Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 155 Battlefield Selection and Police Station Routine
Yihai Camp, Nirvana Residence Villa.

Jiang Jin's left shoulder—the hunting mark was still faintly burning, like a branding iron embedded in his flesh.

“Jiang Jin,” Xu Yinqiu pushed open the door and said, “The commander is back.”

Inside the meeting room, Yu Tianlun's expression was extremely serious.

Jiang Jin and Liu Yan walked in.

“They set conditions,” Yu Tianlun said, raising his head. “They want Nirvana to become an appendage of the Bloody Team.”

"What did the imperial envoy say?" Jiang Jin asked.

“This is what they instructed,” Yu Tianlun said coldly. “Becoming their bloody vassal means we will have to do the dirty work with them from now on.”

The Bloody Gang was notorious for its numerous atrocities, and Jiang Jin had long heard of it.

He's a policeman, how could he possibly associate with this gang of thugs?
“I’m the one who brought a great enemy to the team,” Jiang Jin said. “Actually, I killed Wu Qin. And as far as I know, he has always been the prey of the Bloodthirsty Team.”

“It’s too late for you to cut ties with us now,” Yu Tianlun replied. “Back then, the imperial court always wanted to offer amnesty to Chenxi, but I never agreed. There were people in higher-ups who wanted to take action against us. Without their authorization, even the Blood Clan wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on us.”

He remembered that the man surnamed Liang mentioned "Old Zhang," the official who had been protecting him. Mentioning this person meant that Old Zhang could no longer protect him.

Inside the meeting room, the air was so heavy it felt like you could wring water out of it.

Yu Tianlun tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his voice low: "Since the Bloodthirsty Team dares to openly try to annex us, then there is only one path before us now—to fight back."

Xu Yinqiu wrapped the red thread of incantation around her finger and said, "But with our current strength, the chances of winning in a head-on confrontation with the Bloodthirsty Team are too low."

Jiang Jin clenched his fists involuntarily, a sharp pain shooting through his left shoulder from the hunting mark: "Then there's only one way left."

All three of them turned their gazes to Jiang Jin at the same time.

“Actively choose the battlefield,” Jiang Jin said in a deep voice. “Find a high-difficulty, terrifying instance, and use the power of memetic curses to make them die under the rules triggered by memetic contamination.”

Xu Yinqiu frowned: "But doing this is too risky. Meme curses don't discriminate between friend and foe, and we will also be trapped in a deadly situation."

“We’re barefoot now, so we’re not afraid of those wearing shoes,” Yu Tianlun said resolutely. “Rather than live a life of ignominy, we’d rather fight to the death.”

Just then, Liu Yan suddenly stood up.

“I have a way,” she said softly, but her voice sent a jolt through everyone.

Jiang Jin looked at her: "What method?"

"This is a long story."

Jiang Jin suddenly realized something.

Could it be that Liu Yan is about to reveal her secret?

The photo that Jin Lanlan sent back then was the root cause of his and Liu Yan's meme contamination!
"I know a certain terrifying dungeon that can drastically reduce all the advantages of a bloodthirsty team. With a bit of luck, we can wipe out the pursuing enemies!"

Jiang Jin hurriedly asked, "Could it be a completely rule-based instance?"

“Complete rule-based instances are extremely rare and cannot be entered voluntarily,” Liu Yan shook her head. “What I’m talking about is an extremely dangerous memetic contamination instance. Everyone here should be mentally prepared… Actually, given the choice, I really don’t want to enter that instance.”

Then, she continued, "Everyone, please listen carefully to everything I'm about to say. Sister Yinqiu, watch out, after I say what I'm about to say, everyone here might experience a drop in their SAN value..."

……

A few days later, Jiang Jin returned to the police station.

After the meme contamination recurs, the observation period will be shortened because the potential for the reincarnated person's SAN value to decline will gradually stabilize.

When Jiang Jin pushed open the police station door, the familiar noise rushed towards him.

In the office, several colleagues were gathered together discussing last night's case.

The coffee machine hummed, and the air was filled with the smell of cheap instant coffee and the ink of printer paper.

"Hey, Jiang Jin! You're finally back?" Old Zhang from the criminal investigation team was the first to spot him. He grinned and walked over, patting Jiang Jin's shoulder hard. "We all know about how you bravely stormed into the glass factory to save the orphans from memetic contamination! You did a great job! We underestimated you before!"

Jiang Jin twitched the corner of his mouth and casually hung his coat on the back of the chair: "We're police officers, this is what we should do. This time the meme contamination isn't serious."

"Not serious?" Xiao Lin, sitting at the next table, interjected, still holding half a half-eaten jianbing guozi in her hand. "You've really entered a high-risk red zone this time!"

"Where is Li Ruoxi?" Jiang Jin changed the subject and asked casually.

"The autopsy room, I guess." Old Zhang shrugged. "They brought in a drowned man this morning, soaked like a steamed bun. She's busy with that now."

Before she could finish speaking, the door was suddenly pushed open, and Li Ruoxi rushed in.

"Jiang Jin!" She strode over and grabbed his collar. "You've finally come! After you brought me home that night, why did you go back to the red-code restricted area? You owe me an explanation!"

The office fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes were focused on the two of them.

Jiang Jin, without changing his expression, pried her fingers open: "I did it to save the child..."

"Get lost!" Li Ruoxi rolled her eyes and let go of her hand. "I'm talking about meme contamination! Don't you know about the 'Meme Contamination Prevention and Control Law'? Are you a cleaner? Why are you running into the red-code restricted area?"

The surrounding colleagues immediately perked up their ears.

Meme contamination has always been shrouded in mystery in the eyes of ordinary police officers—some claim to have seen “walking statues,” and others insist that they have heard “dead people broadcasting,” but all detailed records are blocked by the meme contamination monitoring department.

Jiang Jin then recounted his experience that night in detail, leaving no stone unturned.

Everyone praised Jiang Jin for his decisiveness, but Li Ruoxi couldn't help but twitch her lips. She quickly straightened her face and lowered her voice: "Don't try to fool me. You've been assigned to the patrol team, haven't you? That place is in charge of the 'dirty work' related to memetic contamination!"

Jiang Jin's smile faded slightly. The truth about the patrol team was far darker than she had imagined, but he couldn't reveal the matter of the reincarnators, so he could only say perfunctorily, "It's just a temporary assignment."

Just as the atmosphere became somewhat tense, Old Zhang suddenly exclaimed "Huh?" and grabbed Jiang Jin's left hand: "Wait, when did you start wearing a wedding ring?!"

The office erupted in chaos.

"Holy crap! Jiang Jin got married?!"

"Who is the bride? Do we know her?"

"Could it be that female traffic officer from last time? The way she looked at you was really strange!"

Jiang Jin was getting a headache from the noise and was about to speak when Li Ruoxi suddenly leaned closer, almost touching his face, staring at the ring. Her face suddenly turned pale: "It's not... Liu Yan, is it?"

The air solidified instantly.

Everyone knows Liu Yan—the hostage in that gold shop robbery years ago. She was held hostage by the robbers for six hours before being rescued by Jiang Jin.

Later, when she came to the police station to give a statement, Li Ruoxi always rushed to "chat with her," but unexpectedly, she became Jiang Jin's boyfriend.

"Yes, I got the certificate not long ago." Jiang Jin said calmly. After registering for marriage through the Reincarnation System, it can automatically exchange the marriage certificate for a marriage certificate at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Li Ruoxi's pupils contracted sharply.

"You...you guys..." Her voice trembled, a rare occurrence for her. "Didn't you...didn't you break up?!"

"They got back together."

The office was completely silent; most people didn't understand what Li Ruoxi was angry about.

Jiang Jin knew about Li Ruoxi's feelings for Liu Yan, and even grew his hair long for her (although he only kept it up for two months), and even wore perfume for the first time ever. But there was nothing he could do, Liu Yan was definitely straight.

"Ha, that's great. So when you treated me to dinner that day, you were just playing me, weren't you?" Li Ruoxi suddenly sneered, turned around and left, but knocked over a file shelf at the door.

wow-

Case files were scattered all over the floor, but she stepped over them without looking back.

"Damn it, she definitely went to the dissection room to vent her anger." Kobayashi shrank his neck.

Old Zhang patted Jiang Jin on the shoulder sympathetically: "Brother, take care. Congratulations."

Next, Jiang Jin put on a mask, came to the door of the forensic room, hesitated for a moment, and then raised his hand to knock on the door.

"Ruoxi..."

"Get in here!" Li Ruoxi's voice came through the door, cold and harsh.

Pushing open the door, a pungent smell of formaldehyde hits you.

Li Ruoxi stood with her back to the door, holding a scalpel in her hand, dissecting the corpse on the table.

The body's chest cavity was cut open, with the ribs spread out on both sides like fans, and the heart was removed separately and placed on a tray.

Jiang Jin silently dragged a stool over and sat down beside him. The two remained silent for a while, the scraping sound of the scalpel scraping particularly jarring.

“Um…” Jiang Jin cleared his throat, “Tomorrow is your birthday party, and we made a promise last time…”

Upon hearing this, Li Ruoxi's scalpel suddenly slipped.

"I'm not going," Li Ruoxi said curtly. "I'm on duty."

"You're still on duty on your birthday? Didn't you say your brother would help you..."

"I love my job."

Li Ruoxi bluntly uttered those words.

Looking at her like this, Jiang Jin rubbed his temples helplessly.

He knew Li Ruoxi's temper; the more stubborn she was, the more unhappy she was inside.

He sighed, and was about to say something more when the door to the forensic lab was suddenly pushed open—

"Li Ruoxi!"

A tall man stood at the door, wearing a sharp suit. His eyebrows and eyes were seven-tenths similar to Li Ruoxi's, only his features were more rugged.

Li Ruoxi didn't even look up: "Li Ruofeng, get out. I'm busy."

"Busy my ass!" Li Ruofeng strode in and snatched the scalpel from her hand. "It's your birthday tomorrow. Grandpa even came over specially. You dare to try working the shift?"

Jiang Jin raised an eyebrow—Li Ruoxi's brother is usually decisive and efficient, but he has no way to deal with this younger sister.

Li Ruoxi sneered: "What, you're even going to control the criminal investigation team's shift schedule now?"

"Enough with the nonsense." Li Ruofeng slammed the duty roster on the table. "I've already spoken to your captain. Tomorrow... you're on leave!"

Li Ruoxi gave Jiang Jin a cold look and said, "I can go if you insist. But that heartless bastard is not allowed to come!"

(End of this chapter)