Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Li Yelai understood Jing Lin's fear. After confirming that his memories had been tampered with, he felt as if the world had fallen into a false dream.

Is he really Lin Ge'er from the third branch of the Jing family? Did he really fight alongside the warriors of Border City No. 3?

Could his memory have been altered in some details?

This fear made him especially cautious.

Aside from Li Yelai, he dared not trust anyone around him.

If Li Ye hadn't specifically mentioned the dolls and cheese on the Ark, he probably wouldn't have trusted them.

“Currently, we've only confirmed Jinghe as the ‘extra’ person, but we can't guarantee that there won't be anyone else besides her. This forces me to be on guard,” Jing Lin said cautiously.

“I will compile a list of information and names of internal officials. Of course, some lists of undercover agents are not easy to obtain, and there is a high probability that such lists do not exist.” Cheese said after thinking for a moment, “Since only your memory is correct so far, let’s start by investigating from within the official ranks. Everyone whose memory does not match yours must be placed under surveillance.”

The most troublesome and memory-testing method was fortunately Li Yelai regained his memories after being immersed in the Chaos Sea, making his memory practically brand new.

“No, that won’t work,” the doll said softly. “Xiao Ye spends more time on missions than in the giant city. Apart from Xinghuo and the heavy cavalry, she doesn’t know much about her comrades.”

This is true. Ever since Li Yelai advanced to the fourth level of awakening, he was dragged by Little Mad King to the forbidden zone to kill human traitors.

Not long after returning to the giant city, they went to the Celestial Palace battlefield.

Then, they went to Wanlong Lake to support the champion team.

Then came Disaster Fog No. 49 and the River Styx.

Finally, it was during this trip into the simulated universe that he emerged and overcame the massive encirclement of the Heavenly Evolution Walkers.
It can be said that Li Yelai was either fighting or on his way to the battlefield.

Unlike most case handlers, he didn't even have a fixed teammate. He didn't handle many cases in the city, and he didn't even handle as many cases as he did on the side with detectives.

This meant he had limited contact with his colleagues within the government.

The other officers built their networks and circles of acquaintances through repeated city patrols, joint law enforcement operations, daily training, and celebratory parties.

This was a relatively unfamiliar area for Li Yelai.

Aside from the champion team, the only others he could accurately remember and confirm were probably comrades like Starfire, Heavy Cavalry, and Shadow Stream—teams he fought alongside in the early days or later collaborated with. This number was far too small compared to the vast population of the entire official system.

No, even the current team feels unfamiliar to Li Yelai. The number of people has increased several times over, with many unfamiliar faces.

“However, since it was because the Chaos Sea devoured me that the enemy interfered with your memories by having someone like 'Mirror River' in them, perhaps even if there are other 'pieces together,' they will be related to my memories,” Li Yelai pondered. “It’s not just you. If it’s really related to the Chaos Sea, then Jiang Ling is too.” Cheese looked at Little Mad King.

For some reason, Little Mad King looked at the dolls and cheese with a very fearful expression.

'She probably thinks we're trying to steal Ye Lai away, doesn't she? But he's ours to begin with.' Cheese was a little amused and exasperated, thinking, 'Okay, this situation is indeed a bit complicated.'

Given Little Mad King's personality, I wonder if she'll become furious after regaining her memories. Hmm, probably not. She doesn't really care about the boundaries between men and women, and as long as it doesn't affect the mission, she probably won't care.

It's a pity, I really wanted to see the most powerful assassin blush with embarrassment.

“That makes sense! If the logical starting point for the appearance of the abnormal individual ‘Mirror River’ is that you, Old Li, were once swallowed by the Chaos Sea and your existence was erased, thus leaving some kind of ‘tamperable interface’ or ‘phase difference’ in the collective cognition, then Jiang Ling, who was also swallowed by the Chaos Sea, should theoretically also have a similar ‘interface’!” Jing Lin said thoughtfully, “Perhaps that is the key.”

"The memory anchors of 'Mirror River' are largely attached to shared experiences with you, Lao Li. So, if there is a 'pieced-together' related to Jiang Ling, its memory anchors should also mainly revolve around her interpersonal relationships! Finding that possible 'pieced-together' related to Jiang Ling might allow us to deduce the operating mechanism of this memory alteration, and even find clues to the mastermind behind it all!"

Realizing that he probably wouldn't have such a 'piecemeal' person around him, Jing Lin relaxed a lot. His tone gradually became more intense.

“But her memory hasn’t returned yet, so she can’t possibly distinguish who was ‘pieced together’,” Li Yelai frowned. “And her circle of contacts…”

Li Ye tried hard to recall the details that Little Mad King had told him. But it seemed there really weren't many.

“The good news is,” Cheese said, playing with Little Mad King’s hair, “Jiang Ling’s social circle is even simpler and more closed off than yours, Ye Lai. Apart from you, her exclusive partner, she doesn’t have any fixed teammates. Even if she has temporary teammates, it’s only for tactical cooperation. Once the mission is over, there is basically no more personal interaction. The network of interpersonal relationships that she actively maintains is surprisingly narrow.”

“After all, her curse, which maintains friendships, only makes her friends suspicious of her,” the doll said softly, somewhat empathetic.

The curse of doubt nearly severed the possibility of Little Mad King communicating normally with others.

They were suspected, slandered, and labeled with all sorts of accusations.
Li Yelai even speculated that the reason why the Little Mad King was able to develop such a skill in concealment was because he wanted to avoid the gaze of outsiders.

Her life revolved almost entirely around training, missions, rest, and then more missions—a cycle that made the investigation much simpler.
"Then she must have had more contact with the Jiang family, where the old mad king who adopted her is from, and with Councilor Pang Yu who just left." Jing Lin felt a chill of fear: "See, I told you we should be on guard, didn't I?"

"It's not certain yet, but let's start from this point," Li Yelai said. "We can mobilize Yunyue and Chuhe's forces. Secretly, the missing Immortal Lord won't suffer any losses. You have no idea how cunning he is."

Li Yelai wasn't genuinely worried about Immortal Lord Chang Le. In the simulated universe, he was a formidable figure who could coordinate with the simulated Lord of Myriad Changes to deliver a fatal blow to the simulated core-13. How could he be so easily defeated? His hiding place must be part of a plan.

“The champion team can also be mobilized.” Cheese revealed a sly smile: “As the champion, you only need to issue the order. You just need to say, ‘The enemy is at headquarters.’ They won’t hesitate at all.”

“Indeed, even with your champion team, plus the Rangers and Chuhe’s team, and if I squeeze in a few more, we only have eight hundred people with the fourth awakening level or higher.” Jing Lin gritted his teeth and said, “Eight hundred it is. Eight hundred people have their own way of fighting!”

"Your lines were a bit too dangerous!" (End of Chapter)