From the end of the world

Chapter 170: Missing a Step 2
The "missing step" phenomenon I encountered was not missing step in the physical sense, but more like a psychological experience.

It's like a person sleeping soundly in bed, and suddenly has a sudden feeling of falling, and then wakes up suddenly. Although this phenomenon is rare, everyone should have experienced it at least a few times.

When I came to my senses, I was no longer in the cell filled with bloody torture instruments, but returned to the reception room of the Luoshan Office.

In my memory, I should have been standing and holding hands with Lu Youxun before entering the twisted secret base of the Humanitarian Department, but now I am sitting on the sofa. Ma Zao sits next to me, while Zhu Shi stands in the middle of the room, with his hands folded in front of his chest, looking at the corner with a surveillance look.

Following Zhu Shi's gaze, I saw Lu Youxun sitting in the corner. Unlike me, who was sitting comfortably on the sofa with the beautiful girl, he was tied up with ropes all over his body, with his hands behind his back and a helpless smile on his face.

Regardless of why he was tied up there, the moment I saw him, I breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously. It's not that the other Lu Chan in the form of a female student made me feel uncomfortable, but the original Lu Youxun was more pleasing to the eye, so I didn't need to think too much.

But why did I suddenly return to Luoshan Office? I can return anytime and anywhere, but I didn't use fire teleport just now?

Ma had already noticed my movements and said happily, "Zhuang Cheng, are you awake?"

"Senior Brother Zhuang?" Zhu Shi also looked over.

Lu Youxun, who was sitting in the corner, let out a long sigh and said with a smile, "I said it's okay."

"Did I faint just now?" Then, I immediately reacted: "Oh, no wonder Lu Youxun was tied there..."

As I spoke, I checked the "fireflies" placed on the three people.

After several minor upgrades, the current "Firefly" has the function of storing memory. Simply put, it can review the monitoring records. I retrieved information about events that occurred in the past from it.

It turned out that the moment I entered the secret base of the Humanitarian Department, the body in the Luoshan Office suddenly "crashed".

Although both the body here and the me who entered the secret base over there are essentially flames, or aggregates of my own spirit, it does not mean that both sides of me can think normally. Wherever my center of consciousness is, that side can think and act like a human being. Therefore, when I enter over there, the body here is just an aggregate of flames, or in other words, a "super-sized cup of fireflies".

Perhaps in the future, the "firefly" can be upgraded to a creature with a certain degree of autonomous intelligence, but it is not possible now. It suddenly became blank-eyed and could do nothing but stand there stupidly.

Ma Zao rushed over immediately after realizing the abnormality, holding my body and retreating straight away, while looking at Lu Youxun with a wary look. Zhu Shi also directly picked up the Zhu Yama Sword, put his right hand on the hilt, and was ready to draw the sword at any time.

"Wait, I didn't do anything!" Lu Youxun quickly raised his hands.

Ma Zao seemed unable to figure out the reason why Lu Youxun plotted against him, but she immediately grasped a possibility: "...Did Ying Lingyun brainwash you? You were imprisoned and studied by the Humanitarian Department for eight months. Since Ying Lingyun can brainwash Chen Long, he can certainly brainwash you as well."

In fact, this possibility is very low.

Because Lu Youxun was captured and tortured by the enemy for eight months, Luo Shan would be more suspicious of his loyalty than us, and there are countless ways to test whether he was subverted by the enemy. Since Lu Youxun can now become a patrol officer in charge of intelligence work, and even get a position in charge of Xianshui City's intelligence, it means that his position is credible.

Besides, if he really had the slightest hostility towards me, there would have been a problem when connecting with my spirit. No, before that, he would not have risked his life to accompany my Humanitarian Division in the infiltration operation. After all, if I had the slightest hostility towards him, he would have died.

"Don't worry, I have used 'Buzhou Mountain' to check Lu Chan's words and deeds several times before, and he really doesn't have any problems in that area." Zhu Shi also said so.

"Yes, Luo Shan has also checked me, you can rest assured... huh?" Lu Youxun hesitated, "Speaking of which, Zhu Shi, don't you usually not use 'Buzhou Mountain' on your own people? You really don't regard me as your own?" Zhu Shi said in a shocked voice: "Who told you to bypass me and contact Brother Zhuang privately before!"

"So you hold a grudge about that incident so much?" Lu Youxun was stunned.

Afterwards, in order to express that he was harmless, he bound himself and accepted Zhu Shi's surveillance.

Ma Zao tried to use the power of blessing to restore my condition, but perhaps because the burden on my soul had not yet subsided, not much power could be squeezed out, and it never worked.

Until I "woke up" myself.

Then I pulled my attention away from the historical information of "Firefly".

"That's what happened..." Lu Youxun said, "Can I untie you now?"

"You get up first." Zhu Shi said.

Lu Youxun's body shook, and the ropes fell to the ground as if they had untied themselves. He stood up by pressing on the wall and did some stretching exercises.

"So...what happened on your end?"

"Is such that……"

I briefly described the scene I entered, but for a moment I didn't know how to describe the girl Lu Chan, especially in front of Lu Youxun.

"...Although the place you entered should be the secret base of the Humanitarian Department, it looks like a crazy and terrifying factory, and the people around you seem to be from two years ago, except for Silver Mask and Chen Long?" Lu Youxun sat on the sofa opposite. He listened to my statement and was indeed confused. "Your body has shrunk to that of a twelve-year-old, and no one else is puzzled by your appearance. Do you have your own identity and origin in that place, and even well-documented information?"

"I seemed to be a student of Xincheng District Experimental Middle School there, but the junior high school I attended before was not in Xincheng District either," I said.

This is one of the reasons why I believe that the me over there is not the me in the past.

"...This needs to be investigated." Zhu Shi suggested.

Lu Youxun nodded and called the stationed agent to investigate the information of other people in Xianshui City who had the same name as me.

Looking at Lu Youxun, who had a serious expression and was obviously in working mode, I couldn't help but think of the young girl Lu Chan again. Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and speak out the doubts in my heart.

"Lu Youxun, have you ever undergone a sex change operation by the Humanitarian Department?" I asked very seriously.

Lu Youxun: "...what?"

(End of this chapter)