dmims Chapter 299 The Photo
Chapter 299 The Photo
Chapter 299 The Photo
"photo?"
Tan Zhixin's eyes flickered slightly upon hearing these words.
"You mean one—"
"Hmm." Tang Zijun nodded slightly, believing that Tan Zhixin already understood his meaning. "The day the Tree Crown Royal City fell..."
The photo your phone automatically took—the photo that includes all of us.
Dark clouds loom, apocalyptic disaster looms.
In that photo, Tan Zhixin, Tang Cao, Qin Nan, and Su Siyao were all present. They had their backs to the camera and were gazing at the towering tree that was burning fiercely in the rain and collapsing. Beside them, in the metallic reflection of Langya, Chang Lei's mask revealed half of his face, and in the sky, Tang Zijun's figure could be vaguely seen.
No one knows where this photo came from. By the time Tan Zhixin noticed it, it was already saved on her phone, and it was taken on the day of the fall.
Although she had no clue what to do, the photo was indeed very well taken. Because of its special commemorative significance, Tan Zhixin developed it and framed it, hanging it on the wall of the flower shop.
Tan Zhixin had investigated the matter, but it was too bizarre to know where to begin. In addition, she had to deal with the Flower Fairy Clan later, so she put it aside for the time being.
Now, upon hearing Tang Zijun's reminder, she immediately remembered.
The people in that photo correspond exactly to the data that was lost within the Bureau of Demonic Investigations. Everyone in the files was someone who was present on the day of the Fall.
After realizing this, Tan Zhixin's expression also darkened. "If that's the case, then all our actions in the Tree Crown Royal City were observed by them."
"Heh, it's probably not just the actions of the Tree Canopy Royal City." Tang Zijun said with a hint of helplessness. "If the other party really is an entity operating within electronic signals, then none of our experiences from birth to the present can be kept secret."
Since the explosion of the information age, the Internet has spread to every corner of the world, and digital networks and technological devices have entered everyone's lives.
In that world, everyone's information is transparent. Even Tang Zijun, as long as he lives in the real world, will be captured and monitored by various electronic devices. This is unavoidable.
Looking at the silent Tang Zijun, Tan Zhixin couldn't help but ask, "A 'ghost' wandering in the virtual network... Tang Zijun, have you encountered anything like it before?"
"If it's about malicious attacks using the internet, then I have indeed dealt with them before." Tang Zijun thought seriously for a moment before answering. "Back then, there were a few greedy individuals who were skilled in this kind of operation."
In the early and middle stages of the battle against the Greedy Ones, Tang Zijun encountered many beings with special abilities. Among them, a few Greedy Ones who could influence the network and launch attacks using the Internet left a deep impression on Tang Zijun.
One of them was involved in online fraud; that guy would be considered the originator of the "online dating scam" if he were around today.
His ability can be transmitted via network signals, deceiving humans on the other end of the network, thereby disrupting their lives and absorbing negative energy.
However, that guy wasn't very strong. The only harm he caused to Tang Zijun was that he modified Tang Zijun's exam scores through the network backend, causing Tang Zijun to fail her final exam that year.
There was another similar individual who could also use his abilities to influence network data; he rewrote his pocket space using powerful illusion magic.
They created a game world similar to Fantasy Westward Journey.
His harm to reality was probably the greatest. Tang Zijun still remembers it to this day: that guy dragged everyone in the entire internet cafe into Donghai to brush sea worms.
As for Tang Zijun herself, she forcefully rushed into that so-called "game world" and defeated it in order to rescue those people.
Even so, those people's mental state was still affected to some extent.
I heard that later, a large number of them spent all their family fortune on the game, just to recapture the immersive feeling it gave them.
So Tang Zijun succeeded, but also failed.
Success means he killed the greedy person, and no one will be harmed again. Failure means he was unable to help those people get out of their torment, and even if he didn't save them, the greedy person would still release them.
And they kicked them out one by one when they were having the most fun and were having the most fun.
This is precisely how the greedy person absorbs negative energy; he creates a fantastical game world so that people can obtain it.
Then they lose it, and ultimately remain trapped in the torment of unrequited love for the rest of their lives.
Neither Tan Zhixin nor Xiaoqing interrupted Tang Zijun as he quietly listened to his story.
Even for the battle-hardened Tan Zhixin, Tang Zijun's experiences sounded like a fantasy. It must be said...
The difference between greedy people and heretics/demons is still too great.
Tan Zhixin couldn't imagine what kind of difficulties magical girls would encounter when facing these enemies.
"That's all I know. Although these greedy people are all connected to the internet, in the end, they are still using the power of their desires."
Tang Zijun sighed softly and continued, "These few greedy individuals can only be described as similar; after all, they acted in the real world, not in a true digital virtual world."
"You don't actually doubt that there's such a thing as a virtual world, do you?" Xiaoqing stuck out her tongue. "Whether it's the real world, the inverted world, or the shadow world, they're all based on reality. But a virtual world... is that really possible?"
"To be honest, I don't know either," Tang Zijun said, shrugging.
"Human technology has developed rapidly since modern times. It has been less than a hundred years since the first computer was created. In just a few decades, a world has been born. It does sound incredible."
Whether it's the reverse world or the inner world, they can all be traced back to the mythological era. Even the currently unknown shadow world has a very long history.
But can the Internet, in less than a hundred years, really give birth to a dimension of its own?
After a pause, Xiaoqing offered a new guess. "I think perhaps we're facing a strange person with special abilities, only their abilities are very unusual."
"Perhaps..." Tang Zijun took a sip of tea, but the gloom between her brows did not fade much.
A strange person with special abilities?
Tang Zijun really couldn't think of any strange person who could escape Chang Lei's eyes. After all, Chang Lei himself used to be a strange person, so he knew this all too well.
To be able to leave no trace of the notorious fraudster Mr. Hawkes, the other party's methods are definitely not something that an ordinary weirdo could achieve.
However, Tang Zijun doesn't have much evidence to categorize the other party as a product of the virtual world.
So, thinking about this, he simply shook his head slightly. "What you said makes some sense. We still can't determine whether the other party is an organization or an individual."
If it's an individual, that's simple: find him, take him out. Tang Zijun is very familiar with this process. But if the other party is an organization, then the problem is serious.
"What do you think we should do?" Tan Zhige asked.
"I'm not sure either. I've fought against all sorts of greedy people, but there's not much I can learn from them, especially when they haven't left any clues," Tang Zijun pondered. "Besides, I don't think they seem to have any hostility towards me."
"No hostility?" Xiaoqing asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Think about it, if the other party harbored any hostility towards us, then they wouldn't have chosen to expose themselves in the first place. Given the methods they've demonstrated so far, they have absolutely no reason for us to become aware of their existence, right?" Tang Zijun replied.
Hearing this, Tan Zhixin nodded slightly. "That's true. If the other party can control the phone and the network, then they have no need to keep the photos or the call logs. What they did was like a reminder to us."
"That's what I want to know most right now." Tang Zijun stroked her chin, her brows furrowing deeply. "That guy wouldn't expose himself for no reason. Why did he call me over?"
"Could it be?!"
Xiaoqing suddenly realized something.
Her voice immediately attracted the attention of Tang Zijun and Tan Zhixin. The two looked at Xiaoqing at the same time, and then they heard Xiaoqing whisper and shout.
"Could this be a diversionary tactic?"
"A diversionary tactic?!"
Upon hearing this, both Tang Zijun and Tan Zhixin widened their eyes.
"Oh no, if that's the case, that guy must have taken advantage of me while I was away..." Tang Zijun suddenly stopped speaking.
"Wait a minute!"
Then, as if he had thought of something, he looked at Xiaoqing with a strange expression.
"A diversionary tactic? To lure me away from the mountain?"
Tan Zhixin quickly realized what was going on and couldn't help but smile. "It's unlikely that we can find someone who can open the reversal channel at any time."
"Yes, yes..." Xiaoqing realized what was going on at this point.
She's gotten used to looking at things from a magical girl's perspective. Magical girls have indeed encountered situations where they're lured away from their prey, but for Tang Zijun, who can freely travel through reverse passages, this is practically impossible.
Since that guy has gathered everyone's information, there's no way he wouldn't know this.
At that moment, the half-closed door was suddenly knocked on.
Tang Zijun subconsciously turned her head and saw a flower fairy fly in anxiously and shout loudly.
"Kami-sama, Qingnang-sama!"
"What happened?" Tan Zhixin stood up. "Don't rush, tell me slowly."
"Lord Qingnang, the matter you entrusted to us has yielded results."
The flower fairy spoke breathlessly.
"When we arrived, your friend's grave had already been robbed, and it was filled with the aura of the corrupted."
"The rainbow crystal flower that was stored there... is gone too!"