Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 24 Stalking

Chen Shi was somewhat confused. After walking out of the technical department in a daze, he turned back.

"Professor Zhuang, you still haven't told me why you insist on using my dreams to investigate, instead of those instruments you have."

Zhuang Wen flipped the circuit board over, revealing a row of charred solder points on the back: "These instruments are all equipped with self-destruct mechanisms. When you cut off the power, the core circuitry short-circuited completely. I've been trying to restore it these past few days, but the chances are slim." He put the board back on the table, adjusted his glasses, and said, "Let me give you an analogy. Imagine someone calls you; this instrument is like that person's phone. Now that they've smashed the phone, we can't trace who it called, or even the phone's original number. But you are the one who answered the call; your mind is like your own phone, and your phone definitely has the call log."

"You mean, I can call back and find the other person?"

"Yes. That's how it works in theory. But I don't know the specifics of how to call back; you'll have to figure it out yourself."

Chen Shi returned to Group Five and relayed Zhuang Wen's words.

Sun Tiemei remained silent for a few seconds after listening. "Let's put the instrument line aside for now. Don't rush into tracing the source either; don't touch anything with unclear consequences."

"But this is also an opportunity."

"This isn't the only opportunity; I can't let my team members take this risk."

"And what about my dream?"

"If it's not a nightmare, then keep having it."

Chen Shi: "........"

After speaking, the two set off to find the interviewees.

While waiting at a red light, Sun Tiemei suddenly said, "A new person will be arriving in a couple of days."

Chen Shi was texting the fat man with his head down when he looked up and paused, startled. "Come join our group?"

"Her name is Su Xiaohe, and she used to work in the archives."

"Five groups have been transferred from the archives?" Chen Shi felt the change was a bit too much.

"The situation is unclear, but Lao Zheng approved it," Sun Tiemei said, stepping on the gas. "According to the file, her ability is 'detection'."

Chen Shi checked the information from the bureau. The so-called "detection ability" meant that she could quickly sense whether there were people in a space and how many people there were. Simply put, when she activated her ability, objects within a 50-meter radius would be imprinted in her mind like a two-dimensional map.

If someone had informed Group Five beforehand about the enemy's hiding place during the fight at the lottery station's underground location, the outcome might have been completely different.

Chen Shi didn't ask any more questions and just said he would make room for her at a workstation tomorrow.

Fang Youli, an old man, was sitting alone in the pavilion grinding a chessboard when he saw Chen Shi walking over with a limp, leaning on a cane. He quickly came over to greet him.

"Is volunteering this risky now?"

"No, sir, I was looking at my phone on the stairs and I missed a step."

"Even in this state, you still want to run outside?"

"I can't stay idle. I injured my foot, so I came to visit you and maybe improve my chess skills."

The old man was quite pleased. Although he knew Chen Shi's chess skills were terrible, he couldn't resist Chen Shi's persistent efforts. The two set up the chessboard and played for less than ten minutes before the old man lost interest. After all, it got a bit boring doing things like utterly crushing a kid too often.

He placed the chess piece on the board and suddenly asked, "Young man, tell me the truth, what do you do for a living?"

Chen Shi was still holding a chess piece in his hand. He looked up at the old man's expression and put the piece back on the chessboard.

"Sir, I won't lie to you. I'm from the Supernatural Abilities Bureau. We've been investigating some cases recently, and we ended up finding something wrong with the lottery shop you frequent. I injured my foot while investigating that lottery shop."

The old man was stunned for a long time. "That boss seemed honest enough, how could he do something illegal?"

"The boss was genuinely unaware. However, he was quite frightened, and that place won't be reopening anytime soon."

"Sigh." Old Fang pushed the chessboard aside and leaned back in his chair. "To be honest, I used to go to that place often, just to enjoy the feeling. But gradually I've come to realize that there's something sinister about it."

"You're very knowledgeable. To put it bluntly, that stuff is like hypnosis; it's all fake."

"Speaking of which, your job is quite dangerous. A young man who was perfectly fine before is now limping."

"I sprained my ankle, but I'm not lame," Chen Shi corrected. "And I injured myself."

"You hurt yourself?" The old man became interested. "Is your superpower like in the novels, where you have to hurt yourself before you can hurt others?"

"What you're talking about is the Seven Injury Fist, not this kind."

"So what kind of superpower do you have?"

Tell a joke.

"Don't joke around."

"I'm not kidding you. But it's more accurate to interpret it as being able to influence other people's emotions. Didn't you notice how relaxed you seemed when chatting with me?"

Old Fang stood there for a while. He had originally thought Chen Shi was a volunteer who came to keep him company. Now that he knew the other party was from the Management Bureau and had come with a mission, what bothered him the most was that he thought he and Chen Shi got along well, but now he realized it was because of Chen Shi's abilities.

"So, you're carrying out a mission just because you're playing chess with me."

"Sir, I did try to get information out of you at first. But after chatting with you a few times, I feel more comfortable. I genuinely want to learn chess from you, even though you think I'm terrible at it."

"really?"

"Seriously. If you don't believe me, I'll have to come and beat you up every week from now on."

"You're torturing me?" Old Fang's eyebrows shot up. "With your skill level, you can't even tell where your horse is going, yet you dare to torture me? Fine, if you're not afraid of losing face, then come on. I'll set up a puzzle for you every week. If you can solve it, I'll teach you; if you can't, you'll have to treat me to tea."

"It's a deal." Chen Shi extended his hand. Old Fang slapped his hand hard.

Then he lowered his voice and asked, "Sir, after we destroyed the lottery shop, have you felt anything unusual these past few days?"

"No, not at all. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Chen Shi thought for a moment, then added, "If you have any unusual feelings later, just call me whenever you feel it."

Sun Tiemei's car was parked not far away. Through the car window, she could see Chen Shi and the old man playing chess at a small stone table downstairs. She had just lowered her head to send a message to the fat man when she caught a glimpse of someone standing behind a large tree not far from the pavilion.

The reason he was noticed was mainly because the man was holding a small notebook and writing something while staring in Chen Shi's direction.

She opened the car door, and the man seemed to have heard something. Almost simultaneously, he closed his notebook, turned, and walked away, disappearing into the alley behind the trees. She knew that neighborhood well; the alley led to the back entrance of the vegetable market, a place teeming with tricycles delivering goods at this hour. Once inside, they were nowhere to be found. She didn't chase after him. Not because she was afraid she wouldn't catch him, but because Chen Shi was still sitting on that stone bench.

She walked over and stood beside the stone table. Old Fang was pointing at the chessboard, saying, "If you had jumped over here just now, my cannon would be gone. See? You were just making a reckless move." Only after saying that did he notice that there was someone else beside him. He looked up and saw Sun Tiemei's expression, then glanced at Chen Shi.

"Sir, this is my boss."

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Fang stood up, mainly because Sun Tiemei had such a strong presence.

Sun Tiemei tried to adjust her expression and nodded to Grandpa Fang.

Chen Shi glanced back at Sun Tiemei, then stood up. "Grandpa, I'll come back another day to be tortured."

"Okay, then you guys go ahead and get busy."

Once in the car, Chen Shi asked what was wrong.

"Someone was watching you. Right when you and Lao Fang were playing chess, someone was standing behind the tree taking notes."