Chapter 330: Navigating the Illusion

“It feels so real…”

In the East side of the city, the Doctor clad in a white coat stood with his eyes slightly wide, gazing at the bustling city street before him. A captivated expression graced his face as he murmured, “This scene perfectly matches the light and shadow design, real down to the finest detail, and… full of the scent of memories. This is the first time I’ve encountered something so lifelike, so real I almost don’t want to leave.”

The two mental patients eyed the Doctor with concern.

“But… it’s ultimately fake.”

The Doctor’s tone shifted, a smile appearing on his face. “It’s clear we’re under some kind of influence, but I can’t sense the source of the mental radiation around us. This means either the Ability User is quite far away, or…”

“…there’s no Ability User at all.”

His smile gradually faded, replaced by a serious expression. He whispered, “Is it a parasitic item at work then? Our training courses in Central City did mention certain special parasitic items capable of creating similar scenes, it’s just…”

He paused, then admitted frankly, “I forgot.”

The two mental patients immediately shot him resentful glares, looking pointedly at their unreliable Doctor.

“It was a thick stack of materials after all, what kind of pervert could possibly memorize all that?”

The Doctor retorted righteously, then chuckled. “Of course, remembering or not wasn’t really important anyway.”

“As long as there’s logic, that’s enough!”

His expression grew serious, eyes narrowing. This focused look made him seem less like he was staring at the lightly dressed girls walking down the street and more like he was facing a room full of experts and professors, presenting his proudest medical discovery:

“This world is built upon logic.”

“Everything in the world, all beautiful things, possess logic.”

“If you think they don’t, it’s definitely because you don’t understand yet, you haven’t discovered it.”

“Everything requires logic, every field needs logic. Whether it’s science or politics, including us doctors—whether dealing with physical or mental illnesses, you need to find the logic within to identify the source and provide treatment.”

“Ordinary people and things have logic; strange events also have logic. However, many abilities or forms of Pollution can distort and hide this logic, creating a seemingly chaotic and mysterious feeling. But even the most chaotic scene hides its logic. Just like… the scene we see now is fake, but there’s also truth within it…”

“…”

As he spoke, his eyes became sharp and narrow. He suddenly took a deep breath, murmuring to himself:

“The air is real, the wind is real too.”

He crouched down, splaying his fingers across the ground. “The road is real, the city is real.”

Turning towards a nearby shop, he slid a sharp scalpel from his sleeve and cut into the electrical wires exposed on the shop’s outer wall. A sudden current jolted him, making his hair stand slightly on end and his body twitch as if breakdancing.

He nonchalantly retracted the scalpel, murmuring, “The electricity is real too.”

Then he looked up at the starry sky and shook his head. “Fake.”

He took out a compass and shook his head again. “Chaotic…”

“Most importantly…”

Finally, he closed his eyes, seeming to open every pore slightly. He whispered, “My feelings are real.”

…

The two team members dressed in blue-and-white striped patient uniforms were stunned, staring blankly at the Doctor.

“Has the Captain relapsed again?”

One patient whose gaze always seemed unfocused muttered.

The other patient wearing a smiling doll mask said, “Isn’t this completely normal?”

“Too bad we can’t beat him!”

“Otherwise, we’d be the doctors, and he’d be the patient…”

“…”

Amidst their hushed discussion, the Doctor suddenly looked up, eyes fervent, as if speaking to the city itself: “I don’t care how much of this place is fake. I only need to confirm a few real points. Through perception, determine what parts of you are real, then use that data to deduce what the true city should look like…”

Saying this, he beckoned to the two patients and strode forward.

He felt the oncoming wind, the almost imperceptible vibrations from each step on the ground, the auras of every pedestrian walking towards him. He processed all these minute changes, barely noticeable to others, calculating them in his mind. Then, ignoring the false city before him, he walked forward step by step, guided only by his own understanding.

After a few steps, looking at the flat ground ahead, a smile touched his lips. “It looks like there’s nothing here, but the surrounding wind has changed, its angle refracted. So, there should be a sizable pit right in front of me…”

“And the width of this pit is…”

After a brief pause, he suddenly leaped forward, covering about two meters, and landed steadily on the ground.

Then he continued striding forward, ignoring the illusion.

“What a pity…”

He sighed regretfully, “If the mission weren’t urgent, I’d really love to calculate all your bugs.”

…

In the South City area, Xia Chong slowly descended from the car roof. Her fair, tender face, still holding a touch of baby fat, wore an indifferent expression like a sculpture carved from milky ice. After her two team members reached her side, she lightly jumped off the front of the car, her small skirt flaring up slightly. Then she grabbed her team members’ arms and walked straight towards a nearby shop.

*Tinkle…*

She opened the shop’s glass door. The wind chime swayed, sounding very real, very pleasant.

Xia Chong and her two team members, maintaining physical contact, walked directly through the door. The glass door closed behind them.

*Click…*

The moment the glass door shut, one would notice that they, having just entered, had already disappeared.

…

“Captain, this must be the Lab deliberately trying to slow us down.”

In the North side of the City, a team member frowned, looking towards the burly man clad in black tactical gear.

Another team member, who had been fiddling with an instrument for a long time, gave up. “All instruments are severely affected.”

“Don’t be surprised by the strange; the strange will inevitably fail.”

The burly man stated coldly, “Since we can’t break the illusion mirror, then don’t break it.”

He was actually the first among these people to make a decision.

After taking two seconds to confirm he was trapped in a false city and another three seconds to determine it wasn’t easily broken, he simply walked straight ahead. “We just continue the mission.”

“If any strange entity really attacks us, it will die before we do.”

As he spoke these words, his figure seemed to distort and refract to some degree.

If one listened closely, they would notice.

With every step he took, two sets of footsteps echoed.

…

…

“Mr. Lone Soldier, have you discovered anything?”

Back with Lu Xin’s group, Chen Jing turned and asked him.

It was clear she valued Lu Xin’s opinion, likely because his psychic power was acknowledged to be high.

Lu Xin blinked, taking a moment to realize she was talking to him.

He thought for a moment, then smiled sheepishly and turned towards his Sister.

Under Gecko’s somewhat terrified gaze, he asked gently, “Did you find anything?”

“Chee-ah…”

His Sister wasn’t climbing on the wall this time but had come to Lu Xin’s side. She seemed irritated, squeezing a screaming chicken, then tilted her small face up at Lu Xin. “These are all fake, I could tell at a glance. But I don’t know *how* they’re fake. I just know they’re all alive, truly existing. If they could be made into toys, they’d definitely be lots of fun.”

As she finished, her eyes lit up slightly.

“Hold it right there…”

Lu Xin stopped his Sister’s budding criminal thoughts and then glanced down at his own shadow.

He didn’t even bother asking it, simply looking back at Chen Jing with a slightly apologetic expression.

“We can only confirm that these things are alive… or rather, truly existing. They could be made into… anyway, they’re alive.”

He relayed the only piece of information his Sister had discovered to Chen Jing.

The result wasn’t particularly impressive, of course, but it was mostly within his expectations.

His Sister wasn’t Mom, after all; she didn’t possess such miraculous abilities.

Often, what his Sister saw was actually the same as what he saw.

It was just that because his Sister was special, she was a bit more sensitive, able to notice details he couldn’t.

But in this city, it seemed difficult to find any problems just by looking at the details.

Its mixture of fake and real things intertwined, creating a kind of perfect unity that was hard to distinguish.

…

Hearing Lu Xin’s words, Chen Jing nodded lightly.

After a brief pause, she looked behind her. “Have you discovered anything?”

Only when she started speaking did Lu Xin and Gecko suddenly remember the small, turned monster following her. They saw it trembling, its octopus-like tentacles wrapped tightly around Chen Jing’s calf, clinging on for dear life.

The only clue obtained from it was that it was currently terrified.

Chen Jing sighed. “It hasn’t been to this city before either. It was modified in a different lab.”

Then her brow furrowed slightly. “We can’t stay here too long.”

“If this place is Black Table’s doing, then their goal is most likely to delay us.”

“…”

Gecko carefully glanced at Chen Jing and muttered under his breath, “We get the logic, but the key is how do we get out…”

Chen Jing gave him a cool look. “Walk out.”