Global Ghost Stories: I'm Investigating Ghosts in My Nightmare!

Chapter 148 Who is whispering in my ear?

dark.

This is a blackness that cannot be fully described in words. It is neither like night nor like the nothingness after closing your eyes. This blackness has weight; it is like a viscous, cold liquid that seeps into the pores of the skin.

On the stairs leading from the basement to the ground floor of the Linjiang City No. 1 Power Supply Bureau, the concept of light has been completely erased.

The powerful flashlight in An Mu's hand emitted a faint buzzing sound. The beam of light, which should have illuminated fifty meters ahead, was swallowed by darkness the moment it left the head of the flashlight, shrinking to less than five centimeters.

"No one, don't let go." An Mu's voice sounded somewhat distorted in the darkness, carrying a dull, metallic quality.

Mo Fei carried Bai Yu on his back, his hands gripping Bai Yu's thighs tightly. His steps were steady, each step landing precisely in the center of the stairs. As the team's shield, he displayed astonishing mental fortitude. He made no unnecessary movements, his breathing rhythm remaining at twelve breaths per minute, even and powerful.

"Old Bai, can you still see the road?" Mo Fei asked in a low voice. His voice was very soft, but in this deathly silent environment, it seemed to explode in your ears.

Bai Yu lay on Mo Fei's broad back. His eyes had completely turned heterochromatic; his left eye was as black as ink, while his right eye shimmered with an eerie purplish-red.

In Bai language, the world is no longer material.

What he saw were countless thin, silver lines. These lines weaved and intertwined haphazardly in the darkness, forming the "skeleton" of the space.

“Keep going.” Bai Yu’s voice was a little hoarse, a lingering effect of overusing his analytical abilities. “There’s a rule inflection point three meters ahead. Gravity will reverse instantly. Mo Fei, watch your center of gravity.”

Mo Fei did not answer, but only made a low nasal sound to indicate that he understood.

Lan Ce followed closely behind Mo Fei. The once incredibly sophisticated detector in his hand was now completely malfunctioning, displaying only a chaotic jumble of static on the screen. But he didn't panic. Instead, he pulled out a specially made alloy rod from his tactical vest, using physical collision to help determine spatial distance.

"Captain, the spatial curvature here is fluctuating violently." Lanze stared at the instrument that had stopped reading, his tone calm to the point of being cold. "We may no longer be a power station in the physical sense. The coordinate axes here are constantly rotating."

"Hold fast to your true self." An Mu walked at the front, the golden light barrier around him had shrunk to just a single layer close to his body.

That was the manifestation of the "Iron Wall of Royal Authority" under extreme pressure. An Mu endured unimaginable pressure from the rules; every muscle in his body trembled slightly, yet his tall figure remained like an unshakable monument.

"Tick."

A crisp sound of water droplets came from the depths of darkness.

In this absolutely quiet environment, the sound was so abrupt and chilling.

Bai Yu's right eye twitched suddenly. In his analytical vision, a thin, blood-red line suddenly descended from nothingness and landed precisely on An Mu's shoulder.

"Captain, stop!" Bai Yu shouted.

An Mu froze instantly, his entire body like a statue.

Mo Fei also stopped, turning slightly to shield Bai Yu at a safer angle. He didn't blindly swing his battle axe, knowing that brute force would only hasten death in the face of unseen rules.

"What's wrong?" An Mu remained standing, motionless.

“There’s something on your shoulder…” Bai Yu stared intently at the red line.

The red line was rapidly thickening, its end gradually evolving into a pale hand. The hand had no nails, and its skin had a translucent texture; it was slowly reaching towards An Mu's neck.

"Lan Ce, high-frequency oscillation!" Bai Yu quickly gave the order.

Without any hesitation, Lance pressed a red button on the alloy rod.

A visible ripple of air spreads out from the long rod.

"hiss--"

A sharp sound, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, came from the darkness.

The pale hand instantly disintegrated under the impact of the shockwave, turning into a pool of foul-smelling black slime.

"Keep going, don't look back." Bai Yu felt Hei Yan's malicious laughter echoing in her mind.

"Artworks are always accompanied by danger, my host. The person you just saved may not be your captain."

Bai Yu felt a chill run down her spine.

He looked at Anmu ahead.

Under the analytical view, An Mu's silhouette remained a stable golden line. But for some reason, a very faint trace of silver, not belonging to An Mu, was faintly visible at the edge of that golden line.

Are those traces of "displacement"?

Or is it some kind of psychological suggestion?

Bai Yu didn't say it aloud. In this environment, even the slightest doubt could lead to the complete collapse of the team. He simply patted Mo Fei's shoulder lightly, signaling him to keep going.

The stairs seemed to have no end.

With each floor you go down, the smell of ozone in the air gets stronger.

"We've arrived," Bai Yu suddenly said.

Mo Fei stopped in his tracks.

The path ahead was no longer a staircase, but a flat metal surface.

Bai Yu slid off Mo Fei's back, and the moment his feet touched the ground, he felt a strong sense of dizziness.

The rules here have been twisted to the extreme.

"Lan Ce, try manually connecting the main switch," An Mu commanded. "Mo Fei, protect the left flank. Bai Yu, keep an eye on that 'logic point'."

Lancer took a deep breath and pulled a complex set of manual wiring tools from his backpack. In absolute darkness, he could only rely on muscle memory and the guidance of Baiyu to operate it.

"There's a circular interface 1.5 meters ahead. That's the first physical lock," Bai Yu pointed out.

Lan Ce reached out and precisely touched the cold interface.

Just as he was about to plug in the connector, a voice suddenly rang out in the control room.

"Lan Ce, don't touch that."

That was Anmu's voice.

Lance's hand froze in mid-air.

He turned around and looked at An Mu behind him.

In the dim, almost negligible light, he saw An Mu standing not far away, his face pale, his eyes filled with an unspeakable fear.

"Captain?" Lan Ce asked in confusion.

“I am An Mu.” The “An Mu” standing opposite Lan Ce said in a trembling voice, “The one who brought you down just now… was ‘scum’.”

The atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Mo Fei suddenly swung his battle axe horizontally, blocking between Lan Ce and the "An Mu". His gaze swept back and forth between the two An Mus.

An Mu, who was standing at the very front of the line, slowly turned around.

His face remained expressionless, and the golden light continued to steadily envelop him.

"You think you can sway us with such a low-level illusion?" An Mu, standing in front, sneered, his voice still steady and powerful.

"Illusion? Look at Bai Yu behind you, why isn't he saying anything?" The "An Mu" on the other side shouted, pointing at Bai Yu.

Bai Yu stood still, her eyes fixed on the two An Mus.

In his analytical perspective, the lines and structures of these two people were exactly the same.

There were no silver threads, no signs of replacement.

Are both true?

This is impossible.

"Lan Ce, continue the operation," An Mu, who was standing in front, ordered.

"Lan Ce, if you intervene, the entire Linjiang City will be sacrificed!" An Mu on the other side retorted loudly.

Lan Ce's hands were trembling slightly. He looked at Bai Yu.

"Old Bai, what are the analysis results?"

Bai Yu did not answer immediately. He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the depths, and forcefully knocked on the dark door.

“Black Words, tell me the truth.”

"The truth? The truth is often ugly, my host." Hei Yan strolled gracefully in the darkness. "These two people are both An Mu from your memories. One is right now, and the other is... half a minute ago."

Bai Yu suddenly opened her eyes.

Mirror time!

The rule here is not spatial overlap, but temporal slices.

"Mo Fei, the one on the left is a mirror image!" Bai Yu shouted.

Almost at the same time Bai Yu shouted, Mo Fei moved.

He didn't hesitate for even a second because of the bizarre scene before him. To him, Bai Yu's words were the highest command.

Mo Fei exerted force from his waist, and the high-frequency battle axe in his hand swept out with a chilling blue light, fiercely sweeping towards "An Mu" on the left.

"boom!"

The battle axe didn't make a sound like it was splitting flesh; instead, it sounded like it was smashing into a giant mirror.

Countless transparent fragments flew in the darkness.

The figure of "Anmu" twisted and dissolved in the fragments, finally turning into a wisp of smoke.

"Hoo—" Mo Fei sheathed his battle axe, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead. "Well done." An Mu stepped forward, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of lingering fear.

"This rule is too insidious." Lan Ce wiped away his cold sweat and re-plugged the connector into the interface.

As the connector was inserted, a muffled sound of a motor turning filled the control room.

Streaks of silver light spread out along the grooves in the ground, gradually converging on a giant sphere in the center of the hall.

The sphere was about three meters in diameter and its surface was covered with dense runes.

"Is that the main switch?" Mo Fei looked at the sphere with some curiosity.

“No, that’s the ‘Causal Furnace’.” Bai Yu’s tone became more serious than ever before. “That madman Shen Qing, he doesn’t want to shut off the power at all. He wants to use the ‘sense of existence’ of everyone in the city as fuel to completely replace it.”

The sphere began to vibrate violently, and the silvery streams of light became increasingly dazzling.

"Lan Ce, is it possible to reverse the logic?" An Mu asked.

Lancer's fingers danced across the keyboard: "I'm trying! But the firewall here is based on human emotional fluctuations; I need an anchor of absolute calm!"

“I’ll be your anchor point.” Bai Yu stepped forward and placed his hand on the surface of the sphere.

His soul seemed to be caught in a huge vortex at that moment.

Countless jumbled memories, cries of agony, and fear rushed into his brain along his arm.

"what--"

Bai Yu let out a painful growl as fine cracks began to appear on his skin.

"Old Bai!" Mo Fei wanted to rush forward.

"Don't touch him!" An Mu grabbed Mo Fei. "He's the core of logic right now. If you touch him, he'll collapse instantly!"

Mo Fei gritted his teeth, his hand gripping the battle axe so tightly it creaked. He hated himself for being unable to help at this moment, for being able to stand by like a block of wood.

"Lan Ce, hurry up!" An Mu stared at the sphere, the golden light screen had expanded to its limit.

"Give me ten more seconds!" Lan Ce's glasses were already fogged up with sweat, but he didn't even have time to wipe them.

At this critical moment, slow footsteps suddenly came from the door of the control room.

"Tap. Tap. Tap."

Against that backdrop of absolute darkness, the footsteps sounded exceptionally clear, carrying a rhythm that evoked despair.

Bai Yu suddenly turned his head.

In the faint silver light, he saw a figure.

The man was wearing a dirty hospital gown and holding a silver button in his hand.

"Father?" Bai Yu's pupils trembled.

No, that wasn't my father.

The person's face kept changing. One moment it was Shen Qing, the next it was the shattered mirror image of An Mu, and finally, it settled into a face exactly like Bai Yu's.

“Baiyu, do you think you’re saving people?” The “Baiyu” smiled, its voice hollow. “You’re just speeding up the process. Look at your hands, Heiyan is about to devour you.”

"Shut up." Bai Yu's voice was as cold as ice.

He endured the excruciating pain of his soul being torn apart and pushed his analytical abilities to an unprecedented peak.

"Analysis: Zeroing exists!"

Bai Yu's right eye burst forth with a dazzling purple light.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still in the entire control room.

The silver light stopped flowing, and the vibrating sphere fell into a deathly silence.

"Lan Ce, now's the time!"

Lan Ce pressed the Enter key.

"Reverse the logic, execute!"

boom--

A massive shockwave erupted from the center of the sphere.

An Mu and Mo Fei were thrown into the air and slammed heavily against the wall.

Bai Yu was like a fallen leaf, swaying in the violent flow of energy.

But he did not fall.

He gripped the edge of the sphere tightly until the blinding silver light completely dissipated.

Darkness descended once more.

But this time, the darkness was no longer viscous, but rather had a refreshing quality, like a clear morning after the rain.

"Success?" Mo Fei struggled to his feet, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were unusually bright.

Lan Ce stared at the computer screen and let out a long sigh of relief: "The node has been disconnected. The power grid in Linjiang City is returning to normal."

An Mu leaned against the wall to stand up. His golden light screen had completely gone out, and he looked extremely tired.

"Bai language?"

Bai Yu sat beside the sphere, holding the notebook in her arms.

His breathing was erratic, and although the cracks on his skin were slowly healing, the sense of fragility was becoming increasingly apparent.

"I'm fine," Bai Yu replied softly.

He looked at the spot where the "fake Baiyu" had been standing.

There was nothing there except for a silver button.

Bai Yu walked over and picked up the button.

A small, distorted smiley face is engraved on the back of the button.

"This is just the beginning," Bai Yu murmured.

He knew that although Shen Qing's "replacement" plan had been thwarted at the power supply bureau, the "second An Mu" who appeared at the gate and the strange figure who picked up the button were both foreshadowing a bigger conspiracy.

"Let's go, let's go up first," An Mu said.

The group helped each other as they climbed the stairs.

As they walked out of the power supply bureau, the first rays of dawn in Linjiang City were piercing through the clouds and shining on the earth.

The streetlights were still off.

But lights began to appear in the windows along the street.

That is the lingering warmth of human civilization.

Mo Fei looked at the lights and suddenly chuckled, "Old Bai, after this is all over, I'll treat you to hot pot."

"I want the spiciest one." Bai Yu also showed a rare smile.

However, just as they were walking toward the jeep, Bai Yu suddenly stopped.

He looked into the shadows not far away.

The figure in the black trench coat was still standing there.

He neither fled nor attacked.

He simply waved at Bai Yu and then pointed to his heart.

Bai Yu subconsciously touched his chest.

There, deep within the shattered soul, a silver mark had appeared without anyone noticing.

"Captain..." Bai Yu tried to speak.

But the man in the trench coat had already disappeared into the morning mist.

An Mu turned around and looked at Bai Yu with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong?"

Bai Yu remained silent for a moment, then finally shook his head.

"It's nothing, I probably just misread it."

He put the button away and got into the back seat of the jeep.

The wheels turned again, heading towards the Bureau of Investigation.

Behind them, on the top floor of the power company building, the girl in the hospital gown still stood quietly.

As she watched the jeep drive away, she softly hummed an old folk song.

The lyrics are obscure and difficult to understand, but if you listen carefully, the melody reveals a kind of tenderness that makes you feel desperate.

"The replacement... is complete."

The girl turned around, and from her back grew a pair of silver wings made of countless cables.

(End of this chapter)