From the end of the world

Chapter 34: Ending 4
Agent Kong looked puzzled at first, then examined my expression.

"Why are you interested in this?"

Because gathering intelligence related to Ma Zao might arouse suspicion, I had prepared an excuse in advance: "I am interested in strange things, and this matter may also be related to the Fallen Demon Hunter incident."

"Well, is that so..." Agent Kong thought for a moment, then replied, "Actually, this is not confidential information. Zhu Shi didn't tell you probably because from the perspective of Luoshan's personnel, this matter is not very decent."

"You mean... Luo Shan did something bad?" I asked tentatively.

"I don't know if that's the case. I'm not a leader, and I don't have all the information. Let me answer your question first. Regarding who that girl is..." He said, "As far as I know, she is the only amnesiac who has recovered in the world."

"...Amnesia?" I said this strange name.

As the name suggests, this should be a "disease of losing the soul".

Excuse my limited knowledge, but I have never heard of this disease, unless it refers to a vegetative state.

"It's inevitable that you haven't heard of it. This mysterious disease is only regarded as a vegetative state of unknown cause in the surface society. Only in our world is it called 'amnesia'." Agent Kong said in a low voice, "It started to spread all over the world four years ago. It has spread to many people. The source of transmission is unknown, the transmission method is unknown, and the treatment method is unknown... Luo Shan didn't know how many experts were dispatched, and they spent four years to figure out two things:
"First, this is a disease spread by some unknown strange phenomenon. Second, although the bodies of the patients are still functioning normally, their souls have all disappeared."

"The soul disappears..." I suddenly had some thoughts.

I asked Ma Zao before whether she traveled through time physically or spiritually, and her attitude was very vague. But it was obvious that she couldn't confirm whether the body she was using now was her original body. Assuming that she was really a traveler from the end of the world, then the possibility that she was a spiritual traveler was very high.

Coincidentally, the body that Ma Zao is using now was originally a completely empty shell in this era, and was placed there specifically to allow soul travelers to come in. Some of the time-travel novels I have read before even specifically wrote that the original owner's soul was scattered due to drowning or fever, and then the time travel protagonist just happened to come and take over that body.

But no matter how imaginary it is, I still have to focus on real problems.

For example, where did the original soul in that empty body go, and is it related to Ma Zao's soul traveling across time?

The first thing that came to my mind was - could it be that the original soul traveled to the apocalyptic era, and for some reason lost all its memories, mistakenly believed that it was a resident of the apocalyptic era, and somehow traveled back to the present era?

No, this assumption has a serious flaw. That is, Ma Zao should have also had a body to house her soul in the doomsday era. However, how could a body that is extremely similar to the current Ma Zao appear in a different era?

Considering that Ma Zao's original body is likely to be extremely similar to her current body, another hypothesis seems more reasonable, namely: she is Ma Zao from another world, and the doomsday event is a disaster that occurred in the future of that other world.

This is the so-called parallel world theory.

But... the parallel world theory is still just a hypothesis in the scientific community. Wouldn't it be too ridiculous to use it as a basis for reasoning?

To be honest, the words "time travel" and "doomsday" are on my mind now. It is difficult not to talk nonsense when analyzing these words that I have only seen in novels and comics in the past.

"I roughly understand." I decided to let my mind focus back to reality first. "In other words, this girl is the only case of awakening. As long as we study her body, it may be possible to save many amnesia patients, right?"

"Yes." Agent Kong nodded slightly and continued, "But after she woke up, she immediately disappeared from the hospital. It wasn't just an ordinary departure, but she disappeared out of thin air as if she was eaten by air."

"Space transfer?" I immediately recalled what Ma Zao had mentioned, the "power of blessing" she possessed.

"Luoshan also thinks so. But the problem is that this girl named Ma Zao was just an ordinary girl before she suffered from amnesia; and as a vegetable, she had no chance to come into contact with supernormal powers." Agent Kong said slowly, "It was such a person who suddenly had the means to transfer space after waking up. What is even more puzzling is her actions. She is not an easy person to deal with.

"When she reappeared, she had actually sneaked into the local public security department and stole guns and ammunition from it... This was also something she should never have done and could never have done."

The original owner of the body was also named Ma Zao, which seemed to increase the credibility of the parallel world hypothesis. However, this could also be evidence that Ma Zao was lying, and that the end of the world and time travel never existed from the beginning. When Agent Kong said the latter part, I thought of a possibility from an outsider's perspective: "Are you trying to say that she didn't really wake up from her amnesia... but that her empty body was occupied by an evil spirit that came from nowhere?"

Now it seems to make sense.

Why did Luo Shan track down Ma Zao as if he were a criminal? Because what they were tracking was not "the only case of awakening", but the evil ghost that had occupied the girl's body.

Even I don't have enough evidence to rule out this possibility.

But compared to the "doomsday traveler", the possibility of "possessed evil spirits" is inevitably disappointing. Moreover, if Luo Shan is on the side of justice, why do Zhu Shi and Agent Kong think that Luo Shan's actions are not decent?

"I had that suspicion, but the people above didn't think so." Agent Kong shook his head. "They really launched a large-scale search for him based on the premise that 'he was a reawakened amnesiac'. They were even so eager to act first and report later. They first identified the target as a serial killer, and then asked the public security system to confirm the suspicion. However, the other party never agreed... If it was just a small possessed evil spirit, the higher-ups would definitely not use such means."

"Could it be that they are actually not sure?" Instead, I, as an outsider, deliberately interpreted it from a relatively benevolent perspective, "The girl could be a revived patient or possessed by an evil spirit, and they are prepared for the worst.

"For example, because the girl had previously sneaked into the public security department and stole guns and ammunition, it was inconvenient for them to use the name of looking for abducted or lost girls; and it just so happened that there was an unidentified serial killer in our city recently, so they used this name naturally."

"With the means of high-level demon hunters, it is easy to detect whether there are evil spirits invading the ward. They must be sure. Although they can't understand how the girl got the power and why her personality changed drastically, they don't regard her as a different person." He said, "In addition, considering that the other party has an unknown means of space transfer, the higher-ups have decided to expand the search range to the whole country.

"More search methods are needed, and the radical accusation methods used before will not be left behind. It's so tedious and unscrupulous... Zhuang Cheng, do you understand what this means?"

A nationwide search? Any means necessary?
I felt relieved that Ma Zao was not just a simple evil spirit, but I was shocked by what Agent Kong described, and then I fell into deep thought.

Considering the potential value that Ma Zao may have in Luo Shan's eyes, a nationwide search is reasonable, and it is undoubtedly Ma Zao's fault for sneaking into the public security department to steal guns and ammunition. From the perspective of secular law, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a major crime. But Luo Shan does not belong to the public security system, and his actions do not seem to be the official attitude that a fair and just official organization should present. Apart from the official scale of the action, it reveals a sense of not following the right path from beginning to end.

It’s so confusing!

I felt my blood coursing faster, and I slowly expressed my thoughts on what Agent Kong said: "As long as I can get the girl, her basic rights are not important... Is that right?"

Wait, isn't this talking about me?
Agent Kong nodded.

"That's all I know about the inside story of that girl. I shouldn't have told you so much, but you seem to have a habit of digging deep into strange stories. Rather than letting you ask around, I'd rather let you make it clear." He said, "Of course, I hope you don't have any misunderstandings about Luoshan. There are more than one mountain in Luoshan, and the one who did this now is just one of the more radical ones."

The last part also felt like an insult to me... I avoided the question: "Are you from that mountain too?"

The word "hilltop" gives me a bad impression.

"I'm just a small-time figure at the grassroots level. How can I dare to claim to be from any faction? I just can't help myself and am kicked around like a ball." He laughed at himself and added, "By the way, Zhu Shi has nothing to do with the faction involved in this matter."

"Thanks for the reminder." I looked ahead and said, "By the way... where are we moving to?"

"Didn't I tell you before that I have to deal with the main job of the 'probe'?" He stood in front of me. "Ghost story investigation - this is also what you are most familiar with. If you are interested, you can also accompany me to take a look. Maybe in some areas, I, a professional, can't compare with you."

At this point we have arrived at the abandoned construction site near Saltwater University.

In front of us was a cold and desolate empty lot, with a bare unfinished building standing in the lot. No one knew what the original purpose of the building was, and why it was abandoned. From a distance, it looked like a gray and crude tombstone standing abruptly in the city, and it seemed that even the wind would be a little colder when it blew through it.

This is where I first met Ma Zao.

(End of this chapter)