had used his abilities at that moment?

In the decisiveness of Yu Jin discarding his personality, the captain, out of a momentary spark of kindness, had pulled him back, and they didn't even check red-haired Yu Jin's corpse.

If Yu Jin had actually pulled a fast one here...

Zhou Li's heart skipped a beat.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Yu Jin. Having looked into him, he knew that with Yu Jin's background and character, even if the young man had pulled the wool over their eyes by keeping a trump card during the Nightmare Disaster and materializing red-haired Yu Jin in reality, he would never use this violent personality to commit any crimes.

At most, it would be to seek revenge against Xia Jie.

But his concern was that this violent personality would gradually affect Yu Jin himself, causing him to spiral out of control.

Zhou Li had seen too many such cases. Far too many colleagues had fallen into darkness due to the torment of deceased family and friends, driving themselves into a corner they could never escape.

When that time came, whether Yu Jin could still hold fast to his original intentions was anyone's guess.

At this thought, Zhou Li's face darkened, and he sprang up from his seat with a whoosh.

He wanted to bring this matter to light and draw the Bureau's attention to it.

For a moment, everyone in the conference room looked at him in bewilderment.

But looking at those faces, some angry, some solemn, and some sorrowful, Zhou Li suddenly calmed down.

Not to mention he had no evidence, but even if he did, such a public “disclosure” would be enough to ruin a person. When that happened, how would either the Bureau or the Post-Disaster Investigation Team look at an agent who had hidden his awakening and failed to report it?

Would they think Yu Jin had ulterior motives and was no longer loyal?

Zhou Li fell silent.

He felt that he could not ruin a good person so carelessly.

He didn't speak, but what followed was an overwhelming wave of awkwardness.

Everyone was waiting for him to speak, guessing whether he was about to add details or if he had some new combat ideas.

Even Zheng Xian on the stage invited him, asking:

“Zhou Li, would you like to say a few words?”

Zhou Li's face twitched violently as he let out an awkward laugh:

“Um... Captain, I need to request a bathroom break.”

“Boo—”

Jeers erupted in the conference room, instantly shattering the tense atmosphere. As everyone burst into roaring laughter, Zhou Li fled in embarrassment, his face flushed red.

But the instant he stepped out of the conference room, his expression turned cold. He didn't head for the restroom. Instead, he left the Bureau immediately and made his way to Yu Jin's home.

He had looked over Yu Jin's file and knew where the young man lived.

...

Zhuque Street, Jiuju Community.

At the moment the knock sounded at the door, Yu Jin was sitting on the sofa, pondering the intentions of that mysterious person.

Although he hadn't seen who the mysterious person who turned into Tang Yaoting was this time, he had a vague feeling that this person was the same mysterious woman who had appeared in the cemetery during the Nightmare Disaster.

Tang Yaoting probably hadn't lied either. The dog he saw driving in a suit was highly likely the same big yellow dog Yu Jin had run into.

This combination of a person and a dog was just too bizarre. He had thought about it for a long time, yet he couldn't recall the Special Response Squad ever mentioning such a strange pairing among the Disciples of Eternal Night.

In fact, for the general public of Haicheng, although the name “Disciples of Eternal Night” pointed to something, they didn't know exactly who was in the group.

They only knew that the Disciples of Eternal Night committed all kinds of evil and were the Nightmare fanatics who knew best how to exploit Nightmare Disasters. Sometimes, they even classified any villain who used a Nightmare Disaster to do evil as a Disciple of Eternal Night.

But in reality, there were only a handful of actual Disciples of Eternal Night.

As for who these few were, aside from the Special Response Team and certain special departments, even Yu Jin only had a vague idea.

This was a deliberate choice by the Bureau.

In this world where Nightmare Disasters were everywhere, bringing overly specific fears into reality would cause immense trouble for society.

Dealing with the Disciples of Eternal Night was already enough of a headache. If they had to deal with Disciples of Eternal Night times two, times three, or even more, just thinking about it was terrifying.