First things first.
Zheng Fan excitedly looked around and shouted, "Everyone, look at me!"
But the surroundings remained unresponsive.
"Ah?!" Zheng Fan immediately clutched his head and yelled, "You said I could appear when the overlap happened!"
Lin Yilin avoided the gazes of others and moved away, saying, "I never said it was certain. After all, Illusion is very special, and not much of my common knowledge about Illusion can be applied to you."
"I don't care, you lied to me!"
"I didn't."
"You did!"
"I... sigh, never mind." Lin Yilin conceded, adding, "Perhaps it's still too shallow here. Illusion can try going to areas with greater depth."
"Greater depth?"
"It's an overlap, after all. Most of the time when the Black World overlaps, we are only affected by the other world from the reality side. This is commonly known as the shallow area. Few people would be so reckless as to go to the deep areas, which are closer to the Black World side." Lin Yilin symbolically adjusted the firearm given to her by the Processing Bureau that was effective against Illusion.
Then she put it in her bag and took out her cat cat gun.
This one was still better to use.
"But if you go to that side and don't return before the end of today, you'll be stuck in that world," she added at last.
"Oh ho." Zheng Fan looked at the distant horizon, where faint, ripple-like disturbances could be seen in the darkness.
"Illusion, do you have any other feelings yourself?" Lin Yilin asked Zheng Fan in return.
Zheng Fan looked at his hands: "I feel like the burden on my body has lightened a bit, but not much, maybe about fifty percent. Other than that... the air feels fresher?"
"Then it seems to be of some help. We'll test it slowly later."
Just as he was speaking, gunshots suddenly rang out in the distance.
A pale, deformed monster appeared at the street corner at some point, and the personnel there immediately clashed with it.
White lights illuminated the Processing Bureau office building.
"These firearms and bullets are made with White World technology. Their lethality is average, but they can push Illusion back into the Black World. That light is a 'White Light Lamp,' which can simulate the White World within its illuminated range, weakening Illusion while protecting people within the range from being easily invaded," Lin Yilin explained to Zheng Fan like a tour guide.
Zheng Fan felt no discomfort under the white light, at most a feeling that his burden had been re-added by about ten to twenty percent, so the impact was still very limited.
After that Illusion was focused on, its form quickly became indistinct, on the verge of disappearing.
Zheng Fan flashed to the side of that Illusion and flipped it with his hand.
Bang!
The Illusion was twisted by the immense force, crumpled into a ball, and then burst into countless fragments.
Before the fragments could even hit the ground, they twisted and converged from the perspective of others, finally disappearing completely.
Zheng Fan, on the other hand, put away a small singularity in his hand: "I can touch other Illusions now. Although exerting force is still uncomfortable, it seems to be manageable."
He revealed a satisfied smile. Even if his situation was special and he still found it difficult to interact with reality in the shallow areas, he could at least interact with other Illusions.
He could use this opportunity to accumulate a good number of singularities.
There was potential.
Returning to Lin Yilin's side, he saw her sitting on a roadside bench, taking out her phone and starting to slack off.
"Hey, Lin Yilin, I'm going out for a bite. Call me if anything happens."
"Okay, Illusion."
In fact, Zheng Fan had already disappeared before Lin Yilin finished responding.
Lin Yilin didn't mind, focusing on the flashing data on her phone. She also had informants in other miscellaneous offices and related groups, allowing her to receive real-time intelligence in such situations.
"What exactly is the Earth Tremor Society's goal?"
Attacking the Xixikeke Street Processing Bureau out of nowhere, was it for some religious demand?
Then choosing a large street like Xixikeke Street made no sense. There were so many soft targets, why choose the hardest one nearby?
Hatred?
The Xixikeke Street Processing Bureau had no relevant records, and the Earth Tremor Society's activities had been too scarce in recent years, making it difficult to make a judgment in this regard.
And more practically—fishing in troubled waters, the Xixikeke Street Processing Bureau had something sealed inside that they needed.
"Speaking of which, why did I come from Jiyun District to Xixikeke Street in the first place..." Lin Yilin murmured.
She was born in the White World and should have lived in the White World, but after the earthquake, she was picked up by her adoptive father, Edman, and the rest of her life mainly revolved between Xixikeke Street and Rafael School District.
She pulled up the data Hong Yijia had brought back to her on her phone; she had already converted it into an electronic version.
"The earthquake ten years ago, unknown epicenter..."
And the data showed new investigation results.
【Remaining records within the Jacob Family indicate that the origin of the earthquake was—Xixikeke Street.】
Lin Yilin looked up at the dark sky, her eyes unable to reflect anything but black.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, continuous explosions rang out in various places.
"Attention, the Earth Tremor Society has launched indiscriminate attacks. Disperse personnel to protect buildings."
"Report, the attackers are not only religious members but also other unidentified individuals, presumed to be gang members, but not from the local gangs of Xixikeke Street."
The sound of communication came through her earpiece, issuing commands and publicizing intelligence on the public frequency.
Lin Yilin looked at the distant firelight, packed her things, and stood up.
Under the firelight, a gaunt figure suddenly appeared behind her. The figure reached out towards Lin Yilin, directly probing behind her.
Bang!
Subsequently, this Illusion figure began to swell and explode from the part that touched Lin Yilin, and finally, half of its body collapsed into numerous fragments.
Lin Yilin turned around and looked down at the fallen Illusion: "Sorry, my body is already taken. Besides, I don't accept just any Illusion unconditionally."
Saying that, she raised her cat cat gun, aimed at the remaining moving parts of the Illusion, and pulled the trigger.
Meow meow meow! Poof!
The Illusion was shattered into pieces by several consecutive shots and quickly devoured by the Earthworms.
Although it was terrifying that Illusion could directly interact with reality in this situation, on the other hand, they were still more inclined to use this more convenient opportunity to invade rather than cause destruction.
No matter how good their foundation, without people, there would be no growth, and Illusion would ultimately not escape the fate of being dealt with by the Processing Bureau.
Although Illusion without growth might not even have this basic common sense, a certain degree of instinct would still drive them to do so.
It was just a pity that during the overlap, the ones most often wandering outside in the Grey District were not the ordinary people they loved most, but a group of humans waiting to disperse, eliminate, or even capture them.
And most of them would only follow their instincts and converge towards such crowded places.
As long as no one was invaded on site, the situation was still very relaxed...
...
Zheng Fan originally intended to go directly towards the ripples on the distant horizon, wanting to see the situation in the high-depth Black World.
Along the way, he would casually collect some singularities.
Therefore, the Processing Bureau's public frequency here quickly reported this strange phenomenon: an Illusion was mysteriously eliminated, suspected to be an invisible entity massively clearing out Illusion.
An invisible entity?
This description left people confused.
If something was still invisible in this situation, wouldn't it be a high-depth Illusion?!
Fortunately, this Illusion currently seemed to have no intention of invading, or perhaps its depth was too high to find a suitable target for invasion.
Subsequently, those who heard the news became alarmed. The Processing Bureau personnel monitored the large-scale elimination of this Illusion, using it to infer the location of this mysterious Illusion.
Then it would be convenient for everyone to stay away.
The Processing Bureau's policy for dealing with Illusion, to put it bluntly, was very simple: bully the weak and fear the strong.
If it could be resolved, maximize benefits. If it couldn't be resolved, try to avoid contact to prevent invasion, which also counted as peaceful coexistence.
This method of handling could only be described as highly efficient. The loss of manpower and other resources was also relatively low.
The Processing Bureau had accumulated much experience in dealing with world overlap events over the years.
Zheng Fan crouched on the rooftop, scanning for any remaining Illusion.
"Hmm?" Suddenly, he noticed a subtle change.
Vibration.
He jumped directly from the building, landing firmly on the ground, and at this point, he was even more certain: "It's definitely vibrating, an earthquake?"
Zheng Fan looked around.
Ding!
At that moment, behind him, a strong light shone.
Turning around, he saw a cross-shaped blaze burning fiercely in the sky, and the person in the flames was none other than that red-haired madwoman, Luo Ye.
She threw the cross flames from her body down to the ground.
With a violent explosion, the firelight could be seen soaring into the sky from afar.
Zheng Fan quickly moved to the scene.
Crash.
Kicking aside the rubble, Luo Ye held a blood-red scythe on her shoulder and turned to see Zheng Fan: "Yo, you're here. Aren't you going to protect Lin Yilin?"
"Is she some little girl who needs a lot of protection? This is just minor skirmishes," Zheng Fan replied.
"Heh." Luo Ye chuckled lightly, flicking her scythe: "Alright then, you're one of them. I'll package you all up and take you away."
Zheng Fan ignored her annoying tone, instead focusing on her words: "'You all'?"
Bang!
The pile of rubble nearby was thrown open, and emerging from the crushed stones was a burly, tall monster figure.
Zheng Fan's eyes widened as he watched the other party sweep away the dust.
What appeared was a catfish with human limbs, draped in a black robe, and dull eyes.
"Huh?"