Chapter 231: Chapter 231 – Everything He Says Comes True

Early in the morning the day after Ren Xingmei left, Ren Suo was approached by the Countermeasure Division and was asked to assist them in their investigations.

It was not only him who was asked to assist them—Gu Yueyan was also requested to head over to Xiang City.

Upon receiving the news, Dong Chengling also decided to follow them on her own accord. She said, “With my space ability, I would be able to pull you away from danger in time. Moreover, since both of you would not be in the school, there would not be a point for me to cook.”

Since Dong Chengling offered to help, the Countermeasure Division naturally accepted her goodwill. They truly needed Dong Chengling’s assistance and had actually been deliberating over how to ask her for her assistance.

At present, the Changjiang Practitioners and the various team leaders of the Countermeasure Division were leading Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan closer to the mystery realm. They were observing whether any abnormal events would occur as they inched closer.

Qiao Muyi said, “The space inside is no longer ordinary space. We are calling it the ‘mystery realm’ for now.”

Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan were directly involved in the previous incident at the lake, which was why they were ‘abducted’ to assist in the investigations. As such, it naturally followed that they should be told certain information, and Qiao Muyi explained:

“Currently, we have three pieces of intelligence: firstly, all non-living objects and ordinary people are unable to enter the mystery realm. All attacks against it are useless, and only Practitioners are able to feel the attractive pull of the mystery realm and are able to enter without obstructions. Secondly, a space definitely exists within it, but the size of that space is not known. Thirdly, remote-controlled equipment like drones are unable to enter into the mystery realm as they will be blocked by what seems like an invisible barrier.”

“To be safe and find out what is inside, a Practitioner with a ‘clone’ ability sent his clone into the mystery realm…”

Ren Suo was slightly surprised and asked, “A clone ability? Does that mean he can create a clone who is exactly the same as him?”

“I have no comments about that,” Qiao Muyi replied.

She continued, “All I can say is that after the clone entered the mystery realm, contact with it was lost. In theory, the link between the clone and the original body is far stronger than that of all wireless communication methods existing today.”

“Furthermore, even if contact with the clone was lost, the clone should leave the mystery realm and return upon being ordered to do so by the Practitioner. However, even until the Practitioner was no longer able to maintain casting the ability, the clone did not reappear.”

“We need to know what is going on inside so that the Countermeasure System and the military can devise plans accordingly. However, the inside and the outside world are completely isolated. It is also highly possible that we are unable to enter freely, and sending Practitioners in could well be sending them to their deaths.”

Qiao Muyi looked at the two of them and asked, “The appearance of the mystery realm is related to the extraordinary event which you guys encountered on the 5th of July, right?”

Although it was a question, Qiao Muyi’s tone sounded more declarative. Besides, if the Countermeasure System had not believed that those two events were related, they would not have brought the two of them over so hastily.

Ren Suo took a glance at Gu Yueyan and realized that she was looking blankly at the marshmallow. Her face was crimson-red as she remained deep in thought, so Ren Suo replied, “The two events must be related then. The feeling that the mystery realm gives me is exactly the same as what I felt when I saw the Holy Grail at the bottom of the lake that night—it feels as tempting as a 99% OFF sale.”

The comparison Ren Suo used was straightforward and easy to understand. Li Dan said, “The Countermeasure Division believes that the two of you may have a special connection with the mystery realm, which was why both of you were asked to come over. You would not be required to put yourselves in any danger, and it would be sufficient if you are able to make the mystery realm change just slightly.”

The captain of the Changjiang Practitioners said, “The mystery realm is currently expanding.”

“Last night, the mystery realm had not yet reached the shore, but now even the lake cannot be seen.”

Ren Suo thought that his voice sounded very familiar. He looked around to find the source of the voice and indeed, it turned out to be Yuan Dang!

Compared to when they were still at the mass training for civil servants, Yuan Dang’s round face was now more angular, looking more mature. He was also much more tanned, and his eyes were shining with energy. Noticing Ren Suo’s gaze, Yuan Dang smiled slightly back at him.

The captain of the Changjiang Practitioners said, “If both of you are unable to cause any changes to the mystery realm, we, the Changjiang Force, would have to risk the danger and head in to find out what is inside.”

He turned to look at Ren Suo and continued, “Let’s perform our duties well then.”

“Please do not have any high expectations,” Ren Suo replied.

Ren Suo smiled bitterly and continued, “You should be able to feel the temptation of the mystery realm too, right? The reason why we encountered that extraordinary event the previous time was merely because we are Practitioners, and not because we have any special qualities.”

Li Dan said, “Ren Suo, you were the first person to raise your suspicions about the peculiarities here and thought that there existed a secret hidden here. Feel free to tell us about your opinions, the Countermeasure Division trusts you.”

Those around him were visibly surprised, apart from Qiao Muyi who already knew that Ren Suo was a researcher. Even Gu Yueyan looked at Ren Suo with a look of surprise.

Li Dan felt the need to explain and said, “I trust in his judgments.”

After a pause, he added, “Deputy Director Yu also believes in him.”

Following the several important reports that Ren Suo had submitted which helped the Countermeasure Division, they were reciprocally extremely supportive of his judgments at that juncture. It was Ren Suo’s chance to boldly assert his ‘wild speculations’:

“I think that what we should do now is to wait.”

A look of disapproval emerged on the face of the captain of the Changjiang Practitioners. He remarked, “That’s too conservative.”

Ren Suo said, “First and foremost, what we need to do now is to gather intelligence on whether such ‘mystery realms’ only appeared in Xuan Nation.”

Having been through the third-person perspective in the game, Ren Suo slowly disclosed the information he already knew. He continued, “Did ‘mystery realms’ also appear in other nations? If so, we can think of ways to observe them using satellites—the mystery realms are too huge to be able to be concealed in a short period of time.”

“It appeared in other nations as well?”

The others did not fully believe in Ren Suo’s assertion. After all, how could such an extraordinary event happen all at the same time around the globe? How could volcanoes around the world all erupt at the same time?

The probability of a mystery realm appearing was not much higher than a volcano erupting.

Ren Suo naturally understood their doubts and continued, “Do you think this is a natural phenomenon due to Reiki energy? However, if it were a natural phenomenon, why did it attempt to lure and harm me and student Gu over ten days ago? Why did it disappear then when the Countermeasure Division was searching for clues after the incident?”

“I think that there must be a stronger force which is constructing this stage. Given that such a peculiar mystery realm could be created, I’m sure that this ‘stage’ would certainly not only be prepared for our nation.”

“It naturally follows that the actors on this ‘stage’ would be the humans on Earth.”

The captain of the Changjiang Practitioners shook his head and said, “This is just your speculation.”

Ren Suo smiled and said, “Just like your discovery of the mystery realm of Island Lake, news of the emergence of other mystery realms in other nations would quickly spread here, should there be any. The mystery realm is simply too huge and too easily visible, so it cannot be easily concealed.”

At that juncture, Li Dan signaled to everyone to stop moving forward. He took out a heavy-looking brick phone—it was simply enormous compared to the present-day smartphones that were sold on the market—and squinted at it. There were still dark eye circles around his eyes. He glanced at Ren Suo, contemplated for a moment, then said:

“General information from the Countermeasure Division: Extraordinary phenomena that are extremely similar to the mystery realm has appeared in Cambridge in the UK, Birdsville in Australia, and Salt Lake in the Federation. The specific time of appearance of the phenomena all fall between July 23 to 24, less than 24 hours of one another.”

Li Dan was there, not just to escort Ren Suo and the rest of them. As combat troops who were dispatched by the Lianjiang Countermeasure Division, their main purpose was to increase the strength of the Extraordinaire forces of Xiang City.

No one wanted to underestimate such an unpredictable and unexplainable extraordinary phenomenon.

Moreover, the military had already rained a round of heavy firepower on the outer surface of the mystery realm, but the mystery realm remained almost completely undamaged. On the other hand, only Practitioners could enter the mystery realm to scout. In such a situation, the Xiang City Countermeasure System had no other choice but to prepare for other plans—including summoning all Extraordinary units in Lian Province.

Since Li Dan represented all of the Lian Province forces there, he knew the combat power of Lianjiang City, and naturally, no one doubted his words. Everyone immediately turned to scrutinize Ren Suo.

“… I was just lucky and guessed correctly, haha,” Ren Suo said. He had not expected that it would be so coincidental either and laughed it off.

“Truly, you’re a man whom Yu Kuangtu believes in,” the captain of the Changjiang Practitioners said. He added extremely politely, “I’m sorry for being rude just now.”

Ren Suo replied, “It’s alright, it is only normal for you to have your doubts just now. Even Yu Kuangtu and the rest would not believe me so easily.”

Li Dan shook his head and said, “No, I will believe you.”

Qiao Muyi looked at Li Dan in a slight surprise.

The captain of the Changjiang Practitioners nodded at Ren Suo and said, “I am Cheng Wenchao from the Changjiang Force. I will consider your deductions seriously.”

“I am Ren Suo, a healing Practitioner in the Heavenly Institution of Lian,” Ren Suo said.

“What do we do next? Do we just wait and see how other nations would react to the appearance of the mystery realm?” Cheng Wenchao asked.

Ren Suo immediately shook his head and replied, “No! If there are changes to our mystery realm, we can attempt to go in. We know too little about the mystery realm, but we can act slowly if the mystery realm remains the same, since other nations would certainly head in to explore out of curiosity.”

“However, if there are any changes to the mystery realm, it means that the mystery realm may disappear, or something else could happen. Regardless, you will definitely not miss it if there are any changes to the mystery realm, even if I do not point it out.”

Gu Yueyan, who had been watching Ren Suo go on eloquently about his speculations, walked over suddenly and asked, “How are you so sure that there would be changes to the mystery realm? Also, what kind of changes are you talking about? Isn’t the fact that it is constantly growing bigger a change as well?”

At that juncture, the group of them were already standing right outside the ‘marshmallow’ of the mystery realm. The Changjiang Practitioner who was standing at the very front was merely three steps away from the marshmallow, and it could be considered a wild test on the edge of life and death.

Although Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan were that close to the mystery realm, no changes to the mystery realm occurred. The Countermeasure personnel and the Changjiang Practitioners gave up on the idea of a ‘bait’. However, they were intrigued by Ren Suo’s speculations, while Gu Yueyan aptly pointed out their doubts.

Ren Suo certainly could not say that he had learned that ‘changes to the outside of the mystery realm would occur when fighting the boss’ from the outsiders in the checkpoint in the game. As such, he came up with a nonsensical reason and said, “The fact that the mystery realm is growing larger implies that the mystery realm is attempting to acquire more space. That is a spontaneous behavior of the mystery realm. Currently, the inside world of the mystery realm is isolated from the outside world and nothing from the inside is exposed. Just as ‘an honest man has nothing to hide’, we should otherwise plan our next course of action with the assumption that the mystery realm will bring unpredictable disastrous consequences as a primary consideration.”

The mystery realm appeared so mysteriously, and it also appeared around the world, so it was very difficult to believe that it signified something good. The military and the Countermeasure System was also acting on such a premise; otherwise, were the firearms all set up because they were participating in a military exercise?

After spouting a few lines of ‘nonsense’ to buy time for himself, Ren Suo finally had a bolt of inspiration and thought of a reason.

He asked, “This is such an extraordinary and large-scale special phenomenon, which could even lead to disastrous consequences. Don’t you think that the Heavenly Palace, or perhaps some other extraordinary force, would intervene?”

Li Dan, Cheng Wenchao, and the others instantly froze.

He continued, “If they did intervene, they would possibly enter the mystery realm without us knowing, since those extraordinary forces have always appeared and disappeared elusively. When they fought in the mystery realm, or otherwise when they were doing other things inside, it would be very likely that the appearance of the mystery realm would change strangely!”

“Nothing is invincible. Since the mystery realm cannot be damaged from the outside, then the inside could be its weakness!”

Gu Yueyan snorted and said, “Isn’t all of that still mere speculation? There are too many assumptions, and if any one of them does not hold, the mystery realm might not change at all.”

Ren Suo nodded and said, “You’re right. However, I believe in my research. I have studied the extraordinary forces like the Heavenly Palace, as well as about mysterious phenomena, for such a long time, so I trust in my judgments.”

——After all, Ren Suo had looked through the intranet for one to two hours every day and could be considered to have researched with much effort.

He remembered that in the game, the ‘outsiders’ mentioned that the changes to the mystery realm were extremely obvious, so he tried to describe some changes which would be more obvious. He said, “Should the mystery realm change in appearance, it may be changes in color or morphological changes. For example, it could start rolling…”

As Ren Suo spoke, his voice gradually became softer. He blinked as he looked up at the huge ‘marshmallow’ right in front of hi—it suddenly started turning, and the vibrant light which engulfed it also changed. The changes grew more rapidly as the ‘marshmallow’ turned, and eventually, it turned into a deep black color!

“It really… changed?” Cheng Wenchao and the other Practitioners gasped as their eyes widened.

Gu Yueyan subconsciously grabbed Ren Suo’s arm, while Ren Suo was also dumbfounded at that moment. Looking at the huge black marshmallow in front of him, he subconsciously checked his equipment slot —

He was not equipped with [Small Holy Grail of Purity]! Why was everything coming true just as he said them?!