Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Chapter 11 Codename
"Breaking News! This evening, the Security Bureau located a criminal gang hiding in the XXX residential area of ​​the old town of the border city and immediately launched an operation to apprehend them. The criminals resisted arrest, resulting in a fierce gun battle. The Security Bureau successfully killed all the criminals. Further investigation is underway. Any citizen with information is urged to call. The following is a live report."

In a dark basement, a radio was emitting intermittent sounds.

On the bed in the underground city, a man in his thirties suddenly opened his eyes.

His eyes were filled with astonishment.

In his final moments, through the corpse he controlled, he witnessed a scene that shocked him.

This was completely outside his plans.

He did guide the responder to the neighborhood, but the responder arrived much faster than he had imagined.

As a result, the illusory creature was immediately besieged before it could even grow up.

There wasn't really a problem; the ethereal creatures summoned by those rituals were incredibly powerful. Most psionicists would probably be overwhelmed by fear and unable to unleash their full combat potential.

As it turned out, there was actually a powerful individual among that team of processors who could hunt down creatures from the Void Realm.

Damn it, what went wrong with the plan?
Aren't they newbies? What kind of newbies could chase after creatures from the virtual realm like this?
"What exactly is the variable? We must get the people in the church to find out who that person is!" He suppressed his surprise and quickly walked out of the basement.

No matter what happens, he can no longer stay in the giant city.

Currently, the church does not have the resources to confront the giant city head-on.

“But next time, I will definitely bring you to a new world!” he whispered as he disappeared into the night.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the residential complex.

With the arrival of the personnel support team and the Security Service support troops, the chaotic scene was quickly brought under control.

Li Yelai also attracted the attention of several processors, whose expressions varied.

His previous seven-step aerial pursuit of the Void Realm creature had greatly shocked them.

The experienced handlers nodded slightly to Li Yelai, but did not speak. Instead, they quickly scattered to rescue the wounded or retrieve the monster corpses.

Li Yelai had no choice but to wait by the broken-down car for Cheese and the others.

The action just now was actually quite risky. Li Yelai hadn't fully mastered aerial stepping. The principle of aerial stepping is to solidify the air with a psionic barrier, allowing the psionicist to land on their feet in a very short time, thus enabling them to perform multiple jumps.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Li Yelai acted only by mimicking the feeling of Xiang Yu performing aerial steps in the battlefield illusion.

Unexpectedly, it was a complete success, and she even smashed Cheese's car. Wow, it's her brand new car! I wonder if she can get it reimbursed.
Soon, he saw Xinghuo, who had lost consciousness and lost an arm, being quickly pushed into an ambulance. Yingliu followed closely behind.

Also being pushed into the ambulance were some of the assault team members who had participated in the battle.

“Psionicists’ power comes from the Void Realm, so when facing Void Realm creatures, we can still remain rational and even fight to the death. But ordinary people who look directly at Void Realm creatures are very likely to suffer a mental breakdown.” Cheese came to Li Yelai’s side, patted his 'new car' regretfully, and replied, “We won, the Void Realm creatures did not cause more casualties. But we also lost completely.”

Li Yelai, who was about to say that his new car had been smashed by a monster and then stabbed by himself, was stunned by what he heard. He wondered if he could get reimbursed for the damages.

Then, looking at Cheese, I noticed that she had fallen silent while watching the middle-aged man and woman crying and shouting not far away.

A few seconds later.

“Those are the parents and relatives of the missing children,” Cheese said quietly. “They already know part of the truth. Some will choose to forget, some will choose revenge, and that will drive their lives from now on. Just like I was back then.”

Li Yelai's face stiffened as he thought of the dead children.

Yes, even after killing that strange, ethereal creature, the children still perished.

They really lost completely.

And that's all the processors have to deal with.

The two sighed and remained silent for a long time.

"However, I still want to thank you. If it weren't for you, I might have been eaten alive. You're my savior, so I won't make you pay for the car. Of course, I won't repay you with my body either." Cheese reached out and patted Li Yelai's shoulder with a low laugh.

"Offer yourself in return? I'd be at a huge disadvantage then," Li Yelai retorted, thinking to himself, "If you really want to offer yourself in return, then I wouldn't have to pay for the car, would I?"
Cheese gave him a playful pinch on the shoulder and continued, "Thank you for risking your life to drive away the Void Realm creatures. You prevented the casualties from escalating."

"Expel?" Li Yelai was taken aback, then looked in the direction of the monster's corpse and asked in astonishment, "He's not dead yet?"

"Dead but not really dead, uh... that's not quite accurate."

Cheese transcribed some of the language: "This illusory being came to the physical world through some forbidden ritual. Although you killed its physical body, you only banished it back to the illusory realm."

Unless one is a highly awakened psychic or uses certain forbidden items, it is impossible to completely kill the illusory beings. They will still return to the physical world once they find an opportunity.

Li Yelai couldn't believe it: "Even though we paid a heavy price and suffered casualties, repeatedly killing Void Realm creatures, he's still alive?"

It's like a video game; no matter how the characters in the game die, the players in the real world are unaffected.

Instead, the power within the level will be eliminated through the repeated deaths of the characters.

At the same time, we learn from experience and become more skilled and stronger!
This is a completely unequal confrontation!
"Fortunately, aside from those calamity-ridden forbidden zones entrenched in the wilderness, other virtual beings find it extremely difficult to enter the physical world," Cheese said. "Of course, that's assuming no humans help them."

Li Yelai suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He discovered a possibility.

After making a deal with the shadowy figure, he obtained the power of the Faceless One. The Skinner he killed was sacrificed to the shadowy figure.

Now that he has killed the illusory creature, does that mean that this creature will also be sacrificed to the shadow?

In that case, could the creatures of the virtual realm still survive?

If not, it means that Li Yelai actually has the ability to completely eliminate creatures in the Void Realm!

However, we'll have to wait until the next dream to find out. Maybe the shadowy figure has a picky palate and doesn't eat creatures from the void.
Then, Cheese said, "I originally intended to train your psionic skills. I didn't expect you to learn so quickly. I suppose your codename will be issued tomorrow."

Li Yelai's bizarre learning ability enabled him to master both the psychic barrier and the aerial stepping technique in a single day.

That's enough to make someone a qualified processor.

But that incredibly powerful talent sent chills down the spines of everyone in the upper echelons.

Therefore, the higher-ups instructed Cheese not to reveal Li Yelai's talent.

Mastering two skills at once is simply too terrifying.

While mastering two skills in a single day is astonishing, it can also be considered a form of protection for Li Yelai.

Cheese wholeheartedly agrees with this.

He added, "And once you kill the Void Realm creature, the reward and merit points will come down quickly."

Li Yelai nodded, then raised the scarlet longsword in his hand.

Cheese glanced at it and said, "These are your spoils. After registering them, you can choose what to do with them. You can sell them to the Equipment Department for merit points, or you can use them yourself. Just make sure they don't get discovered by outsiders."

Discover?

Li Yelai stared silently at the massive sword, as tall as a man, with a blade and hilt half his height, and several eyeballs growing from its blade. How could he possibly conceal such a thing?
Li Yelai actually wanted to keep the crimson greatsword, after all, it was a psionic weapon with a good feel, and it could greatly enhance him. This would prevent him from being so passive when facing danger.

But you can't just patrol around with this knife, can you?

“You can also have the branch keep the weapons; they’ll deliver them to you before the mission. Of course, if an emergency occurs, you might not have enough time to receive them. So, it’s best to prepare a suitable concealed weapon or firearm from the prep department,” Cheese suggested.

Li Yelai nodded, but sighed as he looked at the blocked streets.

Cheese was a little confused, but quickly realized: "Oh right, your curse has been triggered again. You can't be walking on the street right now."

Through the previous battles, Cheese gained a deeper understanding of Li Yelai's curse.

It was a kind of preordained karmic curse, and everything around seemed to be radiating malice towards Li Yelai.

What was originally a low-probability accident became inevitable after the curse was triggered.

For example, Cheese stepped on this manhole cover and there was no problem. But when Li Ye, who triggered the curse, stepped on it, the manhole cover would probably break down.

It might shatter completely, or it might suddenly flip open. In short, anything is possible.

If Li Yelai had fought the Void Realm creatures on the street before, they would probably have been hit by dozens of cars parked on the side of the road.

Cheese thought to itself.

Perhaps Li Yelai's encounter with the skinner was also related to this misfortune.

"You still need to strengthen yourself; your bad luck is terrible," Cheese said with some emotion.

Li Yelai nodded in agreement. This was also the reason he agreed to join Yang Chen's team.

"By the way, which teams will Xinghuo and the others be assigned to? Will they be our teammates?" Li Ye asked. After today, they would all be comrades-in-arms.

Cheese replied, "The detective is planning to join the logistics team, which is the sixth team. After this battle, he realized that he is really not suited for combat."

Shadow Stream still intends to follow her brother, Starfire.

Xinghuo will discuss this after his arm is reattached. Actually, he performed quite well, proving effective against both the strange woman and the illusory creatures. Unfortunately, he encountered a unique enemy. Hopefully, this won't damage his confidence.

"And Heavy Rider, a very talented and capable girl. She's actually similar to you; half a month ago, she encountered a victim. Stimulated by this, she awakened as a True Martial Path psionicist and tore that victim apart. She's also the strongest among the newcomers in terms of strength. In a one-on-one fight, she's no weaker than you. She joined the third team."

"Which team are we?" Li Yelai asked in surprise. Yes, it had been two days since he became a processor, and he still didn't know which team he was in.

“Actually, you’ll find out tomorrow that we are the first team of the Border City Disaster Management Department!” Cheese revealed a calm smile: “We used to be the ace team, the team known as the champions.”

"In the past?" Li Yelai asked, somewhat puzzled. "Is it not like that now?"

Cheese nodded quietly, but didn't continue speaking.

After some time, once Li Yelai was certain that his curse was no longer in effect, he walked away from the scene and returned to his apartment.

He only entered the house after confirming that there was no blood or wounds on his body.

After a playful banter and teasing session with Li Yunyan, he drifted off to sleep.

Sure enough, he saw the eerie light and shadow and the thick fog again. The environment was unchanged, and the tentacle holding the mask was already in front of Li Yelai.

And that hideous creature from the void was indeed in a dream.

At this moment, the monster had completely lost its previous arrogance and terror. Instead, it knelt down, trembling, and kowtowed repeatedly to Li Yelai. Its face was full of fear and pleading.

Is he afraid of himself? Or is he afraid of the shadows?
Who exactly is this shadowy figure?
Seeing the monster's expression, Li Yelai was indeed somewhat surprised, but that was all. This kind of monster was inherently an enemy of humanity; there was no reason to pity it!
The next instant, long-absent tentacles reached out from the mist, dragging the screams of the illusory creatures into the depths of the mist.

Then came a series of chilling chewing sounds.

But this time, the shadowy figure did not reveal a white mask.

Is it because there aren't enough offerings?
Or is it that the demand for offerings has increased?

Li Yelai pondered, but still did not accept the white mask.

Instead, he looked into the depths of the mist and shouted, "Mr. Shadow, is he really dead yet? You'd better finish what you've got!"

The shadowy figure ignored everything in the mist.

Li Yelai continued, "What code word should I use next time I want to make a deal with you?"

The shadowy figure still ignored him.

"How about Makka Pakka?"

The shadowy figure waved its hand, throwing Li Yelai out of the dream.

Li Yelai couldn't help but complain, "Treating customers like this, she really has a temper!"
The next day, Li Ye returned to the antique shop to start work. On the way, he secretly practiced his aerial stepping.

When there are no missions, the authorities do not need to patrol or care about the private activities of the staff.

It seems the intention is to keep the handlers hidden in the streets.

That's normal; border cities have tens of millions of inhabitants. Even if all the patrol officers went out to patrol, they wouldn't be able to find much.

Therefore, the processors come from diverse backgrounds. Some are teachers, some are university students, and some are white-collar workers, among others.

In addition, there is a secret agreement that allows them to communicate with each other without prior knowledge.

Even if you bump into someone, you won't know they're your colleague.

Just as Li Ye was wondering if any of his past customers might be his colleagues.

The official communicator on his arm made a sound.

When no one was around, he quietly clicked to take a look.

I discovered that these were two messages sent to me by the official channels.

[Mr. Li Yelai, thank you for your efforts in the mission. You have received a reward of 20000 Giant City Coins and 20 merit points. You now have 30 merit points.]
Li Yelai was beaming with joy. Twenty thousand Giant City Coins! Another 1/40!

30 merit points is actually a lot, enough for Li Ye to equip a set of gear or a psionic weapon.

If necessary, they can also be sold to colleagues for cash.

Of course, Li Ye didn't consider this. His goal was to save up points to buy items to suppress curses, and since he didn't even know the prices yet, why would he spend contribution points?

Then, Li Yelai clicked on the second message.

[You have completed all basic training and received excellent feedback from the instructors. You are now officially a processor.]
[Acquired codename: Night General]
[Gain access to the Calamity Handler Forum]

[Processor Cheese invites you to join the group chat]

(End of this chapter)