“What do you think he’s thinking?” No. 5 looked at Han Fei in quarantine and asked no. 4.
“He probably got rejected by the woman.” No. 4 said darkly. “I admit he’s quite handsome, but good looks aren’t everything.”
“I can’t tell if you’re jealous or not.” No. 5 joked. He liked to chat with No. 4 because it was a fun time.
“Why should I be jealous of him?” No. 4 looked at Han Fei and then at No. 1. “But it’s strange. It takes a long time to accept someone, but he can make me put down my defense to trust him.”
“No. 4, I have no idea that your heart is so soft when your shell is so hard.”
“Do you want to die?”
“You’re cuter when you’re mad.” The students chatted and joked. Han Fei, in the quarantine zone, looked at his students. “If nothing happened, they should grow up happily like normal kids.” The night was getting dark. Ever since Han Fei entered Gao Xing’s world, he had his first good night's sleep. In his mind, the starlight silently cured the mental corruption. Even when he was sleeping, he was slowly getting stronger.
The sky was still dark at 7 am. There was not one bit of sunlight. However, the members of the center were already in place to start the second escort. “Hope City is built at the edge of the old city. It’s very far from here. Everyone must listen to their orders on the way and do not stray from the group.” When the light came up on the horizon, the survivors carried their backpacks and left with the members. The area around the center became empty again. The center welcomed the students and survivors who were willing to stay at the base. They were kinder.
“Teacher Gao, this way please.” Zhao Ming led the group to undo the perimeter fence. “After a whole night of discussion, we decide to help the teachers rebuild the school.”
“The center wants to rebuild the school?”
“Yes. The kids you taught are greater at awakening persona than the kids we have. Therefore, we wish all the staff will continue to teach.” Zhao Ming opened a simple map. “We’ll give you the White Building north of the base. Also, there’s another thing that I want to inform you.”
“Tell me. I’ll do it if I can.”
“This is a win-win cooperation.” Zhao Ming took out a small notebook. “The director showed you the evidence department yesterday. The place has many cursed items. The center paid a lot to collect these things. However, considering your situation, the center is offering you a special pass.”
“I can take anything I want from the evidence department?” Han Fei was moved.
“You’ll gain contribution points whenever you go on missions with us. The ghosts you kill in the missions are yours, and you can exchange contribution points for other things.” Zhao Ming then took out one last thing. It was a black band. “This is the communication device for the center. The director named you the Team Captain for Team 13! At the same time, you’ll be an attaché teacher for the center.”
“Leader of Team 13?” Han Fei accepted the band. He felt like the band looked familiar. It even had the name Deep Space on it.
“Currently, you’re the only member, but you have so many friends, so it should be no problem for you to fill up a whole team.” Zhao Ming paused before adding, “Don’t worry. This is not because no one in the center wants to team up with you.”
“I think so too.”
“Alright. Come with me, and we’ll complete the last persona test. After that, you’ll officially be a part of the Investigation Center.” Zhao Ming got Han Fei into the car. They came to a garden not far away. “After the tragedy, one has the chance to awaken the persona once one is traumatized or their determination becomes strong enough. The persona will get stronger as the person’s determination increases.” Zhao Ming and Han Fei entered the garden. They stopped before a large hole. “This garden used to be a Red Building. Back then, the members died with the ghosts and mutated to become a special Lingering Spirit. It can sense the strength of a person’s persona.”
“A flower can do that?” Once Han Fei said that, he heard rustling. He looked down, and bloodred roots started to crawl like a snake. A giant soul flower bloomed at the bottom of the hole. The flower didn’t attack Zhao Ming or Han Fei. It was like a child, eavesdropping on their conversation. Zhao Ming walked to the edge and bowed at a rotten body bound by the roots. He then signaled Han Fei to grab one of the petals. Han Fei used Flower Language and emitted the black mist.
The flower could sense the presence of the ghosts in the abyss. The giant petals started to shudder. The roots and the flower started to turn red.
Zhao Ming was recording something. He took out the info and started to compare. “Greed persona can consume ghosts when it first awakens; after the second awakening, it’ll morph into a greed abyss, and the owner can contain three ghost friends; after the third awakening, the abyss will accommodate six ghosts; after the fourth awakening, the number is raised to nine. The flower is blood red in color…” A persona with four awakenings was already very rare, but Zhao Ming noticed the flower was still turning red!
“Fifth awakening?” Zhao Ming was confused. “Is it that easy to awaken the greed person? But the conclusion of the researcher is that the maximum is four awakenings. Continued awakenings will cause the persona to shatter, and the owner will have a horrible death.”
The petals turned deep red. Han Fei touched the flower out of curiosity. The flower didn’t feel like a ghost. It had the warmth of humans. It was like a newborn, curious about everything.
“This appears to be something that is newly born in the tragedy.” Han Fei had both greed and healing personas. As he ate ghosts, he could heal himself. He even wanted to try to eat a Pure Hatred. As the test was about to be over, Han Fei decided to shine a bit of the starlight on the petal. Han Fei wanted to see the grading of the healing persona. However, when the starlight shone on the flower, Flower Language was triggered. A bridge was built. The healing star caught the flower’s full attention. The roots that wrapped around the rotten body were unwound. The giant flower bloomed and opened at Han Fei. Endless roots were sucked into the black mist. It climbed out of the hole to chase after the starlight. Han Fei didn’t expect the healing persona to be so popular. He started to pull back the black mist, but who would have thought that the flower would slip into the greed abyss? The black mist faded away. Han Fei felt the flower that bloomed in the abyss. He looked at the empty hole. There was only a rotten body there now.
“What’s wrong?” Zhao Ming walked over. “You have five awakenings. The center will value you even more.”
“That’s good.” Han Fei said absent-mindedly. “Will the center punish me for accidentally swiping their test device?”
“How can a device be comparable to a person? Every member of the center is invaluable.” Zhao Ming smiled.
“Good.” Han Fei sighed in relief. He quickly got back into the car.
“But we didn’t use any device in today’s test.” Zhao Ming glanced into the hole, and he felt like something was missing. He rubbed his eyes and checked again.
Zhao Ming bent down and dug the dirt. “Where’s the flower?” Han Fei looked away and heard the system.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve obtained a Large Lingering Spirit—Newborn Flower!
“Newborn flower: A flower that is born after the two worlds collide. This has never happened before. Perhaps its appearance is fate or just a coincidence.”
Goa Xing called himself the garden owner, and he had been cultivating human souls as flowers. The fact that this flower appeared could be a sign.
“The memory world is directed by Gao Xing.” Han Fei frowned, ignoring the knocking on the car window.
“Open the door! I didn’t look for a moment, and you did something so preposterous! Where’s the flower?”
“I know you’re anxious, but calm down.”
Zhao Ming finally calmed down. With a dark face, he sent Han Fei to the main building.
Soon, everyone knew that Han Fei had consumed the flower. In the end, it was Li Xue who settled everything. He would pay 5000 contribution points to make up for it. Han Fei hadn’t started working, and he already owed 5000 points. However, he was not worried. This meant that he had become indispensable to the center, for he now had the flower. In the future, perhaps he could charge for testing.
Li Xue summoned all the team leaders to the conference room. They decided to investigate Deep Sea Aquarium.
“Strange Buildings are more dangerous than Black Buildings. This time, we have two goals. One, find out the Pure Hatred at the Aquarium. Two, help Gao Cheng find clues on Gao Xing.” Li Xue handed the details to everyone. “If there’s no objection, move out now.”
“I have a small suggestion.” Han Fei pointed at the third line of the mission order. “Attracting the attention of the ghosts is the most dangerous job. It’s the job of Team 1 and 2.” “They are the strongest and most experienced teams we have. They can do this.”
“How about you leave this job to Team 13? I’ll distract the ghosts.” Li Xue handed Han Fei the job of supporting the others.
“But you alone are team 13.”
“I can communicate with ghosts. This job is perfect for me.” Han Fei smiled at everyone. “Plus, the center has given every team some equipment. I want to ask something from the center too.”
Li Xue nodded. “Speak.”
“Do we have evil inmates here? Cold-blooded killers, who have betrayed humanity?” Han Fei asked shyly.
“What do you want with them?”
“I have two fake eyes, and I can only use them through human sacrifices.” Han Fei placed the two bloody eyes on the table. The others looked at him strangely.
