It wasn't exactly comfortable either.
Before he could run far, this body died.
Squatting next to the corpse, Zheng Fan held his head in silence.
"Bro, you don't just randomly scam people like this. This has absolutely nothing to do with me," he said.
Of course, the corpse in front of him wouldn't give any feedback.
He recorded it: corpses cannot be possessed.
Finally, he tried to cheer the corpse up, shouting, "Don't underestimate our bond!" but there was no response, which was a pity.
Zheng Fan reluctantly rubbed this powerful body. If anyone saw it, they would most likely suspect he was a homosexual necrophiliac.
Suddenly, after Zheng Fan pinched the corpse in front of him a few times, it wriggled and turned into a black bead similar to his previous "main body."
However, this bead also seemed unusable for possession.
Zheng Fan carefully examined the bead for a while, sensing that it seemed to contain some kind of power.
It looked like a Malteser, making him want to eat it and try, but he restrained this rash thought.
Standing up, he was now on the rooftop of a building, with a wide view of the surrounding area.
It was an unfamiliar, huge metropolis, brightly lit at night, displaying its prosperity.
After watching for a while, Zheng Fan didn't stay long and turned to leave.
He no longer had a "main body."
According to what those people said before, an illusion wanting to touch reality must use someone as a medium.
If he didn't find a new host, would he be stuck here as a wandering ghost forever?
… …
A month later.
Zheng Fan lay on a park bench in the city, staring blankly at the white clouds drifting across the sky.
He couldn't find it.
He simply couldn't find it. Since the beginning, he had wandered the city, trying to find something he could touch, but he couldn't. And still, no one could interact with him in any way.
Even though supernatural elements were very common in this world, almost public in this super metropolis called "Dadu", known as the center of this world.
But one supernatural element doesn't mean it can solve another. Zheng Fan was in such a situation now.
Waving in front of those so-called supernatural experts didn't elicit any reaction from them.
"It would be better to be taken away and destroyed," Zheng Fan said.
In this month, he roughly understood the situation of this world.
In Dadu, based on people's psychology, behavior, expression, concepts, cognition, etc., many different "colored" "worlds" were separated.
Most areas of the city were white, peaceful worlds, with daily life and economic operations as the main expression. Violent behavior would be restricted or even prohibited there.
Where he was now, and where he had escaped from before, were collectively called Grey District.
It was an unsecured area, where world overlaps often occurred, strange events were common, and things left over from world overlaps roamed there, mixed together.
Including the illusion like himself.
And… …
Zheng Fan recalled the first sight he had of this world, the blackness he had seen.
The Black World of fantasy. With vain, unrealistic fantasies, and uncontrolled desires as the main expression. The source of supernatural elements in this world.
This world did not exist in reality, but only triggered various anomalies when it overlapped with the world of human perception.
illusions were born this way.
He was an illusion.
Sorting out his thoughts, Zheng Fan felt inexplicably sleepy and was about to close his eyes and fall asleep.
Suddenly, a shadow covered him, blocking his sunlight.
He opened his eyes and looked at the person who came.
A young girl.
The most striking feature was a delicate face, brown shoulder-length inward-curling fluffy short hair, but with two faint horizontal scars, distributed on the right cheek and below the left eye, respectively. The shallow scars were still conspicuous against the fair skin, ruining this beauty.
A white shirt, a black coat that was slightly too large for her, and a pleated skirt paired with a pair of slender white legs.
A regrettable beauty.
After Zheng Fan came to this conclusion, he got up, thinking that she wanted to sit on this chair. Even if he couldn't touch her, he didn't want to inexplicably "clip" together with someone, especially being sat on.
Maybe some perverts would enjoy it.
Of course, Zheng Fan, as an Illusion, had been free to come and go during this time, and had seen what he should and shouldn't have seen. He was tired of the dark fantasies in ordinary people's minds.
"Slightly natural curls, grey eyes, Chinese appearance, black windbreaker, white inner lining, straight trousers, boots… indeed, just as I thought, an uncompromisingly handsome guy."
But the words that came out of this girl's mouth immediately made Zheng Fan stop.
He looked at her, his eyes narrowed: "You can see me?"
"I can see you very clearly," she replied.
She can also talk to him.
"I can also touch you," she stretched out her hand again.
Zheng Fan hesitated slightly and reached out to shake her hand.
The warm touch, he could feel the delicate skin, real.
Zheng Fan felt it and withdrew his hand: "So you're saying?"
"Sight, hearing, touch. The three preliminary stages of invasion are perfectly satisfied. Even if I want to resist now, you, as such a powerful Illusion, can easily suppress me, right?" she said bluntly.
Just as she was about to continue, Zheng Fan raised his hand to silence her.
He stood up, his tall figure allowing him to look down at the girl in front of him: "Name?"
"Lin Yilin," she maintained eye contact with Zheng Fan, her tone with little fluctuation.
"Zero One Zero?"
"You're probably reciting numbers, but it doesn't matter. It's easy for you to remember as long as it's recognizable," Lin Yilin added.
This little girl has quite strong insight.
"You came to find me specifically? How did you do it?" Zheng Fan had been observing his surroundings since just now, considering whether this might be a trap, but there was no reaction around, it didn't seem like those uniformed people had come to his door.
This Lin Yilin gave him the feeling more like those folk groups he had seen more often these days, the people called Processing Bureau.
"You've been active in Beixiao Road recently, generating multiple sighting records. I intentionally collected information about this and tracked your whereabouts."
"Wait, someone can see me?" Zheng Fan immediately frowned.
"Yes, many illusions, even if they don't succeed in invading, can create subtle connections with reality when they are active, manifesting as people mistakenly seeing your image or hearing your voice."
Zheng Fan stroked his chin and pondered.
This isn't good…
He hopes no one saw him doing those dirty deeds these past few days.
Lin Yilin continued, "Also, some time ago, during the Black World overlap event on April 31st, the Processing Bureau of Xixikeke Street allowed an Integrated illusion to escape."
Zheng Fan turned to look at her again: "Is this when you started actively gathering information about me?"
Lin Yilin nodded in confirmation.
Zheng Fan sat back on the long chair, crossing his legs nonchalantly: "Alright, then what's the purpose of you going to such lengths to find me? In your eyes, I should be some terrifying being."
"Black is terrifying, but it's also an opportunity," Lin Yilin replied. "I need your help."
…
Number 102 Xiding Road, Xixikeke Street. Zheng Fan looked at the sign for "Zero One Office". It was a pretty good sign, but it seemed to have been vandalized and damaged. Lin Yilin nonchalantly took out a key from her bag, opened the door, and walked in.
The place wasn't very big, and the style was simple. It looked a bit old, but with careful arrangement, it created a classic and rustic feel.
Deeper inside the room was a large desk, and in the middle was a reception area with two large sofas covered in dust and a single small sofa. The small sofa was particularly exquisite, with high-quality leather and no dust.
"Please, make yourself at home," Lin Yilin said, putting down her bag.
"No need for formalities, just get to the point," Zheng Fan said, looking around.
Lin Yilin glanced around the interior of the office and said, "This is my office. It mainly handles events caused by world overlaps. In the Grey District, there are countless offices of my size."
Zheng Fan nodded to show he understood.
Dadu subcontracts most of the trivial matters at the bottom to private groups. These private groups vary in size, and most exist in the form of offices in the streets and alleys of the Grey District.
"Originally, the person in charge of this office was my adoptive father. With his personal ability and prestige, he was quite famous in Xixikeke Street, but unfortunately, he passed away from illness not long ago. Now, I am the only one managing the office."
Lin Yilin paused. "I want to maintain this office, but the relationships between offices in the Grey District are mostly bad. To gain a foothold, there will inevitably be a lot of competition, and this office has made many enemies, which continues to this day."
Hearing this, Zheng Fan understood.
"You want me to back you up?"
Lin Yilin nodded: "illusions, in addition to the commonly mentioned act of plundering bodies to invade reality, can also directly provide people with extraordinary power."
Zheng Fan was a little surprised.
Is that where those superpowers come from?
"If you want to continue in this line of work, power is indispensable. That's why I'm urgently looking for you," Lin Yilin said earnestly, her clear eyes meeting Zheng Fan's.
"You should know the risks of pursuing illusions," Zheng Fan said.
To be honest, Lin Yilin's aura was strong, and most importantly, it was obvious that she had a lot of detailed information about the bottom layers of this world.
She could even find Zheng Fan, who was wandering around, before those uniformed people called the Processing Bureau.
The gap in intelligence made Zheng Fan a little unsure. After all, he didn't know how many pitfalls there were in a deal.
He was an Illusion after all.
But no matter what, he couldn't lose in terms of aura.
He needed to be profound.
However, Lin Yilin's appearance was undoubtedly an excellent breakthrough. If he gave up on this one, how long would he have to wait for the next person who could interact with him?
Hmm…
Perhaps he could change the form of the conversation to make Zheng Fan more confident.
Lin Yilin waited for Zheng Fan's reply, one hand behind her back, clutching a simple, homemade talisman.
She was also very nervous.
After all, the other party was an Illusion. She only inferred that this Illusion might not be aggressive based on eyewitness accounts from others. If it were an Illusion with strong intentions, others would be targeted by him as soon as they laid eyes on him, even briefly.
And the people she had asked were still safe and normal, so she speculated that Zheng Fan might be a relatively safe type of Illusion.
Moreover, such a normal and dignified Illusion was the only one she had ever seen.
Very…human, almost like a person.
Either he had already grown to this point after many invasions, or he had grown to this level based on a single known invasion record since April 31st.
Terrifying…
But no matter what, it was an opportunity, and she had to try to seize it.
However, she wasn't completely unprepared for self-preservation.
Just as she was thinking, she suddenly realized that her mind was wandering.
Feeling bad, she hurriedly regained her senses, only to find that Zheng Fan in front of her had disappeared.
Wanting to look for him, her body was already unable to move.
She glanced at the mirror on the wall beside her.
In the mirror, her dark brown eyes were covered in gray, and the tear marks extending from the corners of her eyes mingled with the scars on her face, making her look a little ferocious.
The shadow under her feet split into two.
How could it be… Although she had indeed directly completed the visual, auditory, and tactile stages to show her sincerity, even so, the final mental barrier still had to be crossed to carry out an invasion.
"Don't worry, I haven't completely taken over, only half, I guess. You're very smart, so I need a little more security," Lin Yilin said, her own female voice overlapping with a male voice.
Take half?
I've never heard of an Illusion being able to take half!
Lin Yilin was brainstorming, but her expression remained calm, although she couldn't even make any expressions even if she wanted to now.
Zheng Fan couldn't move Lin Yilin's body, but just being frozen in place was enough.
He could also feel the fluctuations in Lin Yilin's spirit, which was indeed very stable, and it wouldn't be easy to snatch it by force. The first body he used to escape was already riddled with holes when he first took it over. It was a cheap second-hand product, ready to use.
"Alright, let's continue to discuss in detail how to establish a good body trading relationship."
