I'm being held captive by a monster

Chapter 291 Insider
"Minister, what I mean is that you are really good at strategizing."

"I'm just a little curious..."

Realizing he had almost revealed his true nature and that his tone was a bit off, Mai Lingbu quickly cleared his throat to make amends.

Zhang Guangze didn't have time to chat with her.

"These places are... gathering places for a lot of confused people and idiots?"

Before Zhang Guang could speak, Lin Xing'an asked thoughtfully.

"Correct!"

Zhang Guang nodded approvingly.

“Remember this: for both humans and animals, there is no better cover than a fool.”

"Because the North City is not like the South City. In the North City, the gluttons and the muddle-headed ghosts hardly interact at all. The muddle-headed ghosts have their own worldview."

"Although there is no explicit rule, my mother and the angels have both said that we should not disturb the 'ecosystem' of the confused ghosts."

"Therefore, the operations teams of the operations department are all constrained when facing these areas."

Zhang Guang picked up his pen, looked at it, and then added two more circles to the map.

"Minister...then...how should we investigate?"

"How can we investigate without disrupting the ecosystem of the confused ghosts?"

"Should I pretend to be... a health committee member or something in a silly world?"

Mai Yuran hesitated for a moment before asking.

The reason why she and Mai Lingbu are so proactive, cooperative, and so... submissive now is...

The purpose was to use this incident to wash away their past stains and free them from the situation where they could only depend on Qian Qiongzhi.

Instead of adding new stains...

"If we keep putting on airs, the efficiency will be far too low..."

Seeing that Zhang Guang didn't speak, Mai Yuran shook her head to herself.

"I already said, we'll stop at nothing to achieve our goals."

Zhang Guang glanced at Mai Yuran and spoke coldly.

Lin Xing'an, standing to the side, had a flicker in his eyes.

Taking advantage of this time, he re-established contact with the gloom outside.

First, I looked at the cat shelter opposite the new campus of Beicheng University.

The cell phone inside had disappeared; Zhang Hang had taken it.

This relieved Lin Xing'an.

Regardless of what Zhang Hang thinks after seeing the message, or what his final decision is...

In short, he has done everything he could in this situation.

"The epidemic has now infiltrated the world of the confused."

"Although the epidemic in the sixth month is like a slightly more severe cold to a muddle-headed person without any gloom."

"But... each confused ghost has a different constitution, so it's okay if some confused ghosts die from a 'severe cold', right?"

Zhang Guang said quietly.

Mai Yuran's expression changed.

Liu Yang rubbed his hands nervously.

"The minister's meaning is naturally not for us to slaughter fools; the minister just wants us to be more open-minded."

"We are a special operations team, so we can't be as restrained as those in regular operations teams. We need to be bold and unrestrained!"

“Think about it, if we can really kill Sixteen, even if we do something outrageous, it will naturally be covered up.”

Lin Xing'an rested his hands on the map.

As he spoke, he continued to probe the outside world with his shadowy eyes.

Of the several places marked on the map by Zhang Guang, only two are currently within Lin Xing'an's reach.

but……

I don't know if it's because they hid it so well, or because there were no humans there to begin with.

Lin Xing'an used his cunning to find no one.

"Sis, it doesn't matter. With your abilities, those idiots won't know anything."

Mai Lingbu, however, was not worried at all.

“Mai Yuran, even if you investigate later, you have plenty of ways to deal with it.”

Lin Xing'an snorted coldly.

This method naturally refers to the "illegal" activities that Qian Qiongzhi engaged in.

Anyway, they've already become sworn enemies with Qian Qiongzhi. As long as they produce some evidence, Qian Sen will definitely back down.

"……Too."

Mai Yuran paused for a moment, then nodded knowingly.

What she really wanted was Zhang Guang's assurance.

But since Lin Xing'an said that...

There was no need for her to insist anymore.

"...But...how do we distinguish between humans and animals?"

"How can you distinguish between humans and animals and fools among so many confused people?"

Liu Yang cleared his throat and, unusually, took the initiative to ask.

"Simple!"

Zhang Guang had prepared a stack of documents.

"Write down all the people and animals, and imprint them in your mind."

"Kill them on sight!"

"Among the people and animals here, there can only be those who have already died; there cannot be any that have been left behind."

He took a picture of the thick stack of documents and put it directly onto the map.

And the first picture is actually of Teacher Orange...

Lin Xing'an flipped through the pages a few more times.

Zhang Yunxi, Wang Xi, Liu Xiaole...

It even details the abilities of each person!
"These people and animals are the key targets for arrest."

"They came from the south of the city two or three months ago."

"Given the intensity of the search between the south and north of the city, without the help of local people and livestock and a meticulous plan, they could not have escaped."

Zhang Guang snorted coldly.

"indeed……"

Lin Xing'an rubbed his chin and nodded.

"If they were useless, why would these people from Beicheng risk bringing them here?"

"These are the people we need to take a special note of and pay close attention to."

"I think... they are very likely bodyguards that Zhang Hang specially hired from the South City to protect Sixteen Months."

Lin Xing'an placed these people he knew best on the table.

Sensing the seriousness in his tone, everyone watched with utmost attention.

"Of course, everyone else needs to take notes as well; that's your main task tonight."

Zhang Guang glanced at the time and said.

He naturally wanted everyone to start taking action tonight.

However, he still understood the principle of not being too hasty.

"Minister, do you remember when Zhang Hang attacked me, I had three arrows in my hand?"

Upon seeing Zhang Hang, Lin Xing'an looked up and spoke as if he had just remembered something.

"Should we give it to Xiaoyang and let him see if there's any lingering smell of Zhang Hang?"

He patted Liu Yang on the shoulder and said.

"...That time interval was a bit too long..."

"However... it wouldn't hurt to give it a try."

"I also need to go back to my department for some business."

Zhang Guang turned on his phone.

Looking at the dozens of missed calls, his expression darkened before he spoke.

"...You guys keep watch for now, An'an, come with me."

After reaching the door, Zhang Guang hesitated for a moment, then waved to Lin Xing'an.

After leaving the house, he found a phone number on his phone.

"This is……"

Lin Xing'an quickly wrote down the number.

"This is the contact information for an informant that Xu Zhe developed within the human-animal organization."

"He gave me this contact information because of... health reasons."

Seeing that Lin Xing'an had noted it down, Zhang Guang immediately deleted the number.

"If you want to contact me, just call and hang up after it rings."

"He'll get back to you when the time is right."

Zhang Guang emphasized.

"...Minister, this mole...shouldn't know anything about this either, right?"

"Besides, he's a human-animal hybrid, so it's impossible for him to directly tell us the specific location of the human-animal hybrid organization, right?"

Lin Xing'an frowned and asked.

"Hmm, only Zhang Hang knows the location of the Sixteenth Month, and those few scoundrels from the South City might also know." "Then, Minister, this informant... what does he want? What conditions do I have to offer him to get him to provide us with intelligence?"

“Safety, freedom, these people and animals don’t even want to go back to their paradise village.”

A look of disdain appeared on Zhang Guang's face.

"Safety, freedom..."

Lin Xing'an read these two words aloud with a very strange expression.

"...Minister, how do we give this to him?"

"What a joke, of course I can't give it to him! He's just a fool."

Zhang Guang said with a smile.

He then waved to Lin Xing'an, "You drive."

"Just bring those arrows back with you later. I have to stay in the department."

"I will come back tomorrow morning or early morning to assign you tasks."

Zhang Guang sat in the passenger seat, texting someone while speaking.

"Minister, there's no need for tomorrow morning. Memorizing the appearance of the main people and animals won't take that much time."

If you're not coming back soon, you can tell me where you're going now.

"Let's go at night and catch people and animals off guard."

Lin Xing'an peered through the shadows, keeping his eyes straight ahead as he secretly read Zhang Guang's text message.

It was sent to Jiang Rong...

After typing and deleting in the chat box, I finally only sent one sentence: "I understand..."

"No need, let's go tomorrow."

"I've already spread the word that I'm going to summon everyone to interrogate Xu Zhe."

"Moreover, nighttime is the most dangerous time for both humans and animals, when they are most vigilant."

"You guys can go tomorrow while I'm judging Xu Zhe."

Zhang Guang put away his phone and took a deep breath.

He seemed somewhat worried.

"understood."

Lin Xing'an didn't say much.

A moment of silence fell over the car.

"An'an, you saw the places I drew earlier."

Where do you think we should start our search?

Zhang Guang turned his head and asked.

Lin Xing'an frowned slightly.

Although Zhang Guang seemed to be asking a normal question.

But years of experience still made Lin Xing'an wary.

Zhang Guang is testing him...

"I think... Mingyang Road area."

"Why? Do you think it will be there in the sixteenth month?"

After a moment of silence, Zhang Guang squinted and asked.

"First of all, Minister, I think... we definitely won't find it so easily in June."

"Then we must prepare for the worst, that is, none of the places you drew are where Sixteen is hiding."

Lin Xing settled in.

Zhang Guang nodded silently.

"So, with this mindset, we need to go to a good starting point and get started!"

"We want to make it clear to everyone that we're serious."

"Mingyang Road is where the most confused people are, and where any action would cause the most trouble."

"If we start here, we can be much more unrestrained in what follows!"

Lin Xing'an clenched his fist, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes!
Zhang Guang looked puzzled.

"An'an, I don't quite understand what you mean?"

"Aren't you afraid of alerting the enemy by making this so blatantly obvious to both humans and animals?"

"Aren't you afraid that people and livestock will be on guard? Aren't you afraid that people and livestock will be moved for sixteen months?"

he asked curiously.

"Minister, we can say that we have now laid a trap in the North City."

"It's a good thing that people and animals are moving around."

"What we fear most is that they stay in one place playing hide-and-seek, and that's when they're the hardest to find."

Lin Xing'an parked the car at the entrance.

"Um……"

After getting off the bus, Zhang Guang took a deep breath.

Lin Xing'an's idea made some sense.

But he didn't give a direct confirmation.

"This arrow has passed through too many hands and so much time has passed, so don't hold out any hope."

"Then... An'an, take this."

Zhang Guang pulled a small black notebook out of his office drawer.

"This is the document. The words on it are messages passed between your mother, Yu Yu, and me."

"The parent stock is right here with me."

“From the start of the operation, you will have to report to me every day through the parent-child database.”

He pointed to the safe in the office.

"Understood, then I..."

"Cough cough cough."

Just as Lin Xing'an glanced at the time and was about to leave, a cough came from the secret room behind Zhang Guang's desk.

"It's Koko."

"There's another mission tomorrow that requires Koko's cooperation."

Zhang Guang looked back.

"...Senior, don't worry, we will definitely find the Sixteenth Month as soon as possible."

Lin Xing'an hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and said.

Even though he couldn't see Koko.

But Koko can see him and hear his voice.

"Keep it up, junior!"

Koko encouraged him, trying to sound relaxed.

Despite her best efforts to hold it in, she couldn't help but cough twice in a muffled voice.

"Go, An'an, wait for my command tomorrow."

"When you get back, emphasize to them that your action plan is to prioritize the Ghost Realm."

"Once we arrive at the place we need to check, even if we are unsure whether there are any people or animals there, we must release the Ghost Domain immediately."

"The Ghost Realm is our greatest advantage over humans and animals; we must make full use of it, understand?"

Zhang Guang emphasized.

"understood."

Lin Xing'an easily controlled the Ghost Domain.

"Back then, Director Ke taught me how to control the size of the ghost realm, and he supervised my practice step by step..."

He glanced again toward the secret room.

He then left the office without saying anything more.

Zhang Guang probably didn't tell Ke Ke about Xu Zhe's death.

After all, given the relationship between Ke Ke and Xu Zhe...

Lin Xing'an was somewhat curious about what Ke Ke would do if he knew about this.

"Yangming District..."

After exiting the gate of the Siege Department, Lin Xing'an looked up at the night sky, his face somewhat serious.

The reason he said that was because Ms. Orange and the others live in Yangming District...

"Zhang Guang's reaction should be based on the description of the 'muddled ghost's gathering area..."

"He couldn't be sure if anyone was inside either..."

"so……"

"Should we take advantage of being outside now... and remind Ms. Tachibana to move before going back..."

Lin Xing'an's fingertips flickered with a sinister light.

After all, Yangming District is more than ten kilometers away from here, far beyond Lin Xing'an's sinister control range...

……

At the same time, inside the office.

Seeing Lin Xing'an leave through the window, Zhang Guang silently dialed Liu Yang's number.

"Xiao Yang, use your ability now."

"Let me smell the route Lin Xing'an took after leaving the department, and keep track of him at all times."

(End of this chapter)