ACIFITFDB – Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Brother… The Country Needs You Now…

Path of Communicating with Ghosts? Ghost-taming Art? A joke.

“So this is how you were all tricked?” Qin Xian chuckled.

The胖子 immediately became agitated. “Tricked!? Isn’t this real? Look at these things. We used to think there were no ghosts in the world, but then our boss opened our eyes. We also gained magical powers, we’re not ordinary people anymore!”

Well, it seems they were indeed dim-witted, so it was normal for them to be deceived. But it was also troublesome, as there were many idiots in society. Now that they had aberrant powers, even two people could cause significant casualties. It seemed difficult to have peace in the future.

“Aren’t you afraid of serious consequences from interacting with these eldritch things?”

Compared to legendary ghosts and monsters, aberrant entities were far more terrifying. Their feeding and growth weren’t simply about eating a few people, but about finding ways to expand their “pollution,” assimilating or devouring more people.

Powerful aberrant entities could control more than half a city in one go, and S-class aberrant entities were rumored to pollute an entire province.

No one who dealt with such things had a good outcome. During the Infinite Flow World, some people chose to cooperate with aberrant entities or seek power from them, but the result was always assimilation through pollution.

“You’re lucky, I’m planning to save your lives,” Qin Xian suddenly said.

The胖子’s eyes lit up. “You’re going to let us go!?”

Qin Xian’s expression was strangely kind. “How could I? I’ll send you to have some tea.”

Once in jail, you can sever your connection with the eldritch.

The胖子 was stunned for a moment before understanding the meaning, and immediately began to struggle. “F your mother! This is what you call…”

“Crack!”

A black whip flashed like lightning and struck the concrete slab at his feet. The concrete slab directly split in two, the crack extending all the way under his buttocks.

His buttocks clearly felt the vibration, and a part of them even felt a bit numb.

“Ugh… I’ll listen to you, I’ll listen to you!”

Qin Xian calmly put away the whip and commanded, “Carry him and go find the police over there. Speaking of which, why aren’t the police here after all this commotion? Did you use some kind of item?”

“It was Talisman Paper. If you light it nearby, it makes people who approach walk into a ghost maze…”

Interesting.

“Let me see it.”

“It’s… it’s all burned. We only have one.”

Qin Xian snorted coldly and walked slowly behind him. At the same time, he searched his memory for any items or aberrant entities with such abilities, perhaps related to illusionary powers?

The range of this ghost maze was very small. As soon as they walked out of the tidal flat area, a strong beam of light from a flashlight shone over. Qin Xian squinted in annoyance and said to the胖子, “Go turn yourself in.”

The胖子 swallowed and nodded. After taking a few steps, he suddenly rushed towards the police, pointing at Qin Xian in fear and shouting, “Officers, he has a gun!!”

“Tsk.”

Qin Xian’s face darkened. He had originally planned to slip away once they approached the police, but now he had to go to the police station.

He took out a dusty, tattered burlap sack and handed it to the police.

The police officer opened the package and was stunned. He drew his gun from his waist and shouted at the three of them, “Don’t move! Hands on your head, squat down!”

Qin Xian sighed and complied, squatting down.

He had never experienced being pointed at by a police gun in his life.

The police officer was highly tense and directly used his walkie-talkie to call for reinforcements.

After a chattering explanation of the situation, two more police officers drew their guns, while the rest cautiously approached them to search them.

Just as they were about to search him, Qin Xian suddenly heard a familiar voice.

“Hey? Brother Qin, is that really you? I was just thinking of finding time to invite you over, and here you are, coming to my doorstep?”

Qin Xian rolled his eyes directly. “Huang Quxie? You’re in charge of this precinct?”

“That’s right.”

“Heh, I’m truly unlucky. My dog was barking wildly when I left home today, and it turns out nothing good would happen.”

Huang Quxie smiled and pulled him up. “Don’t say that. You haven’t committed any crimes, why are you afraid of us police?”

He greeted his colleagues. “This is the person who saved me and that pair of siblings yesterday. The guns should belong to those two. Let them in.”

The other three police officers nodded, but still nervously held their guns and riot shields, following closely.

Upon entering the interrogation room, the two were secured in interrogation chairs for questioning. Qin Xian was taken to the questioning room.

He sat down with a displeased expression, while Huang Quxie smiled, poured him a glass of water, and sat opposite him.

Huang Quxie spoke first. “Back in Fanggu Village, I knew you weren’t an ordinary person. I didn’t expect you to be that Passer, Xuan? Your name also has the character ‘Xuan,’ so you used this codename? Right, Comrade Qin Xian?”

Qin Xian crossed his legs, took a sip of water, and then slowly replied, “Your investigation is quite fast, Officer Huang Dehui.”

Huang Dehui was stunned for a moment, pondering how Qin Xian knew his real name, then suddenly remembered that the names and positions of all police officers were posted in the police station lobby.

Huang Dehui generously laughed. “There are rumors that one shouldn’t use their real name when dealing with ghosts and monsters, so I took the alias ‘Quxie.’ Most of you don’t use your real names either, do you?”

Qin Xian repeated his words. “You? It seems you know a lot. Tell me, how much has your police force learned?”

Huang Dehui replied, “I’m just a low-level police officer, I don’t know much. Roughly, that another space exists, and humans are drawn into it to participate in death games. One person won and came out, and the others brought back monsters from that world to return.”

“That’s all?” Qin Xian asked.

Huang Dehui nodded. “That’s all.”

“Then what countermeasures do you have now? Are the recent incidents in the city caused by other players?”

“Some of them are, but as they spread the Guǐyì Seed, many new aberrant entities have also been born here. I really don’t understand. The logic of bringing back aberrant entities to return to the real world is easy to understand, but why do they spare no effort in spreading them after returning?! They’ve even created some cults…”

Huang Dehui became more and more indignant as he spoke. “They’ve already brought disaster, why continue to aid and abet?! Why harm their own countrymen! Aren’t they human?”

He slammed his fist on the table, his brows furrowed, his expression grim, wishing he could find a player who aided and abetted and tear them apart right now.

Qin Xian silently drank some water and said calmly, “It’s quite normal. They are already bound to the aberrant entities. Spreading aberrant entities simply increases their own power. With power, they can gain wealth and status.”

Huang Dehui gritted his teeth. “Damn it, I really want to shoot them all! Actually, when I first knew you were a player, I also wanted to kill you.”

Qin Xian gave a fake smile. “Oh? Is that so?”

Huang Dehui nodded. “But you didn’t seem like a bad person, and you saved people back then, so I hesitated. After reporting back, I learned that you are the only Passer. You are truly amazing.”

“You flatter me. Your police force knows this because you’ve caught players before, right? You learned this from their mouths?” Qin Xian asked.

“Yes, but the information we have is only your codename and frequently used weapon. We don’t know anything else. Those in charge have been looking for you, but haven’t seen any trace of you. Where have you been hiding for the past two months?”

“Two months?” Qin Xian frowned and said, “In my own perception, I only returned a few days ago.”

Heh, he didn’t expect the Main God to leave him such a big pit. His return time was inconsistent with other players.

“Is that so… Did the Main God control your return time? Then it’s strange, why didn’t the Main God just kill you? After all, it has such immense power…”

“Who knows.”

Of course, there were still world rules above the Main God. In the Infinite Flow World, aberrant entities had to act according to the rules. For example, if the game rules of a dungeon were that everyone would survive and receive rewards after winning, then they had to abide by it, and couldn’t change their minds and kill everyone after the game ended.

No one knew what this “rule” specifically was, but even the Main God had to abide by it. The Main God had once promised that the final winner of the game could leave the Infinite Flow World and return to reality, so it had to let people go back.

It was just unexpected that this cunning fellow would tamper with the timing.

“…”

Seeing that Qin Xian didn’t want to talk more, Huang Dehui immediately changed the subject. “Do you want to join us?”

Qin Xian: “No.”

“Not joining our small police station, but a higher-up organization. Someone up there wants to recruit you, with a salary.”

Qin Xian’s mouth twitched. “You’re talking as if I’m a rebel.”

Huang Dehui quickly corrected himself. “Ah, I’ve said that phrase too much. It’s not recruitment, it’s a sincere invitation.”

“I won’t come,” Qin Xian refused decisively.

He didn’t want to take orders from others, let alone work a job. In this chaotic period, he would definitely be extremely busy if he joined. Moreover, he was sure that those at the top wouldn’t fully trust him.

“Alas… Brother… The country needs you now…”

“Don’t elevate me to that level. I’m just an ordinary person, how much power can I have?”

Huang Dehui’s mouth widened exaggeratedly. “Ordinary person? You mean someone who can defeat a giant aberrant entity and just now single-handedly apprehended two armed criminals?”

Qin Xian remained silent, but his expression was impatient, and he turned his head to the side, looking as if he would turn and leave at any moment.

Knowing he couldn’t persuade him, Huang Dehui could only sigh. “Alright, it seems I can’t convince you. Let’s change the topic. Tell me about those two people. What did you encounter?”

Qin Xian turned his head back and replied, “I heard there was an explosion, so I wanted to check the situation. Then these two attacked me. They are from an organization called the Path of Communicating with Ghosts. The liquefied gas explosion was also their doing. This organization might be deliberately creating aberrant entities, do you know?”

Huang Dehui replied grimly, “I know. We’ve arrested several people from the Path of Communicating with Ghosts. It seems there are a few players among the higher-ups of this organization. They use aberrant entities to pretend to be gods and ghosts, attracting a large number of idle individuals to join them. Initially, it was just about scamming money, but now they are committing all sorts of heinous acts like murder, arson, and drug trafficking. We’ve been trying to arrest them for a long time, but we’ve only caught the lower and middle-level members. We haven’t even seen a shadow of the organizers.”

Has the situation become this chaotic? No wonder there have been frequent news reports of casualties in the city… no, across the entire country.

Author’s Note:

———————-

The dog at home: Woof… (When are you coming back!)

I thought of a super interesting plot point!

“Everyone Around Me Are My Summons!?”

Shen Rui transmigrated into a Western fantasy world and became a summoner who had just enrolled.

Magic was difficult to learn, and he couldn’t summon any beasts, so Shen Rui felt his days were exceptionally tough. Sitting in class, he imagined:

The beautiful and gentle teacher on the podium looked like a cat with heterochromia and curly fur. The top student next to him looked like a wise golden retriever. The arrogant second-generation heir looked like an enraged hamster.

In his final assessment before being advised to withdraw, Shen Rui casually waved his staff and chanted a spell, successfully summoning a beautiful cat with heterochromia.

The cat looked surprised and confused, its limbs uncoordinated as it fell heavily.

Shen Rui quickly scooped up the cat and kissed it: You are my first summoned beast, don’t get hurt.

After that, he summoned a confused golden retriever, a squeaking hamster, a sharp-eyed falcon… Why do these summoned beasts look more and more like the people around him?

——————

Mini Theater 1:

Xivil: We need a mount. What mountable creature do you think the principal looks like?

Shen Rui: The teacher!!?

——————

A funny, protagonist-centered comedy. All friends and classmates who become summoned beasts dote on the protagonist, and the protagonist also dotes on all the fluffy creatures he summons.

The seemingly cute and well-behaved summoner is a black-bellied manipulator when cut open x the beautiful and elegant summoner is even darker when cut open, with a playful attribute.