From the end of the world

Chapter 32: Ending 2
Zhu Shi and I looked at the person who came at the same time.

The person who came through the door was a man in a gray uniform. I had seen this uniform last night. It was the same uniform worn by the Luoshan personnel who recovered the body of the fallen demon hunter last time.

What impressed me most was the face of this man. It was Agent Kong who once knocked on my door and then inadvertently hindered my exploration of the cave.

"Hmm?" Agent Kong looked embarrassed when he saw my face. "You are Zhuang Cheng..."

"Good morning, Mr. Policeman."

When I saw the other person's face again, I felt quite emotional.

Although I have the superpower of controlling fire, I grew up in a society ruled by law, and was influenced by all kinds of propaganda and slogans. I have a sense of awe for official power. When I think that I might not be tolerated by society, I will reflexively feel uneasy.

At first, I thought that Agent Kong was a real policeman, and I was worried that he was protecting a "serial killer" and secretly possessing guns and ammunition. Now, it is him who is guilty because he once pretended to be a policeman. The positions have been reversed in an instant.

"Don't mock me, you should have heard from Zhu Shi that these were all Luo Shan's tasks."

Hearing this, Agent Kong's embarrassment became even stronger. He quickly waved his hands and changed the subject: "I've heard that it was you who defeated the Fallen Demon Hunter. I'm the agent responsible for patrolling this area, and I have to thank you for your actions of punishing evil. By the way, do you want to join Luo Shan? I suggest that you..."

Seeing him mention my joining Luo Shan, Zhu Shi frowned and immediately interrupted, "Agent Kong, how is the progress of 'that matter' I asked you to investigate?"

From Zhu Shi's attitude, I could tell that she really didn't want me to join Luo Shan. Was it because of the chaos within Luo Shan and the possible conflicts that might occur in the future that she mentioned last time, or was there some other reason?
I didn't rush to ask, nor did I continue to mock Agent Kong. I just followed Zhu Shi's words and said, "What do you mean by 'that thing'?"

"It's about the possible grudge between you and the Fallen Demon Hunter." The one who answered me was Agent Kong. "All the information related to the Fallen Demon Hunter incident was compiled and summarized by the 'probe' in charge of this area, that is, me, and then handed over to Zhu Shi. If Zhu Shi finds new suspicious points in the process of handling the incident, he will turn back and entrust me to continue the investigation.

"And she mentioned in the report that the fallen demon hunter seemed to have a very strong hatred for you. The clue is 'two years ago'."

I added: "Yes, but he didn't have the power he has now, and he wouldn't have transformed into a non-human appearance, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to recognize him."

"Unfortunately, the fallen demon hunter did not turn back into his original human form after his death, but retained the form of a monster. We cannot identify his original social identity, let alone investigate what kind of grudge he had with you two years ago." Agent Kong shook his head regretfully and continued, "But there is another result that has been found out..."

"What is it?" I was curious.

"It's the cause of death." Zhu Shi took over the conversation, "The cause of death of the fallen demon hunter was neither your flame nor my sword energy, but acute organ failure."

I searched my layman's medical knowledge in my head and said, "So... death from shock?"

"Almost. But it's not the burn shock you think it is. It's an unexplained exhaustion phenomenon." Zhu Shi explained, "For a strong man like the Fallen Demon Hunter, after acute organ failure, he might have exploded due to uncontrolled strength. But he seemed to have consumed too much strength before he died, so he died without a sound."

Maybe it was because I had been chasing and burning him before he died, and he had been regenerating his flesh at a high speed, losing a lot of energy in the process. After listening to Zhu Shi's speech, I came up with a corresponding rationalization in my mind.

But she actually called that fallen demon hunter a "strong man", which really made me feel that I couldn't agree with her. Or was it me who had a wrong standard for judging strength?
"Although we cannot rule out the possibility that his acute organ failure was caused by excessive energy consumption, we still need to be vigilant. When it comes to incidents involving strange things, any unusual signs must be taken seriously and viewed with suspicion." Zhu Shi said earnestly. "Especially you, Zhuang Cheng... If the fallen demon hunter makes a comeback, you are likely to become his target."

"I'll pay attention."

However, compared to myself, I was more concerned about how I could protect Ma Zao's safety if she was affected.

While I was thinking about this, Zhu Shi turned around and continued to observe the ritual array in the room. He then walked to the side and squatted down to look at the black plush carpet.

After a moment, she groaned and said in doubt: "...something is wrong..."

"Is there anything unusual?" I turned my attention to her.

"Zhuang Cheng, you said last night that it was the letters on this carpet that made up for the missing parts of the ritual array..." She said hesitantly, "From my point of view, what you said makes sense. The ritual array can indeed be completed in this way, but... even if it is completed, it is still a formation with serious flaws. The probability of successfully activating it is almost astronomically low."

"So it's basically impossible to activate?" She said confidently, "If this array can be activated, it would only be a miracle."

"Miracle..." I thought of Ma Zao again.

Could it be that this was also Ma Zao's favor? Just to get me involved in the strange incident in the cave, the cave that originally had a near-zero probability of appearing had now appeared as a miraculous "bad luck"?

But is it too "giving up thinking" to blame all the bad luck on Ma Zao's unlucky personality? Do I plan to blame all the bad luck I encounter on Ma Zao in the future?

Could there be other clues that I haven't noticed... Slowly, the existence of the black jade emerged in my mind.

But as a clue, the black jade is still too vague...

"However, now it can be confirmed. Perhaps opening the cave was indeed the purpose of the fallen demon hunter in setting up this ritual array, but the final appearance of the cave was not the result of his intention, because he simply did not have that ability. Perhaps he is the one who wants to know the reason why the cave appeared the most." Zhu Shi supported his knees and stood up straight, "Now we can erase this array."

"Do you want to try to open the cave yourself according to the method I provided? Maybe there will be other discoveries." I still feel sorry that the cave in the room on the fifteenth floor has been eliminated.

"No, the safest way is to eliminate it without triggering the strange phenomenon."

Zhu Shi once again showed an extremely conservative attitude, then turned around to deal with the ritual array.

However, although she said she wanted to erase it, she did not directly wipe it off with a tool like a mop. Instead, she took out white chalk and started drawing a new mysterious symbol from the outer circle of the magic circle.

Agent Kong saw that I was confused and explained.

Because it is a bit complicated, I have simplified it according to my own understanding. In short, there may still be some power accumulated in the ritual array. When destroying the array, the power of the demon hunter can suppress it, but it may still cause damage to the surrounding area. What Zhu Shi is setting up now is a new array that absorbs the possible power and discharges it safely into the environment.

Although the process of this work is also a scene that cannot be seen in normal society, it is a bit boring from my intuitive feeling. It would be a pity if I just leave like this, so I asked Agent Kong about Luo Shan.

Agent Kong understood my intention immediately after hearing the music. "So, do you want to join Luo Shan?"

I hid my expectations in my heart and pretended to be calm and asked, "Yes. For a supernatural organization like yours, what are the requirements for joining? For example, do you think I am suitable?"

Actually, I wanted to be more direct at first, but the only Luoshan personnel I could contact were Zhu Shi and Agent Kong. In this sense, although they were not interviewers, they had a certain feeling in my heart. When I was facing Zhu Shi, I was still relaxed, but when I was facing Agent Kong, I had the consciousness of an interviewer, hoping that I could restrain my impulsive emotions to avoid being noticed by the "interviewer" about my eager sincerity.

Agent Kong nodded slightly and said thoughtfully: "Well, from my point of view, you..."

Suddenly, he stopped talking because Zhu Shi, who was drawing mysterious symbols on the floor, had glared at him.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything more, I won't say anything more..."

Agent Kong quickly made a gesture of surrender, and Zhu Shi's expression eased slightly, and she went back to her work. While she was concentrating on drawing the mysterious symbol, Agent Kong winked at me again.

I nodded in understanding, found an excuse to go to the bathroom to leave the room on the 15th floor, and went straight downstairs.

After a while, Agent Kong seemed to have found an excuse to leave and met me downstairs.

"I told Zhu Shi that I'm going to handle the work of the 'probe' later. It's not entirely an excuse, let's talk while we walk." He walked in front, leading me to the outside of the community, his voice a little sad, "Just now you asked yourself if you can join Luoshan, right? My answer is very clear, since even someone like me who has no magic power can do it, then of course you can do it even more."

"That's great! But if that's the case, why is Zhu Shi so opposed to me joining Luoshan?" I asked doubtfully, "Is it because Luoshan is in trouble?"

"Did Zhu Shi tell you those things? Only part of it, right? It's true that Luoshan is in trouble, but that's a problem that the big guys need to worry about. We little guys only need to worry about our own livelihoods." He said, "The reason why Zhu Shi resisted you joining Luoshan is probably because you are a flame ability user."

(End of this chapter)