Transformed into a heartthrob's simp, every day is a battleground.

Chapter 343 Leaving Without Saying Goodbye

The events involving the new generation became headlines the very next morning.

Yan Xun sat in his office, engrossed in reading the newspaper articles about the new generation and the speculations surrounding the monster.

Yan Xun guessed that Levy was probably involved.

Levy was probably determined to expel the entire New Generation and these monsters. That afternoon, he released photos of the fleshy blobs he had found outside the farm, as well as some corpses with their bellies cut open outside the farm.

He even made a big deal out of the death of Neil.

At first, no one dared to believe that the disgusting lump of flesh was related to the sudden pregnancy in the city, until Levy said that they could directly open a person's stomach to see whether it was a holy fetus or this disgusting lump of flesh.

But those people had already been controlled by the "Holy Embryo," and no one was willing to do it. Even Koy shouted that he was unwilling.

Finally, the landlady offered up Milo—Levy assured her that Milo would be safe and sound.

Everyone gathered in the square, and reporters also came (Yan Xun suspected that Levi had arranged these people beforehand). Then everyone witnessed the scene of a monstrous ball of flesh being removed from the landlady's dog's body.

Even when the fleshy mass was removed, it tried to break free, but was quickly pinned to the operating table.

Milo recovered well afterwards.

Levy also released photos of Bourne, saying that if those monsters continued to parasitize, the end of the world would really come.

They must destroy these monsters before they fully mature.

The good news is that the fleshy spheres are very vulnerable before they leave the parasite.

The bad news is that, after investigation, everyone discovered that many "infection" symptoms had appeared in the city at some point.

Some people initially thought Levy was exaggerating, but one day, after someone's stomach suddenly burst open... everyone screamed and ran away. They finally realized that these things were not blessings from angels, but real monsters.

Levy's office received several groups of people afterward.

Liam's family is devastated. His brother was the first to remove the fleshy mass from his stomach. They suspect Conrad killed him to cover it up, and the matter is still under investigation.

Bonnie then brought her mother to the office.

The other party's mother had wings and wore a cloak—ever since the Conrad affair was exposed, these winged people suddenly found themselves in a precarious situation, with everyone feeling that they would mutate at any moment.

Bonnie then explained the details of that day, confirming that Liam had indeed come to see her with her mother.

However, Liam did not go upstairs; the other party simply waited downstairs.

“I’ve heard about Conrad’s New Generation,” she told Yan Xun, “so I just wanted to give it a try.”

“I gave Liam some money, hoping he could send us to Conrad.”

She told Yan Xun, "I swear we only have this much interaction."

“But you lied that day,” Yan Xun said.

Bonnie lowered her head and said, "I'm just too scared." She said to Yan Xun, "Everyone knows Liam is missing... I might be the one who knows the details."

“I was worried that his organization would hold a grudge against me, so I could only pretend not to know.”

"So he just sent you to Conrad's?" Yan Xun asked. "Didn't you notice anything amiss?"

"For example, the sound of an impact from the rear of the vehicle?"

Bonnie kept her head down. "We heard you."

She told Yan Xun, "But it was pouring rain that day..."

“We know what Liam’s organization does, and we thought he had kidnapped someone,” she told Yan Xun. “We can only pretend we didn’t hear anything.”

"Perhaps Liam also thought that the downpour had blocked out all sound. He didn't show any unusual behavior and simply dropped us off outside Conrad's estate before leaving."

"So that's how you met Conrad?" Yan Xun looked Bonnie and her mother up and down. "I didn't know Conrad was such a generous person."

“You’re from the south, the city where the Church of Angels is located,” Yan Xun said to Bonnie. “Conrad visited that city about six months ago.”

“I know how your parents swindle money,” he said, looking at Bonnie. “They use the name of religion to collect money.”

“I don’t think this might be a coincidence,” he said to Bonnie. “What do you think?”

Seeing Bonnie's guarded expression, Yan Xun softened his tone, "I have no intention of judging you."

“Just curious,” he said to Bonnie. “Do you know Conrad?”

“Since you know they’re using religion to make money, you should know what that sect is,” Bonnie said. “They’re prophesying that the end of the world will happen within the next 20 years.”

"He said he saw the scene of the apocalypse being born."

“They say that at that time, only those chosen by God could live,” Bonnie said to Yan Xun. “You may think I’m lying, but I’m telling you, it’s true.”

Yan Xun looked at Bonnie, somewhat confused about her meaning.

In the end, it was Bonnie's mother who provided the explanation.

“We failed,” she told Yan Xun. “In that precognitive dream, we saw a scene of the apocalypse, and all sorts of strange things appeared in the sky.”

"That dream told us that only by cultivating our own god could we fight against those."

"In the dream, the voice gave us a revelation, telling us where we should go to find that deity."

“He looked like just an abandoned baby,” she said.

"But He can tell us what He is thinking."

“He said that we must gather enough faith for Him to grow quickly, and the more people know His name, the faster He can grow.”

She said to Yan Xun, "But in the end, He was eaten."

"...Eaten?" Yan Xun wondered if he had misheard.

“The Church of Angels seems to have discovered us, and they have destroyed our faith,” she told Yan Xun.

Seeing that Yan Xun was still somewhat puzzled, Bonnie explained, "They said we are liars."

"We obtained a lot of evidence."

“We’ve become scammers,” she shrugged, unconcerned. “We had no choice but to run away.”

"..." Yan Xun looked at Bonnie, then at Bonnie's mother, unable to tell whether they were lying.

"And what about Him?" Yan Xun asked, "The god you worship?"

“He is dead,” Bonnie said. “A god without believers is more fragile than a baby.”

“He died suddenly,” she told Yan Xun, raising her hands. “I did nothing.”

"But He just died suddenly."

"How old were you that year?" Yan Xun asked curiously.

"Five or six years old?" Bonnie wasn't sure, "but I can tell you for sure."

“We weren’t the only ones who encountered this at the time.”

She looked at her mother, trying to get a response.

Her young mother nodded, "As far as I know, there were more than 20 churches of all sizes that appeared at the same time."

“Everyone has different beliefs,” she told Yan Xun. “There are even people who believe in pasta.”

Yan Xun: "..."

He thought of the religion that worships donkey meat sandwiches.

“So when I learned that Conrad had grown wings, I understood that he must have received some kind of ‘revelation’ as well.” Bonnie gestured with quotation marks when she said “revelation.” “He must have known what the Church of Angels was doing at the time, so he wanted some advice from us.”

"It sounds like some kind of gang fight, a territorial takeover," Yan Xun commented.

Bonnie laughed. "That's it."

“To seize territory and believers,” she told Yan Xun. “So the Angel Church won’t let Conrad go.”

She left with her mother. Yan Xun watched the office door close again before speaking to the restroom, "You can come out now."

Ellie slowly opened the door and walked out of the bathroom.

He changed into the clothes Yan Xun had prepared for him. Perhaps because he wasn't used to them, his movements were awkward, but when he touched his stomach, his expression was very gentle.

He told Yan Xun, "I must go to the south."

Yan Xun sighed, sitting in his office chair, looking at Ellie—

After he painstakingly carried Ellie's body back, Mission 2 finally showed signs of completion.

Immediately afterwards, the instance gave him a new quest.

[Mission 3: Bring Ellie's child alive to the Church of Angels.]

Just as Yan Xun was about to complain, Ellie was already dead. Was he supposed to open up Ellie's stomach, take the fleshy ball inside, and take it south?

Just then, Ellie, whom he thought was dead, suddenly opened his eyes, sat up from the floor, rubbed his stomach, and said to Yan Xun, "I'm going to the Angel Church."

Yan Xun was really unsure what he was, so he tentatively touched his skin and pulse and found that his body temperature and heartbeat were the same as those of a normal person.

"That's not surprising," Yan Xun thought. "There are just too many strange things happening here, so it's not unusual for someone to come back from the dead."

“I know,” Yan Xun said, “but the problem now is…”

"Some people think you're in the way."

Levi seemed determined to eliminate these monsters, and even those that managed to slip away were brought back by his men.

Ellie is alright for now, but that's because he's dead.

Although Levi was puzzled as to why Yan Xun wanted to take his body away, he felt that the dead couldn't do anything and tacitly approved of his actions.

But Yan Xun knew this was temporary. In another two or three days, Levi would probably make him hand over Eli's body.

Just like the conversation he had with the system that day.

No matter what choice he makes, the mission will eventually return to its original course.

Even if he hadn't discovered the anomalies in those "holy embryos," the matter would have been exposed, and he would have had to take someone with him to the south during the siege.

Yan Xun looked at Ellie in women's clothing and nodded, "Remember to wait for me at our agreed place."

……

Levy took a moment to listen to his subordinates' report.

"You said a woman in a green dress has been going to see him these past few days?" Levy put down his pen. "Is she hoping Ryan will go to her husband's mistress again?"

The subordinate didn't quite understand why Levy's tone was so sarcastic, but he nodded nonetheless. "I know her. She suspects her husband has a new lover."

"I've finally made up my mind to come and see... Detective."

Levy rested his chin on his hand, looking at his men.

He looked back at the window behind him. "So, besides finding animals for people and extramarital affairs, can't he find any other valuable work?"

The subordinate hesitated upon hearing this, worried that his boss might have forgotten something.

Levy quickly laughed. "I forgot, I told you to stop valuable work from falling into his hands."

Subordinate: "..."

“After all, his identity is very suspicious,” Levy said, repeating a similar statement as before.

"Continue to observe."

He said to his men.

For the next two days, Levi received intelligence that the woman in the green dress had been appearing in Yan Xun's office.

She looked very angry, somewhat indignant.

Yan Xun would always go downstairs with her, as if searching for evidence of her husband's infidelity.

Levy gradually lost interest in the overly detailed report, and he impatiently waved his hand, signaling his men to leave.

But the following afternoon, his subordinate brought up the matter again—

Just as Levy was about to suggest getting some more valuable leads, his subordinates told him that Yan Xun didn't seem to have returned to his office that evening.

He heard that the woman in the green dress's husband had been in another city these past few days, and that Yan Xun might be planning to go to that city to find evidence of his wife's infidelity.

Levy looked up at his men. "Hasn't he gone back to his office?"

His subordinate shook his head.

“Her husband happened to be in another city on business these past few days, so we assume he must have gone to another city.”

"And then leave a corpse in your office?" Levy said with a laugh, his pen piercing through the document he was looking at. "Now, immediately, go to his office."

When Levy returned to that familiar office, he only saw the woman in the green dress sitting there, looking anxious and uneasy.

She seemed confused as to why so many menacing-looking people had suddenly come to the detective's office.

Levy simply opened the ladder leading to the attic.

He climbed the ladder to the attic.

The low attic where he had stayed for several nights remains exactly as it was.

Yan Xun left in a hurry, or perhaps he didn't want them to find out at all, so he didn't take anything with him.

Levi went up and took a look; the clothes the other person usually wore were still in the same place.

One of the outfits looked particularly familiar; it was the same one Yan Xun wore when they went to the New Generation School.

There were some bloodstains on the clothes that couldn't be washed off, so Yan Xun casually tossed them into a corner.

He bent down to pick up the dress and returned to his office on the second floor. Under the apprehensive gazes of others, he looked at the woman in the green dress.

What benefits did he promise you?

She looked at Levy blankly. "He wants me to keep coming to him all this time, so I can go home as long as I stay here until night."

She took a note out of her pocket and handed it to Levy, saying, "He told me to give this to you."

Levi took the note.

The note was very short; translated, it simply said that they were even.

Levy lied to him once, and he lied to Levy once.

At the end of the note, he wrote that he had already discussed the rent with the landlady, and she was willing to return the money to Levy after he moved out.

He also said he believed Levy would not make things difficult for unrelated people.

Levy, clutching the note, left with his men. As they passed the pharmacy, the landlady called out to them.

The other party deducted a portion of the rent he had paid and then returned it to Levi.

Levy, of course, didn't care about the money. "Didn't he say anything?" he asked the landlady.

The landlady was still holding Milo. "No."

"He didn't say anything."