Chapter 606: Whispers of Memory and Shadows
by xennovel“Do we need to call Doll into action?”
Stepping outside, Lu Xin looked at the street cloaked in night, a hint of surprise crossing his face.
It was just a B-level mission…
“Perception, emotion, desire, cognition, instinct, memory, and self – these are the seven flaws of humanity.”
Chen Jing’s voice resonated steadily over the channel: “Likewise, these mirror the seven tiers of mental pollution.”
“Seven tiers, each one deeper than the last.”
“Memory-based pollution ranks second only to self – it’s the deepest and most elusive kind.”
“After all, even a Mental Overlord wouldn’t notice the subtle shifts in a polluted subject’s memory unless over 70% synchronization is achieved.”
“We can even surmise that this Pollution Source remains simply to gauge the synchronization of our Heaven’s Kingdom Plan…”
“…”
Listening intently, Lu Xin paused, “So, have we synchronized?”
“Not even close.”
Chen Jing replied matter-of-factly, “We’ve only just kicked off the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan, and our maximum synchronization rate is a mere 30%.”
Lu Xin was slightly taken aback, “Then…”
“For now, synchronization isn’t the crucial factor.”
Chen Jing’s tone carried a hint of a cold laugh: “What’s important is that he underestimated Doll.”
……
……
While conversing, Lu Xin, standing by his small shop, scanned the surrounding street.
It seemed that nobody on this entire street had noticed what had just transpired.
People continued shopping, dining, even bickering with their husbands as usual.
The escape of that mental entity hadn’t seemed to affect anyone in the real world.
Occasionally, someone would freeze for a second or two before snapping back and resuming their business.
That brief moment of daze might even catch a companion’s attention, prompting them to ask if something was wrong.
The person would just smile and reply, “Nothing, just reminded me of a strange guy…”
Many have had those fleeting moments of reverie, recalling something arbitrary.
Some remember, from their early days, leaving school one afternoon and spotting a man on the roadside smiling at them, holding an odd, transparent hourglass with slowly drifting white sand.
Such memories were trivial compared to the vast canvas of their lives.
They often couldn’t even fathom why that memory resurfaced.
That fleeting flash was so random it defied explanation.
Thus, nobody on the street had any inkling…
In their memories, this man appeared at various times, ages, and locations.
Sometimes he passed by while they were eating, hourglass in hand.
Other times, he stood nearby applauding during a proposal.
Or even when they were in the restroom, borrowing paper from the adjacent stall…
……
If memory were a painted scroll, then all these recollections would unfurl and merge.
You’d notice a man straddling these memories, hourglass in hand, heading toward the unknown.
But memories are vast, so few even noticed him.
At best, they’d wonder why this random figure suddenly came to mind.
……
Even Lu Xin found little recourse against such an odd escape tactic.
He looked up and saw countless faces around him.
He sensed that the strange mental fluctuations from that decrepit old man had now merged with the crowd.
Or rather, they had seeped into the ocean of their memories.
It was like standing on the shore, clutching a black fish, only for it to suddenly leap into the ocean.
Then a shadow flashed by, darting swiftly into the depths of that sea.
There was no way to catch it, not even a glimpse of its form.
Unless you could dry up the entire sea or boil it until nothing remained.
That might not be too hard, but it’s unnecessary—after all, this sea is made up of living people.
If even he struggled so much, what could Doll possibly do?
……
……
“This memory-based Pollution Source has probably been hidden in Qinggang for ages. Yet, even after launching the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan, it remains here, still exuding its pollution—clearly, it’s quite bold…”
Chen Jing remarked over the channel, “Unless he’s a fool, it’s likely he has an escape route pre-planned.”
“If he can truly hide within people’s memories and flee via them, then there’s nothing we can do about him.”
“This form of existence is even stranger than ghost-type and far harder to detect.”
“Of course, its control over people is much weaker than that of ghost-type—that’s just the trade-off between different abilities.”
“In simple terms, as long as there’s a gap in a person’s memory, there will be room for it to hide…”
“…”
Lu Xin had long been a seasoned expert and the captain of his Single Soldier team.
He led Qinggang’s operations.
He understood Chen Jing’s words—gaps in memory could let it hide?
That made it seem all too easy.
Whose memory isn’t incomplete? And who doesn’t occasionally recall a random stranger?
Moreover, considering that it now hides within the mind of that old grocer, perhaps because his memory is most vacant due to his age—or even a hint of dementia—it finds a more comfortable refuge.
But how do you capture someone like that?
While pondering this, Lu Xin suddenly felt an invisible tide rolling in.
It was like a gentle breeze over a lake, gradually intensifying.
The three surrounding streets had been cordoned off by support teams clad in protective suits and armed with standard-issue weapons. They were merely blocking the area, not tightening the cordon or issuing orders.
They simply waited quietly for that mental power to arrive, occasionally glancing upward.
Soon, that mental energy swept inward from all around.
Intangible and formless, it suddenly filled people with an unexpectedly joyful, relaxed feeling.
Lu Xin felt a surge of surprise as he turned and saw Doll.
That intangible mental force felt incredibly familiar.
To him, it was unmistakably Doll.
Doll was approaching from the crowd, as tendrils of mental energy wove together in the air, twisting and coalescing to form her figure—clad in a heavy black skirt and holding an umbrella adorned with elegant lace…
“Oh…”
It wasn’t just Lu Xin; as the mental energy grew stronger, everyone inside the cordon saw Doll.
Everyone here—everyone within the cordon—had seen her.
Part of Doll’s mental energy was originally borrowed from them.
Thus, even though Doll was merely a phantom woven from mental energy, everyone could see her.
Each person perceived her in a slightly different way.
Some saw her slowly approaching from the far end of the street.
Others saw her sitting on an adjacent seat, delicately sipping coffee.
Some even witnessed her on a massive building screen, quietly singing into a microphone…
Though her form varied, everyone saw the same Doll.
At that moment, everyone on the three streets fell silent, mesmerized by this breathtakingly beautiful girl—they forgot about shopping, dining, even bickering with their husbands.
……
“Single Soldier, prepare yourselves.”
Chen Jing reminded over the channel, “That pollution will be forced to reveal itself soon.”
“No matter how deeply it hides or how cautious it is with the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan, it will never fathom Doll’s power.”
“Doll’s ability is to draw on the mental energy of those around her, but the way she influences them is beyond anyone’s expectations.”
“It appears she exerts a first-tier perceptual influence—once someone sees her, it’s hard to look away. But over time, those witnessing her begin to feel excitement, even joy…”
“That already counts as emotional impact.”
“Further deepening leads them to develop a strong desire to protect Doll—this is third-tier influence.”
“Going even deeper, they come to see Doll as the most important entity in the world—an impact on cognition.”
“If guns are fired at Doll, they won’t hesitate to shield her with their own bodies—an instinctive response.”
“Most crucially, once Doll has been present for a while, they lose all other thoughts; their minds and eyes fix solely on her.”
“This can be seen as Doll shutting down their memory.”
“Of course, we never allowed Doll to do this before because it was irreversible. But now…”
“With the progress of the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan, Doll’s abilities have also been enhanced.”
“So even if the plan itself can’t deal with that pollution, Doll can subdue it…”
“…”
After Chen Jing’s lengthy explanation, Lu Xin couldn’t help but admire, “Doll is even more formidable than I imagined…”
“How many missions must such an incredible Doll have accomplished…”
“…”
Lost in thought, he looked up to find everyone around him frozen in place.
They stood as if struck by a binding spell, motionless and staring blankly at the air.
And when his mental power dulled to a certain degree, one particular strain of energy became remarkably noticeable.
“Found it…”
Lu Xin suddenly leaped onto a nearby wall and charged forward.
It was like trying to catch or kill a fish that had hidden in the sea.
Drain the sea of water, and you’ve found it.
Boil the entire sea, and it’s dead.
Doll’s ability spared him such cruelty—she simply froze the entire sea…