PDLP Chapter 179 Operation!
Chapter 179 Operation!
Chapter 179 Operation!
dong dong dong.
There was a knock on Tong Cheng's hospital room door.
The door opened and a long-haired woman in a trench coat walked in.
Tong Cheng turned his head and smiled, a rare sight for him: "Mu Nian, you've come."
The long-haired woman was none other than Mu Nian, the top investigator who had spoken to him on the phone last night.
Of course, her ranking will remain unchanged until Tongcheng has fully recovered.
Mu Nian smiled and nodded to everyone in the room, then tossed her travel bag onto a chair and moved closer to the hospital bed.
"Just how much of a commotion have you caused here?! The corridor is full of heavily armed police officers, and there are investigators from Yuanmeng City mixed in with them."
"I only caused half the commotion; the other half was orchestrated by Li Jiuhe," Tong Cheng replied.
Mu Nian turned to look at Li Jiuhe. Before arriving here, she had already figured out the people in Tong Cheng's team, but she was not familiar with Ma Li and Li Yi.
Then she looked at Tong Cheng: "How are your injuries?"
"Under normal circumstances, it will take a few more days to recover," Tong Cheng said.
Mu Nian blinked: "What about in abnormal situations?"
Tong Cheng raised his hand slightly and pointed at Li Jiuhe: "I was just discussing with him a way to help my injuries heal quickly."
"You actually have a solution? Tell me, do you need my help?"
"need."
"You're really not being polite," Mu Nian laughed. "Guess what I ran into when I came out of the airport?"
Tong Cheng hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Have you encountered any danger?"
Mu Nian nodded: "But it wasn't really dangerous. It's just that someone wanted to stop me, control me, and then force me to contact Li Jiuhe—"
'
She recounted what had happened, then turned to look at Li Jiuhe standing to the side: "So, is Li Jiuhe the focus of this matter?"
"Yes," Tong Cheng explained, "The person suspected of targeting him has connections to the Guan family, and their strength is no less than yours or mine."
"Indeed, he's no less capable than you or me. I even used special methods just now, but I still couldn't keep him," Mu Nian said.
Then a look of suspicion crossed her face: "And that person—tsk tsk, I don't know why, but I always feel there's something strange about him!"
Tong Cheng asked, "Did you sense the aura of the Guan family from Xiongfengling in this person?"
"Is it related to the Guan family?" Mu Nian hadn't thought of that. "That person just gave me a feeling that something wasn't real."
She then turned to Li Jiuhe and said, "Then there's nothing we can do. We don't have the strength or power to kill or arrest people in the Guan family. I can't even bear the Guan family's wrath. But if we only kill this guy from Yuanmeng City, and someone else takes all the consequences for me, then we can give it a try."
"I'll take responsibility for the consequences." Li Jiuhe stepped forward. "Investigator Mu, after hearing about what happened to you after leaving the airport, there's something that puzzles me. Based on my precognitive abilities, that guy can foresee things; he shouldn't fight a battle he's not confident in. Since he dared to attack you, nothing unexpected should have happened. Unless—something beyond his expectations occurs!"
Mu Nian looked at Li Jiuhe with admiration: "Not bad, that guy is very strong, and he launched a surprise attack on me."
If I had been alone at the time, I probably would have fallen for his trick.
As she spoke, she returned to her travel bag, opened it, rummaged around inside for a while, and soon took out a small porcelain figure about the size of a fist.
This little figure appears to be a type of blue and white porcelain. It looks like a child, sitting cross-legged on a blooming lotus seat, with its eyes looking down at its nose and its nose looking inward. Its features are well-proportioned, and its posture is upright, exuding a unique charm.
"This is—the Azure Lotus Child?" Tong Cheng recognized it at a glance.
The others looked over but remained silent, clearly having never seen anything like it before.
Tong Cheng explained, "The Azure Lotus Child is a sequence item, capable of eliminating almost all mental demons and illusions. It was taken in by Mu Nianna's deceased teacher years ago and has helped us solve many cases, making it practically a half-official investigator for the General Bureau."
"Yes," Mu Nian added, "The most important point is that it can sever the causal relationship of a specified event without intervening in any causal relationship itself, which is why that person did not discover it."
"Severing cause and effect?!" Luo Shuo trembled slightly upon hearing this word.
Back then, he was completely subdued by Gao Jingting, an investigator in Wangchuan City who had an extremely strong grasp of cause and effect, and his life trajectory changed from then on.
Upon learning that the blue-and-white porcelain-like boy also possessed similar abilities and appeared to be significantly more powerful than Gao Jingting, he became apprehensive.
Li Jiuhe's eyes lit up: "Then can we use the Azure Lotus Child to temporarily sever the karmic connection that person is targeting me?"
This matter is much more difficult than when Gao Jingting temporarily severed the causal link between Luo Shuo's robbery of the jewelry, because the objectives are different and the latter's strength is much greater.
Moreover, it is not about severing the thought of cause and effect, but about severing the cause and effect of the whole thing, allowing them to be temporarily separated, so as to achieve the same effect that the fusion of Nuo mask and facial makeup had on Li Jiuhe last time.
Mu Nian nodded and said, "It should be able to be interrupted temporarily, but it probably won't last long."
"How long?"
"At most a day, or maybe only half a day, it's uncertain."
"We should have enough time." Li Jiuhe glanced at Tong Cheng.
Tong Cheng nodded as well.
"Do you have any plans?" Mu Nian asked.
"Yes," Tong Cheng said. "We can't just sit here and wait to die, so we were discussing how to restore my strength as soon as possible when you arrived."
"What method is it? Tell me quickly!" Mu Nian asked curiously.
"I have a way to quickly restore my stage power, which is to perform my plays for audiences who are addicted to theater. The more audiences who are addicted to theater, the faster my stage power will recover, which will also help my injuries heal quickly."
Tong Cheng said, "And the addiction to acting is also a strange thing. I only found out after I became a Sequencer that there are actually Sequence Energy formed by the addiction to acting. These people—well, they are on the same Sequence Line as me, but at the very end. Their Sequence Ability can even cause them to undergo certain degrees of mutation."
This is actually easy to understand. Among the sequencers on the same sequence line, some have purer sequence energy, while others have more mixed energy.
The mixed energy is mostly located at the end of the sequence line, which may also lead to these sequencers being weaker.
However, if too much mixed energy becomes available, it may cause some kind of mutation in these sequencers or sequence objects.
From this point on, they were no longer weak, but rather a powerful and bizarre combination.
Mu Nian understood: "What are these Sequence Users called?"
"Actors," Tong Cheng explained, "a very niche group of sequence members, considered the bottom tier of my sequence line, but they shouldn't be underestimated."
Mu Nian smiled: "It's fortunate you're an investigator, and an upright one at that. If you were even slightly greedy or had no bottom line, you'd probably have reached the heavens long ago by secretly devouring these lowly, aspiring actors!"
Tong Cheng laughed and said, "Having the will is useless if you don't have the method to devour it."
The implication is that he has no idea how to devour other sequencers or sequence objects on the same sequence line.
Actually, if Xu Huaiyuan hadn't taken the initiative to pass on his abilities to him through Nuo Mask last time, and if their abilities hadn't been naturally compatible, Tong Cheng wouldn't have known how to absorb them.
However, even Mu Nian doesn't know how to actively devour other sequencers of the same sequence line; this requires mastering a special method.
Either some people are born with this method, or they have to pay a price to obtain it.
But even if they learn of the method, they may not necessarily do it.
Li Jiuhe continued, "You mean, we should use these drama enthusiasts to speed up your recovery? What should we do then?"
Tong Cheng took a red curtain out of the quilt; the curtain had now shrunk to the size of a towel.
"Just let theatrical addicts wear this curtain, and I can absorb their passion for acting. Then bring it back to me. Remember, aatrical addicts may be a bit eccentric, but don't kill them."
"But where are these theater addicts?" Luo Shuo asked.
Tong Cheng said, "As far as I know, there's a certain probability they'll appear in larger theaters, and Yuanmeng City happens to have the largest cinema in the entire Northwest. If you just follow the curtain, there's a good chance you'll find them."
"Okay, boss."
"Then we'll split up," Li Jiuhe said. "Ma Li and Li Yi will stay in the ward with Brother Tong. Investigator Mu, Luo Shuo, and I will go to the cinema."
Mu Nian smiled and said, "Just call me by my name. Actually, I'm not much older than you. Maybe we're the same age, or maybe I'm even a little younger."
Li Jiuhe pursed his lips, suppressing a smile.
"But before you leave, you must use the Azure Lotus Child to sever the karmic ties between Li Jiuhe and the mastermind, even if it only lasts for half a day," Tong Cheng reminded him.
"no problem."
"Let's not delay, let's begin now," Tong Cheng urged. "If you all progress smoothly, and your acting skills improve, strengthening my stage presence, my injuries should be about 80% healed by tomorrow at the latest. With Mu Nian's assistance, finding and dealing with the hidden mastermind shouldn't be difficult!"
Everyone immediately sprang into action.
Mu Nian directed Li Jiuhe to look at the blue lotus doll in her hand, then gently patted the side of the blue and white porcelain doll.
Li Jiuhe suddenly felt a refreshing breeze on his face. He blinked twice quickly, then realized it was probably just his imagination.
Upon closer inspection of the Azure Lotus Boy, it was suddenly discovered that his mouth was wide open and his expression had changed; he was actually laughing heartily.
Mu Nian asked, "Tell me, what did you see?"
Li Jiuhe said, "The boy's expression is different from before; he's laughing heartily."
The others looked at the Azure Lotus Child in Mu Nian's hand with surprise, and found that its expression was exactly the same as before, without any change.
"Only you can see the changes in the child's expression. A hearty laugh means that the effect of severing cause and effect has been maximized, and the target that has been severed will not think of you for the time being. If the hearty laugh turns into a smile, it means that the effect has weakened. If it is just a slight upturn of the corners of the mouth, or if the smile has stopped, it may fail at any time."
Mu Nian quickly explained, "Now carry the boy with you, and remember to take it out and check it every now and then so that we can adjust the plan accordingly."
"Okay." Li Jiuhe took the Green Lotus Boy and put it into his satchel.
Now is the time to sever the cause and effect to be most effective. He and Ma Li went downstairs to buy some daily necessities and food, and then went with Mu Nian and Luo Shuo to the largest cinema in Yuanmeng City.
They now need to race against time to seize the initiative as quickly as possible.
If we have the ability to catch or kill the mastermind behind it all, we might have a chance to uncover the truth behind the whole thing.
As a well-known cinema in Northwest China, the largest cinema in Yuanmeng City is called "Northwest Cinema".
The theater consists of three white tower-like buildings, each with various theaters and cinemas on different floors.
Some are movie screening rooms, some are dedicated to crosstalk and drama performances, and there are also various stage plays and dramas, basically covering all forms of performance that can be seen.
Therefore, the Northwest Cinema is always bustling at any time, with audiences and theatergoers going to watch every day.
Two-thirds of the audience were not from Yuanmeng City, but came from other regions and cities.
On the way to his homeland, Li Jiuhe learned about Mu Nian's abilities, but not in great detail.
Mu Nian has a nickname—Spider Woman.
This makes people who hear her name immediately think that she must be good at all kinds of oaths, and may even be able to spin silk.
But since Mu Nian was able to become the first Special Investigator of the General Bureau, her abilities should not be as impressive as they appear on the surface.
The three arrived at the cinema quickly.
Looking at the three buildings standing close together like white towers, Li Jiuhe swallowed hard and looked at Luo Shuo: "Where should we start our search?"
Luo Shuo was holding the red curtain that Tong Cheng had given him.
Through the screen, he could gain some potential guidance, roughly knowing which places were more likely to attract theater enthusiasts.
After all, there were no traces left by any particular theater enthusiast on the surface of this red curtain, so Luo Shuo's tracking was not very clear, and he only had a vague target.
He pointed to the white tower building in the middle: "This theater seems more reliable, so why don't we start here?"
""
Li Jiuhe smiled and said slyly, "This is the first time I've heard you sound so insecure."
Luo Shuo laughed too: "There's nothing we can do, we don't have enough tracking information."
Mu Nian then said to Luo Shuo, "Your abilities are already quite good. After things settle down here, come and help me with something. I also need your help in tracking something."
"No problem, Investigator Mu." Luo Shuo nodded.
He then pointed to the top floor of the White Pagoda building and said, "Actually, I've been here before. I listened to a performance by Mr. Lan Xi, a great opera master from the Tian Shu Kingdom, on the top floor."
"You also enjoy listening to opera?" Li Jiuhe was curious, after all, he had never seen Luo Shuo show any love for opera before.
Luo Shuo scratched the back of his head: "Uh, well, the exhibition of rare artifacts from Hengdai that was held at the same time as Mr. Lan Xi was also on the top floor."
"I understand." Li Jiuhe nodded meaningfully.
Mu Nian looked at the two of them with a bit of confusion.
As the three entered the hall, they saw several performance announcement racks on the ground floor, displaying shows that were currently being performed or would be performed soon.
"Let's start looking from the top floor," Luo Shuo said, pointing to one of the promotional posters.
The poster shows the performance of a famous drama troupe, and the performance venue is on the top floor of this building.
"Let's go." Mu Nian walked to the front desk, showed her ID, and then asked the staff member Lan to bring the manager.
The identification she presented was a police officer's ID card, which Tong Cheng also had. This would make it easier for them to handle matters without having to constantly bring the police officer's ID card.
Sometimes they just act as police officers to handle well-related matters, since the police have to listen to them anyway.
Soon a slightly overweight man arrived. Mu Nian told him that the three of them were looking for someone from the theater and asked him not to make a fuss, but to let them search secretly.
The portly manager immediately agreed and had the staff give each of the three of them a temporary pass, which allowed them to enter and exit various theaters, including those in the theaters in the other two buildings.
After getting their passes, the three headed straight for the top floor.
Because it was the weekend, the midday performance of the play was about to begin. Although Hall 1 of the theater was the largest and had the largest capacity, it was already almost full.
After the three entered the theater, the lights in the audience seats were turned off, and only the stage lights were on.
Background music is playing, introducing the story's background.
"It's already started. The audience seats are too dark, so it's not easy to find them," Li Jiuhe said softly.
Luo Shuo quickly stroked the red curtain in his hand, his eyes narrowing slightly, and said, "Just now, Boss Tong was being a bit rude. To the naked eye, opera addicts look like those old smokers; just looking at them makes you feel uncomfortable. That's not easy for us to distinguish. But in this situation, we can only rely on our tracking ability. Let me sense it again."
Mu Nian didn't speak at this moment, but walked to the corner of the wall by the door, leaned against the wall, and quickly scanned the dark audience seats.
With just Li Jiuhe and Luo Shuo, handling these theater enthusiasts shouldn't be a problem.
She was only there as a precaution, so Mu Nian wouldn't take action unless absolutely necessary.
Before long, Luo Shuo located a general area, and then he and Li Jiuhe approached that area together.
Standing on the steps of the side passageway, he pointed to this area and whispered, "These three rows, the most suspicious audience members are in the middle seats."
Li Jiuhe looked up and realized that the area covered approximately seventeen spectators.
Just then, he suddenly became alert and immediately checked the task he had previously defined to deal with the mastermind. He found that the task information had changed.
This was the first time he had seen a change occur after a task was set up, and the biggest change was in the task level.
The original mission level was IV-level B, which was the highest level mission he had ever handled so far.
But just now, after entering this movie theater, the mission level suddenly increased, and it skipped a level.
"V-rated, D-rated!"
Li Jiuhe's heart pounded as he stared in astonishment at the suddenly changed level.
He had considered the existence of "Level V" missions, but they must be extremely rare, and with his current abilities, he was unlikely to encounter one.
I never expected to encounter such a high-level quest!
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